Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Summer Goes On and On Aug 22-29

This cute lil cat bookmark is what I made for my partner in the cross stitch group I belong to. The exchange was a stitched bookmark, single serve drink mixes or tea bags, two skeins of a summery colored thread.....we were celebrating the joys of summer! Reading, sipping something cold and refreshing and stitching!
You can barely see the hawk that was flying over our yard. It was closer but I didn't have the camera handy and when I went back outside this was all I had. I have seen about a dozen of them flying overhead at one time! Obviously hunting for food.
The garden spiders are helping get my "fall" theme going in the backyard! : )
Everytime I see these rocks I am reminded of my days on the California coast! Sigh......miss my beach!
Truly amazing that these delicate plants can sprout and grow and thrive in the midst of these "heavy" rocks! Determined to grow!
I can hardly wait for this to quit moving sooooo fast! It'll be nice to give the air conditioner a break, as well as our checkbook!
Mmmmmm yummy honey! Hubby has a co-worker who harvested this yumminess. I love to see the sun shining through the jar.
The honey above was used to make these! Homemade granola bars : )
I made dinner for the girls! They were enjoying it al fresco! Give me a group of folks to cook for and I am happy! Can you see the guys in the background? They were kind enough to man the grill and obviously play a lil tune on the guitar.
Dear Mowgli is selling his scooter......good thing since winter will be here before you know it!
Well thats it for the week! Not much going on at the moment.....just enjoying the days as they go by one by one : ) I am so looking forward to Fall though!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Boy Time Flies!

How quickly time went by when my sister and family were here for a visit! One day they had just arrived and boom! Time to say our goodbyes : /.
I truly enjoyed having them in our lil home, hope they felt welcome and loved!
Mowgli and Ari got along great! They are both techies! I love this picture of the two of them.
Boy, do I look rough! Not much sleep was had the night before and it was a sad day of goodbyes. I love my lil Ari! He is so smart and sweet and reminds me soooo much of my Robin Hood!
Beauty and me....ugh! I do not like my pics.
Our fav Pat!
Two peas in a pod!
Ready for the long ride home! Norhtern Illinois to Southern Arizona! Hope to make the ride shorter one day when sis moves to Texas!
It has been so hot this week! Shaded the window with foil! Good ole' foil : ) Keeps the hot sun away and helps keep the house cooler. Tacky, yes.....but when it is hot you don't mind.
I have also been busy working on some stiching! I can't reveal what I stitched until my partner receives her goodies! I belong to a Yahoo group of cross stitcher and we often have little exchanges throughout the year. I will get a pic up this week!
Summer=weddings! Mowgli's job had a surprise bridal shower for one of the girls.....they did an awesome job! They decorated the bank and even made favors! He works with a great group of people.
Have my garden shoes ready for work! My sis gave these to me, I love pink and she knows it!
This is supposed to be a flower garden, somehow this summer it has been sorely ignored! Weeds is all you see here.
Phew! What a job that was, one side down another to go. I need to get some Fall flowers in there! It looks rather sad.
Weekend fun! Family barbeque. Brother in law Erick, Aunt Susan and Aunt Happy and Hubby. Kids were busy so it was just hubby and I there. Good food and good company! : )
Joy was comfy!
Kids having fun in the computer room.
Well thats it for the week!
Summer is coming to a close and soon we will be in the midst of my favorite season! Fall. I am looking forward to the change. We still have a few weeks of summer left so I will be enjoying the rest of summer by relaxing and taking things at a slower pace. Catch up on my reading list...start a few new projects, and just simply enjoy the outdoors.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Fun Times With The HIllstroms Plus The First Week of August

My favorite time of the day! Mornings with my cup of coffee and my Bible! Add a lil worship music playing softly in the background...that is if I am inside. If I am outside then add the chirping of birds!
I was going through some old boxes and I found this! Robin Hood's first year calendar. I had soooo

much fun writing in this! I need to send this to Maid Marion! It was fun looking through this and yes, it did bring a tear or two to my eyes and it did make my heart ache for my son too.
Princess made us dinner one night and it was so delicious! Lightly breaded chicken and orzo with a yummy salad! she is going to be an awesome wife!
Izzy and Maggie taking a rest......it is way too hot outside.
Maggie's sad face, she is such a doll!
I made blueberry cake for breakfast one morning this week! Most delicious : )
Ari is here! He was going on a ride with Uncle Ron! FYI family in Az call hubby Ron although he is really called Rhoel, easier to say and remember.
All ready to go! My sis was a bit nervous here! They went on a little errand and made it home safe and sound!
Ari and Bailey! Ari is a big time animal lover! Just like his Aunt Sandi : )
Fireworks that were brought over from Texas and Missouri. Living in Az the opportunity to light them is nil, not allowed.
Checking out the river, it was a rainy day as you can see.
Ari and his Dad(Pat) checking out the water level. It was high!
We took Ari to the library and he had fun "writing" a story.
Here is his story.
Time for fireworks! : )




Not quite sure what was going on here but it does look like Ari was trying to tell his dad something.
Sisters : ) Please be kind, it was the end of the day...we were tired and we look like poo....well I do sis looks great as usual!
Ari and his favorite person here! My Mowgli is great with kids!


Mosquitoes were horrible! We were armed!
Mowgli would not look at me!
A second try.....
Ari on top of Mowgli's scooter
Fishing day and they caught some! Ari loves to fish!


The Martin's invited Ari to their soccer group for the day! Ari had a blast! Prince charming played too : ) You can also see his sister and brother too.


Partytime, we had a small gathering to celebrate Ari's birthday. He turned 7 : )


Cousin Lyka and her Dad were on one team
Uncle Erick and JoyAnne were on another
Prince Charming and Elijah rode their bikes : )
Princess with the pinata.....oh where oh where should we hang it from?????
Lol, Prince Charming to the rescue!
Some of the hungry crew ; ) That lil tree you see there is my new aple tree!
Abby getting ready to whop that pinata
ball player Lexi gave it a swing
So did Niko! Even after a karate kick it stayed intact!
Ari giving it a shot
aunt Christy was not letting anyone off the hook! Princess had her turn.....did ya notice the adults had to be blinded!
Prince showed no mercy, remember he was controlling that thing!
Holly had a turn
So did I!
Mowgli's turn, I think Princess was having a bit too much satifaction in spinning him around!
Hubby even gave it a whack, all the candy came out : )
Ari opted for a trifle cake this year, layers of chocolate cake, vanilla pudding, chocolate pudding and whipped topping with oreos thrown in! it was sooooo good esp with the homemade vanilla ice cream we made!
Time to blow out the candles! Sorry for the blur
Time to open gifts!


Family
and more family : )
Cute couple
A little worship music was played
Dad and son at the end of a rather fun day!
Even maggie and Klyle were wiped
On our way to Sweet Tomato for lunch! Hubby opted to ride his bike
We had to leave early, the rest of the gang went to Geneva to do a lil shopping
This is why we left early, Mazi's previous owner asked me to take these lil beauties
So on one of my blogs I read how you can catch fruit flys, I wasn't sure it would work but it did! They could check in but couldn't check out!