Cicada Killers

by Robin
Photographed by Andrew

These guys come by storm every summer and they take up residence in our yard. They are ground dwellers. They love to eat Cicadas and will store as many as possible in their underground lairs before the cold weather hits. It is very peculiar that they will be swarming all around us as we cut grass, garden or plug in the pool filter, but we never get stung. I'm not even sure they have stingers. But they're clever little friends that we are finally getting used to our 2nd year in this home.

LAMININ

by Robin

Preaching is good, but wait for the left hook..... (8 min long)



Col 1: 15-20

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

SPOILER....

DON'T LOOK UNLESS YOU'VE VIEWED THE VIDEO

SEXY READING GLASSES

by Robin

Lately, Jack's eyes are not as strong as they once were. He has perfect 20/20 vision for distances but when it comes to reading a menu or a book, forget it. I become his seeing-eye dog (not that I mind it). It is a new world that I have to accept as we continue to age and love each other. Granted, my eyes have been awful since 2nd grade, but for Jack, this is new.

He bought his readers over-the-counter and they work great. He first kept them at work only. Then, they came home for reading ....... well........let's be honest..... in the bathroom. (Don't act like y'all don't read in the bathroom too!) Last night, Jack brought home a "How-To" book for dolphin fishing specifically.

He took to the couch with a reading lamp, the book and those glasses for a couple hours. I passed by him several times between chasing kids, laundry, dogs and watering the garden. He probably never knew it but as I passed, I was looking. LOOKING. And I was thinking.....

He is soooo incredibly sexy in his reading glasses. Am I a total geek or what? My husband overwhelmingly increased his sexiness 10-fold by putting on a pair of reading glasses and sitting on the couch reading a book. What is this that God has done to my heart?

The world tells me that sexy men are shirtless, ripped with a 6-pack stomach, tan, young and coming out of a pool dripping wet. Oh please..... what does the world know. A real woman looks at that man and sure.... he's cute, maybe worth forwarding to a couple people, but what we're really thinking is, "He's STUPID." What woman wants a stupid man? None I know. And stupid does not equal sexy. So sorry to bust the advertising world wide open. Sexy only sells those few seconds on the tv screen. When we consume, we want wise, practical, purposeful and economical.

Ok, this post really isn't about product consumption but my point is that guy w/ great abs isn't wise, practical, purposeful (in more than one way) or economical to find. No. No. No. No. Don't buy into the world's philosophy!

BUT, my Jack.... he's mine. He's gifted in many areas around the house. He loves us more than life itself. He's, well.... not so economical, but we'll skip that for now because I love fishing too. LOL. But as he ages, wisdom is gained along with all those silver hairs on the side of his head. Reading glasses only add to the attraction of wisdom. He's mellowing as he pauses to answer questions. He's soooo attractive to me, it is like a true pheromone I can't stop thinking about.

This year, he's worried about turning 45, but honestly, I can't wait to hit the golden years with him. I can't wait for retirement days we spend on the water. I can't wait to have time to talk without interruption. I can't wait to steal him away for a romantic get-away together. All those things we weren't able to do as we were pitifully poor 20-somethings or 30'somethings with babies. No, this is a great time to look forward to with the love of your life.

My choir buddy had her 60th wedding anniversary this weekend. Her husband is 90. She loves & adores him soooo much. I want to be like Marie when I grow up. She has set the bar high but I'm ready for the challenge because..... afterall..... my guys is soooo sexy wearing reading glasses. I wonder if he will still be as sexy after cataract surgery? LOL

NOT FOR SALE

by Robin

We were very blessed this weekend to receive some great quality hand-me-downs from a friend. There were so many great things to wear as Andrew sifted through the pile.

But, there was one that he insisted we not keep.

"Hmmm?? What? Show me." I said.

He pulled it out and it said, "Parents for Sale - Buy one, get one free." I thought it was funny but I'm pretty pleased that my son didn't think it was worthy of wearing. He loves his Dad and I so much that he doesn't want to advertise that we're for sale. Awwww, how cute!

(Disclaimer: If you have this shirt and your child wears it, don't feel bad. It is funny.)

FATHER'S DAY

by Robin

To my sweetie. May you have the best Father's Day ever. I love you more and more every year. Thank you for my dear boys. Thank you for being there for them and for me.

The glory of young men is their strength,
And the splendor of old men is their gray head. - Prover 20:29

I DISTINCTLY HEARD MARVIN GAYE...

... singing in the back yard.



You know, the one with a lot of guitar in the beginning.



The one that begins with , "Let's get it...."



The only thing was that I only saw these two snakes in the tree in my backyard. In the same tree. In the highest set of leaves. Please tell me, "No"..... Somebody.



SOMEBODY!

LOL

Help.... Wild Kingdom is alive & well in my backyard.

Jeremiah 31:25-26

For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me.




(Except for this ear that kept twitching back-n-forth on Simon Peter's nose while they rested)

New Project

by Robin

Some people do summer school.
Some people relax by the pool.
Some of us, find other things to do.

GARDEN REPORT - June fruit

by Robin

We had a wonderful week of VBS at our church. (Vacation Bible School) We used Boomerang Express curricula where the theme is that it "All Comes Back to Jesus". The songs were wonderful. Stories very meaningful. Lots of fun was had by all of us who worked & attended it. Decisions were made by children who had decided to choose Jesus as Lord of their lives.

But, as I sat up early this morning waiting for the shuttle launch that never happened, sipping my coffee, I pondered the these things. All things should lead back to Jesus. Everything we do is for God's glory (hopefully). And everything in the earth is His.

So while this is a garden report, it too will lead us back to Jesus.

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing. - Colossians 1:6.

Zucchini (male) blooms


Pollinated cucumbers, beginning to grow.


1st Romas turning red


Cilantro and Dill beginning to seed out. (Rosemary in the background)


Our new project, "The Hunt for Bees" sent us sunflower seeds. More on that later.


Big boys tomatoes ripening on the vine. Wish they were plumper but I'll take them.


Picks from the last couple days.


Other things to note: Caecada Killers (bees) are back this week. I'm sure I spelled that wrong. Forgive me. No. I'm not going to spell check and lose all my pictures. :o)

I've got 2 squash blooms that will probably open tomorrow with little girlie fruit on them.

PSALM 55 & 56

by God through a Psalmist's pen


Psalm 55: 1, 2 Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea;
hear me and answer me.

4, 5 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me.
Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.




8 I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm."

16, 17 But I call to God, and the LORD saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.



22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.



Psa 56: 3, 4 When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?



8,9 Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll — are they not in your record?
Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me



10, 11 In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise-
in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?



12, 13 I am under vows to you, O God; I will present my thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

NXT Robotics - Pool Party

by Robin

Today, my boys are hosting a semi-work, gaming, pool party with their two Lego League buddies. The third buddy got an eye infection and couldn't come. The guys have decided to come up with their own Biblical aliases, Joseph and David.

Life has changed since the last party we hosted of homeschoolers for a shuttle launch. Nobody needs mommy. Nobody needs help finding stuff. The only thing they need from me is lots of food and somebody to listen to their jokes. Like this one...

Did you know that the Energizer Bunny was arrested?
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He was charged with battery.


They've created new words & noises to the Popeye song. They come equipped with uploadable software games and DS downloadable games (you play together but on separate Nintendos) and jumbo-sized water guns. They're the up & coming techie kids who are totally wired for knowledge and humor. AND they have some wonderful manners. I am very fortunate that my boys have friends with great parents and are doing a superior job of raising their children.

Actually, it is rather nice to have reached this stage in their lives. They're fairly independant, they're still my best buddies and yet, they have the beginnings of their own lives & friends.





The other great thing is that tweenage boys aren't particular worried if I have dust bunnies, paper piles, or a few things out of place. A working computer, food and pool are their only needs. Oh yeah, and listening to more great jokes.....

What do you call a gorilla wearing ear muffs?
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Anything you want. He can't hear you.

Have a great day!

HOMESCHOOLING STATS

Article by Albert Mohler
President of the S. Baptist Theological Seminary

http://www.crosswalk.com/homeschool/11604405/

Here are my 2 favorite quotes from the article:

"Homeschooling was the choice of families for 2.9 percent of all school-age children in the United States in 2007, involving 1.5 million students. By comparison, in 1999 only 850,000 children were homeschooled. By 2003, that number was up to 1.1 million. This report indicates significant jumps in homeschooling as compared to other educational options. In fact, the report reveals that the actual number of American children whose parents choose homeschooling for at least part of their education exceeds 3 million. According to the report, 1.5 million children are exclusively homeschooled while another 1.5 million are homeschooled for at least part of the school week."

"When parents were asked why they chose to homeschool their children, 36 percent cited a desire to provide children specifically religious or moral instruction. After that, 21 percent of parents pointed to concerns about the environment of schools, 17 percent cited dissatisfaction with educational quality in the schools, and 14 percent cited "other reasons." Among those "other reasons" was a concern for more family time together."

TIE-DYE ZINIAS

by Robin

(Forgive the graininess. I had to take in low-light to keep the colors from washing out in the sun.)


I've showed you the veggie garden earlier this week, but I must say that Andrew's project of planting the zinnias has paid off in spades (whatever that actually means).




We have all the normal colors, but this week, we've gotten some really cool ones.




I'm really loving the color in the yard and all the Black Swallowtail Butterflies it is bringing into the yard.

Captain

..... waiting on Mommy in the garden.

by Robin
Photographed by Simon Peter

Can you move woman? The sun is in my eyes.


How much longer?


I think you missed a tomato over there.

It's a SNAKE EAT SNAKE world out there!!

by Robin

No, I didn't mean Dog eat Dog world..... I literally mean Snake eating Snake world.

My approach. I was confused. I saw contractions and I didn't know if she was giving birth or eating. I couldn't see the head.


(Renee, this isn't the girl from my ADD talk yesterday. This is her younger, smaller sister. LOL)

Ahhh..... here is a better view. Ignore the verticle black watering hose in the garden.


You cannot know how entirely grateful I was to have seen "them" before I got in the garden to pollinate my cucumbers like I normally do each morning.




Ewww, ewww, ewww!! Gag... Ewww some more.


Don't let it ever be said of me that I don't have enough snake pictures on my blog. LOL. This is a black racer eating what looks to be something like a ribbon snake. I am no herpatologist, nor do I want to be one. I just live in *their* yard.

GARDEN REPORT - end of May

by Robin

Things are going very well for the garden. I am beginning to pick and eat regularly off the food I'm gathering from there. It is a lot of fun to harvest. I think we had a pretty adequate size garden for our family of 4.

Garden #1 - being watered, primarily herbs, tomatoes, viney things


We had some changes last week when I decided to cull some weaker plants. We added 5 sweet pea plants, 2 banana pepper plants, 3 watermelon plants and started some more okra from seed. The Okra is really more an experiment to see if I could grow plants from the seeds of one of my own "produce" veggies. They should pop up soon if it is going to happen.

Garden #2 Peppers, Watermelon, Onions in corner of pic



We're up to having 88-90 deg days and the garden was showing signs of heat stress so I went ahead after taking these photos and laid a layer of hay down to act as a buffer between the sun & soil.

Garden #3, toms & hot peppers & beans These pics are older. The plants are now over the top of the cage.


In another week or two, I will have more than my share of Roma toms all ready for making salsa or canning. I'm so excited. There are dozens of them all at once.


I have another smaller crop of San Marzanos which are similar to Romas. The packet says they're suppose to be slightly meatier.


I was having a cucumber issue but I think it worked itself out with all the rain. See how they're ball shaped?


Here's a close-up. This is a water issue. We had heavy rains after a big drought. I have 3 quirky cukes but the next few babies on the vine are all normal w/ the consistent rains the last week.


This was a harvest from a couple weeks ago, minus tomatoes which never made the pic. All but the orange serrano chilis went into a veggie/fish soup. Those rusty looking beans were no good. The green serranos are great for a little heat, but use them sparingly. They're hotter than jalapenos.


This was last week's harvest. See how the cukes are working it out? Getting bigger and fuller. You're also seeing my first bell pepper of the season and my quirky, occasional curled okra. That may be a soil deficiency. I'm still building up a healthy soil. The toms are cherries and Big Boys which aren't that big. However, I'm getting quite a good decent crop of Big Boys compared to the year before. I am fertilizing more, so that may be the reason.


Here is my problem child. I have a whole row of Brandywine Heirloom tomatoes that refuse to produce fruit after dozens and dozens of blooms have yellowed & fallen off. I need to call the County Extension office to see if they have any clues. Otherwise, the plants are up to my hip and look great.


I'd love to hear from you if you have a garden. Feel free to comment.