May I present to you....

the new addition to our yard...



After much delay, swimming 2009 has commenced. I thought the new (bigger) pool would never get put up and filled, but here it is. Oh swimming, how I have missed you! Now, if the weather would just warm back up again.... I can't believe we are expecting highs in the 60s and 70s this week after the sweltering week we just had. Can it please be summer and stay summer?

And here, just as a little bonus, is a picture of the little baby robins that hatched this past week or so. Mama Robin built her nest in my philodendron that was hanging out on the porch. They are getting pretty crowded in that little nest!

Food as art

This post is for you, Lynn!

I saw the colors blended in my pan as I was stir-frying tonight, and thought "Well, isn't that pretty?!" and ran for my camera.

I wish I had caught it while the red onions were still colorful, but along with them, there was orange pepper, broccoli, celery, mushrooms, and water chestnuts. The meat was strips of turkey breast. Sooo good.

And to cleanse the palate, a small dish of homemade Lemon Ice.

Jake did most of the prep work. He cut and juiced the lemons, measured out the other ingredients and mixed them together. It was certainly delicious and he's already said we need to make it more often. This was our first time. I ended up mashing my strawberry in while I ate it, and decided next time we make it, we'll add some chopped strawberries to it before the final freezing.

GO WINGS!

Jake's first meal of the day... we are SOOO excited about tonight's game, hoping that the Wings beat the Penguins again in game 6. 

Repeat ... so sweet!

The Baby Bump

I can't get enough of looking at Kim's belly. Isn't it cute? I know there are pregnancies everywhere, but this one is most special!

Here's what I've got on the needles for the baby bump right now. It's a little more than half done. Easy garter stitch short-rows. Good mindless knitting for hockey games.

GO WINGS!

Kaitlyn has graduated!

Yesterday, Kaitlyn, and 400+ classmates, graduated from Romeo High School. Commencement was held at Freedom Hill, an outdoor concert venue, with a covered pavilion. It was on the chilly side to begin with yesterday, and being in the shade, with a stiff wind, made for a somewhat uncomfortable couple of hours. I neglected to wear anything warmer than a short sleeved shirt, (well, yes, I WAS wearing pants) and believe me, I was sure wishing I had a hand-knit shawl around my shoulders! What was I thinking? Mike, Kim, my parents... they all had jackets. Jake had a long sleeved shirt over another shirt. Me, I wore goosebumps. I really felt bad for the girls graduating.... they all had dresses on under their skimpy little white gowns, and I'm sure they were freezing!

The ceremony was quite nice. Kaitlyn graduated with High Honors and we are very proud of her! Congratulations, Kaitlyn!

We will be throwing a big graduation party for her in July. I really need to get to planning that.... and a baby shower..... tick tock tick tock....