I was helping David pick out a new cell phone a few weeks ago and so was spending a fair amount of time browsing around looking at cellular phones. I just got my smart phone a year ago and I seriously love-love-love this phone. I know some people buy a new phone almost yearly…but honestly…I would miss my little MotoQ so much if I were to replace it. How often do you replace your cell phone?

Today was a picture perfect day. Low humidities, plenty of sunshine. I took three kids shopping with me and we made our way through the maze of stores. They were all perfect angels and I am not exaggerating one little bit. It was an absolute pleasure to have them along with me. We stopped at the dairy farm to pick up our milk and they got a little bonus. The wife took them on a tour and they even got to see a calf that was a few hours old! It was very cool. This farm has 420 head of Jersey cows and they name them all! Can you imagine? I’d be looking to buy memory if I had to keep track of all that!

We came home, got naps for little people, grilled out, and went swimming at a friend’s pool after supper. Great summer day!

Greetings! How is your summer going? Mine is crazy. I don’t know why I always think summers will be a little slower pace. Although they are certainly a different pace than the school year, they are NOT slower by any means. Swimming, swim team, baseball, summer school…trying to get Michael to practice piano and multiplication facts, starting Ruthie on piano, keeping Abby busy, and dealing with Isaiah and his temper…this and keeping track of the olders has me running every direction all day long.

These pictures are overdue, but wanted to share…they are some odds and ends from the graduation party three weeks ago.

I think I just have to be in the running for this after the last few weeks I’ve put in. What with the graduation party…the birthdays over the last month…trying to finish the school year, putting in the garden…shuttling back and forth to swim lessons, ball games, and library programs…and on and on and on…top it all off with yesterday. I took five kids…BY.MY.SELF…strawberry picking! I knew it had the potential to be unpleasant and ugly if Isaiah decided to get tired and cranky…I’m happy to say that only a few strawberry plants were trampled and only about 10 pounds of strawberries were eaten by all five of them while we were picking. Happily, we are friends with the owners of the organic farm and they don’t care if people munch whilst picking…anyway…it only took us about 1.5 hours to pick 20 pounds of strawberries.

What’s your favorite thing to do with strawberries? I’m needing some inspiration!

A couple of years ago, I could not have told you what mesothelioma was. Now…thanks to the internet I have learned all about what a frightening and needless cancer this is. We have asbestos in our basement that my husband has had extensive exposure to…so this illness is something that I am concerned about. Makes you wonder about all of the things they insist are “safe” for us now that we are going to find out will be killing us in the future. Actually…now that I think about it…I absolutely believe this will be the case! Wow…what a downer I’m on tonight. Time to call it a day, I think!

I think I’m ready for this! Tomorrow afternoon is the big graduation party. Weather looks quite wet today, the the weatherman promised me that it would blow through by overnight tonight and tomorrow would be pretty much dry. I’m counting on this.

Cooking is under control, house is pretty clean, tonight we need to decorate and I still need to frost and decorate the cake…but I’m in good shape.

I finished a slideshow for the gift table and I wanted to share. I tell you…I made it so you wouldn’t think that it would get to me like this, but it still makes me cry every time I watch it! I’d love to know what you think…I worked hard on it!

It’s time for one of my very favorite rites of spring! Summer shoes! Have you seen some of these cute Dansko slides they have this year? I could totally see a couple pairs of these for hanging out at the pool. I just can’t imagine going into the summer season without at least one new pair of summer shoes to usher in the season.

It seems that in the midst of all of the outside work we have been doing that we are also going to have to take a close look at a few interior items as well. One thing that is on my mind this summer is ceiling fans. I would really like to replace all of our ancient ceiling fans with fans that are more attractive and more energy efficient. I was just looking at some of the discount light fixtures on various websites and beginning to drool. I can’t wait to get new fans!

Daniel is needing to get his first auto insurance policy very soon. I would be very interested in any helpful insurance leads that any readers might have as far as auto insurance for a young male driver. Daniel needs to find the most affordable insurance possible and quickly. Does anyone have any suggestions for a company they have used and liked? Thank you so much in advance!

I am struggling with what to get Daniel for his gradation gift. I want it to be something that he will be able to use at school this fall and from what I saw when we took a tour of his school several weeks ago, laptops are strongly encouraged for students to have. So…I’m thinking that he really needs a laptop to keep himself organized and do all of this school work on. As I was browsing tonight, I happened to get hung up on this page of netbooks. Aren’t these cute? I’m not sure that one of these would be enough of a machine for a student…or if these are more like just an extra gadget for folks who have money to spend. Anyone know?