This is my little garden. It's my first one and I'm so proud of it.

 In my garden I am growing peas, watermelon radishes, beets, giant spinach, kale, swiss chard, carrots, potatoes and turnips. I also have several planter boxes throughout my yard with more beets, carrots and radishes in them. The radish leaves are getting munched by little green worms. Lilli really likes to hunt them out and squish them. I also have basil, oregano, thyme, chocolate mint, chives and green onions in planter boxes. So far I have already been able to pick and enjoy spinach and kale. It is so exciting to me, and I seriously am out every day looking for weeds and pests. It is amazing how fast it grows. Oh, and I also have a couple of tomato plants. My life must be really exciting that I am entertained by such simple things. 

 Here's a funny thing about my guy Leif. He loves clips. You know the kind you can get at Ikea or the dollar store. You use them to close bags. Well they are his favorite toy right now. They can be part of a crane or a digger, they can even be bendy guys. He 

has played with and lost or broke all of the ones in the house. The other day at the dollar store he saw a bag of them and got so excited. " Mom look at those clips, can I have them please." I am not normally a very indulgent mother but they were only a dollar. We had to open the bag as soon as we were in the car, and the whole ride home " Oh mom I love my clips! Thank you so much for my clips mom. I'll share them with you. What clip do you like best mom? , I can't wait to show Daddy my clips" And then several hours later when Chris got home he went through the whole thing with him. He takes them to school and keeps them in his backpack. In the above picture he took one to his preschool fathers day activity. he even sleeps with them. He is such a sweet, funny little boy.

 Violet continues to terrorize just about everyone who comes to our home, or gets to close to her in the grocery store. Especially if they make the mistake of attempting to compliment her. she puts her hand out as if to push them away and says "No!" in a voice with such snarly attitude, I wouldn't think it possible for someone her age to  even possess. She is a real charmer. In this picture

she is trying to force feed her cousin Sam. I think he is 10 months younger then her, but she gives him a little too much love and attention because she thinks he is a baby, and Violet loves babies. He's not to impressed with the whole situation as you can see.

 Miete and Lilli finished school last Thursday. Regular public school here doesn't get out until the end of the month. Already I miss the routine, and I will do my best to keep them reading, typing and working on math and printing throughout the summer. I'm not going to work them to hard, but I don't want them to forget what they've learned recently, and there is a lot they still need to work on. Report cards should be sent to us in a couple of weeks. They mean very little to us though. I keep them for a record but I rarely discuss them with the girls. You will not see me bragging about my children's grades either. Because I work with them I know better then anyone how they are doing and their strengths and weaknesses. I have learned that aside from positive comments of encouragement their "levels of competency" don't tell me anything I already don't know. I try not to pay heed to comments like "You're third grade child reads at a mid grade one level" . My children learn at their pace, not at an expected level, and they are progressing at their own rate, so for now I'm not going to worry about it. I am so grateful that I have been able to educate them at home, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Well if I could higher someone else to help me share the load I would to that. I really feel that I am doing the best thing for my girls, rather then them being lost in a classroom. I am not anti public school either, it is just not the best system for us.
 

all the kids with their "Aunty Rae-rae", my good fried Rae-anne.

Next week Chris and I are going down to Seattle for me to attempt to run The Rock and  Roll half marathon. I am not very prepared and haven't run in over a week due to some crazy calf pain. I really don't want to get a terrible injury like so many others I know have. I think I just increased my distance to fast, or don't drink enough water, or stretch enough or all of the above. I'm going to run regardless but I not expecting to improve on my last years time. I trained better then. My brave friend Rae-anne will be staying with my children. I hope she survives.

 That's all for now.