Crazy Week!

As soon as we got back from the lake house trip last weekend, Brian left the next morning for a 4 day trip to Mexico.  I had a couple appointments to go to during the week and because my mom had surgery on Monday, she was also unavailable to watch the girls.  So, we used a babysitter for the first time ever...a 14 year old down the street named Delaney.  Hailey enjoyed her both times she came over to watch them, so we'll probably use her again in the future.  But paying a babysitter sure adds up (especially when you're not working!!).  Brian called on Friday morning to let me know he and his customer had been in a car accident down in Mexico.  They were both being driven to the airport by another employee when a drunk cab driver started driving the wrong way down the street and towards them.  The cab in front of them swerved to avoid him and got clipped in the process.  Brian's company's car then hit that cab after he got clipped and spun to the side.  Thankfully, Brian escaped with just a little neck pain, but his customer (who was riding in the back seat without a seat belt on) suffered a slightly separated shoulder and swollen wrist.  A cab got them both to the airport so they wouldn't miss their flight since they were not badly injured.  I try not to think about the fact that give or take a minute (or probably even a second), the accident could have been completely avoided or could have been 10 times worse.  I'm just grateful God was watching out for them!

On Saturday, my sister and niece came over so Hailey and Laura could enjoy some pool time together.  They played back and forth between the pool and swing set and had a great time!  Brian worked on building a couple more garden boxes for me and other outdoor projects.  I made a strawberry rhubarb pie in the evening.  We have June-bearing strawberry plants, so I've been picking lots of ripe strawberries each day this week.  I decided not to make jam this year, because my rhubarb still isn't doing very well and it's challenging having to juggle making the jam and taking care of Clara at the same time.  Next year!

On Sunday, Hailey and I went to my friend, Laura's baby shower.  She's due in early August with twins.  We can't wait to meet them!  After we got back, Hailey swam in the pool a little more while we finished up a few of the outdoor projects.

A couple Hailey funnies from the week:

- While quietly eating lunch one day, we heard a dog barking.  After a minute, Hailey says, "Mommy, I just heard a little kid say, 'Oh, Daddy!  Can we keep him?"  I said, "Hmm...I wonder what they are talking about?"  She said, "Stealing the neighbor's dog."

- I asked Hailey if she wanted to go to the baby shower with me on Sunday.  She said, "Yes!  I'm so excited!  I've never been to a baby shower before!"  Then, "Are they going to have water fountains there?"  Me, wondering why she was thinking that, said, "No...it's going to be at someone's house."  She said, with a puzzled look, "Then why do they call it a shower?"

   Best friends!

Playing with her toys

 Fresh from our garden...this is what I used in the pie.

My pie crust was a little short, but it still tasted wonderful!  I use my grandmother's double pie crust recipe, which makes enough for 3 double crusts, but I obviously didn't split the dough very evenly between the 3!

She is so so close to crawling!  After she gets to this stance, she moves her arms forward, but then lowers her tummy and legs.  Once she puts moving the legs with the arms together, she'll be off!

Poor communication between Brian and I.  Oops!  Thankfully the ground desperately needed the water anyway!

I made this little guy with my scrapbooking Cricut machine and my grandfather's drawing chalk.  I really loved how it turned out!

 Glowing Laura

This probably amounts to a 2 or 3 day supply with twins!

The swirly things are called garlic scapes (found on the hard neck variety of garlic).  On the next warm afternoon, I need to go out and cut these off.  The theory is that they take the plant's energy away from growing the bulbs.  This is my first year in growing garlic, so I'm learning as we go along.  I'll have to do a whole separate post on growing garlic later this year.

 One of the new garden beds.  We picked up this rhubarb plant in Minocqua last weekend, since I wanted to get a third plant growing.  My other two plants on the side of the house just aren't doing very well and I'm not sure if it's the location or not.  So, we'll see how this one does.

The other new bed.  This is in between my herbs and tomatoes.  So, I planted lemon basil and parsley seeds to extend the herb garden a little.  The little stone in the middle is a stepping stone for me to be able to get back to the chives.