Finally back!

I have finally figured out how to get the pics from my new camera onto my computer, so let the blogging begin! We have been on a whirlwind vacation...from North Dakota to Illinois and back to Iowa in a week, phew! We had a great time in North Dakota with Grandpa Jim. Tyler and Matt went up at the end of May, so they got to spend a couple extra weeks up there. Joel, Heidi, Eli and Noah met us up there for a few days which was great....the kids adore their cousins! Here are some pics:

A big storm:

Landscaping at 112

Here are the new shrubs and plants at Mom & Don's house, they all look really nice. They got the front steps in yesterday too.

Grace Kinney, entrepreneur

While I was shopping this morning, Grace played outside with Grandma and Don. They were working on planting flowers and shrubs, it looks so nice! When I pulled in the driveway, I saw Grace sitting at a little folding table with signs on it waving $4 in the air and screeching "Mommy, mommy, I made four dollars selling my bracelets!!" in her high pitched, ear piercing voice. She was so excited! She made bracelets by twisting pipe cleaners together, and sold them for 25 cents a piece. She actually made $4! A carload of teenage girls bought some, and the old guy down the street bought 2 :).

Her first business venture!

Putting bracelets on poor Donny. He is a good sport, that's for sure!

This is how I found Grace today....

We were getting ready to go to the pool, so she was waiting outside with her swimsuit on, laying on Rich's car listening to her CD player. And singing at the top of her little lungs. I can just see the teenage years now!

Lucy's haircut...

This is for Tyler and Matt. We finally got ragamuffin Lucy clipped at PetSmart, she was looking like a miniature sheepdog. She looks cute now, although the groomer said we should take her to puppy classes because she doesn't know who's boss. Apparently she bit the groomer a couple of times when she was working on her face and legs. The groomer says she thinks she's in charge, that's why she's biting. Yeah lady, welcome to my world of 4 kids and 2 dogs who think they are the boss. Can I enroll Grace in these classes as well??

Work day...

Rich has the weekend off and we spent the day working on outside projects. I painted the front door Burgundy Red, and Rich and Don put in a new entry door on the garage. They also took the small deck off the back patio, and reinstalled the steps. It makes the cement much more usable for us with our big patio table. Here are some preliminary pics of the garage door...I painted it Burgundy Red also, but it looks much redder in the picture than the front door does, even though they are the same color. We haven't installed the doorknob yet, and they still have some trimwork to finish.

And the front door:

The backyard sans deck:

And Don's work in progress...the front landscaping. He added mulch to the front circle today:

Disguise day at VBS

Today was disguise day at vacation bible school...the theme is Spy something or other so the kids were to wear a costume. Grace wore her apron and oven mitt with a Krispy Kreme hat and went as a baker. Eli wore a Home Depot painters cap and apron and had a paint brush and went as a painter. He would only wear it for a photo op in front of Grandma's house though, and we struggled to get that :)! They looked cute!