Monday, May 25, 2009

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

A little bit of this, and a little bit of that...

WOW! Is April already gone? I better hold on- May is also passing by so fast!!

We have been busy! Its a good kind of busy. Here is a few weeks in review!

The girls had track and field day with all their fellow homeschoolers. It went great- I was so proud of all their work. At first they were pretty upset they didnt win a ribbon, but Sonic afterwards took that all away.








A few weeks ago, Joel and I went to a concert (I mentioned in a previous post) and had such an amazing time.

















David Crowder Band was awesome to listen to.











And Kirk Cameron talked on marriage- which was so sweet.







C
hris Tomlin finished off the night well. He is awesome. It rained at times- but made it such an adventure! We ate at Chili's just like old times. We went to bed at 2am- we sure did pay for it the next day- but so worth it!



We have been working hard in our garden. Sometimes, its too much to keep up with, but so rewarding!










We have watermelons and cantaloupe plants growing like mad! It should be interesting!






We eat almost daily off of our strawb
erry plants.












I have pulled up a few onion
s to eat. DELICIOUS! We have big lush tomatoes that are taking forever to ripen!












Our weener dog Daisy LO
VES the radishes, and steals them when she can.







Our potatos, corn, and okra are doing wonderful! Im about to pick our first okra off. I found
this ladybug a few days ago on a corn stalk, beautiful!










And our sunflowers are now as tall as the girls! SO MUCH FUN! And so beautiful!












The girls are trucking along in school. We are wrapping up our school year- which will end the second week in June. The girls wrote poems last week in school. Very creative! Emily wrote hers about a guinea pig and Kayla about a Barn Swallow.













Speaking of swallows, we have birds all over the place here. We have
recently developed a love for birds. We have a family of Barn Swallows in a nest right above our front door. The daddy took a tour of our home recently. Nice to have them. Yesterday, on the ground below the nest- we found an empty egg shell. A baby was born! We have a pair of robins nesting in our backyard. They love to perch themselves on our fence. We have seen some cardinals, cant find their nest. We seem them every year! Kayla brought home a backyard bird guide from our Mommaw. Its been so educational!

Barn Swallow nest.









Fat Robin perched on his favorite spot on the fence!







I was recently blessed with a mini getaway for Mothers day. BOUNDS B&B- I highly recommend them! ;) My parents house is always amazing to visit- with kids or without. It was my dads birthday and Mothers day. I was able to make a cake for dad, enjoy his grilling. I rubbed my moms feet for Mothers day, and she took me shopping. I cried at the mall, I felt so blessed to be shopping! I also got new curtains for my bedroom!! I came home Saturday night to my sweet family. I was treated like a queen for mothers day. My house was clean, the van was cleaned out. There were sweet notes written all over the house. I got a cute ladybug gift..Joel made me dinner, rubbed my feet, and even wrote a blog post! HA! I was humbled and blessed by it all. Its such an honor to be the momma of this family. We were also able to surprise Kathy- aka Granny for Mothers day that morning. It was a sweet day! These two pictures were drawn by Joel on our dresser mirrors. One mirror has a pic of the family without mommy, and the other mirror has a pic with momm home. Too funny!

Oh and also I made the news- I won the MOM OF
THE YEAR award!! Check out this video I got from a friend!
http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=KozMAhiQ8PI8RUUHUkWAljE0NTU3MTQ2&referred_by=16918812-Vc5AUFx&p=moveon

The boys, what can I say about these boys?
~DJ is having some troubles. We are persevering and wo
rking through all of this with DJ. I have picked the book back up "Bringing up BOYS" And also a big thanks to Shannon- for all her preschool behavior expertise with this boy!
~Tator tot sure does know he is the baby of this house! We had a standoff at dinner tonight. He broke my heart when I had to spank him. Those big beautiful blue eyes!

Joel is training for a triathlon. He will b
e swimming, biking, and running. We are so proud of our daddy and know he will do amazing! The triathlon is in July. Let us know if you want to come cheer him on. We are putting together some "fan" shirts. He is training so hard- its a committment!

At the end of the year, the boys preschool program has a Luau to celebrate the year. It was lots of fun this year. Kelli, the K.K. director, has run this thing from the beginning and has done an amazing job! This is her last year at K.K, she will be moving away...and will be greatly missed!






















My cousin in law Trish, and Ashley(the mom to be's sister) and I threw a baby shower for Mandy-who is my other cousin in law! This miracle baby girl, Moriah will be born early July. I had alot of fun with the shower. The cake was amazing. I highly recommend Custom Cakes By Laura! I also put together this melon carriage- so CUTE!






















Em was suppose to have her last Saturday of soccer, but it got rained out. She will have that last game-but who knows when! We have enjoyed watching Emily play- she is good at it. Like mother-like daughter! ;) Hoping we will BOTH play this fall!!


Sunday, May 10, 2009

To the Best Mom we could ever ask for!

10 Reasons why Tressa is the Best Mom we could ever have! (by the other 5 Stricklands)

1. She makes yummy meals from scratch! (Dylan, Daddy, Taylor, Kayla, Emily, and everyone else Tressa has fed!)
2. She looks like me! (Emily)
3. She cares about us! (Kayla)
4. She wants the best for her children and is willing to do whatever it takes for them to have it! (Daddy)
5. She is an awesome schoolteacher, principal, PE coach, etc, etc, etc, (Kayla & Emily)
6. She gives great hugs! (Taylor)
7. She wants me to be a good boy and encourages me when i am (Dylan)
8. She is an amazing gardener! (Kayla)
9. She is a good soccer coach! (Emily)
10. She is ours! Thank you GOD for giving us the Best! (Daddy)

11. OF COURSE we have more than 10 reasons Tressa is the best Mom we could ever have.

Lets see; See is kind to us and others, affectionate, concerned for our heath and well-being, serves us day after day, loves Jesus, prays for us, puts up with me (joel), manages our houshold, gives to others, is BEAUTIFUL, has noble character, is loving, joyful, peaceful, paitient, kind, gentle, and has self control.

Thank you for being such a wonderfully amazing wife and mother. We love you and are grateful for you.

-the other 5