Mini Mozarts

And He Almost Took Off...

Birthday Gift Completed

We went to the Angels/Brewers game last night with the tickets we bought for Derek for his birthday back in March. The weather was great, the company was excellent and it was free fedora hat night (as you can see). The Angels lost, the Lakers won... all in all a bad sports night for Derek, but we had fun!

A Family of 7!

We have Ethan for the week while KnK enjoy some Caribbean time together. The kids are loving having a little brother in the house to dote on, especially Leah! These shots are from a few minutes ago playing in the yard. I didn't get any pictures of Addie, otherwise known as 'Streak' while she's with us, but she's enjoying running like a greyhound around the back yard.

And Kath, this is what I came downstairs to before 7 this morning... someone is already changing the date for me!

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

You're thinking, 'How Does Your Garden Grow?", right? Maybe it is because I have a lot of young children that it is this nursery rhyme I think of almost every time I think of our garden. We had little success growing things in the last couple of years although I'll admit that I didn't try too hard. This year Derek took some lumber from the side of the house that the previous owners had used to make a box garden that leaned against the house and re-assembled it into a box by the patio. We then filled it with dirt and planted and held our breath. Mom, is it you that I got my black thumb from? Anyhow, I was still expectantly hopeful! And I haven't been disappointed. Except for having to replant a couple of seeded areas once we got the water all worked out, everything has grown very nicely.

Here it is a couple of days after going in. We bought small plants of strawberries, rasberries, muskmelon, watermelon, tomato, red and green pepper and four herbs. We planted from seed a few rows of corn, green beans, mini-watermelon, cucumbers, squash and zuchinni. We also lined the back wall of the box with some jasmine (my absolute favorite) that we hope will grow up as a vine for a little privacy and prettier scenery along the fence.

This is the result after last week. Everything is really growing and the kids and I are enjoying watching it develop.

The 10K in La Canada Flintridge

Today Derek ran his second race, a 10K for Memorial Day in nearby La Canada Flintridge. The start of the race included the 5K and 10K runners so it was quite an assortment. We ran into a friend from Santa Clarita who was also running the 10K (that's Steve Roth in the red hat) and they both ran really great races.

Finish time is 48:49! He said he felt better after this race than the 5K. Next race: the Disneyland Half Marathon on Labor Day!

Derek Runs

I don't remember how it started, but a couple of months ago Derek decided to do some running... and run he has. He started building up time and running mostly in the mornings and he ran his first race, a 5K, in early May.


Before the start of the race.

Strolling along.

Finish! He did a lot better than he thought he would.