Our Sunflowers grow Daily!

Look how unbelievably tall that sunflower is!!!!!
Our garden. Elli is standing by the rogue cucumber plant, outside the fence. We planted a row of sunflowers, nine in all. 7 are currently blooming. Not bad:)
This is the largest head on any of the flowers. Also, do you see the size of that bee? I looked up online how to harvest the seeds. We may have a new snack soon at the Ferguson home. I have learned so many new things this summer by having this garden.
When we planted our sunflowers, Elli couldn't wait for them to grow so we could take a picture with sunglasses on the flower and us. We saw this at a sunflower field last year and she has talked about it several times. So, out we go with sunglasses on. (yes she is posing) I love her little memory and imagination!!!

Caleb's 6th Birthday, Cowboy Style:)

Ready for the cowboy party!
Caleb showing his moves to the kids. Such fun this gang is:)
Trying to lasso a cow. Not bad form if you ask me!
Travis helping Elli lasso a cow.
Blowing out his candles. I cannot believe he is 6. I do remember this boy as a baby, a 1 year old, 2 year old, etc! The years go quickly, but so thankful for this day to celebrate Caleb!

Produce!

Elli took a picture of the rain storm. She said she thought God was putting on a show for us.
6 jars of pickles and they all sealed this time!!!! I had one cucumber that was so large, I couldn't fit all of the spears from it in one jar!!!! These cucumbers have been growing so quickly. I will totally pick the garden one day and then by the end of the next day will be able to pick 2-3 more!
The produce from our garden since Wednesday. 12 cucumbers, 1/4 of this bucket full of beans, 2 tomatoes, 2 peppers, and 2 onions. There was a bit more, but we have been eating it:) Have I mentioned I love having a garden? :)

Pool Day with Friends

Lots of kids during the "break" in the baby pool.
Abby showed Elli how to slide down the hill on a boogie board. Just another aspect of the fun to be had when playing with friends.
Lily and Madilyn.
Elli in her new suit with goggles on. She took off to chase the boys!
Some of the crew. We enjoyed the afternoon with the Hollins, Masters, Raymonds, Deasons, Campbells, Stahl's and McDowells. (There were others there that some of these couples know, but I was there because these sweet families planned a great day.) Must do it again!!!!
We have thoroughly enjoyed our summer, but especially once the weather warmed up and quit raining! We have spent much time in the pools of the area and were able to spend time with our friends at Brookview in Bellbrook yesterday. I am amazing nearly every time we go swimming at how well Elli does in the water. She loves it and is good at it. It is especially fun though to watch her with her friends.

My Little Kitten and Family Date Night!

We were playing kitty and Elli was taking a nap. I thought she looked so cute here.
We went on a family date night. I thought it was National Lasagna Day at Brio, but I had the wrong date. The manger came to our table and told us he would make it work for us. Thank you!
We played in the fountains a bit afterwards. Such a fun, spur of the moment time with my family.
All wet:)

Pretty Face

This sunflower showed it's pretty little face just today!
This pretty little face is sporting a new loose tooth.
This pretty little face is posing, a common occurance.
Where's the pretty little face? hehehe If you could see this from the other angle, you would see two very happy faces!

Claire's Luau for her 5th Birthday

The birthday girl:)
Andrew finally got the pinata to open. Look at that face:)
Elli was helping Claire with a couple gifts. We had a great time and were very excited to be able to celebrate with Claire.

Big News at the Ferguson Home

After several months of guessing, thinking, hoping, and looking, Elli finally has a loose tooth!!!!! It is big news here. Ever since her friends started losing their teeth, she has told me several times a week that she thinks she has a loose tooth. She has had me wiggle the one she feels may be a little wiggly, she had me check her mouth, and she has complained about tooth pain from getting her big girl teeth. Last night we went to Claire's 5th birthday and saw that Claire had a loose tooth. So, this morning when Elli says to me, "Mommy I think I have a loose tooth," I told her it was only because of Claire's tooth last night. She urged me to feel it and see if it was loose because she was sure it was wiggling. So, being the kind mother that I am, I obliged and sure enough, it wiggled!!!! She called everyone in my speed dial on the cell phone and was a bit discouraged only person answered! (or as Elli says, "Leah didn't call.) (Sorry Paula, but you got an ear full because you were the first to answer her exciting news phone call!)

In Sunday School class she raised her hand with a prayer request, stating proudly, "My tooth that is wiggling is bothering me." (Elli's way of letting everyone know she had joined the crowd of awkward smiles:)

By tonight though, she now has two loose teeth. My precious baby girl will soon loose her two, middle, bottom teeth and will no longer look the same. I know the days of awkward smiles, crying when eating, fear when brushing, and tooth fairy visits are in my near future. I am teary as I write this, because this is one more reminder that I have a bigger girl than I did yesterday. I so wish I could save time in a bottle. I guess that is why we have memories, pictures, and warm fuzzies.

And with that, I say goodnight. (It is quite late as I am writing this because we just finished off an amazing weekend of friends and family with the movie Secretariat and I cannot go to sleep just yet)

I will close with a "blast from the past" phrase of Elli's at 2ish years old.

"Night, night, mommy. Budge ooo." (Night night, mommy, Love you)

Our First Camp Out!!!! July 15-16 (Raymond's backyard)

And the picture taking begins. I love this shot of Cody watching at Sherry's feet as she takes pictures of the first tent going up:)
Cody sure does get lots of attention. So, which Raymond will he choose? hehehehe
Sven got to sleep in the tent with his girls, minus Lucy who was hanging out with the moms. He said "If you tell the kids they have to sleep if they want to camp again, they do pretty well!"
Thank you Travis for letting Brent and Elli share your tent.
Andrew and Caleb, since they are so big, got to sleep in their own tent:) They were up late and then early:)
Elli was trying to put this pole together to help. She didn't help for long before the fun of the evening took over and she ran off again. Thankfully, these guys know what they are doing!
Everyone run!!
The little girls are pushing the big girls. Thankfully, the kids were playing nice and the big girls did push the little girls:)
Smores!
It only takes a spark...to get a fire going:) Travis played, we sang, Lily and Elli danced. Memories!
Yes, we put the kids to work, no, this was not work. They were pretending to build a fort:)
Thank you Sven and Paula for planning and preparing for us to come and invade your yard. It was a great time full of great memories:) Yes, Lucy, thank you too!
Some of our best moments are spent with our best friends. Thank you also Travis, Sherry, and Cody, for making this night so fun!
Hey, look, I was there too!!!!
Elli and Madilynn crawled into the "fort." (Originally made by Andrew and Caleb, overtaken by the girls:)
Getting ready to sleep. Travis and Madilynn allowed Brent and Elli (on an air mattress of course) to join them in their tent. We just may have to get our own one day! The girls were restless and finally fell asleep around midnight. Elli was cold and slept curled up against Brent's back all night. Sweet! The moms slept inside, and yes, we were the last to hit the hay!!!! What great memories and what a fun time. Lily was the creator of this weekend with her request to have a camp out. So glad it worked out.

Summer Fun

Elli and I went to the Kettering Rec last Monday. We had a great time! She wanted some oce cream so I let her pick, and she chose this oreo covered ice cream bar. It was very messy, but thankfully she finished before the LOUDEST thunderstorm I have heard in a long time. It was a bit scary walking to our car trying to beat the coming rain.

At one point during our day, Elli was watching a family with three or four kids playing together, got really sad, and then said to me, "Mommy, I wish I had a brother or a sister." I cried and then she said, "I mean I know I have two brothers, Michael ad Jesus, but I wanted to play with one now." I want the same thing for you baby girl, but I love playing with you!
Elli really wanted to catch lightening bugs. We got a jar, she put in leaves, poked holes in the foil, and I caught bugs:) She was quite delighted with the process though!
We got to spend another day with the twins while Leah "worked." She was so bot busy, that we really spent the day with Leah too, including a trip to the pool! (Luka, Wesley)
Elli is such a good cousin. She loves them and is very good with them.
Our garden has gotten very big. We have gotten cucumbers, onions, peppers, and peas. We will pick tomatoes and beans very soon. The cantaloupe are getting huge, just not ripe yet. We did have one of our large sunflowers fall over in the last storm. Sad times for the sunflowers:( Cannot wait for our melon. Hope it is yummy:)
Look how tall that flower is! To think this thing started from a seed. I have thoroughly enjoyed the gardening adventure and we have already started working on our plans for next year:)