Happy July 4th!

July 4th, YEAH!
This has been a busy summer for us! The gardening bug has bitten and we have been outside almost every morning weeding and planting. My friend and neighbor, Lorrie, has blessed us with about a hundred Vinca seedlings! I used some in our flower bed and then took the lot over to the in-laws since they have a beautifully landscaped terraced backyard and nothing is flowering at the moment. They've had their house on the market for 3 weeks and have only showed it once! My m-i-l is getting very discouraged. I hope the flowers help to perk the place up a bit.
Lorrie has also taught me how to crochet. Paul seems to think it is a waste of time....he'll look at my block of work and say, "so what is it?" Not funny! I don't know what it is, but for now I am just practicing the one stitch I know!
The afternoons have been spent at the YMCA. I have some pics somewhere of the kids swimming, but I've lost the memory card to my camera and I have no earthly idea where it is! I've been able to get in a workout before the kids go swimming. It has been a nice way to beat the heat! It has been in the 90s here and doesn't look like it will cool off anytime soon. The library's reading program has also been a big hit for three of the kids this year. Stephen and Lauren have already read 15 books and Becca is on number 10. They picked up their backpacks last week.
The heat has lent itself to some benefit. I no longer need my dryer! I can easily get three loads done a day, as long as we don't forget about it. Katherine has been a big help with staying on top of that. She's the only one tall enough to hang everything. We don't exactly have a laundry line, it is more of a zip line that one of the previous owners used; so it is a little too high for the younger ones to reach.
Megan and I made salmon patties for dinner the other night. I was so surprised that everyone loved them! We just took 2 cans of canned salmon (tried to get as many bones out as I could), 3 beaten eggs, 1/2 c. water, 1/2 c. dry milk (we've switched to using dry milk for recipes), 2 c. crushed saltines (about 50), 1 Tbs. lemon juice, 2 tsp. worceshire, 1 Tbs. sugar, 2Tbs. diced fresh onion (1 Tbs. dried), 1/8 tsp. pepper. squish it all together, form into patties and fry. My kids loved these (recipe courtesy of hillybillyhousewife.com)!!!!!!!!!!
Our church picnic was last Sunday and the kids had so much fun! The oldest three entered the cake contest, but no one won. Even the judges were surprised to see over 30 entries (they probably got sick after trying all those cakes and pies)! They had the jumping and sliding things, along with balloon blowing up contests, and lots and lots of food!!!!!!!!! I think we were full for two days!
Hope you all are having a glorious summer! It will be over in a month...kids start back Aug. 7!
Love,
Kris