Tomato Plants

This is the big tree that crashed through our back deck and walkout patio. Needless to say the dogs were pretty scared when I got home that night, today was the first day that they have slept in their dog houses.

Upward view of the tree on the house. It landed against my kitchen window and patio door but did not break any glass.

Another close-up view of the railing on the deck.

This is the back & side view of Wayne's pole barn, it appears that the entire roof will have to be taken off and replaced as well as some of the trusses.

Last week in the storm, my tomato plants got ruined and I was really bummed because my tomato plants were doing so well. This was the first time I'd ever tried growing tomato plants in a container on the deck but it was not to be. Tonight when I got home, I had a huge tomato plant on my front porch, my dear friend Tracy knew how badly I felt about my tomato plants and she shared one of hers with me. She even included this sweet card that shared my disappointment about losing these plants. I know they were just tomato plants but it was kinda like giving birth, you plant them so very small and watch them grow. Tracy thanks for being my dear friend, you are there for me through all my ups and downs in life and I'm so glad you are. Sniff, sniff. My girlfriends and my husband know how I can cry at anything and I'm feeling real sentimental about these silly plants. God made me such a unique creature it is no wonder He threw away the mold.

Storm Damage

Last night on my way home from work, I stopped by to pick Caleb up from a friend's house and the clouds were rolling in. Sure enough we had just gotten into the car and it started pouring rain, visability was difficult but I snail-paced my way through (since I'm terrified now to drive in the rain due to my wreck). I almost pulled off a couple of times but kept on going, sure enough we had to wait for a tree to be cleared off the road before we could go on. When I pulled into our country subdivision I noticed my neighbors on their front porches (it kinda felt like a welcoming committee), I waved and they waved then I noticed the damage, almost every house had something torn off, or a couple of trees split in half. Needless to say, by the time I'm cresting the hill to go down to our house, I remarked to Caleb, hum wonder what kind of damage we have. I pulled in the driveway and noticed that Wayne's pole barn had two trees that had split over top of the barn, the trees had pulled the entire back of the roof line of the barn and one side of the roof line. I turned the corner to park in the garage and there was a huge tree that had crashed through our deck and onto the roof. Thank goodness it didn't come through the roof or window. I opened the door in the kitchen that opens onto the deck and there was that tree, nothing like leaves greeting you. Outside my kitchen window was a mass of green leaves. I'm bummed about my tomato plants that were growing so well, they were destroyed.

I'm thankful that no one was hurt, and the damage was all exterior. Wayne came home from work early to a real mess and spent his day chopping wood and cutting down trees. Caleb has been such a real trooper, he has helped his dad out all day. Wayne was letting him run a chain saw, which makes me a nervous wreck. I plead, he is only 10 but my husband says it is character building, oh, the joys of parenting. Tonight, I've also done my fair share of hauling and stacking wood and pulling branches, it is muscle building for me.

I'll post pictures later after I get them uploaded.

Picture update

This a pictures of Wayne's grandma on Father's Day.

Everyone watching Wayne's dad open his scrapbook for Father's Day.

Wayne getting ready to give his dad his gift.

Caleb and his team after the last regular season game of baseball. Good job boys!

The boys and their coach Ben holding up their trophies.

Caleb getting in position to pitch a ball.

Pitching another ball.

Happy Father's Day!

Dad,
I just wanted to publicly wish you a Happy Father's Day since I will not be spending the day with you and will not see you for a few more weeks. I love you daddy and think that you are a wonderful person. You modeled the character that I looked for in a husband, you are hard-working, intelligent, persistent and a seeker of God. We don't always see eye to eye in everything but we have the right to disagree and still love. You have helped me to become the person that I am today and I thank you for it.

Just wanted to let you know that I will be thinking of you today as you celebrate the day with my brother. I wish that I could be there but my heart and spirit is with you.

Lots of love,
Rachel

P.S. Please don't buy a shirt with your money as I've already loaded your closet full.

Mosquito Spray

Mosquito Spray...Worth a try
I was at a deck party awhile back, and the bugs were having a ball biting everyone. A man at the party sprayed the lawn and deck floor with Listerine, and the little demons disappeared. The next year I filled a 4-ounce spray bottle and used it around my seat whenever I saw mosquitoes. And voila! That worked as well. It worked at a picnic where we sprayed the area around the food table, the children's swing area, and the standing water nearby. During the summer, I don't leave home without it.....Pass it on.
OUR FRIEND'S COMMENTS: I tried this on my deck and around all of my doors. It works - in fact, it killed them instantly. I bought my bottle from Target and it cost me $1.89. It really doesn't take much, and it is a big bottle, too; so it is not as expensive to use as the can of Bug-spray you buy that doesn't last 30 minutes. So, try this, please. It will last a couple of days. Don't spray directly on a wood door (like your front door), but spray around the frame. Spray around the window frames, and even inside the dog house.

Just thought I'd pass this litle tidbit on.

Why did the chicken cross the road????

I received this e-mail today and just had to laugh, thought you might enjoy reading it. I did have to delete a few lines, just simply because I do not want to offend anyone. Happy reading!

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The chicken wanted CHANGE!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialog with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One! -- that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.......

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on 'THIS' side of the road before it goes after the problem on the 'OTHER SIDE' of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his 'CURRENT' problems before adding 'NEW' problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road...

ANDERSON COOPER - CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's GUILTY! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain. Alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be able to let the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting and went on to accomplish a life long dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2007, which will not only cross roads but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book. Internet Explorer is an integral part of "Chicken". This is a new platform much more stable and will nevercra...#@&&^(C% - - - reboot

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. Uhhh, chicken implies it's female, right?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken

COLONEL SANDERS: I guess I missed that one?

DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?

Baseball & Summer

Caleb is finally out of school, his school has what is called a balanced school calendar. The children start about the last week in July, take a 2 week break in October, go until December, take another 2-3 week break, go until March and get 2 weeks off for break and then end in June. I actually enjoy this type of calendar year, the kids don't have too much time to get bored in the summer and then their breaks are offset of everyone else's so it is kinda nice.

The spring baseball season is over for us (I have lots of pictures just haven't had a chance to upload them) and we are headed toward the all-star season. We received the phone call on Monday night asking if Caleb could play on the all-star team. It is a great honor to be chosen for the all-star team, so we are excited about this summer. Practice starts next week, last year you might remember their team won the district championship, so we'll see how this season goes.