Happy 8th Birthday Kaleb!

Kalebs 8th birthday has been a highly anticipated day in our house this year. He's felt very strongly that turning 8 entailed alot of changes! So we had to celebrate it just as any 8 year old would! We planned a sleep over with three of his friends and his sister of course!

Daniel, Nick and Jeffrey came over for pizza, ice cream cake, and fun! We could barely get the boys to come inside for festivities, they were having such a good time playing in the yard! When we finally did the ice cream cake was half melted, no one seemed to notice or care though!

Kaleb got a bunch of really great gifts for his big day! A digital camera, puzzles, a robot, video games, guns and gift cards! He had a wonderful time being surprised and was very sweet to each of his guests telling them that each of their gifts was his favorite. He's growing up into such a nice young man!After gift opening we were off into the yard for some pinata beating! He picked a directors slate shaped pinata, which just goes to further our amazement of just how much his fathers son he is! You can see it in the picture above on the table...pretty cool huh? Luke and Steve rigged it up into the tree and after about two swats it bit the dust to the ground...Kaleb happily took it from there!After hours and hours of trampoline play and shooting guns and wrestle mania it was time to come in! The boys all took tuns playing Kalebs new video games for the Wii and had seconds of pizza and lemonade. After getting all the grubs in and out of the shower they watched a movie, had a pillow fight and and laughed ALOT! I was so proud of how well behaved these young boys were! By 1:30 a.m. they were all passed out...FINALLY! In the morning we had breakfast, got dressed and were off to see Wall E! Again, so well behaved and polite! The movie was a little sad, but the boys continued to enjoy each others company and had a good time.

Kaleb seemed very pleased with his birthday! I hope this year brings you all that you desire of it Kaleb! You are growing fast and strong and into such an amazingly sweet young man! Happy 8th Baby! We love you!

Narleeville Gardens '08 - 2

My gardens are all a-buzz now! The butterfly garden is attracting bumble bees, and hummingbirds and an occasional butterfly! The colors are great, better than I imagined with the orange and purple contrasting and the bright yellows offsetting the pale cone flowers. There are black eyed susan vines climbing the lattice all the way to the top railing of the deck. Morning glories should be showing themselves soon enough and the blue will complete my rainbow of color.The veggie patch is a jungle! The tomatoes got taller than I anticipated and I didn't have the appropriate stakes, so were making do. The peas are toast and the beans are slowing and the tomatoes are ripening on their vines. They taste great and it feels good not to worry about pesticides or how many people have handled them! Cucumbers are still coming faithfully about two a week and our pepper crop is just starting to become reliable. Jalapenos are about a week away and then I can make my un-famous poppers! The carrots are being patient for their time, collecting all the ingredients they need to please me in the fall, and the swiss chard has been a favorite at dinner many nights now! It just keeps on coming, which is fine by me - it's delicious! What might just be the pride and joy of the garden is the cantaloupe! They vined all over the side of the raised bed and are so fun to watch grow, with there pretty flowers and soft little melons that change over night! We already have a few that look like the size of the grocery store variety, we're just letting them sugar up!

The herb garden is also happy as anything! A ton of dill has been harvested and we are starting to dry out the parsley. Coriander in a week or so and I think I found the basil!

Keep your green thumbs in the dirt!

Cousin Time!

We were very glad to get to see Kira, Jack and Quin while visiting PA! This was our first time meeting Quin and what a joy he is! All smiles and laughs! Aliza Janes love of babies was as apparent as ever with her newest cousin. She was very helpful changing his diaper and was quick with a binky too! Jackson was enchanted by Kaleb and laughed at his every move, only fueling Kalebs fun! Luke soaked up his baby time and was in hog heaven making Quin smile, which Quin did readily every time he was near Luke!
It was great to see these cousins enjoying some time together and bonding as much as time allowed! I hope we get to see you next year!

It's Good To Be Narlee!

Every year the Narlee Family gathers together in Mercer, PA and this year was a blast! There is so much love and humor in a Narlee get-together! The laughs don't stop, mostly at each others expense, but all in good fun! It's always interesting to hear the elder Narlees talk about there youthful adventures and reminisce about the loved ones we've lost. The love and dedication to family is evident all around!In addition to just being together there is never a lack of things to do! While there we went horseback riding with Jennifer and her horse Prince. It was so neat to learn about horses from someone who knows. We had a great time taking the kids for rides and letting them brush and pet Prince. When it was my turn I accidentally squeezed my legs and made him cantor! I thought we were going to end up in the woods but he trotted right to his stall! It was scary but so funny!

Luke had a great time taking the kids for ATV rides...finally he sees why I've wanted one for years! We took it to a trail across the road and shot of his new gun. Henry even got to shoot for his first time! This seems to be the place all Narlee's learn to shoot! It was our first time a few years ago. This last year Andrew has added some cattle and a chicken coup to his land. It was great having animals around to ad to the atmosphere! I had a great time calling the cows "MmmmmBosssss!!!" and you wouldn't believe how cool chickens really are! The electric fence was also a great deal of fun!

The kids had a wonderful time together, like they do every year...I do hope they hold these times close to their hearts! Zakiesha is such a good host to her cousins! Kaleb and Aliza loved catching frogs, toads and fireflies with her, they ended up with quite a collection~ just ask Vickey! She showed them how to hold the chickens and was a really good Momma Bird while at Uncle Roger and Aunt Kathy's! The girls had a wonderful time swimming there and Kaleb and Henry had the best boxing match I've ever seen! Jackson was glad to ride on the tot cars and was very amused by Kaleb's antics over the weekend! Vickey played her favorite game with the kids and actually was able to keep their attention for over an hour! Her love of children is apparent and I enjoyed so much chatting with the other Narlee women over the weekend!I hope everyone is looking forward to next year as much as The Maryland Narlees are!!!! We love you all!

New Adventures in Toobing!

My legs may never feel the same, nor will Shelly's ankle! Toobing is dangerous business with Steve Hoagland driving the boat! We went out on Saturday to have a little water propelled fun with our BFF's, The Hoaglands. Steve hooked up "The Torpedo" and we were off! Well, Kaleb and Shelly were off...I hung on for dear life! We hit another boats wake and they went flying! It was so much fun! Then Luke, Steve and Chris got on...For a minute...!!!! We tried again and had better reults! Shelly did a great job for her first time driving the boat! The kids had a blast watching us and we docked for some swim time which they all loved!
We're going to miss you guys!

Karma Dog!

Tonight I went to Towson, Md. to have Matilda evaluated for Karma Dogs. It's a non-profit group that provides dogs with their handlers to aid in programs for reading, dissabled children and adults and the elderly. You can check it out at http://www.karmadogs.org if you are interested in knowing more about it. Well, I am proud to say that Matilda passed the eval with flying colors! It made me feel so good when they were surprised I had trained her on my own and not with classes. The evaluation entailed someone handling her clumsily, staying while I left her range of view, reacting gently to yelling and loud noises, being sweet when someone approaches yelling and flailing and a few other requirements. I feel very blessed to have such a sweet and loving dog and she fits the bill for therepy use, so I figure why not help in some small way. We're excited about pursuing this, and I'm so proud of my perfect pup!

River Love!

It was HOT last week, so we took off for the Savage Mill swimming hole. The kids had fun climbing the hillside on the path to the water...they look so small comparred to this tree! The river was running pretty low but we found the falls to be deep enough for a dip! Kaleb always makes me crazy watching him climb these rocks and jump into the falls but he never gets hurt...BOYS! Matilda had a wonderful time jaunting off into the woods to sniff the wilderness. She was a good girl and always came running to my beedelydeep! Aliza keeps close to me, my heart can only handle so much excitement and Kaleb fills the quota! We had fun hanging onto rocks while the current tried to pull us away...we won! Here are Boone and Ali racing to me...I caught this shot just as Aliza's shoe went flying off! She finished the race though!

I love being able to spend these times with them, priceless.

Ocean City. Maryland

We got into the van and took off...searching for fun in the ocean! We ended up at Ocean City and had a really nice leisurely day! We walked the boardwalk which had a lot of food and trinkets, but lacked the charm of alot of coastal towns we are used to. No sweet boutiques or classy shopping - a little disappointing. The beach was where we spent most of our day and it is a great beach! Clean, and great waves! Kaleb loved getting on his "Boogie Board" and Luke can always tap into his inner child when playing in the water! Aliza and I spent alot of time working on our sand castle and she was so excited with every pail we turned upside down! Eema enjoyed the sound of the waves and soaked up some lemonade while laughing at our sandy antics! She was having Florida flashbacks for sure!
After the beach we went over to check out the rides! Luke and Kaleb road together, as Aliza was too small for most of them, and anyone who knows me knows I can't handle them. Aliza and Kaleb were happy as clams on the carousel, a little too mundane for Kaleb but he's such a good big brother he didn't complain about accompanying his sister! Luke went with Kaleb on his first upside down loop roller coaster! They had a ton of fun in the Haunted House ride and then I went with Aliza and Kaleb on the gigantic Ferris Wheel! While we were at the top the kids and I could see for miles and Aliza said " I feel like I'm in a cloud like on cartoons!" It was cool getting to see from so far up and watching their faces as we climbed higher and higher!By the end of the day we were all officially BEAT! Sun soaked and over exposed we headed back home...only to run into THIS is why we hadn't gone before now! The traffic to and fro is infamous on a good day, throw an accident into the mix and it's almost unbearable! It'll be awhile before we take up this adventure! It was great while we were there though!