just june

June has been another busy month!  Between doctors' appointments and resting when I haven't been feeling well (something that happened way too often!), I still managed to keep up with the rest of the family and take pictures, even if I didn't feel like doing much else!

On the 3rd, I took the boys over to Nick's school for a special end-of-the-year event.  They played games, won prizes, and we all had some ice cream, too.  Ben jumped in the bounce house:

With the animal hats (fish and monkey) they won as prizes for one of the games:

Later that evening,  Emmalie and I drove over to Rosemont.  We had a yummy supper at the Chili's there:

And then we headed to the Allstate Arena to watch Glee Live!  It was a great show, and we both really enjoyed it!  Here we are, a couple of "Gleeks":

On the 6th, George, Emm, Ben, and I attended the Sixth Grade Recognition/ Graduation Ceremony at Nick's school.  Here he is (second row, middle), with his classmates:

Getting his diploma from the principal:

For receiving straight A's all year, Nick got his name on this permanent sign in the school hallway:

We are so proud of Nick!

The 7th was the last day of school, and even though we'd been having some troubles with the pool pump, Nick wanted to take a quick dip, to celebrate:

Nick spent the first few (hot!) days of his summer vacation digging a garden for me!  I've wanted a garden all along this fence ever since we moved in almost 6 years ago now.  There's no way I would've been able to do it this month, feeling the way I have, and Nick really wanted to plant a hummingbird/butterfly lover's wildflower seed mix I'd bought, so he dug and dug until the garden was finished!

Ben helped transport the worms to another area of the yard, so that Nick wouldn't accidentally hit them with the trowel.

All done digging!

Planting the wildflower mix:

The 11th was George's birthday.  We took him to Stir Crazy for supper, then came home for a little party.  Ben couldn't wait for him to open his presents!

We had chocolate chip bars instead of a cake.  As you can see, George is 7.  Or maybe 43. :)

The 13th was my birthday.  Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling too great that day.  We did go to Panera for supper, yum!  And then we came home for angel food cake, homemade ice cream, and berries:

I received 3 movies from everyone, and 4 quarters from Ben.  He thought I should get some birthday money. :)

The 17th was a big day for Emm ~ she got her driver's permit and her very first checking and savings accounts that day!  (She started driver's ed classes on the 13th.)

On the 18th, we attended our friends Don & Cathy's annual picnic at a park in Elmhurst.  George helped Don grill while the boys had fun at the playground.  (Emm and I mostly rested at a picnic table.)

On Father's Day, the 19th, the five of us went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, then had supper at Red Robin.  When we got home, the kids helped George out in the backyard for awhile:

Later in the week, Ben was VERY excited to find this four-leaf clover in the backyard.  What a lucky boy! :)

On the 23rd, Emm and Nick headed to Indiana with a church youth group, to go camping and canoeing for 3 days.  On the 24th, George and I took Ben to see the movie Cars 2 ~ he had been counting down the days till it opened for over a month!  We all thought it was a fun movie!

I haven't been able to do much in the way of caring for my gardens so far this summer.  The kids have helped me weed a little, and Nick helps keep things watered.  Despite the weeds, my flowers are growing and blooming beautifully. :)  We have several self-seeded plants of alyssum in the front yard:

Astilbes of all colors are currently blooming:

As well as our red bee balms.  (The pink and white ones are still budding.)

Bellflowers:

Darker purple clematis in the front yard:

And pinkish purple clematis in the backyard:

Daisies:

Foxgloves and salvia:

My wild geraniums have gotten huge!  I had no idea the plants could get that tall (probably at least 2'):

Hydrangeas:

Lady's mantle.  These have gotten huge, too... very wide!

Hot pink petunias:

And these striped ones.  When I bought them, they were completely purple... I was quite surprised when they developed the stripes a few weeks later!

Pincushion flowers:

Queen of the prairie:

Spiderwort:

Wild rose:

I don't really want this yarrow in my yard because it spreads like crazy, but I can't get rid of it fast enough, especially this year!  It IS pretty, though:

And, yes, I know this is a weed.  (Fleabane, I think?)  But, like I said, I haven't done much weeding, and we have it everywhere now.  The flowers are cheery, at least!

Besides flowers, we've also had bunnies in our yard.  Lots and lots of baby bunnies!  When I took this picture, this baby was about four inches long.  And soooo cute!  He (she?) had 6 other siblings ~ several nights we watched them out in the yard with their mama, and we even saw them all nursing a couple of times.  They are all weaned by now, and much bigger, of course, but still very, very cute. :)

Can't believe it's almost July already!!