Too Long

Since starting Face Book a couple of years ago, and the fact my laptop doesn't blog easily (formatting, stopping IE in the middle of blogging, not able to leave comments on other blogs now???) I have just not been a faithful blogger or follower! I do love catching up in the lives of friends and co-workers through blog, but my sanity and peace of mind is more important! Oh well, saying that, I will try yet another entry:)

I do like that in the blog I can jot down more thoughts than I ever would write on FB. I feel that anyone that is interested enough in my life to read my blog, is someone I want to "talk to" through the blog.

Words read sometimes take on a very different meaning than what the writer intends! At least my words do. I want to say how wonderful and blessed I am to have Clyde...then I think that it sounds very "sugary" or too hard to swallow for some. So, I just leave posts about the things he buys me or places he takes me, all the while not saying how very thoughtful he is. He is always trying to please me and make me happy (not that that's where happiness comes from, but you know what I mean). He works so hard in trying to invest our meager funds wisely. He sweats, prays, gets overwrought, and sometimes just plain sick to his stomach when stocks fall.....just decisions that he takes on "himself" for us. Anyway, that is something I don't write about and wanted to say. I am blessed by him.

I will post a few flower garden photos at Arboretum, some of Maggie (haven't taken many of the boys lately) and try to publish this....fingers crossed:)

Late Summer Garden

Hanging basket hay rake tree. Late in summer so some look better than others.
Dark pink Crape Mrytle (spelling?) Beautiful at this time.

My favorite hanging basket. I put this together and added new coconut liner this year. This purple plant took over the other edging plant, but it's been nice and trouble free.

I bought this orchid for a bridal shower early in the year and this is it's second blooming. It was a surprise and treat to me! It is just beautiful at this time.

This picture doesn't show this plant well. The purple sweet potato vine is huge. I sprayed Sevin on it so that there were no "holes" and it has been beautiful.

To the right is a Cleome. I have great luck each year with these volunteer flowers that reseed and bloom the next year. This year, however, this is the only one that came back to full size. It actually is so big and nice, I was OK with adding the red salvia that bloomed all summer and added so much color. However, I am planning to drop the seeds this year so hopefully they will continue to come back.

Jason's Birthday

Bec soaked the whole chicken in a brine and cooked it in a roasting bag. Moist!
Roasted squash, mac n cheese, fresh tomatoes (my yard), green beans, spinach salad:)

My boy

Most of the time Austin was playing, but took a moment to sit beside his Uncle Jason.

Sunday, July 24th, was Jason Allen's 34th birthday. Having a child older than most of the people I work with seems strange. I think of many of them as my "friends" but honestly I have little in common with most of them. Saying that, it's OK! I love the age I am, the freedom to "go" at a moment's notice, having fewer responsibilities at home now that the kids are out (and of course have been for a long time), and love to do those things with the one person that I love being with. So, celebrating my kids birthdays is a celebration of our married life. A milestone for not only Jason (and Becky) but Clyde and I as well.

This year Becky (last year as well) had us over for a nice dinner. She cooked a moist, tasty chicken, great mac n' cheese (her brothers request), spinach tortellini salad, and I brought green beans, roasted vegetables, an appetizer & dessert. We invited mamaw & Kent and enjoyed a time of conversation while the kids were "wild & crazy".....here are a few pics.

All Stars

The boys are on the white team for t-ball. It is both 5 & 6 year olds. They missed the first weekend tournament, plus the coach knew some of the others players already, so they have a lot of making up to do. This weekend, they played in the BG State games. We played at 10:30 this morning and won for the first time! Matthew had trouble b/c he throws the bat out of the white circle. So he didn't get on that first game. He did better batting as the day goes. Austin takes several strikes before he hits a real hard hit sometimes. So, he had several good hits today and one strike out! During the season, you have five or more strikes. Today it was 3 only. I will try to download a video of Austin hitting.

More pictures from the track

Third from the front is Jeff Gordon #24. This is in the laps before the pace car peals off and the race is underway.

Pre-race festivities, skydivers & flag parachutes. Nice show.

Grandstands were full.....

On our way into the race, with Danica over Clyde's shoulder.

Logged me out after the photos below (in the previous post), so here are the ones from the track. In case my memory fails (ha) and I am wondering the outcome of the race, Kyle Busch held off Jimmie Johnson in a two lap shootout to become the first Cup Series winner at Kentucky Speedway.

Inaugural Race at Ky Speedway

In the background, you can see the Speedway. Here we are before the race. On the left, Chip & Mallary have been home a week from their year of teaching in China. Joe & Stefanie are our youngest, biggest fans & it all began with Chris & Sue.

For years we have followed Nascar. Not as closely as some, more so than others. It's a great American event and we like it. At the beginning, I was a Jeff Gordon fan. Clyde and I both are Dale Earnhart, Jr. fans and there are a few other drivers if they win, we are all for them. The fly overs (for me), Darryl Waltrip saying "boggity, boggity, boggity, let's go racing boys".....(or something like that!), the fireworks, the skydivers (USA parachutes), all that is what I like most! Clyde, of course, likes action on the track.

For our first NASCAR big race at Kentucky Speedway, Joe Wiley included us in his family's plans. He went all out and didn't miss a detail. He took backroads to get us into Sparta, we parked quite a way from the track in a field. Set up our tent, put out the food, cornhole, and waited until closer to the race to walk up. All in all, it was a great event for us. The night was "balmy" with a slight breeze (very nice). Our seats were good, the lines we waited in for fresh squeezed lemonade and kettle corn weren't so bad. Getting out was not easy. The walk back to our car was long with thousands of walkers fighting the traffic that we walked along beside. I felt like the settlers long ago walking beside their wagons to the west. However, that again could have been worse (according to the people/cars we saw on the side of the interstate on our way home). So, I am pleased to say (although we didn't want Kyle to win) that our experience was a very good one. Here are some pics.

4th of July

Tuesday, July 5th. Boys had t-ball scrimmage game (all stars) before paps birthday dinner.
Jacobson Park, Baker reunion. Granny is not in picture as she is weak from recent hospital stay.

Colby & Eric (above) Women before all the crowd arrived.

David (g daddy) and Cameron. Sweet baby!

Kelli & Colby, such a wonderful mommy.

We had a fun but busy 4th this year. We got home from our road trip on Friday evening. On Saturday, we started our picnicing with friends over for hamburgers, fixings & cornhole. Nice night, fun. Sunday we prepared for Transy and that turned out fun. Hot, but beautiful evening with a very good crowd (our party & the crowd in general). Monday, the 4th, we prepared food for yet another picnic. The Baker family reunion held at Jacobson Park. Ended the long day by going to Nicholasville to park at the high school for RJ Corman's fireworks display. Then on Tuesday was Clyde's birthday and we grilled out chicken. Great grilling CB! I made a peach & mango salsa that was served as a side or on top of chicken. We had fresh corn on the cob and Becky cooked fresh green beans & potatoes. Very good! Ended with peanut butter pie.