Outdoor Glory

This morning, before the humidity and heat got intense, the kids and I spent time outside playing and just spending time in God's beauty.  I feel so blessed that our backyard is a place of play and a place of fruitfulness (our garden) and a place of beauty.  Here are some photos that I took this morning:

Yesterday these roses were all still tight little buds by this morning I came around the corner of the house and -wow- the bush is dripping with blossoms!

I think this is called spiderwort.  But I'm not sure.

If you look closely in the reflection, you can see me with the baby in my arms taking the photo.  But what I want you to look at is the windowbox that Paul made for me two years ago.  This year the ornamental grasses came back after the winter, so I bought some vinca vines and some other annuals to put in it.  The flowerbox is under the garage window, which you can see when you look out the dining room or kitchen windows.

This year we planted sunflowers along the back of the garage.  They're coming up!  The sprout in the middle still has the shell of the seed covering it.  These are the mammoth sunflowers, with edible seeds.  They can get up to 12 feet tall!!  That would be really cool - and not just to the kids!

Rhubarb - my favorite vegetable ('cuz, you know, it's a dessert!)

The peonies are lovely and smell good, too, but the ants always get to them first.  If I want to enjoy them indoors, I have to rinse them out very carefully to make sure I don't bring any ants in the house.  They love the sweetness of the flowers, too.

Kassia wanted me to take a picture of the roses she put in a bucket of dirty bubble solution.  I'm not sure why.  So, I took a picture.  And I'm not sure why.

Finally, a beautiful clothesline of fresh, clean diapers drying.  It didn't take long for them to dry, let me tell you!