Sunday, March 31, 2013

QOTD

"Where is your Ami?" -Archer, when I told him we would go back to Miami in about 10 days.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Spring Garden

Despite the snow, hail, wind, and frigid temperatures, we finished planting our Spring garden today! Normally, I wouldn't have planted it quite this early, but since we're going on vacation soon, I am feeling a bit of a time crunch. Plus, I started my seeds a few weeks ago (a month maybe?) and they were getting a bit out of hand already!

Our garden has required a LOT of prep work...first the fence, then some major excavation to clear a garden area, and lastly (?), massive amounts of pruning the trees that have been neglected for at least the last 10 years so that: #1, they will be healthy, and #2, they won't block too much SUNSHINE!

Thankfully, we have a friend with access to some machinery and large trucks/trailers! We ended up taking over 20,000 lbs to the dump (so sad but so necessary!). *by "we" I mean John!

We planted a bunch of new fruit trees (2 apple, 1 pear, 1 nectarine, 1 cherry, and 1 plum), and we have 1 more nectarine to plant. I also planted Brussels sprouts (not sure if we'll be able to grow these in the spring, but we LOVE them so thought I'd try!), kohlrabi, beets, carrots, kale/chard/lettuce/various other greens, radishes, broccoli...and I'm sure I'm probably forgetting a few things! After my spring seedlings were in the ground, it freed up space to get my summer seeds started. I have some that I need to wait a few weeks to get started, but most are going!

The boys helped me out with the garden by making row markers, and they also did some planting. I will admit that I made them go inside after the first few rows of seeds because it was so chaotic! I'm not really sure that anything got planted in the appropriate way or spot in the garden, but they are covered with dirt somewhere in the vicinity.

So now some garden pics! I'm so excited that it's coming together. I'm hoping that next year we'll be able to put in some raised beds, but it wasn't in the budget this year!















Thursday, March 14, 2013

Riding

The weather has been in low 50's lately, which feels almost like summer here! Anytime that we don't get down to freezing overnight feels like a small victory. I have my spring seeds planted and they are currently sitting on the porch, getting ready for weekend planting. (Please please please no rain!)

Today B & Arch decided to ride bikes/scooters outside. In short sleeves. (For the record, I had multiple layers on still because it wasn't sunny, and whenever it isn't sunny and it's less than 80 degrees, I am cold.) We have a relatively long driveway, which is nice because even though our street isn't busy, we still get some people taking a "back road" to try to avoid traffic since we are in the middle of town. So, I parked the truck at the end of the driveway to keep the little hooligans in and they spent the whole morning out there! Well, until B crashed on his bike and declared he was NEVER going to ride bike again until his wounds healed...so he got out his scooter. He then crashed his scooter and decided to never ride his scooter again... And that was the end of their morning ride, but they did pick up again after Preston got home from school!









Monday, March 11, 2013

Backyard Project

We spent the ENTIRE weekend fencing in the back part of our yard which is our future garden area. Despite the multiple illegal deer shootings (seriously, so disturbing that someone thinks it's okay for them to shoot deer in a NEIGHBORHOOD in the middle of town...), we still have a plethora of deer around our house. We (I) decided that we needed to get a move on a fence so I could get my little spring seedlings in the ground. They are getting slightly unruly in the house and they need more room to grow! Plus, our vacation is coming up (yay!) and I am feeling a bit of a time crunch.

But, we have a fence! Woohoo! My garden will (hopefully) be safe from the deer. I'm so excited for spring! The fence wasn't quite done in the picture, but it's the best one I have of it. John and I spent way too much time deliberating over it, but I really like the way it turned out. (As you can see, the boys spent lots of time climbing trees while the fence construction was going on!)





QOTD

(While saying a good night prayer with B)
B: Mom, will you pray that I will dream about Batman?

Love that batman-loving kid...can't believe we're registering him for kindergarten tomorrow!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

QOTD

B: "Mom, what does 'u-u-u-u-u' spell?"
Arch: "Me!"

I Can Only Hope

We had BEAUTIFUL weather today. Almost warm and so sunny! I am really hopeful that Spring is here, but realistically I know that we sometimes get snow towards the end of April so I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high.

John had to work all weekend (by the end of this week he will have worked 11 days straight, yuck!) but we managed to get the boys' swing set assembled. B & Arch seriously spent every moment they possibly could outside! It's so much easier to be a good mom when they are able to expend their energy outdoors! We have a couple of other things planned for outdoor play so I'm excited to get those projects done, but the next outdoor project is a fence for our (soon-to-be) garden!

Toothless

Preston lost his 3rd tooth today while eating breakfast. It has been literally hanging there for way too long...it was so loose that it came out when he took a bite of oatmeal. Seriously.

Now he needs to get moving on the others as he has 3 more permanent teeth coming in!

Monday, March 4, 2013

Safety First

I was taking a shower this morning and Archer walked in wearing safety goggles...keep in mind, it was early - 6:15 or so. This kid cracks me up. He manages to find the most random things around the house. Perhaps he has little stashes hidden all over so he can pull out a random object at a moments notice?

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Backyard Treasure

The boys are always digging and exploring in our backyard. Last fall, they made their own birds nest and tried to make it big enough for our whole family (picture below). A couple of weeks ago they were convinced that they had found a dinosaur tooth. But today...today was epic. I mean, does it get any better than finding a deer antler?!?! And then using it to sword fight?!?! Totally exciting!



Friday, March 1, 2013

Bears & Backpacks

My boys are very into hunting. They found a wii gun the other day (that goes with Big Game Hunter or some such game) and they have been carting it around the house hunting all sorts of animals. The gun has actually caused so many problems (with them fighting over it) that I've confiscated it for the moment. The animal that they seem to favor hunting is a bear. I'm not sure why, but that's what their doing in these pictures: bear hunting! Kind of surprising, considering the amount of deer who frequent our backyard...I would've expected more deer hunting (they have been nesting down under a tree right off of our deck).

And while these 2 have been bear hunting, and the oldest is in school, I was able to complete a sewing project that I'm pretty proud of: a backpack for Arch! We are going on vacation (soon!) and the littlest boy didn't have a backpack for the plane. It's not perfect, but he LOVES it, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't realize that it's not perfect, thankfully. I do really like the way it turned out, and I'm hoping to have an excuse to make another one so I can perfect it!