Happy 4th of July!
(Twins 4 Tigers 3, in case you were wondering - Go Twins!)
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
the big garden post...
I grew up on a farm and have that farm-girl blood running through me even though we live in the big city. I periodically have to either drive to my parents farm or out north of the city to get a "field fix." There is nothing prettier or more calming to me than fields full of beautiful straight rows of corn! So I was super excited when we we found our house and it had a great spot for a garden! Unfortunately, I don't have the greenest of thumbs, but luckily S does! So our garden saga began. Those hoping for a bountiful story here with happy endings full of homegrown veggies on our table need to search for a better garden blog - ours is a growing experience to say the least.
2006 Garden - just moved in, did nothing
2007 Garden - the very pregnant momma and the dadda plant garden with the almost 2 yr old. baby boy born in June and we did no weeding or watering after that. enjoyed one meal of green beans, one ear of corn, few tomatoes.
2008 Garden - the just pregnant momma and the dadda plant garden last minute with the excited almost 3 yr old and the oblivious 1 yr old. set up soaker hoses and are determined to make a better go of it. bunnies got all beans and peppers. in the battle of weeds vs. life with 2 little ones and the tired pregnant momma, weeds won. not all was lost though - squash abounded, potatoes did well (experiment of just chucking organic potatoes that had grown eyes in the ground worked!), got a few tomatoes, but no corn.
That brings us to 2009 Garden:
The not pregnant momma and the dadda plan garden ahead of time and actually get all the plants they want before Garden Planting Day (otherwise known as Memorial Day in the rest of the states).
Garden Planting Day! The momma's brother and sister-in-law come to help us celebrate and plant garden with the momma, the dadda, the uber-excited almost 4 yr old, the mildly interested 2 yr old and the oblivious 5 month old.
The 2 yr old mostly interested in digging in the dirt (like a good 2 yr old boy should be!)
The almost 4 yr old excitedly plants with her auntie and uncle.
The oblivious 5 month old stuck in bouncy seat in garden for photo-op (and kisses from his big sis).
Planted garden! (Thank you so much for your help M & A!!!)
The dadda sets up soaker hose and thoroughly waters all those new plants and seeds.
Not much happening yet...
...except for the fuzz of weeds starting to show
*****
Kind of cool weather so things are starting slow. But green beans have come up as well as potatoes and carrots. Weeded and hubby put down grass in-between rows (in places where we could tell the weeds apart from the plants!).
Planted marigolds as a border and also in a few rows in the garden to hopefully naturally deter the bunnies. Smart plan in thought, but in reality, the marigolds are just barely up (if up at all since we can't tell them apart from the weeds) and won't provide much odor to deter bunnies. See big bunnies lurking (we are the only house in the neighborhood without a dog or two), so we go buy natural smelly stuff in spray bottle from big box hardware store and spray peppers, tomatoes and beans.
Weather finally got warm. Plants spring to life, but so do weeds!
Eek! The momma and the dadda determined to not let weeds win though!
Where's Waldo, garden edition: can you find the peas and marigolds that are supposed to be in this spot?
One rogue corn plant. The momma is keeping this one. It makes her happy.
Ahhhh, much better.
More grass clippings put down, more smelly stuff sprayed, all is good.
Did I mention how much I love the windmill that came with the garden?
P.S. 2009 Garden - lawn edition: The momma and the dadda also decided to tackle our sandy, thin, in need of some TLC lawn this summer. Raked to dethatch, rented an aerator, spread many bags of topsoil, overseeded with grass supposedly formulated for our county, and bought new sprinklers to help us keep on top of watering. The almost 4 yr old and the 2 yr old happy to run through the sprinklers.
2006 Garden - just moved in, did nothing
2007 Garden - the very pregnant momma and the dadda plant garden with the almost 2 yr old. baby boy born in June and we did no weeding or watering after that. enjoyed one meal of green beans, one ear of corn, few tomatoes.
2008 Garden - the just pregnant momma and the dadda plant garden last minute with the excited almost 3 yr old and the oblivious 1 yr old. set up soaker hoses and are determined to make a better go of it. bunnies got all beans and peppers. in the battle of weeds vs. life with 2 little ones and the tired pregnant momma, weeds won. not all was lost though - squash abounded, potatoes did well (experiment of just chucking organic potatoes that had grown eyes in the ground worked!), got a few tomatoes, but no corn.
That brings us to 2009 Garden:
The not pregnant momma and the dadda plan garden ahead of time and actually get all the plants they want before Garden Planting Day (otherwise known as Memorial Day in the rest of the states).
Garden Planting Day! The momma's brother and sister-in-law come to help us celebrate and plant garden with the momma, the dadda, the uber-excited almost 4 yr old, the mildly interested 2 yr old and the oblivious 5 month old.
The 2 yr old mostly interested in digging in the dirt (like a good 2 yr old boy should be!)
The almost 4 yr old excitedly plants with her auntie and uncle.
The oblivious 5 month old stuck in bouncy seat in garden for photo-op (and kisses from his big sis).
Planted garden! (Thank you so much for your help M & A!!!)
The dadda sets up soaker hose and thoroughly waters all those new plants and seeds.*****
2009 Garden - week 1
Not much happening yet...
...except for the fuzz of weeds starting to show*****
2009 Garden - week 3
Kind of cool weather so things are starting slow. But green beans have come up as well as potatoes and carrots. Weeded and hubby put down grass in-between rows (in places where we could tell the weeds apart from the plants!).
Planted marigolds as a border and also in a few rows in the garden to hopefully naturally deter the bunnies. Smart plan in thought, but in reality, the marigolds are just barely up (if up at all since we can't tell them apart from the weeds) and won't provide much odor to deter bunnies. See big bunnies lurking (we are the only house in the neighborhood without a dog or two), so we go buy natural smelly stuff in spray bottle from big box hardware store and spray peppers, tomatoes and beans.*****
2009 Garden-week 4
Weather finally got warm. Plants spring to life, but so do weeds!
Eek! The momma and the dadda determined to not let weeds win though!
Where's Waldo, garden edition: can you find the peas and marigolds that are supposed to be in this spot?
One rogue corn plant. The momma is keeping this one. It makes her happy.
Ahhhh, much better.
More grass clippings put down, more smelly stuff sprayed, all is good.
Did I mention how much I love the windmill that came with the garden?P.S. 2009 Garden - lawn edition: The momma and the dadda also decided to tackle our sandy, thin, in need of some TLC lawn this summer. Raked to dethatch, rented an aerator, spread many bags of topsoil, overseeded with grass supposedly formulated for our county, and bought new sprinklers to help us keep on top of watering. The almost 4 yr old and the 2 yr old happy to run through the sprinklers.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
new furniture...
Remember this big event almost 6 months ago? Baby C's birth was a wonderful experience to all involved, except...our couch! It was hauled away in the next garbage pick-up, and the plan was to replace it fairly soon after. We looked and even found the one we wanted at IKEA (with brown removable washable cover, yeah!), but then the furnace needed to be replaced, and the computer, and all sorts of other life things happened, and pretty soon we were doing just fine with a somewhat uncomfortable makeshift couch from S's folks.
But then, a couple weeks ago, we saw IKEA was running a livingroom sale where you could get fairly significant $ back in giftcards with a purchase of the right line of sofas - the ones we liked! So we figured that it was a good time to buy. And that we could get a new chair and footstool since we were getting good money back, too!
It took a trip to IKEA with 2 vehicles and an Aahma, a special order for the chair that wasn't in, major rearranging in the 2 vehicles, a trip back to IKEA (2 weeks later) to pick up the chair, and of course assembly, but that is the fun that is IKEA!! And we are so happy with the new furniture!
assembly...
fun in the sofa box...
(poor c...left all alone!)
...the results! 
(we secretly chose a red chair to match the kids' turtle...=)
PS. To finalize the look of the room we needed to move and get rid of some old furniture. Here is how it went down on Saturday - old couch to garage - old entertainment center from guestroom to garage - $10-2-person chair to guestroom - Great Gma B's rocker from G's room to W's room (after rearranging W's room) - glider rocker to G's room - Phew!
But then, a couple weeks ago, we saw IKEA was running a livingroom sale where you could get fairly significant $ back in giftcards with a purchase of the right line of sofas - the ones we liked! So we figured that it was a good time to buy. And that we could get a new chair and footstool since we were getting good money back, too!
It took a trip to IKEA with 2 vehicles and an Aahma, a special order for the chair that wasn't in, major rearranging in the 2 vehicles, a trip back to IKEA (2 weeks later) to pick up the chair, and of course assembly, but that is the fun that is IKEA!! And we are so happy with the new furniture!
assembly...
fun in the sofa box...
(poor c...left all alone!)
(we secretly chose a red chair to match the kids' turtle...=)PS. To finalize the look of the room we needed to move and get rid of some old furniture. Here is how it went down on Saturday - old couch to garage - old entertainment center from guestroom to garage - $10-2-person chair to guestroom - Great Gma B's rocker from G's room to W's room (after rearranging W's room) - glider rocker to G's room - Phew!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
kids.... being kids
I'm pretty sure this was taken while W was sleeping. Go ahead, try to watch without smiling...=>
Thursday, June 18, 2009
goals...
Ummm...yeah, remember when I said in the last post that I was going to try to post a blog entry every day this week? Well, yeah, that isn't going so well. The breadstick entry is kicking my butt for some reason and I can't get it how I like it. I love goals and think they are very important (and totally give props to my cousins that are doing 101 in 1001), but S and I have pretty much gotten used to the fact that with 3 kids under 4, surviving somewhat happily is the only goal that we make sure we complete each day, and the rest is just bonus! So if that means stopping working on the blog post and watching TV with my hubby and a bowl of ice cream...so be it! (by the way, he is glaring at me as I was supposed to stop 5 minutes ago, but felt compelled to write this...guess I am scooping tonight! =)
Monday, June 15, 2009
stream of consciousness...
...is that blog title right? did I spell that right? is that what I mean? it is late, S is sleeping with W and hasn't been able to wake up after bedtime routine, and I should be sleeping too as I am quite tired, but I also am enjoying an hour or so without children hanging on me, and I am going to try to post something to the blog everyday this week as I have many things to share and haven't been very diligent in keeping up, so here I am.
...have been working on a pictures that we took for a post on how we make our Sunday night breadsticks. I was hoping to post that today, but it is taking way too long. there were so many pictures that I decided to collage them a bit as to not post 30 some individual pictures. I miss my collage program, Lumapix, which I lost thanks to the computer fairies in all our motherboard messes. Picasa 3 has a collage function now, but it is not the same and takes a lot more work and is not as versatile. but I got it to work. Lumapix must have been reading my mind though (as I was working on the collages I was thinking about just biting the bullet and purchasing a new Lumapix program) because when I finished the collages and checked email, there was an email from them about a new release. means we should buy it, right honey??? please??? =)
...since breadstick post won't be happening tonight, I will post pictures of how we spent our afternoon:
...yep. it was "road-working" day today (G's own words). a burly somewhat crabby construction guy banged on our door at 3:30 this afternoon and told me that they were tearing up the curb in front of the driveway, and if I had any vehicles that I wanted to get out of the garage to do it quick. we knew this was happening this month, just not what day so nothing like advance warning right? I quick threw the kids in front of the TV and parked our van on the other side of the street (we are not going to be able to get in our driveway for 4-5 days as the cement cures). then I tore the kids away from the TV to watch the crew working. took dragging them upstairs crying, but once they saw the trucks and chaos outside, they were hooked and spent the better part of the next few hours sitting on our new couch watching. and commenting. and asking a LOT of "why..." questions. meant we didn't get out to the grocery store this afternoon, but that was just fine by me.
...have been working on a pictures that we took for a post on how we make our Sunday night breadsticks. I was hoping to post that today, but it is taking way too long. there were so many pictures that I decided to collage them a bit as to not post 30 some individual pictures. I miss my collage program, Lumapix, which I lost thanks to the computer fairies in all our motherboard messes. Picasa 3 has a collage function now, but it is not the same and takes a lot more work and is not as versatile. but I got it to work. Lumapix must have been reading my mind though (as I was working on the collages I was thinking about just biting the bullet and purchasing a new Lumapix program) because when I finished the collages and checked email, there was an email from them about a new release. means we should buy it, right honey??? please??? =)
...since breadstick post won't be happening tonight, I will post pictures of how we spent our afternoon:
...yep. it was "road-working" day today (G's own words). a burly somewhat crabby construction guy banged on our door at 3:30 this afternoon and told me that they were tearing up the curb in front of the driveway, and if I had any vehicles that I wanted to get out of the garage to do it quick. we knew this was happening this month, just not what day so nothing like advance warning right? I quick threw the kids in front of the TV and parked our van on the other side of the street (we are not going to be able to get in our driveway for 4-5 days as the cement cures). then I tore the kids away from the TV to watch the crew working. took dragging them upstairs crying, but once they saw the trucks and chaos outside, they were hooked and spent the better part of the next few hours sitting on our new couch watching. and commenting. and asking a LOT of "why..." questions. meant we didn't get out to the grocery store this afternoon, but that was just fine by me....baby C slept through all the excitement:
look at those chubby legs!!!! I love this sweet baby so much.
...I'd like a new camera. I'd love to have a nice digital SLR, but am just not ready to spend that kind of money. and as my photo-genius sil pointed out, I am constantly taking pictures with one hand (because I am holding one or more children or children's stuff in the other!) and the digital SLR really needs two hands to be used properly. I have been crabby with the flash and focus on our camera lately, especially with indoor pictures. the focus goes haywire sometimes and the shots look just awful with the flash - completely washed out! and I need the flash to get any decent shutter speed to capture wiggly kids! photo-genius sil again to the rescue - she mentioned to me the other night to check my ISO settings. I am embarrassed to say I generally use the auto-settings on my camera. mostly because I don't have time to think about the other settings - hey, I am almost 4 years sleep deprived and my brain is tired. so I pulled out the photo part of my brain that I know is there and figured out what I needed to do in the manual settings to shoot with a higher ISO, or film speed. yay! and all the peasants rejoiced as I was able to now take pictures without flash at a much higher shutter speed! all is great and I should not pine for a new camera now, right? nope. because as I have been looking at the photos in Picasa, I noticed they are much grainier or "noisy" (I read a few photo blogs and really didn't know what they were talking about when they talked about how thier cameras had "noise" in their shots at high ISO's - now I do!) and not as crisp as I would like them to be. so back to pining for a new camera. the technology in point and shoot digitals now is SO much better than it was 3+ years ago when we bought ours. means we should buy a new one, right honey? please?? =)
...boy, I have looked at a lot of things on the internet today that I could buy that are all good things and would make life a bit better but really we don't need. maybe I need to try to follow the advice in the xkcd comic today (language warning! I know it is not that bad, but hey, we say carp around here! =).
...I have to post this now to make it on the books for today. although we did figure out yesterday how to change the time and date of your post and how to even "schedule" a post for the future. so you won't know if I truly posted this close to the end of today or whether I even made it and just back posted it or whether I am sleeping and pre-posted it...bwah-ha-ha!!!
...my head hurts. I am tired. I am going to bed. you are probably all relieved this post will end now.
...oh boy, I better have S read this tomorrow and edit!
look at those chubby legs!!!! I love this sweet baby so much....I'd like a new camera. I'd love to have a nice digital SLR, but am just not ready to spend that kind of money. and as my photo-genius sil pointed out, I am constantly taking pictures with one hand (because I am holding one or more children or children's stuff in the other!) and the digital SLR really needs two hands to be used properly. I have been crabby with the flash and focus on our camera lately, especially with indoor pictures. the focus goes haywire sometimes and the shots look just awful with the flash - completely washed out! and I need the flash to get any decent shutter speed to capture wiggly kids! photo-genius sil again to the rescue - she mentioned to me the other night to check my ISO settings. I am embarrassed to say I generally use the auto-settings on my camera. mostly because I don't have time to think about the other settings - hey, I am almost 4 years sleep deprived and my brain is tired. so I pulled out the photo part of my brain that I know is there and figured out what I needed to do in the manual settings to shoot with a higher ISO, or film speed. yay! and all the peasants rejoiced as I was able to now take pictures without flash at a much higher shutter speed! all is great and I should not pine for a new camera now, right? nope. because as I have been looking at the photos in Picasa, I noticed they are much grainier or "noisy" (I read a few photo blogs and really didn't know what they were talking about when they talked about how thier cameras had "noise" in their shots at high ISO's - now I do!) and not as crisp as I would like them to be. so back to pining for a new camera. the technology in point and shoot digitals now is SO much better than it was 3+ years ago when we bought ours. means we should buy a new one, right honey? please?? =)
...boy, I have looked at a lot of things on the internet today that I could buy that are all good things and would make life a bit better but really we don't need. maybe I need to try to follow the advice in the xkcd comic today (language warning! I know it is not that bad, but hey, we say carp around here! =).
...I have to post this now to make it on the books for today. although we did figure out yesterday how to change the time and date of your post and how to even "schedule" a post for the future. so you won't know if I truly posted this close to the end of today or whether I even made it and just back posted it or whether I am sleeping and pre-posted it...bwah-ha-ha!!!
...my head hurts. I am tired. I am going to bed. you are probably all relieved this post will end now.
...oh boy, I better have S read this tomorrow and edit!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
all in a days work, even on Sunday
- woke up to W saying "wake up dada, lets go find G.... come on, lets go!"
- maintained status quo while C showered and finished getting extraneous items ready for church
- put out small toaster fire started by bagel I was attempting to eat for breakfast
- fixed W's pants - in his own words "momma, my bottom fell off. fix it"
- still managed to be 2 min late to church even though up @ 7:00 and don't have to be there until 10:15 (summer schedule - no Sunday school)
- carried noisy W out of church during congregational prayer. Most kids yell and cry, W shouts "Bye G, Love you!"
- took G out to go potty during church service
- sang to W and talked to him to keep him awake on ride home
- put monitor out in garage to keep ear out for sleeping Baby C in his carseat (DON'T disturb a sleeping, peaceful baby)
- bounced / rocked W for 1/2 hr once we got home in an attempt to get him to sleep. (awake/asleep, awake/asleep. sheesh)
- attempted to catch nap on new couch (in brown). got about 10 mins before W woke up
- got G down for short nap (I think C might have sat on her to get her down)
- clipped all kids finger nails and toe nails along with removing small plank that had lodged itself in W's heel (didn't seem to bother him though) while G and W watched veggie tales on TV
- got snack ready for kids once show was done and let Baby C go down for nap
- sunday night breadsticks
- ate said breadsticks and watched selected chapters of a DVD of kids choosing (also a smallish tradition here), which the popular choices as of late have been "Flibber-o-loo!" (Veggie Tales), "kids singing!" (Sound of Music starting with My Favorite Things and ending with So Long, Farewell - basically all the scenes with the kids singing), or tonights choice, "cars!" (Cars)
- changed poo-ie Baby C diaper (yeah poop!)
- played tag and ran around in backyard for 1/2 hr before bed
- yogurt, jams, brushed teeth
- prayers, Bible stories, hugs and kisses
- Sleep for everyone under 4 yrs old. (fighting off sleep for those of us who are just a little bit older)
- relaxed, ate ice cream and enjoyed A/C
----Rinse and repeat----
Another Sunday in the B household...... I'm tired.
- maintained status quo while C showered and finished getting extraneous items ready for church
- put out small toaster fire started by bagel I was attempting to eat for breakfast
- fixed W's pants - in his own words "momma, my bottom fell off. fix it"
- still managed to be 2 min late to church even though up @ 7:00 and don't have to be there until 10:15 (summer schedule - no Sunday school)
- carried noisy W out of church during congregational prayer. Most kids yell and cry, W shouts "Bye G, Love you!"
- took G out to go potty during church service
- sang to W and talked to him to keep him awake on ride home
- put monitor out in garage to keep ear out for sleeping Baby C in his carseat (DON'T disturb a sleeping, peaceful baby)
- bounced / rocked W for 1/2 hr once we got home in an attempt to get him to sleep. (awake/asleep, awake/asleep. sheesh)
- attempted to catch nap on new couch (in brown). got about 10 mins before W woke up
- got G down for short nap (I think C might have sat on her to get her down)
- clipped all kids finger nails and toe nails along with removing small plank that had lodged itself in W's heel (didn't seem to bother him though) while G and W watched veggie tales on TV
- got snack ready for kids once show was done and let Baby C go down for nap
- sunday night breadsticks
- ate said breadsticks and watched selected chapters of a DVD of kids choosing (also a smallish tradition here), which the popular choices as of late have been "Flibber-o-loo!" (Veggie Tales), "kids singing!" (Sound of Music starting with My Favorite Things and ending with So Long, Farewell - basically all the scenes with the kids singing), or tonights choice, "cars!" (Cars)
- changed poo-ie Baby C diaper (yeah poop!)
- played tag and ran around in backyard for 1/2 hr before bed
- yogurt, jams, brushed teeth
- prayers, Bible stories, hugs and kisses
- Sleep for everyone under 4 yrs old. (fighting off sleep for those of us who are just a little bit older)
- relaxed, ate ice cream and enjoyed A/C
----Rinse and repeat----
Another Sunday in the B household...... I'm tired.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
happy anniversary J&C...
While this cute couple went out on the town and enjoyed an evening together for their anniversary, we enjoyed a night with their girls. And once again S & I were impressed with the "subtraction by addition" phenomenon. We add two more kids to take care of, yet find ourselves often not having to actively "baby-sit." The kids really play well together and have lots of fun too. (No, that is not making us contemplate having 2 more by any means!) Here are some pics of the fun the cousins had.
(And soon, all too soon, baby C, you will be able to run and play with these big kids!!!)
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
updated computer
Well, apparently the computer fairies have replied in the form of a Fed-ex man and a box. When the box was opened a familiar looking box was inside. Along with said box, was a service reports from the good fairies. And the faulty part/problem was ....... (drum roll please)..... (you'll never guess it)...... (what are the chances?).....
...
...
...
...
...
...
THE MOTHERBOARD.
Yes, that is right. The first computer's motherboard died and was replaced. And then that motherboard carped out again. Now this new, updated, nicer computer also has had a motherboard die. What is going on? I like mothers and boards and combined they are even nicer. Why do these things dislike me so, computer fairies? Why? Thanks a lot computer fairies, thanks a lot!
Back to full speed, large displayed computer..... for now.......
-s
...
...
...
...
...
...
THE MOTHERBOARD.
Yes, that is right. The first computer's motherboard died and was replaced. And then that motherboard carped out again. Now this new, updated, nicer computer also has had a motherboard die. What is going on? I like mothers and boards and combined they are even nicer. Why do these things dislike me so, computer fairies? Why? Thanks a lot computer fairies, thanks a lot!
Back to full speed, large displayed computer..... for now.......
-s
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