Gardening

Recently, I've been feeling that pull to get in the yard and make it pretty because seriously, our yard is ugly.  I don't want to though!  Knowing we'll only be here this summer and maybe next summer, takes all my motivation away.  It also makes me miss my pretty Maryland yard and wonder what everything looks like this year.  We had never lived anywhere long enough to see the fruits of my labor until Maryland.  There, I was able to see shasta daisy seeds turn into a thick patch of daisies, see the practically dead black eyed susans that we rescued from Lowes grow and mulitply until I had yellow, happy flowers all over the yard, and see altheas that I clipped from a friend's yard grow into four feet tall shrubs.  So, back to this yard.  I don't want to spend the money or time because I won't see those type of plants mature, but I can spend money on veggies!

We have the perfect spots for a small vegetable garden outside our kitchen door.  A few weeks ago, the kids helped me pull dig up all the weeds.  Then we loosened up the dirt rocks and tilled in new garden soil that Dan brought me home.  Those bags are heavy - like 40 lb bag heavy.  The day I went to buy them, I changed my mind and went right back home.  Thanks Danny-Boy!

The kids had a great time helping me plant tomato plants and green bean seeds.  Sometimes they were too much help in such a small space, but I made it work.

We planted marigolds along the front of the bed in the hopes they will keep the deer away.  I don't know if it's true or a wives' tale, but our last neighbor swore by them.  I don't know if they'll keep out the bunnies, mole, fox, skunks, opossums and whatever other woodland creatures live around here too.  I am guessing we'll have a chicken wire "fence" in our future.

Next up is this yucky space.  I have plans for yellow squash and zuccini, but I haven't gathered enough energy to tackle the weeds.  It's supposed to rain tomorrow.  Thursday might be a good morning to pull weeds....or there's always container gardening.  For such big plants, squash have small root balls so it could work.

We'll see.  I've already made use of the cilantro I planted in a recipe last night.  It's going to be fun to be able to pick a few fresh things for dinner during the summer.

Scattered Thoughts

Spring has sprung and time is literally flying by.  I feel like I'm losing control of my blog and I am sorry because I don't just post for my readers, I post for me too.  I miss it, but there aren't enough hours in a day. 

So here, in no particular order, are my scattered thoughts of the morning (Sandi, I have a picture :p.  I know you are impressed).

~ It's finally gotten hot in Missouri and I love it.  We actually hit 90 one day last week.  Everyone is talking about how hot it's going to be this summer since we had such a mild winter.  I say bring on the sunshine and swimming pool.

~ I'm once again trying to get into shape.  For the last month or so Gracie and I have been walking/jogging a couple miles a couple times a week.  I can almost jog a mile without having to stop.  I like that my shorts from last summer fit!!!

~ I had a birthday and turned 3-9 a week ago.  I am seriously getting old. I don't feel 39 and I don't look 39...unless I look closely in a mirror.  Fine lines are creeping in around my eyes.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes and presents.  It was basically a nice day.  The kids pooled their money and bought me a present.  Jaelyn made me a key chain and a little scrapbook of pictures she'd had tucked away in her room.  We didn't make it to church because of an explosion, but once that was out of the system, I had a nice rest of the day.  We had lunch at Colton's where I let them ring a bell and announce my birthday so the kids could share my free ice cream sundae.

~ Gracie graduated from her puppy socialization class.  Next up is obedience school.  She starts tonight with three of her "friends" from her puppy class.  This class will be all work and no play.  She is going to be one well trained dog!

~ Standardized testing prep is in full swing at our school.  I've been helping out a lot with the 3rd and 4th grade classes.  The teachers have been doing a review of the school year for the last two weeks.  I personally think they've been applying a tad bit too much pressure and it's been apparent in Jae's anxiety levels.  The medicine has not turned out to be a cure-all for her woes.  Anyway, since we are on a military base, Friday was MAP Test Bootcamp complete with drill sergeants, PT, an obstacle course and MREs.  I spent a couple hours one day taking the matches and warming packs out 150 MREs to make them safe for the kids.  Fun times.  I was in charge of the obstacle course for the day.  Each obstacle was planned around a test taking strategy.  I went to sleep chanting "skip and come back, read all the possible answers, underline the details, understand the question" Friday night.  I was actually hoarse from yelling with the kids all day.  It was fun though and I wouldn't trade being able to be involved with the kids at school for anything.  Jaelyn's teacher told me her and the other 4th grade teacher have been talking about Allie and might be fighting over her so they'll have me as a volunteer.  That made me feel good!

~ I know I didn't mention it, but I have a huge praise for my Grandpa.  The doctor's thought has bladder cancer was back and might have spread to his kidneys.  After having surgery last week to scope his insides out, they only found abnormal cells from years of bladder infections.  We still have to wait on the official biopsy results, but we are very hopeful and happy with the results.

~ Next week we will be celebrating Allie's birthday and then we have a couple fun things planned for April.  It's going to be a good month!

Happy Spring From Caden

Miscellaneous Update

How Much Does Pure Happiness Cost?

$4.99 according to Allie!  When Allie saw these, she had to have them and I had to buy them for her.  I have a very distinct memory of shopping with my mom and getting my own pink highly wanted and adored pair of jelly shoes.

Our Last Hoorah of Spring Break

We decided to have a last bit of fun, and to get out of town, so we headed southeast to Elephant Rocks and Johnson Shut-ins State Parks yesterday.  We had a wonderful time hiking around at Elephant Rocks.  Even Gracie got in on the rock climbing.  The area is beautiful and the view will be breath-taking when everything is green again.  There was great picture taking opportunities.

Where's Allie?

Jaelyn enjoyed leap-frogging the huge boulders. 

Caden is amazed that Allie can lift him, Jaelyn and the rock!

Prettier by the day.

These rocks are at the summit of the small stone mountain.  I'm sure it's where the park got it's name.  Apparently they were all deposited there from a nearby quarry years ago.  The giant elephant rocks had the miner's names carved in the sides.

I love this picture....all of my babies, minus Zac of course.

We spent a couple hours at Elephant Rocks and then headed to Johnson Shut-ins.  I was so excited to check out this park.  Another mom told me about it.  The park has a section where a stream has crisscrossed coming down a mountain and has left natural slides and pools in the rocks to play in.  Missouri's park website said dogs are welcome at all state parks...well, not this particular section of Johnson Shut-ins.  There was a "no pets allowed" sign at the trail head.  I wish I had been looking the other way because we had to be honest once we saw it, stop and turn around with Gracie Mae.  We found another section of the park that had a stream to play in instead.  It was fun, but I bet not nearly as much fun as the other would have been.

Caden was being a troll under the bridge, but it looks more like the Incredible Hulk balancing a steel beam on his head!

We've had a lazy day after church today.  Our main objective is to be ready to go back to school and to get on an airplane to DC tomorrow.  It's gonna be a long week for Mommy!

Three Course Weather ~ By Allie

Allie's class has been working on stories based on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  They all turned out so well.  I got to help the kids design their book covers in Comic Life.  What a cool program!

Happy Hollow

The weather continues to be beautiful.  Today, we went to Happy Hollow to enjoy it.  We dug out the kids' shorts and they donned their croks in anticipation of getting wet. 

Gracie was having nothing to do with the cold water to begin with.  All she'd do was put her feet in and then back, back out.

Eventually Gracie decided it was safe to play with Allie near shore.  Allie spent most of her time building a sand castle.

The water was up to our knees pretty quickly, but we discovered a rocky sand bar that led us way out into the water.  It took some cajolling, but eventually Gracie was game to play.

 

Look Mom, I'm a wet doggie.

Jaelyn led Gracie around and she wasn't expecting the shaking that went on.  Jaelyn was pretty wet by then; so it didn't really matter.

Gracie found one spot where she could actually swim, but she didn't enjoy it too much.  She went right back to Jaelyn.

Thankfully after a good rubbing with a towel and some deoderizing spray, Gracie didn't require a bath as I was expecting.  The downside of Gracie's fluffy coat is that every cockleburr around attached to her legs.  She didn't appreciate me pulling or cutting them out.

She did, however, require an afternoon nap.  The "swimming" wore her out.

BTW, the kids and I had fun too!

Bowling

In an attempt to get the kids out of the house and occupied for a bit yesterday, we went bowling.  When we walked into the alley, the manager told us they were about to have a tornado drill and suggested we come back in fifteen minutes if we didn't want to huddle on the bathroom floor with them.  Lovely.  We walked across the street to the heavy equipment part of the museum.  The kids pretended they were being scraped up by a bulldozer.

Caden pretended like he was a spy.  He'd plant "explosives" under a vehicle and then run for cover.

Once the all clear sounded (it was a base wide drill), we headed back to the bowlling alley.  The manager gave the kids each a free game because we had to leave and come back.  So for $6, my kids were entertained for an hour and a half.

The balls are too heavy for Caden.  He dropped his and had them roll the wrong way a few times.  Silly.

Allie is working on her form.  She doesn't really need her right leg to go back, but all the good grown-up bowlers do it, so she did too.

Yes, that's hole in the knee of my child's jeans.  It's the latest fashion, I hear.

Jaelyn was in a mood.  She's much better, but she's still taking the occassional benadryl to help her breathe at night.  Antihistamines and Jaelyn doesn't mix well.  They make for an easily annoyed 9 1/2 year old.  That's a bad mix when you have two siblings.

The kids were complaining about it being so hot (81 thank you very much) so we stopped off for ice cream at the shoppette on the way home.  Edy's all fruit strawberry bars for Caden and Allie and Fudgesicles for me and Jaelyn.  The perfect snack on a hot, spring day ~ although technically, I don't think it's officially spring yet.

Rolling

Pledge of Allegiance Rap

The school choir has started back up.  This is the first song that Allie and Caden brought home.

Spring Break

I know I'm neglecting my blog.  It's not because I don't want to write, it's just that I have nothing to write about.  The days are flying by and pretty much one day is like the next.  This week is spring break and we really needed a break.  We don't stop during the week with school, homework and karate.  Throw in dinner and baths every now and then and there's no time left.  I hardly ever see the computer in the day between volunteering, exercising with Gracie, my general household jobs and errands like grocery shopping.  Then at night, I'm tired and sitting in front of the computer and actually thinking of something to write about hurts my brain :).  Last week was also tough with Caden's flu and Jaelyn going crazy.  We put her back on singulair for her horrible allergies and after detoxing from it for 3 days now, she is so much better.  We were having the hitting, pinching, screaming, out of control, berserk kind of explosions that we had years ago.  It was ugly, I tell you (sorry, the kids have been talking like Junie B. Jones lately and I guess it's rubbed off on me).

Yesterday, the kids and I went to the base museum.  They've been with Dan, but I was probably folding laundry or practicing my deep breathing.  I actually wouldn't recommend the museum except to see the section of the Berlin Wall out front.  That was kind of cool.  It might be interesting to military folks who are either military police, engineers, or chemical, but it wasn't very interesting to me.  It killed an hour at least.

 Jaelyn helped me make yeast rolls after that.  I wanted steakhouse type yeast rolls.  These weren't those (Your Highness...help!  Think Quincy's yeast rolls from your childhood.  Did you have one of those?  Don't think healthy, think warm, sweet, buttery goodness.) and it didn't help that I left out the salt ~ oops ~ I'm blaming the kids and the dog for distracting me.

Today, we biked up to a playground and then took Gracie to the tennis court to run around.  I got the kids to race me in sprints from one end of the court to the other.  I didn't get as long of a workout as I normally do, but it was a pretty good workout that left us all gasping for breath.  Bowling is in the plans for this afternoon and then we are grilling hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner.  Yea for 80 degree days again.  I know they won't last, but we are enjoying them while they do.

I've been using ground turkey a lot lately, trying to cut out beef as much as I can.  I made burgers last week with a recipe from allrecipes, but the turkey burgers tasted like really good grilled meatloaf instead of hamburgers.  LOL.  I'm branching out on my own tonight...Dan should be scared.

Let the Play Begin

The Flu

The very contagious flu has hit our elementary school. 6 kids in Jaelyn's class and 10 kids in Caden's class were absent yesterday. Ms. S sent 5 kids, Caden included, for temperature checks. Caden had a stomach ache at school but his fever didn't start until after he got home from school. It slowly climbed and has settled at about 102.5. Tylenol brings it down to about 100-101. The school nurse says the kids are missing 2-5 days. I'm worried our spring break is about to be ruined. Lysol here I come!

When Allie Grows Up

I happened to see this hanging on the bulletin board outside Allie's classroom yesterday. It made my day.