picture overload

as it took me the whole day to finish this, be aware that the title is accurate on this one!

since i have a few days off in a row and the kids were cooperating (for the most part) i decided to mix in blogging my most recent photos that i am so eagar to share, with all the house work that desperately needs to get done!!

Daniel's new thing is hitting... he loves to walk up to you (kathryn has been his favorite lately) wind his arm back and whap! smack the crap out of you! lol. sometimes its worse than others, but last saturday! oh geez, every time daniel disappeared in the back i would hear kathryn start to cry and yell "don't hit me!" (is this payback for all the times she was mean to him??) i felt sorry for her after witnessing his attacks on his sister, and since he is being REALLY stubborn and hard-headded lately, of course he doesn't listen, so i told kathryn to start hitting him back. maybe he would get the message? until right in front of me dan hits her on the head, she says "OOOOW" and hits him on his head and he pops her on the arm and back and forth! AAAA! how do you get boys to stop the hitting? he used to be so sweet, now he's becoming a monster! lol. i don't even know where he picked it up from... ah, oh well... i gotta think of something, cuz time outs have NO effect on him. he gladly sits and once he's done he goes right back to the bad behavior...so that is my trial as a mother at the moment... and this saturday (today) he has learned how to tackle kathryn...and if she doesn't go dow easily, he'll hang behind her and run forward or backward till she falls down...now this is really comical and hard not to laugh when kathryn is so annoyed by it...and half the time on the way down daniel ends up hurting himself! i tell him it's his own fault, brush it off! well, he has been doing this all day to her, so finally i taught kathryn a few tricks...keep a wide base (feet apart, and staggered) and if he's pulling her back, she has to learn forward...and so he went up to her to do it again, and i coached her in action...lol. and it worked! and she was so excited that she could defend herself against daniel's moments...hahaha!

kathryn is beginning the imaginative play now...it's so cute. she's playing with the beanie babies alot too. i haven't decided when i will get the rest of them down! but that's good. i'm trying to figure out what stuff she should be doing at this age...but it's hard to try new things when dan always wants to be involved. she's been saying funny things like "oh, well, thank you mommy that's so nice of you to let me play at the park!" and stuff like that. it just makes me giggle. her new thing is "you remember the rules?" she'll say that as i say something or suggest something that is "against" mommys rules...lol. "having a piece of candy for picking up toys is not ok, we have to eat our healthy food first mom! remember the rules!" i can't seem to think of the other cute things she says, but she is cute. and as we were about to say a prayer i asked daddy to say it and she says "i don't like how he says the prayer" but we tell her daddy needs a turn, and she says she wants to say it, so we tell her she can have a turn after daddy...so daddy says his prayer, and ends it with "in the name of thy Son Jesus Christ, amen" and she says "no, i don't like how you say that, it's in the name of Jesus Christ" so i tell her there are many different ways to say a prayer, and they are all fine as long as we are making the effort to talk to Heavenly Father, he's ok with however we choose to say it. so she goes on to say her prayer, and she says in the middle "please bless daniel to not hit me anymore, and bless me not to hit daniel. bless us to be kind and love each other, in the name of the Son, Jesus Christ, Amen" i just had to laugh...she always says how she doesn't like that daddy says it different, and then she goes and says it herself. funny little girl. and that she said a blessing for daniel to stop hitting her. she really understands what to pray for!

without further ado, here are my pictures, in no particular order...

so one morning i recall the kids coming in to wake me up around 7:20...it was a sat. morning, and i was still tired...so i told them to go play i would get up in a bit. they left alright... and when i got up by 8, and i didn't hear anything, i knew they were doing or had already done something wrong, and when i walk into the kitchen, i find this:

all 4 bananas split open, the 2 you can see were devoured the other two he didn't get all the way into...let me remind you that Kathryn doesn' like bananas... but being as how daniel is a monkey...yeah, he would've had all 4 gone if he'd had more time! haha...




so a few weeks ago John's grandparents from Utah were visiting and we went to Lafayette to go see them...i dressed kathryn up all cute in her new clothes, and even had hair bows to match... as soon as we got there she went down the slide head first and into the dirt she went...she thought it was hilarious, and all i saw was dirt stains... haha. this had to be me as a child.

so we were at Juniors house and they were BBQing...all the guys were congregated around the grill...haha. i had to catch this. oh, and at least our grill (behind Junior) found a new home besides the trash!

Daniel loves rolling cars all around on the ground. he is boy thru and thru!

kathryn gathering up leaves in a cute wheel barrow...i would get her one of these, but i feel it would encourage her to dig in the dirt! and we kind want our grass to fill in...

it took me a second to figure out why Mimi is so happy...notice Kathryn's hand...yeah, Mimi just got her to say the Pledge of Alliegence...that is Mimi's thing... and Daniel is checking out his new boe boes...

funny story behind this one...kathryn has a Sobe Life water in her hand in this pic, but just before i snapped it, she came to me with a can of sunkist...i told her she couldn't have any of that until she finished her food (she would drink til she threw up if you let her!) well, she decided to be clever and give the can to Pop who unknowingly opens it, and i catch her right before she takes a sip as she smiles at me (with that naughty "whatcha gonna do" grin) and i of course take it away telling her once again she has to eat her food...and if she is thirsty she can have the Sobe bottle...she was very upset and starting fussing back immediately, "but Pop opened it for me!!!" like Pop trumps what mommy says...heheh... she is clever, but i'm tha boss! of course Pop felt bad for making her sad, but it's not his fault...he had no idea what was going on and what i had told kathryn...lol. so kathryn is looking at him defeated...

this is a cute one of Lily (Kelly and Mickey's oldest) who just turned 4 and Zeke standing right next to her who is almost 6! and they are the same height! poor zeke! he'll shoot up there one day.

i love this one...kathryn and Dan riding bikes...Dan followin kathryn wherever she goes.

this is a cute one of Jake and his Mom...the way they are grinning at each other... precious.

Zeke was trying to eat his food but the wind was kicking up the table cloth so much that he gave up and slouched down to eat under the table cloth...

daniel staring at the target: cupcake. how many bites does it take to finish this thing off?

well, he's going for 1... shoving with all his mite to get it in there...

mission accomplished! WOW...that kid is serious about eating! and we couldn't stop laughing!

they are getting started on the expansion of our subdivision... yeah...waking up to construction work and beeping trucks at 6:30 isn't so exciting. but Daniel is certainly attracted like a magnet to all the scooper trucks... yeah, he just isn't allowed outside in the front yard anymore.

so Kathryn had an easter egg hunt at school, and her teachers were telling me about how lately she has been "performing" for them with this boom mic...she sings all kinds of crazy things! and dances too. haha!

taking the tape off after the hunt...wow, she wasn't supposed to get that off!

the cute bunny cake her teacher's mom made for them!

coloring on the dry erase board...

climbing through the tunnel! yay!

i just love this face. i could kiss that face all day!

so this is saturday before easter. we went on an egg hunt at Corine's and had a group of kids over. Daniel and Kathryn came to play outside before we had the hunt... daniel has tried this jungle gym thing in the past with no success...i mean his not even 2 he shouldn't be able to anyway right? not this time! he watched kathryn and soon he had it!

oh but that's not the farthest he got, no, not daniel...
but still. that's not all! and he figured this out all by himself! this freaked me out!
then he would jump through! WOOO, that is amazing. in this pic i think he looks just like Zeke...when he was 2.

now for the egg hunt! the first egg daniel found he wanted to stop and open it! he didn't understand that the more eggs you had, the more candy! lol.

this is how he put them in his bucket...its just funny

he did good with finding eggs, although he was the youngest in the group so, he may have gotten 10 eggs before the rest were found...

kathryn stretches out to reach an egg in a tree... haha. guess all those games of "hide the toy and find it" paid off... she is good at finding those hard eggs.

well, since Zeke and Jaiden were the older two and much more aggressive about getting all the eggs, they had to let the younger kids get a minute head start... and when the door finally opened...they were bookin it out the door!

kathryn finding eggs that Jaiden and Zeke passed right up!

finding eggs, zeke was telling Jaiden how he just found a bunch of eggs by the shed! (they compete with each other about everything)

group of kids...

and kathryn being the last one in the previous group...everyone passed up this egg! haha.

everyone climbing fast to be the first to get those eggs on top! i think Braleigh won...(wearing the dress)

daniel finding one really hidden...after some help of course.

and he said, i'm done, i just want to eat them now! i love the little squat!

yummy candy...(next year we'll only put candy in a few!)

the group of kids that enjoyed the easter egg hunt...(L to R) Braleigh, Nevaeh, Isaiah, Kathryn, Zeke, Daniel, Jaiden

eating pizza... Braleigh's pizza! lil food snatcher!

lining all the mini skateboards up... haha. too bad he can't be this meticulous about all his toys.. i.e. cleaning them up!

kathryn found this hat and took braleigh's purse and was walking around like a miss priss with her hand up that was holding the purse and the other on her waist! now she is drinking...someone else's caprisun...not unsual at all for kathryn!

Daniel and Jaiden climbing! he was even better this time than a few hours before! Jaiden says "how'd he get up here so fast!" as she was trying to make it through the hole before him...to her credit, he did zip right up there!

they went at the same time...AHHH!

and he survives!
i just like this pic of kathryn...the sun hits her just right...

daniel finally pooped out...while trying to finish his chicken nuggets! he is too funny!

on game night jake decided to bring Amanda's cuddlebag out of the garage and into the house... and it was an immediate attraction for the kids... Jake is tickling Daniel here.

and Kathryn tries to give Kourtney some of her water! haha.

After a long day, cuddling with Daddy is the best.

you'll have to excuse the diaper blow out seen on daniel's shorts! the pantry had no light when i saw him and i quickly snapped the picture before getting him down and noticing it... but this little boy never ceases to amaze me... he figured out where the candy was...on the fourth shelf! and he climbed up there to get it!

so we really needed to water our grass one saturday, and so we had a fun day outside... the kids going to investigate the sprinkler going around in circles....

kathryn aiming it at daniel...haha...he went running and giggling...

on Easter Sunday we went to Grammie's house and ate dinner...Daniel puckering up fishy lip style to give Grammie kisses

and a sweet kiss! i hope he stays that way!

we also visited Grannie later on Easter Sunday and the kids wanted to play outside, so we let them play. i bent down to smell Grannie's amarylis, and they actually smelled good! so daniel mimicking me, bent down to...but i didn't quite catch that picture...

grannie has a little bench that they love to sit on...i need to get one! that is so cute

we were sitting on the swing... Daniel has his hand on Jenn's leg...she thought that was precious.

my adorable little daniel. he could be a baby model for that shirt huh? haha.

i love how chesy this smile is...he reminds me of john at his age...

so now, i will show pictures of my projects... i am proud of what i accomplish and want to document it =) so a few weeks ago, i pulled the van into the garage, and didn't pull in all the way cuz i thought i'd be leaving soon, well, long story short, john went to close the garage door, and CRUNCH the opener ripped itself from the door... via this angle wire (or whatever it is called) since it wasn't attached very well to the door... which i suppose is a good thing? since our sensitivity settings weren't set right...otherwise it would have ruined our door which is $700 to replace...yeah. well, after fidgeting with it for a bit, john got it back on...but it was sure to come loose again...and it did... a few weeks later...


this is where it ripped itself from the door... our door is so cheap there isn't much to attach the angle wire to... so it was asking for trouble... but we don't have money to get a better door, so... how to fix it...i asked john and he wasn't in the mood to even think about it... so i got to figure it out... and i came up with a plan...


with no help from anyone except the informative retired contractor at Lowes (thanks!) i put my plan into action...i got the bolts, new angle wire, snips to cut the angle wire, and got to work...the guy said it would be hard to cut the angle wire since it was so thick... yeah well, it wasn't so hard when you're determined to get this done! here is my finished product! and the best part is... it was under $10 to fix! much better than $700 for a new door! and it works!!! look out John!


now for making my vertical garden frame... i used aluminum conduit 1/2" $1.87 for 10 ft and some rebar pounded into the ground to slip the trellis frame over... anyhow, i bent the top myself! WOO HOO! it was fun. i decided the next time i needed to bend this i would do it in the store...
that is the top ^^
and below is the pipe bender and the angle wire...
so the top attaches to pre-cut (i cut them to the size i needed ahead of time) conduit via little connectors that are 50 cents a piece... they screw into the pipes to tighten... and voila! vertical frames! i think i needed about 3 10ft pipes for these two frames that sit 5 ft and 6 ft tall... i ended up boosting the 5ft one to 7 ft cuz of what it was going to be supporting... so all and all... these two frames including the rebar (1/2" dia x 18" long, or 24" long...$1.18 ea) that the frames sit on top of to keep them in place... this was a $13 investment because they will last forever...and when you are done for the season, you slide them up off the rebar, and put them in the shed! HA! awesome! they are missing their trellis netting which i seem to not have taken a finished picture of, but the netting was $5 for 15 ft and i still have enough left for a 3rd frame... and the netting will also last for years! so i'm excited to see everything grow!


i also took down the "fence" around my old garden, took apart the 2x4's enclosing the garden and disposed of them! then mowed everything. now i just have to distribute the extra dirt to all the low spots in the yard.


now for my garden pictures!!! so this is week 2 box 1... i have beans in the far corner, snap peas next to them and tomatoes next to that... in the middle is bell pepper, left side is okra, and basil on the right...the other herbs have decided not to grow!
this is week 3 box 1... the vertical frame is up and the peas are trying to climb! everything looks a little bigger!


still week 3 just a better look at the trellis first of all, and the beans, peas, and tomatoes...


week 4! WOW! the beans a climbing now, and the peas are taking over everything! poor tomatoes! next time i will put them by themselves...(tomatoes and peas) now you can see that the ones in the middle are bell peppers, and okras in the back, basil at the bottom...


so this is week 2 box 2 (when i say week 2 i mean the seeds were started 2 weeks ago) this box has honeydew melon and cucumbers along side tomatoes (which i don't think sprouted yet) zucchini in its 2x2 ft square and corn in the back with a baby sunflower...


week 3 box 2...the zucchini is by far the fast growing plant i've ever seen!!! they suggest spacing them 3 ft...they were right!! a 2x2 square isn't enough space! (you'll see why in week 4) so now you see the corn at the bottom doing great, and the sunflower coming along nicely next to the corn... cucumber and honeydew at the top next to the trellis... the empty 2x2 was supposed to be a yellow squash but it didn't germinate...(good thing!) and the other tomato didn't germinate either (empty square at top) they didn't germinate b/c the wrath of daniel digging in the garden destroyed the chances...


just the zucchini! i love watching this thing grow!


the mammoth sunflower plant...i am anxious to see this bloom!


week 4 cucumbers and honeydew (cucumber taking over!) and starting to climb


sunflower... check out the leaf on the left side... (picture to come in a bit)
corn! (needed support from the WIND of this past weekend...)
and of course you can't miss this GIANT zucchini plant! look at how it is taking over the tomato and corn!!


week 2 box 3 broccoli, spinach, lettuce, cauliflower
i managed to forget to take a pic for week 3, so week 4 comes next! look at the growth!! amazing what 2 weeks can do! so broccoli is in the middle, lettuce at the top! (real sized this time!!!) and spinach...
apple trees...they grow slow.


i love the way broccoli leaves do this with water!


leaf defect on sunflower... two leaves grew together as one on top the other!


leaf size of zucchini compared to my hand...
a baby zucchini soon to come next week!!!


the stems of the zucchini leaves are as thick as my thumb!


real sized romaine lettuce!!!


spinach! this stuff is sooo good!

this is how big the broccoli leaves are! they are giant too! now i will know what size the plants get to!

this is the lil cauliflower plant. i have only one. the other one was getting eaten by bugs... i am anxious to see just how big the head turn out to be on the broccoli and cauliflower

so to sum up the garden venture...looks like this soil works great! i have had VERY few weeds i mean i've pulled maybe 10-15 total out of all 3 beds since i started. so that is a drastic improvement from my other garden that had so many weeds i couldn't keep up. i think it helps that the boxes are 10" tall, and it also helps that the plants are "crowded" in the box so there isn't much room for weed seeds to get started... but i am seeing these plants thrive and i haven't fertilized them at all. i do water them every morning...a good shower from my hose, no soaker hose...i think you really should put that in before your plants start to grow otherwise, you'll risk damaging the plants. i dont mind getting out there for 10 mins watering all 3 boxes and making sure they don't have bugs all over them etc. i have gotten into a routine and it seems to be working well. i water them before the sun is too hot and so they are sure to get through the day without wilting. i don't know about the location yet...i wanted the boxes to be close so i didn't have to walk so far to harvest and care for them... anyhow, till next time!

all in a day's work

::sigh::

kids in bed, dishes loaded and started, clothes washing and drying, scriptures read, prayers said...

::sigh::

but john is still at work (he got to open and close today (BOOOO)), dinner still didn't get cooked, toys still scattered all over the floor, vacuuming neglected for another day and i'm tired. it seems i'll never quite catch up with my to do list.

but i did get a chance to read with kathryn one of my favorite books that has minimal words, but instead of just reading, we really dissected all the pictures. that little girl is smart! as we read and laugh together i simply let go of all the worries and enjoy my little girl. suddenly, i don't care about all the toys on the floor or pots and pans that need to be cleaned, i am glad i can make her happy. and of course daniel is looking on wanting to be a part of it, so once we finish the book and kathryn takes off to get another one, he sits and places it on his lap as he sweeps through the pages, coming to rest on one...i begin to name what i see on the page, and he so cute, returns my answers... (da for dog, ba for bird, fa for frog) he knows so much more than i realize. it's hard to believe he's only almost 2...seems like he should be 3 or something...i forget he's not as old as i imagine.

i love my kids. i'm so glad i got to take time to enjoy them today.

i've had alot on my mind lately. lots of plans.

i got a job! i had been thinking about working where my BIL works, cuz the hours seemed suitable...and he randomly tells me they are hiring. so i apply thinkin, i'm never gonna get a chance, i haven't worked in years! i was shocked when they said they wanted to interview me...and then a drug test, and now i'm hired! WHOO HOO!

i started training today and we got to see first hand how and what we will be doing. i'm an employee of Frito-Lay (the largest snack food company in the world) and i'll be working as a Warehouse Picker. i pick individual bags to fill an order put them in totes and send the cart full of boxes to the loader to be put on the truck. it looks fun...but maybe that's cuz it's something new and different. lol. i'm only part-time, working 3 days a week from about 4pm til 1am or so. but you don't go home till all the orders are filled. the pay is great and it will allow us to get out of debt really soon!

i also have been thinking about school again. it's a desire for me to finish while i still have the chance, and so with the funds to help pay for school now (new job) i am going to go to BRCC tomorrow and see what i need to do to enroll for the fall. why delay? lol. we'll just have to see. if i go back to school, Daniel will need to be watched by someone and that's always the unknown...although today he did great for Ms. Valerie! which is such a relief that he is getting over his separation anxiety!

and i finally got to set up an appointment for Daniel to be evaluated for his lack of speech. 1 week from today. i hope he can get approved for therapy.

oh, and i finished sorting through the last of the boxes of Amanda's this weekend. ::sigh:: now to organize it. see, my friend Amanda moved to Arizona last year in Oct. (husband lost his job, her fam had a rent free place for them there) but they couldn't afford to bring all their stuff, so they put it in a storage unit...well, they no longer could afford to pay it, and while they were current on it, after Amanda asked for my help, i went and moved all their stuff out of their storage unit and into my garage in time for them to not have to pay next months rent. a huge deal. and then came sorting through all of it figuring out what they wanted to keep and what goes to garage sale...and i'm done with that part now! so i just need to organize the stuff that goes and price it to sell at a garage sale. i'm an awesome friend what can i say? devoted and loyal.

and now i'm simply tired. i don't want to think about how i need to do the budget tomorrow and plan out some meals, make a grocery list and get groceries on top of going to BRCC and getting that straightened out... im sure i'll figure it out!

garden fever, daniel daniel daniel

so every time spring comes around and i'm out getting groceries at grocery stores...i can't help but notice all the plants and pretty flowers for sale... the bulb sets, seeds, etc. i'm not even looking for it, but it's there. and i love gardening. i love plants and especially those that flower... and so every year, about this time (every year i say, because since we've been married we've had debt and no money to spend on plants) i start wanting to buy plants... but this year is different...why? WE OWN A HOUSE FOR ONCE!!! and all the pitiful "lanscaping" DR Horton put in needs a makeover...every time i look at it i shake my head and start thinking what i'd like to see instead... only, we are trying to get out of debt...dragging on and on. lol. so i must pass all the pretty flowers this year again! ::sigh:: for now i have resorted to carefully plotting and planning what i'd "love" to have my yard look like...i say that because i browse the nurseries online and fall in love with a bulb that is $10 a piece! WOOOW that's pricey. but most bulbs multiply... just give it time.

so far, i have in my mind what plants i must have, i just have to figure out how to arrange them...

here's a taste:

purple rose (lagerfeld i already have)

pretty pink rose

pretty red rose


new dawn climbing bush

liliac

first lady asiatic lily

purple iris (my favorite flower)

indian giver day lily

hydrangea bush

pink flowering dogwood tree (i actually found one at lowes!!!)

clematis vine

peonies - they look like roses!

delphiniums

alliums

agapanthus

so i don't have pictured...spider lilies (i remember these growing up!) fox gloves and various annuals...

i don't mind the maintenance of a nice lanscape, i love to be out in the yard, so i'm not going for just bushes...lol. i LOVE flowers. the more unique/beautiful the better. i also am gaga over scented flowers...love smelling roses, and infact i don't think i'll ever pick a rose unless it smells awesome! i hate flowers that stink. lol. of course, most of these i've never had before, so i don't know if they have a smell or not...but i love how beautiful they are!

so i guess i'll take a break from that to mention...i finished my garden boxes today! yay. minus the cage. seeds/transplants are in, so water, wait, and see...

oh, and daniel has hit the terrible two's phase. darn. that little boy was such a sweet baby...and now he's an abnoxious toddler who pitches these screaming crying fits when he doesn't get his way...ugh. i sure TRY my hardest not to let it phase me...just get done what i need to do so i can get to tending to daniel...

2 days ago i went to lowes to pick up some more humus and peat moss, and since we were in the garden section, after daniel became uninterested in the car part of the cart...i decided i would let him down to run (i promised he could if he put his shoes back on, and he did, so i had to reward him for following through) but since i had what i came for, i figured i'd follow him around and practice his obedience skills by calling him back when i stopped and making sure he listened... i was non chalantly browsing flowering trees, and that's when my eye spotted "dogwood" i looked at the tag more closely and the picture too...and YEP, pink flowering dogwood! this tree supposedly isn't sold here b/c it doesn't grow well blah blah, but they had it! then i jeked my head around to see where daniel was and.... that was all it took, he was no where in sight. i called his name, no sound...as i started briskly walking around looking for him, abandoning the cart...an associate stopped me and said "your looking for a little boy? i thought he was standing next to his parents, but he was...well he was over there" i was at the opposite corner of the garden center by this point where it meets the doors to go inside the store...and my heart is pumping fast...why why why did i let him out of the cart! so i'm running through the back of the store calling his name finding nothing while the associate was telling other associates she saw to look for him and call "code adam" (mising child) i'm just about to break down and cry at this point as i see no sign of him...it wasn't until i was by appliance/cabinets area that i see daniel running away from an associate that is following him... i run and grab him and she tells me he was back in recieving watching them operate the fork lifts..."we almost didn't see him" AAAAAAA....in recieving!!!! o that was enough for me... i didn't let go of him and he didn't fuss...it was a mutual feeling...glad to see him again...

well, i had to get groceries at sam's...i only had daniel with me since kat was still in school, so i wanted to get it done with just one kid... and he was staying in the cart.... oh, he was not happy about that! the ENTIRE time we were in that store he wanted me to carry him...well, holding a 30lb child and pushing a cart...it aint happening...daniel was gonna have to get over it. i would cuddle him but not carry him... he kept standing up and jumping on me, which was getting on my nerves so i strapped him in so he would sit...he quickly got out of that...so i just held his arm to make him stay sitting...yeah, that was all before i even got to pick up any groceries...so he proceeds to sream at the top of his lungs and cry and pitch a huge tantrum...for the rest of the time. i simply tried to shrug it off and keep telling him he had to sit in the cart, but by the time i went to check out...and he was dripping of drool and snot cuz he had worked himself up so much...i was done with it...i hugged him while in line (while he stood in the basket) and he finally shut up...and other customers were saying "ooo, he's happy now, he just needed a hug" and "he stopped crying! WOW" i just had to smile and laugh because that wasn't his problem...i tried hugging him and he would push me away simply because he was mad that i didn't want to carry/let him out of the cart...ugh. whatever. i am not the mom that gives their kids what they want just so they will hush... not happening. he needs to learn a lesson...kids sit in the cart for shopping trips...needless to say i had all my patience drained at that point... and he fell asleep shortly after he got in the car...figures. which is the reason i hate going shopping with kids. kathryn demands to be out of the cart and walking around, and she wanders off and touches everything, so i always have to be watching her every move, which slows down the process, all the while daniel is jumping on me to get out of the cart and be free like kathryn!!! and it's a big wonder why make my shopping trips as infrequent as possible. ah, missed getting cheese...too bad... ::sigh:: i've had a rough few days with handling daniel's tantrums...i still don't know the best way to handle him when he gets in the crying screaming foot stomping rages... i've taken to just sitting him in time out and putting him back everytime he starts fussing again until he stops...and trying to explain in a calm voice over his screams that this is not the way we behave. i don't even know how to word it...lol. "we don't do this" "we don't act this way" everything is so general. i guess a simple "no fussing" will do until he gets older. ::sigh::

on a positive note, i had daniel outside with me while i worked on my garden (in the side yard) and we heard big machinery noises...we went to check it out, and it was a big...scooper machine? idk the name of it, but the CAT machinery...it was knocking down parts of the fence where the road stops so it could get through...then it started tearing up some temp fencing DR Horton put along the sides of the road...then a big 18 wheeler came in with about 8 concrete sewer cylinder thingys....lol. the CAT machine hooked a chain to the concrete stuff and unloaded them off the truck...daniel just watched and watched. he even went a little closer and did his cute full hand wave to the men working. they got a kick out of him and the CAT machine man honked the tiny horn to say hi to daniel and it scared him so he ran away. teeheehee...but any time he is in the street and he sees a car coming, he books in toward the house/me screamin "uh no, uh no" all the while. i keep telling him GOOD JOB DANIEL! we run away from cars in the street! lol.

and he sure wishes he could do what i do to my garden...i only let him water the squares...he tries to dig...and rake...it's cute watching him try. the rake is so much taller than he is and heavy for him.

i'll be off to bed now.

always an obstacle to get past...

i have been wanting to post for a while, but with kids there's no telling when you'll get the chance. i have been trying to put my garden together.

there sure is a lot of steps i guess i just never thought about them before. it was so obvious, i just never thought about how much time each step would take.

to build a raised bed 4x4 first you have to find a good spot in your yard. not too sunny, but one that gets at least 6 hours of sun a day. also you want to make sure it is relatively flat. that helps to not complicate things.

so once you've found your location you'll need some boards 2x6 and up. i used 2x10's becuase i wanted to have an extra deep bed, but you really only need 6" of soil to work with...except for the root crops (potatoes, carrots) i got my 2x10x4' boards for free at a construction site...i had to do some cutting of course. so cut the boards to 4 ft or you could do a 4x8 box, but my boards were only 5ft, so without having to buy boards, i was stuck with building just 4x4 boxes. (can't be deeper than 4ft cuz you can't reach in further than 2ft on each side...trust me, i made my 1st garden 5ft and there was an ugly patch of weeds right down the middle that i couldn't reach...)

so your boards are cut, now predrill holes for screws on one side in each board. line them up and put your screws in...the box is done! it will be heavy tho, so put it together very close to where it will be going...

next you put down landscape fabric to keep weeds from coming up into your awesome dirt... i went a step further and stapled the fabric to the bottoms of the boxes...i would advise you to get 4ft wide landscape fabric...it will save time. i thought i had picked a 4ft roll, turns out it was only 3... oh well. (picture of stapled landscape fabric to box below)

flip the box over.... and next mix the awesome dirt...

lay out a tarp (mine was 8'x10')

and add the ingredients (1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite) if you do 6" of soil, you will need 8 cu ft of soil for a 4x4. or approx 3 cu ft of each ingredient. it doesnt have to be exact, but don't skimp on anyone of these! here's why:

compost is organic and the perfect natural fertilizer...fertilizing done, one less step to worry about. it's better to have home made compost, but if you get it from the store, get different kinds to have a better mix of nutrients. i suggest compost chicken manure, compost cow manure, and humus...composted peat moss or something like that. chicken manure can be found at Naylor's Hardware, the rest can be found at any big hardware store like Lowes, Home Depot, Stine's etc.

peat moss is great for keeping soil light and moist. this will never be added again as it is a non-renewable resource, and we don't want to waste it. it decomposes rather slowly, so it should last a while. get the bales of either 2.2 cu ft (expands to roughly 4 cu ft) or 3.8 cu ft (expands to roughly 8 cu ft) depending on how much you need.

vermiculite - what the heck is that you say? it is this amazing resource that holds water like a sponge...literally. it is made by heating up mica rock till it explodes (like popcorn) and what you get is chunks of light airy vermiculite. the water fills into all the open spaces, which the chunks are full of. so this is very necessary to keeping your soil loose but water retentive. the only place i've found that stocks this in the 4 cu ft bag you need (cheaper than buying all the 4 qt bags to equal 4 cu ft) is Naylor's Hardware off of Old Hammond right next to Millerville. it is 25.99, BUT you'll never have to buy it again, and you won't have to water as frequently!

so, add the ingredients in the tarp (i suggest doing 1 box at a time, the dirt gets rather heavy) take one side of the tarp (it helps if there are 2 people to do this) and pull towards the opposite side making sure none of the dirt spills. the do the same with the other side. i was doing this by myself, so this didn't work out too well for me, not to mention it was very windy (oh yeah, wet your ingredients well so they don't blow away -peat moss and vermiculite in particular) so i would recommend NOT doing it on a day that is super windy...but none the less.

i ended up shoveling the pile into the box and, using a rake, mixed the ingredients that way... whatever works for you. after you have your dirt, make sure it is moist, so give it a good water (any excess water will just run out - so no overwatering will take place!)

so what were the kids doing all the while as i was working?

kathryn loves to dig holes in the dirt...Grrrreeat....rock box coming soon!

did i mention this little boy is in love with cars? cuz this is what he does all day long. a car in each hand, right where mommy is.

next add grids. this is a very important part of SFG (square foot gardening) it helps you SEE where your spaces are so you know where to put your plants (in the middle of the square, or 4, 9, 16 per square, depending on what you are planting) once again, i wanted to use what i had on hand, so i screwed in 1/2 inch screws 3/4 of the way down (to give room to tie string to) 12" apart (approx. it was more like 11.5") and tied nylon string around the screws to make a grid. melt the ends btw or they will fray.

next...PLANTS YOUR SEEDS!!! FINALLY!!! sigh. i love watching things grow, and have been waiting to get this done since winter...and the time finally came...i'm glad i started earlier cuz it took me over the course of a week to get this done! and i only filled in 1 box of dirt! i am doing 3 4x4 boxes, the other 2 are waiting for their dirt and grids and SEEDS! but the wind was too much to finish, so i am waiting. today is a good day to get it done. i'm also gonna do 1 2x2 box 12" high for my carrots and potatoes. i'm interested to see what i get, since my carrots in my poor soil garden looked quite funny.

i covered my box with some fabric so the sun wouldn't zap the seeds to give them a chance to get established (and give me a chance to build that cage)

so why the title? well, before i built my boxes i was looking over at my previous garden that has sad small lettuce plants and bent down to find quite a few of the plants horribly infested with tiny black bugs!! i would say they look like aphids, but aphids aren't black. i have no idea what they were, but i took an empty spray bottle, filled a little soap and water and went to town spraying the plants...only, a few days later, the bugs weren't completely gone, and the plants leaves that had soapy water on them were dead. what's the big deal, right? i mean, that garden is done, i am no longer harvesting the lettuce (good thing) but to see bugs on plants only means i'm going to see bugs on the plants in my good gardens...bugs means...stunned plants, well, it's not good lets put it that way.

i was going to make a cage out of chicken wire to keep animals and birds out, but it won't keep out bugs... so what is the point? UGH! that was my problem last year...grasshoppers and leaf miners...and they ate away at the plants before the plants even had time to grow! so i came up with a conclusion...window screen...they sell it in 4 ft rolls (YES!) and so i will use that instead of chicken wire and follow the same steps outlined in the Square Foot Gardening book. it will be expensive, but i shouldn't have to make these cages again, they should last for years... so, to protect my plants, i think it is worth it. we'll have to see how it goes.

right after i had kathryn help me plant the seeds (she LOVED that) daniel decided to tramp through the garden! ::sigh:: i only saw the end of it, and disciplined him then, so hopefully that won't happen again. that's what the cages are good for!

anyhow, i can't wait to have this gardening thing complete so i can start growing plants, harvesting FOOD and feel complete. haha. j/k.

i also decided store bought compost is NOTHING compared to homemade compost...i had een wanting to start a compost for a while, but preferred to have something round to put it in to be able to roll it around for easy mixing...meaning faster composting...well. i can't afford to really buy anything being as we are trying to get out of debt and i just spent money on my garden soil... so back to the construction sites! i got some scrap plywood and 2x4's and after a bit of cutting and screwing the boards together, i had a box!!! it is HUGE! i did 3x3x3 and i'm not sure i'll ever fill that up on my own!

good thing there are tons of FREE things to add to it to make awesome compost full of nutrients for your plants!!!

starbucks...they save their coffee grinds and bag them for you!!! how awesome! i spent the last 2 days finding starbucks and CC's coffees to get all their free used coffee grinds....i got a bunch. lol.

spoiled produce from local grocery stores/fruit stands... not walmart...i didn't bother trying them cuz they can be so stupid about things...but win-dixie, any associated grocer stores...they all throw out spoiled produce (or stuff that is going to go bad soon) and will give it to you for free...or for $1...not so bad. there comes my question of...how do you get this stuff in small pieces without taking a ton of time doing it? (the smaller the pieces of things you add to the compost, the faster it decomposes and turns into compost) and when will it be done??

(all the produce i got from win dixie for $1)

i got creative. first i tried a shredder, but that took too long. so kathryn has been helping me tear newspaper and old phone books...

this is a shot of the cardboard layer at the bottom with the shredded paper on top...next we tore some newpaper and phone books... then produce...

as for the produce...i got a 5 gallon bucket, chunked a few things in there, got a 3 ft 2x4, and started pounding away! lol. it worked! it broke up the pieces even onions and garlic too. and it didn't take long. and i didn't have to get my hands dirty! just dump the bucket, add more, etc.

kathryn helping me add the bags of salad from windixie...she was a great helper!

and the coffee grinds just dump into the pile as well. my next step is finding a cow or horse pasture and with permission, scooping the manure and adding that. i know, how gross...but this is the main ingredient in gardening, and completely orgainic and FREE...so i am serious about it. i think it's fun figuring out how to spend no money on something (other than gas money) even if when it comes time to do it (scooping poop) i'm not as thrilled. it'll be worth it in the end (i hope) and i can teach my kids a valuable lesson. reduce, reuse, recycle... and of course, being self-reliant...growing their own veggies and making their own compost...

also, i will be looking for dried leaves to crunch up, and grass clippings and that is what will go in my pile. all free. yippee!

that's all the time i have for now. more to come tomorrow?

time for an update

yeah, i have a few things to post about, so here it goes...

kathryn had a bday party on Feb. 20th and i think it went well... i have a few ideas for improving next years. i decided to plan out some games (i had pictures, but can't seem to find them) so i had managed to stuff a fun size pack of MMs in a balloon...not easy btw, in the future i'll stick to starburst or something. but i had some balloons blown up with candy and some not, and they were all scattered amongst the yard so the kids had to figure out which had candy by popping them. i think the kids loved that. but once again...a fun size pack is a lot of candy...

the next game was the "toy hunt" i hand picked out some toys (all different) and wrote groups of 3 on a piece of paper, and the mom's had to tell the kids what was on the list so they could find it. i simply scattered the toys in the grass in a small area so it wasnt too difficult. i'll do more with that next year.

and lastly, i took out my old parachute i made...if we had more parents, it might have worked better when doing the "dome" but it was fun and the kids loved it. i know i did when i was a kid.

kathryn was a bit grumpy at first cuz Mimi wasn't the first one to get there...and after each person not being mimi came through the door, she got more and more sad...and then mimi came and she got over it and started to have fun with her friends. they loved the trampoline.

with every gift kathryn opened, i tried to get her to hug the person that gave it to her and tell them thank you...when she went to hug Kaiden, he gave her the one handed hug with a funny look and split. it was funny. boys don't wanna touch girls i guess. but the funniest thing yet was when she opened Aunt Jenni's present, after removing all the clothes in a disappointed manner and chunking them to Mimi, she got to the toys...pulled out the watering can and took off outside to use it! haha, didn't even want to wait to see what else she got. the girl LOVES playing with water, so perfect gift for her. she also got a no spill bubble dispenser, which really works!!! i dunno how, but the kids can tip it and it doesn't spill and it had plenty of bubble juice left. YAY for this!! cuz i can't tell ya how many bottles of bubbles we've gone through from them accidentally knocking it over and spilling them all.

what amazes me, is kathryn has such a good memory. we'll be putting on clothes and she'll be telling me who gave it to her...like today she was saying "mimi gave me these (pants) for my buhday!" "she sure did, how do you remember that?" anyhow.

this past weekend, john's Uncle Danny's brother passed away. we went up to lafayette twice once on saturday and again on monday... and i've noticed for the last few months, daniel has stranger anxiety bad...when there are too many people he doesn't know around, he flips out and won't let me but him down...well saturday was no exception. poor Aunt Mel, daniel still won't let her hold him...but Uncle Danny...no problem...yeah, he has a thing for men apparently. on monday at the funeral, Daniel walked up to one younger guy and wanted to sit in his lap...so he pulled daniel up and he sat! WHAT??? that's never happened before! then he walks up to an older man and waves after staring at him...lol. well, we got to the funeral home about 2 hours before the funeral was scheduled, and after about 45 mins, the kids wanted to run and be crazy...but it was raining outside... but i had the van, and it had a dvd player...so yep, we trucked the kids into the van and turned the movie on... Corine was thoughful enough to get Aley's 2 kids and Dee's little girl (all 5 and under) and bring them in the van too...5 kids...but we all fit! woo hoo for vans!!! they did really good...but then came time for the funeral to start and i was dreading trying to get the kids to be reverent and quiet... so we decided to just stay in the van so the others could get a chance to pay attention and not be distracted. Corine and i decided to go to McDonalds after the kids were saying they wanted more food... so we got chicken nuggets, chocolate milk and fries,and daniel fell asleep! yay. but here's a funny story:

(we're in a town called Scott which is small and unfamilar to me) and so we are heading back to the funeral home which sits right on a main street with parking right on the street (so to speak) well as i approached where i was parked, i realized someone took my spot, but just as i was passing, i realized the spot next to it was free not handicapped, so i stopped, but realizing i was too far forward to pull in, i was about to...and suddenly the person behind me honks his horn...right in front of the funeral home... only, it wasn't just a honk, it was him laying on his horn not letting up...i drive forward and go to make a turn around and he's still honking even as he passes me, and when i pull into the spot i realize he's still honking, and i say to corine "what a jerk! he's still honking!" when she points out "no, i think something is wrong, he just pulled over and popped his hood...i think his horn is stuck!" "WHAT! HAHAHAHAHAHA, serves him right for being so rude to begin with!!!" unfortunately, everyone in the funeral heard it loud and clear...so much for keeping the peace.

besides that, this weekend i totally blew my "calorie budget" with all the good food that was around! i just hate passing up food that i know i won't get again for a long time!!! hahah. so i nearly gained all the weight i had lost...i was at 146.8 on sunday. by wednesday (i weigh myself each night before i go to bed) i was down to 143.6!!! i have been doing great this week staying under 1400 calories each day...and i everyday i've seen a drop of at least .5lbs!!! that is crazy! there is nothing like seeing the numbers fall daily to keep you motivated to keep at it! i've also made sure my sugar intake was minimal (obviously to stayunder 1400 calories!) i have had no dessert but have been trying to make sure i eat healthy things, like fruit and veggies for snacks. they are low cal and good nutrition. it is working for me! i haven't been working out everyday per se, but just the daily running around that mom's do seems to be good enough.

this is a funny thing for me. i've never weighed this much ever (besides being prego) so i've never really had to "watch" what i eat. i always ate whatever i wanted when ever. i also used to be a lot more active. with gymnatics that kept my muscle mass high and lots of energy burned. well, those days are over, and i finally am drawing a line. i don't want to be overweight. i want my body to feel good, not aching and heavy... and yeah, i've been saying i ned to loose weight for a good 2 years now, but never made any lifestyle changes...so nothing ever happened...except i got bigger...gain a little more weight and suddenly none of my clothes fit me (in the hips/waist) i can't afford to buy new clothes, so after a few attempts to exercise more that yielded no change in weight or body mass...i decided it was time to look at what i was eating...i always knew i was probably eating too much, but i love food. i also LOVE sweet stuff. just seeing a nice glistening donut makes my mouth water and i give in. i want it...i don't want to be without the sweet stuff... and that has been my biggest struggle. saying no only makes it harder to stay away... until you get something else on your mind...

i keep telling myself, i'll eat it another day, just not today. if i can just hold out till tomorrow, then i can eat those yummy millionaries (candy) and candy bars... well, i can't do that. i have to change my mind about wanting sweets and choose to not want them... the whole issue with sugar and articles and studies done on how it's addictive etc. i think it's got me good. but this week i've done great. even when my sweet cravings popped up, i ate an apple and another time a banana...and that seems fine. i have been keeping count of my calories and that really helps me to see how i'm doing, with what balance of nutrition i am getting. i read an article on yahoo about 5 foods you should eat everyday...

check it out

basically they say

1. dark leafy greens
2. nuts
3. onions
4. whole grains
5. yogurt

it has some good pointers there. i'm going to try that.

so today i feel like i got so much done! i feel like a strong woman! woohoo. i decided i was going to cut the plywood to make it fit in the attic and make space to store stuff up there... man, you don't realize how heavy a 3ftx8ft piece of plywood is until you are trying to get it through your attic around all the hanging wires and ductwork! it seems like the electrician could've done a better job with having the wires out of the way...ugh. i got a little bit done, but i ran out of 2x4's and i'm gonna go get some at the construction sites tomorrow...all free. besides that, i also cleaned out my garage...WOOHOO! it's so pretty! i was organizing all my boards i shanked from the houses being constructed down the street, and one board was a 3/4 in thick 12inx12ft MDF board...NICE~ just what i need for my bookcase i want to build! only it wasn't enough, so i'll have to go get some more... but i got an itch to cut the boards to size for the bookcase so i did! i have 3 shelves and 1 side. it's not so easy working with a hand saw trying to keep your lines straight holding the saw in one hand, and holding the board still with the other...that saw is a good 10 lbs! ...when i'm ready to finish i'm gonna see about borrowing FiL's miter saw. well, next post will have a ton! of pictures... for now, this will have to do.