Garden Update

We have been having such nice, HOT weather the past week or so and the garden is really taking off! My first planting of corn is already more than a foot tall and the second planting is already about 6 inches! It is growing like crazy!! The two tomato plants that got planted in a garden bed are doing great as well as all of the peppers. The onions still aren't doing very well, but hopefully we'll atleast get a couple out of it down the road and maybe have better luck next year. The carrots and beans are also not doing too great, but alteast have been growing a little bit. I will need to get out this week and plant some more carrot seeds as only a handful of the ones I planted earlier came up. My herbs are all doing well, and I'm very thankful I bought those as plants instead of starting them from seeds...definitely the way to go! The peas are growing nicely and are starting to climb the trellis and the cucumbers should soon be following. The best thing is that we've been able to enjoy some salad from the garden!!! The other night we had spinach and lettuce salad for dinner along with our homemade pizza with fresh herbs. Yum! It was sooo rewarding to be able to just walk out to the backyard and get some salad. I can't wait till we are doing more of that! As for the Topsy Turvy tomatoes...........hmmmm.....I'm not thinking I would recommend them to anyone. I've noticed a tiny bit of growth in a couple of the tomatoes, but they look more sick than anything. I'm hoping they'll come around and give us some harvest. We'll just have to wait and see. I also finally got Hannah's tipi made the other day using branches that we trimmed out of the pine trees in the front yard. It turned out really cute! And she loves it! I planted a zucchini plant that the neighbor gave me and 4 summer squash (over kill maybe, but oh, well!). I'm hoping they will grow and climb up around the tipi along with the sweet pea flowers and peas that I'm going to plant around it. Then Hannah will have a cute little play house out in the yard. That pretty much covers what's been "growing" on in the garden the past week. I'm really enjoying our square foot garden boxes and have already learned so much! Next year should be even better!
Bed #1: Corn...it has already grown even more since I took this pic a couple days ago!
Bed #2: Two tomato plants, 4 hot chili peppers, 4 bell peppers, cantaloupe, onions and chives
Bed #3: Green beans, herbs and carrots
Bed #4: Cucumbers, peas, kale, chard, spinach and lettuces
Hannah's tipi in the corner next to the garden.

New Boots!

Okay, so the weather has been really nice all week long, and there is no need for rain boots now, but we DO live in Oregon, so rain boots are a good investment because you never know when it's going to rain. Last week (or whenever it was!) we couldn't play outside too much because of the rain. Hannah went with me to check the mail one afternoon and there were BIG puddles all over the driveway. Of course she wanted to step in each one! LOL This is when I decided we needed to get her some boots, so she could step in the puddles like she wanted, and I didn't have to worry about her shoes getting yucky or ruined from the water. Thank goodness for Wal-Mart! Hubby just so happened to be heading that way last Friday night, so we all decided to go. They had the cutest little boots and for under $10! Hannah was so excited that when we went out to play the next day she HAD to wear them, even though it was dry and sunny. She was so proud of her new boots!

Nature park

Monday the weather was great and I felt like we needed to get out of the house. So we called up some friends and went for a walk at the Tualatin Valley Nature Park. And since we are working on the letter N this week, I thought it would be a good time to start a little nature study. We didn't talk about much on our walk...just let the kids explore and have fun. We had a great time! And they were nice and worn out by the time we got back to the car. Taking the walk inspired me to make little Nature journals for the kids to record things in so everyday this week we've been working on adding things to our journals. We drew some pictures of things we saw on our walk at the park, drew some pictures and used words to describe things that we saw in our little "walk" around the yard yesterday, and today we found some small things like leaves and such to tape to a page in our natural journal. It has been lots of fun, and they are really enjoying being outside and looking at things. We've even seen two different kinds of bird's nests right in the trees in our front yard! So cool! God made a beautiful world and I'm glad we can get out and see it!

The boys! Our friend C, and the two boys I watch, B & J

Little movie stars. H and her friend N with their sunglasses!




Flowers! (Yes, I am addicted to flowers! Love them! Can't get enough of them!)
My little flower exploring at the Nature park.

Coming along.....

Wednesday last week hubby was home from work and spent the day sanding the built-ins...yes, I know, it has been over a month since we got them in and we are STILL working on them. It is a monumental task, and it is hard to find time to work on it with Matt working during the week and most Saturdays too, and with me watching kids during the week. We got it primed and sanded and we've started painting a little bit, but we still haven't gotten 1 coat on the whole thing yet. And it has finally reached the point where it is making us both grouchy. So tomorrow we are having a painting company come out and give us an estimate to paint it. It seems silly to have to pay someone else to paint it, when we are quite capable. But since we can't find enough time, at the rate we're going it would be fall or later by the time we get it done. Hoping it doesn't cost too much so we can just get it done and get things back in order around here.

Visitor

The other night when James was getting ready to go to bed, he looked out of his window and saw a raccoon in our maple tree! At first he thought it was a really big squirrel, and then he saw its face. So we all went outside to watch it for a little bit. He was so cute, and was watching our every move. The kids thought it was pretty cool. And, of course, Matt wanted to shoot it, but since we live in the the city, that wouldn't have worked out so well. LOL And me, well, I just hope it doesn't cause trouble in my garden.

Budding artists

James' impression garden painting. What a great artist!


Last week our letter for the week was M. We did some math, talked about muscles, made mud, and learned about Monet. We looked at some of his paintings in a book, but especially focused on his garden paintings. And then we made our own garden paintings. We started by using masking tape to make a bridge shape on our paper, then used brushes and cotton balls and covered the whole paper with paint. Once the whole paper was covered we removed the tape, and voila! We had a garden with a bridge! The kids had a great time painting their gardens and James really, really worked hard on his painting and took lots of time to make it just right. I think maybe I'll have to let him do more painting, like those times when he says he has nothing to do.
All of the boys pictures (James and the three boys I take care of)
Hannah's garden painting...she had a little help from mama making the bridge and finishing the painting, but she did most of it. She loves to paint!

Little angel

Had to share these pics of my sweet little angel. There is just something so precious about a sleeping child. I could just stand in her room for hours and watch her sleep! I love how she tucks her little hand in her shirt by her neck, and if she can she has her other hand in her belly button. So cute! She also has to have all her "babies" around her.

Posting

Well, I have had so much stuff that I have wanted to add to the blog lately...something almost everyday. But obviously I haven't added or written anything everyday. There just hasn't been time for that. So I apologize for all of these postings happening at once, and then going through a dry spell where I don't post anything. I am trying to make a little bit of time every day to do something, but so far have been unsuccessful. Bear with me, and for now just keep on enjoying what is up there...even if it's not everyday.

Sandbox time

Help! There's a monkey in my bed!

This is what I found the other day when I was trying to get Hannah dressed...

I left her in her room for one second while I ran to get something from another room. I came back and she was gone. When I went looking for her, I found her all cozy in my bed. She was so proud of herself, and thought it was the funniest thing that she was "hiding" in mama's bed. What a monkey!

Pregnant lady found in garden!

Last weekend hubby was out taking pictures in the garden and got some shots of a pregnant lady! Oh, wait! That's ME!!! My belly is really starting to grow. I don't always notice it so much until I acutally see a picture of it. Don't get me wrong. I am quite aware that my midsection is expanding. It's just interesting to actually see how far it sticks out when it's in a picture. We don't have any full length mirrors in our house, so pictures are about the only way I get to see a good side profile. I LOVE being pregnant!
Hannah was being a good helper in the garden. She loves to be outside, and she loves to help!

Garden Update

Well, things haven't been growing as well as I had hoped they would be by now. None of my lettuce seeds came up, and my beans that I replanted are struggling. So I resorted to buying some plants to add to the garden and am trying to sprout some seeds inside...even though it seems a bit late to be doing that. I figure it's worth a shot...atleast the birds and squirrels can't eat them if they're inside.
This past weekend the weather was gorgeous so I was able to spend lots of time outside and put in a bunch of plants...4 different kinds of bell pepper, sweet basil, cinnamon basil, thyme, oregano, chives, romaine and lettuce. I also got one more tomato plant and got all my tomatoes hung on the fence in the TopsyTurvy growers. Keeping my fingers crossed that they work like they show on tv. Perhaps I should have started with one this year to see how it goes. Oh, well! Nothing like jumping right in with 3! LOL If they do work, we are going to have tomatoes coming out our ears! Speaking of ears, reminds me of corn. And our corn is our best crop so far. All of the seeds I planted in the first round sprouted and are growing so nicely and they are roughly 4-5 inches tall now. It is so nice to look out the kitchen window and see them out there. Saturday I got the second round planted and am hoping they grow as well as the first...as long as the blue jays or squirrels don't eat the seeds!
The other day Matt looked out the window and saw a squirrel digging in one of the beds. I ran outside and scared him out, and then he just sat under the lilac bushes. So I dashed into James' room and grabbed his air-soft pistol, but I have bad aim and the squirrel just sat there showing me his nice white belly while the pellets flew around him. Then he trotted off under the fence to the neighbor's yard! Grrrr! I seriously need to work on my aim...or maybe next time I'll grab hubby's AR-15. LOL We're just gonna have to build a frame over the boxes and put up some sort of netting to keep the critters out.
Anyway, that's what's been happening in the garden the past week or so.
Bed #1: Corn
Bed #2: Two tomatoes, cantaloupe, 4 hot chili peppers, 4 bell peppers, chives, yellow onions, and green onions.
Bed #3: Green beans, cinnamon basil, thyme, sweet basil, oregano, and carrots.
Bed #4: Cucumbers, Sugar snap peas, kale, swiss chard, lettuce, spinach, and romaine.

Corn!
Cinnamon basil...smells soooo good! One of my favorite plants in the garden!

Hannah Grace: 2 Years Old

So, like a good mom, I figured I'd better get some pics of Hannah at this big milestone of turning 2. She wasn't very cooperative though and didn't want to stand still for too long or show her pretty smile. But we got a few good ones. I LOVE my girl!!!

My favorite!!!




The Princess with her birthday crown.