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.

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

My little princess is growing up!!! Friday was her 2nd birthday. We didn't do anything too big and exciting since Daddy had the flu, and Grandma and Grandpa couldn't make it up, but we still had a wonderful day! I made cupcakes in the morning that we shared at snack time with the two boys that I take care of. They were yummy and healthy pineapple/carrot cupcakes from my Rodale Natural Foods Cookbook. Hannah loves pineapple, so she enjoyed them quite a bit. We sang to her and she got to blow out candles. Then we had some play time at home before going to the park for a picnic. Hannah LOVES the park...that's all she talks about now is "swing and slide". I'm glad more nice weather is coming, so we'll be able to go more often. The rest of the afternoon she played with Bubba and we spent most of the time outside. Then we went and got Little Ceasar's Pizza for dinner (I know, I know...not the healthiest choice! I WAS going to make homemade pizza, but ran out of time because we were enjoying being outside so much). Hannah calls Little Ceasar the "Pizza Guy". And the nice lady at the pizza store gave her a "Pizza Guy" bracelet. After pizza we played outside some more then came in and had angel food cake with fresh strawberries, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Yum! She enjoyed blowing out the candles so much that she wanted to do it three more times!!! Then she opened a couple of presents and we got jammies on and read her new story that Mommy got for her. After that it was off to dreamland...what a good day! As Hannah said all day long..."Hannah's happy day".
Yum! Strawberries!
Blowing out her candles.
Cute little fingers holding her cupcake.
She looks a little concerned...hmmm...maybe she's not sure about Mama's healthy cupcakes.
Yummy frosting!

Random garden pictures

The other day when I was out with the camera I took some pictures of the few things that are growing in the garden. Unfortunately there isn't very much...I ended up having to replant a majority of seeds because either I planted them too deep last time or the birds ate them or who knows! That was a little frustrating, but hopefully this time it will work. Above is a picture of one of the little kale sprouts. So cute!
This one is hard to see, but it is swiss chard.
One of my hot chili pepper plants. Can't wait to make salsa and other sauces with them!
One of the cucumber plants.
Just trying to be creative with the camera...the bean seeds...had to replant ALL of the beans!