Gardening Weekly

Ya win some Ya lose some: How's my garden growing???

The experiments are iffy at best. The potatoes need to go in the ground NOW if they have any chance of survival. The onion is sad and probably going to end up in the compost pile. I'm going to paris farmers union to buy sets and seed potatoes for cheap... lesson learned ;)

My seedlings are growing like weeds!!! I think they like this summer like weather as much as I do. They've been outside everyday and loving it. My only worries are about the peppers, no sprouts yet but, I'm trying to be patient ;).

Did you notice how "real" the above picture is?? I've read a lot of blogs lately about taking the sugar out of your posts and "keeping it real". How's a big brown circle where the pool used to be, a hose left out, and bare spots in the grass?? Real enough? Yes, it's my life baby and I love it!

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Look at that corn!!! I'm wondering if I started it too soon?? Will I have cornstalks growing in my house next week?? I've reassured my hubby I'll be growing more than these 6 stalks... the way they take off it should be no problem when I direct sow them on Memorial Day.

My garden is loamed and fertilized. It's waiting for a little rototiller action.... my Darling will be doing that this weekend... he promised!! So far we are way ahead of the game compared to last year. I hope we continue with this wonderful weather!!! 92 degrees in April??? Go Figure??

Tales from TV turn off week

I'm back!!!! It was a great week. Pretty much anyway. I kept my little darlings very busy all week long. Every day it was something new and exciting... needless to say I'm exhausted!!!!

Monday we went to Maine Wildlife Park. We love it there!!!!!
Tuesday was home day. Lots of science experiments and kid led activities. Our favorites were the smelling game, and cup stacking races. It was a rainy day so we also put on our rain gear, opened our umbrellas and danced in the rain!!
Wednesday we had a playdate at a local Gymnastics academy. They had a ton of equipment and a great staff. We then went out to eat and found a great playground.
Thursday was our day in Freeport!!!! We hung out with my favorite cousin and her daycare kids, went Beach Combing, and had hot dogs by LLBean.
Friday was spent outside. We played in the hose, flew kites, and got ready for friends to come for dinner.
Saturday we had a field trip at Build a bear and a Birthday party. We then watched the Redsox spank the Yankees (WOOO HOOO!!!!) and had a back yard camp out in the camper.
Sunday... yard work!!!! Then the twins had another Birthday party.
Today... The kids are gone so I'm suppose to be at the gym right now.... LOL! How about a nap instead???

The hardest part for me was after the fun and games were done. The kids were just exhausted at about 3:00 each day. This is when I'd normally turn on the telly and have relaxing time. We had a few temper tantrums but they found books, old toys they hadn't played with in a while, and lots of imaginative play!!

The funniest part is that time still flew by. I had a lot of ideas I wanted to accomplish and only finished 1/2 of them. Oh well!!! I decided this was just a prep period for the rest of the spring and summer. No TV during the day. I'll only be on the computer when they are not around. They can watch 1 hour of TV before bed if everything is finished for the day.

I know, this sound so obvious to many of you!!! We did live like this for years, however, things change and before you know it your kids are TV junkies!!!! I'll admit a good 3 hours a day was spent zoned out, some days more. No more though!!!! Lucky kiddos ;)

Garden weekly...

Finally planting my seeds!!!!

I didn't want to have the "No followers" topic up all week while I was enjoying TV turn off week with the kids. I figured I had a few minutes so I'd give you a quick garden update.

We have done a ton of yard work this week. The garden just needs loam and manure then we are ready to plant. I'm hoping that happens within the week! Yesterday, The girls and I finally started seedlings. We started three kinds of tomatoes, the melons, scallions, Corn, bell peppers and jalapeno peppers. I know it's late, but better than nothing. I don't have grow lights so they are sitting on a table in my breezeway by the sliding glass door. I put them outside when it was warm and sunny and taken them in at night. I hope this works!! I'm also hoping I'm right in directly sowing the seeds of the other things. Here are pictures of the progress:

The feel of dirt on my fingers, the teamwork, the feeling of accomplishment, the promise of new life in the garden, the mystery of what will come. Gardening is full of what my life needs right now. Thank you god for the warm weather and the capability of growing my own food with my children!! I am truly blessed!!

No more followers... sorry!

I hope you still find time to pop by! I do cherish my sweet friends. I found that most of my followers are wonderful but some are scary! And not really friends! It's too bad that bad people are out there trying to ruin something we love.

I was reading another blog who also had problems with unwanted followers. She was having real problems and thought her computer was dying! Did you know that your follower's blog is linked to your blog? So, if for some reason one of your friends get a virus on their blog... so do you! At least that is what I read. I really don't want to take any chances!!!

Now, back to my sunshiny, yard raking, beautiful day!!!!!! See you next week after TV turn off time!

Fab Fridays

TV Turn-off Week:

You will not hear from me next week. We are participating in National TV turn off week.

My kids have slipped into a TV coma more often than I like this winter. I have also logged a lot of hours of screen time. Mine is obviously on the computer! Spring is here and we are unplugging!

The girls have signed pledges at school saying they will not watch TV this week. I have also had a pledge given to me by my lovely Sunshine. She had a huge grin on her face. She's thrilled that I have to turn off the computer for a week. I haven't signed it yet. I see myself sneaking screen time when they are in bed. Who has the real problem here??? Oh yeah, that would be me. I need unplugging more than the kiddos.

This will be a fun week! We are going to have "Vacation Camp" all week. This is something we did this summer with the help of my beloved "Fly Lady". The girls act like they are at camp. They make camp vests, earn badges (stickers) for good behavior, have fun chores. Each day there are exciting activites such as:

Play Dates

Craft time

Nature hikes

Tour the playgrounds in the area

First bon fire and marshmallow roast of the season

Clean the house relays: Wash the floors iceskating competetions, who can pick up the most clutter races, dust a thons... etc...

At the end of the night we have an awards ceremony for the badges earned during the day.

How are you unplugging your kids next week?? Are you as nervous as I am?? LOL!!

Craft of the week

Tinker Bell Trinket Boxes

I am still here!! Life has been crazy, busy, and fun this week! We haven't had the time to do a project at home, it's too nice out to be inside crafting! This weeks craft is something we did in girl scouts!

You need: 2 16 oz 7-up bottles
1 pipe cleaner / chenille stick (cut in 1/2)
Stickers
Glitter Glue, etc....
(next time I would put ribbon around the cut edges for a nicer look)

You also need: Scissors or knife and a hole punch


We Cut the bottom of the bottle off for the daisies, older kids could probably do it. (the top makes a great sand scoop)

Punch two side by side holes in what will be the back of the trinket box. Do this to both the top and bottom.

The easiest method to attach the hinge was to fold the pipe cleaner in half then push the ends into each hole at the same time. The tricky part is threading them from the inside through the top holes then pull them back out. Twist to complete the hinge.

The girls then used glitter glue and tinker bell stickers to decorate their trinket box. We also made a sun catcher by threading plastic prisms onto a piece of fishing line.

They loved them! Twin 1 is using it for a bed for her pet (wind-up) chicken.

The best part for me is that they are made of recycled items. I think you could do so much with this project! You could add a gem or a tinkerbell figurine on the top then add a zipper for a closure rather than the pipecleaner. The ideas are endless!!

Tuesdays in the garden

Yes, this week I changed the name, Yesterday just wasn't a blogging day! We had a wonderful Easter weekend with family and friends in my home town. It was so much fun that I was exhausted and needed to spend yesterday cleaning and doing laundry.

I wish I could tell you more on the garden front.
The potato plants are doing really well in my kitchen window.
The onion plant looks 1/2 dead... my dear ol hubby kinda over watered it.

Last week was one of those weeks of good intentions. I put up the table, washed and brought out the seed starting trays... then realized I had no potting soil! I can't tell you how many trips to the store I made and came home to realize I still had not bought the soil! OOPSIE! Next week I promise to have done more! We are hoping to use the rototiller soon. I need to get these plants in!!!

On a side note, my daffodils are starting to open already. They are much earlier than they were last year! This week seems like it's going to be warm and spring like. I'm loving it!

Fab Fridays

A quick little note:

Happy Easter to those who celebrate! We are getting ready for a wonderful weekend of blessings, family, and food!!!

Life is good. Today is busy!!!! We had our first picnic and we flew the kites we made a few weeks ago!! There was a lot of wind and guess what, they really flew!!! We were excited!

Til next week!

Crafty Wednesdays

Popsicle Stick Puppets:

We have been on a puppet kick for a week or two now. We've made all sorts of puppets.

The first project was made with tracerkins.

We traced and cut out our puppets. Added a stick and details.....

Then it was puppet show time!!!!

Our next Puppet was thanks to the good night show on sprout. Thing 2 has found lots of good craft projects on the sprout website that we've created. This one just happens to fit our theme. It's a bat puppet!

We traced one closed finger hand on the folded line.

With it still folded we cut out the hand print.... we found cutting the thumb a little pointy helped it to look more like a bat.

Voila! Add a stick and some color and you have a Bat!!!

We love our puppets!!!!

Monday garden update

The Big Dig:
No, I'm not discussing my thoughts on the huge mess down in Boston! That would be a blog all on it's own!!!

This weekend's 60 degree weather, no rain, and very few commitments added up to a lot of progress in the garden!

We dug the expansion... the new garden now takes up almost all of one side of the house. Plenty of room for all the goodies we've planned. The girls again spent a full day picking rocks for a penny each. We probably won't have time to rent a rototiller until after Easter but that's fine. We are still way ahead of the game (for us anyway).

I took a few temp readings and the ground was 50 degrees. I'm going to take a few more readings during the week then I may start planting my cold hardy seeds... with row cover at night of course!!

We also raked the yard (the parts without snowbanks), burned some brush, cleaned out and edged the flower beds. I may be going to the gym now but I'm still so out of shape! All that yard work (and bike rides, soccer games, and other outdoor kid adventures) made me feel muscles I haven't felt in a while! Thank goodness for ibuprofen!!!

I know I promised an update on the experiments. I wanted to add pictures but I just haven't gotten around to it yet so that will have to wait until next week. Another sneak peek for next week... I've decided to start my seedlings inside!! Til then, stay dry in all the expected rain, enjoy all life brings, and plant something!!!

Fab Fridays

Oh the things I love!!!!

Here are my loves of the moment:

Pinkalicious and Purplicious!

We picked up these great books by victoria Kann at the school book fair this week. They are a daily read... 2 or 3 times daily read ;) Purplicious has a really good message about peer pressure.


Woodkins: We trudged into the depths of the basement this morning in search for new games. I keep them in rotation since I just don't have enough room to keep everything in our game cupboard. In one of the boxes were Sunshine's old woodkins. Fabric goes in the frame and when you close it voila! the doll is dressed. The twins are loving them, I can't believe I haven't taken them out before now. Sorry girls.



My kids: I know this is obvious!! I really love the things they think they know. Thing 1 just told me: "do you know that the black part of your eye is called a blimp? it gets bigger when you go in the dark and smaller when your in the light". She got part of it right. I'm quite impressed she knew that! During bring your mom to gym class the twins put together a huge detailed puzzle of the human heart and knew the names of the pieces!! I've brought out the anatomy books!! This is my love!

I have been spending a lot of quality time with them lately and I am an addict, I'm always wanting for more.... quality time that is, not the crazy times!!! LOL!!!

Watercolor artists: Wow, since our waterpaints came out a few weeks ago they haven't went back in! I brought their easel upstairs (from the defunct craft room in the basement) and they act as though it is brand new. They spend all their free time painting. Yesterday thing 2 wrote an I love you message to her twin sister and said "I do sissy, I really do love you!!" It was beautiful!

My garden experiments. They are growing!!! Wait for Monday to see... it's pretty cool ;)

My renewed interest in myself. I'm starting to take care of myself again. It was a long winter. Now I'm heading to the gym, drinking my water, writing down what I eat. I'm back in control baby and it feels so good!!!!

I've gotta run! Such a busy day.... I love that too!!!!
What do you love????

Crafty Wednesdays... april fools edition!

Wow, Blogger is playing an April fool's joke on me! I can't move my pictures so....

You get the whole trick in reverse!!!! Start at the end and work your way up....APRIL FOOLS!!! It's actually really scattered.... go figure! that's april fool's day for you!!! Good Luck!

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They didn't quite know what to think but daring "thing 2" gave it a try. The got a real kick out of it! I can't wait for sunshine to come home from school to tell me what she thought!

I'm always looking for ideas... tell me what pranks you pulled!!

When they came to snack they saw this sitting on the table. They weren't quite sure why. Then I explained to them this was their treat! I got lots of EEEEWWWWW's!!!

I cleaned out old playdough containers and stuffed in my "playdough".


These are the creations after we played with it!! Darn Blogspot...ggrrr

Do you want to feed your kids "playdough"?? Here's the recipe:

**Warning: This is NOT health food!!!

Molding Chocolate:

1 package white chocolate chips or 1- 12 oz bar white chocolate

3 cups confectioners sugar

1/3 cup Karo Corn Syrup

1 t. vanilla

a splash or two of milk

Melt chocolate (in a double boiler or like me the microwave)

add karo and vanilla. Slowly add the confectioner sugar stirring it as you go... you can use your hands and knead it! Add milk a splash at a time (I'd say a teaspoon is a splash) until it's the consistency of playdough.

It's actually used to make flowers, and details on cakes. It tastes better than marzipan or fondant.