a quick update

I'm finding myself relaxing today. It's my only low key day of the week. I'm suppose to be doing inside chores, however I find myself at the computer, emptying the camera so I can take pictures of the upcoming holiday events, playing with the girls... anything but laundry and cleaning! I'll pay for this restful morning but it's a price I'm willing to pay.

My weekend in Mass was amazing! Buffett was great, I spent time with good friends, and took my monkeys to the zoo. I couldn't have asked for a better time. The weather even held out! It was one of those times that refreshes your soul, recharges your batteries, and makes you realize how truly blessed you really are. I felt totally relaxed and loved.

Back in Maine, I found my garden slug ridden and yellow. Darn this rain!!!

But I'm not dwelling on that today. Cause guess what!!!!

The twins turned 6 yesterday!!! It's hard to believe my little babies are 6. They went from being helpless little bundles of joy to independent, feisty, amazing girls. It's been wonderful watching them grow. I'm thankful for pictures and journals, It was such a ride I find myself wondering what happened :)

Enjoy your week; rain or not life is moving and we have to enjoy it while we can!!!

crafty "Buffet Bound" momma

UPDATE: Had a blast! Here we are at the Margaritamobile! Everyone loved our helmets! I'm in quite a few pictures of people I don't know. Oh Boy!! (Hey, no boob shots though, so it's all good!!!) If you were there and took pics with the crazy crew from Margaritaville FFD I'd love to see them!!!

I'm Buffet Bound Baby!!!! This will be my third Jimmy Buffett concert. Yeah, he's getting on in years but he still puts on a great show, and the tailgating is worth every penny!!!

This year I'm going with my cousin and her crew. They are all firefighters, great ones at that!!
To unify us we all bought old fashion fire hats. The challenge was to get creative and make it worthy of a buffett show.

Mine started out like this:




With a little imagination I turned it into this:




Hope there aren't any fires in Margaritaville when I'm on duty! I'll be too busy looking for my lost shaker of salt ;)


Here's the back view....

Hoping for warm summer breezes, chesse burgers in paradise, and boat drinks... after all, it's 5:00 Somewhere!!

Work at home mom

OK, I needed to post this for me! I've been so blah and giving up on housework (yet again it seems) I need to snap out of it!!! As I was procrastinating laundry, I read a few blogs, Simple mom caught my eye. YAY, Simple mom to the rescue! I love this article which is basically Ways to beat the "I don't want to's" with daily housework. I of course also need to get a little "flywashing" so here's my favorite: Flylady.net

I have a few days of home time before the rat race begins again. Let's enjoy it and live (relatively) clean!!!

Mondays in the garden

First I have to say a big: "Thank You Honey!!!" I can finally access my garden! I no longer have to roll back the chicken wire, carefully as not to disrupt the strawberries. I can just unhook the latch and easily enter my world of serenity. I'm impressed. For a first time gate builder he did a fantastic job! It's solid construction and even has hinges. The original prototype had spikes on the bottom to jab into the ground, meaning I'd have to remove it every time I wanted to access the garden. This is better... much better.


The garden needs a balance of sunshine and rain. It's just getting way too much rain. As I was working this weekend I noticed the leaves are a bit yellow on the tomatoes and zucchini. My potato plants (the experiments) were laying on the ground. I took a minute and piled more dirt around them and to my surprise, I found potatoes in the ground!! Wow!! I have to look up when to harvest them. I'm so excited!! The picture below shows that the lettuce is almost ready to harvest. I'm glad it is doing well, the red leaf was drooping thanks to the soggy weather, but I harvested it and it tasted great!!


My peonies are starting to bloom! I need to stake them. I saw small black Shepard's hooks in the dollar store in the beginning of April. I couldn't think of a thing to use them for and didn't buy them. Now I wish I had gotten a bunch, they'd be perfect stakes for my peonies! Maybe they'll still have them?? I'll go check it out ;)

On the first week of vacation....

We've had:

Lots of rain:: a grownup weekend getaway::Moments of sunshine filled with lemonade stands, gardening and even a trip to the "Pond Beach"::puddle boots and walks in the rain::A "Girls Day" at the mall and Chuck E Cheese::Playdates::BBQ's:: and most importantly Sunshine's tonsillectomy- Which was scheduled for the first day of her vacation. She's doing great though!! Now we have: Get well Banners hung from the ceiling:: Couches made into beds with tons of pillows:: Lots of Popsicles:: The twins "Esperwamint" Popsicles (more on that soon):: Diary of a wimpy kid:: Lots of old movies on "free movies on demand":: PBS' Fetch with Ruff Ruffman:: Painting:: and a lot of to do lists! What to do now that we are house bound for a week:: what to bring on all our exciting adventures this summer:: My top 10 things I want to do this summer:: etc...

So far a busy summer! Makes me wonder what we will be doing when the first official day of summer arrives on Sunday???

Mondays in the garden

Ah, another dreary day. The plants are surviving and growing despite the great weather. At least I don't have to water right??? The lettuce looks a bit beaten down... too much rain??? Hummm....

I found some strange red bugs on my potato plants (which are growing quite well actually... )
When I try to pick them off they pop up like a Mexican jumping bean!!! Very freaky!!! My neighbor caught me shrieking the first time it happened. I just couldn't help myself... I didn't even know it was a bug, I thought it was just something off the trees.

I don't think the peppers will survive. They are still so tiny. Maybe I'll make them some hot caps??? I was going to do them for my tomatoes but haven't gotten around to it. I have the bottles and milk jugs... the rain has taken away my ambition.

OK... I must allow thing 2 some computer time. She asked how to spell please... now I have a sign which reads "ma I please please pla cmptr please please, naw!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I think she meant to say "may I please play on the computer"... not sure what I think of the NOW ;)

Happy Birthday Mom!!

To celebrate my young momma's B-day I baked her a cake. I made the mistake of asking what kind of cake she'd like (thinking ya know... chocolate, vanilla, angel food) She answered: A cake shaped like my new minivan!!!

She has always been a creative cake baker. I think she thinks her offspring should be also. I DO NOT work at charm city cakes, I am not Duff!!! If I was a professional I would be on the cake wrecks website often ;)
However, I love my mom and she's an amazing woman. She deserves the cake she asked for.



Want to see?? Here it is!!!!

Isn't it laugh out loud funny???? I've been smiling since I finished it...
Not really a minivan but it does resemble an automobile!!!
If your not as impressed at that as I am you should be... trust me!!

To make this elaborate cake I baked a french vanilla cake mix in 2 8X8 pans. I stacked the cooled cakes with a strawberry filling in between, then cut about 3 inches off the square to make it a rectangle then used the remainder cut on an angle to make the top and windshield. I cut it like a mad woman until it resembled a minivan.
I then got creative with a jar of pink frosting!!! I know I could and should have made frosting, I can make it, I just chose not to this time.
I made it relatively smooth, then added aluminum foil for windshield, door windows, and back window. I then outlined everything with Peel N' Pull twizzlers. They are awesome!!! I got a little creative as you can see. I dug out my supply of girl scout cookies and used peanut butter patties for the tires. The sprinkles from the frosting can made a cute heart and hubcaps. The headlights and rear lights are leftover Easter Candy... robins eggs for the front and PB M&M's for the back.
It's so cute, I think she'll like it. It will taste good anyway and it did come from her FAVORITE daughter ;)

If not, I'm also serving this:



and, "Yes, Mr. Lobster, your last hour is near.... bring me some drawn butter and a bib!! "

I'm adding corn on the cob and fresh lemonade to the meal. I hope it's yummy!!
After this feast she has the honor of watching her most favorite grandchildren for a whole weekend!!!! What a fabulous birthday for a fabulous mom and grandma ;) Oh, all right, it might be just as wonderful for me too!!!!! Thanks Mom!!!!

News from the Garden

Hi, yes I'm still alive! It's been busy busy! I was looking back at pictures since June 1st (yes it is only June 9th) I really think we've done more already this month than I ever did as a kid all summer!!!! My kids are loving it, and are totally spoiled. As for me, I'm hoping it slows down soon. I'm the type of girl who likes it slow and predictable. I've been trying to take time to stop and smell the roses... right now I smell a rainy day and dryer sheets ;)

About the garden:

Good News: I was tickled pink when I inspected the garden yesterday. I found sprouts of corn, cukes, snap peas (yes, planted late... oh well!!) and even the seeds I saved from our last years pumpkins are sprouting!!!! Wow, nothing like growing things from seed to make a girl happy! I am not counting my pumpkins before they produce, we still have a long way to go, but I'm eagerly awaiting harvest time!!!!

This weeks issues: I may have forgotten to water a few days last week and had to pinch off the seed leaves of a lot of my older plants. The rest of the leaves look OK though. I have only had a few bugs so far (knock on wood) and we hand picked them off and disposed of them.

I was very sad to take the flowers off my strawberry plants. I took pictures then pinched them off and used them in a vase to decorate my table. Johnny's recommended I do this to help with root growth during this first year. I'm hoping the fall harvest and many harvests after that will be worth the sacrifice.

I'll be giving the first dose of fish fertilizer this week. I couldn't decided if I should do it before or after the rain. Any one have thoughts on this???

I'm now off to the rest of my day! Enjoy yours!!

This week's favorite things....

In no particular order:

The dreams that take place when an airplane goes by in a bright blue sky

Dozens of irises in bloom

Children on field trips engrossed in nature and the moment


My oldest singing at The Portland Seadogs!!!!

Impromptu pool parties:: kids brave enough to jump off the diving board

Snickerdoodles and my brand new pampered chef bowl!!

My number one most favorite thing of the moment:: 30 minute microwave whole chicken and this awesome stoneware deep dish baker!!!! Let me know if you want the recipe

I love these posts!!!! So much to love in my life!!! Enjoy yours!!!!

Pictures of the garden

As I posted on Saturday, we accomplished a lot in the garden this weekend!!

I decided to put the herbs in the garden after all. I downsized the variety and made the choice to grow what I use the most. I planted 4 basil, 2 Rosemary, 2 thyme, 6 oregano plants.


I was soooo proud! My hubby finally built my fence!! I then looked at the fence:
"Ummm... honey, how am I going to get in to work in my garden???"
"Oh, you won't have to go in for a few weeks, I'll figure it out next weekend"
"Thanks Honey" (You can just assume there was some serious eye rolling)

I also mentioned that we next time we need to put it a foot or so outside of the garden plot so we can move around easier. On his defense, it's his first garden fence. I'm glad it's standing and will keep out the neighborhood dogs (who stepped in my corn for the last time!!!!)