Growing a green thumb

The past few years we have been slowly expanding our garden. Years ago we had a few pots with tomatoes and peppers on the back deck, then the next year our pots grew bigger, then we made a raised garden box so that we could grow a few more things.
This year we're going to make 2 more raised garden boxes so we can expand even more because we're having so much fun!
I decided to be ambitious, and frugal, this year and start as many of our plants from seed, so we needed to start early to get more growing time.
Since this spring came early and warm, we had luck right from the start with our seeds!

March 9th
Simeon, Ammon and Rebecca planted sweet peas, pumpkins and tomatoes.



Within days we have little pea and pumpkin sprouts. The tomatoes took a little longer to start coming up.
The containers got funky being in the house like the directions said to do, so we started taking them outside during the day to help dry them out some and prevent more funky stuff on the pots. It helped stop any new funk from starting.

March 18th
Just 9 days later and the peas and pumpkins were already an inch tall! They were starting to shoot roots out the bottom of their containers.



Mrach 19th
The girls had so much fun transplanting the peas and pumpkins into to their bigger temporary home. Their roots were all over the outside of their pots.



March 26th
The peas weren't doing so good in their pots. The potting soil was drying out to quickly and they were starting to get too droopy each afternoon. They got moved to the permanent home in the the garden. Within hours one of the plants had already attached it little green vine to the support lines strung for them!
The pumpkins stayed in their pots because it was still early from them to go in the ground.

April 1st
Today we planted another 2 rows of peas directly into the garden. We're hopeful that they will do as well as the first batch we planted.

Ammon took this picture of me putting up the support line above the new pea seeds we planted tonight. You can see the green onions growing nice and tall in this picture. Last year these were as thin as a blade of grass. This year they are already so thick and tall.

We are loving watching the process from little dry seed, to sprout, to leaves and growth and spilling out of the pots growth! We're excited to see what these plants will produce this summer. We're thinking that we might even try to save some seeds from our crops to grow next years crop.

It's been just less then a month and we have so much growth from these little seeds. It's really helped build our confidence in our growing green thumbs that we have so much growth already! Now I know why my dad loved growing a garden so much. I find myself going out and checking on the plants more often the kids do!

In a few months I may be rethinking the idea of having so many pumpkin plants growing in our yard!!

Spring Break 2012

WOW, OH, WOW. We were spoiled rotten with beautiful, sunny, warm (even hot) spring break weather!! I don't remember ever having such amazing weather during spring break. Looking back I'm even more grateful for the amazing weather, because our week didn't go as planned.

Friday the boys and Rebecca planted pumpkin, peas and tomato seeds while Corrine was at science club.

Saturday we wrote up our "to-do" list for the week. It included cleaning bedrooms, reading, Simeon doing his book report, the boys getting hair cuts, Taekwondo and playing.

Monday we stayed home, cranked up the music and cleaned bedrooms. They were sparkling and clean and better organized.

We set the tent up out back for the kids to sleep in. Rebecca thought it was an extension of our house. She brought her dolls and their things out there to play house!

Tuesday we made our lunch and headed out the door to the Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley, IL. It's about an hour southeast of here. Johann wasn't feel great so he stayed home from work.
I decided to get a membership to the zoo for the kids and I, since the kids cost $5 to get in and a membership for them is $5, and comes with 2 guest passes and 2 train tickets.
The zoo was busy. We made the rounds seeing all the animals. The cute baby monkey was everyone's favorite. It was like a little kid with LOTS of extra energy who wanted to jump on all the other monkeys. Some monkey's weren't so fond of it and would be mean to it. The kids would get mad at the mean monkeys.
We had a fun picnic lunch on the wet grass, then headed for the train. About this time Ammon started acting tired and said he was dehydrated and needed to rest. We rode the train and you could see he was tired. It didn't surprise me that he was hot and tired since it was the 1st warm day this spring.



After the zoo we went to Sam's Club in the Quad Cities. Ammon was really dragging and saying he was tired and didn't want to go to Taekwondo that afternoon. He just started last week and loves going.
When we got home Johann felt him and he was super hot. We took his temp and it was 103. He wasn't just saying he was tired, he was sick!!

Weds we stayed home and played. I decluttered and organized and got rid of 6 bags of outgrown clothes and unwanteds. Ammon slept all day or laid in his bed watching movies on the portable dvd player.

Thursday we had more staying home. I ran Ammon to the doctor because his throat was all white and his temp was still 103. The culture came back negative. Darn!

Thursday night Ammon still had a temp of 102, so our trip to the waterpark the next day was no longer happening. I founds friends for the Simeon and Corrine to play with the next day.

Friday Simeon went with Nick ice skating, had lunch and a movie. Corrine went with Lauryn to the library, Buffalo Wild Wings and Build A Bear. Ammon, Rebecca and I had a backyard picnic.


Saturday was much the same. Rest for Ammon, playtime at home for the others. He ran a temp of 102 before bedtime.

We spent alot of time watching these seeds sprout and grow this week. It's been an amazing week to watch these little seeds go from something dry and asleep to something growing and thriving.

Sunday-Ammon's temp was normal all day, and he seemed to be feeling stronger.


Back to school on Monday and I didn't even think to send Ammon only half day. He came home and you could see it in the way he was walking, he was exhausted! He went right to his bed. He rested, then fell asleep a little after 5:15. Poor guy.

(It took him another 5 days before he was back to his normal energetic self.)

Even though our week wasn't full of activites outside of the house and Ammon was sick, we were able to find fun things to do at home. The beautiful weather and being able to get outside ready helped make the week a better one.

St Patrick's Day

This year the Leprechaun must have been tired,really tired because not much fun St. Patricks Day stuff happened around here!

There are a few reasons why today went off without much hoopla, traps, and greenish goodness.

1. It's spring break so all the kids are home and I couldn't get out to help the little green guy prepare.
2. Ammon has been sick for 5 days and he's tired, and I'm tired and I haven't gotten out of the house all week.
3. The kids didn't seem that into it and never even talked about making a trap until bedtime last night.

Earlier this week when we didn't realize Ammon was going to be sick this many days, Corrine and I ran into Target to get a bathing suit for our waterpark day on Friday. While we were there I ran and got a box of Lucky Charms and some Werther's caramel candies. I didn't say anything about what it was for.

This morning when the kids woke up and Corrine saw the cereal and candies on the table, she was onto me. She told me I was the Leprechaun. Even Rebecca started saying it.
The kids asked where the green kool-aid was, since today's the only day we let the kids drink it.

So I was feeling a bit bad about not doing much for today, so I put a little green dye into our Serra Mist at dinner, which is also a rare treat. We also ate other "green" things with dinner-pickles, lettuce, green soda.

It was a week attempt at making the day end on a green note. Now I know that I need to make the day green and festive even if the kids are not saying much about it. They remember the little celebrations and have good memories of them, so next year we'll have more green, and gold, and traps and fun!!

Rebecca and the worm

Seriously this post is about a worm and our sweet curly haired Rebecca.

But before I get to the cute story of Rebecca and the worm I have to talk about this sweet girl and her totally lovable, happy personality. Today we sent Simeon and Corrine off on playdates since they're totally and completely bored of staying home with a sick brother on spring break when the weather is gorgeous, so it was just Ammon, Rebecca and myself today. We needed to get out so after dropping Corrine at her friends house we went through the drive thru at Taco Bell for lunch and Wendy's for a much deserved chocolate frosty.
After a picnic outside, Ammon was wiped out and ready to rest, so he layed on my bed and watched a movie.
Rebecca had knocked over the crib mattress (that had taken up residence in our hallway this week for some random reason-I think it was Corrine's mattress for her sleepover in the boys room, when they, for the 3rd night, didn't make it in the tent out back.) in the hallway and went about giving me the sweetest and brightest smiles that I had to take some pictures of our cutie.





Her hair is still getting curlier by the day! Any chance of it turning straight are pretty much gone by now. Her bangs reach her chin when they are soaking wet, the back goes halfway down her back soaking wet, but dry they are light bouncy ringlets that so beautifully frame her sweet face.

In taking these pictures her feet look different sizes-way different sizes and I think one really is bigger then the other. Funny how it took taking these pictures for me to see this.





I love her face in this picture. She LOVES peanuts, really nuts of any kind. We crack them open and leave them on the counter for her. She was stuffing her mouth full of peanuts right before I snapped this picture.


Okay back to the Rebecca and the worm story-

Since the weather has warmed up and we've been leaving the back door open to the screen door and Rebecca has discovered that she can go out back by herself whenever she wants. As long as the side gate is closed, she is contained and in heaven!
Today she was out playing in the sand box when she came to me with an urgent plea that there was a bug in the sandbox and I had to come see it! I went to check it out and I couldn't' find any bug. She kept telling me where it was, but it wasn't there anymore.
Then she spotted it moving. The bug she was so scared about was a small worm covered in sand. We took it inside and washed it off, then went back outside with it. We had it in a shovel on the picnic table. I asked Rebecca if she wanted to hold and she told me "NO!"

I took a video of her and the worm. The worm is crawling out of the shovel and Rebecca says "it's flying out".
Then when I ask her if she likes worms and if she wants to hold it, she gets scared and pulls back. She says that "Corrine, and Simeon, and Ammon and mom and dad like worms." When I ask if Rebecca does, she again tells me "NO!"

I'm pretty sure she liked and held them last year. Corrine and Ammon LOVE worms!! They ask me to give them to them whenever I come across one!
Oh well, maybe by midsummer she'll be back to holding them and asking me to give them to her when I find one in the yard.

Flowers

Today Rebecca and I went on a tour around our yard and your neighbors yards to check out the flowers coming up this spring.


The daffodils around the light in the yard. I'd love to get this light working, but the cost is WAY more then I want to pay, so for now it will stay as decoration.



The tulips had a tough time with all the times they were stepped on by kids. This one was already losing it's bloom a day or two after opening.



This is our neighbors cherry tree. Last year it only produced a few cherries that the birds ate and alot of the seeds ended up in our garden on the other side of the fence.


One of our bleeding heart flower plants.



The neighbors on the other side are very fond of dandelions, so there are plenty of them in their yard for Rebecca to play with.

Spring Break 2011

This year we lucked out and got some nice weather for spring break. Sun, blue sky and temps from mid 50's to low 70's most days is awesome for spring break in Iowa.
We didn't do alot this week. We did a little friend time, a little waterpark time, a little rest time (Simeon & Corrine got fevers and colds this week), a little selling of Girl Scout cookies, a little playtime, a little horse show time (Corrine), a little cleaning and a lot of fun time!



Ammon & Darren trying to stay warm in the wind after playing glow goft and having lunch at the mall.


Rebecca caught me taking her picture at the waterpark. She had a great time walking around in the water, but also like to stand on the wall and watch the other kids play.


Simeon pitching to Ammon. I love how you can see his fingers still in their release state from the pitch, and his tongue. He's one of his teams pitchers this year.


All 4 kids on a slide at Fun City. I love how they all want to be touching or helping Rebecca at all time. In every picture of a sibling with Rebecca they are holding her hand, hugging her, or talking to her. They love her so much!