The garden

You know what I love. Gardening. Yeah big shocker there huh. But really there is something so cool about playing in the dirt (I'm just a big kid!) and then later seeing something bloom. It is so cool to me that life exists in a seed and all it needs is a little water and warmth. Something simply profound about it all.

Anyway even though the house is up for sell I decided to put in a garden. We got 3 raised beds filled the other night so I planted potatoes, beets, carrots, sunflowers, lettuce, and some other things that escape me now. I can not wait to see the little bits of green begin to pop up. I also got the strawberries planted. (Thanks again Dallas!) I had HUGE plans for strawberries this year but with the move I wanted to scale down a bit. I sold the 100 plants I bought along with the asperagus and only planted the strawberries that were given to me. Probably 25 plants total. This will fill in the space nicely without being overwhelming.

So now I am dreaming of fresh strawberry smoothies, fresh baby salads with a light vinagarette dressing, and beautfully tasty fresh beans. Oh and lets not forget my fav veggie, yummy carrots. (Hey Nicole remember when we would pull your moms carrots long before they were ready and she would get mad because she didnt have any left at harvest?)

Life is so good during the growing season.

The garden

You know what I love. Gardening. Yeah big shocker there huh. But really there is something so cool about playing in the dirt (I'm just a big kid!) and then later seeing something bloom. It is so cool to me that life exists in a seed and all it needs is a little water and warmth. Something simply profound about it all.

Anyway even though the house is up for sell I decided to put in a garden. We got 3 raised beds filled the other night so I planted potatoes, beets, carrots, sunflowers, lettuce, and some other things that escape me now. I can not wait to see the little bits of green begin to pop up. I also got the strawberries planted. (Thanks again Dallas!) I had HUGE plans for strawberries this year but with the move I wanted to scale down a bit. I sold the 100 plants I bought along with the asperagus and only planted the strawberries that were given to me. Probably 25 plants total. This will fill in the space nicely without being overwhelming.

So now I am dreaming of fresh strawberry smoothies, fresh baby salads with a light vinagarette dressing, and beautfully tasty fresh beans. Oh and lets not forget my fav veggie, yummy carrots. (Hey Nicole remember when we would pull your moms carrots long before they were ready and she would get mad because she didnt have any left at harvest?)

Life is so good during the growing season.

Our Big News

We are moving. Well we are selling our house anyway, with luck we will be moving. We have someone coming to look tonight so we'll see how it goes.

We have finished the school year with the kiddos. Reading and writing still proves to be Caitlins weak spots so we will be focusing on those during our "break". We really like The Ordinary Parents Guide I think I just need to work in more extra reading to get her moving fluently. Writing is such a drain. She has always had a hard time with her fine motor skills so its no surprise that writing is tough. We will just keep plugging away and with practice it will get better.

I will start the planning for next school year as soon as I finish up with school. I know what curriculum we will be using for the most part, its just the writing of our schedual. Oddly enough one of my fav parts about homeschooling. We will also be starting Ian on a few subjects more seriously which he is excited for.

Chickens that we got for about 3 days before very disgusting things happened and they died. We will try chicks another time.

The kiddos goofing around with dominos. They fight over playing this game because they both swear they can count higher than the other. Lauren just watches the choas.

Our Big News

We are moving. Well we are selling our house anyway, with luck we will be moving. We have someone coming to look tonight so we'll see how it goes.

We have finished the school year with the kiddos. Reading and writing still proves to be Caitlins weak spots so we will be focusing on those during our "break". We really like The Ordinary Parents Guide I think I just need to work in more extra reading to get her moving fluently. Writing is such a drain. She has always had a hard time with her fine motor skills so its no surprise that writing is tough. We will just keep plugging away and with practice it will get better.

I will start the planning for next school year as soon as I finish up with school. I know what curriculum we will be using for the most part, its just the writing of our schedual. Oddly enough one of my fav parts about homeschooling. We will also be starting Ian on a few subjects more seriously which he is excited for.

Chickens that we got for about 3 days before very disgusting things happened and they died. We will try chicks another time.

The kiddos goofing around with dominos. They fight over playing this game because they both swear they can count higher than the other. Lauren just watches the choas.

Sorry for the delay

Things have just gone crazy around here. I have thrown all my carefully laid plans for siplification out the window for the moment. We are selling our home. WOW what a lot of work to get things done. The house looks amazing because we have SERIOUSLY de-cluttered, patched, painted, moved, washed ect all the surfaces and more. It feel so great, which I guess falls in my simplification year. The garden has also been put on hold to a degree. It will not be as huge as my grand plans were but it will be managable for us and who ever buys this place.

We will be sad to leave this area as it really has been home for us. BUT we have so many more plans that are so exciting it wont be a bad thing at all.

So if you read this blog often, sit tight. I only have 2 more weeks of school left and probably 1 week left of packing, washing, tweaking and then I will head back here for a little unwind time.

And then, maybe I will let you in on whats going on here. :)

Sorry for the delay

Things have just gone crazy around here. I have thrown all my carefully laid plans for siplification out the window for the moment. We are selling our home. WOW what a lot of work to get things done. The house looks amazing because we have SERIOUSLY de-cluttered, patched, painted, moved, washed ect all the surfaces and more. It feel so great, which I guess falls in my simplification year. The garden has also been put on hold to a degree. It will not be as huge as my grand plans were but it will be managable for us and who ever buys this place.

We will be sad to leave this area as it really has been home for us. BUT we have so many more plans that are so exciting it wont be a bad thing at all.

So if you read this blog often, sit tight. I only have 2 more weeks of school left and probably 1 week left of packing, washing, tweaking and then I will head back here for a little unwind time.

And then, maybe I will let you in on whats going on here. :)

Cutness

Horrible winds have blown through here lately. This is whats left of our wood shed.

Lil' miss photogenic. She sees a camera she smiles. Big. Every time.

A brief moment of stillness.

Best friends Caitlin and Dalton. They love each others company.

Her first pigtails. you cant see them very well but they are there. It sure makes her hair easier to deal with. :)

Cutness

Horrible winds have blown through here lately. This is whats left of our wood shed.

Lil' miss photogenic. She sees a camera she smiles. Big. Every time.

A brief moment of stillness.

Best friends Caitlin and Dalton. They love each others company.

Her first pigtails. you cant see them very well but they are there. It sure makes her hair easier to deal with. :)

Organic little seedlings

Its snowing. Can I say that I am tired of the nasty weather we've had. I mean really, wind, snow, freezing temps. Doesnt it realize that its SPRING!!! Come on already!!

The winds have been fierce as of late. They've tossed my greenhouse from the back yard to the side yard. And our woodshed? Um yeah it died a quick and painful death during last weekends gale force winds. Our roof? Thank heavens we will be replacing it this summer because half the back shingles are laying on our front lawn. **sigh**

Broccoli seedlingsOnions

But there is hope. My counters are littered with green little seedlings. I mean this quite seriously too. My island is covered with 180 little pots (you know like the ones that you buy petunias in, the little 4 inch black containters). I have HUGE ones that in the end equal to 180. but thats not all, nope. I also have 144 more little ones on my dishwasher and counters. Then there are 2 long planters with all the onions. It is a crowded green world in the kitchen as of late. It is sweet and beautiful if I may say so.

Snap dragons and marigolds: Umm yeah the snap dragon seeds are tiny and well I put all of them in like 4 cells. In my defense I couldnt see the little buggers so now they live side by side, really, really, really close. I will have to thin these but they make me smile so I will wait.

Tomatoes: These babies have had a hard time. It good to see they are even growing, I worried about that.

Okay remember the nasty weather I just mentioned. Well remember it when you are looking at these really bad pics. There is no natural light in the house right now so every things looks.....well dreary. None of the plants look this sad in real life. Okay have a good day hope its warmer and sunnier than mine! Time to trim the onions!

Organic little seedlings

Its snowing. Can I say that I am tired of the nasty weather we've had. I mean really, wind, snow, freezing temps. Doesnt it realize that its SPRING!!! Come on already!!

The winds have been fierce as of late. They've tossed my greenhouse from the back yard to the side yard. And our woodshed? Um yeah it died a quick and painful death during last weekends gale force winds. Our roof? Thank heavens we will be replacing it this summer because half the back shingles are laying on our front lawn. **sigh**

Broccoli seedlingsOnions

But there is hope. My counters are littered with green little seedlings. I mean this quite seriously too. My island is covered with 180 little pots (you know like the ones that you buy petunias in, the little 4 inch black containters). I have HUGE ones that in the end equal to 180. but thats not all, nope. I also have 144 more little ones on my dishwasher and counters. Then there are 2 long planters with all the onions. It is a crowded green world in the kitchen as of late. It is sweet and beautiful if I may say so.

Snap dragons and marigolds: Umm yeah the snap dragon seeds are tiny and well I put all of them in like 4 cells. In my defense I couldnt see the little buggers so now they live side by side, really, really, really close. I will have to thin these but they make me smile so I will wait.

Tomatoes: These babies have had a hard time. It good to see they are even growing, I worried about that.

Okay remember the nasty weather I just mentioned. Well remember it when you are looking at these really bad pics. There is no natural light in the house right now so every things looks.....well dreary. None of the plants look this sad in real life. Okay have a good day hope its warmer and sunnier than mine! Time to trim the onions!

A food storage challange

So we are in one of those situations where.....hmmm whats the saying.....oh yes we "dont have 2 pennies to rub together." We have had some unexpected expenses arise that we have to take care of. What a pain. So aside from the meager savings we have we decided rather than using a credit card (Nasty filthy little things!) That we would use our food budget for the next 2 weeks to take care of everything. WHAT! You might think, no food for 2 weeks. Ahhhh remember I have my food storage. :D Now we are beyond low on fresh veggies and fruits, I mean seriously we have an apple and 3 grapefruits and a ton of potatoes. So I will go grab a few fresh things but that is it. Nothing else for the next 2 weeks! :D

I figure this came at an awesome time since this months goals are all about food. I will post the recipes and meals that I do this next 2 weeks just to see what I can come up with out of what I already have. Who knows maybe I'll cave and go get groceries but I am hoping that with a little ingenuity I can come up with some really great meals to add to our rotation. Wish me luck!

I will post my goals in another post today after I have had some time to ponder.

Happy Spring everyone!

A food storage challange

So we are in one of those situations where.....hmmm whats the saying.....oh yes we "dont have 2 pennies to rub together." We have had some unexpected expenses arise that we have to take care of. What a pain. So aside from the meager savings we have we decided rather than using a credit card (Nasty filthy little things!) That we would use our food budget for the next 2 weeks to take care of everything. WHAT! You might think, no food for 2 weeks. Ahhhh remember I have my food storage. :D Now we are beyond low on fresh veggies and fruits, I mean seriously we have an apple and 3 grapefruits and a ton of potatoes. So I will go grab a few fresh things but that is it. Nothing else for the next 2 weeks! :D

I figure this came at an awesome time since this months goals are all about food. I will post the recipes and meals that I do this next 2 weeks just to see what I can come up with out of what I already have. Who knows maybe I'll cave and go get groceries but I am hoping that with a little ingenuity I can come up with some really great meals to add to our rotation. Wish me luck!

I will post my goals in another post today after I have had some time to ponder.

Happy Spring everyone!