My spring break is basically over. I know I still have the weekend, but it is going to be very full with Easter stuff. Hopefully this year I will even get some pictures posted. I still have a partially written Easter post from last year that never got posted. I seem t have a hard time getting the big things up here. Like Hawaii. I actually uploaded some pictures, they just aren't posted. Maybe soon. I didn't mean to ramble though I was going to tell about the rest of my break because it really was a pretty good week.
Isablle had been asking for quite a while if she could go to the park. Not just any park, but the castle park. We had told her we could go sometime this week. Wednesday was supposed to be the warmest day of the week, so that is the day we picked. I spent the morning doing some cleaning and then we packed up our lunches and headed out. As anticipated the park was very busy. My sister was bringing her kids as well. Isabelle was anxious for her cousin to show up. Even after they got there, they had a hard time focusing on their lunch. They just wanted to go play. Finally we let them go. The castle park has some slides, but it is mostly walkways, ramps, and secret cubby holes. They had a lot of fun running up and down and around. I spent most of my time in the kiddie area with Tristan. He liked to swing and go down the "lide." After about an hour we said it was time to go home. We, the adults, were more than ready to be done. The kids thought it was a tragedy to leave so soon. I decided to stop at Grandma's house on the way home. It isn't very far specially since the road was closed and the detour took us down Grandma's road. She wasn't home yet from getting her car fixed, so we got Tosha out and took her for a walk. I got her harness on all by myself. I was very proud. I was a little worried about pushing the stroller and holding the leash, but it mostly was fine. I even got some help. Tristan kept trying to hold the leash for me while he sat in the stroller. It was super cute. He didn't hold on very tight though and then I would have to chase the end out he the leash. Isabelle spent most of the walk saying how tired she was and out of breath. Curiously she wasn't too tired and out of breath at the park. Grandma got home just as we finished our walk. We stayed to visit with her for a little then headed home. Thomas was supposed to be home by then, but he had some problems come up at work and was taking longer than expected. His day off ended up being a 12 hour work day. I did some more yard work while we waited for him. Then we watched some Mary Poppins and headed to bed.
I had thought Thomas only had off work Tuesday and supposedly Wednesday, but he had Thursday off as well. We had a game day at my mom's house. Thomas went to go "exercise" at the pool. Everyone was a little late getting there and things weren't getting started. I didn't want to waste my day, so I finally got a game of Settlers of Catan going with the boys. The two oldest nephews are both going to turn 13 in the summer. I can't believe they are that old. I think that the other is about 11. They are almost the same age as the kids I teach. We actually had a pretty good game. I would have won if I could have got four more roads. After Thomas came we played a game called Wonders of the World. I think it is kind of fun. It is however a little bit compicated and I guess I didn't explain it well. Both Thomas and my mom (who had played before but it had been a while and she didn't remember the instructions) were confused. It ended up being a three way tie for 43 points and my nephew getting 44 points. Then I realized that the score for my set of cards was supposed to be squared not doubled. I had nine points for that section instead of six. I beat him by two points. Isabelle wanted to go home with her cousin. When I went to go pick her up they wanted to have a sleepover. I thought that would be fine. She is so sad about her cousin moving. They had gotten and offer on their house Thursday morning and my sister spent part of the day dealing with that. We went home and got her stuff and sent her back. At about 10:00 that night we remembered that we had a doctors appointment at 8:45 in the morning.
We did not get up as early Friday and we meant to. It ended up being a bit of a rush. We were only about two minutes late for the appointment and had to wait almost ten minutes still, so i didn't feel too bad. Everything went well. Both children are healthy. Isabelle is 34 lb. and 19 percentile. almost 42 inches and 37 percentile. Tristan was 24 lb. and 17 percentile. 31 inches and 5 percentile. For our kids that is really good. Tristan especially has moved up a little. The funny thing is despite being that low in weight and height, his head is 53 percentile. After the doctors we went home and got ready to go back to Grandma's house for the day. Thomas was working in the afternoon to close. I had planned to scrapbook with my mom. I paid for my younger sister to take Isabelle to see the new Chipmunk: Chipwreck movie. They both really liked it. I put Tristan down for a nap and we got quite a bit done. I took last Thursday and Friday off of work to go to a scrapbook party at my great-aunt's house. It was a lot of fun. She had tons of supplies and didn't mind letting us use any of it. My mom had a similar party back in October. I didn't take off work that time, so I was only there for Saturday morning. Before that I hadn't done any scrapbooking for several years. I have gotten excited about it again. Isabelle really enjoys looking through them and there aren't that many pictures of her. Most of the pictures are on the computer in digital format. I kind of need to decide if I am going to keep making traditional scrapbooks or if I want to try something more digital. Thomas is supposed to do one of the online books they print for his Africa trip. It was his birthday present last year, but he still hasn't gotten me the pictures. I also have points from pampers to do a book, which I wanted to do for Isabelle. The day did not end as well as I had hoped. I was planning on staying at my parents to watch a movie or something fun, but both the kids were having meltdowns. It was probably because of the shots. We packed up and headed home. Both kids were in bed and asleep by 8:30, which for us is really good.
Showing posts with label Yard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yard. Show all posts
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Productivity
Monday was not a good start to my vacation. I was full of woe is me and self pity. I hate it when I get like that, but I can't seem to help it. I tend to worrry about things, and be overly critical. The good news is that it didn't last all day. The evening actually turned out quite nice.
Isabelle had found the egg dye in the cupboard and was anxious to use it. Sunday we cooked eggs, but we didn't quite get to the coloring part. We promised here we could do it on Monday when her daddy got home from work. She has a very good memory and doesn't let things go. As soon as he got home, she wanted to color eggs. We got the dye ready, and then we colored eggs. Thomas is really good at this (and anything else that has an artistic edge to it.) He actually uses his drummel to engrave designs into the eggs. They are really quite fancy.
In the mail we got a flyer for Toys R Us. They were having buy one get one half off on Legos. I was supper excited. That is a great deal. We ran over to the Toy store. Unfortunately our local store has terrible selection. I had also looked online. They were out of stock on three of the four sets I was interested in. Not mush of a sale if you ask me. We ran over to Target while we were out and found one of the Dino sets on sale. I think it is sad that both Target and Walmart have better Lego selection than Toys R Us does. I am very excited for Easter. I do still need to get a couple of things, but it should be fun.
Tuesday was one of those days that I wish could happen all of the time. I was productive, and I got stuff done. I got things done I had been putting off for weeks. It is spring break, and originally we were going to go on a little trip down to Dinosaur National Monument. It didn't quite happen because the arrangements didn't all get made, but we will probably still go sometime soon, and it probably was best that we were home. I got up, well not early, but at least on time. I decided to run the car over to get inspected. It was actually due in January, but so were the rest of the cars, and mine ended up with a broken exhaust manifold. So we waited. Since it wasn't registered we didn't drive it. A couple of weeks ago when I tried to take it it, it wouldn't start. Apparently a battery can go dead from just sitting. Anyway so I went to the store, and I got there just before the guy who opened the store. I was going to read while I waited, but then I thought it would be a great time to grade papers, so I did. I got most of the 9th grade worksheets done. When I got home we made breakfast and got everyone dressed. Then I worked on my resume. (I really do want to do something different, I just don't know what. Which is a problem.) Also, while I was working on that I called the a car place about the seat belt that broke in my car about a month ago. I still drive to daycare, but I haven't been able to go anywhere further than that. I had a (hopefully) great idea. We made several inquiries about the part, but the only one that responded is in Virginia. It was going to cost about $10-15 for shipping. The store is actually very close to where my brother-in-law is living. I asked if he could just pick it up and bring it back on the plane with him this weekend. I am still a little worried they won't want it in his carry on for some reason, but otherwise it worked out really well.
By about noon we were ready to go. We dropped the kids off at my moms for my younger sister to watch, and we headed over to LDS employment. I have been trying to get Thomas to go for quite a while. I am not sure the trip was as productive as I had hoped, but at least we both now have accounts and know how to look up jobs. Our next stop was the tile store. We picked the darker redish tile, which also was the cheapest. It is now ready to install, except this weekend being Easter. I could really use a Saturday as well as the Easter weekend. We have three egg hunts all on Saturday. While we were out, we also stopped at Walmart and got some Easter things. We then headed home.
I had told my sister to feed the kids peanut butter sandwiches, but that didn't sound tasty to her. Instead she served homemade Macaroni and Cheese. It is one her favorites. There were leftovers and she very kindly shared them with us. (Speaking of my sister, she has a job interview at Lagoon today, so we are praying for here and keeping our fingers crossed. She really needs a job.)
On our way into the house the children were distracted by their bikes and strollers. They thought they needed to be used., so of course we ended up going on a walk. It was nice, except that Isabelle kept panicking about going too fast, so we ended up going at a snails pace. When we got home our productivity lagged a little. I think I played a round of Tetris while Thomas took a nap. I then decided to join him. Who says that napping isn't productive? Unfortunately I tried to get the children to nap with us, but it ended up waking Thomas up. He got up and I finished the nap. I woke up a little while later to someone head butting me until I moved. Toddlers can be so sweet.
The last thing on my list for the day was yard work. We actually made some good progress. We got several more of the flower beads cleaned out and some of the wood chips spread around. (I might add more pictures later. My camera ran out of batteries after I took the one of the wood pile.) We then went in and I made potatoes and chicken gravy. It was very tasty. We wanted to watch something. I had borrowed several family films from my Mother-in-law, so we decided to watch one of those. We picked Mary Poppins. Both of the children were enthralled. I was surprised how entertained they both were. even on the slower parts. It is long and kind of episodic, so we only watched to the end of their first outing. The next night we watched through the outing to Uncle Albert's. I think the next bit is when they go to the bank. I am not sure where the chimney sweeps come in.
Like I said, it felt like a very productive day.
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| Waiting to Begin |
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| Drummeling the Eggs |
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| Working Together |
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| I don't care about the eggs. Could you read me a story? |
In the mail we got a flyer for Toys R Us. They were having buy one get one half off on Legos. I was supper excited. That is a great deal. We ran over to the Toy store. Unfortunately our local store has terrible selection. I had also looked online. They were out of stock on three of the four sets I was interested in. Not mush of a sale if you ask me. We ran over to Target while we were out and found one of the Dino sets on sale. I think it is sad that both Target and Walmart have better Lego selection than Toys R Us does. I am very excited for Easter. I do still need to get a couple of things, but it should be fun.
Tuesday was one of those days that I wish could happen all of the time. I was productive, and I got stuff done. I got things done I had been putting off for weeks. It is spring break, and originally we were going to go on a little trip down to Dinosaur National Monument. It didn't quite happen because the arrangements didn't all get made, but we will probably still go sometime soon, and it probably was best that we were home. I got up, well not early, but at least on time. I decided to run the car over to get inspected. It was actually due in January, but so were the rest of the cars, and mine ended up with a broken exhaust manifold. So we waited. Since it wasn't registered we didn't drive it. A couple of weeks ago when I tried to take it it, it wouldn't start. Apparently a battery can go dead from just sitting. Anyway so I went to the store, and I got there just before the guy who opened the store. I was going to read while I waited, but then I thought it would be a great time to grade papers, so I did. I got most of the 9th grade worksheets done. When I got home we made breakfast and got everyone dressed. Then I worked on my resume. (I really do want to do something different, I just don't know what. Which is a problem.) Also, while I was working on that I called the a car place about the seat belt that broke in my car about a month ago. I still drive to daycare, but I haven't been able to go anywhere further than that. I had a (hopefully) great idea. We made several inquiries about the part, but the only one that responded is in Virginia. It was going to cost about $10-15 for shipping. The store is actually very close to where my brother-in-law is living. I asked if he could just pick it up and bring it back on the plane with him this weekend. I am still a little worried they won't want it in his carry on for some reason, but otherwise it worked out really well.
By about noon we were ready to go. We dropped the kids off at my moms for my younger sister to watch, and we headed over to LDS employment. I have been trying to get Thomas to go for quite a while. I am not sure the trip was as productive as I had hoped, but at least we both now have accounts and know how to look up jobs. Our next stop was the tile store. We picked the darker redish tile, which also was the cheapest. It is now ready to install, except this weekend being Easter. I could really use a Saturday as well as the Easter weekend. We have three egg hunts all on Saturday. While we were out, we also stopped at Walmart and got some Easter things. We then headed home.
I had told my sister to feed the kids peanut butter sandwiches, but that didn't sound tasty to her. Instead she served homemade Macaroni and Cheese. It is one her favorites. There were leftovers and she very kindly shared them with us. (Speaking of my sister, she has a job interview at Lagoon today, so we are praying for here and keeping our fingers crossed. She really needs a job.)
On our way into the house the children were distracted by their bikes and strollers. They thought they needed to be used., so of course we ended up going on a walk. It was nice, except that Isabelle kept panicking about going too fast, so we ended up going at a snails pace. When we got home our productivity lagged a little. I think I played a round of Tetris while Thomas took a nap. I then decided to join him. Who says that napping isn't productive? Unfortunately I tried to get the children to nap with us, but it ended up waking Thomas up. He got up and I finished the nap. I woke up a little while later to someone head butting me until I moved. Toddlers can be so sweet.
The last thing on my list for the day was yard work. We actually made some good progress. We got several more of the flower beads cleaned out and some of the wood chips spread around. (I might add more pictures later. My camera ran out of batteries after I took the one of the wood pile.) We then went in and I made potatoes and chicken gravy. It was very tasty. We wanted to watch something. I had borrowed several family films from my Mother-in-law, so we decided to watch one of those. We picked Mary Poppins. Both of the children were enthralled. I was surprised how entertained they both were. even on the slower parts. It is long and kind of episodic, so we only watched to the end of their first outing. The next night we watched through the outing to Uncle Albert's. I think the next bit is when they go to the bank. I am not sure where the chimney sweeps come in. Like I said, it felt like a very productive day.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Hello Spring!
I was going to clean my house the other day. I did start, but I then I got distracted...
There were these tulip bulbs in my garage. I dug them up last fall, and never got them replanted. Every spring they come up in these huge clumps and they needed to be spread out, but when fall comes I can't remember where they are. I accidentally came across some of them last fall while digging up tree roots. Like I said I never got them replanted they were just in a bucket in the garage. About a month ago they started growing. Every time I get in my car, I can see them and I think "I should do something with those." Well I decided it was the day to do something. I was going to go outside, but I was sure it was colder than it looked. I decided since I was going to try putting them in a pot I would just do it inside on the table. I filled my pot, but there was still a whole bucket full of bulbs.
I ventured outside to look at some of the flower beds. I discovered that my roses are getting leaves. They shouldn't be leafing yet, I haven't pruned them. And there were crocuses trying to poke through the mounds of dead leaves. I started cleaning the bed. I had to go to the garage and get some tools and on the way back I saw another bed in need of help, and yes there across the yard was another spot. Oh and the poor strawberries are being choked out by grass! I think that I ended up working on about 6 different flower beds. I don't think that I finished any of them. I just couldn't focus. I spent two more days this week working in the yard. Including yesterday. It is starting to look better. Last year we cut down a bunch of thorny trees and had them chipped. The giant pile of wood chips is still sitting in the garden. Since we never got it taken care of we didn't have a garden last year. I need to get the wood chips spread out on the flower beds so I can get my garden ready for planting. I don't do anything like my parents garden. I think that it is too much work. They spend a lot of time out there in their giant garden. Mostly I like to do tomatoes and squash and peppers. I might do peas, but I think right now is the time to plant them, and we aren't ready yet. I think that we also want to get a tree to plant on the hill where the thorny ones were removed. A nice tree instead of garbage ones. Plus we have lost several of our scrub oaks in the windstorm. We might still be able to see our back neighbors through the trees this year they are so much thinner. Any suggestion of what kind we should get? Isabelle wanted to go see the creek, but there is so much fallen wood I couldn't even get to the lower part of the path. There is a good amount of water, but not as much as previous years. although I think it is usually April when it hits its height.
Did I mention I have a sliver from doing yard work. And I can't get it out. I also have several rose bush pricks. I hope everyone is enjoying spring as much as I am. (aside from the yard related injuries.)
Besides yard work we did get some things accomplished yesterday. Thomas got our taxes finished. They were almost finished before, but then we realized that we were using the online version of the program and not the download, which was causing problems. We were almost finished and he basically had to start over, but it did transfer some of the information and everything else was already collected. That is always the hard part of doing taxes. There are always thing you need that you have to hunt for. I was going to get the van registered, but we have been having problems with the battery. When I left to get it inspected it was completely dead. It is weird because it is a brand new battery. We have tested the alternator and it seems to be fine. Thomas charged it and drove it to work. Hopefully we can get it inspected this week and figure out what is going on with the battery.
I did also get a little bit of housework done, but not as much as I wanted to. I spent the evening with my sister. She made dinner, which we kind of invited ourselves to. I keep showing up at my mom's house just are they are doing dinner. She has been kind enough to share. My older sister is out of town and her kids are all at my mom's house, so my younger sister was already cooking for a good sized crew without us. It tasted really good, and I enjoyed visiting.
We also went shopping for the bathroom tile this week. WE brought home a couple of samples. I am not sure which I like the best. It needs to go with the carpet the cabinet and the wall, which is a turquoise color.
And it wasn't just me who enjoyed being out in the yard. The kids had a lot of fun too. They are so excited to be doing things outside.
There were these tulip bulbs in my garage. I dug them up last fall, and never got them replanted. Every spring they come up in these huge clumps and they needed to be spread out, but when fall comes I can't remember where they are. I accidentally came across some of them last fall while digging up tree roots. Like I said I never got them replanted they were just in a bucket in the garage. About a month ago they started growing. Every time I get in my car, I can see them and I think "I should do something with those." Well I decided it was the day to do something. I was going to go outside, but I was sure it was colder than it looked. I decided since I was going to try putting them in a pot I would just do it inside on the table. I filled my pot, but there was still a whole bucket full of bulbs.
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| The Strawberry Patch |
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| My Garden |
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| The hill |
Did I mention I have a sliver from doing yard work. And I can't get it out. I also have several rose bush pricks. I hope everyone is enjoying spring as much as I am. (aside from the yard related injuries.)
Besides yard work we did get some things accomplished yesterday. Thomas got our taxes finished. They were almost finished before, but then we realized that we were using the online version of the program and not the download, which was causing problems. We were almost finished and he basically had to start over, but it did transfer some of the information and everything else was already collected. That is always the hard part of doing taxes. There are always thing you need that you have to hunt for. I was going to get the van registered, but we have been having problems with the battery. When I left to get it inspected it was completely dead. It is weird because it is a brand new battery. We have tested the alternator and it seems to be fine. Thomas charged it and drove it to work. Hopefully we can get it inspected this week and figure out what is going on with the battery.
I did also get a little bit of housework done, but not as much as I wanted to. I spent the evening with my sister. She made dinner, which we kind of invited ourselves to. I keep showing up at my mom's house just are they are doing dinner. She has been kind enough to share. My older sister is out of town and her kids are all at my mom's house, so my younger sister was already cooking for a good sized crew without us. It tasted really good, and I enjoyed visiting.
We also went shopping for the bathroom tile this week. WE brought home a couple of samples. I am not sure which I like the best. It needs to go with the carpet the cabinet and the wall, which is a turquoise color.
And it wasn't just me who enjoyed being out in the yard. The kids had a lot of fun too. They are so excited to be doing things outside.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Playing in the Dirt
Sometimes I drive my husband crazy. He likes to think about things and plan them out. I just decide something needs to be done and go at it. The front flower bed, full of Irises, has been bugging me for a while. It hadn't been divided in several years, it mounded up instead of being level with the rest of the yard, and it had almost as much grass in it as flowers.
One Saturday (which was close to when I started writing this, but is now further in the past) I decided it was the day to fix the flower bed. I got up, put on some work clothes, made sure the kids had shoes (a fairly new experience for Tristan) and started digging. Actually that isn't true. I first watched a video on you-tube about dividing irises. Basically, you dig them up, break them apart, and replant them. It sounded pretty easy. The first problem I encountered was that my dirt was rock hard. I watered it a little and the digging went better. I dug until my wheel-barrow was full.
I them proceeded to the breaking apart stage. Once an iris rhizome has produced a flower it won't bloom again. Instead it grows a new rhizome. You end up with a network of dead rhizomes tangled with good ones. Most of them break apart pretty easily. Some of them were too tangled up to deal with very easily. I ended up with a flat of good rhizomes. I went back to digging and filled my wheel barrow again. At this point I had enough cleaned and trimmed rhizomes to replant my bed, and a wheel-barrow full of ones I was too tired to deal with, and my back hurt. I still had about a quarter of the bed to dig, but I was just too dang tired. I went in the house and moved on to other projects. After a while I headed back out and cleaned and trimmed some more. I got a set flat of rhizomes. I put the two flats in the garage, and moved the wheel barrow over to the side of the house, where it is in the shade most of the day.
It was over a week later before I got back to the project. The other floor beds in the front had brick boarders that I had put in. This bed had only about four bricks before I ran out. I also was having a hard time because of the bed not being level. I think that it was a Monday, I left work early and stopped at Lowe's. I got the bricks I need to fix the bed, as well as the part to fix the kitchen sink that had broken on Sunday while my parents were over for dinner. I got home, made sure the kids had shoes (a fairly new experience for Tristan) and went out to finish the bed. That last clump of irises was particularly stubborn, but I finally got it out. I sifted through the dirt a little bit, and removed a whole bunch to level it off.. I dug a trench and placed the bricks. Finally the bed was ready. All I had left to do was replant the irises.
I replanted about a third of what I took out. I still had a wheel-barrow full I was not interested in dealing with (if anybody wants some let me know.) I took those out the back and placed the clumps in the dirt near the garden. I will deal with them later. I think that my bed looks very neat. I am glad it is no longer the mess it was, and I got it done before it started raining for several days straight.
Some of you may have been wondering what my husband was doing while I tackled this little project. On the Saturday that we worked on it, he was doing other yard work like trimming shrubs, and cleaning up other flower beds. On the Monday, when he got home from work, I asked him to plant some bulbs I had bought. Isabelle was very excited to help with those. Daddy dug the holes and she put the bulbs in. In between holes she danced through the yard. As you can see from the pictures, both children love to help!
One Saturday (which was close to when I started writing this, but is now further in the past) I decided it was the day to fix the flower bed. I got up, put on some work clothes, made sure the kids had shoes (a fairly new experience for Tristan) and started digging. Actually that isn't true. I first watched a video on you-tube about dividing irises. Basically, you dig them up, break them apart, and replant them. It sounded pretty easy. The first problem I encountered was that my dirt was rock hard. I watered it a little and the digging went better. I dug until my wheel-barrow was full.
I them proceeded to the breaking apart stage. Once an iris rhizome has produced a flower it won't bloom again. Instead it grows a new rhizome. You end up with a network of dead rhizomes tangled with good ones. Most of them break apart pretty easily. Some of them were too tangled up to deal with very easily. I ended up with a flat of good rhizomes. I went back to digging and filled my wheel barrow again. At this point I had enough cleaned and trimmed rhizomes to replant my bed, and a wheel-barrow full of ones I was too tired to deal with, and my back hurt. I still had about a quarter of the bed to dig, but I was just too dang tired. I went in the house and moved on to other projects. After a while I headed back out and cleaned and trimmed some more. I got a set flat of rhizomes. I put the two flats in the garage, and moved the wheel barrow over to the side of the house, where it is in the shade most of the day. 
It was over a week later before I got back to the project. The other floor beds in the front had brick boarders that I had put in. This bed had only about four bricks before I ran out. I also was having a hard time because of the bed not being level. I think that it was a Monday, I left work early and stopped at Lowe's. I got the bricks I need to fix the bed, as well as the part to fix the kitchen sink that had broken on Sunday while my parents were over for dinner. I got home, made sure the kids had shoes (a fairly new experience for Tristan) and went out to finish the bed. That last clump of irises was particularly stubborn, but I finally got it out. I sifted through the dirt a little bit, and removed a whole bunch to level it off.. I dug a trench and placed the bricks. Finally the bed was ready. All I had left to do was replant the irises. 
I replanted about a third of what I took out. I still had a wheel-barrow full I was not interested in dealing with (if anybody wants some let me know.) I took those out the back and placed the clumps in the dirt near the garden. I will deal with them later. I think that my bed looks very neat. I am glad it is no longer the mess it was, and I got it done before it started raining for several days straight. 
Some of you may have been wondering what my husband was doing while I tackled this little project. On the Saturday that we worked on it, he was doing other yard work like trimming shrubs, and cleaning up other flower beds. On the Monday, when he got home from work, I asked him to plant some bulbs I had bought. Isabelle was very excited to help with those. Daddy dug the holes and she put the bulbs in. In between holes she danced through the yard. As you can see from the pictures, both children love to help!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Happy Birthday Baby!
My Baby is a whole year old -actually he is almost 13 months now.
We had most of his cousins over for cake and ice cream. It was a lot of fun. I spent most of the day cleaning so that it would look good when everyone arrived. It cooled off enough that we were able to have the party in the back yard, and very few of the guests appreciated my cleaning, but that meant it was still clean when the party got over. I was almost ready when everyone arrived. I had everything ready except the frosting. I am not good at making frosting. Luckily my sister-in-law is really good at it and volunteered to help me out.
Tristan was not so sure about blowing out his candle, but the other kids helped him out. He wasn't as excited about his cake as we thought he would be. He poked at it more than he ate it. However, later in the evening he found a cupcake someone else had abandoned (once they had removed its frosting) and he quickly reduced it to crumbs.
Tristan was walking several weeks before his birthday. He still has no teeth. He has suddenly developed a temper and is very possessive - my blanket, my mommy. If his sister sits in my lap, he will try and push her out. I think it is kind of funny. The one problem we ran into after his birthday, was that his sister liked his new toys, a lot. He sometimes isn't allowed to play with them. He got a really cute Little People Zoo and a Safari Jeep (in honor of his daddy's recent return from safari.)
He used to be a fantasic eater, (I would link to the post where I wrote about that, but it is still in the editor and only has about two sentences) lately however he has developed a picky streak. He refuses food, and drops it on the floor. Very irritating. We still love him though. I can't tell you how many people have stopped me to tell me how cute he is. He is winning people over with his smile.
We had most of his cousins over for cake and ice cream. It was a lot of fun. I spent most of the day cleaning so that it would look good when everyone arrived. It cooled off enough that we were able to have the party in the back yard, and very few of the guests appreciated my cleaning, but that meant it was still clean when the party got over. I was almost ready when everyone arrived. I had everything ready except the frosting. I am not good at making frosting. Luckily my sister-in-law is really good at it and volunteered to help me out.
Tristan was not so sure about blowing out his candle, but the other kids helped him out. He wasn't as excited about his cake as we thought he would be. He poked at it more than he ate it. However, later in the evening he found a cupcake someone else had abandoned (once they had removed its frosting) and he quickly reduced it to crumbs.
Tristan was walking several weeks before his birthday. He still has no teeth. He has suddenly developed a temper and is very possessive - my blanket, my mommy. If his sister sits in my lap, he will try and push her out. I think it is kind of funny. The one problem we ran into after his birthday, was that his sister liked his new toys, a lot. He sometimes isn't allowed to play with them. He got a really cute Little People Zoo and a Safari Jeep (in honor of his daddy's recent return from safari.)
He used to be a fantasic eater, (I would link to the post where I wrote about that, but it is still in the editor and only has about two sentences) lately however he has developed a picky streak. He refuses food, and drops it on the floor. Very irritating. We still love him though. I can't tell you how many people have stopped me to tell me how cute he is. He is winning people over with his smile.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Little Bud Needs a Space
I have not had a good post in a while, and I am not sure that this will be one either. Part of my problem is the time. I have trouble finding time when I can use the computer. This is mainly because of one small boy. Before he came along, we had two bedrooms and an office. It worked out well. Husband and I had a room, Daughter had a room, and the omputers had a room. Along comes my little man who must also have a room. Since there isn't a room available, he gets to shares with the computers. Now, I can't say that this doesn't have some advantages. For instance, computers put off a lot of heat. Having my baby sleep in a room with two computers, at least one laptop, and various other computer clutter, I don't usually worry about him getting cold, even when other parts of the house are a little bit chilly. Despite this advantage, it has the huge drawback of being unable to use the computer when little buddy is sleeping, a prime computer using time. I can only use the computer when he is being entertained by his toys, which generally only happens in short chunks. Frankly, I am surprised how long this particular moment has lasted. Not that he doesn't love his toys. He also goes from perfectly fine and happy to inconsolable when he sees his mother. Despite how much fun he is having, he realizes that he isn't being held and he should be. Although lately I have had a harder time holding him because he has decided that I am in fact a jungle gym. I think that we will all be happier when he starts to crawl. However, that will bring its own complications. Anyway, to get back to the computer issue, it is not meant to be permanent. The computers want to live in the basement. The basement is currently unfinished and lacks a couple of key items. 1) heat 2) power outlets in the area where the computers will go. I was hoping to do some framing over spring break. Thomas was supposed to take a day or two off, but the person at work who does the schedule told him that this was a bad week and it just wouldn't work out. (Did I mention that Thomas is the manager and is the one who does the schedule?) We did finish up our taxes last night and we are getting a refund. Maybe we can use some of that on the basement project. The biggest problem is really just finding time. I think that is one of those things that needs to be planned and scheduled, or it won't ever happen. Plus there is the part where I mentioned Tristan is getting ready to crawl. Not being able to crawl does not make him stationary. He is developing a fascination with cables the extend out the back of computers, off of desks, and anywhere else that is in his reach. This to me says that something must be done soon. He has become very talkative lately. I can hear him now talking to his toys. Currently his favorite consonant is B. "Bababab Babababa." I did hear a "Ma" yesterday, but is was only once. I tried to get him to repeat and get a "Mama," but no such luck.
A couple of unrelated side notes:
1) I was really wanting something chocolate and snackish the other day, so I decided I would make brownies, "to share" with the new neighbors. I felt like that was a valid excuse to make such a horribly delicious and fattening recipe. After much anticipation, they turned out horrible. I forgot to add the flour. I have never done that before. I couldn't believe that I had done such a thing. I had to throw out most of them. The crusty parts tasted OK, but the rest was gross. It made me so sad because I was really looking forward to them and because they are kind of expense. (An entire box of butter, 8 eggs, the cocoa and vanilla!)
2) Saturday when we went swimming, I made it an entire length of the pool without stopping. I really wanted to stop, but I pushed through. Now I just need to be able to do it consistently, then I can start working on going down and back, which most people consider a single lap.
3) We actually made a plan to do some yard work on Saturday as well, and it happened. Maybe making plans is the way to go. I have a whole post I need to do about the yard, but that will have to wait for latter. Child #1 finally got out of bed and is asking for breakfast, and Child #2 is no longer entertained by his toys. He says that someone needs to come pick him up. I guess we will go and make breakfast.
A couple of unrelated side notes:
1) I was really wanting something chocolate and snackish the other day, so I decided I would make brownies, "to share" with the new neighbors. I felt like that was a valid excuse to make such a horribly delicious and fattening recipe. After much anticipation, they turned out horrible. I forgot to add the flour. I have never done that before. I couldn't believe that I had done such a thing. I had to throw out most of them. The crusty parts tasted OK, but the rest was gross. It made me so sad because I was really looking forward to them and because they are kind of expense. (An entire box of butter, 8 eggs, the cocoa and vanilla!)
2) Saturday when we went swimming, I made it an entire length of the pool without stopping. I really wanted to stop, but I pushed through. Now I just need to be able to do it consistently, then I can start working on going down and back, which most people consider a single lap.
3) We actually made a plan to do some yard work on Saturday as well, and it happened. Maybe making plans is the way to go. I have a whole post I need to do about the yard, but that will have to wait for latter. Child #1 finally got out of bed and is asking for breakfast, and Child #2 is no longer entertained by his toys. He says that someone needs to come pick him up. I guess we will go and make breakfast.
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