Green!

I was gone for a few days and had dreams of lots of little green sprouts in my garden when I got home...Yes, it was only 3 days and 2 nights, but I was very optimistic.

When I checked my baby pumpkin plants, I discovered they didn't get watered while I was gone and I was a bit worried about their appearance.  They went into the garden in their peat containers and spent some time under the sprinkler last night in hopes of saving them and putting them into the ground today.

They look much better.  I'll drop them into their squares today and fertilize them.  Here's to some pumpkins this fall! 

As I checked the rest of the garden, I was disappointed to only see the green of the plants I purchased and planted last weekend.

But they look great and are a healthy green.  

Then I looked closer...

These little tiny specks of green will be a great lettuce salad in a couple weeks.  I always have way too much lettuce, so will be looking for a home for some of it so it does not go to waste. (no guinea pigs or rabbits to feed it to...)

This made my way, so I'm off to clean up so Tater and I can go shopping and get some groceries for the next 2 weeks and some final supplies to finish Dizzy's Bronze Award book I am putting together.

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to play in the dirt this weekend!

Post-trip exhaustion

I enjoyed my get-away with the Boss this week.  Thanks again Gramma for watching the kidlets!  Not much in the form of dishes, so I am guessing they ate well this week while I was gone...Although there is a box of doughnuts on the stove, hoping that there is one left-over for me in the morning.

Montana in the spring is beautiful!  Everything is bright and green and fresh looking.  I'm not looking forward to 3 months from now when it is brown and burning!

 The water is very high right now, we finally have some warm weather and I think the snow is beginning to melt...

While wasting my day yesterday, I did get Tater's memory book from soccer done.  The Fluffy Monkeys are forever in her heart!

And of course, even with my near-tragic error, Dizzy did get her Bronze Award before I left town on Wednesday.  She gave an amazing speech without the aid of any kind of notes and had out of this world poise and enunciation while doing it.

All in all a good week, I'm waaaayyyy short on sleep today, think I will be making it an early bedtime, but enjoyed the Awards Banquet last night.  We are definitely blessed in this state to have great law enforcement officers!

Onwards to getting the children to do their chores before the Boss gets home with pizza for dinner.

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to get plenty of sleep this weekend!!!

Night away

I'm packing for my "escape" to join the Boss for a convention tonight.  There's a banquet tomorrow and I'm supposed to be "dressed up".  Hmmm, when most of the individuals at this event will be in uniform, what kind of dress code does that leave for me?

I've got a skirt and top, a longer skirt and new top, capris to go with the new top and I think I'll toss in a dress to make sure I've completely lost my mind and over packed for the dinner!  Clothes for work Friday fit in a corner and I tossed in some shorts for tomorrow, since I plan to spend the day reading and wasting most of it...

Today is Dizzy's Bronze award ceremony.  It appears I needed to have ordered her pin a couple of weeks ago.  She got her certificate and tucked it away until we could get a frame for it and didn't show me the letter that came with it...Thankfully the scout organization plans for these issues and are sending some extras I can purchase right at the event! I was going to order it and just have it awarded to her at her last troop meeting.

Alright, if Grammas cell phone doesn't quit chirping (it's charging and singing to me...) I'm going to go crazy, so I guess I'll head to the shower to hide from the noise and share the rest of my day with you later.  I did get some photos ordered today, will mail off a poster to a friend and hopefully get out of town on time this afternoon!

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to make someone smile today!

Rain and other random thoughts...

We have been insanely lucky this softball season, tonight was the first game we had to play in the rain!

Being the good Girl Scout that I am, I was prepared with my rain jacket in my car.

Of course, since I did that and left my sunglasses behind, the sun came out and blinded me for the last inning or so...

And, since there was a beautiful rainbow right behind Dizzy while she was playing centerfield tonight, I didn't have my camera. 

Ah well, Gramma was here to watch the game and since it rained in my old hometown tonight, I'm blaming her for bringing the rain with her this afternoon.

I'm off to babysit the Boss while he's at a conference the rest of this week.  Well, maybe I'm off to enjoy a day of solitude while the Boss is in meetings all day.  I'll take one for the team!  Maybe I'll get creative and share some pictures while I'm away...A bit nervous for Gramma, who has to deal with one of my crazy schedule nights while we are gone.

It's only Bean at PT and then an hour later drivers ed, the girls have a banquet to celebrate their gymnastics season at the same time and I hope they all finish about the same time...Welcome to the reality of my life, I know many of you share the craziness!  I do it and try to limit the trips out to eat, although one of our local fast food restaurants is doing $0.50 ice cream cones for the summer.  I seem to stop there a lot...ICC in our house means we need an ice cream celebration.  This may be for getting a hit in the softball game, surviving our first drive in drivers ed, just being cute, you get the picture.  Doesn't take much to convince me to stop!

OK, squirrel moment, lost topic for most of the post...sorry!

Rain came today which is good, my garden (which had the sprinkler going on it for a few hours today...ah-hem girls may have forgotten to turn it off...and someone nearly forgot her softball mitt...) can always use the moisture and I think I have my drip system working correctly so my flower beds will not dry out while I'm gone.  

The Boss and I figured out what we want to do with the front of our house...we talked of replacing the flower bed, expanding the deck and ignoring it.  The area looks terrible and we decided that ignoring it was a bad idea, but I think we are going to replace the deck stairs and add a railing, put the pond I got several years ago for Mother's Day next to the railing and put a wider, wooden front stoop that will go down to paving stones next to the pond.  This will not cover Bean's window and will get rid of the huge flower bed that takes way to much time to keep up.  I'll add a few shrubs next to the deck and it should look amazing!  Pictures will follow when we begin.

Until this weekend, unless I get bored on Thursday...

Be Happy, Be Healthy and Be sure to take a moment and play in the rain!

(I watched a preschooler dance in the rain and play in puddles today...it was very cute, except she was in a parking lot and her mommy didn't seem happy to put the dripping little imp into the car...:) )

A weekend to be thankful for...

I always enjoy the weekends when I can be at home.  I'm especially thankful for sunny, warm weekends.  Yes, I am also very thankful for those men, women, K-9s and other 4-legged beings who were called to serve our country.  This weekend included the boys out helping place flags on the Veterans graves in our local cemeteries.  They'll finish this project next weekend when they help take them down. Bean's Boy Scout troop was also invited to march in the Memorial Day parade as well.

I spent the weekend taking advantage of some of those freedoms our vets fought so valiantly for.  

I finished my garden:

Tried some square foot gardening (my boxes are marked by Popsicle sticks, Dizzy was out this afternoon helping me measure and plant all the corn).

We cheered on the Boss while he mowed down the weeds next to the garden.  It's hard to see in the picture, but they were over waist high on him (he's over 6').  The horses next door cried to see all that wonderful grass wasted...

I admired my established flower beds, should have some great flower pictures soon, but not if my drip system continues to be broken...

I'm very excited about my first bleeding heart fern and it blooming.  I'm hoping the all-white one blossoms soon as well.  

We have played a lot of softball this weekend, seems all the equipment has found a home upstairs and my children cannot ever play on a team together!

Purchased a whole, fresh pineapple this weekend. Don't think it will last long...

So, this week, if I can get my drip system to work and get my pumpkin plants to finally germinate, I'll find it a successful week!

Hope all of you found a way to enjoy your weekend!

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to tell someone you care about them today!

 

Ah, gardening time

Today was the day I have been working towards...

 

Got the stray grass and weeds out of my back and most of the side/front flower beds.  After an epic weeding that took weeks last year, this year wasn't so bad, yet.  Then the annual fight with the drip system.  It's still winning, but the water the broken head shot out covered half our yard...

Also hit my favorite garden shop (well second favorite, but this one usually has what I want for veggies) and came home with tomato plants and some seeds.  The Boss had gifted me with a truckload of topsoil and compost yesterday and we got that into the garden today.  Added a couple of inches to it and it was ready to go:

Off to the deck where my supplies awaited me:

Reassure my assistants that I really didn't need them in the garden with me:

And in went the tomatoes, cucumbers and one of the lettuce packets:

Off to the other side of the garden(I try and move around everything each year, confusing my poor hubby most of the time and in went the 2 bags of peas:

Corn and green beans are soaking overnight and will go in between the already planted stuff tomorrow and I will hunt down a trio of green pepper plants to tuck in somewhere.  Then as soon as the pumpkins decide they're going to play nicely (I started them inside two+ weeks ago), they can join in the fun.  Hoping for a little warmer weather this June and hope for a decent harvest.

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to make time to play in the dirt!

Leos

And in this case, I'm using the short-hand for leotards and not Law Enforcement Officers.

Dizzy has a pile of leotards, and by piles, I mean 5-6 tucked away in her room.  

I've been suspicious lately, as she has been wearing the same leo to practice every day (clean or dirty...it hasn't seemed to matter).  While I love this leo, it's very flattering on her and I know she likes the different look, the day after day use makes me shudder.

I hid it today.  She's still mad me, but I did discover that all she can find is the plan light grey leo I purchased for her a year or so ago.  She has 4 other leos in her room.  

(not counting the competition leo that hangs in her closet)

 After a few tears, I got her to admit she can't find them.  The entertainment value here is that she has spent hours lately cleaning her room and getting rid of a lot of garbage.  I was a bit worried that she had tossed them into a bag and it went away.

Digging in her closet, I found all her headbands, her Girl Scout vest that we need for next week's ceremony, and finally a bag containing...

and (too small but still around)

and (she only wears it when I make her 1 meet a year)

 and last but not least (her other favorite)...

And then as I continue to dig...

So, mystery solved, I don't have to rush into buying a new leo for summer practices and we just have to wait for an unknown amount of time for her grips for the uneven bars to arrive...

Just another fun day around this little house.  Yard is starting to green up (we did the weed and feed thing last weekend and I'm dumping water on it so I can let the dogs out sometime soon to run on it) and all but two of my plants in my newest flower beds are finally showing life.  Might have pictures of my bleeding heart fern soon.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to have a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend!

Food

We go through a lot of food these days.  All three kiddos seem to be in a constant state of hunger.  My biggest struggle anymore seems to be finding food to put in their lunches.  

Bean just wants the basics, won't touch veggies, fruits or yogurt.  That leaves me the sandwich (which he often won't eat), granola bars, fruit snacks and chips.  We struggle to find food he will eat and not just leave in his bag or throw away.

Dizzy eats a sandwich, chips, yogurt, granola bar, fruit snacks and the occasional apple or orange.  She's famished when she gets home and will eat her first dinner at 4:30 and the second one at 8:30 after practice.  I also send a snack for her during practice, either trail mix or fruit.

Tater will not touch a sandwich, no matter how hungry she is, so we send raviolis, spaghettios or soup. She'll sometimes eat a gogurt if the wind is blowing the right way at the right time, she likes fruit, but not if it isn't cut up and not mushy or sour from putting lemon juice on it. Chips and sometimes a granola bar go down and depending if we buy the right brand of fruit snacks.

So, as you see, I'm stuck.  They don't like hot lunch very often, so finding enough food for them challenges me every day. 

I'm reaching out to you today to send some suggestions.  Going with the 'they'll eat if they're hungry' motto is getting old.

Happy week!

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to laugh about something everyday!

Squirrel

Random topic, random thoughts.

Was talking with my youngest child (AKA Tater or Tinkie) and we went from trying to figure out how many Harry Potter books we can get read from now until school starts to her suddenly breaking off and telling me she "Has to potty."  

This has nothing on Dizzy, who is still on a high from her softball team winning their first game last night.  Her topics have been all over the board and her ability to focus is severely limited.  She's also not learning lessons well, as she has burned her tongue several times on hot fries tonight while trying to grab a bite before gymnastics and softball.

We call these random jumps in conversation Squirrel moments.  They come by it honestly, I lose my train of thought mid-sentence sometimes....as I'm sure you've never noticed....

Spring!!!

Today the sun is shining and my happy little thermometer says that it is 77 degrees outside.  Means I had to get out the hoses and start watering the lawn, gardens and shrubs.  The dogs helped for awhile, my Frisbee decided it was too warm to be too helpful and supervised from her perch.  Nearly blind and deaf 14 1/2 year olf Lady ran with me the whole time.  Poor thing has to be worn out.

Went to the girls' school bbq today.  Perfect weather and enjoyed time with both of them.  Now I'm home, doing laundry and working on watering outside.  A little time inside is being used to watch a movie a friend loaned me quite some time ago and I just realized I had forgotten to watch it and return it, so though I would remedy that.

Last night's dinner, which looked so yummy to me, wasn't much of a hit, although they were pretty excited that the Boss made homemade rolls to go with it.  I'm finding many of the recipes that I used to love aren't sitting well with me anymore.  I'm not sure why, but am having to make more from scratch and use less mixes, etc.  Guess that's the healthier way, but I'm not sure how to make some of these favorites without using mixes.

Well, off to move the hose so our big batch of shrubs can survive the summer.  Hoping all of you are enjoying some sunshine and the hopeful return of warmer weather.

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to laugh every day!

Now I'm scared...

Bean has officially started drivers education.  He has 17 minutes left in his first class...

When did this little boy reach the age to get behind the wheel?

I guess that picture is fully 15 years old and he's now a young man.  

That's all for tonight, but here is the warning, starting next week (I think) he will have his learner's permit and I will be sitting shotgun for his driving experience in my car (stinks having the only kid friendly car in the family...)

Be Happy, Be Healthy and Be sure to stay off the sidewalks!

Motherhood

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there...

While I was growing up, I thought being a mom was the best thing ever.  And it is.  But no one told me it was going to be hard.

The hardest I think is coming in the form of Bean being able to drive.  He begins drivers education tomorrow.  That means I have to entrust him to drive my new car (no way he can drive the 3/4 ton pickup or the manual transmission in the Mustang at first).  This is not what I wanted to do, but I can't see another way to fix the problem until the Boss finds a used car for us to use.  

Also hard was standing back and letting Dizzy do her Bronze award yesterday.  She had to lead a team, and while most girls have a troop of girls doing it with them, she had to work with a varied group of adults, 2nd graders and other teens over the internet.  She coordinated a Diabetes Walk that ran in conjunction with her friend in Iowa's JDRF walk.  We were able to skype with her friend during the event and then walked a lap around the park at her school.  Then the kids wanted to play, so Dani and a couple of her friends took the younger kids over and played on the playground. It was great, even if they didn't walk more laps (a few did) as they were staying active and that is a life lesson and oh-so-important for those with diabetes.

Tater played at gymnastics with some of her old teammates this week as well (it was a brutal one again) and while she had a great time, she admitted she likes soccer and the team part of it instead of the individual-ness of gymnastics.  She wants the spotlight with her team, not just on her.  That may change, but it's been hard working through that with her the last few months.

For all that, I got part of my mom's day present last night.  We went out to dinner (none of us wanted to cook after the busy morning) and then the Boss and the kids dropped me at the house for an hour and a half of quiet time and I took advantage of that by taking a hot bath and then starting on a blanket for Tater.

Hoping for some fun in your day, whether or not you are a mom of 2 or 4-legged children or someone who has a mom or helps a mom out...

Be Happy, Be Healthy and Be darn sure to laugh everyday!

Speed

And, no, I'm not talking about getting a speeding ticket.  That would be bad, very bad.

I'm talking about children and their selective speed.  Bean has late-in today, something the school district must have decided would be fun to torture parents with this year.  So very glad that they have changed their minds for next  year!  This is the first and third Wednesdays of the month where the high schoolers go to school at 9:55 instead of 8:15.  It's awful and just to make it worse, on the third Wednesdays, the middle schoolers and elementary students get out at noon.  So very glad this is on Wednesdays where I don't have to work most of the time...

Any-who, since I'm already off topic, let's refocus.  I asked Bean to get up at 8:30.  Hollered down and knocked for a few moments before getting into the shower, assuming that he had set his alarm.  Yes, I assumed something and it bit me on the hiney.  He didn't get up, so didn't start getting ready until 8:50.  Needless to say, even the bribe of McDonalds for breakfast didn't speed him up much, although just enough to make it and grab something from the drive thru.  

It always amazes me how slow my children move when it isn't something they want me to do, but how fast they want me to move when it is something for them.  Cleaning the cat box (a five minute project even if they don't hurry) can take hours unless we're going to do something fun afterwards...I think I will begin requiring chores to be done before the wi-fi password is given out each day.  It'll be a pain for The Boss and I, but I'll bet chores get done faster and easier that way.  

The other slow thing is a Montana spring.  Boy I wish it would arrive faster and stay once it teases me.  I've had 2 days off (worked one evening) and was excited to work in my flower beds some more.  Ha!  freezing cold winds and the threat of that s word (snow) today is keeping me inside and my clothes off the clothesline.  Bummer, love that smell.

One happy for a closing, I've been taking tulips out of my one flower bed for years, trying to get them out of the roses and this was my pretty for the spring, one I've never seen before and I know I didn't plant any bulbs that close to the rose bushes...

Be Happy, Be Healthy and Be thinking at least one happy thought a day!  (today mine is spring will arrive...)