Last year's garden was a bust. We were supposed to move to NC so we gave away everything.. including my precious dirt! So I have to start over now. That's okay.. it will be worth it!
Garden is mapped, and planting and harvest dates are put on the calendar.
So I will have 15 6-ft x 3-ft garden boxes.
The plants this year are:
Early Snowball Cauliflower - 2
Farmer's Extra Early Snowball Cauliflower - 2
Green Magic Broccoli - 2
Green Sprouting Calebrese - 2
Coronando Crown Broccoli - 2
Cherry Belle Radishes - 48
Green Arrow Peas - 136
Purple Pod Beans - 136
Blue Lake Pole Beans - 64
Sugar Snap Peas - 72
Bush Beans White Half Runner - 8
Gotta Have it White Corn - 32
Golden Cross Corn - 36
Boston Pickling Cucumbers - 4
Straight Eight Cucumbers - 4
Big Boy Bell Peppers - 6
Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes - 6
Roma Tomatoes - 6
Golden Rave Tomatoes - 6
Gurney Girl tomatoes - 6
Sweet Baby Girl tomatoes - 6
Danvers Carrots - 80
Nantes Carrotes - 64
Envy Carrots - 64
Nantes Coreless - 80
Crimson Sweet Watermelons - 3
Sugar Baby Watermelons - 2
Field's Sweet Cantalope - 3
Gurney's Giant Cantalopes - 3
Multipik Crookneck Yellow Summer Squash - 1
Black Magic Zucchini - 2
Jack-o-lantern Pumpkins- 3
Lumina Pumpkins - 3
Gurney's Giant Pumpkins - 3
Spinach - 42
Bibb Lettuce - 8
Iceburg lettuce - 8
Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce - 8
Buttercrunch Lettuce - 8
Bright Lights Chard - 4
Lettuce Blend - 8
Strawberries - 72
Thyme - 1
Dill - 1
Cilantro - 3
Mint - 3
Basil - 6
and flowers:
geranium - 7
Nasturtium - 25
Marigold - 4
Sunflowers - 15
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Farm Birthday featuring sock horses
In october we had an amazing birthday party for Lucy, who turned 7! It is hard to believe my girly is 7 already!
My friend Beth made an awesome 3-D farmhouse cake. Recipe wasn't too hard and was found here: Family Fun Farm Cake. The cake was a big hit with all the kids and we had to ration the "farm animals".
At the party we made some cute hobby horses, roughly based on thesehobby horses. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of any of the finished horses, so use your imagination. If I can find anyone that did take a picture, I will post it. I got some string mops and crew socks from the dollar store. The dollar store mops were perfect because they were super short. Like mops for little people (it's not cool to say midget, is it?). We took a sock and stuffed it over the mop so that the strings filled the bottom of the sock forming the horses, um, snout? nose? muzzle?. I just left the socks loose and open around the handle of the mop. The strings did not try to jump out of the sock at all, and it worked very well. Next I cut some lengths of string and using a plastic canvas type of needle, i pulled the yarn through the sock and then back up very close to where i went down. Then I tied the two ends together. I did this all over the mane area. I cut 2 triangles from felt and hot glued them where ears should be. Finally we sewed buttons on for the eyes.
Then we raced horses. Fun.
Lucy's favorite part: Beiber posters for her room.
My friend Beth made an awesome 3-D farmhouse cake. Recipe wasn't too hard and was found here: Family Fun Farm Cake. The cake was a big hit with all the kids and we had to ration the "farm animals".
At the party we made some cute hobby horses, roughly based on thesehobby horses. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of any of the finished horses, so use your imagination. If I can find anyone that did take a picture, I will post it. I got some string mops and crew socks from the dollar store. The dollar store mops were perfect because they were super short. Like mops for little people (it's not cool to say midget, is it?). We took a sock and stuffed it over the mop so that the strings filled the bottom of the sock forming the horses, um, snout? nose? muzzle?. I just left the socks loose and open around the handle of the mop. The strings did not try to jump out of the sock at all, and it worked very well. Next I cut some lengths of string and using a plastic canvas type of needle, i pulled the yarn through the sock and then back up very close to where i went down. Then I tied the two ends together. I did this all over the mane area. I cut 2 triangles from felt and hot glued them where ears should be. Finally we sewed buttons on for the eyes.
Then we raced horses. Fun.
Lucy's favorite part: Beiber posters for her room.
2010 Projects in Review
Projects from 2010
Fabric Strip Curtain, rug and curtains - Jan. 2010
Sun on a Snowy Day Wreath - Feb. 2010
Coffee Cup Rack - March 2010
Pretty Pots - March 2010
Plant Cell Cake - April 2010
Teacher gifts on the fly - May 2010
Summer Dresses - June 2010
Water Bottle Carrier - June 2010
Iron on wall "vinyls" - July 2010
Operation New Board - July 2010
Hang up laundry separators - Sept. 2010
Menu Board - Oct. 2010
Scary Spider Wreath - Oct. 2010
Hobby Horses - Oct. 2010
Fabric Strip Curtain, rug and curtains - Jan. 2010
Sun on a Snowy Day Wreath - Feb. 2010
Coffee Cup Rack - March 2010
Pretty Pots - March 2010
Plant Cell Cake - April 2010
Teacher gifts on the fly - May 2010
Summer Dresses - June 2010
Water Bottle Carrier - June 2010
Iron on wall "vinyls" - July 2010
Operation New Board - July 2010
Hang up laundry separators - Sept. 2010
Menu Board - Oct. 2010
Scary Spider Wreath - Oct. 2010
Hobby Horses - Oct. 2010
Friday, December 31, 2010
Jack's Journey
Jack arrived December 6th.
I am having such a hard time writing this, but it has been on my mind for a few weeks. First and foremost I would like to state that I am completely, over the moon in love with my new son. I would never change him or want to give him back. He is a complete miracle and a wonder. This is my vent and thoughts on a difficult situation, and want no flames.
I am having a few people that seem determined to remind me and everyone else that Jack is A.D.O.P.T.E.D. It seems to be that people think since he was wanted and adopted, he should be a perfect baby, or maybe I should not get frustrated or ever complain. Honestly, I am not that strong. Infants are hard. They wake up a lot. They want to be held constantly. (I don't mind, but it is hard to do homework, cook dinner, work and hold a baby at the same time) They cry and don't tell you why. And there is always the mommy guilt and worry. Should I have been more patient last night at 4 AM, going on 4 hours of sleep during the last 2 days. He shakes his arms a lot.. is that a sign of some obscure illness?
I have a friend that was trying desperately to conceive a few years ago. She was really angry that she was not able to conceive easily like other women around her. She wrote once that if she had a baby, she would never complain or get frustrated with her baby because she wanted him so much, so much more than the rest of us who take our fertility for granted. I was kind of upset at the time. I had 3 children. Did that make me less worthy of another child?
I was already infertile at that time and ached for the 4th child. I was MEANT to have a 4th and there was a big gaping hole in my heart where #4 should be. I felt guilty, like she thought that I did not not need another because I already had 3. And I did. 3 beautiful, healthy, perfect children. It wasn't enough. I had another baby out there somewhere. But I knew that she was thinking that it was selfish of me to want another when I had 3 and she had 0. Eventually, she did get her baby. He is a fantastic, super cute boy. And she has never complained. to me anyway.
There is someone I have met recently that seems to feel the same way. She seems to think that I should not have any frustrations or complaints about Jack. Maybe even that i don't have a right to complain. He is ADOPTED. He must be perfect, or i must be super happy and grateful since I had to work hard to get him. I recently posted on facebook that I had a crappy day and wanted it to end. Her response was that I should look to my children and be happy. I love my children, i really do. But my baby doesn't poop rainbows and spit up butterflies. He cries. He poops out his diaper and up his back while we are out. He pretends to sleep until I lay down my head. Newborns are hard work.
She mentioned a few days later that she is struggling with jealousy. She did not specifically say she was jealous of me, but she mentioned heartache, and trying to be happy for others. I know she is struggling with trying to conceive. I want to have compassion for her and her situation, but sometimes I am too wrapped up in just struggling through my days. My situation is hard. newborn, no husband. Sometimes whining makes me feel better. It upsets me that someone should imply that I have no right to a bad day or that Jack should make every problem seem miniscule.
Jack's journey to me was really long. I waited 7 years for him. 7 years ago, October 2003, I had a baby. A cute cuddly girl baby named Lucy. 4 days later, i had an ovary-ectomy. No more eggs = no more babies. I was already heart broken. It was a really dark time for me. I had a hard time mothering Lucy. This was the baby that wasn't supposed to be the last baby. I was going through menopause, and had 3 young children.
Eventually, i stopped feeling so black. The kids and I moved a couple times, and Adan came home and left and came home again. We decided to look into adoption and immediately realized that was a pipe dream. We are a military family who moves on average every 9 months. There was no way we could afford 15,000+ dollars to grow our family. That idea went to the back of the mind. Every time it popped up, i would dismiss it and push it to the back.
I felt that jealousy. It wasn't fair. I KNEW i had another baby, and now i would never get to meet him. All my friends were having kids and I had to sit around them and know that i would never get to do that again. I had my children so much earlier than all my school friends... I had an 8 yo, and 6 yo and a 3 yo when my bff started having kids. I had to suffer through baby showers and cuddles with a black hole in my heart.
A couple years later we moved again. I had mostly gotten past my burning envy and settled in. I had new friends and they were my age with children that matched the ages of my children. We decided to try and adopt through the foster care system. We went through the classes and finished our home study. Due to a stupid loophole, we could not foster adopt and live on post. We could adopt or foster, but not both. We fostered for 9 months, but we quickly realized that this was not going to work. The only children free for adoption were teens or severely medically challenged.
I had considered donated eggs, but without ovaries it would be nearly impossible to sustain a pregnancy. We thought about surrogacy, but it was just as expensive as adoption. We realized finally that a baby wasn't going to happen. Adan and I finally came to a decision that we would shelve all the baby stuff come December 2010. There was no use getting ourselves all worked up all the time when it never seemed to pan out. In December we were moving on.
God works in his own time though. 2 1/2 years ago, I opened a family child care home. The first family that I interviewed did not meet the criteria that I had set out. I wanted only before and after school care children. No youngsters. this family had a kindergartner, a 4th grader and a 2 year old. I wanted to say no, but something in me said yes. So I started watching them. I was caring for them as we went through that foster care class, and as we fostered a child. A year later I decided to go back to school and closed my daycare. My family bugged me to keep watching the children, and I decided to continue watching them through the Army's respite care program.
I met the children's grandparents, and aunt in the course of the time and I felt almost like they were my second kiddos.
June 2010, their aunt decided to give her baby up for adoption. She chose us to take Jack.
We visited the lawyers, and did all the necessary shopping, but it did not feel real at all. I never felt like I would really be having a baby in my arms. Momma was great. She let me be at all the ultrasound appointments and at the birth. I was with Jack from the time he was born until he came home. Jack is mine. Sometimes it still doesn't feel real. But it is.
And I am still human. Even after hoping and wishing and crying for the last 7 years. He still cries in the middle of the night or wants to be held when i need to go to the bathroom or cook. But I would not give him back for anything in the world.
I am having such a hard time writing this, but it has been on my mind for a few weeks. First and foremost I would like to state that I am completely, over the moon in love with my new son. I would never change him or want to give him back. He is a complete miracle and a wonder. This is my vent and thoughts on a difficult situation, and want no flames.
I am having a few people that seem determined to remind me and everyone else that Jack is A.D.O.P.T.E.D. It seems to be that people think since he was wanted and adopted, he should be a perfect baby, or maybe I should not get frustrated or ever complain. Honestly, I am not that strong. Infants are hard. They wake up a lot. They want to be held constantly. (I don't mind, but it is hard to do homework, cook dinner, work and hold a baby at the same time) They cry and don't tell you why. And there is always the mommy guilt and worry. Should I have been more patient last night at 4 AM, going on 4 hours of sleep during the last 2 days. He shakes his arms a lot.. is that a sign of some obscure illness?
I have a friend that was trying desperately to conceive a few years ago. She was really angry that she was not able to conceive easily like other women around her. She wrote once that if she had a baby, she would never complain or get frustrated with her baby because she wanted him so much, so much more than the rest of us who take our fertility for granted. I was kind of upset at the time. I had 3 children. Did that make me less worthy of another child?
I was already infertile at that time and ached for the 4th child. I was MEANT to have a 4th and there was a big gaping hole in my heart where #4 should be. I felt guilty, like she thought that I did not not need another because I already had 3. And I did. 3 beautiful, healthy, perfect children. It wasn't enough. I had another baby out there somewhere. But I knew that she was thinking that it was selfish of me to want another when I had 3 and she had 0. Eventually, she did get her baby. He is a fantastic, super cute boy. And she has never complained. to me anyway.
There is someone I have met recently that seems to feel the same way. She seems to think that I should not have any frustrations or complaints about Jack. Maybe even that i don't have a right to complain. He is ADOPTED. He must be perfect, or i must be super happy and grateful since I had to work hard to get him. I recently posted on facebook that I had a crappy day and wanted it to end. Her response was that I should look to my children and be happy. I love my children, i really do. But my baby doesn't poop rainbows and spit up butterflies. He cries. He poops out his diaper and up his back while we are out. He pretends to sleep until I lay down my head. Newborns are hard work.
She mentioned a few days later that she is struggling with jealousy. She did not specifically say she was jealous of me, but she mentioned heartache, and trying to be happy for others. I know she is struggling with trying to conceive. I want to have compassion for her and her situation, but sometimes I am too wrapped up in just struggling through my days. My situation is hard. newborn, no husband. Sometimes whining makes me feel better. It upsets me that someone should imply that I have no right to a bad day or that Jack should make every problem seem miniscule.
Jack's journey to me was really long. I waited 7 years for him. 7 years ago, October 2003, I had a baby. A cute cuddly girl baby named Lucy. 4 days later, i had an ovary-ectomy. No more eggs = no more babies. I was already heart broken. It was a really dark time for me. I had a hard time mothering Lucy. This was the baby that wasn't supposed to be the last baby. I was going through menopause, and had 3 young children.
Eventually, i stopped feeling so black. The kids and I moved a couple times, and Adan came home and left and came home again. We decided to look into adoption and immediately realized that was a pipe dream. We are a military family who moves on average every 9 months. There was no way we could afford 15,000+ dollars to grow our family. That idea went to the back of the mind. Every time it popped up, i would dismiss it and push it to the back.
I felt that jealousy. It wasn't fair. I KNEW i had another baby, and now i would never get to meet him. All my friends were having kids and I had to sit around them and know that i would never get to do that again. I had my children so much earlier than all my school friends... I had an 8 yo, and 6 yo and a 3 yo when my bff started having kids. I had to suffer through baby showers and cuddles with a black hole in my heart.
A couple years later we moved again. I had mostly gotten past my burning envy and settled in. I had new friends and they were my age with children that matched the ages of my children. We decided to try and adopt through the foster care system. We went through the classes and finished our home study. Due to a stupid loophole, we could not foster adopt and live on post. We could adopt or foster, but not both. We fostered for 9 months, but we quickly realized that this was not going to work. The only children free for adoption were teens or severely medically challenged.
I had considered donated eggs, but without ovaries it would be nearly impossible to sustain a pregnancy. We thought about surrogacy, but it was just as expensive as adoption. We realized finally that a baby wasn't going to happen. Adan and I finally came to a decision that we would shelve all the baby stuff come December 2010. There was no use getting ourselves all worked up all the time when it never seemed to pan out. In December we were moving on.
God works in his own time though. 2 1/2 years ago, I opened a family child care home. The first family that I interviewed did not meet the criteria that I had set out. I wanted only before and after school care children. No youngsters. this family had a kindergartner, a 4th grader and a 2 year old. I wanted to say no, but something in me said yes. So I started watching them. I was caring for them as we went through that foster care class, and as we fostered a child. A year later I decided to go back to school and closed my daycare. My family bugged me to keep watching the children, and I decided to continue watching them through the Army's respite care program.
I met the children's grandparents, and aunt in the course of the time and I felt almost like they were my second kiddos.
June 2010, their aunt decided to give her baby up for adoption. She chose us to take Jack.
We visited the lawyers, and did all the necessary shopping, but it did not feel real at all. I never felt like I would really be having a baby in my arms. Momma was great. She let me be at all the ultrasound appointments and at the birth. I was with Jack from the time he was born until he came home. Jack is mine. Sometimes it still doesn't feel real. But it is.
And I am still human. Even after hoping and wishing and crying for the last 7 years. He still cries in the middle of the night or wants to be held when i need to go to the bathroom or cook. But I would not give him back for anything in the world.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Menu Board
I found this coolio menu board tute. I used a frame I already had. I bought a metal sheet at Lowes and some cute little cutters. Adan cut it down to size for me. We primed it and painted it with spray paint primer and spray paint chalkboard paint (found at Michaels). I popped it into the frame, and woila! Handy Dandy menu board. Of course since I have made it, I can't find chalkboard chalk ANYWHERE!!!!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Scary Spider Wreath
This cutey pie wreath was just in time for Halloween. It was all dollar store items. I got a wreath that was like sticks intertwined.. not sure how to explain that, spanish moss, and plastic spider rings. I found the sign there, or maybe at Michaels.
I did a few things differently from the tutorial. i did not paint the spiders. I just got various colors and some skeletons and centipedes, and just glued them right on.
WARNING - The moss is helllllla messy. Put newspaper down on your work station.
Another warning - I actually found real spiders crawling on it at one point and was afraid to bring it back in the house. Realism, baby. We don't play around in this house.
Tute found here.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Hang up Laundry Separators
We have a tension shower curtain rod in our laundry room. As things come out of the dryer, I hang them up as needed. It was becoming a pain in the ass to figure out which was whose, and whose was which. So i got a nifty idea. At the store they have those round separators that divide the size 12 from the size 10 and so on. I needed some. So i made some.
Excuse the craptastic pictures. I guess I was shakey that day!
I made circles on a piece of cardboard.
I used a jumbo coffee cup for the big and a little bead container for the middle.
I cut out the circles and made a slit from the outer edge into the inner edge. Then, I wrote names on each circle
And then I slipped the circles onto the shower curtain rod. Taaaa daaaaa! Fancy and organized. (Oh, and I did turn the white one around so they all show brown.)
Excuse the craptastic pictures. I guess I was shakey that day!
I made circles on a piece of cardboard.
I used a jumbo coffee cup for the big and a little bead container for the middle.
I cut out the circles and made a slit from the outer edge into the inner edge. Then, I wrote names on each circle
And then I slipped the circles onto the shower curtain rod. Taaaa daaaaa! Fancy and organized. (Oh, and I did turn the white one around so they all show brown.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)