It’s Official

I am a Grower.

An Official Gardener.

Don’t believe me? (it’s okay. My husband didn’t either)

But the proof is in the pudding. (So they say)

It might LOOK like a jumbled mess. I MAY have gone a little overboard in trying to fit the maximum # of plants in a minimal amount of garden space. But I promise, everything is planted in neat little rows.

Here’s a closer look………

See these? They are the starts to some wonderful (at least I’m hoping they will be wonderful) zucchini. I can hardly wait to throw these suckers on the grill.

And HERE>>>>> Give me another month, and that will be some real, bonafide, corn on the cob. With the 4 rows of corn planted, I am hoping we will have LOTS and LOTS and LOTS.

Then there’s my green beans and my peas. TWO varieties of peas to be exact. “Little Marvel” for early harvesting, and Sugar Snap Peas. Because, let’s face it. You just can’t have a garden without snap peas.

Even my little Tiny Tim tomatoes are blossoming. I planted Tiny tomatoes because have you ever seen the price of little grape tomatoes at the store?? It’s outrageous. I cringe every time I buy them. But Miles loves them. And it is one of the only fruit-vegetable thingies I can get him to eat without much of a battle. AND they are “early” fruit producers. But don’t worry. I also planted plenty of Homestead and Roma tomatoes. And when they ripen, I am going to attempt to can my own stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce.

And Salsa. I am going to try canning my own Salsa.

Which is why I also planted some Green peppers, and onions. The green peppers still have a ways to go. No blossoms here yet, but I’m sure they won’t be long.

I didn’t take any pictures of my carrots, but they are coming along nicely. And my basil plants are still pretty small. But I am hoping there will be enough to use in my spaghetti sauce and to make (and freeze) a bunch of fresh Pesto sauce.

It would be a HUGE understatement to say I underestimated the amount of room my pumpkins would need. The answer?? WAY more than I thought. But I have just been thinning them down a couple times a week. I didn’t want a pumpkin patch. I just wanted to end up with one pumpkin we might be able to carve for Halloween.

It’s looking like that won’t be a problem.

All in all, I have been completely satisfied with my exercise in organic gardening. Did I mention all my plants were grown from organic seeds? In organic soil? And with no chemicals of any kind? It’s been great. My only regret is not planting MORE.

Next year I want to add some strawberry and raspberry plants to the mix, along with some lettuce or spinach, radishes, squash, broccoli, and bunches of herbs.

MMMMM…I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!

Red, White, and Blue

Happy Independence Day!

While we WISH we were in Wyoming to indoctrinate Miles into the tradition of pyromania that is July 4th there……

A box of sparklers and $10.00 pack of fountains will have to do. For Now.

Next Year I think I’ll be making the trek to Toledo to bootleg “the good stuff” across the border.

And because fireworks aren’t the MOST important thing on the day we celebrate our nation’s Independence….

A special Thank You to all those who have served our country, making it possible for us to have the freedom we all enjoy in this great nation.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

Midnight Mayham

Eclipse and Breaking Dawn Movie

It's right around the corner

I am driving my husband CRAZY talking about how excited I am

I'm ready for it!

Re-read Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse? CHECK!

Re-watched the Twilight and New Moon Movies? CHECK! CHECK!

Read "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" an Eclipse Novella? Wouldn't Miss it! (You can read it HERE too, for free, until July 5th. Thank You Stephenie Meyer!)

Bought my ticket? YESSSSS!

Invited the entire Relief Society to go with me so I don't have to be the only (almost) 30 year old there squealing with delight over Taylor Lautner's abs? Umm...that's a no brainer.

Designed a special Eclipse themed e-vite to invite the afore mentioned Relief Society to join me at Applebees for half price appetizers before the show? Of Course!

I even went as far as creating a few Eclipse themed accessories to wear with the T-shirt I made that says "If Jacob Black kissed me, I wouldn't punch him in the face."


Okay....I didn't really make the shirt.


(Or Did I???)


And in case you needed to know just EXACTLY how long I still have to wait.....




But REALLY....who's counting???

En Vogue

Fashionable Hair Accessories

A MUST for every little.....boy?

hmmm....not sure how his dad will feel about this. But personally, I have been laughing about it all day.

Canadian Falls

A couple weekends ago Mike spontaneously decided we should head on over and visit our neighbors to the north….er….East from where we live, and hang out with some Canadians. Pretty fun, eh?

So we booked our reservations at Michael’s Inn (Seriously, that’s where we stayed) loaded the car, and headed to Niagara Falls. It was a great get away.

We saw the sights, went on a hike, got SOAKED on the Maid of the Mist, crossed the border and ate at Hard Rock Cafe in NY, and watched Miles swim his little heart out in the hotel swimming pool.

(Because let’s face it…when you’re 2, the swimming pool is all that really matters.)

Pretty much, it was awesome.

I highly recommend going. To the Canada side.

sorry America…your Niagara Falls just weren’t as good. (But your food is cheaper, so thanks for that.)

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This is Only a Test

This was my husband, testing out his NEW 0.38 fine tip gel pen, which he assures me is PRACTICALLY the smallest and finest pen tip EVER MADE!!

And He thinks I’M WIERD!!???

I (HEART) SAVING MONEY

Here is the difference between men and women.

Scenario 1:

Me: I walk in and immediately begin unloading my bags of groceries onto the kitchen table (arranging them just so), then pull out my camera and start clicking away.

Mike: WHAT are you DOING!

Me: Taking pictures of my groceries. All this only cost me $11.32!!! I need a picture for my blog.

Mike: YOU ARE SO WIERD!!!!

Scenario 2:

Me: I call my sister to tell her my great couponing news, complete with my afore mentioned story.

Rachel: Well, you ARE wierd. But I would do the same thing.

So there you have it.

After I took the picture, I realized I had forgotten to unpack 1 bag, which had another pack of Pull-Ups and 5 more toothbrushes.

From Rite-aid I bought: 1 pack of pull-ups and 4 Reach toothbrushes = $22.24

minus my coupons = I paid $1.03 out of pocket. Repeat 5 times.

And in case you were wondering, I didn’t set out to buy 20 toothbrushes. I don’t really need 20 toothbrushes. But I had LOTS of coupons for the toothbrushes, which resulted in “overage.” (meaning I had more coupons than the actual price of the item, so the remaining amount of my coupons get applied to other items)

Rite Aid Total: $5.15

Saved: $106.05

Meijer : I bought everything else – 2 gallons of apple juice, 3 jars mayo/miracle whip, 4 Kraft salad dressings, 2 bags of Ruffles, 3 gallons of milk, 1 pound apples, 5lb bag potatoes, 1 dozen eggs, 1 loaf of bread, 2 tubes of toothpaste for Miles, 2 pasta salad mixes, and (not pictured) 4 containers of Crystal Light Lemonade, and 1 jar of peanut butter.

Meijer Total: $6.17

Saved: $50.34

Total Spent: $11.32 Saved: $156.39

So what am I doing with all that saved money? Only creating the most FANTABULOUS crafting area out of the mess downstairs we currently call our unfinished basement. Oh Yes….you heard me. Project Basement re-organization/craft room creation is well underway. And I am positively giddy about the results thus far. But there is still much more to be done.

Like painting, and organizing, and hanging my new pendant lights over my new fabric cutting island and beading desk. oh yeah…you heard me. My heart beats a little faster just thinking about it! Anyone up for a craft night???

Lucky

Did I ever tell you that I am not a “Lucky” person? Well… I’m not. Not really. But please don’t confuse mu use of the term Luck, with being blessed. I have undeniably been very very blessed in my life. But not lucky.

It’s been a long standing joke in our family that if you ever want to win ANYTHING….have Adam enter the contest for you. He always wins. ALWAYS. Lady luck has chosen him as her golden child. The kid is the luckiest person I know.

BUT…every once in awhile, the stars will align, and Lady Luck will smile down on me. I still remember the last time that happened. I was attending my 6th grade end of the year party. The raffler was approaching the last item; a six pack of Mountain Dew. And when the teacher reached his hand into the bucket to pull out a ticket, I heard a voice somewhere inside me confirming to me what I already knew; I would win. And I was certain. I started to the stage to collect my prize before my name was even called. But it WAS called. Just as I knew it would be.

Last week I was checking one of my absolutely, most favorite blogs, EVER…sisterscafe.blogspot.com

(If you haven’t checked it out yet, I highly recommend it. I am not exaggerating in the least when I tell you it has completely changed my life.)

But back to my story….

So I was checking the blog for this weeks weekly menu/grocery shopping prep, and they were sponsoring a give away. A give away that seemed to be right up my alley. It was for a DSLR camera class called “Get Out of Auto Mode”. I almost skipped right over the post when an old feeling came back to me. “You will win”, it whispered. So I entered.

And it was right. I DID win.

So I ran right out and bought a lottery ticket.

But then I realized I never got a “winning” feeling when I purchased my ticket. AND….I had just used up all my luck for the next 15 years or so on the camera class.

I hope it’s worth it! :)

P.S. The lottery drawing was Saturday. I’m not a 180 millionaire. All requests for new cars and shopping sprees will unfortunately be denied.

P.P.S. Hurry on over to The Sisters Cafe and try out these delicious dishes. They are my FAVORITE!!!

1. Crispy Southwest Wraps - (The home made guacamole is TOTALLY worth it. And using lots of fresh cilantro. Seriously…the more the better)

2. Chicken Corn Chowder

3. Honey Lime Enchiladas – I have tried both pork and chicken. They are both great, but shredded pork is my personal favorite

I could post a million more…but we’ll start with these three. Your husbands will thank you!

It’s my potty and I’ll poop where I want to

Sorting through some old memory cards and organizing pictures today. I stumbled across this old photo taken when we were visiting Mike’s dad down at Bryce Canyon. I think Miles was about 6 months old (or so). Oh how I miss those little chubber cheeks and so soft and fine you can’t do anything with it baby hair. What did I ever do to deserve such a wonderful little family???

But now my little boy is growing up.

<tear>

<sigh>

But it’s okay. Really, it is. Because this boy is hilarious. Seriously, he cracks me up.

Take yesterday for instance.

Miles has been working on potty training, and is doing really well. He has completely figured out that he isn’t supposed to go potty in his undies. So yesterday (while he was in timeout) the urge struck. And knowing he isn’t allowed to get off the naughty chair until he has served his time, and knowing he isn’t supposed to do his business in his pull-ups, he did the only logical thing. Stripped down, stood up on the chair, and peed off the side into the corner of my dining room.

twice.

And OH, he was so proud of himself. He kept saying, “Mom…no pee pee undies! Yah!” Complete with a jubilant fist pump into the air. Now, how could I not laugh about that?

But wait, there’s more…..

One of the hardest things about potty training (I think) is getting your child to come inside to go potty even when they are having a great time playing outside. But Miles has already worked out a solution to this dilemma.

Like when he waddled inside yesterday, pants around his ankles, bare bum exposed, exclaiming “poop, poop, poop”! I thought he must have had an accident. But his pull-ups were perfectly dry and perfectly clean. I was confused, until Miles grabbed my hand and marched me outside to show me his accomplishment. He lead me outside to the sidewalk in front of our house where, with a gesture of his hand, proudly declared “Mom, Look! I did it! Poop!!!” And sure enough, he had.

Oh, the neighbors must have had a great laugh about that. I know I did. I figure at least its a step in the right direction. Apparently, I need to start focusing a little less on not “going” in our undies, and start emphasizing we ONLY go in the POTTY.

But it sure makes for some very entertaining afternoons. :)

Mothers

I have a pretty great mom. In fact, I hope to be just like her when I grow up. And that’s sayin something! :)

Happy Mother’s Day to all you Mother’s out there!

Now go lie down and take a nap.

YOU DESERVE IT!

And a special thanks to my mom for Miles’ new summer clothes. He loves to wear them, and I love that he looks so handsome! (even with his eyes closed.)