The Life & Times of Mama Nae

A First Impression

2011-10-07T09:42:00.004-05:00

I did something yesterday for the first time in over ten years. TEN YEARS! I went on a job interview. First of all, I'd like to say that I think it went really well. We will see what they thought in the next few days....

I found that having all day to get ready for a three o'clock interview was slightly too long a time frame. My house looked like I had gone to prom, not a mere interview. But I had to do laundry, shower, go through my closet, search through my shoes, curl my hair, put on make up, drink lots of coffee, paint my nails (toes and fingers), print and fill out application materials, make sure I knew my strengths and weaknesses... it was a lot to do! My house work suffered.

When getting ready I had forgotten that I'm not quite as long as regular people pants. I buy regular people pants, I hate petite clothes. But I'm short. Whatever, I like pants that go past my ankles Grandma, I just do. Butttt, when you are slightly short and your nice interview pants are regular people length, it forces you to wear high heels. Not something I would recommend for a fist interview if you generally wear high heels approximately two to three times a year. Boots with heals, fine. Shoes with a rise or a lift to them, with a sound base to make floor contact, perfect. High, pointy, uncomfortable shoes that you may or may not have to walk flights of stairs in (I did)... not so ideal. But, long pants = high heels. Hence the toe nail painting, cause my high heels have peekaboo toes. And then the fingers had to match.

So here a few tips when going on an interview for the first time in a long long time:
1. Make sure your pants fit.
2. Practice in your high heels.
3. Realize that you NEVER drive in heels (cause someone else always did the driving when you went to heel requiring situations) and that it's not that easy.
4. Don't forget to eat lunch.
5. (This one is my best advise thus far.) Do not, by any means, start your period the day of your interview.

I would like to report that I was a BIG FAIL on 5 out of 5. (Too much information? So sorry.)

OH! And I would also like to add that I discovered a brand new step in getting ready for an interview ten years later....
Pulling out all your obvious gray hairs! Seriously. Yes, I did that. I was basically ready to go and looking at myself in the mirror and started noticing all the white/gray hairs surrounding my face... So out come the tweezers and pluck, pluck away... Much better.... Who knew this was part of getting ready to give someone a first impression.

So that is my tale... Hopefully I will have some good news to report soon.

So.... Umm.... Yep...

2011-09-22T14:04:00.002-05:00

For those of you who don't know, (even though I assume the three or four of you who read this already do know) I have recently gotten divorced. And moved.

Just to recap (and very briefly) we are friends, getting along, just made a decision that was best for the both of us to move forward as happier people. That about sums that up, right? If not, you just ask me personally and we can clear up the rest :)

So, blog world... I have a new house. And despite all the chaos it took me to get here, I love my new house. It's bigger than the other one, which was eensey weensey to say the least. The yard is also very large, half an acre for the monkeys to run wild on. And we are a very short walking distance from a rather large and scenic park, which conviently has an elementary school located just on the other side of it. Trees, trees, quiet, quiet, and even more quiet around here. I have heard owls hooting away in the evenings, as well as a bag pipe player who I think practices in the park. Whenever there is music/concerts in the park we are in perfect listening range. Location Location Location... it's good.

For the first time in my adult life I now have a dishwasher... shocking, but true. And I think I may end up taking back all the mean things I have said about them in the past move forward more open minded towards this new fangled technology. Also, I ended up having to buy a new computer... my ten year old trusty just wasn't cutting it anymore... I have purchased two pieces of furnature that were NOT assembled... And I successfully put one together ALL BY MYSELF! That's right... you read that correctly. A computer desk, which I am computing on RIGHT NOW! And it's so not falling apart! Next will be the television console.

There are tons of projects to do around here... tons. But I have lots and lots of time to get to them all... or figure out how to get someone to do some of them for me! the lawn... Oh the lawn! It's big. Large. Expansive. Crap. I'm gonna have to mow that I guess.... Another thing I will be working of figuring out how to get out of. Making deals, trading meals, something, anything... I don't do lawns. But... I may be retracting that statement soon as well.... hmmmm, I'll have to think on that one!

Kids. They are doing great. They love the new house. And they love it when it's time to go to his house for their weekly sleepovers. They go two nights a week, every week. They seem to have transitioned well, probably mostly due to the fact that I did nothing but worry and plan and over think and occomodate the change for months ahead of time. I slipped in little ideas here and there about the upcoming change, we went through transitional phases before we moved so they could get used to how things would be, we talked about things here and there. The first day we told them there was a for sure freak out moment, but it faded fast and things almost seem normal already. And this is only week two of being in the new house. It helps that he and I are in agreement about what we are doing, there is no fighting, we are still doing things together, we get along good in front of them as well as when they aren't looking. To them, nothing has really changed except that they have two homes. They actually see him more now than they did before... so... it's all good.

So.... Umm..... Yep... That's my story. That's my life.

The Big Three (and a cake)

2011-08-31T16:27:00.006-05:00

And Logan turned the big THREE.
Here's a little early birthday present for Logan and Nola...

THANKS Evi!

And thank you Dollar Store for all the birthday supplies I needed!

A few yellow gift bags and a Sharpie and voila! Goodie bags for a construction themed party (and with only four kids to cater to this only took about 30 min)

And onto the cake... Construction is the theme... I bought tractors and chocolate cake mix, brownie mix and a few other candies to make a construction scene on a cake...

First there was the Circus Peanuts.. the most disgusting candy ever but as orange as a construction cone! I cut and molded them into cones... sticky, sticky, sticky!

And a pan of brownies to make into boulders... first I scooped out spoon fulls of baked brownie:

Rolled them into balls and dusted them in powdered sugar...

And we have brownie rocks! so so so so so yummmm! (in my opinion, the best part of the cake)

I baked a chocolate cake, iced it with green icing and made a road from black licorice. I put it on the bottom side of a sheet pan (cookie sheet) and iced that too.

Then I dug out a hole or two from the cake and let the chocolate cake pile up like dirt, surrounded then with hazard cones, stuck the construction vehicles on with icing and added boulders and additional cones.... TaDa! A construction cake!

Logan loved it!

Happy Birthday Little Baby Boo.

And then he opened his present from his sister, a Thor helmet and hammer...

Happy Birthday Thor! He is kinda big and blond like an Azgardian.

Pwe-Kool Rools!

2011-08-17T22:19:00.002-05:00

First day of pre-school... oh the memories... seeing as it was almost a week ago and I'm finally putting up a post and pictures...

Well, here she is, the star of the day:

Sporting her new Barbie backpack, complete with pink, pink and more pink, including pink sequins and pink sparkles. Every preschooler needs a backpack larger than their torso to carry all those things back and forth (so far we've had one piece of colored construction paper and one six inch square drawing... so worth the money!)

And let's see how tall you are compared to your little brother who is so sad/jealous/angry/confused as to why he doesn't get to go to school too.

And Ladies & Gentlemen, a miracle - ME! In an actual photo, with my actual kids!

And here we are, Mama & Nola... growing up and going to school...

By the way, she loves school. Loves it loves it loves it.

Pre-Schooler To-Be

2011-08-03T09:41:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was Nola's preschool playdate where we went up to the school to meet some other kids. Before we left she was so excited, and Logan was confused as to why he wasn't going to Kool as well... I explained to him that he had to be an older kid, to which he explained to me that he was really big already...which he is (he would have towered over most the kids there). I told him all the kids there would be four and he might not be old enough quite yet... then he says to me, "But I will Karate the bad kids...." Well, okay, good plan, still not going this year.

So we get there and Nola goes into Statue-Mode. She stands and breathes, that's it. The teaches kept trying to get her to participate and interact with the other kids, but she wasn't having it. Just stood near me and kept quiet. Eventually I got her to color a picture for Allyson, her cousin/idol. It worked. She sat at a table with three other little girls and colored. Then they called for the parents to come to another room. And she DIDN'T freak out! I was shocked and proud. I thought for sure she'd melt down into a puddle of tears and grabby hands.... but she just sat and colored. I watched her from the other room across the hall and she did good.

Twenty minutes later we came back in to get the kids and she jumped up from the rug (story time). I thought she might run to me but she quickly realized that other people were watching her and she just did a little jump into the air with a big smile and came over to hold my hand... So cute! We left the room, got our Popsicle, and drove to go pick up Logan. In the car and afterwards she told me that it was really cool. She told me that one kid got a spanking because he was a little boy and he hit another little girl. This was obviously made up. Also a little girl was crying when the grown ups left and a teacher gave her water and she spilled it and cried more and the teacher was really nice and made her feel better. And that she even said hi to a couple of kids, only girls, not boys... Then at bedtime last night she said she even said hi to a boy!

Logan got into the conversation at this point and reminded me that he wanted to go to 'pwe-kool' too! Nola proceeded to explain to him that he was still little and only she could go, he wasn't four and he wasn't even three! and that he just couldn't go! He got a little upset and whined about it until I came over to tuck him in. Then he looks up at me with his sweet angle baby face and says, "But Mama, I still know Karate...." I said, "I know you do Baby, now go to sleep..."

She wouldn't give me a real smile, even though I begged... but here she is, long legged big girl stuff!

Another "pouty-and-I-won't-smile-for-you" face.

A Day's Work

2011-07-20T09:30:00.003-05:00

First of all I would like to dedicate this blog post to Lucy... who basically demanded I blog more.
And I would like to dedicate my day's accomplishment to Evi... who basically asked me why the holy hell I wasn't finished with those paintings yet. And also to the 100+ degree weather outside for forcing me to do something indoors with the kids, painting.

So after months of sitting in various places in my house I thought I may as well get back to these paintings that are supposed to be hanging in Cayce and Scott's house by now... or by last Christmas (oops).

Here is my before shot, taken in the afternoon...

And a few hours later, here is what I accomplished.... more windows, doorways, some shading and detail and a little more water color...

Now if I could find a few hours a day, these suckers might be done by THIS Christmas!

Ok Lucy, now comment on that! Ha!

=sum(M3:Y0)

2011-06-13T18:28:00.005-05:00

Um, I know that doesn't make any sense... I was going for an Excel equation that had a 'me' and a 'you' in it... or at least maybe sortof looked like it might.

Why? Because I have a long lost, and recently rekindled, love affair with spreadsheets. I love them. I love making them. I love updating them, color coding them, complicating them.... I would marry them! And since my days working in an accounting department have long been over and my funds to purchase my own copy of Microsoft Excel have diminished (and my attempts to beg borrow and steal copies, real and fake, have failed) I have missed my spreadsheets so so much. And then I was told of a program I could download that would replace Microsoft Office. Oh My! And it was free! And it works. I can even save the files in MS formats and open old docs and spreadsheets from the good ole days... It's like I'm whole again! (it's OpenOffice.com by the way)

Why am I gushing on and on about spreadsheets? Because I love them. And because now I have a spreadsheet for everything I've been meaning to keep up on lately... Bills, budgets, projects, plans, etc. And I think I'm actually being more productive. To me a spreadsheet is like a list having an orgasm! And I love love love me some lists... so spreadsheets are kinda like my wildest dreams come true. (I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one out there with these feelings.)

So I have a Project spreadsheet. And one of the pages, or sheets, is for photo projects. And my largest project is my kids photo albums. I haven't kept up n them in a very long time. I have an album for each, four pictures for each month of their lives. Logan's are all in black and white and Nola's are all sepia tones. I've been working for about three days on getting caught up. And today I finished! Seventeen months worth of photos, four per month (roughly) per kid... I ended up with 136 pictures selected, edited and uploaded... and yes, there was a check mark to be made for the completion of each of these steps on my spreadsheet. Of course I won't be ordering them now because I have no online deals for Shutterfly at the moment. I tend to get 50 free print emails from time to time, so I will wait for one of those if I can stand it. But here are some of them for you to see....

Oh! And on a side note (seeing the pull-ups in the picture above reminded me), Logan is now being potty trained and is wearing big boy underwear! Or little boy superhero underwear. It's only been about a week but we've already had a few accident free days!

I'm Not Dead...

2011-06-01T19:50:00.003-05:00

I guess I missed May. So now I'm down to less than one blog a month... oh so sad.

I guess I just don't think that much exciting stuff has happened lately. But I'm not dead.

Maybe tomorrow I'll try and think really hard and come up with something interesting or entertaining to blog about... Or at the very least I'll post some pics of the kids...

April Showers

2011-04-24T18:10:00.005-05:00

Wow, I'm really rolling here at one blog post a month! Go me!

So it rained here in the Lou... for a month! It's raining now and probably won't stop until June. Somehow, despite the rain, we managed to put up a new swing set, mow the grass for the first time this year, plant the front flower bed, survive an allergy/asthma attack (nola), gain new employment (me), and slosh through Easter.

Swing set plus all day basking in the pollen equals steroids and nebulizer treatments for the four year old, not to mention a new routine of checking pollen counts, administering Benedryl, lots of changing clothes and after-play showers. Spring has sprung! The only good thing about all this rain is that it washes away the pollen. Maybe it will rain until the flora has stopped blooming and we will be free to roam the yard again without fear of the evil yellow stuff.

Logan helping Uncle Scoot build the Swing Set.

Waiting for a Swing Set to be built is tough....

Unless you end up in a chair with your partner in crime and just giggle till you pee your pants!

So, I have a job. Yep. Me. I'm helping a friend do landscaping. Only two days a week, and only if those two days work for everyone involved... but it's been really fun so far. I get to start and finish a project in the yard, not MY yard, but A yard. Around here outside projects get delayed for potty breaks, settlements of disputes, getting balls from over the fence, getting snacks, drinks, toys, etc... you get it - kids get in the way of yard work. So not only do I get a break from the monkeys but I'm getting to work outside, which I love. And if that wasn't enough for me to do it... I'm actually getting paid!

And today is Easter. We woke up to bunny baskets and then quickly got dressed in our wonderfully handmade by Cayce Easter clothes... (not me, she totally didn't make me an Easter dress this year, but I'm crossing my fingers for next year).

The kids and I went to my mom's for more baskets and an indoor egg hunt (rain!) and some honey baked ham. Yum.

Now we're home and waiting for yet another round of storms. **Oh! By the way... we were SO SO SO close to all the Airport Damaging Tornadoes! And luckily we live in a small pocket that didn't get any severe weather, although the adjoining towns to our west, north, and north east got hit really hard - ie. the airport.**

That is all for April so far. Not much left of this month so no one hold their breath that I will be posting again until May Flowers....

March On...

2011-04-02T17:17:00.003-05:00

So March was lame. Nothing much happened. We did go to Indiana to visit Grandpa and entertain the idea of moving to Effingham, IL. Kirk was offered a job there and we went to check it out on the way back from IN. Ummm, that would be a resounding Hells to the No! No offense Effingham, but I'm just not a country girl. And it's called f-ing Effingham. For those of you who've driven through the middle of America a time or two, it's the Illinois town with the big, giant cross on the side of the highway. That's the main attraction I think. And possibly the only attraction.

Anyway... that's about the extent of my news from March. (I've lost 15 pounds, but that's not very exciting.)

While visiting Grandpa, the kids received Easter stuff, including a gingerbread bunny house. Here are some pictures of that and Alyssa, the over-sized dog that my in-laws own...

Somewhat on Track

2011-03-02T15:42:00.002-06:00

This is another post about my fat. I know - fascinating, right?

I lost 12 pounds... then accidentally gained back around five. Now I'm back to my 12 lost. I started on January 1st and aimed to loose a pound a week. After consulting my calendar I realize it's been nine weeks. Around four weeks in I decided that I was doing so well that I would up my goal to two pounds a week so I could be closer to my goal by summer...

According to my original plan I'm rocken and rollin... 3 pounds ahead.
According to my revised plan I'm kinda sucken it... 6 pounds behind.

So I think I will consider myself somewhat on track and just keep on keepin on.

I have one more pound to loose before I drop down to the next 'decade' in pounds. By that I mean counting by tens... so if I weighed in the 330's and was about to drop into the 320's... you know, the decades of weight.... anyway... one pound to go till I move down another decade.... and I'm not gonna tell you what that decade is...

So yep - that is all.

I Love My Cayce...

2011-02-28T08:24:00.003-06:00

And my Cayce loves me!

In a tree, beside a lake...

Kissing each other, for goodness sake!

In the desert, hitching a ride...

Little Cayce is by my side!

Ok - so I got a new scanner... and obviously it works...
I just had all these cute pictures of me and Cayce... pardon the cheesy rhyming... I don't know what came over me.... Too much Dr. Seuss I guess....

Hot Fries on My Thighs

2011-02-21T08:26:00.003-06:00

Now is that a blog post title or what?!

So yesterday we went to Target as a family... while walking in to the store there was a big mess of something on the parking lot. As we walked through it Kirk and I both said... "Yum." Not your typical response to parking lot messes... but this mess was a spilled bag of Hot Fries. Some walked on, some driven over, most pulverized into dust... but a few were recognizable enough to make both of us think, Oooo! Hot Fries! (We both had skipped lunch but I doubt the reaction would have been any different had we both just eaten.)

Target done, on to the gas station. And what does Kirk come out of the mini art with? Yes. Ladies and Gentleman, he bought a big bag of Hot Fries!

I tried not to eat too many of them since my weight loss quest has taken a turn for the worse... I lost twelve pounds and recently gained several of those back. So now I'm trying to re-double my efforts and get back on the skinny train. Hot Fries don't equal skinny. Not unless I'm planning on being a finger down the throat kinda girl, which I'm not. So I let him eat more than half the bag while I just nibbled.

But then.... I went to Cayce's last night to play games and drink some wine. I was home around midnight and no one was awake but me and that damn bag of Hot Fries. There was about a third of the bag left... I sat down to finish a recorded episode of Oprah... and damned if those Hot Fries didn't just jump into my mouth and go straight to my thighs! Yep... shamefully I ate the rest of the bag. But on a lighter note, somehow this morning I weigh one pound less than yesterday morning.... so maybe... just maybe... Hot Fries are the key to weight loss success? No? Yeah, probably not. Damn!

So this is Monday and a new day, a new week... and I am going to stick to my workouts and try to stay far far away from Hot Fries and all their lovely relatives (aka junk food). Here's hoping I can report some more success next week on pounds lost... and not Hot Fries devoured. Ooops.

Birds and Bees and Puppies

2011-02-20T09:28:00.003-06:00

Nola: Mama...ummmm... how does the baby get INTO your belly?
Me: (Oh shit Oh shit Oh shit!) Well, it grows in there. You don't start with a big baby in there, it starts out teeny tiny and grows...
Nola: How does it grow in there?
Me: It just does.... (please let that work, please let that work...)
*long pause*
Nola: (very concerned look on her face) Uh... Mama! Do I have a baby growing inside my MY BELLY?!
Me: No. Not at all! You have to be a grown up to grow a baby.
Nola: How come?
Me: Because your body isn't big enough to have a baby inside it... You need a grown up body.
Nola: Oh. Okay.

And last night she informed me that one of her stuffed dogs (which was made to be a purse and has a zippered pouch in it's back) was gonna have a baby. She had put a smaller puppy into it's belly pouch and told me that tomorrow the baby was gonna be born. So far today, no birth has occurred.

Just a Few

2011-02-19T07:35:00.003-06:00

I still haven't really caught the photo bug yet... but I did take just a few pictures of the kids yesterday playing outside... So here you go:

Oh Yea! Tuesday!

2011-02-15T08:30:00.002-06:00

I have nothing to blog about... but it's been a while so I thought I'd just start typing and see what came out...

I'm kinda stuck in my weight loss quest. I made it to twelve pounds lost... then gained two back.... then lost one... then another... then gained one.... So I've been stuck between ten and twelve pounds for around two weeks now. I guess that means I need to do more, push harder, be more conscious of what I'm eating (that has slipped considerably since babyshower/superbowl weekend). I need to change up my workout, which so far has just been to ride my stationary bike 3-4 times a week. Anyway... that's that. "Yea" for the solid ten lost and "Crap" for the forty still to go....

Kids doing fine... Logan has become a computer whiz. He is constantly playing games on the internet without any assistance. Doing puzzles online and learning to count to ten. I thought Nola was going to be my baby genius... but he's giving her a serious run for her money!

Kirk hates his job. Not quitting, but looking for other options. Long story short, he was put into a restaurant that was quickly falling downhill and they wanted him to jump in and turn it around and make it great. And taking a pay-cut while being expected to work miracles is no one's cup of tea.... so he wants out. Don't blame him at all....

I haven't taken more than a handful of pictures (of anything - artful or family) in two months! What is my problemo? I think the winter blues are getting to me. No outside, no sunshine, no camera. Oh Spring... Where are you when I need you?

So my plan today is to take some pictures... of something... anything.... maybe. Maybe tomorrow I will put up a post with photos!

Storms A Comin!

2011-01-30T10:35:00.002-06:00

They say we will get blizzard like conditions for the next three days... like the blizzard of '82. Well, I didn't live here in St. Louis in 1982 - I lived in sunny Dallas, Tx. But I grew up hearing all my friends here talk about that 'one time it snowed so much' when they were kids... And how they tunneled to each others houses and built forts in the snow... the stories go on and on about the blizzard of '82....

So while I"m not convinced it's going to be that big of a deal, especially seeing it through adult eyes, I'm trying to prepare for it none the less. Making sure we have charged flashlights and batteries and I know where all my big candles are... They're predicting lots of power loss due to the ice build up. In 2006 we had an ice storm and we lost power for about three days. Nola was just born (about 3 mo old) and I was up at 4am feeding her when my neighbors giant old tree in their front yard cracked, fell, and took out our power. It was an eerie sound as the tree cracked, much louder than I thought it would be, even not knowing what it was at the time... and then five minutes later it crashed down, hit their house and took out all our power lines. I believe I screamed in the dark... I was in my living room and very close to where their tree stood.

There was also the aftermath of that ice storm... I remember standing on my front porch in the evening and looking out over the neighborhood covered in ice... and then it started sounding like a giant was walking towards me... the trees were just crashing to the ground off in the distance. My street is very quiet so the sounds were echoing up to where I stood and it sounded out of this world....

I've heard we had three feet in 82. And they are only predicting 10-12 right now... plus all the ice. So I'm not sure if they are just trying to scare us. But the weather reporter on the news last night said the words the national weather warning used were: crippling conditions. That can't be good, right?

So I will be stocking up on smokes, wine, batteries, salt, milk... and hoping for the best.
See you all after the thaw! ha ha!

Week Three

2011-01-21T09:18:00.002-06:00

I am at the end of week three of this year and of working out. And it's going pretty good!

So far I've lost 9 pounds. NINE!

I was aiming for three and I got nine. And I'm realizing that I enjoy working out. It's like a break from the kids, I can listen to my headphones really loud (if someone is watching the kids... if it's just us then I only listen in one ear...) and it's getting so much easier as I go. And the fact that I'm actually seeing results is keeping me going. So yep. That's it. Nine....

Hot Salt!

2011-01-20T09:53:00.004-06:00

What's better on a super snow day than something super HOT? Hot Salt!

I had all these hot peppers drying from the summer and kept meaning to do something with them... So I decided to not just make pepper flakes, but hot pepper salt.

Started out with a plate full of dried Pinata Peppers that I grew this past summer.

I took the tops and stems off and put them into the food processor.

A couple pulses of the chopper and they were broken down to large flakes.

So I added some Kosher salt and mixed it a few more times...

And voila! Hot Salt! And this stuff is on fire! I've added it my salads and to spaghetti... WOW! Burn Baby Burn!

I'm just proud of myself for actually doing something useful with something I grew. I think this stuff will last us a long time, seeing as that you can't really use too much at a time...

Barbie 2011

2011-01-14T09:40:00.002-06:00

So if you didn't read yesterday's post - go do that now.

Later in the day Logan comes out of the bedroom with this in hand.

Holy shit Barbie! What the hell happened to you!?!?!

"But Mama.... I just wanted her to be cool! I wanted her to be cool like your fingernails, all black and sparkley.... " Nola.

I guess she's right... I do have really cool fingernails. But poor Barbie will never be the same again.

Week Two of 2011

2011-01-13T08:23:00.002-06:00

So the second week of the year is almost over...

I have lost four pounds. That's twice my goal! So I'm on track. Who-da Thunk It?

This morning:
Nola: I need a wipe! Where are the wipes?!
Me (still in bed): I don't know... get a paper towel!
Nola: Noooo.... I need a wipe.
Me (getting up quickly): Why do you need a wipe?
Nola(with hands behind back): For my hands....
Me: Why? Show me your hands. (I got and handed her a wipe)
Nola (running away): thanks....
Me (following her): Show me your hands... What did you eat?
Nola: Nothing
Me: SHOW ME YOUR HANDS!
Nola: I can't....
Me (grabbing her hands and turning her around): What is that?
Nola (with black on the ends of two of her fingers): I don't know...
Me: Fingernail polish! That's my fingernail polish.... Why did you do that?
Nola: I didn't...
Me: Then how did it get there?
Nola: I don't remember....
Me (remembering she had had fingernail polish...) WHERE IS IT NOW?
Nola: I put it back on top of the microwave....
Me (after checking the safety of my polish) So how did that get on your fingers?
Nola: I didn't do it.... When I picked it up it must have just leaked out....
Me: Seriously? Leaked out? No it did not...
Nola: IT DID! It leaked on me so I put it back...
Me: No polish unless you ask first.
Nola: okay....

So they just lie. Is that the deal? For no good reason, they just lie like we're stupider than dirt and won't possibly be able to figure out the truth. Damn kids.... I realize I'm lucky there wasn't black fingernail polish on my new dining room table or all over the walls. (Walls that, by the way, have a lovely painting on them done in fabric paint that the manufacturers apparently decided to make with super glue so as to make it non-removable. Logan completed his masterpiece and then anxiously ran to me telling me he drew me a picture... Gee Thanks!)

Resolutions

2011-01-07T09:26:00.003-06:00

A week late but that's okay. I have but one resolution this year. And it's one I've had for about five years now... and one that most everyone else in the country has as well....

I resolve to loose weight. I have a year. 52 weeks. And I need to loose about 50 pounds. So my resolution is to loose fifty pounds this year. That's one pound a week. And if I think of it like that it doesn't sound so overwhelming. And if I loose a few pounds a week here and there, that just lets me stay on track if I have a bad week! I just need to loose the weight by New Year's Eve 2011. If I complete this goal early... well, then hoo-rah for me!

So that's it. One goal for the year. And a whole year to get it done. I'm thinking positive on this plan and I think I can do it. Happy New Year!

Not Feelin It...

2010-12-29T10:26:00.003-06:00

Holidays were fine. Lots to do, lots to make and wrap and take and bring home and unwrap. Lots to throw away and find homes for and eat. Lots Lots Lots.

Then we all got colds. Thankfully I felt it coming and spent the day before it hit putting away all the new toys and doing all the left over dishes and taking out all the extra trash. Kirk was back at work the day after Christmas and we've barely seen him since. Work Work Work. Then 24 hours later the kids and I all have coughs and colds. And shockingly within 24 hours after that the house looks like a tornado ran through it. How does that happen? But I'm beyond caring at this point. I'm on day three of cold medicine all day and taking care of the kids by myself. If only I could have a few extra hours of sleep and go into a NyQuil mini-coma I feel like I could carry on. But there's no time for that. So carry on in a daze I will.

Dishes are piling up and laundry is out of control. The toys have all found their way back into the living room and spilled out onto the kids' floor. And I don't care. I'll get to it when the fever breaks and the medicinal haze wears off. And I haven't even uploaded any pictures from the holiday gatherings... or videos. I'm sure they're all really cute.... I haven't even looked at them! I'll get to that eventually too.

I made a conscious decision today to switch from my comfortable non-crack-like Alkasetlzer Cold Plus to a 12 Hour non-drowsy (aka Crack) Sudafed Cold medicine. I'm still waiting for the fog to lift and the jitters to set in. Maybe I will have a window of a few hours where I can sweep through and straighten up this joint. Then I will most likely crash hard and require some serious couch time.

Well... I guess that's it for now. New Years is coming up... Everyone have some resolutions ready? I think I do. I'm sure I will post about em on New Years Eve like I usually do when I'm home doing nothing.... But hopefully I won't be sick anymore!

Ha Ha Holidays!

2010-12-21T13:39:00.002-06:00

I kinda messed up this year and ordered way too few cards to mail out. I usually order too many and have leftovers... so this year I ordered less... and of course, didn't have enough. So if you didn't get a card this year it's not because I don't love ya, it's because I'm a dumb-ass! But here is the card I designed for this year. I love me some Photoshop.

What the...?

2010-12-19T18:12:00.002-06:00

So the holiday Par-tays went down this weekend. One all girlie get together with yummy snacks, lots of baby clothes passed along, and some gossip sprinkled on top. Thanks to Lucy and Caroline for being lovely hostesses. I was out Friday until midnight, and only had a couple small glasses of wine. No biggie. But the kids wouldn't let me slow down the day after.

Next day was getting kids ready and packed for grandparent's house - sleepover! Then taking them out there and attempting to do some Christmas shopping with the hubby. Some how we managed NOT to eat lunch or dinner. (Looking back, this is where it all went wrong...) We did all (YES ALL - start to almost finish) of our shopping in a couple of hours and two stores. And we did good. So then we came home for a brief moment of rest and a bagel for me (that was dinner). And then off to a Festivus Celebration. We were kinda tired and irritable before we even got there. But it was fun. There was a contest in three parts (in which I sadly came in third, I had momentary hopes of winning) that was a blast. The only problem was that Kirk was feeling a little to festive a little too early. He got drunk. That's dddrrruuunnnk. Loud, obnoxious, the whole bit. Funny... and not too foolish, just loud and drunk. Why do I care? Cause it was my turn. I was supposed to have full reign to get holiday schnockered. And he was to be my ride home. But he kinda ripped that rug right out from under me. So I sipped my wine and mainly stayed sober. Then Lord Drinksalot passed out in the basement (on a couch, not a cold concrete floor). Almost left him there. But at 2am I decided to enlist the help of someone who wasn't afraid to 'poke the bear' and wake him up. Up he was. Still drunk he was. I drove home and we crashed with a capital C. I'm still tired. And even though I remained sober enough to be responsible, I drank an entire bottle of wine over the course of the five hours we were there...(oh! and a really strong egg not to start off the night) so my belly and my head were a little mad at me today.

Anyway. Soooo.... Yep. That's the story. I did not win the Feats of Strength contest and Kirk did not remain conscious for his first Festivus. Next year.... next year. All in all it was really fun and Thanks to Popps for having us all over to cause a ruckus in his home.

Holidays A'Comin!

2010-12-15T08:12:00.005-06:00

I think I'm completely unprepared for this Holiday Season... or I have just kindof ignored the things I usually do...

Usually I decorate the tree the day after Thanksgiving, along with the house - stockings, candles, cards, snow globes... etc. This year the tree went up as scheduled (it's a pre-lit fake tree) but the ornaments and all the other trim are still shut up in a big box in the basement... along with all the stockings, kids Christmas books, and all the other festive decor. I just wasn't prepared to yell at the kids EVERY single day to leave the tree alone, or deal with the frustration of the tree having to be re-decorated on a daily basis. The kids are old enough now to do some serious damage and I just wasn't ready. But since the holiday trimmings have remained in the basement, so has all the holiday cheer and festiveness. I keep saying I will get it all out... and everyday I don't. Maybe today will be the day...

And shopping! I usually have a list completed in October for exactly what everyone will get. I do all my shopping online (searching for deals and free shipping and coupons) and have everything arrive before the beginning of December. The the wrapping starts and the pretty packages go under the decorated tree. But with Kirk losing his job this year and money being questionable, not to mention employment being questionable, the gift buying fell to the way side. I have yet to purchase a single gift! Not one! And there is no time left for shopping online so I'm going to be forced out into the Commercial Chaos of the Season... something I loath and fear.

I did get my Christmas card pictures taken in November, on schedule. And my cards made, printed and ordered. I even did Cayce's cards too. But then I forgot to mail them out! They sat in a pile, unaddressed and unstamped, for weeks. I finally got to that yesterday.

And we have his family all coming over the day of Christmas Eve, so I do actually have to plan a menu and shop for food, then cook and prepare that food. I also plan to make some Christmas goodies... some fudge, some gingerbread, and some candy. But that can and should wait until right before the holiday. I do however have to shop for the ingredients. I've never cooked Holiday Poultry... a chicken, a duck, a turkey... so I'm almost excited about giving that a shot.... and on the other hand I might just make a big pasta dish with sides. His family is far from traditional (we ordered pizza of Thanksgiving at his mom's house). So my choices will be mainly for me, they won't care if I make turkey or lasagna...

I think today I will get out the Big Christmas Box and Deck the Halls for the season. Hopefully it will shine a little Christmas Spirit around here. I still have two weeks before there's any real threat of being awakened in the middle of the night by Marley and the Ghost of Christmas Past...

So hopefully it will soon be the "Hap- Happiest Time of the Year!"

Here are a few outtakes from the Holiday Photo Shoot:

FotoFriday - 12.10.10

2010-12-10T17:47:00.003-06:00

I've got nothing... we've all had a stomach flu and so you get no photos this week... Here's a silly-face family photo from a few weeks ago....

Ain't we pretty!

Flip-in Out!

2010-12-09T10:01:00.002-06:00

Three things to report...

One, I got a Flip. I love it. It's fun and easy and even the kids can record videos. We've spent too much time NOT recording the goofy/cute/silly/brilliant things our kids are doing. So let the Flip-ing begin! I'm sure videos will be coming soon. No idea what I'm talking about? Go Here.

Two, Another Craft Fair. Here's the information if you are so inclined to join:
Saturday, December 11, 2010
St. Charles West High School
3601 Droste
St. Charles, MO 63301
North on Zumbehl off Hwy 70
9am to 4pm

Three, stomach bug. Yuk Yuk Double Yuk. First me, Monday night. Then Tuesday morning Logan threw up but didn't seem to care or be phased by it. Then overnight last night Nola threw up in her bed. There's the Double Yuk. But she seemed perfectly fine afterwords. Now this morning she's slumped on the couch with a just-in-case bowl and saying her tummy hurts. Not sure if she's still 'got it' or just hungry from no nutrients. Either way... this may ruin my chances of actually being at the craft fair. I can't send contaminated kids to a babysitter. But my mom will be there, even if I'm not. Even more reason for you all to go and visit her if I can't...

So there's my story.

Craft Fair Blues

2010-12-06T16:27:00.003-06:00

So I did it. My very first face to face attempt at selling my photography. Edward Jones Holiday Mart. It was Saturday.

There was so much planning that went into it. Photos printed up to sell, packaging to buy and then all the prints to package up. Business cards to make, order, and put in all the packages. Frames to buy and fix up and large prints to order and frame. A display to make for the frames to hang on. The bins to look for and buy for all the product to go in on the table... Sheesh, not to mention all the thought put in about pricing on all sizes, all sets, all possible and/or potential combos people might want to purchase. What if they want this? What if they want that? I'm not the kind of person to just wing it on the fly... it had to be all thought out ahead of time. And charted, and printed out and put into a binder. And babysitters, waking up early to get ready to leave and set up early for it to start... it was a lot of work.

And on top of all that, this wasn't even my idea. It was my mom's. She wanted to do this with me and I agreed. I don't regret doing it. It was an experience. It was practice. It was something. It was.... a craft fair.

And now for the big question.... How did it go? How much did I sell?
It was a flop. A bust. A bummer.

Okay, that's not entirely true. I did whip up some greeting cards at the last minute (just because I wanted something Holiday-ish at the booth). And I sold one pack of cards. Yep, one pack. All day. One pack. But at least... and thank goodness... I didn't sell NOTHING.

And onto the bright side.... all the work I put into it was not entirely in vein. The prints are still sell-able. The organization is always worth it. And I have a craft fair under my belt... one notch in the experience department. I saw what people liked and what was ignored. I heard lots of comments about how nice it all was, good for the ego. Several people told us we looked very professional, the most professional booth at the fair was said more than once. I was even asked what Gallery my stuff was shown in. (I said, 'You're looking at it!") And I got questions/requests for things that people wanted to see. From one of those inquiries sprang a great idea for a future series I plan to start working on soon.

Now for some quotes and thoughts from the Holiday Mart:

Just because you bought the over sized chef hat in Christmas print at the craft fair does not mean you are obligated to wear it all day AT the craft fair! (with your gray sweat pants and blue sweatshirt with a teddy bear on it)
They aren't selling blinking light-up Santa hats here, so that means you wore that out in public on purpose... interesting....
"Oh! Do you have a picture of the steel mill in Granite city?!" Oh sure, let me just find that one for you real quick... I knew you'd be here looking for it.... Seriously?
"So... uuhh... you just take pictures of different stuff and then frame them?" Umm, yes, it's call photography... Ever heard of it?
Apparently the ladies over sixty are really serious about their black fingernail polish... I saw about 10-15 older women rockin the goth nails.
Children do not like booths with photography. They really, really don't. Especially when there is a tutu/hair bow booth right next door!
And the most frequently asked question of the day: "Did you actually take all these pictures?" Oh, no sir (or ma'am), I stole them all off the internet and hoped that no one would ask. Again, seriously?

So that was my Craft Fair experience in a nut shell. And low and behold... my mom asked me today if I wanted to do it all over again next weekend. Shit... I guess so.

Me! On a Blog! (that isn't mine!)

2010-11-30T08:17:00.004-06:00

This blog: ALL THINGS HANDMADE

Yep Yep! I'm on there! Well, not me, but Yellow Mug Photography, so yeah, ME! If you go there and then click on the category "Photography" in the right hand column I believe I'm on the first page... maybe the second! Woo Hoo!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Me! At a Craft Fair! Four Days until the Holiday Mart. Are you coming? In case you need a reminder, here's the info again:

Edward Jones Holiday Mart
12555 Manchester Road
Des Peres, Mo 63131

South Campus Atrium
9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
December 4, 2010

Black Friday on Etsy

2010-11-26T12:27:00.004-06:00

I'm having a Black Friday thru Cyber Monday SALE on Yellow Mug Photography over on Etsy. Everything is 15% OFF!

Etsy has now created Coupon Codes for sellers to use in their shops! I'm so excited! Before I was leery of trying to create a site-wide sale do to the fact that I would have to change the details on all the listings (which is 35 or more now) and that would have been a ton of work. But now I can just create a Coupon Code and everyone can use it at checkout to get the sale prices. Easy Peasy! The code for Black Friday is THANKS15

And I plan to come up with a discount code for all my blog readers... yep... all 4 or 5 of you!

ATTENTION!
December 4th I will be at the Edward Jones Holiday Mart. It's a craft fair put on my Edward Jones employees and their families (my mom works there).
Here is the official information:

Edward Jones Holiday Mart
12555 Manchester Road
Des Peres, Mo 63131

South Campus Atrium
9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
December 4, 2010

There will be discounted Holiday Prices if you show up! And there will also be a special Holiday Mart Coupon Code given out for the holidays! If you've been thinking of buying something and were waiting of great savings, this is the place to be and the time to buy!
Hope to see you there!

FotoFriday - 11.26.10

2010-11-26T12:20:00.002-06:00

What am I thankful for?

Family.
Happy Thanksgiving Holiday everyone.

FotoFriday - 11.19.10

2010-11-19T08:05:00.003-06:00

For a while now I've been working really hard on a new photographic series to sell on Etsy. I ended up with a series of nine photos in three different styles. And I think I'm finally ready to list the series on Etsy today. The series is...

Metal Blooms
The series is of antique water valve handles. I call the individual handles Metal Blooms and the groupings Metal Bouquets. Here are a few of my favorites in each of the styles:

Metal Blooms in Rusted Color

Metal Blooms in Burnt Platinum

...and of course...

Metal Blooms in Black & White

These will be available as individual prints as well as in groups. The prints can be produced in any size square from 5 x 5 to 24 x 24 inches.

Check out Yellow Mug Photography to see the whole series - 27 photographs in all!

Creating Treasures

2010-11-08T14:23:00.002-06:00

My photos have been featured in several Treasuries on Etsy, some I listed before. There have been a few since.

But then I started thinking about making a few of my own, featuring my own pieces here and there. So I did. I've made three so far. Here they are:

Tensils & Tines

What Keeps the Vampires Away? Garlic!

It Works for the Zebras!

It's fun to put them together and hopefully will generate a few more looks at my shop. Who knows. As long as it's fun, right? Yep.

I'm going to try and figure out a way to make a Treasury List along side my blog. You know, over there to the right where all that other stuff is... I'll see if I can get it to work. Cause I plan to make lots more Treasuries.

Oh! I've had two sales so far. Just two... but two is WAY more than zero. (It's exactly two more for you math challenged folks out there - hee hee).

Ok - well... that's all.

FotoFriday - 11.05.10

2010-11-05T06:45:00.000-05:00

Can you guess where we went on Wednesday?
The St. Louis Arch! The kids had never really been downtown (outside of the car anyway) and Kirk had never been up in the Arch. So it was a first for them all. I was very proud of the kids and Kirk for going up to the "tippy top."

When we first got there Nola couldn't believe she was that close to the Arch and was a little intimidated to touch it at first. She knew it was metal and was afraid it was going to be hot... cute.

Logan wasn't concerned at all and practically ran up to hug it!

We went in, looked around the museum, tested out the display pod (to make sure the kids were really prepared to get inside the real one before paying for tickets), went up, looked down at the city, and were ready to go back down. By that time Logan was well into his nap time and feeling a little cranky and upset... nothing a little Papa-snuggle couldn't cure.

Afterwards we went back outside and played on the steps a while.

The we started our walk back to the car... Nola takes on St. Louis! She and Logan both had a blast!

Mr. Karate Chopper

2010-11-03T08:44:00.002-05:00

I found this note in one of our junk spots (you know, the places where all your crap that you don't know what to do with ends up). It's obviously from one of Kirk's former employees, but I have no idea which one. I just thought it was really sweet. So put aside all you know about grammar and punctuation and try to read this. (I'm going to type it exactly as I found it, except that it was all underlined and blogger won't let me do that)

Mr. Karate chopper kirk thankyou for
showing me the valuable lesson of
hard work that's the first step of being
a man always keep your beautiful kids
& wife 1 love. Hope to keep in touch

I just thought it was a really sweet thing to get as a boss. And from another guy on top of that. Mind you, Kirk was not his English teacher, but his boss in the kitchen... but this is one case where the thought really does count.

FotoFriday - 10.29.10

2010-10-29T11:24:00.006-05:00

Instructions for a Happy Halloween:

1. Have your kids draw funny faces on construction paper

2. Darken the faces (with cutting out shapes in mind)

3. Cut out the shapes

4. Tape the paper to the pumpkins

5. Color in the shapes and remove the paper

6. Cut out the shapes from the pumpkins

7. Nola's Jack O'Lantern (with three "goobelie" eyes)

8. Logan's Jack O'Lantern (pretty good for a 2 year old)

9. Place all Jack O'Lanters on the front porch and light up

10. Place children between the pumpkins and take pictures!

Happy Halloween from the McFarlands!

What a Treasury?

2010-10-25T08:23:00.004-05:00

I was asked by a sister-in-law-esque friend of mine to add some St. Louis type things to my Etsy shop so she could include me in a Treasury. A What? Huh? I tried to get a hold of her to ask what that meant, what I had to, how long I had...

I knew she had mentioned them before on her own Facebook page about her Etsy store being selected for this or that Treasury, but I still wasn't sure on the details.

Then the very evening I was waiting for her reply I get an email from a woman through Etsy telling me she has chosen one of my photos to be in a Treasury. Really? Okay! After some hard investigation (ie. a few clicks) I figured out that a Treasury is a group of 16-20 items for sale that all fit a category or group or theme, chosen by the Treasury creator.

My very first Treasury: Artistic!!! Yeah!!

And as I was slowly waking up this morning my cell phone chirped at me to let me know I had a new email... and whadda you know? Another photo has been selected for yet another Treasury!

My very second Treasury: World Pasta Day ... :o)

A Closing Door

2010-10-23T09:46:00.003-05:00

A door is closing today. Hopefully another will open again soon.
For those of you who don't know, my husband lost his job. Today is his last official day of working. The entire store closed because the lease was not renewed. So it wasn't due to any fault of his own but never the less, he's out of a job. And we are now a no-income family of four. Boy oh boy, that's scary.

So the job search is on and even though he has had a few leads so far, they haven't amounted to anything yet. Being given only nine (yes, that's 9) days notice that you will no longer have a job, a career, a paycheck... is quite a blow. Not even the standard two weeks. So although he's discouraged, I'm not. Not yet. It takes time and patience to find a good job. Hopefully not too much time.

But we have family to help and support us if the need arises. And there's always savings and collecting unemployment (which neither of us know anything about but will quickly learn I guess). So far we haven't told the kids anything. We've done pretty good at talking in code and hiding the stress of the situation from them. But after today they just might notice somethings up when Papa doesn't head off to work every day. I guess we can say he's on vacation. But after a few weeks or months of being home (which hopefully it won't come to) they might catch on... The jig will be up... especially for Nola, she's a smart one. How do you explain that to a kid? Not that she'd even know to judge him... but in my opinion it's just not something they need to even concern themselves with. That's our job (unpaying as it may be) to hold that weight on our shoulders. I'm actually looking forward to having him home a little more for a while. For purely selfish reasons... like having more personal freedom...

So if anyone out there in the St. Louis area knows anyone who knows anyone who might know someone looking for a management position in the restaurant field, you feel free to let me know!

FotoFriday - 10.22.10

2010-10-22T12:04:00.003-05:00

Butterfly Reflections
~for sale at Yellow Mug Photography

This was taken at The Butterfly House in Chesterfield, MO.

Pardon me for promoting myself but I just can't help it! And by the way, I made my very first sale! And it wasn't to a family member or a friend. A complete and total stranger loves me! A wonderful woman named Megan from MI bought the 5x7 Utensils Set of Three. I don't know her at all but I think I love her! And I really hope she loves the photos that she bought. (And then of course tells all her friends and family and comes back for more!)

One sale down, billions and billions to go! Hey, a girl can dream, right?

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and I hope to have a new batch of photos up next week for sale on Etsy so don't forget to check it out!

GRAND OPENING!

2010-10-18T17:25:00.002-05:00

So... I did it. I got it together and opened up my Etsy site. It's Yellow Mug Photography.

www.yellowmug.etsy.com

I've just started listing things... but I hope to have a full shop in a week or two.

Anyone need any art for their walls? Need gifts for the holidays? Tell all your friends and family and keep coming back... Coming soon I will have the full line of Alpha Art up and ready sell. I must say, I'm hopeful. And excited. This might actually work. Yippee!

And as always, tell me what you think! Any suggestions, requests, anything... I'm all ears!

FotoFriday - 10.15.10

2010-10-15T16:04:00.003-05:00

Not so much a photo today as much as a banner for my new Etsy store!

(click on photo to see it larger)

This is my first attempt at greatness, not the final product (or maybe it is...)
Please tell me what you think. The good, the bad, the ugly. Gimme whatcha got! I promise I can take it.

FotoFriday - 10.08.10

2010-10-12T12:51:00.005-05:00

Fotos from Friday... even though today is totally Tuesday...

Here are some shots leaving St. Louis, going over into good ole Illinois.

(Images removed because they will possibly be sold on Etsy... don't wanna give away any freebies! hee hee)

I have no idea which bridge this is, but you could see it from the highway...

And all the way to Illinois we went, to Eckert's Orchards.

Wagon rides to the trees where we picked apples...

There were rides ridden, goats fed, apples picked, wagon rides had, trains taken, sun endured and lots and lots of fun. We have officially decided that this will be a McFarland Family Tradition. But next year we will make the trip in August... that's when the HoneyCrisp apples are in season and those are my all time favorite apples in the World! This time we ended up with Fuji and Golden Delicious... all good, but they're no HoneyCrisp!

Red Delicious

2010-10-08T08:11:00.002-05:00

Nola (starting to wiggle): Mama? Is the apple picking farm open today?
Me: Yesss....
Nola (starting to bounce up and down): Mama? Is Papa off work today?
Me: Yes.
Nola (jumping up and down): Mama? Can we go there today?!?!
Me: YES!
Nola (in full spin): Yea! Yea! Yea! Yea!
Nola (full stop): Can we go yet? Can we go now? Can we?
Me: Oh geez...

So, we are going over to Illinois to Eckert's Farm to go apple picking today. But not for another hour at least since we are all currently in jammies. But I hope to have a good batch of apples AND photos by the time we get home. So FotoFriday is not forgotten, but will probably squeak in by the midnight deadline... so come back and check tomorrow!

This is year two of our Apple-Picking tradition. Kirk and I talked about how fun it would be to take the kids apple picking every Fall until we end up taking our own Grandkids... How cute would that be? Grandma and Grandpa? Logan as a father? All of us out in the orchards picking apples and taking pictures every year? Yeah, I love the Fall....

So off to the Orchard we go! This is going to be a Red Delicious day!

Yellow Mug Photography

2010-10-06T10:10:00.004-05:00

Here we go again.

With the push from my mom I'm going to put some photog prints in a local craft fair in December. In order to do this up right I need to have a website of some kind to put on a business card of some sort to pass out to potential customers at said craft fair.

Some of you may remember my recent venture into photo cards... I had an Etsy store/website, and it end in a big, giant, "FLOP!" Soooo... as I now need to get something out there in the internet world I think I'm going to go that route again. I have so many mixed and mingled ideas for what to really try and sell, but they all revolve around photography. So I'm just going to name myself, my store, my Etsy, my bizz-nass, Yellow Mug Photography. That way I can get the site up and running and put up whatever my current venture may be. For now, I'll start with my photo prints.

Another venture I've been turning round in the ole brain for some time is my photo letter project. Photos that are of everyday objects, resembling letters from the alphabet, and coming together to form words. Black and white mostly, but also in color. So while my main venture for the craft fair will just be prints, I would like to have the letters up on the Etsy site as well and display a few words for people to see at the craft fair (and hopefully fall in love with and rush online to purchase).

So that's lots of work to do, think about, plan for, actually finish on a deadline.... Oh Geez! I almost feel like a work from home mom with no actual time to work... or think clearly about work. Its hard to focus things into fruition with only 10 minute increments of time to devote... I need an office/studio with a locking door. Oh! Now that would be some kind of wonderful! A girl can dream...

FotoFriday - 10.01.10

2010-10-01T13:45:00.003-05:00

Sometimes there are moments when all your parenting efforts just pay off.

Check This Out, Baby!

2010-09-30T13:30:00.005-05:00

Guess what I found? Going through some old CDs in the basement (You remember CDs right? Those things we all boxed up and stored away somewhere when music went digital?) I found a true gem.

Apparently I made some CD's for my friends on Valentine's Day back in school, Truman State University. Back in the land of Auto Repair Shops and Meth Labs.
Picture it: Kirksville and St. Louis, 2001. For some reason we loosely referred to ourselves as the Ya Ya's... presumably based off the book. (I would say books plural, but after the first one everything sucked, even the movie.) Anyway, I digress....

So! I found this CD entitled: Ya-Ya's: The Truman Years

I'm going to give you a list of what songs were included (links included if possible) and who they were dedicated to. Now, I'm not sure if this made us WAY COOL - or WAY NOT! But it sure is an odd group of music. And while listening to it in the shower today I could remember times spent listening to, singing to, dancing to, each one of these songs, with each one of these people. So, judge us if you will, but personally, I think we rocked! Her goes...

1. Where My Girls At (Shalyn)
2. I Ain't Yo Hoe (Leah)
3. Baby I Got Yo Money (Cayce)
4. It's Gonna Be Me (Leslie)
5. Me So Horny (Lucy)
6. Caress Me Down (Janae)
7. She's A Lady (Hannah)
8. Sweet Caroline (Caroline)
9. Untouchable Face (Caroline)
10. Get Gone (Hannah)
11. Goodbye Earl (Leah)
12. Call Me Darlin (Leslie)
13. Gone Till November (Lucy)
14. Bills Bills Bills (Shalyn)
15. Shoop (Cayce)
16. Fable (Janae)
17. *BONUS SONG* (Ya-Ya's)

Okay - So I hope all of you listed will read this (and listen tot he songs) and get some giggles, smiles, laughs and memories. Deny it if you want - but we all listened to this crap and openly or secretly LOVED IT! You know you did!

Okay - Enjoy.
(no promises on those links... I did what I could with the time I had)

When I Grow Up

2010-09-25T13:13:00.004-05:00

Nola: When I grow up I'm gonna be a Musketeer.
Me: Umm, Okay.
Nola: So I have to watch this movie (Barbie and the Three Musketeers) every day until I grow up so I can know how to be a good Musketeer.
Me: Oh... Okay. (She begged and begged to watch this movie... which we do watch at least once a week.)
Nola: Every day. Cause I have to learn it really good. Okay, let's see... Hummmm... (finger tapping on her temple) Check one: You have to be really cool and wear a pretty dress. Check two: You have to know how to to flip and get on a horse with a really good flip. Check three: You have to know how to use a sword, and wear a mask, and get into a tree in a really cool way. Like flip up on a branch, then you're in a tree.
Me: Yep, I think you got it. So every day, huh?
Nola: Every day.

Five minutes later and about 10 minutes into the movie Nola is gone, in the other room playing with her brother, and I'm watching Barbie and the Three Musketeers by myself. I guess her commitment wasn't as serious as she thought. That's cool though, cause I was hoping more for brilliant doctor, famous author or artist, or President. We'll just have to wait and see how this Musketeer thing pans out I guess.

Just wanted to also include a past conversation (because it was HILARIOUS!)
At bedtime Nola and I discuss things like the digestive tract, all the types of sharks we know, the extinction of the dinosaurs, things like that...
The other night, after going though how the big dirt ball (meteor) came from outer space and made all the dinosaurs sick and not want to have anymore babies, she asked me how people got to earth. I told her there were several major theories - which led to a mini-conversation about what a theory is - and one was the theory of evolution. Which I explained to her was a theory that humans came from monkeys. I did a little more explanation than that, but that was the gist. So she thought on that for a second and asked me if she used to be a monkey. I said no, and tried to explain that once you're born as a person, you are always a person, and if you're born a monkey you're always a monkey...
She seemed to get it and said, 'Yeah, monkeys are really really furry...'
'Yes, they are,' I said.
She thought for a moment and then asked, 'So... Did Papa used to be a monkey?'
HA HA! I laughed and explained it again. The best I could do for a three year old was to say that a long time ago a monkey had a baby that looked a little bit like a person. Then that baby grew up and had a baby that looked a little bit more like a person... until one day there were monkeys that looked like people... and the other monkeys stayed monkeys. She was cool with that answer.

FotoFriday - 9.24.10

2010-09-24T09:46:00.003-05:00

I've been working on some photos for an upcoming fair where I might possibly make some money. Sooo, I may be using my blog for some testing questions in the coming weeks.

This week I want to show you some examples of a series I'm working on of silverware. I'm having a hard time deciding on which style I like best. I need to decide which style to have printed up for sale at the fair. Here is a spoon in three styles. Take a look, and if you would be so kind, let me know which one you prefer. (They would obviously be printed without the watermark words on them.)

Thanks for looking.

For Those With Small Ones

2010-09-15T13:35:00.004-05:00

For those of you who read this and have little kids, I think you should read THIS POST. Or if you just want to read a blog that deals with kid/mother/parenting/relationship issues...

The blog is Ask Moxie. She's a single parent of two and has really funny humor and I think we'd really get along in real life.... anyway... Make sure, if you take the time to read this post, that you also read the comments. There's almost as much good stuff in those as in the actual post itself. Moxie also has a co-blog with her ex-husband, When the Flames Go Up. Also very interesting to read. I have them both linked in my blog list to the right if you are interested.

Ok - just saying - good blogs, good post, passin it on.

One Small Step...

2010-09-13T23:18:00.002-05:00

"Welcome to the 21st century," said Sprint.
"Oh, thanks..." we said.
"Well, you know... Not all the way into the 21st century, but you're closer anyway," laughed Sprint.

Kirk's cell phone was carrying about a one minute charge, on a good day. Mine would last for about a day, with no usage mind you. We don't think we use our phones that much but we somehow managed to go just over our minute limits almost every month. Being a one-income family of four I had paired down our plans to the absolute bare minimum. So much so that we became ineligible for the phone upgrades. We found this out last week when Kirk went to try and upgrade his phone to a working model.

They told him that he would have to pay full price for a phone. Nope. Not gonna do that! So I looked around and found that there was a family plan that gave us more minutes and unlimited mobile usage. And would allow us both to upgrade our sturdy, yet ancient, phones. So off to Best Buy we went in search of new technology.

The plans go two year, we all know this. Do you remember what kind of phone you had two years ago? Did it text? Did it email? It probably took pictures... but did it allow you to post them to your blog or to Facebook? No. It probably did not. Well, we remember what our phones were like... because they were the ones we were still using. I think the sales girl almost laughed at us. I take that back. She did laugh at Kirk. A few times. He's part handsome husband, part monkey, and part caveman. It's true. Technology makes him want to beat his chest and run back into his cave. Especially small technology without buttons. Yes people, we got touch screen phones!

Kirk was not pleased. He chose the most basic of phones on the display table. One with a flip top, real buttons, not fancy, no bells, no whistles. There was one option in this category. He was thrilled! (This was one of the times the girl laughed at him.) But, wouldn't you know it... they were out of that model. So he was forced into the space age and had to choose between several touch screen phones with... get this... a Qwerty keyboard! Actually I chose the phone and made him get the same model, different color, so I could later explain to him how to use it. I chose pink, his is black.

As we walked out of the store, new phones in hand, he muttered under his breath about how much his new phone sucked. How he was never going to be able to figure it out and how his big ole fingers would never be able to work all those tiny little keys... and the screen! What the hell what that all about? He just didn't get it. Poor Kirk. But, after a few hours of training and lots of accidental calls to his family and friends, I think he likes it.

Now don't get too excited... our phones can text and email and surf the web... but we cannot. There's just no logical way I could justify going for a data plan when we are a one-income family of four and I'm home all day. Yes, I would love to be able to sit outside and be online... checking out Facebook, posting on my blog, emailing, paying bills... blah blah blah... texting while I'm driving, sexting at all hours of the day, sending out naked pictures of myself all over the interwebs..... OH! WAIT! Never mind.... I have two kids to raise, and a house that ALWAYS needs cleaning, and meals to plan, shop for and make... I have no time for a smart phone. I'm barely a smart person!

Our time will come. But it has not yet arrived in the world of the smart phone. I feel it is our duty to at least keep up with the times at a bare minimum for the shear sake that our kids will pass us up before we know it. For now... I will just have a cute phone that CAN do lots of things... and I will peek over the shoulders of my more technologically inclined friends.

One small step for our phones, and one giant leap sideways in technology!
GO US!

Feeling Better

2010-09-11T09:29:00.002-05:00

Well - It's been almost four days, almost an entire box of Alkaseltzer Cold Plus Tablets, several rolls of toilet paper (for Kleenex), and a #2 with no onions and a Coke from Mickey D's and things are finally looking up around here.

I'm not sure if it was the full meal or the cold, fountain soda or the coincidental timing, but after that meal (so thoughtfully brought over by Grandma Lisa) I have been feeling better. After dinner was delivered and my mom left I had this sudden burst of energy. Not only was I sitting up on the couch, as opposed to lying on it for days, but I actually got up and toured the chaos of my house. Holy Crap. A few days of being sick and the house is a disaster. So while I was 'feeling it' I went around with a trash bag in hand and picked up all the trash. Now... why doesn't anyone else around here use the trash can? Or put dishes in the sink? I'm not asking for the trash to be taken out or the dished done, just pick your crap up off the floor! So after a sweep was done of the house I insisted the kids start picking up their toys, also all over the house. By this time a cold sweat had broken out all over my body and I was getting a little tingly.

We quickly got ready for bed, early because we were all worn out from sickness and no naps, and I tried to somewhat straighten up the kids' room. Then Nola says to me, "Well, at least it doesn't look like a disaster in here anymore..." Geeez, they really do listen to everything that comes out of my mouth. Lame!

By the time they were asleep I was done for. I plopped back on the couch and spent the next several hours watching a movie and some mindless TV. Over night the thunder rolled and I was up with Nola. I was drenched in sweat. Literally. Shirt, hair, pillow, sheets - all wet. Yuk! But I was actually feeling better. I guess I sweated it out. And this morning I feel even better still. I finally showered, and I'm like a whole new person. I stripped all our beds and have hot washes going as I type. I opened up all the windows to air out the germs and turned on the fans. Next I will give the kids daytime baths and hopefully get outside a little today. I fear taking Nola out when she's even slightly sick due to the fact that she's prone to the Pneumonia. But so far her breathing has sounded fine.

Overall, I think we're on the mend. Here are a few things I've learned from this sickness:
1. Nola will tell me when Logan has pooped his diaper. (because I can't smell a thing)
2. Kirk does not clean up spills from the floor. (I found many sticky spots while picking up)
3. The kids are getting better at playing together. (at least when they don't have a choice)
4. Coke may actually kill germs! (I will now add fountain soda to my remedy list)
5. Watching cartoons for three days straight is bad for your sanity. (especially when you have to watch the same episodes of Blue's Clues and Bob the Builder over and over and over again)

I hope you are all germ free. I'm going to get back to washing the sheets... and covers... and pillows... and blankets... and toys... and then the dishes... and then the floors... maybe I should just go lay down! **Cough*Cough*Sniff*Sniff**

FotoFriday - 9.10.10

2010-09-10T17:15:00.000-05:00

I'm hella sick - no photos today. Sorry. Maybe next week...

Lame!

2010-09-07T08:14:00.002-05:00

Me: Nola, do you want a cereal bar with your breakfast?
Nola: Lame...
Me: What? I asked you if you wanted a cereal bar with your breakfast... What did you say?
Nola: Lame.
Me: LAME? Did you say lame?
Nola: Lame.
Me: Do you even know what that means? (giggles)
Nola: Lame means, No.
Me: Okay... so no cereal bar then?
Nola: I SAID LAME!

Wow. I can only wait with anticipation for the wonderful things that will come out of her mouth when she's four....

Question for The Masses

2010-09-03T13:26:00.005-05:00

And by The Masses, I mean you three or four people who read this...

If you were to buy photography as art for your home, office, a gift... any reason really, what types of things would persuade you to spend your hard earned money?

I'm thinking of trying to sell some prints of my photography. And in looking through my work I see mostly personal subject matter that I'm not sure The Masses - that's you and all your friends - would necessarily want hanging on their walls. So I think I need to branch out a little and I'm open for suggestions.

Thanks.

FotoFriday - 9.03.10

2010-09-03T08:42:00.003-05:00

Lacecap Hydrangeas. Beautiful flowers from a far as well as close up.

Here is the same photo in black and white. I was just going to post this one, but I really liked the muted greens of the color version as well. Which one is your favorite?

Beany & Buster

2010-09-01T01:53:00.003-05:00

I've been working my butt off trying to finish this photo book for the kids by tonight. It's now 2am and it's DONE! Uploaded, put together and ordered! And FREE! Woo Hoo! The name of the book is:

Beany & Buster
The Adventure of the Magic Wand

Here is the link to the book on Shutterfly:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2ActHLFm3asmVL

Enjoy!
I'm going to bed...

Pictures Pictures Everywhere!

2010-08-28T08:10:00.004-05:00

I have photo albums dedicated solely to each kid. They are the size where four pictures are visible when the pages are open and I have it laid out so each open page (4 pictures) holds a month in the life of that child. Nola's is all in sepia, Logan's is black and white.
What usually happens is that I work really hard on keeping up with these albums for a few months... then nothing. I honestly can't remember when I last worked on their albums. I have to go back through pictures, narrow an entire month down to 4 pictures each, then move them to Photoshop to crop and edit, upload them to Shutterfly or Snapfish, and then order them and wait for the mail to come...
The way it's been going for over a year now is that I wait until I get one of those wonderful coupon emails from a photo-upload site that offers a really good deal on prints. I was JUST thinking about the kids' albums the other day, and damned if I ALMOST didn't start the selection process. But of course I put it off. Then I received an email coupon for 50 free prints which expires in a week or less. So now I have to find the time to get through this whole process ASAP so I can get the 50 free deal!

And Shutterfly decided to surprise me the same day with a free 8x8, 20 page hardback photo book coupon! This one expires in three days! And I have no idea what to create a book of.... Last time I received this offer I complied a bunch of my black and white photos and just made a book. I don't need to do that again because it just sits somewhere, not even sure where it is.... So I was thinking about trying to make a story book for the kids. Either with pictures or my drawings. But I have to really get on top of this idea and get moving... I only have THREE DAYS!

And on top of that I've started another photo project (so far it's mostly just in my mind). My sister Cayce is, and has been, making a quilt for me from Nola's baby clothes. It's technically for Nola but I may not let her touch it until she's grown. So my plan... I always seem to have a plan... is to get pictures of Nola in all the clothes, or outfits, that have gone into the quilt. Then I would like to make a photo book, in digital scrapbook style, of baby Nola wearing the clothes with the quilt squares as the backgrounds and frames. And of course pictures of the actual quilt... and maybe Cayce quilting it. I want it to be a really good memory book. In order to do this I have to really pull out the archives and sift through thousands of digital jpegs to find the outfits and pieces of clothing. It will be a ton of work. Plus I have to photograph the quilt squares and turn them into digital scrapbook papers and frames. It may be an ongoing project for quite some time! But I know it will be worth it in the end.
What I picture is me handing a large, beautifully wrapped box over to my pregnant daughter someday. She opens it and sees the quilt that was put together from her own baby clothes that she can now pass on to her own daughter. We can look through the book that shows her wearing all the different squares at all the stages of her early life. I see smiles, memories, tears... yep, it will all be worth it.
(if she has only boys... well then I'll just give it to her to pass down to her own first granddaughter) Memories here, people! We're making memories!

So, needless to say I have lots of photo-related jobs ahead of me, two of which I should be working on RIGHT NOW! So I'mma get to it!

Oh! Here is a picture of the quilt, not put together, just laid out:

FotoFriday - 8.27.10

2010-08-27T06:49:00.001-05:00

On our go-nowhere-far-away vacation this year we went to the St. Louis Zoo twice. Once in the morning and did one half of the Zoo, the second time in the later afternoon and covered the parts we missed the first time. The second time I was much more entertained. The animals are always the same, mostly. But the people are what really fascinate me. So if you were expecting a Friday post of animals, and probably thinking to yourself "oh goody goody, more animals", never fear, I have something much better today!

This guy was not only interesting in his style and dress, but he was camped out outside the penguin exhibit (which smells like a seafood restaurant baked in the sunshine) and sleeping on the bench with his mouth hanging wide open. I have no idea if he was there with a group, or alone for the adventure. But he obviously paused for some much needed rest.

I do have to say... this dude was only the runner up for the highlight of my trip. Apparently it was also Amish Day at the Zoo.... and the Amish completely, absolutely, fascinate me. It's like a hole in the space time continuum ripped open at the Zoo and out walked a slice of history. I had to make myself stop staring. And all I wanted to do was take pictures of them. But unlike Mr. Sleepy Pants, they weren't passed out on park benches for my picture taking pleasure... so I thought it might be slightly offensive. I did try to sneak a few shots but they didn't turn out very good...

I hope you enjoyed this FotoFriday. Be back next week with something even better, I hope. (Although what will really top this dude?)

It Went Well...

2010-08-22T17:52:00.004-05:00

The party's over. But it went really well. We've had several really fun days with the boy's birthdays, Kirk's vacation and the party.

Thursday was Logan's actual birthday. We woke up and sang happy birthday a few times. Then I made chocolate pancakes (that's Bisquick + hot cocoa powder) in the shape of smiley faces with banana accents. Here's Big Two enjoying his 'cupcakes', which is what he calls pancakes.

Look how long those legs are! Much longer than a two year old needs in my opinion...

Then we let him open some toys - a 50 pack of army men plus tanks and accessories, and a little motorcycle with two little guys. He loved them! Loved them! Thank you Walgreens!

We played for a while then headed to Chuck E. Cheese for the afternoon. Over all it was a good birthday for little man.

Friday was Big Man's birthday. He had gone out the night before to celebrate grown up style with the boys, so when he came home his gifts were waiting in the living room. The kids were really excited for him to open his presents since they helped me pick them out this year. And kudos to Nola for not spilling the beans for almost an entire week!
His first present was the Perfect PushUp. (as seen on TV) He's been all about working out. We've lost him to P90X, we're in week four I think... So I knew he's love this gift. And he did.

The second gift was his real present, which the kids did actually help me pick out. A new Fire Pit! He loves to burn things and our old fire pit is about five years old and completely junked out. It's a shallow bowl type which is now warped and rusted... just old. The new one is a deep cauldron style with a cute criss cross design on the side. More room to burn stuff, looks nicer and will probably last longer.

He loved it. Then it rained all day.... oh well.

Saturday was the party. It started at 3 and I was barely ready. I felt like I was making decisions all day just to get to three o'clock. Shower, or no shower? Shower and wash hair, or shower and not wash hair. Kid's bath before lunch or after? Make up? What to wear? Ice cakes before shower and make up? Some how it all managed to work itself out... even though I was still icing cakes when the first guests arrived. But I was showered, hair done AND make up on. So at least I was presentable while running around like a chicken with it's head cut off...

People came and we gathered outside (Logan still taking his nap for the first hour of the party). Eventually he woke up and we grilled some hotdogs. All the kids got to eat on their ZOO PALS!

We hung out in the back part of the yard where the shade of the pecan tree made it much cooler. There's Kirk in the background putting together his new fire pit.

After some pool, some grub, some playing and chatting we came inside for gifts and cake!

Kirk and Logan, matching in their camo shorts and wife-beater shirts, ready for presents.

Logan loved all his gifts! He was a good opener, and not easily agitated by the two assistants he had (Nola and Allyson). The grown ups were the ones yelling for all the other kids to get out of the way so we could all take pictures... I guess it's just always that way.

After presents we moved onto cake and ice cream.
Going back in time, here are the un-iced cakes, ready to be turned into Zoo Pals

I chose to go with Punky the Monkey and Shelly the Turtle. Here are the results:

I'm very aware that Punky looks more like a bear than a monkey... But I had all of fifteen minutes to whip these suckers out... that left little time for careful details and a slow steady hand. Shelly was all I got done in those 15 min. Then I was doing Punky with an audience and I really just wanted to be done so I could visit... I rushed him a bit.

Logan was asleep for all this so it was a surprise to him when I brought out the two cakes... and he made all the rushing and mistakes okay by exclaiming, "Zoo Pal Cakes!" He didn't care if Punky was a Bear or a Monkey... he just wanted to eat him!

And as the question was being asked around the room, "Turtle or Monkey?" everyone else seemed to enjoy them too. After cake we went back outside for more playing, visiting and pool. When there were the chosen few left behind (kidding, it was just the last people there) we roasted marshmallows on the new fire pit, chased lightning bugs, drank some wine... We wrapped it all up by 8:30. It was really fun. I'm glad we had the party here and I'm SO GLAD that Mother Nature cooperated and took away all the rain that was in the forecast.

Now I'm ready to plan a grown up get together in the yard ... no kids allowed! (But I can still make animal cakes!)

FotoFriday - 8.20.10

2010-08-22T09:57:00.003-05:00

I know, I know... it's a shot of the kid. And it's two days late. But I was very busy this past week since it was the boys' birthday week and we had activities and a party to plan... excuses excuses... blah blah blah. But this isn't your typical shot of a three year old. Although I think it is a typical pose for a three year old. I remember hanging my head off the edge of the couch with my feet up on the wall until I felt like my eyes would pop... just because it was a different sensation. And hey - check out those abs! Would you not kill for those? My three year old has a six pack... boy is her father jealous.

Two Years Ago Today...

2010-08-19T22:55:00.000-05:00

I would like to say that my baby is turning two today, but the truth of the matter is that he's been no where near a baby for some time now. He walks, he talks, he counts, he argues with me, he says the word 'actually'. Babies don't answer a question with, "No. Actually.... Yes!" Babies don't climb into their own car seats. Babies don't wear size 9 shoes. My baby is growing up. Happy Birthday Baby Logan.

After searching through the archives of this blog, looking for some sort of birth story from last year, I realized that I never wrote one. Not even anything about Logan's first birthday. So I looked back to August of 2008 for a post from when he was born and all I found were a few pictures. No story. What a bad mommy/blogger I am! So here goes.... geez, I hope I can remember.

It was two years ago today that we woke up before the sun to drive to the hospital. I had waited and waited for those labor pains, those contractions, that water to break. I waited in vein. After my emergency c-section with Nola I was bound and determined to not have a repeat c-section with baby number 2. The term is VBAC - you can look it up if you want. But in this scenario they (the doctors) get a little nervous if you go too far into your pregnancy or you appear to be having a rather large child. My OB scheduled my repeat c-section for the week after my due date. But as the dates got closer the measurements got bigger and she pushed me to up the date. I did. So it was to happen a week before my due date (I think, the dates were really wacky with this kid, they kept changing my due date... it was complicated) unless I went into labor on my own. I never did.

So with Nola safely at Grandma's house we woke up in the dark to drive to St. Luke's, a hospital we were unfamiliar with (my OB was at MO Baptist and my ultrasounds were all at St. John's - does this pregnancy sound confusing to you yet? it was!). Basically, we got lost. Kirk was driving, it was dark, he was sleepy and they decided to redo Highway 40/64 during my pregnancy to screw with him. Construction, a wrong turn this way, an inability to stop and figure things out... and we were late to the hospital to have our son. I was freaking out in the car... because I HATE to be late to anything, especially something so important as the end of my pregnancy and the birth of my child. I was almost panicking when Kirk tells me, "Just calm down, they obviously can't start until we get there..." He was right.

We arrived late and come to find out my OB, who was also traveling to a hospital she didn't normally go to, was even later than we were. We were there for quite a while actually, and she was still a no-show. The nurses asked me if she knew she was supposed to come to this hospital... As if I needed the added responsibility of keeping up with my doctor while worrying about being cut open in the very near future... Eventually she showed up with some valid reason. And the games began. They got Kirk into scrubs, and prepped me. Off we wheeled into the OR. It was such a strange and unwanted change from the last c-section. With Nola, it was an Emergency. Capital E emergency. It was fast, it was quick, there was no chit chat, no moments to contemplate the surgical knives, the bright lights, the cold OR... I was rushed in, baby out, bing bang boom, here's your daughter. This time it was s-l-o-w....

There was no rush, no hurry. The nurses all took their time to explain everything to me, to show me things I didn't want to see. My doctor was very chitty chatty, apparently while sitting in traffic she had a few cups of coffee (which I would have killed for at that moment because I'd had no sleep). I remember worrying about Kirk. Worrying about the baby. Wishing it would all go faster. They sat me up to give me the epidural and had me lean into Kirk. I was so cold that I don't even remember it hurting. That OR was freezing, especially when you're basically naked. And then they told me that I had to speak the words out loud that I was there for a c-section. The nurse was telling me that my doctor would be asking me, "What operation are we doing today?" and that the correct answer was, "I'm here to have a c-section." They told me this twice. Apparently there have been mix ups where doctors have preformed the incorrect surgeries on patients so it has become policy to have the patient speak it outloud so there is no question... I must say, a real confidence booster in the medical profession, again, while naked and numb from the mid-section down... Like I could get up and walk away now? Anyway... so several other things were said and preparations done.

The my OB says to me something like, "Are we here to have this baby?" and my response was something along the lines of, "Ready when you are..." She says, "So, how are we going to do this?" To which I replied, "Quickly?" They all looked at me like I was a damn fool... And one of the nurses said, "You're supposed to say you're here for a c-section..." Oh yeah! The question you already told me the answer to, twice... Well, she asked the question wrong... and I'm NAKED here people... Cold, naked, and cold... and naked... get on with it already! So I said it.

I remember getting very nauseous. And they gave me some medicine for that in my IV which was hot in my veins. But the nausea went away rather quickly... Oh, I love you IV. And then the party got started. Surgery while you're awake is a very awkward thing. You're looking at the person who is cutting you open... the top of their head anyway. They glance over at you from time to time and smile... just keep your eyes on your work! I could feel pressure of touch but no pain. Amazing epidural. I love you epidural. But... you can however smell the cauterization of your flesh. Yep... I said it... it ain't pretty. And... when it comes time to actually get the little monster out... well, that's not pretty either.

Some one is reaching into you to pull out someone else. Just think on that one for a second... There's only so much room in there. So your organs get a little pushed around. The pressure on your stomach and your lungs is a lot to take. And if you're a breath-holder like I am then you basically feel like you will be passing out the whole time. The nurses kept telling me to breathe. And I'm glad they did because I didn't until each time they told me to. I tend to just hold my breath and tense up in physical situations. But then, the pressure was removed. The weight lifted. And that momentarily felt almost as bad. It was a very strange and empty feeling. But it passed quickly and was replaced by the urgency to know if the baby was okay.

The doctor handed him to the nurse and up in the air he went. And out came his cry. Man did that kid cry! It was loud and long and alive. I briefly saw him before they took him into a side room to check him out. Kirk went too. I just laid there and cried as I took deep breaths.

Then my doctor said to me, "I think you made a REALLY good decision to go with the c-section!"
"Why? Is he really big?" They hadn't officially weighed him yet so I didn't know.
"Well, he looks normal sized, but man, he has a BIG head! That would have hurt!"

And he did. He does. My big headed baby boy! He was eight pounds, one ounce. And all head. He was really skinny and really long. He looked a little like an alien. He had long fingers and long toes. And I kept thinking to myself, 'That means he's going to be really big...' and then I remembered that's what they say about dogs, not babies! Kirk said he looked like Uncle Pauly from the Rocky movies... and he did, in those first few days when babies are all wrinkled and look like the elderly. But he was beautiful. He was born.

And now he's two. Even though he claims he's three. (He refuses to accept the fact that he's two and keeps telling me: No, my two! My thfree, like No-ah!) Sibling solidarity, whadda ya gonna do? I guess he'll just think he's three. People might believe him, he's still huge. Maybe we can get him into kindergarten early!

Birthday Boys

2010-08-16T07:48:00.002-05:00

Coming Soon!

Logan will be TWO on Thursday!
My tiny baby (okay, he's a giant baby) will be a little boy soon. I've been told that he hasn't been a baby for a long time now, but I refuse to accept this bit of information for fear that once I accept the fact that he isn't a baby I may, just maybe, just might, have thoughts of having another one.... Yep I said it. Another baby.
But don't go freaking out yet... there is no way we are having another baby. It has been decided, officially, that we are done. The baby machine is shut down. I just think I would have to entertain thoughts about having more babies (or just one more baby), while knowing it wouldn't happen. Maybe this is why the youngest child in a family gets to be babied much longer than necessary - mothers have to hold onto that feeling that they have a baby in order to squelch the desires to have more. It's mental birth control.

Logan is head over heal crazy about this one particular commercial on television. Zoo Pals. They are paper plates made by Hefty. Simple, and admittedly flimsy, paper plates with animal faces on them. The song is catchy and the commercial is very colorful. So what's a mom to do? Have a Zoo Pals party! I have the cups, I have the plates. I have plans to make balloons to look like them (balloons + sharpies = animal faces on balloons). I also plan to make not one, but two cakes in the shapes of Zoo Pals (which would be a circular pan plus two cupcakes for the ears or feet). Other than that - well, he's two - he won't care. So I will make sure to take lots of pictures of all my little crafty plans. Oink Oink Zoo Pals! Hoot Hoot Zoo Pals! Ribbit Ribbit Zoo Pals! Zoo Pals Make Eating FUN!

Also Coming Soon!

Kirk gets old! Well, as old as me anyway. He is nine months younger than I am so this is the time of year I look forward to. I have 3 whole months where he can't get away with calling me Older, or his Old Lady... yuk! Kirk's birthday is the day after Logan's. I plan on making him enchiladas that day (one of his favorites) and giving him his gift. I would tell you all what I got him because I think Hell would freeze over before he sat down to actually read my blog... but as soon as I posted it Destiny would think she was funny and he'd peek. So you'll have to wait until Friday... But it's a good one, for him anyway.

And Kirk is on vacation this whole week. So far our plans are to get out and do something every other day or so (if it were up to Kirk he's spend every waking hour laying on the couch).
Today: Zoo,
Tuesday: home
Wednesday: Shopping at the Mills, errands, etc.
Thursday: Chuck E Cheese (Logan's Birthday)
Friday: Home, Errands, etc. (Kirk's Birthday)
Saturday: Logan's Partay!
Sunday: Home, clean up, recovery
Monday: Grant's Farm
Tuesday: Home
Wednesday: Logan's two year check up

Well - I guess I'd better get ready for the Zoo....

FotoFriday - 8.13.10

2010-08-13T19:28:00.004-05:00

Well - today is FotoFriday! And guess what? I forgot... So I looked through my camera, and found nothing. I looked through the past month or so's pictures on the computer... still nothing. I was busy today with house stuff and Kirk was working all day so I also didn't have an opportunity to shoot anything new (unless Logan throwing all his crayons down the vent is FotoFriday worthy... no, it's not). So I decided to pick a few of my favorites from the old blog, A Cup of Black & White, that no longer exists... These aren't my all time top favorite five, just the first five I ran across that were favorites.

Nola Playing

Bamboo Fruit Still Life

Rose Bud, or Baby Thorns

Snack Time

Statuesque

Since the photo blog is what inspired me to start the whole FotoFriday thing in the first place, I don't consider it cheating too much to recycle some oldies but goodies. Let's think of it more as a tribute to the old blog, may it rest in peace.

But I really will try to be on top of things next week.

Tom-Ickles (or Pick-Ah-Toes)

2010-08-12T13:46:00.007-05:00

Or Pickled Maters.
All names will work.

I have these super cute, teeny tiny, currant tomatoes in my garden.

Here they are in my hand, so you can see how small they really are... and isn't the way they ripen pretty? In a rainbow almost.

I had so many green ones on the plant, which seemed to be dying off, and I didn't want them to go to waste. So I looked up a recipe for pickled green cherry tomatoes.... supposedly they will taste like pickles. Here is the recipe that I roughly followed. First I gathered and washed all the green ones, and some yellow and orange ones, too.

Then packed them into the jars with some garlic, onion, a hot pepper, and pickling spices.

Then poured the brine (cider vinegar and kosher salt, boiling) into the jars to cover the tomatoes.

And here we have jars of pickled currant tomatoes.... They're now in the refrigerator for at least two weeks... I can't wait! I hope they don't taste horrible. I'm not sure what I will do with them other than eat them straight out of the jar... but who cares. It was fun to do.

They've been in for a week now - only one week to go before the tasting.... will let you know if they turned out okay.

A Cup of Black & White

2010-08-08T13:42:00.003-05:00

I used to have a photo blog. It no longer exists. It was called A Cup of Black & White. I did a 365 photo project where I was supposed to post a photo a day. I almost made it through the year... but I don't think anyone really looked at it. And I'm not sure anyone really looks at this one either... but... I miss my photo blog. It motivated me to take pictures. Not just pictures of the kids and the plants and what not... but pictures with a photographic eye. Fotos.

So I may start a new blog... NO! I'm kidding. Enough is enough. But I may start posting a few more photos here on this blog. I just now (this very second) decided that I will in fact post pictures here with some regularity. I will start a Foto Friday. So on Fridays I will post some pictures. And not the regular snap shotty type if I can help it. But don't judge me if I end up posting pics of the kids... sometimes they are the only things I can get my camera on in a week. But I do think I will try to motivate myself to take more pictures... so, this is my plan.

A Rainbow of Fruit Flavors

2010-08-06T06:45:00.002-05:00

Tomatoes are fruit. We all know this. But so are peppers and okra as well! So apparently I don't have a vegetable garden this year but a fruit garden! And here is a wonderful fruit salad I made the other day.

Chocolate Cherry tomatoes (purple ones), Snow White Cherries (yellow ones), Red Currant tomatoes, and Red Baby Bells (the peppers). All these colorful fruits came from my garden and went into my belly!

Here they are all washed an in a bowl

The I chopped up some avocado (also a fruit) and some lettuce (the lone veggie in my salad) and piled my halved maters and chopped peppers on top. A little oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and OH YEAH - yummy fruit (and lettuce) salad!

I'm going to try some pickling soon... first time ever, wish me luck. I will be pickling some green tomatoes. The tiny currants and small cherries... supposedly they will taste like pickles. I will let you know how that turns out (process to be done soon, final tasting will be in a few weeks).

Venice Triptych Part 4

2010-08-05T10:34:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Kirk took the kids to his Mom's house all day! So after some Target and St. Louis Bread Co. I painted for the entire rest of the day. It was awesome! Unfortunately I have little to show for my efforts other than a few windows, a brick wall and a sore shoulder. I only worked on Panel 2: Waterway. It was the least worked painting in the set.

Here is my progress so far:

At this rate this is gonna be one hellofa Christmas present!

My New Apron

2010-07-31T07:43:00.006-05:00

A while ago I asked Cayce (on Facebook) to make me an apron I saw on one of my favorite blogs: Black&White Delight. I love black and white things... and I love toile... and this apron was both!

Here is the original picture of the apron that I thought was so super cute I couldn't stand it:

And much to my surprise, because I was kindof joking, she started making me an apron. And not only did she make me one, but she made a matching one for Nola too!

Here is her blog post of the aprons:
Black & White & Cute All Over

If I get around to it I may put up a picture of me in the apron... I just don't have one right now.

But a Woo Hoo and a Thank You to Cayce - my very own personal seamstress!

Hey Sweet Cheeks!

2010-07-29T07:48:00.002-05:00

So I was sitting in the living room and in walks Sweet Cheeks. Cute as ever, diaper hanging a little low, hand on hips (you take for granted that we automatically know how to stand with our hands on our hips... apparently it takes a little guess work).
So I said to him, "Hey Sweet Cheeks!"
And he quickly spun around, hands still on butt and scowl on face and said, "My NO Sweee Keeks!"
And when he turned back around in toddler anger, I took his Sweet Ass Picture!
Take that little boy!

And like a good mother, I didn't rush to pull up his diaper or fix his shirt. I sat there with my camera hoping for another good photo op! He found his construction hat and added that to his Sweet Ass costume - perfect! If only he had a tool belt... oh well.
At some point he turned and got entranced in the television. He had this stance that just screamed Construction Worker! Shoulders back, hat hangin' to the side, legs apart, butt crack peekin' out - Fabulous! So I took myself another picture. I'm working on my Mom of the Year Award....

So, from Logan to you: "Hey Sweet Cheeks!"

Venice Triptych Part 3

2010-07-24T07:28:00.003-05:00

All about the color this week! I posted Seeing Red(sauce) and The Color Purple, now I'm finally getting around to showing you the color I've put on my paintings. (well, Cayce's paintings)

Here's the window, which is the least painted. Basically a few layers of washing for the background... That's it. But! I did find the perfect window at the Zoo to correct any perspective mistakes I may have made in this one... and I'm sure there are some. I took a picture of the window on the Bird House (which is probably not the official name of the building) for a reference. So this painting may change a bit before the next time you see it.

And we have the middle painting, very much color blocked in. The very beginnings of details down in the bottom left corner is about all I've done here... I'm noticing my lines and angles are slightly - off. So I need to possibly put it up high (like it would be on a wall) and check the angles before moving one too much further. And don't worry - the colors are only the first layer, there won't be bright yellow or red buildings.

And we come to my most completed - the Doorway. As with the other, the angles all need to be checked for proper perspective and adjusted slightly... But I like the colors this one has so far, even though who knows how many more layers and colors will find there way onto it before it's all over.

So there are the first inklings of color. I threw out my back over a month ago and was out for a week - yesterday I re-injured it. Not as bad as the first time, but I don't think I'll be sitting at an easel for several days. So it may be over a week for another progress report. And even though it's been a long time since I last posted about the paintings, this is only about 4 days (2 hours at a time max) worth of painting.... I wish I had more time....

The Color Purple

2010-07-23T13:52:00.003-05:00

Purple Pole Beans! My arbor is finally covered in bean plants, and the plants are finally covered in teeny tiny beans! The first to grow up are the purple pole beans. I've seen some Lima and a few regular green beans too. The purple are just so pretty! The vines are dark purple and the flowers on the plant are a bright, lighter purple. And the beans - as you see above - are almost a metallic bright purple. The camera couldn't do them justice... I tired. So I steamed them and they turned green. I knew they were supposed to but was still slightly disappointed when they didn't stay so pretty.

And here is my okra crop - regular green ones and burgundy. I know it's not purple, but let's just say that burgundy is a shade of purple for the sake of my catchy post title. They also turned green after being steamed. But were still yummy. The larger ones were too woody but the small ones were melt-in-your-mouth delicious. (Or, more accurately for those non-okra-lovers out there, they were slime-in-your-mouth fantastic.)

Eating purple things is awesome! Even if they do turn green after cooking....

Seeing Red(sauce)

2010-07-21T12:35:00.005-05:00

Well - first of all - here are all the types of squash from the garden, just showing them to you all together.

Okay! Now on to the tomatoes! Some of these are mine, but most are from my mom's tomato jungle.

I've never made my own read sauce. I've never really made anything from my garden tomatoes except slices. I usually don't get enough to go through any real trouble. But since I was given all these tomatoes I figured I would give some red sauce a try. So since I don't follow recipes well but had no idea what to do, I just looked up 'red sauce to freeze' on Google. I read about five or six versions of what to do. Then I just went into the kitchen to give it a shot.

First you have to peel the tomatoes. In order to do that you blanch them (drop into boiling water for about a min, or until the skin splits - then drop into ice water to cool off). So I ended up with a pile if skinless tomatoes - which I will say look like hearts, and feel kinda gross... but hey - whatever. My fingernails looked like I had been bleeding. Okay, yuk - back to the food!

After they were peeled I had to core them, get the seeds out, and cut them into chunks. This is about an 8-10 qt bowl of tomato meat.

I sauteed some onion - about one medium, and about five gloves garlic. Took those out of the pan and added the tomatoes. I let them cook as I mushed them. About 30 min, till they were softer.

Then I went outside and picked some herbs - basil, oregano and thyme. Chopped those up and added them into the tomatoes. Added a little sugar because that's what everyone else did (but I forgot how much, so I just threw in a palm full).

After this I started thinking it was too chunky. Which is a-okay with me, but if I wanted my kids to eat this, which of course I did, it would need to loose the chunks.
Tomatoes = Bad. Red = Good.
So I ladled it out and into the food processor. A couple of spins later it was back in the pan. I also put the onion garlic mixture into the food processor and gave them a whirl. And then I got tricky! I grabbed some cooked carrots (cause orange is pretty much red people!) and gave them a whirl and added them to the sauce as well. More secret veggies for the kiddos - they'll never know. For that matter, neither will the husband. All in and on the stove for some slow cooking and reducing. I put the flame on low and just let is sit for about two hours, stirring every once in a while.

And after a couple of hours and some flavor adjustments - it was too sweet and I had to counter with vinagar and salt - I let it cool on the stove for about 30 min. Then I got it ready to freeze. About 2 - 2 1/2 cups in each freezer bag and about 2 or more cups into 1 1/2 ice cube trays. (I always freeze red sauce in ice cube trays and then pop the cubes out and into a freezer bag for quick use - otherwise I would waste a lot, which I used to do all the time.)

So that is my first ever red sauce. I think I will leave out the sugar and basil next time due to the sweet factor - I'm not a fan of sweet red sauce. Husband said it tasted just like REAL red sauce... go figure!

You can freeze it for up to a year - but I'm sure we will have eaten it way before then!

Next up - purple pole beans (they're so purple!)

Color Me Bad

2010-07-20T14:50:00.003-05:00

Not the awesomely bad 90's group - Color Me Bad the Art Project

My mom got married ... well... I don't remember when it was, a few months ago? maybe? Either way, she went away to Nebraska and invited no one. Do I sound bitter? I am a little, but I'm mostly over it. Back to my point here... they decided to have a reception type thing here in the Lou in their back yard for the family. So I decided to help the kids make some cards for them... it's what we do.

So I took some pictures from their wedding (the one I wasn't at) and did a little of this and a little of that in Photoshop and voila - pictures for the kids to color. I printed them out on heavy paper, folded it over and got out the bucket of crayons.

Nola decided Grandma's hair would look good in pink...

Logan chose to go with some yellow for the faces...

They both colored the insides as well...

And the final product - cards for Mr. & Mrs. Grandpa and Grandma:

I think I want to use this technique to make coloring books for them. It was super easy!

Seasonal Projects

2010-07-18T12:01:00.006-05:00

I keep adding new projects onto my mental to-do list... I think it's a mile long already! I just spend too much time online looking at what other people are doing (projects, art, sewing, recipes, etc.) and I want to do them all myself!

I tend to spend more time gardening and reading in the the Spring. Planting new seeds, uncovering last years beds, planning new beds and dreaming of vegetables. And this Spring I really started reading again, much to my liking. It had been way too long since I read more than one book in a several month span. And the beginning of this year has seen at least 15 books!

The Summer gets so hot and the kids want to be outside all the time. The plants are all planted and there isn't much to do but wait and harvest... So this year I started painting. I hope to keep it up, even if it becomes a smaller hobby once my current project is finished. But I already have part of my room set up for it, so I might as well keep it that way. And my reading binge has come to a halt. There's something not so appealing about trying to loose yourself in a book while covered in mosquitoes and dripping sweat. But I do have the harvest to look forward to - lots of cooking and freezing for the Winter.

The Fall is when I really start cooking and getting out the yarn. There are so many things to make to stay warm and make the house all good smelling. And candles! Fall is a great time for burning candles all over the house. Maybe this year I will try to maintain my habits of reading and painting into the Fall as well. Fall is also when I start scouting out the locals for a pregnant person to make a baby blanket for.... This year, so far, I don't have a candidate.

And Winter is all about staying inside and crocheting something, blankets, scarves, whatever - I just love to have the warm fuzzy project in my hands. This year I have several ideas piled up. I want to make some dolls for the kids... also possibly for other people's kids if they aren't too hard to make (hello! Christmas presents!).
(side note to all crafty folk out there: I found this awesome blog that stemmed my ideas for the dolls. It's called Dolly Donations. If you have it in you to be crafty and like making things, you should totally check this out! Or just check it out anyway and maybe it will inspire you to be crafty and generous as well.)

And there are the ever-ongoing-never-finished projects. I have photography ideas that could go on forever. Hopefully these will pan out and either turn into some sort of income earning source or if nothing else, more Christmas presents for friends and family.

Right now I have the photo projects I'm working on and the paintings for Cayce's house. I should probably be working on those instead of typing here...

Flora & Fauna

2010-07-15T08:48:00.003-05:00

We went to the Zoo the other day. And here are a few pictures of some animals...
I must say, the Okapi and the Zebra are my favorites but I can never get a good picture of the Okapi - they're always hiding in the back. Oh, if only I had a telephoto lens.... But the Zebra showed me his true colors.

Even their butt stripes amaze me. The patterns of a zebra are impressive, even the bootie ones!
And then we saw a lioness in a tree - first time seeing that at the zoo.

And we visited the Stingray Exhibit. Those suckers were big!

And you could touch them and feed them. They were so slimy! I was shocked, even though I have no idea what I expected, of course they would be slimy! But it still made me say, "Eeewww!"

The kids were somewhere between awed and bored. But they talked about it later like it was really cool.

And the classic Saint Louis Zoo shot - kids in front of the Giant Gorilla Statue.

And this year is the 100 year anniversary of the Zoo - so we had to get this shot... Look how adorable they are!

And moving on to the Flora...

My Fairy squash! I have about six so far.

And the yellow one is a One Ball, and the tomatoes of course... the garden is being good to me so far. My window sill is full!

The one ball was yummy - and so were the Fairy squash.

They taste like acorn squash, if you've ever had those. And you cook it the same as well.
So that is my flora and fauna for now... hope you've enjoyed it.

Venice Triptych Part 2

2010-07-12T15:33:00.003-05:00

I finished all the sketches for the three panels. Here they are.
Panel 1: Window
Panel 2: Waterway
Panel 3: Doorway

And now that they are all finished and ready for some real painting to begin, I don't like the Window. The other two are angles and use lots of perspective, the window is flat facing and not as matchy matchy with the others.... what to do? what to do?

Flip the board over and do it all over again!
Here is the new and improved Panel 1: Window:

This Window is on an angle, which also angles toward the middle panel, as the Doorway does. It uses persepective, and let's face it, it just looks better. I was trying to think of the last time I painted (not in finger paints or tempera) and I think it was when I was pregnant with Nola (she's almost 4 people!)... so I guess the first side of panel 1 can just be chalked up to practice...

Here are the three panels, together at last. These are just sketches so lots more will go into them as the colors go on. I can't wait until after the kids go to bed tonight so I can get out some colors!

The Painting Begins!

2010-07-09T20:35:00.005-05:00

So I'm finally going to start the painting project I mentioned a bazillion years ago (or last month - whenever). I'm going to paint a picture for my sister Cayce. It will be in her living room for all to see... assuming it doesn't turn out looking like yesterday's trash...

We finally (we meaning them not me) decided on size, layout and content.
And the verdict was a triptych!
A 30 x 30 middle square with 15 x 30 rectangles on either side. The painting will be a romantic Venice theme. Scott, the brother in law, went to Italy at some point and took lots of photos, some of which were at strange angles for some odd reason (inside joke folks, ask Cayce about her husband's photo theory). Anyway - we went through the photo album and found lots of pictures for me to reference for the three pieces. I think there will be some sort of passage way in the center square, a bridge over a water way flanked by buildings. One side piece will have a doorway above the water. The other side piece will have an arched window on an interesting wall. All in very romantic Tuscan colors and hopefully it won't suck.

So to begin the documentation of the project I will include for you the very first stage... the FINALLY cut boards!

And here are the paint sketches for the first two panels:

***Cayce: please feel free to critique or dictate changes if you see something that isn't to your liking - this will, after all, be large and in charge in your living room.***

Fireworks!

2010-07-05T08:56:00.005-05:00

Kirk was working so the kids and I decided to hang out in the back and front yards together and watch the fireworks... we had a lot of fun! I let them nap for as long as they wanted since we would be staying up late. It worked out pretty good. We went outside around 8pm. And then Nola started asking where the fireworks were around 8:05pm.

They started around 9pm or so... and instantly Nola was scared. She had to sit on my lap - hence the poor firework photography (these were the ONLY ones I got so I just combined them all into a collage). Logan thought it was the coolest thing he's ever seen! He kept yelling out random colors and shapes, "RED CIRCLE!" "BLOO STAR!" and of course, "FIREWORKS!" Nola kept her hands on her ears the entire time and Logan, who must always do what his big sister does, kept his hands somewhere on his head in solidarity. He didn't even know what he was doing... funny.

But we ended up seeing all of two different displays that were both really good. Someday we may venture off our property for the festivities, but for now, this worked out perfectly.

Happy Fourth to you all.

Squish Squash!

2010-07-04T22:37:00.006-05:00

I am beside myself with disappointment. The dreaded squash bugs are back. Last year they wiped out all my squash plants... I think I only got a few squash total. This year I was hoping to avoid them. I planted the fairy squash, which is supposed to be resistant to the evil squash bug. I also planted onions around my squash because I read that worked in keeping the SqBugs away. No such luck. They are here. And in abundance. They seriously make my skin crawl. They are so gross and creepy and they move so fast... thank goodness they don't fly - I would freak out! Just look at these nasty creatures! Told you!

I will give credit to the Fairy Squash - it does seem to be unaffected (so far). The summer squashes are not so lucky. I did however get a few. Here is my first, and probably only, EightBall squash along with a yellow crook-neck. I have a few more on the plants which I will probably harvest early to avoid them being eaten or killed.

I have been picking them early, like I said, so it isn't a huge one - but still a good size.

And here is the 8Ball - I think this is the appropriate size to pick it - this is the first year of growing these...

And one more shot of the happy couple before they go under the knife...

And here they are - ready to go into the frying pan with a little butter, EVOO, s&p....

They were absolutely delicioso! I think they taste even better when they are picked young... I really hope I get a few more before it's all said and done. I plan on having Kirk just dig out all the summer squash plants and pitching them due to the bastard bugs.... But I am keeping the hope alive for the winter squash (the fairy) - I have about 4-6 almost ready for picking...

(I will have a fireworks post tomorrow... we had lots of fun.)

Holy Tomatoes!

2010-07-02T12:06:00.002-05:00

Most people say that you're lucky to get a red tomato before the forth of July... well people, I must be lucky! Here are some of the tomatoes I picked yesterday... I ate about three of them before I thought to take their picture. This bowl contains at least 3 varieties, probably 4. So while the kids wanted the classic PB&Js for lunch today I couldn't pass up eating some of my fresh tomatoes!

I picked three, the really grooved one, which I think is an heirloom of some kind, and two of the smaller ones.. I have no idea what type they are. I cut them in half (you should always cut them across the middles, not from top to bottom, to get all the seeds and goo out - it's a lot easier!) - look how red an juicy! YUM!

Then I cut them into bite sized pieces and added just a touch of red wine vinegar and a drop or three of extra virgin olive oil, and of course some salt and pepper.

So yummy I couldn't stand it! Having all three types of tomatoes in the same salad was really good! Some are tangier and some sweeter than others. It was a really yummy lunch that I grew from seed in my backyard. Now that's good stuff!

New Photo Project!

2010-06-24T08:06:00.004-05:00

While surfing the net for images for a totally separate project I came across this image that made me SO WANT to do a project like this!

Check it out HERE.

I really, really want to do this... So if you see me on your doorstep soon with my camera, please don't call the police... I'm just collecting 'door' pictures....

In My Garden

2010-06-22T14:39:00.004-05:00

My Gladiolas are finally in bloom. All along the fence and bright, fiery red.

And here is Logan showing you how big the veggie garden is getting:

Above are the squash plants, just as tall as he is. And below are some of the tomatoes, much taller than him. And I have tons of green tomatoes just waiting to turn. A few have begun to turn slightly orange and pink - but I'm waiting for the red explosion!

And almost an afterthought this year is the herb garden. Here is some thyme. I don't use it much, not this kind. A little oregano in the back ground, I will use that more I think...

But here is my favorite herb/ground cover ever! Elfin Thyme. Possibly my favorite plant ever, but like music and songs, it's hard to choose just one... but Elfin thyme is for sure in the top five.
I have it growing (slowly, oh so slowly) between the paving stones of the patio I made last summer... did I mention I made this patio ALL BY MYSELF? I did. Me. Just me.

Here is a close up of all the tiny, tiny leaves... I love this stuff. You can walk on it, it comes back every year, and it smells really good. I assume you could use it in cooking, but I wouldn't dare take any from the patio since it grows so slowly.

And the back of my yard... mostly in shade, no real grass grows on a consistent basis but something else does. Another of my very favorites... moss. I love moss. It's like soft carpet under your feet. I have a project for this summer (and I hope to get around to it sooner than later). I found it in one of my Organic Gardening magazine issues. You take a cement bowl, or pot, or urn - which ever vessel works for you... You fill it with a rounded mound of dirt and cover it with a layer of moss. Sounds simple, boring even... but I think it will be beautiful. It should come back every year, and if not, I have an abundance of moss in my yard to replenish it. Here is such a patch of my lovely moss:

Just wanted to say that I love Moss and Thyme.

Coloring

2010-06-22T08:16:00.003-05:00

We color around here just about every day... which means I pick hundreds of crayons off the floor just about every day... We have moved on from crayons to markers. And then back to crayons after I found Little Man with his arms colored from fingers to elbows in hot pink marker... But how else am I going to teach them to be little artists unless I let them make a giant mess once in a while. And every so often I get a reward.
Here is one of Nola's marker drawings:

Explanation from the artist: This is the sun (in orange) drawn first because it was a sunny day. Then a rain cloud came (gray blob at top) and made it a rainy day. Then the rain droplets (blue circles in front of the sun) came down and it rained ALL OVER the grass (green squiggle at bottom).
I think she's the next Van Gogh!

And here is one she made just for me:

Mama & Nola
I have no idea who is who, but we both look fabulous, don't you think!

And from time to time I have to bust out my skillz and color with the chillins too. What usually happens is that we all sit down to color. I start some drawing or whatnot while they whip out four or five drawings a piece. They're done and take off to do other things and I am left alone at the table coloring with crayons... happy as can be, I might add.

Here is a crayon drawing I did of Nola. She was pouting about something and when else can I get her to sit so still? So I drew her.

I also usually take requests while coloring... This one is a request from Nola for an Apple Tree:

And what else can you do when you're done coloring, have no pants on, have thrown all your crayons and markers around the room?
Table surf. Yep, that's right! Climb up on the table, lay on your belly and ride the wave.

I swear I have a handle on my kids... really I do!

BloomTastic!

2010-06-12T10:47:00.002-05:00

My gladiolas are about to bloom. I've never grown these before and I'm not entirely sure what to expect from them... but the brilliant fire red that's peeking out is exciting. It's so bright. I can't wait for the towers of color to explode from them... there was supposed to be yellows and oranges in them as well... we shall have to wait and see...

And my baby rose has grown into a young woman! She has bloomed!

One single bud, one single bloom... but OH SO GORGEOUS!

It's all very Bloom-tastic!

Garden Update

2010-06-09T08:32:00.009-05:00

Here is my veggie garden. So far this year the plants that have made it into the garden are squash, tomatoes, peppers, okra and beans.

Here is a shot of my squash patch (with Little Man in the background)

One of the cool things about growing squash - they reach out and grab you!

Here is one of the four varieties I have, One Ball. They grow in little globes about the size of billiard balls. I have another called Eight Ball that is green.

And then I have Fairy Squash. Much like an Acorn Squash in type and eatable possibilities but grows to the shape of a little fairy house.... cute!

And here is the side of the garden where the tomatoes live.

I have about 10 varieties (I think). The confusion is still sorting itself out as the tomatoes actually grow. What I thought was one type will sometimes turn out to be another... oops. I'm just proud that everything this year has been grown from seed.

Here is what I think is a Marinara Tomato.

And here is a Super Marzano (which is a giant Roma style). You can tell that they are already starting their roma shape... cool!

And here is some Okra. I have two types, a regular Clemson Green variety and this one, the Organic Burgundy.... I'm really excited to see burgundy okra! It won't start to produce until mis summer.... boo...

And onto the flowers... Here is a new addition to the yard this year. A lily. It's really big, bigger than my hand. A little more tropical looking that I was hoping for, but pretty non the less.

And my Flora Pride and Joy..... The rose I grew from a clipping in my window sill for almost a year... then planted into a pot and nurtured indoors for months... then nervously planted outside in the wild of my back yard, hoping the whole time it would live and thrive....
It now has a BLOOM! A bloom! My very first rose bud. I could tear up... but I won't.

And here is the whole little plant.... I love it so!

And then there are these two things that keep growing my yard... can't seem to get rid of them... pesky little things, even though I love them!

My kids are goofballs!

And now we come to the good stuff...

WHEN VEGGIE GARDENS ATTACK!

I was making a new fence for the beans and the squash and the wire mesh got away from me... And then attacked my hand. It bled like crazy! But I'm fine... no worries....

So that is my garden update for now.... I hope to be back in a few weeks with red tomatoes and tiny okra to show you.... and beans, now that I have fenced them in from the evil little bunnies that live in my yard....

Happy Gardening Everyone!

Links that are worth checking out:
Fairy Squash post by Homeward Garden Plot 41
Eight Ball Zucchini Parmesan Recipe
Okra... - article by Alice Yeager
Burgundy Okra Shoestring Fries - recipe

BLT Pasta Recipe

2010-06-08T06:52:00.009-05:00

I found a recipe for a BLT pasta in a freeby magazine from the mail. I don't like to follow recipes... I like the ideas, but don't care for the exacts. So I got this idea for a BLT pasta and here is what I did with it. (If you are a measurement, specific, instruction following type, just look up a version of this - there are sure to be plenty.)

First, I took about 6 slices of bacon

Cut and pan fried them. That is, of course, the 'B' in the dish.

Then we have our 'L' and our 'T'... The magazine recipe used leeks as it's L... but also included spinach. So I chose to go with just the spinach Leaves as my L. And grape tomatoes, halved, are our T. I also have onion, just a slice the size of an orange wedge, basil from the garden, and garlic. I love garlic and have no reason not to use it in excess.... for those of you still worried about your breath - you may want to lessen the amount (I used six cloves). You will also need about 1 cup of chicken stock.

Look at these tomatoes! I can't wait until I have fresh ones from my garden to use!

And we have our pasta. The recipe called for a pasta I had never heard of and, not surprisingly, that my grocery store did not carry. I opted for this noodle - my kids love it.

They're like noodle straws... fun! And they hold the sauce in really well.

So, to get to cooking. Cook your bacon and set it aside, removing most, but not all, of the bacon grease from the pan. Start your pasta cooking, this type takes a little longer than regular spaghetti. Chop the onion and toss it into the pan. After it has become clear, add the garlic and bacon back in. After about 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly so the garlic doesn't burn, add your tomatoes. Let them heat up just a bit and then add the liquid. Stir and let come to a simmer.

Once your pasta is done (to an al dente state) drain it. Surely this is obvious.... Then add your basil, chopped, and your spinach to the sauce.

Stir gently as the spinach wilts. Once all is incorporated the sauce will look very liquidy and you may think to yourself, 'There is nothing to thicken this up... what did I do wrong?' Don't worry! Just toss in your noodles. Fold it over itself a few times to mix it all up. Turn off the heat and let it sit for about 10 minutes, folding every few minutes. During this 10 minutes you can get the table ready, make some garlic bread, shave your legs, I don't care.... just let the noodles soak up the sauce....

And then.... and then.... here you have it:

BLT Pasta!
It was so yummy.
I loved it, the husband loved it, and the kids ate some....
which is all I can ask from picky little ones anyway.

I hope you make this for yourself and let me know if you do - and even more so if you have any improvements to add!

My Life is Falling Apart

2010-06-06T08:15:00.002-05:00

Okay - so my life is just fine... but all the things in my life are falling apart.

Here is a list:
1. My Car - currently NOT working.
2. My Computer - always giving me problems!
3. My Remote Control - works most of the time, but sometimes, does not.
4. The Satellite in my Bedroom - my fault cause we never re-hooked it up after switching rooms around... but still NOT working.
5. My Weight loss Plan - okay, this one it totally my fault... but also NOT working!

I need to get my car fixed, buy a new computer, order a new remote and hook up my satellite TV in the bedroom.... maybe after all that I will have lost a pound or two!

Seriously - if anyone knows about modern technology (cause I am a little slow on the uptake in this department) help me out. I need a new computer and really just don't know where to start.... It's been a while since I bought my last computer (hence the major problems) and I'm out of practice and out of the loop.

Five Years of Wedded Bliss

2010-05-30T13:51:00.002-05:00

Here we are - five years married... We sure are cute.

And I think I'm a rockstar!

Happy Anniversary to ME!

Totally LOST (spoilers abound!)

2010-05-24T12:24:00.005-05:00

So what the hell folks? I want to hear all of your theories, questions, gripes, praises... Everyone on Facebook is trying to skirt around the meat of the issue so as not to spoil the show for those DVR-ers out there who are slacking.... I want to hear it!

So bring it!

I will say that I am full of questions, and slightly disappointed by the lack of answers... I agree with leaving some things up to the viewers interpretation... how else would they get people all over the world into heated discussions today, right? But answer SOME stuff directly people! I liked that everyone (dead and alive) got to be with who they were supposed to be with in the end... specifically Sawyer and Juliet... cause I'm in love with Sawyer and was so sad for him when he lost Kate... then when I saw the love between him and Juliet, I thought - HA! Kate! Take that! Now you're stuck with wishy-washy Jack! Then she freakin died! Poor Sawyer... Now he has his Juliet back. Aweeee... But seriously, I did like that they at least wrapped everyone up into happy little packages at the end... I was just hoping for something a little more complicated than a 'walk into the light' scene.... "Go into the light, Sawyer-Anne.. Go into the LIGHT!"

So, bring it! What do you all think?

Here is the link from the comments section:
EW: LOST finale recap

Possible Painting Project

2010-05-22T07:48:00.003-05:00

So I may have a painting project in my future. I'm just not at a place in life where I feel I can get out all my 'stuff' for painting when I have no reason to paint. Yeah, yeah, I know... painting is for personal pleasure - I get that... and I agree. But with children running around and messing with my stuff, and no where to put whatever painting I produce, I'm just not inclined to start a painting just to store it in the basement with all the others. So then Cayce, my sister, (Everyday Adventures with Allyson & Molly) said she needed a painting for her living room. She found a painting in a catalog that she really likes. Here it is:

this is from http://www.homedecorators.com/

So I will use it as inspiration to paint her something for her living room. Once she buys me the canvas that is. If I had one laying around I would use it - but I don't.
I'm excited about starting a new painting... and one like this will be fun. There's nothing I love more in painting than shading and shadows! Hours and hours of the same colors that magically transform into a three dimensional space.

The Mister

2010-05-19T21:38:00.005-05:00

Took some pictures of the Mister the other day. Getting ready for work. I just think he's mighty nice to look at and thought you might want to see too. That's all.

Ain't he purdy? Looks like one a dem fellers on the TeeVee!

It Begins Again

2010-05-16T14:34:00.003-05:00

Okay - again... I will try to loose some weight. I have at least 50 pounds to loose. I guess I should do something more than crossing my fingers and wishing on stars. I sure wish I had a magic solution. I'm really too lazy to loose weight. I has taken me about 6 years to gather up all this extra poundage... Well, Wait. No, that's wrong. I'm the same weight as I was five years ago. I have gained and lost about 75 pounds in those five years, but I guess it was the two years prior when I gained the fabulous fifty. I've had two babies in those five years and I still weigh what I did pre-pregnancy. It doesn't look the same, but the numbers are the same. I haven't continued to gain weight I just haven't lost any (other than the small person that I gained during my first pregnancy - and I don't mean my kid!)

So again I will begin a mission of weight loss. What will I do? Nothing major. I'm just not the kind of person who can get into any routine if it's a drastic change from the norm. I have to take babysteps. So I will just pick a few lifestyle changes (maybe 5 or 6) and slowly incorporate them into my daily life.
Here are a few off the top of my head:
1. Ride my stationary bike for at least 15 min a day
2. Eat less (smaller portions)
3. Drink more water
4. Stop eating by a certain time (9pm)
5. Start walking more
6. Some kind of muscle training... they're in there somewhere...

Simple, yes. But am I doing any of them now? No.

First I will work on my bike riding. I love a challenge or a competition and my bike keeps track of mileage, calories, speed, all that jazz. So I'm going to unhook the bike's computer completely to reset the odometer and see how many miles I have to go to loose all this weight. I think I will be more prone to get on the bike if I'm trying to increase the mileage. Once I'm used to this step, in a few weeks, I will add another. Then another. I have started this type of system with my housework habits and it seems to be working for me. Most things just don't seem to work out for me. So I'm hoping since this baby-step plan is working in one aspect of my life it will also begin to work in another.

So, here I go.

Old Friend

2010-05-15T11:29:00.004-05:00

Old Friend
~my travel easel~

I have decided that I should start to paint again. Because I really need another thing to keep up with - Ha! But seriously, I haven't painted anything in years that didn't involve construction paper or tempera paints. And I think it's about time I give it a try.
I went down into the dark corner of the basement and unearthed my old friend. The Travel Easel. I bought this with my own money (it wasn't cheap) back when I worked at an art supply store for just above minimum wage. It was a major purchase. And I love it. It's sturdy, compact, and portable. It even has a drawer for carrying all my paints (which I have yet to find in the basement).
I brought this upstairs to the great interest of my kids. They wanted to inspect it, open it, mess with it, break it. So we opened it up and I gave them a tour of the extend-able legs, the opening latches, the remains of what was left in the drawer - they loved it. Then I banned them from touching it and put it away in my bedroom. I know I will not be able to paint with them awake until they are used to this new object being around but maybe I can get some time with my old friend after dark. And if I do I will try and photo document my painting attempts.

The Face of Genius

2010-05-14T06:50:00.002-05:00

I think that Logan might just, may be, possibly is... a damn genius!

He's the cutest thing in the world, most of the time. And overall he has a very good nature about him, mostly smiley and giggly. Lately he's started showing signs that his giant head may be of more use than just throwing off his balance. He's always been a good communicator. I've known what he was trying to say for a long time. As expected, he's been picking up new words every day. He puts two words together, rarely but sometimes three... usually it's just tacking a name to the end of a command or request: Nigh-Nigh Mama... Bye Bye Papa... Sauwwy Noah (sorry Nola)... etc.

And recently I've noticed his knack for retention. I tell him something one time and he remembers... like letters and numbers. He was sitting on my lap the other day and making noise, I wasn't really paying attention to him. Then I realized what he was saying: letters.
"Oh. Oh. Gee. Dee. Oh. Oh." My shirt said GOOD JOB on it.
He was reading the letters from my friggin shirt! And subsequently I've tested his ability and he has continued to impress. "El. Oh. Gee. Aye. En." LOGAN! Frankly, it's freaking me out.

I'm not sure he's supposed to be knowing this stuff yet. Maybe he is... I honestly can't remember when Nola started reading letters, or counting... (I know! I KNOW! You're not supposed to compare children to each other... blah blah whatever!) So now, little smarty pants has started counting. Counting! He can't speaking in sentences, yet he's counting. In the backyard the other day he was counting. Of his own accord he was running along the posts in the chain link fence and as he ran by them he would count (not always correctly, but neither does my 3 1/2 year old). "Two. Two. Free. Four. Five." ...running running running, all by himself along the fence... "Ayyy. Nigh. TEN!" Holy Crap. Holy Shit. He just counted to ten. COUNTED TO TEN! Freaking me OUT!

My Little Genius. He'll be the smartest player Da BEARS have ever seen!

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T19:34:00.003-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to Me
Happy Mother's Day to Me
Happy Mother's Day Dear Janae
Happy Mother's Day to Me!

Had a good day today. Really. Didn't start out too well though...

Usually Kirk works on every holiday know to man, but he was off this one. I woke up with the kids. He tried but couldn't resist the snooze feature on his cell phone alarm clock. And ironically ended up waking the kids up earlier than they would normally have risen due to his alarm. The thought counts here, according to him. Not to me. I knew he wasn't going to wake up with them and was planning to get up anyway - wish he wouldn't have set his alarm at all. So my Mother's Day started around 6:15. Whoopie!

So around 9 he gets up (because I asked him to). He got me a card, a bottle of wine, a bag of beef jerky and a balloon on a stick. The balloon part has become somewhat of a tradition with us for some reason, probably because they are readily available at Walgreens (as are cards and wine and beef jerky). But this year I assumed he would get two - they really aren't for me even though they say Happy Mother's Day on them. But no, just one. Can you guess what instantly happened? One balloon, two kids. The Battle of Mother's Day began. Within five minutes of crying, screaming and hearing 'mine' a thousand times the balloon was now a two part balloon. No one was happy.

So once the Balloon War was over and we were all calm (oh, I chose not to open my card upon receiving it because I was mad and didn't want to come off completely ungrateful) we tried to figure out what to do with our day.
I asked Nola what she thought we should do and she said, "Go somewhere."
Where? I asked her what she thought I would like to do, where I would like to go?
She said, "Well, Mama, you like to clean the house."
What else?
"You like to make us all food."
Ha ha ha... What else?
"You like to plant stuff."
Well, you got one out of three! Where should we go?
"Home Depot! They have plantin stuff there!"
Sounds good to me. (I needed tomato cages)
"Can we go after that to somewhere and look at lots of toys?"
Maybe...

So we went to Home Depot, then to Target. I also needed new underwear. Then out to eat at El Maguey - Yum Yum Yummiest! (still have leftover tamales for later!) Then home. And then it started to get really good! Kirk watched the kids and I got to do yard work. All by myself! With no little helper, and no littler helper! I actually got all my plants planted! Now he's giving them a bath and I'm blogging about my day (with a glass of wine). So all in all it was a very good Mother's Day.

Recap of what I got:
a very sweet and funny card (which I read later when I was in a good mood)
a bottle of wine
a balloon on a stick
a bag of beef jerky
tomato cages
new underwear
and (last but not least)
free time!

Herb Garden 2010

2010-05-06T11:26:00.003-05:00

Okay - Lucy - this is for you.

Last year I had my herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary, mint,basil, chives, patchouli) all in my veggie garden plot. This year I decided to remove them from the plot and place them elsewhere.

Some come back, some do not. My rosemary, basil and patchouli did not come back. They weren't supposed to. My thyme, mint, oregano and chives did. I moved the chives into a pot and will put it somewhere. I moved the oregano and thyme into the ground by the arbor, where the mint already was. They are doing great. I bought some boxwood basil (like regular basil in taste and use but shaped like a boxwood bush) and planted those with some flowers in the bed by the pave stone patio. I have seed for more chives and purple basil, which I haven't started yet. But it's never too late! I may start them this year or save the seeds for next year and just buy a few more plants at Hartke Nursery which is down the street from me or at our local Farmer's Market, which starts this weekend!

Lucy: Herbs are sold almost all Summer long and will last all Summer long and into the Fall. And all year round if indoors. Choose a few good, big pots and get some plants that are already established. With pots you will need to make sure the moisture levels are correct (they sell really cute little terracotta worms that will tell you when to water)... and if you don't bring them indoors in winter terracotta pots will freeze and crack. And you can plant your one herb in the center of a larger pot and surround it on the bottom with ground covers like elven thyme (my favorite non-useful herb, it looks like moss) or creeping jenny (my favorite ground cover and it comes back every year). I suggest you pick a theme color and buy pots of all sizes in that color and just plant away... I like red. Either way - if you ever want to try and get together to do this, let me know. I will try to free myself from the kids to go garden shopping with you!

I will also take some herby pictures once I have something worthwhile to shoot.... Good Luck Lucy!

Veggie Garden 2010

2010-05-05T12:41:00.003-05:00

So I am finally making progress on my garden this year. The actual plot has been turned over and compost added. I even started planting.

So far I have planted a long row of okra (21 plants, alternating regular green and organic burgundy okra), one of each type of squash I started (one ball, 8ight ball, fairy squash and yellow crook neck), as well as two rows of pepper plants (a wide variety from baby bells to Pablanos). I also started some beans around the arbor (purple pole, green pole, black eyed and lima). I have about 7 tomato varieties ready to go but I'm waiting for them to get a little bigger before transplanting into the ground.

Among all the identified plants I have, there are many that got lost in the tagging system. They were either moved around or switched from one container to another or given to me unidentified. So I will also set up an additional area along my fence for the Mystery Garden. There will be Mystery Tomatoes, Mystery Peppers, Mystery Squash, and other misc things that don't fit into the plot. These will be unmarked, unorganized and unworried about. And will probably be my biggest veggie producers!

So that is my progress. I will take some pix when things are all in the dirt.

Over the River & Through the Woods

2010-05-02T20:55:00.005-05:00

To Grandmother's House We GO!

Went to my mom's on Saturday with The Buster & The Beans. They had so much fun. My mom's new house is over the river (the Missouri River) and through the woods (the remaining suburban woods of St. Charles) from my house. When we got there we had to go check out the pond, or as Buster calls it, the Wa-Wa.

We were hunting froggies!

Then they picked dandelions for me while Mom and Ron worked in the yard.

The biggest thrill was the hill. It took Logan a while to get the hang of it but eventually they were both going UP the hill....

Then DOWN the hill...

Even falling was a blast!

It had rained, so I was on a mission to get some good droplet photos...
Raindrops on Hosta:

And did you know that Peony buds won't open unless ants eat off the sticky layer on them? I did not know that until I was informed by my mom, who probably was told by Ron... Interesting info. Here are some little ants at work on a peony (see the one underneath?):

And then I found the best raindrop photo-op! I went to just take a picture of the one Iris remaining intact after the storm and found it was holding a raindrop right in the center. Isn't that perfect?

Then Nola Bean decided to climb a tree. She didn't get very far, but her feet did come off the ground. And to her, that's climbing a tree. Even though it looks more like she's just hugging it.

And one last shot of the kids by the tree at the top of the hill. Logan kept knocking on it saying, "Nah-Nah. Nah-Nah." Probably about 50 times... I guess he thought someone might come out, who knows. They look so small by the big ole tree.

Fun day. Kids were asleep by the time I was out of the driveway. Good times!

Patio Progress

2010-04-30T17:34:00.004-05:00

Before we begin with the story of the patio this year, let me remind you of last year. If you don't have time, read on. If you have a few minutes please look back at these links to past posts of the Patio Progress:

Another Project in the Yard (June 9, 2009)
Garden & Patio Update (June 15, 2009)
The Harvest is Coming (July 8, 2009)
A Jumble of Stuff (August 2, 2009)

And now onto this year...

(Warning: all pictures are NOT cropped, enhanced, or prettied up in any way for your benefit, sorry.)

So here is the paver patio from Wednesday morning, still in much shadow. It was mostly completed last year. This year I have just put in the back planting bed (not all the way finished as you can see the two end stones yet to be put in the ground).

Here is that back bed, planted with a few basil plants and some perennials. All will be green and purple. This is just planted, it will fill in as it grows. Good news, the little wall has stopped the rain/mud from draining onto the patio when it rains.

Here is the side by the driveway, full of ground covers and my newly planted gladiolas along the fence. I hope that the creeping jenny (the yellow green ground cover) takes over and fills all the way around.

And now we are up to speed on the current project: putting in an arbor between the patio and the lawn. My green beans, lima beans and black eyed peas will grow on it this year, freeing up more garden plot area. Here is the space, dug up and level, ready for the underground contraption to keep the arbor from toppling over on my children.

And Uncle Scott helping Kirk get the whole thing into place. (Notice the other side of the paver area filled with herbs and more ground cover... oregano, thyme, mint and more creeping jenny.)

The whole thing, almost done...

After it was put into place and the stability thing buried I readjusted some of my herbs and rocks since they were so stepped upon....

And here's Cayce! I think she might just be America's Next Top Model - go ahead and apply Cayce, you can use this as your entry photo...

And a kid shot. It was bright so we have no faces but at least they stood together for a second.

And thus completes the Patio Arbor Project. I will keep posting as I plant the ground under and around it (beans and more ground cover). Also I will be planting the rest of the paving stone area, between the stones, this year with more elven thyme. By the time I was ready for it last year they had stopped selling it. But it did good and came back so I will be buying a ton of it this year at the Farmer's Market.

You know, by the time I'm all done with this yard and happy with the way it looks we will probably move... how sad....