BloomTastic!

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

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

Random Stuffs

Still having a hard time getting back into writing here... Not too sure why. But here are some things going on lately.

Kid Stuff:
Nola is almost all the way potty trained. I've even been brave enough to take her in the car and to the store with underwear (and no pull-up) on. And so far, no accidents. She went potty at Walmart for the first time yesterday (first time in public anywhere). Sadley though, after she was finished she was running out of the stall in excitement and ran smack into a plastic changing table that someone had left down in the main part of the restroom. She was face level to it and was running forward while looking backwards, as kids will stupidly sometimes do. She hit her head and then went down on the tile floor - BAM! Lots of tears and crying. So much for our milestone! But the water that appeared for her 'like magic' when she washed her hands made her feel much better.


I think we will move her into a toddler bed soon. I think we're doing it a little later than some people do anyway. But in order to continue down the potty training road, she has to be able to get out of bed to go. Unfortunately that will allow her much more freedom than I want her to have. This will begin the stage of getting out of bed over and over.... But I guess it's what has to be done. I can't very well have grade school kid locked up in a crib (althought that would be nice).


Logan is a giant. He has his two front bottom teeth already and is now getting some top ones. The front two, you ask? Oh, no. The next ones over. Great! Now he's gonna look like a big doofus for a month or more with a gaping hole in the front of his mount. I'm not even sure this is normal? I thought the front two were always the first to come in... oh well.

And speaking of teeth, his lovely older sister has bit him twice now! The first time was because he had a death grip on her hair and it was her way of escape. She got a 'talkin to' but no real trouble because she was defending herself in a way. But today she just walked up to him, lifted his hand to her mouth and bit down on his little finger! I was SO mad! The she bit Kirk. The time-out spot has been kept warm by her ass today!
We finally got around to spiking Logan's hair up today too. He looks so cute! Here's a pic of him with his new do:



Garden Stuff:
I have been in great turmoil over what to do outside this year. We have thrown around the ideas of moving and staying so much. Well, we've finally decided to just stay for a while... maybe another 2 years. It's small but once we get them sharing a room and what not we will be good for a couple of years. We got such a good deal on the house and I don't want to scrifice that because of the economy. So we will just stay and pay down the mortgage, make due with our small space and hopefully it will all pay off when we buy the mansion of our dreams (HA!). So, anyway, back to gardening.... Now that we know we will be here I feel good about gardenign in the yard... I won't have to leave all my plants and work behind so soon. I want to have a vegetable garden this year. An inground garden. And I want to plant lots of plants and flowers so we can have a nice view out back.... (If anyone feel like getting dirty feel free to come on by this summer and help out with our projects.) My tulips are blooming and it just inspires me to plant plant plant! I will have to make a plan and a design... then price out all the projects that are actually possible. I want to do so much back there! I would love to demo our concrete slab patio and put in a nice level deck or stone area.... Kirk would get to use a jack hammer on that one - he'll like that! Obviously if we do anything major I will document it in photos... Here are some backyard pics from today.







Other Stuff:
Our medical debt/bills are all now offically paid off! Having two kids and a few other incidents really adds up! Especailly when you don't have the best medical insurance.... But we are now free of all medical bills! And since I don't plan on having another baby this year we should be in the clear in that department for a while!
Our Home Depot debt is also gone (from redoing the bathroom, kitchen floors, and refinishing our hardwood floors last spring). So Hello! garden center at Home Depot! Just kidding!

Ok - enough random stuff for today... here are a few other random pics:


My mother-in-law's birthday was the other day and we had her over for home made lasagna and a home made birthday cake. (as in, I bought the box and mad eit at home) Since I have flowers on the brain I decorated it liek a giant flower!


My rose (from the clipping) is doing fabulously!


And we got to meet our niece, Elena, last week for the first time. Kirk's brother was in from MI and brought the family! Elena isn't allowed on the internet, but I thought the side of her head and her ear would be okay... Nola was in love!

A Rose Grows in Overland

The saga continues... For those of you who haven't been diligently following the story of my rose clippings, here's a quick sum up:
I have a climbing rose bush in front of my house that I planted about 2 years ago. I love it. And when we started thinking of moving I was really upset to have to leave behind the roses that I grew. So I read up on how to start a new plant from the clippings. Most places I looked said that it wasn't easy and you had to buy all these growth activators and simulators and whatnot. A good friend of mine is a horticulturist and told me she had never been successful at starting a rose from clippings. Then I found a website that said the oldest and simplest way to start a rose was to just put a clipping in water and wait. So that's what I did.

I put two long stems in a vase of water and set it on the window sill. And waited. And waited. And waited. After months of changing the water and justifying the science project on the sill to my husband I finally saw roots! Both stems were growing tiny roots. Then they had a little bit of new growth, an extended stem here, a tiny leaf there... It was great!

Then I thought they both died. I didn't change or refill the water for a while.... Then one came back to life again, after another few months of waiting. The first one really did die. But I was too afraid to plant the live one in dirt. It had grown and lived in just water for so long. But then it just kept growing. It had a couple of new stems, many new leaves... And so I did it. I planted it in dirt. Now I have to remember to keep it watered and take care of it. But it's now an official clone of the rose bush I have outside! I really did it!

I've decide to try and clone other roses.... I just need to find some pretty rose bushed that people will let me cut off of.

Progress and Dead Roses

So I was laying in bed last night thinking about how I don't really make much progress around the house. I keep trying to make schedules and lists and plans... they just don't seem to work. Life just keeps getting in the way. It's hard to try and function as a productive person with a baby. (For me at least.) I'm always running on tired. I never feel like I sleep enough or rest enough. And I have a great sleeper too! He sleeps through the night (from around 9pm to 6am). I guess it's just that they are both so young and need constant 'something' all day long. Somebody always needs food, a new diaper, to play, to read a book, to color, to cry for no reason, to be held... So I'm constantly on call from 6am or earlier until about 9pm... no breaks.

So anyway - back to no progress... I feel like my house should be cleaner. For those of you who know me well, I've always been a little messy. I've never been a good housekeeper. I've gotten so much better though. My high school bedroom looked like a laundry room. My college apartments were better because there were other people there to help and to answer to... but my bedroom always looked like the worst room in the place (when the door was actually left open). And my apartment with Kirk was total chaos! He claims to be cleanly - but no, he's sloppy too. And I should say that neither of us is dirty, things are clean underneath all the piles of stuff - we just don't pick up our stuff. And we both had so much stupid stuff! When we moved into a house we were able to throw out things and spread what was left throughout a house as opposed to a one bedroom studio apartment. But now we are in a small house - with 2 kids... and the room thing has taken it's toll. We have things that have no place to go even when the entire house is clean and tidy. Like our son! He doesn't even have a bedroom! So his stuff is in our room, crowding it... and in Nola's room, crowding it up too. We need more space.

I sure do ramble on... anyway... So I've made progress in the cleaning department... But I need to make more. And I need to start teaching my kids how to keep a clean house or I'm going to send two more of me's out into the world... and we don't need two more messy houses out there someday.

Dead Roses - I think my clippings are dead. I'm truly heartbroken! Really. So much work - well, waiting. And a few days of neglect and boom - dead roses! And my giant rose bush out front, the one they were clipped from, almost blew over and snapped in two the other night during our howling wind storm... I went out at 10pm and grabbed roses and twine and tied it back up and saved it just in time - and have many thorn pricks to show for it!

Projects Update - November

• Loosing Weight - In Progress - No effort going into this these days... but I am still loosing a pound or two here and there... at least I'm not gaining them!

• Starting Roses from Clippings - In Progress - Still haven't put those suckers into real dirt yet - but I have new branches and leaves growing from the vase... I'm scared to kill it with dirt.
  
• 365 Project - 154/365 - In Progress - I'm still at least a week behind in photos and its getting worse... Holidays, doctor appointments... other projects... I'll catch up eventually
  
• Paying Off Debt - In Progress - well - this just isn't happening anymore. We obviously still pay our bills so technically we are paying off our debt, but my 3 year plan is out the window!
• Being 'Greener' - OnGoing - I bought a reusable grocery bag at Target... lame. I've started recycling all my formula can (even though half of them are on top of my fridge... I think I'm going to buy a composter for the kitchen... baby steps.
  
• Learning About my Camera - OnGoing - just taking pictures, no real effort here either. I need to take a photography class someday.

New Projects:

• ABC Photos - I'm trying to create a photo libraby of alphabet pictures. For my self and to give as gifts, and hopefully someday to sell. See this post to see what I'm talking about.
• De-cluttering my home - I need to get rid of things! I've become somewhat of a packrat! I think it's because I'm cheap (or frugal, or whatever you want to call it) but I have too much crap I will never use again! This will be a process! And I will need help!
• Potty Training! - oh the fun! It will be slow at first, but hopefully she will catch on and it won't be too hard.

And here's a picture - because posts are more fun with pictures:

American Idol - get ready!
And all you white toddler rappers,"Watch Out, Here I Pumm!"

Projects Update - August & September

Creating Human Life - FINISHED!
Well - Logan was born so this is over... and there are no plans to have any more so I think my baby making days are over. Good... and sad.

Starting Roses from Clippings - In Progress
I have roots but the clippings are still in water. I'm too scared to move them to pots with dirt. I'm afraid that the hard work (of waiting so long) will be ruined if they die.... Who know what I will do. I think I have to move them to dirt soon.

Growing Vegetables - FINISHED for this year
It's fall and I just don't care anymore... will try again next year.

365 Project - 97/365 - In Progress
(see the other blog for this one)

Selling My House - Quitting Soon
As soon as our agreement is up with our Realtor we will take the house off the market and start doing some major changes around here. We are learning to live in our small house with us and the kids, so we are just going to work it out until we can't anymore. We have plans for a play room in the basement and a new patio out back. I have plans for new flower beds and maybe a new garden.... We shall see.

Paying Off Debt - In Progress
We have obtained more debt thanks to a car problem ($700+) but we have a plan in the works... possibly going to refi our house... Still have to meet with someone to weigh the pros and cons financially - but I think it may get rid of our car payment and free up a lot of money...

Being 'Greener' - OnGoing
Nothing to report here - will get back into this more when life settles down some

Learning About my Camera - OnGoing
Not doing much on this front either... just barely taking pictures these days...

Buying a Bigger House - Project Abandoned
Enough said....

Projects Update - July

Finishing Nola's Baby Book
I have about 2 pages that aren't complete... and they most likely never will be. So I'm going to say FINISHED! on this one.

Crocheting a Blanket for Molly
I have about 4 rows to go and then some tails to tuck in... that's a Sooooo Almost Finished!

Creating Human Life
My due date is 15 days away! I better be Almost Finished! Will go on no longer than 27 days from now (c-section planned for 28th if no labor)

Starting Roses from Clippings
Ends look truly disgusting... and I think it's time to put the suckers in some dirt and see what they do.... no visible roots popping out but the tops are still alive and kicking in the window sill. So we will give this one an In Progress still.

Growing Vegetables
Well - my planter box has been very much neglected since I entered my 8th or 9th month of pregnancy...I have still collected some green beans and one pepper... but it's so hot out that I just don't go check on them all that much. I did pull out some plants to give the others a chance to grow larger... I planted the rejects in an abandoned pot along my driveway and have done even more than nothing to them... well, they look 100 times better than the ones in my planter box. I guess they are shaded more or something... Maybe next year I will have the luxury of an in ground garden or just not be pregnant in the heat of the summer! Either way, this one is still In Progress.

Selling My House
No news on this front - it's about to come to a close for a while when I have the baby but until we actually sell, it will be In Progress ... Unless we decide to bunk up the little ones, give up on the sale and just stay here longer to save hassle and money.... you never know!

Buying a Bigger House
Really - this one Hasn't Started Yet.

365 Project
I think I am on 46 out of 365... that's about 12% complete. So this one also gets an In Progress

Learning About my Camera
This has been labeled, In Progress, but seeing as that learning is an ongoing thing I think I need to relabel it as OnGoing.

Being 'Greener'
Also better known as OnGoing. We have been very conscious of saving on water and electricity and while my electric is on budget billing I can still tell we've used less... and our water bill was about $20 cheaper than last time... so that's progress. And I think I will join a wholesale club after that baby comes. If anything it will allow me to stock up and save on gas going to the store... and hopefully money. Still in the process of getting rid of all current cleaners before making my own.

Paying Off Debt
We are about 3 months into my 3 year plan... and so far so good. I'm keeping track of all the debt that's being paid off... and it's definitely decreasing! And we are about ready to get rid of another credit card! We will have only one left for emergencies (which always come up). And pretty soon we will start aggressively paying off Kirk's car early. So this one deserves a very proud In Progress!

Four Day Vacation...

...but not for me. Kirk has left the state. Let the partying begin! Ok - seriously, not. I have to clean clean clean before the Open House on Sunday. And that's about all. Since it's hard to bend over and I run out of breath every five min - it will take me all two & 1/2 days to clean my already almost clean house.

Side Note: I have updated all my sidebar stuff.... I now have a list of projects I'm currently working on. Also I updated my Favorite Blogs section and put them in order by category. Feel free to check them out... and to tell me of any blogs or websites you think I might like based on my projects or blog list. Also - on my other blog I have all the photography blogs/websites that were here before, as well as a Photo Shoot To Do list.... Check those out too if you want.

In my Projects I have "Grow Roses from clippings". Here are some pictures from 2 days ago of my blooming rose bush. I will take a picture soon of what I have going so far on my clippings, they look creepy and slimy.... Oooh the anticipation! Roots better pop out of the slime soon!

I suppose that's about all for now.... Everyone keep your fingers crossed that my house sells this weekend! Man - wouldn't that be GREAT! 2 weeks on the market and already sold! If Only.... I've already decided that if it doesn't sell by the time we have this next baby we will take it off the market for a while - the house will go on Maternity Leave.