Garden Update

Well, our garden boxes are complete and awaiting seeds!  It's been quite cold here in the mornings, so we are going to wait until after the first of April.  Hopefully then it will be warmer. 

The kids are so excited about the garden!  William can't wait to use his watering can.

 Here are all four of our boxes.  On the left we'll have a bench, trellis, an arbor, some cool ground covering...but all in due time.  Our main focus has been getting the boxes built and filled with acceptable soil, in order to plant.  We can work on the rest during the summer.

Since the garden boxes are finished, John is now working on the kids' sandbox.  It will be a pentagon shape.  Nothing boring over here, I tell ya!  Hopefully the weather warms a bit and the rain stays away so he can get it built.  Again, the first of April we'll get some sand delivered. 

I know this picture has nothing to do with our outdoor projects, but it was too cute not to include!  I came home from church this past Sunday morning to find John and the kids cooking lunch - both had their aprons on and everything!

On a happy note, both kids are now healthy.  They've missed some play dates, church activities, etc. due to fairly bad colds, but they are all good now.  Come on, spring...we're ready for you!

Bama

The last 10 days have been wonderful!  John's Mom was able to fly down and visit us for awhile.  For those of you who don't have kids, that translates to an extra pair of hands, someone to play with the kids while I check my email in peace, a babysitter for a date night, and adult conversation during the day for me! 

Having a tea party, complete with cherry pie, tea, and, of course, peas.

William is very much into puzzles these days.  He usually picks right smack dab in the middle of the kitchen to do them, which, while annoying, is also wonderful, as it means he wants to be with me.  And really, I love that!  He was quite excited to show Grandma his skills, and Grandma was always eager to watch. 

The highlight of the week for me was celebrating our 8th anniversary!  Where has the time gone?  Two houses and two kids later and, well, here we are!  John surprised me with dinner to the Cheesecake Factory and then with tickets to the opening night of Beauty and the Beast at the Pantages.  It was an awesome show...and a great night away!  Much thanks to Grandma for watching the kiddos!

The morning after Grandma left, the first words out of Abby's mouth were not her normal, "Moo" (milk) but, "Ah bama?"  (Where's Grandma?")  We all enjoyed her visit and can't wait for her (and Grandpa too!) to come back again!

Almost

We had another busy day yesterday working in the yard/garden area!  We are so close to planting that I'm getting butterflies in my stomach just thinking of all the wonderful produce we're going to be harvesting. 

A few days earlier I stained the outside of the planter boxes.

First off yesterday we got to moving the pile of dead sod (from a few weeks ago) to the other side of the lawn, since it was in the way of another large area of sod that John wanted removed.  He's going to be building a large sandbox for the kids in that area, and since it was rather nice outside (not too hot yet) he decided that scraping the dead sod off was the first order of business.  William got a really nice set of garden tools from some family members, so he was excited that he could use them to help!

John's new purchase was this nifty wheelbarrow.  William was there to help every step of the way!

They moved all the dead weeds and sod to the other side of the lawn, for now.  We are slowly getting rid of it in the green waste bin, but it's so heavy that only a small portion can be taken away at one time. 

Ready for the next load! 

We worked hard all morning, going pretty much non-stop.  Abby soon got my attention and said, "Abby eat.  Cheeta peas!"  (Pizza please...the "cheeta" part always confuses me, as I assume she wants "milk", but duh...she doesn't know Spanish yet!)  Anyway, I pulled the leftover pizza from the fridge and we all had a picnic of cold pizza on the picnic table.  (I really dislike cold pizza, but somehow eating it in the warm sun with my family made it taste just fine!)

Here's the finished section that we both broke our backs over.  Just kidding...it was damp enough that the dead sod pulled up fairly easily.  It's in this area that the kids will have their sandbox. 

We decided that the planter boxes needed a drain hole.  Even though it rarely rains here, when it does it's usually a monsoon.  We didn't want our precious plants washing away, so John got out his trusty drill and started making a small hole in each side of the box.  This drill is about 15 years old so it needs to be charged rather frequently.  Well, when it was charging I noticed a burning smell coming from it.  John quickly noticed that it was starting to melt.  If you blow up the picture you can see that the sides are quite warped!  Well...that just meant that yet another trip to the Hundred Dollar Store Home Depot, was in order.  He bought another drill and we were back in business!

Around 8 pm that night John had all the boxes built!  (Have I mentioned that I love that man?)  I think next week we will be mixing our compost, vermiculite, and peat moss (to those who know Mel Bartholomew - "Mel's Mix") and then planting a few things.  I can't wait! 

We have a weiner!

Well, it's Saturday, and, as promised, I have a winner for the Savvy Bag.  Since there were only 5 entrants, each one of you had a good chance of winning.  I punched in the minimum number and the maximum number on Random.org and comment #5 was chosen - Audra.  Be watching the mail for your new Savvy Bag! 

And with that...I'll leave you with a picture of cuteness!  She's all ready to help out in the lawn!

Happy Saturday everyone!

A Savvy Way To Go Out! (And a giveaway!)

Abby is getting older so it isn't always necessary to carry such a large diaper bag.  I mean really, a diaper, pad, and wipes is really all I need these days for most trips out.  No more kitchen sink for me!  Since that's the case, I was thrilled to receive another package from Infantino - the Savvy Bag.

This Bag is all I need these days for a trip out, since it holds the diapers and wipes inside the bag, and the cover (that snaps shut) is part of the changing pad.  It's really quite ingenious!  The changing pad is on the outside of the bag.  There are small magnets that keep it attached to the bag, along with the snaps that hold the bag shut.  The magnets are, in my opinion, what keep me coming back to this bag because sometimes all I need is a wipe - you know, to clean sticky hands after a meal at a restaurant - and if the changing pad fell off every time...well that would simply get old.  (I'll post a few more pictures later of how the bag works.)

And let's not forget the look of the bag.  The pattern is darling and the material is wipe-clean.  It really is a go-to bag for me!

Infantino wants to give one of YOU a Savvy Bag!  To enter the drawing, simply leave a comment on my blog.  Any 'ole comment will do.  A winner will be chosen this Saturday, March 5.

I am a participant in a Mom Central Consulting campaign for Infantino and have received various Infantino products as part of my participation.