One mother of two adorable children, desperately seeking advice on preventing the rabbits from eating her newly planted flowers. They thoroughly enjoyed eating all my verbena. Snipped clean and not a flower to be seen, except for a few plants closest to my lilies. We are talking something like 36 flowers.
If you have humane advice, please comment below!!!
Monday, May 14, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
She Made It
...The gymnastics Training Team that is.
Beginning in June, Katie will be practicing 3 days a week for 2 hours each day. Luckily for me, dance will be finished and won't start up again until fall. That way, she can try this out for a few months before starting up with a dance class or two as well.
She is quite excited, and soon we will be posting pictures I'm sure of astonishing feats!!
Beginning in June, Katie will be practicing 3 days a week for 2 hours each day. Luckily for me, dance will be finished and won't start up again until fall. That way, she can try this out for a few months before starting up with a dance class or two as well.
She is quite excited, and soon we will be posting pictures I'm sure of astonishing feats!!
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
My Garden
The garden is finally (almost) done!!!
This has been a project of mine that has taken several weeks to complete. Turns out that Ohio soil is not really conducive to gardening since it is all clay. So even though my plans were always for a raised garden, the plan to dig it out, never really happened. You would have to be Mighty Mouse to get that dirt to budge. Instead we dug our ditch as best we could for the retaining wall stones, and leveled as best we could, and then just put weed blocker down over the rest of the area. We are hoping for the best!
The middle of the garden is our vegetable and fruit section. We have planted tomato plants (both Roma and cherry), peppers, zucchini, cucumber, beans, peas, corn, and strawberries. We are experimenting this year to see what will grow.
The right side is a partial duplicate of the left with lilies, snapdragons and verbena, but also will be home to our watermelons. I am hoping I can train the vines to grow in their designated area and out onto the grass rather than having them attack my flowers. Katie really wanted watermelons though.
I also planted white and pink geraniums in a white wicker hanging planter that I got at Garden Ridge. Now that I am home, I realized there is no overhang on our house to hang it from, so now I will have to go out and look for a shepherd's hook or something to hang it from.
And while I didn't plant these, they are really pretty. I have some lavender irises planted by the previous owners that are currently in bloom.
This has been a project of mine that has taken several weeks to complete. Turns out that Ohio soil is not really conducive to gardening since it is all clay. So even though my plans were always for a raised garden, the plan to dig it out, never really happened. You would have to be Mighty Mouse to get that dirt to budge. Instead we dug our ditch as best we could for the retaining wall stones, and leveled as best we could, and then just put weed blocker down over the rest of the area. We are hoping for the best!
The left side is home to my two favorite flowers from our old home in Houston, lilies and snapdragons. While the lilies will still be a perennial here, the snapdragons will die when winter comes. I also decided to try something new and planted some multi-colored verbena. They are very pretty and have such beautiful color. I will give you some better pictures eventually. Right now everything looks a little droopy due to being freshly transplanted and having lots of wind.
The middle of the garden is our vegetable and fruit section. We have planted tomato plants (both Roma and cherry), peppers, zucchini, cucumber, beans, peas, corn, and strawberries. We are experimenting this year to see what will grow.
The right side is a partial duplicate of the left with lilies, snapdragons and verbena, but also will be home to our watermelons. I am hoping I can train the vines to grow in their designated area and out onto the grass rather than having them attack my flowers. Katie really wanted watermelons though.
Besides our newly built garden we have several other things we are growing. Katie wanted a rose bush in Houston, but we knew we were moving, so I promised her a rose bush when we got our new house. We really don't have a good location for one right now, so we instead bought two miniature roses and put them in pretty pots that can be brought indoors in the winter. She is thrilled with her choices - a bright red and a pretty pink.
I also planted white and pink geraniums in a white wicker hanging planter that I got at Garden Ridge. Now that I am home, I realized there is no overhang on our house to hang it from, so now I will have to go out and look for a shepherd's hook or something to hang it from.
And while I didn't plant these, they are really pretty. I have some lavender irises planted by the previous owners that are currently in bloom.We still have some seedlings in the house to transplant that we have been growing as part of a science and math lesson, but they aren't quite big enough yet. They include our watermelons, as well as some asclepia (better known as butterfly weed), morning glories, and delphinium. Don't know where they will all go yet, but we will find a home somewhere.
Katie and Nick also painted clay pots and planted seeds from Grandma E. in them. Katie has sunflowers and Nick has marigolds. They should have some fun comparing the two pots over time.
Houdini Is At It AGAIN!!
This child will never cease to amaze me.
After the whole climbing out of the crib week, we moved Nicholas into his big boy bed, which has been set up in his room since we bought our house. He is doing Fabulously with it. He even slept all night last night until 8 this morning. He still wakes most nights and comes into our bed, but he just meanders down the hall and wakes me to lift him in. Works out better for me, since he is now the one that has to walk the hall.
But today was a new trick. A totally unpredicted trick. A totally astonishing trick.
You see Nicholas looked like quite the handsome man today. He got his haircut, which in itself made him look too cute for words. But he also was wearing a beautiful blue striped shirt with a pair of khaki shortalls. This particular pair of pants, had the standard overall latches up front, but did NOT and I repeat NOT have snaps along the legs. In order for him to put them on and off, the straps had to be unhooked.
While outside this afternoon, I hear Katie yell, "Nick took his diaper off". And sure enough, when I got to him, he was diaper free, yet somehow magically he had done it while still wearing his overalls. No latches undone! Pants still on! My thought is that he reached down the sides to unfasten the diaper, which then was able to be pulled out through one of the leg holes of his pants.
His ingenuity will never cease to amaze me!
After the whole climbing out of the crib week, we moved Nicholas into his big boy bed, which has been set up in his room since we bought our house. He is doing Fabulously with it. He even slept all night last night until 8 this morning. He still wakes most nights and comes into our bed, but he just meanders down the hall and wakes me to lift him in. Works out better for me, since he is now the one that has to walk the hall.
But today was a new trick. A totally unpredicted trick. A totally astonishing trick.
You see Nicholas looked like quite the handsome man today. He got his haircut, which in itself made him look too cute for words. But he also was wearing a beautiful blue striped shirt with a pair of khaki shortalls. This particular pair of pants, had the standard overall latches up front, but did NOT and I repeat NOT have snaps along the legs. In order for him to put them on and off, the straps had to be unhooked.
While outside this afternoon, I hear Katie yell, "Nick took his diaper off". And sure enough, when I got to him, he was diaper free, yet somehow magically he had done it while still wearing his overalls. No latches undone! Pants still on! My thought is that he reached down the sides to unfasten the diaper, which then was able to be pulled out through one of the leg holes of his pants.
His ingenuity will never cease to amaze me!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Houdini...Again
Or maybe I should just call him Spiderman.
Nicholas has figured out that he can climb out of his crib. Technically, he has been able to do this for over a year now, but has only done it on 3 or 4 different occasions. Yesterday he climbed out 5 times.
It began at naptime. He had fallen asleep in the car at 11:00 for about 10 minutes. We then had lunch with Daddy and came home for naptime. The brief 10 minute nap through him off. He couldn't fall asleep, and was playing and talking in his crib when I left him. I read to Katie, and left her to take a nap since she has been extra tired lately (I'm thinking growth spurt), and I went to lie in my bed and read. (I have been fighting with bad allergies, asthma, and a cold.)
Several minutes later I hear the pitter patter of little footsteps downstairs. There is Nicholas running around the kitchen table with a big grin on his face. He had climbed out of his bed. I put him back in, but he climbed out a few minutes later again. So I rocked him to sleep.
That night, he again climbed out two more times before finally falling asleep on his own. At 2 A.M. a voice called Mama and came wandering down the hall to our bed.
Seems like it is time for the big boy bed.
I have delayed this day as long as possible. Nicholas has never been a great nighttime sleeper. But lately he has been sleeping all the way through the night at least once a week. I was hoping to have him sleeping through the night, every night, before putting him in his regular bed. It doesn't look like this is going to happen.
I am fairly sure the next several nights will be a challenge as we teach him to stay in his bed, and even more importantly, not to fall out. But what hasn't been a challenge with this 2 year old thus far?
Nicholas has figured out that he can climb out of his crib. Technically, he has been able to do this for over a year now, but has only done it on 3 or 4 different occasions. Yesterday he climbed out 5 times.
It began at naptime. He had fallen asleep in the car at 11:00 for about 10 minutes. We then had lunch with Daddy and came home for naptime. The brief 10 minute nap through him off. He couldn't fall asleep, and was playing and talking in his crib when I left him. I read to Katie, and left her to take a nap since she has been extra tired lately (I'm thinking growth spurt), and I went to lie in my bed and read. (I have been fighting with bad allergies, asthma, and a cold.)
Several minutes later I hear the pitter patter of little footsteps downstairs. There is Nicholas running around the kitchen table with a big grin on his face. He had climbed out of his bed. I put him back in, but he climbed out a few minutes later again. So I rocked him to sleep.
That night, he again climbed out two more times before finally falling asleep on his own. At 2 A.M. a voice called Mama and came wandering down the hall to our bed.
Seems like it is time for the big boy bed.
I have delayed this day as long as possible. Nicholas has never been a great nighttime sleeper. But lately he has been sleeping all the way through the night at least once a week. I was hoping to have him sleeping through the night, every night, before putting him in his regular bed. It doesn't look like this is going to happen.
I am fairly sure the next several nights will be a challenge as we teach him to stay in his bed, and even more importantly, not to fall out. But what hasn't been a challenge with this 2 year old thus far?
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
What's Been Hanging Out at Our House
This very cute baby bunny came to visit our front steps a few days ago. He stayed for at least 5 minutes, giving the kids plenty of time to watch him.
Then this little guy, who Katie named Caterpillar, came to spend the night with us in an apple juice container. He is an Eastern Tent Caterpillar, and seems to have many, many, many, many relatives in the area. We are currently plucking them from the garden, off our feet, off our steps, and anywhere else they are found. I am assuming it must be time for him to change into a moth, since from our reading we found they begin to wander away from their tents when it is time to form their chrysalis.
This particular little guy played possum the morning after we kept him, and thinking he was dead, we went to release him out by the trees. The minute he hit the dirt, he started crawling. So the kids happily carted him around the yard to various places until they got busy doing something else.
And this little guy decided that it would be fun to take his little friend for a ride in Katie's Barbie car. So at least one caterpillar out there has felt the cool breeze of driving in a convertible at 5 mph. How many caterpillars can tell their friends about that??
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