Green Please

No this ins't a post on "going green" or being eco-friendly. Well, actaully maybe it is. Anyway, I just wanted to share my latest excitement for GARDENING.

Last year, mid-summer Ben built some great planter boxes so I could do some square-foot gardening, but it was too late in the season to really grow anything. So this year i have been so pumped to actually be able to plant lettuce, spinach, onions, tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers, etc. I've been bitten by the gardening bug. My goal is to be able to make and can salsa from my garden. We'll see.

I saw this adorable Gardening Journal on Studio 5 the other day and decided I needed to make one. I improvised a bit, but I LOVE it so far! I have my garden plotted out, tips on gardening, places for notes, supplies needed and pictures. Ok, maybe this is all a bit nerdy? Oh well. Bring on the green.

I really have to give my parents a standing-O for all the hard work that they (and supposedly us kids) put into their HUGE garden each year growing up. I'm finding my measly 74 sq foot garden so daunting thus far, I don't know how they managed to tend a garden half the size of their backyard!

Here are my humble beginnings... Don't click to enlarge. It's really not much to look at. :-)


(and in case you were wondering...yes half of ourbackyard is black top. so child friendly. not.)

And one more thing... I have to publicly apologize to my neighbors for my horrendous front yard. We are growing quite the assortment of weeds in our flower beds and not much else. It really is pretty ugly to look at. I promise I'll get there after I'm done in the back yard.

Here's wishing you all a happy gardening season!

Happy Colors

Little tidbit about me: I LOVE dying Easter eggs. It's one of my favorite parts of Easter time. I love the vibrant colors and making colors of my own. There's something about mixing blue and green that I can't get enough of. Oh, but then there's mixing the pink and blue. Ooh. But what about mixing green and yellow? The options are endless.

Anyway, I'm so happy that Logan grasped the concept of dying eggs this year. There's something about all that color that brightens my mood. We dyed 1.5 dozen eggs and when there was only one left (which I graciously let Logan have :-) I found myself saying, "we should have done 2 dozen!" Then Ben brought me back to reality..."what are you doing to do with 2 dozen hard boiled eggs?" Good point.

Here's a peak at Logan's first of many egg-dying shindigs:

Love the dress, Logan

My favorite part is Logan's green and yellow stained fingers. Green was his color of the night for some reason.

And here's wishing everyone a Happy Easter as we remember Christ and His ultimate sacrifice and perfect love. Because of Him, I get the chance to have my family with me forever.

While Recovering

The day after I got my wisdom teeth out, I felt like getting out of the house. I woke up that morning and told Jera, "I feel like sewing. Can we sew something today?" Wow. And sew we did.
She happened to have with her a pattern for an Amy Butler bag that was adorable, so off we went to the fabric store.

Well, this pattern for a bag was not intended for a mother, so Jera tweeked it in order to convert it into a diaper bag/purse. She pimped this purse out to make it more realistic and this resulted in scrimping and scrapping every bit of fabric and pelon that we had. What I thought would be an afternoon project turned out to be a two day adventure for me and Tamara, who also made one.
This is what I spent most my time doing while I was recovering. What is it about creating something with your hands that is so therapeutic?

(Note: I have to say, I'm not posting this for bragging rights, I'm posting because I so darn proud of myself for actaully finishing a project and that I started. Not a common occurrence).

The finished project:

Looks simple on the outside, right?


This is the cleanest my purse has ever been.
We added a bottom and side insert to make the bag wider, a row of pockets (personalized to fit diapers and sippy cups of course), a cell phone pocket with a snap, and a key chain hook.


Plus, with all the scraps I made a small diaper-to-go carrier, zipper clutch and a check book cover. I have never scrimmped and scrapped fabric to the bare bones like this to make something. It was awesome.


My favorite, the checkbook cover.
Thanks Jera for all your help, patience, guidance and hand holding along the way! It was an exhaustingly good time.

Where Have I Been? Part 2

I feel like a part of me is missing. Ok, not really. But a part of me is actaully missing, though. A few days after getting back from vacation I had my wisdom teeth extracted. It wasn't nearly as bad as I had heard or expected it to be, probably for a few reasons:

1) anesthesia. All I remember is waking up sitting in a wheel chair (not sure how I even got there) and being so irrationally concerned that the doctor remembered to extract all four teeth, not just two. I even asked to see them (ew). I was not about to go back for more.

2) pain meds. hallelujah for hydrocodone that didn't make me nauseous or hallucinate at all.

3) Jera and Desi. My mother-in-law and sis in-law came to stay with us for a week and take care of me and Logan. Thank you thank you! They really were life savers, fetching me pudding and jello, making my comfort foods (cream of wheat, yum), endless wagon rides for Logan, changing his poopy diapers, cleaning, cooking, letting me sleep in. It's hard to let someone serve you when you're normally capable, but it was all so wonderful!

4) Ben bought me roses. Always a plus. Thanks punkin. :-)

Here's a few pics to document the experience.

Day of my surgery, after a nice fat nap. :-)

Marmee and Logan playing Mr. Potato Head (the best toy in the world)


Desi fixing our DVD drive which Logan jammed. :-) Thanks Des!


Wagon rides in the cold

I didn't swell much until day three. Thanks to Jera for creating this beautiful ice pack wrap. I know I look hot in it and all, but it was heavenly to have ice on my jaws and still be able to use my hands.

Of course Logan needed his own jello, pudding and ice cream too.