Garden

Last year, I planted a few tomatoes, a cucumber and some herbs. I didn't know what I was doing, except that all needed full sun. We have a tiny tiny yard - and the side of our house faces west. So i have a tiny strip beside the house that I can plant things.

(I'm not kidding - it's small.)


I harvested a few great tomatoes. Two things kept me from getting more:
1) I planted them a little too close, and so my harvest was not as great.
2) We live on a corner. We had quite a few tomatoes disappear right when they became ripe and perfect. Not sure who it was (although I have a good idea who it was) - but the chicken wire we put up in between the holes of the fence still didn't deter them too much. I guess they thought it was a community garden??

But seriously - look how close we are to the sidewalk.


So this year, I planted just three, further apart. And I expanded to more things in a container garden on the porch side that gets all the sun.

You'll see in these pics just how little room I have.


Chris bought me this book last year, and I've been reading it and learning all about different foods I can grow here and how do take care of them. (I know nothing about this - and for some reason, it's fun to learn). It's like growing for dummies. Now we'll see what I can keep alive and stuff. I figure this is a good trial year.

Monday after Easter, Chris had off work - so we worked in the yard - me on the garden and him on killing the grass/weeds and hopefully we are getting sod today! There's not much better than a new yard in a day! :)

The girls "helped" me. So funny - I'd rake a couple of times - then go help Farrah off the porch. Pick up a plant, then rescue Farrah from the wrath of Bella with the water hose. Think for two seconds, then help Bella scoop the fertilizer. So it's safe to say anything goes slower with kids. :) So after bedtime, still dirty, I went back out and finished in the dark. It was fun. Although I was only slightly scared of the lightening in the distance while holding tomato cages :)

Here are some cute pics of our girls helping.

Farrah tilling up the dirt


Sweet pic



Farrah helping and getting distracted by an airplane!


This year I'm attempting these in containers: strawberry, bell pepper, lettuce, okra, cherry tomato, basil, cilantro, parsley and mint.

And this one again, just because it's sweet :)

Easter 2011

This year, the girls and I went to the early service and all went to help with Waumba Land (ok, so I was the only one who helped but I'm sure they were on their best behavior! :)) We had our highest attendance day ever (Easter seems to break the record each year!) with 922 total preschoolers Easter day. Isn't that awesome? 922 kids who got to hear "God made me, God loves me, and Jesus wants to be my friend forever!" I love my church.

Because it was an early morning, we did early naps! 11 am - 1:30 pm they both slept! Score! So I made my deviled eggs and fruit salad. I usually take those because they are kinda hard to mess up. And fruit salad reminds me of my Grandmom and thanksgiving in Wewa.

We then headed up the street to my aunt's where we've been doing Easter for a few years. It works great for Chris to be able to come home between services.

Easter 2010
Easter 2009
Easter 2008(this was not at my aunt's, but it was blogged about, so I'm linking it! :))

We did a (quick) egg hunt. Then I had an egg that would shout out "Come Find Me!!" so I kept hiding that for entertainment. We did lunch and just hung out with the animals and relatives.

Chris got some WINNERS in these pictures!



Bella took to this little boy, Pierce. Watch out, Chris!


Something I did not know before Kristy had these turkeys. Their gobble thingys (what are they called??) change colors depending on their mood. Red is mad. Turkeys are not very cute. haha.


Ok, back to cute things. :) Like Sherman and Tallulah


And these two beautiful babies:


But I might be slightly biased.

Great Easter!

Oh, and I hadn't talked about the Easter Bunny before the Spring Fling the day before. So in the morning, I casually said, "Bella, look at what the Easter Bunny brought you." And Bella says, "Mommmm - Bunnies don't go in houses!!!"

Spring Fling

Saturday we went to our neighborhood Spring Fling, sponsored by the Parents Network (in the neighborhood). They were selling bagged lunches and homemade Popsicles from the Pop Shop - but every thing else was free! Egg hunts, the Easter Bunny, a jump house and a bubble machine. Our girls were in heaven.

We also saw so many families that we haven't seen since moving back. It was a fun day and led to great naps, too!

First was Farrah's age egg hunt.

I love how she holds her little basket.


Three eggs and she was satisfied.

Then Bella's.

She liked to stop and see what each one had in it.

And each time was just as thrilled as the last.


The Easter Bunny's tail was pulled quite a few times (by Bella), but she also picked him a handful of dandelions, so I think he forgave her.



They also got tattoo's which Farrah sounds so adorable saying!


Homemade Popsicles. I think mine was chocolate with ginger? It was spicy!




We also did a quick run to the playground. Farrah went down this slide by herself. We are not sure how she ended up in this position. But I don't think it felt good.


And... a couple of family shots :)

Egg Hunts and Friends

So far, we've enjoyed two Easter Egg Hunts. There will probably be a couple more this weekend!

Last Friday, my friend Katie invited us to her annual Easter Egg Hunt at her mom's house. Katie is someone I've met through volunteering at church and I so look forward to going every week to catch up with her and Erin, who've I've known since Chris has been working at Buckhead. Erin and Katie's girls are friends and Bella has always loved Erin's little girl Maggie Mae. And now, she thinks Emma Kate is pretty cool, too! Erin has been MORE than generous with handing down clothes to Bella. I swear, I've hardly bought her any shoes. Erin (& Maggie) love shoes and have passed so many things onto us. Katie's girls - Emma Kate and Harper - are just a step ahead in age to Bella and Farrah. Anyways - it is just so fun that Bella has such sweet little girl friends at school and I reap the benefits of great friends there, too!

And Erin and Katie are just two of the great gals I get to work with - There is also Sandi, Courtney, Joy... I am blessed with a fun group to see every week!

Here is a cute picture of Maggie and Bella:


Then here are some of sweet girls going through their eggs!



Then, the girls had a hunt at school this week. The teachers at church are just incredible. They make a wonderful environment for the kids and have something fun planned every week it seems!

Here is Joy, the school director:


Now, that pic is awesome for so many reasons:
1) Joy is ALWAYS this happy and enthusiastic
2) Farrah is very good at "stoneface" and not smiling
3) Joy has a trademark of lipstick and Farrah is staring her lips down!

Here is Ansley, Bella's teacher for a couple of years now:

They are making an Easter craft. Bella loves her teachers Ms. Leslie, Ms. Ansley, and Ansley's mom Mrs. Leah!! (Leah isn't actually her teacher anymore, but Bella still loves to cuddle with her!!)

Here they are on Egg Hunt day (and Purple day, too!)



We girls love our friends!

Sisters

Is there anything better than clean kids after a bath, running around and giggling??

Even though some days are HARD and some are WONDERFUL, I go to bed every night knowing I'm in such a sweet spot in life. Blessed beyond measure.

And I will never get tired of the pitter-patter of little feet and sweet laughter.

Hope this keeps up!

Farrah has been using the potty for a couple of months.

Let me clarify:
She uses it only for poo-poo.
And it's almost a necessity... she stands up straight as a stick and can't seem to go otherwise. So one day we just put her on, and it works!
She can now say "potty" and "poo poo"

I'm not bragging on her being advanced or anything - believe me, this is 10x better than the scream that comes from her trying to go in the diaper! haha. But I certainly do hope she keeps it up and doesn't "digress" later. I think it helps some that she sees Bella going and wants to do EVERYTHING Bella does. So far, she doesn't seem to see any correlation in going #1 in the potty, nor can I tell when she even goes and a wet diaper doesn't phase her a bit.

We also have to wait until the very last sec to put her on. She doesn't really want to sit there for long. Although, she copies Bella and asks for a "book".

I can't believe I'm even entering the phase of thinking about potty training. Wasn't she just born?!?!

Siblings

They are awesome. I love being friends with each of them.
Ryan and Melissa's wedding was so much fun (if I haven't already said so!) :)

Here we are at the wedding reception: Chelsie, Keegan, Ryan and I.