but wait! there's more...

This one ...

is too cute for words. Wouldn't you agree? She's also quite the handful. She's going to keep me on my toes like her brother never did. She's has no fear and is up for anything. Second child syndrome has hit full force. 

Speaking of Zack, she adores him and wants to do everything he does, but lets out the most annoying whine/squeal when she is displeased with him. It's worse than nails on a chalkboard, I swear to you.

Lately she likes to point at you and say things like 'don't do dat!' or 'dat be awesome!' She will only sit still while watching Spongebob, loves to color, is leery of any male she doesn't know, wants to walk everywhere, loves going on errands and pretty much subsists on air. She won't eat any 

vegetable unless it is fresh from the garden... cook it and she won't touch it. She also has the biggest sweet tooth going.

We've ventured into potty training, but won't try again until our camping trip is over. She's wearing hand-me-downs that our 6 year old neighbor wore LAST YEAR. 5T tops and 3T pants, since she's built the complete opposite of Zack and is all torso/no leg.

She's a complete lovebug (unlike her baby days) and very empathetic when someone is upset, often 

comforting Zack when he's upset. Naps are over unless we are in the car, but she sleeps until late

so we don't mind :)

If asked how old she is, she will tell you "two and a HALF" cause you know that half is very important!

Who knew having a girl was so much fun?!

Garden Update - June 8th

Lots of activity in the garden the last few weeks. And in addition to keeping up with things here, I helped my friends Heather & Joe plant some things at their condo as part of our 'no gift' Christmas presents to each other. I planted for them, and they will babysit for us one night so Doug and I can go out alone. Now to just get him home one night! Work has been crazy for him and he's been on the road a lot.

Here is some of my dad's handiwork on the back patio. It really looks stunning out there in the spring.

The blue and peach irises and clematis are so colorful.

The window boxes are also filling in nicely. Lots of different things in there ... Verbena, Salvia, Lobelia ...

My veggies (and strawberries) are starting to go go go too! I'm astounded at how fast broccoli grows. When I counted back to when I planted it, I was sure that there was NO WAY I would be harvesting in June, but 2 days ago I discovered it was flowering (the part we eat is actually the flowers before they open) and now I just hope they aren't 'button heads' which are essentially small heads that form when the plant gets stressed early on from heat or long periods of cold.

Luckily bugs haven't been a huge issue aside from a few cabbage loopers that had to be picked off and squished. Early on I lost one plant to japanese beetle grubs, which I kind of expected since this is the first year for this bed and was lawn previously. I plan on using row covers next year to eliminate the bug issue altogether. Then I noticed that during the day another plant was wilting in the sun but not recovering and I dug it out to discover root maggots had gotten to it ...

then the one next to it started doing the same thing ( wireworms had gotten to that one) and I was afraid the whole bed was going to be decimated, but it seems now that it was limited to those few plants. Whew. And now the bed is empty in one little corner ...

The onions are doing well, but due to the size of the broccoli leaves are having some trouble getting sun. There are 2 rows of bunching onions that I chose for that location since they are supposed to deter pests from broccoli. The oregano is hiding under those giant leaves too :)

Yesterday I finally got the peppers into the ground. They were hardening off for a few days in the sheltered area behind the garage after spending a few weeks under a growlight in the garage. One slug managed to snack on one, but otherwise they seem fine.

Slugs were a bit of an issue in my carrot beds early on, eating the seedlings as soon as they emerged. So I had to resort to placing a barrier of sand around each row to deter them (they don't like to cross sand as it tears up their bellies) and it seems to have worked as the carrots are getting going, albeit slowly.

By far the most exciting growth so far has been the strawberries!! I found a ripe one hiding yesterday and ate it with Zack and Lily. It was so delicious as it was warm from the sun, but probably more so because I had grown them myself. There is something just so satisfying about walking out to the yard and picking food to eat! Lots of work to be sure, but very rewarding.

After dinner hijinks.

It has now been nice enough (and light enough) that after the kids eat dinner they can run around and play outside after supper. That doesn't seem like a good combination, but so far nobody has thrown up ;)

I remember when I was little and living on a street that had lots of kids and dinner was always such an interruption of playtime. We'd all eat so fast just so we could rush right out and get back to the fun stuff. Now Zack is doing the same thing, and Lily is practically tipping her little chair over to get unbuckled and follow him "ME!ME! Outside!" which works out for her since she seems to subsist on air and gets to escape the table without eating. I usually go out with them and check on my other babies (aka the garden) and this time I had my camera with me.  

They have been really into chasing each other all over the yard and Zack especially enjoys sneaking up on Lily and scaring the daylights out of her. I really have to watch her because unlike Zack she has no fear and we live on a VERY busy street, so mostly we play in the fenced area.

Here's his "take a picture of ME mama!" pose. Lily loves getting her picture taken and now he wants to be in the shot all the time, whereas before he couldn't have cared. 

Here's the "come and get me Yacky" move, rolling around until brother gives chase.

Oh no, here he comes, RUN!

That terrible awful feeling that... he... is ... right ... behind you!

Gotcha!  I love her face here :)

Then Zack was laying on the grass hamming it up for the camera and she just had to get in on the action. What sibling rivalry? None of that here, nuh uh. Notice the lovely Dora gardening gloves for when she needs 'to dig'. The people who designed these gloves by the way, clearly don't have children and never had to put tiny fingers in the right places inside. I will admit to hiding said gloves on many an occasion :)

Anything you can do, I can do better.

Lily tackled Zack and totally knocked him down. I couldn't believe she had so much force that she just took him out like that and when I asked him "did she just TACKLE YOU?!" He couldn't even answer he was laughing so hard.

I was trying to take some shots of the garden and Bootsie went zooming by. This is so her, just a little bundle of motion.

Garden update - May

This gardening stuff is hard. Not so much on the back or the wallet, (sometimes yes, I admit) but mostly with the weather! I have never paid so much attention to rain forecasts before, and the WIND! my goodness it's going to be the death of me. Mark my words, next year there will be row covers. 

     We had horrid winds Monday night and when I went out to inspect my broccoli I saw that they had been whipped so hard against the cutworm collars I'd made with the plastic bottles that many leaves were snapped off. Ugh. So, I had to trim them down lower below the first set of leaves and luckily the stems are strong enough now to handle that. My dad teased me that I wasn't splinting each and every leaf. Yeah, I'm pretty obsessive with my other babies :) 

     This morning I discovered a bunch of leaves were bent by what I think is an animal walking through the beds (most likely the skunk that I got within arms length of TWICE this month) so I bought some fencing. I wasn't keen on doing that, but I also discovered a hole (papa thinks rabbit) under the fence that divides our property from the neighbors so it's going up before they take a shine to my carrots. My poor little broccoli are never going to head up if they keep losing all their leaves!

Here's the protection I gave them after the windy night continued into the day. 35-40 mph wind gusts are not a seedlings friend.

The black weedblock is warming up the area where the peppers will go. They are in the garage under the world's crankiest grow light. It hates me and only goes on when my dad touches it, I kid you not. There are also 4 rows of carrots in, and I wasn't kidding when I said I was obsessive, you should have seen my putting those tiny suckers in one at a time ... with a ruler for correct spacing. I just cannot eyeball what 3 inches apart should be ;) The strawberries are doing well and I've let them start to make berries now. Once the fruit is ready I'll put up my bird netting ... no berries for them, they can have the mulberry tree when it's ready!

Then I decided on another 4 rows of carrots that are about 2 weeks behind the first to keep up a continuous harvest. It seems the ones we bought from Seeds of Change are a fall variety so they will have to wait. I'm hoping I worked the soil enough so we get at least some that are a little straight and not too wonky. They are between the bricks (which are coming out after I pin down the weedblock). In between the first row of carrots are some transplanted chive, they are looking upright these days, this was just after moving them. We have it in a few places around the yard, and I read that it makes carrots taste better when grown near them and that rabbits aren't fans of the onion family. I also put some coffee grounds down along the rows to discourage the carrot maggot (eew) I guess they aren't fans of caffeine ;) The popsicle sticks are marking where the pepper plants are going ... obsessive much? Yup.

The new obsession.

After hanging out with our next door neighbor (who is also his classmate) Zack has a new obsession. She has 3 older brothers who are always out in the driveway shooting hoops, and I think he wanted to follow along. It's really cute how he bounces it in our patio but makes sure to be in front of the tree that is between our fences and allows a clear view to their yard (and into ours) so they can see him. 

He's also into listening to music on his little mp3 player that my parents got for free after sitting through a condo selling speech. He borrowed my dad's noise cancelling headphones and was bouncing and grooving. I wish I had video of him dancing with the ball ;)  Daddy saw him and said "he is so going to get beat up on the playground". 

He had no idea that I was crouched behind the fence clicking away.

It was too good to last.

But he didn't care that I was taking pictures of him .... for once!

He's written 'i love basketball' on his ball. Yup, I think he does :)

Low tech fun.

You know that old expression about how kids are just as happy to play with the box that a toy came in sometimes more than the toy itself? That happens here a lot. Forget the sandbox full of toys, bikes, croquet sets and numerous other fun stuff and witness my kids keeping themselves busy (and fighting over) 2 old boards that my dad ripped out of the base of our garage door. Instant balance beams! Zack threw a few bricks under them to give them some height, and I admit to wondering if one of them was going to end up at the doctor with a sprained ankle (my kids aren't the most athletic) but it was all good.

Miss Boots employing the 'arms out' trick we showed her.

She was so intent on doing exactly what big brother was doing ... nope, no sibling rivalry here ;)

Whoa, whoa, WHOA! I thought for sure she was going down ...

but then she remembered to throw her arms out at the last second and recovered. I was suprised she could go more than a few steps since this is the kid who falls over while standing still, but as kids are wont to do, she surprised me.

I love this shot of her. She's just like her dad in so many ways (both physically and mentally) and she seems to have inherited his lack of a backside. Even with diapers she has the droopy drawers :)

And here's big brother dominating the beam. He gets so worked up when Lily is on his board. There are 2 set up but she wants to be on his of course.

He's become more interested in physical activities of late and spends most nice days outside. I'm going to pick up some more yard games for us to play with soon. They will come in handy for camping this summer too.

Daddy moved the boards yesterday for the first lawn cut of the season but I predict them returning soon :)

For your viewing pleasure.

Lily who was very proud of her new shoes and couldn't bear to have them covered up.

Untitled from Marlene Gibson on Vimeo.

The smalles knucklehead in the backyard being her silly self. That's my dizzy girlie ...

Untitled from Marlene Gibson on Vimeo.

April blooms and more.

Thanks to my dad's planting skills the yard is in a constant state of bloom these days. We get the crocuses first, then the daffodils and tulips, some muscari, the bleeding hearts look pretty now, soon the azalea bushes will be out (those things are the bane of my existence as they cut my arms to ribbons trying to clear out from under them) and the phlox is amazing, in smell and color.

Out front the anemones are a stunning blue, which I couldn't seem to quite capture with my camera.

And these tulips were so beautiful while they were out, but that random 90 degree day took them out faster than they should have. They are not so orange as they appear here, but more of a salmon color and when shaded by the tree just pop out of the background of green.

You also have to keep an eye out for garden gnomes ...

I've been pretty busy getting the garden going. All the broccoli seedlings have been transplanted and are getting sturdier by the day. The bottle idea came from an organic gardening forum and is an effort to keep cutworms away during the first few weeks. They act like little greenhouses and protect from wind as well and seem to be doing the trick.

Yesterday I put in some fresh compost in the center and planted 2 long rows of bunching onions. The onions are a good companion to the broccoli as there are numerous pests that don't like them.

The other bed is in a state of flux at the moment. The first section has been worked and four rows of carrots are in (a spring variety), and later there will be a succession planting right next to it with four more rows. The popsicle sticks are marking where the pepper plants will be, but they are still in their big pots as they are heat lovers and aren't ready to be in the garden yet.

The lettuce is moving right along even though we lost 2 plants along the way. That really hot day that killed the tulips was a boon for the peas who had quite a few pop up. Yay!

Tomorrow there will be a Home Depot trip to get tomato starts, and all the other goodies we need. Doing our part to stimulate the economy ;)

With a neigh neigh here and a neigh neigh there ...

Last Monday during April vacation my friend Heather took the kids and I to the barn where she rides. The main reason for going was to pick up some free manure for the compost bin, but the kids wanted to see the horses too so it was a win/win. 

The horse on the left is Punkin, the horse that Heather rides and the one nuzzling her is her baby. I was taking pictures of Punkin and he came right over and started getting all cute and I just happened to get this shot.

Lily was very impressed with the horses and not scared even a little bit. She's just has no fear, of anything really, and we call her our little daredevil.

Here she is giving them some hay and with no worries about the electric fence above her head or the fact that she could lose a few fingers ;) Heather showed her how to lay her hand flat and she was all giggles when they ate from her hand.

Soft fuzzy horse faces ...

And then there's this one ... the one who has a healthy respect for animals in general. See that look, the side-eye he's giving those horses? Yep, he's pretty sure that electric fence isn't good enough.

Not sure why she was so serious here, but she's a cutie, no doubt about it.

Heather, Zack and Lily watching the horses eat some hay that Zack tossed under the fence. He's a little closer but still back in the safety zone.

Closer still, and the urge to pat them warring with the cautious side of him ...

Curiosity won out :)

Heather & Punkin, and their matching hair color ;)

This is Katy, one of the other horses at the barn.

She has one blue eye, like David Bowie.

We hung around for a little while, the kids tossing hay to the horses and me happily lugging buckets of horse poop to the car (lids on thank you very much!) until it got a little too chilly. I fully expect the begging for a horse to start any day now.

Good looks and brains too :)

This little knucklehead ....

is doing really well in school, and he's enjoying it a lot too which is a bonus. I had his parent-teacher conference at the beginning of April and it was amazing to hear all the great things they had to say about him. We can really see his reading and spelling coming along fast in the last few months, and I figured he was pretty much on par with the rest of the class but I guess some of his skills are past the average kindergarten kid.

 Our school system is one of the best in the country so they have some pretty intensive programs they follow. I went to a conference that explained all the development stuff they do and man, was it amazing. They do a specific phonics program that seems to really be clicking with Zack. 

Lately they have been working on 'browsing bags' in the afternoons that allow the kids to read from books they have chosen and I was told that they had to go into the older classrooms to get harder books for Zack because he was zooming through them. The teachers were really glad to see him take more risks in class (they utilize the 'take a risk' philosophy a lot) and he's come out of his shell in every way since starting school. He interacts with his peers more and more, and Mrs Kelly (his afternoon teacher) says that he's expressing his ideas in verbal and written form more clearly now. When I told them that every parent thinks their kid is smart, they both said 'no, he's very bright'. What an awesome feeling it is to hear that about your child.  His teachers are so amazing and have really brought out the will to learn in him, and I really hope that when he continues to first grade he gets a teacher that will go that extra mile to keep him excited about learning.

As of the last week or so, he's been reading books to us at bedtime and I can see all the habits they are instilling him being used when he's trying to get past words he doesn't know, like looking at the pictures for clues, making the sounds of letters, putting it all together and then asking for help if he needs it ... it's incredible to watch his little mind at work. He sits at his desk and does math problems for himself, and makes these little books with stories & pictures and you can just tell he's proud of himself and proud that WE are too.

Here is one of the books he did as part of his 'morning work' at school and it's about a bear who is being chased by bees :)