Square Foot Gardening

My neighbor Sharon and I decided to make and plant a garden this year. Sharon lives in the other half of the duplex that we are renting. Sharon went to a class about square foot gardening, we bought the stuff, and then got to work.

Here's the process...

1) Prepare, Rota-Tilled the space in Sharon's backyard (Thanks Darci for "Rota-tilling":)

2) Mix the Vermeculite, Peat Moss, Compost (This was quite the chore... Sharon was literally elbow deep in poo! Wish I would have taken a picture of that:)

3) Make the boxes

4) Place boxes in plot, line boxes with cardboard (great weed barrier, & stays nice and moist)

5) Fill boxes will dirt mixture, plant seeds (so far we've planted: carrots, peas, broccoli, radishes, green onions, romaine lettuce)

Thanks Sharon for the excitement and drive to do the garden in the first place... we are so looking forward to reaping the rewards of what we sowed:)

Our Crazy Kiddos:)

Our trip to Moscow/Colton, we got all the kids together for some cute pictures. Our nephews: Zakry, Mikah, and Jakob (Lucas' sister Megan's boys) Our nieces: Kendall & Peyton (My sister Leslie's girls) And Our silly girls: Rhenley, Jayda, & Jodee:)

A New Little Niece to Spoil & Love:)

Lucas' little sister Tessa, and her hubby Darrin had their first baby on April 22nd. Kloee Belle Allen was born at 1:41am, after many hours of labor, 4 hours of pushing, and then ultimately a C-section...Kloee finally came:) Tessa is quite the woman:) Kloee was 8lbs. 4oz, 20 3/4 inches long, and ALL cheeks. She is absolutely adorable!

We heard that Tessa was in labor about 11am. (2am on April 21st, her water broke:) We drove to Moscow, Idaho (where Tessa & Darrin live) with the girls. (Lucas' sister Megan and her 3 boys came too, but drove their own van:). We waited at the hospital for several hours with all the kids, anxiously awaiting the arrival. My sister Leslie and her family live in Colton (20mins away), thankfully we were able to stay with them for the night. It was a pretty quick visit, but we were glad we made it there for the birth. The girls loved Kloee, they wanted to hold her and couldn't stop touching her sweet little face.



Welcome to the world Kloee! Congratulations Tessa & Darrin, WE LOVE YOU!!

The Joys of a Box:)

I came downstairs the other day to find Rhenley & Jayda playing with an empty diaper box. I didn't see Jodee around, so I called for her, little did I know, she was playing with the box too. I heard Jodee say "In here Mommy" (She was the gift inside the box.:) They played for hours with the box. Taking turns getting inside, pretending to be shipped off to China, or shipped to Grandma's house. It was cute to watch them play, they had a blast. Oh the joys of the simple things. Note to self: Keep empty boxes lying around, the girls played better with the box then with any of their other toys. (They didn't fight once!:)

Happy Easter!

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter!

THE BUNNY CAKE!

Every Easter Lucas' Aunt Naomi makes "The Bunny Cake". Very festive, very yummy bunny:) It's the highlight of Easter for Lucas:)

EASTER is "EGG"STRA SPECIAL!

Easter with lots of family around is great for our girls. Double the eggs, double the candy, and double the fun!:)



--Dying easter eggs before the hunt at Grandpa Bob & Grandma Nea's (my parents:)

--EAster EgG HuNt #1--

--Jodee & Jayda couldn't get enough hardboiled eggs, they cracked into them as soon as the hunt was over-- Jodee stuffed the entire egg in her mouth:)

--EaStEr EgG HunT #2--





--Full baskets, happy girls!:)--

Happy Birthday Brenden!

(All the kids that came to the party:)
My nephew Brenden had his 4th birthday this last Saturday. It was a bug themed party, my very creative sister had a dirt/bug cake, a bug/bug egg hunt (bug catchers for all the kids), and a few fun games. My girls had so much fun hunting for bugs, and the eggs. (It was good practice for the upcoming Easter egg hunts:)
The Cute Dirt Cake (Kyra's hubby Jake created this masterpiece, and yes, some of the grass did catch on fire when we lit the candles:)




(The girls searching for bugs. Jodee was a little unsure of the bugs, she didn't want to pick them up at first... check out that spider:)
The Great Egg Race, Go Rhenley Go!

Birthday Boy Brenden with his very cool new bike:)

Mamalicious Monday

Rhenley lost her first tooth a few weeks ago, and I forgot to post her toothless picture. She was so excited, and brave to lose her tooth. Her tooth was pretty loose, hanging by just one little piece of skin... after a little coaxing, she let me help her pull it out. (I remember only a few times as a child pulling my teeth out by myself. My dad always helped: bite this apple, bite this gummy cherry, "let me look at it") So, the big moment came after dinner, I asked if I could just wiggle the tooth, and she could help me by pushing it out with her tongue. It took just a few seconds, she pushed with her tongue, and I pulled a little, and POP, out it came. She immediately put her tooth in her tooth fairy pillow, and put it by her bed. The next morning, first thing, she checked the box that's in her little pillow, and she had 4 shiny quarters. As a kid, I remember getting 25, maybe 50 cents per tooth and $1.00 for the bigger teeth. My husband blames inflation:) (2 weeks later, her new tooth is poking through the skin, and she is thrilled!)
It's been so fun to be the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus. Many people I know tell their children right off the bat that these holiday figures aren't real, I think that's sad. I loved as a child celebrating holidays, and wasn't the least bit disappointed when I found out it was my parents giving us gifts. I think it makes giving the kids gifts more exciting, and less of the focus is on me as the parent, these figures get the credit, it's not all about me:)

Happy Mamalicious Monday: Brought to you by "The Gift Closet"

Families Can Be Together Forever!

On March 29th my grandma passed away. Grandma T. has lived with my mom & dad for 17 years. (My mom's mom:) She was around for much of my youth, and young adult years. She battled diabetes, heart problems, and arthritis. (These were just a few of her ailments) She was a fighter, never complained, and always overcame! She was a woman of faith, a believer and doer of the word, and a true inspiration to many.
She was a lady of many talents, many opinions, and lots of love! I will always remember her LOUD cheering at sporting events, playing games late into the night, rootbeer floats, graham crackers w/ milk, sugar free chocolates, her candy dish and cookie jar, her loads of stuffed animals, her unique taste in jewelry, her brightly colored lipstick, and her smell.:)

We love you Grandma T., our lives have been truly blessed. We know you are in heaven, with your family and friends who have gone before you. (How great that reunion must have been.:) We feel much comfort and peace knowing that you're with our Heavenly Father, that you are doing the Lord's work on the other side now, and even greater comfort in knowing that we'll be reunited one day! Thank you for always being there, for caring, and for keeping us in line. We know everything you said and did was out of love.

We love you, and we'll be seeing you:)

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

(My cousin Kortni inspired me to make this scrapbook/slideshow, Thanks Kort:)