Garden 2012

I finally took the plunge and put in a small garden.  I haven’t in the past due to a shady yard and the fear that my black thumb would make it an entirely unproductive and a waste of money.  We lost a tree several years ago, solving the shade problem.  The jury is still out on the black thumb. 

April

May

early June

I planted veggies we actually eat, so I can see what I can/cannot grow and if it’s worth the time and effort.  We’ve harvested spinach and leaf lettuce already.  The peas are climbing their trellis.  I’m excited to pick some cilantro for Pad Thai later this week.  We also have sunflower, cucumber, zucchini, pumpkin, bean, tomato, and pepper plants growing.

Caleb and Sophia have loved helping to build and water the garden.  And they’ve been eating spinach right out of the garden!  Caleb thought going to the city’s “construction site” to pick up free compost was a great field trip, and he even helped haul the compost to the backyard.  So far the garden’s been a success.  We’ll see how the rest of the summer goes.  We may be doing battle with the squirrels.

How Caleb Spent His Birthday Money

Stickers

 

 

 

 

 

Someone’s proud of her stickers!

One for staying in bed until Mommy or Daddy get her up in the morning.

One each time she uses the potty.

She’s quite the decorated hero around these parts.

Painting

While we were painting this last week,

Caleb painted the sandbox.

Caleb and Sophia collaborated on this project as well.

And then we talked about pointillism.

Strawberries!

Last week (or I guess several weeks ago now), I took the kids strawberry picking.  My parents usually pick an insane amount of berries to enjoy throughout the year, so I joined them this year. My goal was to give the kids a fun, new experience and possibly freeze some strawberries.  

Caleb was a great helper, picking strawberries, and insisting that he wanted to “can them for the winter”  thanks to about a hundred readings of Blueberries for Sal.  Sophia much preferred eating the strawberries.  It’s too bad I didn’t have a camera to capture her berry-stained face.

Moving Up in the World

We’ve had a whirlwind of activity around our house lately.  One thing we marked off our to do list:

We’re thankful owners of a minivan!  I’m not sure you can say proud yet as I still miss driving around in our sedan, but we’re definitely thankful for the deal we found (and Grandpa and Grandma watching the kids while we haggled). 

While the interior has some wood trim reminiscent of this,

overall we’re very pleased with our purchase. 

And we no longer have to think about fitting three car seats in the back of our sedan in November.

If you’d ever like a tour of the doors that slide or the seats in the trunk, Caleb would be more than happy to oblige!

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Here’s what Caleb requested for his birthday:

• cereal for breakfast
• spaghetti
• spinach from the garden
• lemonade cake with mixed frosting with all the colors
• lemonade
• play croquet
• sleep in a tent

Setting up the tent for our camp out (in the backyard):

Blowing out FOUR candles:

I made some mock spaghetti & meatball cupcakes to surprise Caleb.  Don’t worry; he also got cupcakes with all the colors mixed together.  I just didn’t take a picture of the final product. 

Caleb decided to forgo croquet in favor of the sprinkler for the afternoon:

We also sent Caleb on a scavenger hunt to find his present.  At the beginning, flashlight in hand. 

Stop #1: He found a present inside of a cell phone box.  “A phone!”  and then shortly after, “When can I have a phone?” The present was actually a bell. 

Stop #2: Time to put on tennis shoes.

Stop #3: To the swing set.

(He had a tagalong as well.)

Stop #4: X marks the spot. 

What was the present?  Caleb was very excited about getting a sprinkler for his birthday.  We had to tell him to turn around a look a little bit more. 

Enjoying his gift:

I don’t know where four years has gone, but I am so thankful Caleb is part of my life!