US Army

As the kids get older they tend to not be on the blog as much and sometimes I get emails asking about one or two of the kids. I have been asked a couple of times about Andrew in the past months. Andrew left on January 12th for army boot camp. He turned 17 this past fall and signed up immediately. This is something that he has had planned for a long time. I got a letter from him this week and he said he was really having fun, which I thought very funny - not what I expected to hear. We will see how he feels in a couple of weeks. 

These pictures were taken when Andrew was helping with our gardens last spring. I really loved my raised gardens - though the deer and squirrels and birds ate almost everything in it. 

 

The Weekend

The kids decided to put up their new badminton set this weekend. I bought it months ago and we just had not gotten it up. Today, Bethany and Tess were very anxious to get it up so they could play. They did most of the work, with a little help from dad and myself, and got it up in time to play a few games before bedtime. They really enjoyed playing it tonight and we actually have some birdies that light up so you can play as it gets dark. They think that's really fun. 

Our garden is doing ok. We do have lots of green tomatoes right now and hopefully we will get them before the deer or any other animals do. 

The other garden was not as lucky as this one as the deer ate all of our green beans - well, most of them. So, it's not looking too good. I don't know how we will keep the animals out as we have so many around here. There are probably 5 or 6 deer in our yard almost every morning. I bought something to put around the gardens to keep them away, but it does not help much. 

Tess loves to help in the garden. I think I said before that the first picture I ever saw of Tess was in a garden in China. And she still likes being in a garden - she lasts much longer working than the other kids. 

Hopefully we will get a few vegetables this year - though, I don't think I have much of a green thumb. 

Getting The Garden Ready

We started cleaning out the old flower garden yesterday. It was a real mess - covered in weeds and sticks and who knows what. We want to get our flower seeds planted in the next week or two. I started working on it and as soon as the kids saw me they wanted to help. They almost always want to help if I'm working. They just don't like to do it alone. We just about got it done and now all we have to do is till it and add fertilizer and, of course, plant the seeds. I told Tess that the first picture I ever saw of her was her in a garden with a hoe. I asked if she remembered being in that garden in China and she said no. But, it seemed to thrill her that she was working in a garden in the very first picture I ever saw of her. It seemed to make her even more interested in gardening.

Spring

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt - Margaret Atwood 

We have been digging our garden and planting our tomato plants and all kinds of flowers. Tomorrow we will plant our radishes and cucumbers. The kids take turns digging and helping to place the plants and also scattering the flower seeds. They now say they are gardeners. 

Mark-My-Time

I meant to post our reading time for the month of March. Our Mark-My-Time says we read for 24 hours and 10 minutes for the month. I think that is down from February, but not too bad. We read quite a few books that I'm not going to list and we have started the book The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnette. I'm pretty sure just about everyone has read this book so there is no point in me giving a synopsis, but the kids are thoroughly enjoying it and I enjoy reading it to them around this time every year. It doesn't seem to matter how many times we have read this book they still ask for it every spring when we start talking about flowers and gardens and beautiful weather. This year I think Piper is actually understanding it much better and loving it. 

We are planning on planting our garden in the next week or two and the kids are drawing plans for the garden and planning what they want to plant. We have bought a lot of flower seeds and a few vegetables. I am hoping to have a little bit larger garden than last year. 

A few random pictures from our weekend. 

The Garden

I planted a garden in the spring and it is finally producing flowers. Bethany and Piper wanted to pick some to put in the house so I went out with them to make sure they didn't cut every single flower and to also get pictures. Problem with my garden is that, first of all, after I planted it it rained and rained and rained. I think the seeds just went every which way cause the flowers are not where I put them. I don't really line anything up but I had planted the climbing flowers like four o'clocks and morning glories near a trellis or deck to climb up but they obviously got washed all over as my garden is covered with climbing plants wrapping around all the other plants and going everywhere. I am also fairly lazy when it comes to gardening, and though I love my garden and flowers I tend to not weed very often -- if at all -- so it is really rather a mess. I actually started not to put the pictures up as it shows what disarray the garden is actually in, but then decided I really didn't care. You can see vines climbing all over and mixed in everywhere -- actually they pretty much hide the weeds that are also growing. 

The girls picked lots of flowers and had a nice bunch to take inside and brighten up our kitchen. 

A Garden

Today, my son John came over and tilled a garden and planted it -- cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower, tomatoes and peppers. We still have corn, watermelon, strawberries and pumpkins to plant, but I felt like he really got a lot done today. It took me awhile to decide where I wanted the garden. I didn't want it in the middle of the yard or right in the way of things, but finally we found a spot that seemed to work and he worked on it all afternoon. It really does look great and I am so happy with it. 

It became quite a family affair. Everybody wanted to watch and help. So, the kids played around the area and watched John till, hoe and plant. He planted some seeds and some plants. It was quite a job. 

Meredith brought her kids over and I got this picture of Asher blowing a bubble. He has a birthday coming up soon. 

It was a nice day and we got a lot done -- actually, John got a lot done and we watched. It will be nice to be able to go outside and pick some of our very own vegetables. 

Evelyn's face is a little dirty -- don't you think?