Justin the Artist

Justin is so creative and sometimes he amazes me. He went online and watched several utube vidneos on how to make your own Halo helmet. First he took paper and made a pattern and then he cut the pieces out of cardboard from old shoe boxes. Then he taped the pieces together, found some plastic from his predator figure box to make a shield and then he spray painted it red. It looks really good and he spent the whole day working on it. He loves to draw and create things and he has real talent. Marcus loves to draw too and so does Breanna. They get that from Bryan's side of the family.

Pumpkins!

My volunteer pumpkin plants bloomed while we were in Maui and now we have a few little pumpkins forming. It' s fun to see them grow and I keep checking for more. I've been soaking a plant in the yard each day and it's really starting to show. I know my pumpkin grew overnight and I see new growth on all the plants. The plants haven't been wilting in the afternoon like they usually do either. I need to cage the tomato plants and the pepper plants that I got from the organic farm that we toured in Pleasanton two months ago. I planted them really deep like the guy told me and they took a while to grow but they look really full and healthy after a few days fo soaking them. The other tomato plants are doing okay. The leaves are turning yellow and getting crispy but we do have tomatoes on the vines and a couple are starting to turn red. I've harvested 3 cherry tomatoes and 1 little roma tomato. They sure were good. The grapes are still growing strong but they aren't ready to pick yet since it hasn't been warm enough. The corn didn't do so well. I have one really good stalk and everyone who grows corn knows that you have to have several stocks close together so they can polinate each other. My watermelon plants are the same size as the day I brought them home from the nursery and planted them in the ground. I have been soaking them too everyday and I think I see some growth. My lettuce plants are huge and really need to be harvested. Those were volunteer plants too so they aren't spaced correctly. The pumpkin plants are taking over and I love seeing all that green in my garden.

It's Summer!

I finally feel like summer is here. We left for Maui June 9th and came back June 24th. We had a great time and it was so nice to be on the beach and stay in a condo and not have much to do. As soon as we came home we went to an A's game, went to the fair, bought a new car, saw friends, did laundry and got the house and yard back in order. Then we had the 4th of July weekend to get ready for. Justin went to church camp last week and since one of the boys was gone I didn't feel like I had to do school with them. We're doing school through the summer because I feel behind on things. We got so busy during the school year doing other educational things that we never got to the things I had planned. Anyway, I've been able to stay up late, sleep in late, move slowly during the sunny day, clean, organize, sew and run errands. We even had a garage sale today and I finished a book I had started a while ago. It feels like summer. Marcus left for scout camp today and I miss him already. He does so much around the house and he doesn't need that much from me. He's fun to have around and that boy grows every day. I'm enjoying watching him grow into a young man. He's forming his ideas and opinions and is willing to listen to what I have to say. He joined a boy scout troop in February and we've really been struggling with some fo the issues that come from a group like this-communication, organization, expectations, disappointments, confusion. We're making progress and Marcus said he would give it until after camp to decide wether or not to stay in scouts. I hope he has a good time. The weather was strange today-well, hasn't it been strange for a while? I was sitting in the living room and the school house out back looked pink so I looked at the sunset and it was beautiful . Here is a picture.

Marcus' 13th Birthday Party

Since I did Justin's birthday on here I figured I'd better do Marcus' birthday too especially since he turned 13 this year. Our kids are now 5, 10 and 13. It's crazy but it's here. I love their ages though. Breanna is so much more independent and wonderful, Justin is great and Marcus is changing by the minute. He gets taller and more handsome each day that passes. It's weird and great at the same time. We had his party on Saturday May 9th but his real birthday is May 7th. He wanted a football themed party (again with the theme, I know). I made the invitations (that's another thing that I always do) and they were really cute. Then I made a football field cake with football players and goals. Bryan made the goals out of pipe cleaners. That man is amazing with pipe cleaners. I love homemade cakes and its always fun to get creative and match the cake with the theme. The last two parties I haven't had any cake leftover. That usually doesn't happen. He invited a bunch of people since I didn't put a limit on the number an I figured everyone would be really busy in May on a Saturday so a lot of people wouldn't be able to come. Well, I was a bit wrong. We had a great turnout and I counted over 14 boys over the age of 10 and a lot more little kids plus lots of parents and family. We usually invite the family too because otherwise I end up having several parties to cover everyone. I like it better that way anyway. We had hotdogs and football food-chips, dip, finger food. I tried to make whatever I would have made for Superbowl Sunday. I forgot how much teenage boys eat and we ran out of food pretty fast. The soda was gone in an instant and I had to resort to lemonade and water. After they had all eaten and were starting to run around Bryan took all, and I mean all, the kids to the school that's behind our house. I assumed someone went with him to watch the younger kids who were playing at the playground. I was wrong. I did look over the back fence and saw Bryan with all the older boys playing a very organized game of football and then realized that all the little kids were playing by themselves at the playground. Shea and Alyssa went over to the park so all was well. I managed to sit down and enjoy the quiet and realized that this was the best party ever! We couldn't see, hear or smell the kids and we were at a kids birthday party. Well, that didn't last but it was nice. The kids all came back and we did presents and cake. I didn't do party favors for this party either and I feel a little bad but again, do the kids really care? I don't think so. Marcus had a great time and that's all that matters. Is he really 13? How did this happen? It's all good though. I'm falling down in the picture taking too. I usually take so many pictures of their parties but I haven't lately. I do regret that and I plan on working on being better at that. I don't have a good picture of Marcus at his own party but the cake looks good.

Justin's 10th Birthday Party

We had Justin's 10th birthday party at our neighborhood pool on Saturday May 3oth. His birthday is actually June 3rd but that's a Wednesday and it's hard to have a party on a Wednesday if you want everyone to be able to come. We've lived here for 9 years and this is the first time we've ever had a pool party. I usually let them choose the theme of their party (if you know me, you know I have to have a theme for every party) and this year he chose a pool party. I usually make the boys share a birthday party since their birthdays are only one month apart but since Marcus turned 13 this year he got to have a special party. I ended up letting Justin have a party too since it is his first double digit year. Alot of kids came and we had pizza and soda. None of the adults swam because it was so cold and windy but all the kids did and they seemed to have a really good time. Kids don't care, they just want to swim. I feel a little bad because I didn't go all out like I usually do. Just pizza and soda and a homemade cake. No decorations, no extra food, no goodie bags. Do the kids really care? I don't think so. I think they just want to have their friends over, eat yummy food and open presents. Mission accomplished.

Down on the Fake Farm cont.

Look close. You can see one of the first carrot sprouts. It's a strong one so hopefully one day we'll eat it!!

Down on the Fake Farm

Things are happening here on the fake farm. I had to replant all the cucumber, lettuce, carrots and corn because as soon as I planted them in the garden bugs ate them. It is fun to check everyday to see what has sprouted and if you look closely you will see something. It's been a good lesson in patience because you have to wait for the seeds to grow and there are several days when it seems as if nothing is happening. There's a part of you that doesn't believe that something is going to grow and you're amazed when you see that first little green sprout peeking through the dirt, then another, then yet another. We planted all the seedlings in empty egg cartons and set them in the dining room next to the sliding glass door so they would get the light they need, we could watch them and make sure they had plenty of water.

We planted 6 tomato plants in pots since they did way better last year in the pots than in the garden. I love home grown tomatoes and so does everyone else so we decided to grow alot. We also have about 6 strawberry plants in the garden that we've had for several years but haven't ever really produced a good supply of strawberries. I found out that strawberries are like corn, they need to be close together and there needs to be alot of them. I'll be heading out this week to get more strawberry plants to fill in the holes between the plants. I love strawberries.