Rite of Passage

It's just the expectant dad thing to do. Put the crib together! We found this little gem on Craigslist and my parents were nice enough to pick it up for us. I think it's going to go great with Trudy's Western nursery.

Inkubook Photobooks

The Celebration Continues

The Cedillos got me some western stuff for Trudy's room.

How neat is that metal sign? It's going over her crib.

After church and nursing home we headed over to Mikato Japanese Hibachi for a family birthday celebration. This is a great place to take a group of 9 so that you don't have to sit with strangers. :)

My birthday wish was for everyone to use chopsticks. They obliged for the most part, though everyone but Katy needed the cheater kind rigged with rubber bands.

Bella got really serious about it and even used chopsticks for her drinking straw. Half the fun for all of us was just watching her take everything in. I tried to capture the look of wonderment on her face throughout the chef's performance, but she noticed the camera pointing her direction every time.

Aran's favorite trick of the evening. I don't know how many times his mom had to remind him not to try any of this at home.

The volcano onion.

Mom put out the word that there was a birthday at the table and this is what they brought out along with my own chopsticks to take home and a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday with a gong.

Make a wish!

We had so much fun with the food, entertainment, and fellowship. Thanks to everyone for coming and to Mom and Dad for treating! I loved it.

28 Big Ones

I had a fantastic 28th birthday. Thank you all so much for the gifts, cards, and phone calls. I felt like a princess all day!

Dave and I got up late for a weekday, but early for a weekend in order to hit some yard sales. First things first though...presents!

#1. A Brighton Charm that says "baby girl" on the back. The little critter is taking over everything including my birthday theme! As Dave is fond of saying when he's indulging me, "Hey, how often are you pregnant?" For me that would be a maximum of 18 months out of my entire life so I always take advantage. Bring on the baby stuff!

#2. Dobson's latest release. He got the last copy and we're both enjoying reading it

After going to some yard sales, we made our way to the JRC April Horseshow. This was Brandon and Aran's first show and I didn't want to miss seeing them compete.

Aran stuck with Abe for the whole show. He may sleep through most of the patterns, but Abe will do you proud. He and Aran won 3rd in Showmanship, 3rd in Horsemanship, and 1st in Trail. Congrats, Aran on a rewarding first show!

Brandon opted for more of a challenge (why doesn't that surprise me?) and chose to ride Milo. Milo was a bit uncooperative for both Brandon and Andrea, but they still had fun and looked great in the process!

This was Bella's 3rd show and she rode Abe this time rather than Lilly. They brought home 6th in Showmanship, 3rd in Trail, and 1st place in Horsemanship! Great job, Bella. Show 'em how it's done!

Mom brought me a cupcake and a card with shopping money. Yay!


A few of my favorite pics...

We stayed for about 1/2 the show then headed to Downtown Hartselle to peruse the antique stores. I bought some old Coke crates that had caught my eye and they look uber cool in our kitchen. Dave took me to JW's for dinner and afterward we had some time to kill before our movie started. We went to Shoe Carnival so I could get some Yellow Box flip-flops with my b'day money and lo and behold - we spotted a car show on the way. Being the virtuous pinnacle of womanhood that I am, I encouraged him to stop and have a look. Is that the same truck on his shirt?

All-in-all a perfect, carefree day. Thanks to everyone who made it special!

Square Footish Gardening

What is square-footish gardening? It's just like square-foot gardening except you use whatever you have on hand, cross your fingers, and hope for the best. :)

All the tomatoes, most of the jalapeños, and two plots of basil went in as transplants. The rest I seeded so we'll see what happens. It's almost too simple. Not easy mind you, just simple. You mean I really just throw some vermiculite and seed in a dirt hole, keep it watered, and out comes food after a while?? The transplant thing I get because so much time is spent coddling them before the go into the ground. It just seems too simple to expect anything out of direct sowing, but I hope I'm proven wrong.

This is the final layout we wound up using. Most of the sheetrock bucket crops should have been started earlier so by planting them in containers we'll be able to shield them from the sun this summer when it's technically too hot for them. The blank place is for acorn squash to go in this summer. I may put some asparagus in there until then.

I cannot believe we were thinking of doing a 15x15 plot. This 10x10 took two days and nearly killed me. I have the sore muscles and sunburn to prove it. Granted I only have about 1/2 the stamina these days. It's so frustrating to spend hours doing something (when you calculate the numerous water breaks, heat breaks, and potty breaks I have to take when undertaking anything outdoors right now) that Dave could probably do in 1/5 the time. However, there's only so much Dave to go around so I must gird up my preggo belly and persevere.

Behold our hopefully rabbit-proof garden. Thankfully, we don't have woodchucks around here. My transplants are being shielded from the heat of the day with containers, but I took them off for the close-ups.

Northeast square. Don't the popsicle stick stakes look like little tombstones? Hope that isn't an indication of things to come.

Here lies Basil and Marigold.

April 12,2010 - April 20,2010

Victims of an "ish" gardening attempt

The author of Square Foot Gardening would probably be happy to RIP with Basil and Marigold if he could see the travesty here, but Backwoods Home Magazine might give me kudos for doing what I could with limited energy and money.

Northwest square. Like my dried up brush grid? It put the "ish" in square-footish. Gift wrap raffia path markers tied with carpenter pencil stakes also help with the "ish" factor. Lead...it's what's for dinner!

Southwest square

Southeast square - loving that free cedar mulch from the trees at church!

Special thanks to Andrew for letting us borrow his tiller, to Dad for driving all the way out here to till it for us, to Gilbert for chipping up the felled trees at church, to Dave for building the fence, and to the previous homeowner for leaving us a ton of seeds in the freezer!

Can't wait to reap some harvest and hopefully there will plenty of goodies to share.

Easter Sunday

I love it when Easter Sunday turns out to be warm. More often than not we seem to freeze to death in our spring clothing, all in the name of tradition. Not so for 2010 with a high of 78. Yay!

When you're born in March or April, sometimes you draw the short straw and have a holiday birthday. Such was the case for Micaiah this year. Happy Birthday, Micaiah! And thanks for sharing your cheesesticks with us. ;)