Field Trip...

Wondering what to do on an overcast, dreary day? Allow me to suggest the following:

*call your partner in crime (I mean, your craziest friend who will go along with your hairbrain ideas)

*dress your kids in cute costumes

*grab your camera

*head to the local laundromat to practice your photography skills.

Yes...we really did all of the above. The girls pushed carts down the aisles and they may or may not have banged into walls and you can bet that people were staring at us. But we're used to it (and they were kind, staring strangers). Mostly, we laughed...a lot. And we prayed that no one got hurt (or sued) in the process.

Big News...

Didn't I tell you? We picked our first vegetable this week...big, BIG news around here!



I'd like to show you what we made with it, but we ate it before I had a chance to take pictures. I could eat zuchinni bread every day...we count it as a vegetable serving around, and my girls and I have been getting plenty of vegetable servings this week!

For more BIG news in gardening, check out the Inadvertent Gardener's KinderGardens Week 12.

Speaking of M&Ms...

We did a little math lesson around here the other day, using one of my favorite foods. I'm not a huge math fan (thankfully, Steve is, so the girls should be in good hands during the algebra years). I tend to stick with arts, crafts, and reading. But when I saw this book at the library, I decided that a math lesson might be "deliciously" fun.



So here's what we did:

**Guessed how many M&Ms were in a bag (Kate said 10, Ellie said 3, I said 38...we were all wrong. You'll have to buy a bag and count them to see how many are in there).


**Sorted by colors and then counted each color

**Made a bar graph and colored it

**Made art with the M&Ms (because Kate just thinks art is so much more fun)!

**Did some basic addition and subtraction

The best part was eating the M&Ms. I'm thinking about repeating this lesson using Skittles...because repitition is important when it comes to math, right (and I do love me some Skittles)?!?

Ten...A Photo Tribute

Ten years.

Then and now...

He holds my hand, pushes me to try new things, encourages me to follow my dreams, wipes away my tears, laughs uncontrollably with me (and sometimes at me), makes me crazy, disagrees with me, indulges my crazy ideas, settles my restless (worrisome) heart.

Mostly, he loves me.
For ten years, he has loved me with his whole heart. Could a girl ask for anything more than that?








(As promised...here's an embarrassing picture! There is a dolphin under each of my feet and they are pushing me across the water in this picture. It was very cool...and the picture is a little embarrassing. No wonder everyone laughed at me that day!).




Steve, I pray that we have sixty more years to spend together (at least), and I look forward to all the fun adventures that lie ahead of us!

Weekends, Wineries, and a City Boy...

Amidst all the gardening talk and yard sale finds, I think I failed to mention that Steve and I celebrated our ten year anniversary last month. Ten years...Wow! I am planning a full out tribute post to Steve and to our ten, amazing years of marriage soon. Wait for it, ladies and gentlemen, as I suspect it will include some really great (and possibly a little embarrasing) photos from the past ten years!

But for now, let me tell you how we celebrated. Don't get too excited. It didn't include an airplane ride, a string bikini, or a fruity drink with an umbrella in it. We were planning to go to a Sandals resort in the Bahamas, to relive the crazy fun of our honeymoon (which was spent at a Sandals resort in St. Lucia). But a few months ago we made a decision to spend our Bahamas money on a trip to Disney with the girls. It seemed like a smart idea at the time, but right now, as I'm dreaming of a week with my man on a tropical island, I'm wondering what we were thinking when we made that decision.

So, instead of the Bahamas, we spent the weekend in beautiful, exotic, Virginia. We decided to do a little winery weekend tour. We woke up early and shopped in the coolest antique stores. Seriously, they were such cool stores (think Pottery Barn, except older and more stylish and more solidly made). Steve is a great shopper, and I love that about him. He even carried my purse around this huge antique store. How could you not love a man carrying a pink purse?

Side note: When I first started dating Steve, I told my mom that it wasn't going to work out because we didn't have anything in common. She asked me why I felt that way and I said, "Well, he doesn't hunt or fish or shoot archery...." She just kind of looked at me funny and said, "Yeah, but neither do you!" Ha...she had a good point! I had never dated a guy (or even known a guy, for that matter) who didn't do those things...that is, until I met Steve. He liked movies and shopping and going out to eat and drinking wine (or beer or jungle juice or tequila...ha!) and bunji jumping and being a little wild. I call him my "City Boy," though he would tell you that I'm more "city" than he is, because I scream at the sight of a spider and think camping should involve air conditioning.

So where was I? Oh yeah...my city boy and I shopped and ate lunch at a wood-burning pizza oven restaurant. We got "grown up" pizza (fancy cheeses and sauces, with lots of toppings). I think it was the best pizza I've eaten in my entire life (and I have eaten my fair share of pizza)! Then we set out on the winery tour.

The first place was beautiful.

Didn't I tell you? The wines...well, they were not so great. But we drank them anyway and then listened to some live music and took corny pictures on the deck.

Notice the water? We had to stay hydrated (and sober) so we could drive to winery two. We were goofier and louder(and possibly drunker?) at the next winery. This time, we swirled and sniffed and tried to see if the wines really tasted like the descriptions (who writes those descriptions anyway?).


Then we bought a bottle of wine and sat outside, stuffing our faces with warm ciabatta bread and tomato pesto sauce and drinking (Steve drank the wine, I stuck with gatorade...because someone had to drive). We decided that winery number three would have to wait for another day.


Later that night, we curled up together and watched a good Hallmark movie.

I guess my mom was right...my "City Boy" and I still have lots in common, even after ten years!

Patience, Young Jedhi....

Have I ever mentioned my love of craigslist? It's like a huge, online yardsale...what's not to love? I have some friends who steer clear of craigslist, for fear that they will be murdered. I'm not too concerned, mostly because I send Steve to do all the pick-ups. He's a black belt in karate. He can handle it.

So, I have been searching craigslist for the past year for a set of four counter height barstools with rush seats and high backs. I wanted the Pottery Barn look, but I can't afford the Pottery Barn price ($269 per stool...hello, crazy!). No offense to those of you who have purchased those lovely stools, because they're pretty and droolworthy, just not in my budget. Unfortunately, throughout the year, my search yielded nothing. Do you know how hard it is to find four stools that are exactly the same? I had not given up hope, but was starting to think I needed to increase my budget (or beg Santa to please stuff some stools down my faux fireplace).

That is, until last Saturday morning. Steve and I loaded up the girls to do a little yardsaling. My man likes to yardsale. That's hot, don't you think? We were running late (9:30 a.m.) and I was whining about all the good deals being gone. As we were speeding down the main street of our town, on the way to a rather wealthy neighborhood yard sale, I spotted them out my window.

"Barstools," I yelled, as Steve slammed on the brakes and said, "Where?" Good man, I tell you. We made a quick u-turn, and I wondered out loud about the size and the condition and whether there were three stools or four. As I was mentally going through how much I planned to pay for said stools, Steve screeched to the curb and said, "Go!" Right there in front of me were four, perfectly matching, sort-of-pottery-barn-like, barstools. Four. I tell you, I was about to pee my pants right there on Main Street (as I cooly turned around, smiled a huge smile and held up four fingers to Steve).

Then I calmly made my way to the owners and asked, "How much do you want for those barstools?"

The lady said, "Well, I'd like to get $25 for them."

I thought for a moment. $25 a piece...$100 total. I only had $80 with me.

And then I said, "So...$25 each or $25 total?" She looked at me like I was a little crazy and she said, "Oh, just $25 for all four of them, honey."

To which I yelled "SOLD" and started jumping up and down, right there on Main Street. It took ten minutes to figure out how to stuff them in the back of the car, but I was super excited!

And, now that you've made it through this long story, I present to you...
My Barstools...

I'm planning a little kitchen/family room redo (yes, it will be our fourth paint color in the family room)! When I do that, I'm going to repaint the stools (white or maybe turquoise or orange or red???). But for now, I'm just thrilled with my frugal find!

In the Moment...

In the midst of my journey through infertility, I joined a support group. No, we did not pass candles down the row and say, "Hi, I'm Holly and I'm infertile." We listened to each other and we talked about our frustrations. We laughed and we cried. We learned to "breath" (both literally and figuratively) through some very sad times, and we celebrated, as one by one, we all became mothers. There is one session from that support group that I remember so clearly. We were all given an M&M. A single, tiny M&M. And we were told to really enjoy the experience of eating one M&M. We were to think about the texture, the taste, the smell, the way it melted, the way it made our mouths feel. I have eaten a million M&Ms (and no, I don't think that's a hyperbole), but I will always remember that one M&M. We live in a society where we shove ten M&Ms in our mouth at one time and never really stop to taste them. That one M&M was a lesson in being present, living in the moment, without thinking about tomorrow or next year...without worrying about what our futures will bring (or not bring). It was a lesson that I desperately needed at that time in my life (and many times since then).

This week's KinderGarden assignment took me right back to that M&M experience. We were to zoom in on the garden, really check it out. And I had the chance to "see" the garden, beyond the growth and the weeds and the tomato stakes, without worrying and speculating and comparing. I just zoomed in and took a minute to "see" the garden, to live in the moment. What a gift. I hope I can find a way to share that perspective with my girls, to help them really "see," and to be present in the moment.









If you're a KinderGarden Reader, I missed the link-up last week. But, lucky for you, you can still read my gardening recap, titled "On Melons and Barbie (but not Barbie's Melons)."
I know you're curious!

To all other readers: Take a minute to check out KinderGardens Week 11 Here!

Hello, Summer...

I saw this on etsy (have I mentioned my love of etsy?). You must go there. Immediately. And search all the loveliness. But wait until after you've read this post. And then go.

Anyway, when I saw that awesome rainbow, summer print, I just had to have it. But then I decided to make my own. Is that "stealing?" Because I'd prefer to think of it as sharing creative ideas (okay, so I'm sharing someone else's creative ideas). I hope it's not stealing. Anyway, I made some changes to the words, fonts, colors, and I came up with this:


I'm having it printed as an 11x14...and I'm praying that it turns out okay, because I cannot wait to hang this in my house!

And, because inquiring minds want to know, do you prefer:

Firefly or Lightning Bug?
Popsicle or Freeze Pop?

On Melons and Barbie (but not Barbie's Melons)...

This week, on the farmstead...okay, who am I kidding? These pictures are all from last week. I'm late, again, and I even missed the deadline to submit to the KinderGardens post. I'm fearful that they may throw me right out of the blogroll, snuff out of my torch, and send my lonely, sorry, slacker gardening butt back to my farmstead in the 'hood. But, because I love these pictures and I'm still thrilled with my garden, I'm going to trudge onward with this post.

So, to recap last week, our more experienced and worldly gardening neighbor stopped by to visit the farmstead. He offered lots of tips and advice and thoughts, but overall, he gave us two thumbs up. I'm a "words of affirmation girl." Tell me I'm fabulous and I'll follow you anywhere. Let's just say that neighbor made my whole week...last week (because I'm late, remember?).

My neighbor did kindly suggest that we find a way to tie up our melon vines, lest they grow across the yard and down the street and into the main thoroughfare. My husband decided to tackle that project and I present to you his thoughtful solution:

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the melon vines are growing up. Just so you can see how tall they are, I asked Ellie to pose with them. While I find this solution to be aesthetically pleasing and I'm sure it will protect the neighbors from our creeping vines, I'm a little concerned about what's going to happen when the first, heavy melon starts to sprout from the top of that contraption. Steve just laughs and says the melons in this household tend to be on the smallish side (hardy har har) and that he's got a plan, should the melons start to grow. A man with a plan is attractive indeed (even if he does make fun of my melons)!

We have a few cherry tomatoes starting to grow, but nothing is turning red yet. Change colors little tomatoes...we're ready to eat you!

And, the farmstead was proud to host it's first show last week (just between the melons and the zuchinni), featuring Barbie and her good friend Belle.



Later in the day, there was a game of "Hide the Barbie and the Belle" in the garden. We took turns hiding the dolls and searching for them (no laughing...it was actually quite fun). Later that evening, while watering the garden, I was greeted by this lovely sight....
Have I mentioned how much fun this gardening thing is? You just never know what's going to be "popping up" next!

Take a quick hop on over to the Inadvertent Farmer's site and see what's popping up in the world of KinderGardens.