Monday, May 31, 2010

chick flicks

So my stepdaughter and I were talking on the phone today, and it's 4 weeks until she comes home. I was telling her about all these movies that I think she'd love, and we decided that we are going to have a chick flick movie night when she comes home! We're going to pop popcorn, have sodas, pizza, ice cream, and chocolate and watch chick flicks all night long! I already have a stack of them waiting, and it's four weeks away! LOL!

Today we celebrated Memorial Day by going over to my sister in law's house. The girls played with their cousin outside in the sprinkler and had a good time. There was a very bad part of the day, but it's too fresh right now and I don't feel like going into it. Suffice it to say, other than that, it was a pretty good day.

Tonight I replanted Fifi's carrots. At one point she had a sprout, but then it disappeared and never came back. I planted some more seeds, and in 8-12 days hopefully we'll see some sprouts, and I'm going to pretend like they're the ones she planted. She is so upset every day, going out and seeing Bud's thriving watermelons and Lulu's (now TWELVE) Chinese Lantern flower sprouts, I think she'll be thrilled when the carrot sprouts pop up.

Other than that, I just have to print and mail out my stepdaughter's birthday party invitations. I'd like to do them on cardstock like you would for a wedding invitation, so does anyone out in the blogosphere know where I can buy some nice blank ones pretty cheap?

Sunday, May 30, 2010

OHHHHHHHHH

OH GOSH I HATE BIRDS!!! Fifi had a carrot sprouting in her pot, and now it's gone. I had tons of thyme sprouting in my pot, and now it's gone. In the interest of saving the five tiny lavender seedlings that sprouted today, I have brought them in overnight. I also brought in Lulu's nine (that's right, it went from one to five to NINE) Chinese Lantern flower seedlings, my two greenhouses (with 144 seedlings in them, combined not each), the pot of corn seedlings, the chive sprouts, and the as-of-yet-dormant rosemary seed pot. I now have 9 pumpkin plants growing in one pot, 6-8 cucumber plants (haven't counted exactly, I just know they're freaking tall), 8 cantaloupe plants, 12 tomato plants, 5 watermelon plants, 10 squash plants, and 7 zucchini plants. We are (hopefully) going to have fruits and veggies a-plenty this summer and fall! I can't wait to use tomatoes, basil, and oregano from my own garden to make my own spaghetti sauce. I plan to can it myself, so we can use it through the wintertime, so if anyone has canning experience and wants to share tips with me, please feel free to!

Around 8 p.m., my husband was walking through the bedroom (you have to walk through our bedroom to get to the family room), and he stopped and said, "How long does it take you to make those cinnamon things?" I frowned and thought for a minute, and then I realized what he was asking about - the cinnamon raisin biscuits I made a week and a half ago for breakfast that my younger two kids didn't like. I made a dozen of them then, and between my husband and oldest daughter, I didn't get one of them! So I said, "The cinnamon raisin biscuits?" And he said yes. I said, "Oh, about 20 minutes, if that." He said, "What would I have to do to get you to make them for me?" So I went in the kitchen and baked a batch of them, and he is eating them as he watches Deadliest Catch on his DVR. LOL!

I watched Oxygen last night, which I rarely do, but they played Sweet Home Alabama and then How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, which are two of my favorite movies, so I watched them. Tonight they played the exact same lineup, so I am currently watching HTLAGI10D. He was walking through the room and saw the part with the poker game, and LAUGHED HIS BUTT OFF. I was in the kitchen and said, "Which part are you laughing at?" And he said, "I was reading something - I wasn't watching this!" He's so funny, not wanting to admit he thought it was funny!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Super Saturday... it's so not.

My girls have given names to certain days of the week (usually to do with our homeschooling):

Math-y Monday
Terrible Tuesday
Wacky Wednesday
(Thursday has no name)
French-y Friday
Super Saturday
Spectacular Sunday

So can you tell that Sunday is their favorite day of the week? LOL. It's because we spend all day Sunday at Grandma & Papaw's house (my husband's parents). Today is not such a Super Saturday for me. I am cranky, achey, irritable... can you tell what time it is for me? :P

I have done probably 10 loads of laundry between yesterday afternoon and right now, and I still have a ton to do. It piles up with 5 people dirtying clothes, I'm telling ya!

I don't really feel like doing much else today. I may go and make myself a root beer float and sit on the porch - NOT. It's way too friggin' hot to sit outside right now. I barely lasted the 5 minutes it took this morning to check on my plants! (I have 4 chives, Lexi now has THREE chinese lantern flowers, lettuce, lots of thyme sprouted, and now 6 pumpkins are in the pot. I really, REALLY need to start getting my plants transplanted from pots to the ground!

Friday, May 28, 2010

Fabulous Friday... not so much.

My middle baby is sick. She was running a fever of 101.9 last night, and she has been congested and coughing. My youngest baby has been congested too, but luckily that's it. I hope they both start feeling better soon... my middle baby doesn't even feel like eating anything, which sucks because I just baked two dozen chocolate chip cookies, and we're having Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner tonight (a half cheese/half pepperoni pizza for the two younger kids, and a taco grande pizza for me and my oldest girl - SO GOOD).

My oldest and I went outside today and watered my plants - saw that now I have three green somethings in the chives pot, the corn is getting taller, and I definitely need to be transplanting my tomatoes into the ground within the next few days. Middle baby now has TWO Chinese Lantern flower plants sprouting in her pot, which makes her SOOOO happy, since we waited for over a month for them to start growing. She told me that it just goes to show that patience pays off... I agree. I just wish I had more patience.

My yard is growing out of control. If you read this blog regularly, you know I blew up the only lawnmower we had access to. I have no clue what we're going to do now - the neighbors on both sides have mowed their yards TWICE in the last week, and my grass looks terrible! It looks like no one lives here! :(

Youngest baby is finished with speech therapy until the fall, which is awesome. She was both happy and unhappy about it - she loves going, but she was glad not to have to. Silly girl.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

I am SO blessed

You know, I was thinking about something earlier tonight. whenever I get into a funk, I always think about the things that I want, things I don't have, things I'd like to do and probably never will, and people I'm jealous of for whatever reason. It's at those times that I need to come back to this post and remember these:

1. I never wanted kids in school. I used to tell my family (quite vehemently, I might add) that I would never get married, and never have kids. Now I have 4, and I couldn't imagine life without them.

2. There have been so many times when it would have been "easy" for me to walk away from my marriage, for whatever reason. I almost did once, a fact that I am not proud of. But here we are, 12 years later (together for 13), and I'm so glad I didn't take the "easy" way out.

3. While my relationships with my side of the family are completely varied and not always good, I have a mother in law and father in law who more than make up for it. They are the most wonderful people on the face of the earth, and (I'm pretty sure) they love me like a daughter - they are the kind of people who would do anything for you. I couldn't have asked for better grandparents for my girls, either. The girls worship them.

4. While my extended family has not always been accepting of my husband, his extended family has always treated me with kindness and acceptance. I always feel welcomed around all of them.

5. Ever since I started having children, I have wanted to stay home with them. This year I have been blessed enough to be able to do that, and homeschool them. This past year of my life has been the best one yet.

6. So many stepparents have bad relationships with their stepchildren. I am so blessed to have a wonderful stepdaughter - I love her like my own child and would do anything in the world for her. She is an amazing young lady and I have been blessed to be able to be a part of her life.

7. For the past 3 years (prior to the summer of '09), I lived in a really crappy apartment complex. We had so many problems with neighbors and the management. Then last summer we found this wonderful house that we live in now - pretty good neighbors on both sides AND across the street, and so much more room than we had before (even enough room to go crazy with gardening, lol).

8. My friend Amanda invited me to her church once, and we went, and we've been going ever since. I have the best church family in the entire world! I would be completely lost without all of the people I've met there, and I feel so privileged to be able to be a part of the Northside family.

9. GOD. Wow, if I ever had any doubts that he had (and still has) plans for me, I don't anymore. How else would everything have happened the way it has? It seems like such a small, simple thing to believe in Him, but it's so huge. He does so much, and I take it for granted. I'm trying not to, but I know I do. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!

hoo hah



So my corn now has three green sprouts, my chives have one, and my squash and zucchini are growing like crazy! Now I'm getting impatient to see some veggies so I can use them! I am especially impatient for the chives... I want to dice some up and add them to my mashed potatoes! So yummy!

American Idol... sigh. I don't know why Lee was even in the top two, let alone why he won the thing. Crystal has been my favorite since her audition. I can't stand Lee. At least my pick on Dancing with the stars won. Tonight is the beginning of "So You Think You Can Dance," and the girls and I always love watching the auditions. :0)

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Semi-green thumbs of the world, unite!

Everyone knows this is my first go at gardening, even though I've wanted a vegetable and herb garden for a looooong time. So naturally, you all get to share my excitement whenever a new green thing pops up!

Like my corn... (see, there's two in there!)



Or Lexi's Chinese Lantern flowers, that have taken over a month to sprout...



Or my pumpkins, which sprouted this morning after I posted yesterday that I thought the birds had eaten all of the seeds...



I'll post more as they grow. It's like Christmas morning every morning, waking up and running outside to see what's sprouted!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Woo hoo

Went outside in the SWELTERING heat this morning to water the plants, and I noticed that the corn I planted last week has started to sprout!! YAY!! so the birds didn't get ALL of my seeds... have I mentioned how much I hate birds? Because I really, really do. I hate them. Loathe them. of course, it is partially my fault that they can get to the seeds, since I don't have anything covering my pots, but still. I checked the pot I planted the pumpkin seeds in, and they are ALL GONE. There was a huge hole in the soil where the birds (or maybe another animal, I don't know - but I suspect it was birds because of where I had the pots sitting) had dug in the soil to get the seeds. It was the same in the pot of thyme and the pot of lavender. Thank goodness I planted some of all of those in my little covered greenhouses, but still! (I'm saying that a lot today, huh?) Grrr!

Monday, May 24, 2010

playing hookey

We played hookey today. I started to make them do work, and they begged me not to, so I let them put on their new swim suits (thanks, Grandma & Papaw!!!), and we went outside. I dumped buckets of cold water on them repeatedly! So much fun! the best moment was when I asked Grace to do something for me, ran outside and grabbed a bucketful, and hid. When she came out, I soaked her, shorts and all! (she had put shorts on over her suit to eat lunch, since we had the a/c on in the house.) We had a blast, but decided they need squirt guns to shoot each other with. A future trip to the Dollar Tree is in the works. ;)

They're not gonna love me so much tomorrow, though... lol. Lots of work to catch up on!

I feel like I got a lot done today. I called in refills on the girls' allergy meds (all 5 scripts), made an appointment for Lexi's 8 year checkup, called the school admin building (long story, I'll go into it later on another post), and STARTED to try and mow the grass. I got one strip done before the mower started smoking and STOPPED WORKING. apparently I blew it up!!! It needed oil and I didn't know... so it's ruined. :( (Sorry, Father-In-Law who let me borrow it!) :(

We also tried a new thing today that we heard about from a friend... a fluffernutter! It's a peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwich. Sounds gross, but it was so good! The kids are addicted!



Tomorrow night my niece graduates from Kindergarten, so we're all pretty excited about that. I'd better charge my camera! ;)

Here's a photo that sums up our day :D

Sunday, May 23, 2010

holy crap

Holy crap, it was friggin' hot today!! We always go to my in-laws' home on Sundays and spend the whole day there, and I forgot to water my plants before we went. when we got home, my tomato plants were all but wilted! I watered them and five minutes later they perked up a little and looked better, but I need to get a garden built for the veggies and get them in the ground!

Apparently there's a school in this area that has a gifted and talented program for elementary aged students. My husband is really pushing for me to let our 7 year old take the admission test to get in the program. I talked to her about it, and she vacillates between excitement and reticence. She wants to go because it sounds amazing, but she doesn't want to stop being homeschooled. She wants new friends, but doesn't want to leave me or her sisters. She wants to be involved in a music program if they have it, but she wants to be able to stay home and read what she's interested in. For every reason she finds to want to go, she also comes up with a reason to want to stay home. The test isn't until June, so I told her to wait and see how the test goes before she decides (my husband has declared that she WILL take the test).

Sigh.

My stepdaughter will be here in just over a month, and we can't wait!

I dyed my hair again. I went a little darker this time. I think it looks good on me. Unusual, since I've had lighter hair all my life, but decent enough.

I just hope tomorrow turns out cooler than today, since I want to mow the grass!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

too hard on her

I know that I'm too hard on my oldest daughter (she's 9, will be 10 in a few months). I don't know why. I know that she's my learning child (all the firsts I experience come from her - first lost tooth, first day of school, you get the idea). My husband tells me frequently that I'm harder on her than the other kids. I know I am too, I just can't figure out why or how to stop.

There's a few times when I've been in the middle of yelling at her for something she's said or done, and then the voice in my head says "Is she gonna do ANYTHING right today, Momma?" And I shut my mouth. I just wish that voice would speak up more often. I don't want to tear down my daughter's self esteem or anything like that. She is creative, outgoing, and funny, and I don't want to ruin those things, I want to protect them. I want to shelter her and let her know how loved she is, and how wanted she is. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't want to do to her what was done to me growing up.

I always tried so hard, I made good grades, and I rarely got in trouble, but nothing ever seemed good enough for my mom. I was lonely, I grew up in a single parent home, and since my mom was sick all the time, I wasn't allowed to have friends over. I wasn't one of those kids who, after getting a license, was allowed to drive the car all the time. My mom grudgingly let me get my license so I could drive her around after she got sicker. Even then she didn't want to relinquish that control over me.

I want my daughter to be different. I want her to be able to come and talk to me, and really talk. I want to be her confidant, and be able to give her good sound advice when she has problems - not lose my mind and freak out over stupid crap. My only problem is that I don't know how to do that. My husband helps, and he will step in when he feels the need - the only problem is that he feels the need EVERY time she gets in trouble, and that aggravates me, because he has a tendency to favor her over the other kids when it comes to disciplining them.

I don't even know if I'm making any sense now. It's 11 am, I didn't sleep well, my coffee is cold, and I'm crying because she's gotten in trouble and I freaked out as per usual. I've already apologized to her and given her a hug and told her I love her, but I can't follow my own advice. I tell my kids all the time to watch what they say, because you can always say you're sorry, but once you say it, it's out there and you can't make the other person un-hear it. (Just like music they shouldn't listen to or TV they shouldn't watch.)

Gosh.

Friday, May 21, 2010

who cares?

Why is it such a big deal that I like to spend time with my family? I don't really have girlfriends that I go out with. I haven't been out with "the girls" for 13 years. I got married, and I wanted to spend time with my husband. Then when my stepdaughter was around, I spent time with both of them. Then I started having my own kids, and I wanted to spend time with them. I still do. My kids are the most awesome people on the face of the planet. We like the same things, we hang out and we have fun. The laughter in my home is so amazing - I only wish I'd grown up in a home like this. Why do people look gobsmacked when I say "I'd rather stay at home with my kids," as opposed to going out to a bar or something? I don't drink, I don't dance, and honestly, I don't really understand people who do. Don't get me wrong, I'm not disparaging people who do these things - I'm just saying maybe y'all shouldn't be so judgmental. While you're judging me for being a family-centered homebody, I'm wondering why you live the way you do, too.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

What?



What? I don't have a problem. I can stop any time I want to!!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Addicted to Gardening?

Apparently I am becoming addicted to gardening. I had already planted squash and zucchini seeds, the girls planted watermelon and carrot seeds... and I had two tomato plants, one cantaloupe plant, sweet basil, greek oregano, mint, rosemary, and common sage. Today I planted sweet corn, pumpkins, lavender, thyme, chives, lettuce, cucumbers, and rosemary. I know, I already have some rosemary growing that I purchased, but I am determined to grow it on my own too! The girls talk me into buying seeds every time we go to the store... they said next time, I have to buy sunflower seeds! We'll see what else is next!



My herb garden! From L-R: Rosemary, Sweet Basil, Greek Oregano, common sage, and mint.




My potted seeds, along with the seedlings we'd already planted :)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

sooooo....

So the girls have decided that they want to spend all of our classroom time on Geography and Languages. I am battling this, but in the meantime they have all the states and capitals memorized, as well as postal code abbreviations for the states. Now I have to find a blank map and start working on locations of the states in the country... which I am terrible at! Gah!

Every morning feels like Christmas morning, waking up to go and see the progress of our seedlings outside! We planted squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, watermelon, carrots, tomatoes, mint, basil, sage, oregano, rosemary, lavender, and chinese lantern flowers. I have seeds to try more stuff, but am running out of room to put everything! We can't wait to harvest our first fruits and veggies!!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Homeschooling blabber

Sooooo apparently my kids love their homeschooling, for the most part. Lexi enjoys everything, and always asks for more work to do, no matter how much we've done during the day. she catches on to things quickly and seldom needs anything explained more than once before she understands it. She loves it all - poetry, grammar, story comprehension, handwriting, math, French, Spanish, history, geography - especially math and geography. My oldest, however, detests everything EXCEPT language. She adores French and fights me on dang near everything else. She is having lots of trouble with math... which leads me to think that next year, Lexi will be in a higher math class than her older sister. Right now technically Lexi should be in second grade and Grace should be in third, but they are both doing the third grade curricula. Grace's ADHD doesn't help with not liking school, either... my baby is doing some preschool work here and there. I'll freely admit I haven't been very consistent about it because she's only been 4 for a few months, so she has plenty of time before we buckle down. We pretty much just do work whenever she feels like it. She has worked on opposites and number recognition from numbers 1-3.

On a positive note, one of my two cameras is finally repaired and I got it back today after a nearly three week hiatus. I am overjoyed to have it back - but I told my husband of all the things that went bad in the last two weeks: one down, about fifty to go, right? :/