truth be told, I've tried my best

So I have begun the somewhat daunting task of getting ready for my stepdaughter's arrival in 9 days by removing ALL of her clothes from the closet & dresser and washing them afresh. I wash them every year after she leaves, but they sit there for a whole year, and it's nice to come home to freshly washed clothes that smell good and clean and not like the musty old house, I think. Plus it gives me a chance to throw anything that looks too small into a storage container for the next kid who can wear it. it's nice having all girls, since that means anything I get will get plenty of wear.

Speaking of the stepdaughter, we talked today and she has some things going on in her life that need major prayer. I know prayer can move mountains, so anyone who prays, please keep her in mind the next time you talk to the Father.

I also decided that for her birthday party I'm not going to do 15 different mocktails as planned, I think instead I'm going to have a self-serve Italian soda bar. :) It sounds so much better, and no one will have to stand there and miss out on the party in order to serve drinks, which will be fun for all. Plus people can experiment and try what they want, when they want it. I can't believe it's almost time... I am mailing out the invitations tomorrow.

My garden is out of control! Apparently when I started planting, I didn't keep in mind that most of my plants are vine plants, which means they are creepers... and despite my putting a wire contraption for my cucumbers to climb up, they have wound themselves around the fence we share with a not-so-pleasant neighbor, so I'm hoping she doesn't do anything to them until after we've harvested them. The pumpkin plants' leaves look like elephant ears, they are HUGE!!!

It is supposed to reach temperatures of 100 by Tuesday here, and I hate it. I wish we could have another summer like last year's - mild enough to go swimming if you want, but not so hot that you started to sweat just by stepping out the door. Ugh. I hate the heat.

Oh, yeah... did I mention this?

The dinner game

I don't know what to make for dinner tonight. It's either gonna be creamy seafood lasagna (it's sooooooo good) or pesto pasta, with fresh basil from my garden. it's growing like crazy and I need to harvest some, and this was the tastiest way I could think of doing it... at least, until my tomatoes grow. :) I also need to get out there and put some stakes in next to my vine plants, since they're growing out of control now. The watermelons, canteloupes, cucumbers, squash, and zucchini all have little yellow flowers on them :)

Tuesday blahs?

I woke up with a weird feeling today. Not a bad one or anything, just weird... does anyone else do that? Sometimes I get the feeling I've forgotten something important, and it eats away at me until I remember what it is. Sometimes I get a funny feeling and it lasts and lasts until I go to bed, and then somehow it's magically gone. I know it's all in my head, but still.

So this is shaping up to be a busy week for us. Yesterday the girls and I went outside and put the canteloupes, watermelon, and corn in the ground. They were all 3 inches tall or taller, so it was time. Today I have to go out in the heat and put the tomatoes in the ground - I HAVE to, or they'll die. They're running out of room for their roots in the containers they're in right now. My garden is starting to take over my back yard... right now there's: rosemary, greek oregano, common sage, sweet basil, mint, pumpkins, squash, zucchini, canteloupes, watermelons, corn, and cucumbers. Now I have to make room for the lettuce, onions, lavender, thyme, chives, parsley, and carrots. Sigh. I have a feeling I'm going to be giving some seedlings away - anyone interested? ;)

Tomorrow I take Lulu in the morning to take the NNAT to see if she gets into the gifted program at a local school. If she doesn't (which I am sure is unlikely, I have the utmost faith in her), then the girls will continue to be homeschooled next year. If she does, then she and Bud will probably go to the school, which is a little ways away from us. We should know something by the end of this week, supposedly.

On Friday, all three girls have dentist appointments in the morning for their 6 month checkup. Then in the afternoon, I have to take Bud for her yearly checkup at the pediatrician - which actually works out really well, considering that she has a plantar's wart on the bottom of her foot that needs to be burnt/frozen off, and she's started to have tiny bumps all over her face. I don't know if it's the beginnings of acne, or if it's heat rash.

Tonight we're going to the library. It's time to sign the girls up for the summer reading program, like we do every year. And my husband (God bless him) volunteered to cook dinner tonight for me - BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes, and baked beans... his favorite meal, lol.

But for right now... we're all camped out on my bed, watching a rerun marathon of America's Next Top Model... lol!



parsley



lettuce



lavender




L-R: rosemary, sweet basil, greek oregano, common sage



L-R: common sage, mint, pumpkins, squash



L-R: pumpkins, squash, zucchini, cucumbers



L-R: cucumbers, canteloupes, watermelons, corn.



Chives.



Chinese Lantern flowers.



Carrots.

Got the ball rolling

I finally have the ball rolling on this whole school thing, though I'm not sure I like it. My husband heard from his sister (who works in our county's school system) that the school she works at has a gifted and talented program for advanced kids. Well, when my middle baby was in first grade during the 08-09 school year, her testing showed she was off the charts for a first grader - she read at a fifth grade level (actually the teacher said she probably read even higher than that, she just didn't have time to keep testing her). The class shared a "reading box" - a box of books that they were supposed to read when they had completed work and had free time. My child had her own box, since the other box of books was too easy for her. The teacher said she was worried about my daughter getting bored, since she completed all her work (correctly) way before the other kids got done. She's been homeschooled this last year, and her appetite for learning has just been voracious. I had the girls reading The Secret Garden, which is 5th grade level reading. We did tests and everything for that, and she was still passing her older sister in the work we did. she has done leaps and bounds more in math, as well, and I am still teaching them both French & Spanish. My husband thinks the G & T program would be good for her... I am undecided and want to keep them home, but at the same time I don't want to deny her such a wonderful opportunity... so I have been calling the admin building for a week. Finally got in touch with the woman in charge of the program today, and so a week from today at 9 a.m., she will take the Naglieri test to see if she gets into the program. She wants to go, but at the same time she says she doesn't want to leave me. For every reason she finds to go, she finds one to stay home. I told her not to worry about it until we find out whether or not she makes it in. She wailed, "I'm gonna fail!" I assured her you can't "pass" or "fail" this kind of test.

My oldest daughter keeps asking me to take her shopping for a training bra. She is 9, will be 10 in a few months. I don't know why she's in such a hurry to develop and grow up - I suspect that since her almost-15-year-old sister will be here in 27 days, she wants to be like her and wear a bra. She went to the bookshelf this morning and got the "Care & Keeping of You" American Girl book that I bought when she started needing deodorant. She's reading the section on developing chests... I don't want to discourage her from learning about it, but I know it's making her Daddy VERY uncomfortable! She keeps wanting to ask me stuff, but he's in the room so she says she'll ask me later.

So. On to subjects that I know how I feel about, lol. Gardening, yay! ;) I now have three green something-or-others in the lettuce pot, 6 lavender shoots, and the two thyme shoots are still the only ones in the pot. One of Lulu's Sweet William flowers began to sprout this morning, so of course she's out of her mind with excitement. She also has 13 greenish things in her pot of Chinese Lantern flowers. :) I need to go out today and get some things in the ground, too.

I've been doing laundry like crazy the last few days. I discovered that I actually find it soothing to sit and fold baskets of laundry... except for fitted sheets, which make me want to pull my hair out. I (literally) have done 15 loads of laundry in the past four days. Every time someone dirties something, I grab more stuff to be washed and take it downstairs to the machine. I am starting to think I may be addicted to doing laundry, as I can no longer stand seeing dirty clothes ANYWHERE. Or maybe I'm addicted to the smell of the clean laundry - I guess that makes more sense, lol. I just know I feel calmed when I sit and fold the clean clothes. Speaking of which, I need to go get some out of the dryer, and take down this basket of dirty stuff that just popped out of nowhere this morning... heehee....

the mean reds

Holly Golightly: You know those days when you get the mean reds?
Paul Varjak: The mean reds, you mean like the blues?
Holly Golightly: No. The blues are because you're getting fat and maybe it's been raining too long, you're just sad that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?
Paul Varjak: Sure.
Holly Golightly: Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name!

Sometimes I suffer from the mean reds. Quite frequently, actually. And yes, Breakfast at Tiffany's is my all-time favorite movie, hands-down.

This morning I got up and went into the kitchen, where I'd moved my lavender, lettuce, thyme, parsley, and rosemary pots in an effort to keep them away from the birds. I have 5 strong-looking lavender sprouts and one pretty decent lettuce sprout. Nothing yet in the pot of rosemary. Two weak looking thyme sprouts, where I used to have about 15. Stinking birds. :( I also noticed a weak parsley sprout, but hey, weak is better than nothing, right?

My back hurt so bad last night and I am so weepy this week. It sucks to be overly emotional and physically in pain at the same time.

My stepdaughter arrives in 28 days, so we are doing our spring cleaning before she comes. We worked together and got the family room clean in less than 15 minutes. Next room is my bedroom, which is going to suck, because no matter where we've ever lived, my bedroom is always the catch-all for all the crap in the house. :(

Today is another marathon of America's Next Top Model, and the girls are thrilled. They love that show, lol.

Well, I've done my daily blogging duties, so I guess it's off to to begin work on my bedroom, and then start dinner... we're having garlic shrimp pasta tonight. Love to all, hope you had a great holiday weekend.

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?

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!

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!

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.

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)

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!

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!

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!

What?

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

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 :)

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!!

Gardening!

So today we officially started my herb garden. I mowed the lawn, front and back, and then we relaxed with some cold bottled waters... and then it was on to digging a space out for the plants. I bought seeds for lavender, sage, and rosemary, and bought a mint plant that was already started. for the girls' projects (we're doing a unit on The Secret Garden right now, and this week's big assignment was to plant something of their own), they picked their own seeds. Bud picked watermelons, Boo picked chinese lanterns (beautiful flowers), and Fifi picked carrots. They are very excited to see them start growing!