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.

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!!

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? :/

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!

Stir Fry

Just wanted to share this recipe, since it doesn't seem to be up on the Bravo website anymore! it's a recipe that chef Antonia Lofaso made on season 5 (I think) of Top Chef, and we love it!

Stir-fry noodles

Package whole wheat noodles
1 lb chicken breasts
1/2 bunch bok choy, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup edamame
Teriyaki

Cook and blanch noodles. Saute chicken, bok choy, pepper, onion and edamame; add some teriyaki to deglaze. Stir fry noodles with teriyaki and vegetables then add chicken breasts.

The amount of teriyaki you add is personal preference. I add 4-5 T of it. Also if edamame isn't available, I use peas.