Potty-training

As I was finishing up my last entry I realized I needed to also write about AJ and his "potty-training". I've been saying that I thought AJ would potty-train before Ryan and I'm really beginning to think I am right! I always said he'd probably be first because he is incredibly aware of everything going on around him. He watches everything and tries to imitate everything. I still think the fact that Ryan didn't/doesn't care about what anyone else is doing is hindering his progress in the potty department. He could care less that most of his classmates are using the potty!

Yesterday I saw AJ go into the bathroom and the close the door behind him. I definitely had to go see what he was up to because normally his actions would include massive amounts of toilet paper and a toilet. To my surprise, though, he was just standing there working on trying to poop. I asked if he wanted to sit on the potty and he happily allowed me to pull off his pants and place him on the seat. I was even more surprised when he sat up there and actually TRIED to finish his job. He wasn't able to produce anymore, but it was very surprising that he just so naturally picked up on what to do and how to do it. Today I caught him doing the same thing. Again he had already finished in his diaper, but he most definitely has the idea and is VERY interested in trying to use the potty. He even got mad at me for putting a diaper back on him.

The funny thing is that Ryan was excited for AJ......but he REFUSED to let me put him on the potty! In fact, his refusal of going anywhere near a potty is our biggest obstacle right now.

I've decided that for now I will put the potty-training focus on AJ and just hope, hope, hope it transfers over to Ryan without me having to put any pressure on him. Could it be that I'll be able to stop buying disposable pants/diapers within the next 6 mos-1 year????

So proud of my BIG boys!

I picked the girls up from school early yesterday so that we could get to the beach. We did try to spend a day on the beach today but it was way too windy. I got some cute pictures-especially of AJ, so I'll get them uploaded when we get home and tell a little more about our day.

In the meantime I just had to write about the events happening right now. At home Ryan and AJ are in separate rooms, but here at the beach we decided to put them in the same room. Last night I put Ryan in my bed because I was a little concerned about how it would go. But, at nap time today Ryan actually ASKED to sleep in the room with AJ. That went well, but AJ was already sleep by the time I put Ryan in the room. We decided to give it a try putting them together tonight-putting both of them to bed at the same time.

Since AJ was practically climbing the crib rails trying to get in his bed, I decided to put him in bed first. He laid down, burying his head in the mattress, as usual. I was pleasantly surprised that he didn't bother him to have me and Ryan in the room. So, I proceeded to put Ryan in his bed. Ryan started getting scared because it was darker in the room than he prefers. I quickly decided this wasn't going to work so I picked Ryan up to take him to my room. I couldn't believe AJ stood straight up, screaming and reaching for Ryan. I guess he really liked the idea of having his brother in the room with him. I couldn't take Ryan out of the room knowing AJ was already so attached to the idea.

Actually, I had to take a little break just now to deal with the girls and as it turned out-to deal with Ryan as well. Let me see if I can regain my train of thought and get back to the story.

I did put Ryan back in the bed next to AJ after all. As soon as I did AJ laid right back down and proceeded to settle in for sleep once again. I left the room and came upstairs to do a little reading. Just a few minutes after I sat down I thought I heard crying. It wasn't crying at all, it was actually AJ and Ryan giggling together!! I have been so worried about putting them together for fear that it will be too much of a break in their normal routines. I had been worried about crying and an inability to settle down, but giggling together certainly never crossed my mind! So, I must admit I had to go stand outside the door for a little while to listen to the giggling. I almost said something, but decided to come up here and write about it instead hoping they'd eventually settle down. Besides, I was really worried they would start crying and it would be all over. After getting the first part of this typed the girls needed to get to bed and I decided I needed to say something to Ryan and AJ while I was at it. Just as I was about to walk in the room I heard Ryan say "go sleep, AJ!" I walked in and gently told them both it was time to be quiet and close their eyes. I was absolutely stunned when both of them, yes-even AJ, laid back down without hesitation.

They both seemed so OLD tonight! AJ isn't a baby anymore....he's able to tolerate changes in his routine and he's able to listen when I ask him to "lay down and go to sleep". Actually, maybe it's surprising, too, because in lots of ways AJ seems to be catching up to Ryan. I know it was only in the last 6 months (right around him turning 3) that I was able to tell him to lay down and go to sleep. So, I guess I'm feeling proud right now that Ryan is where he is and that AJ seems to be developing sooooo typically of a 20 month old! (yes, his speech is behind but at least he's so typical in every other way). Mostly I'm just amazingly proud of how close my boys are becoming to each other. These are the moments that make me think our family is absolutely perfect the way it is!

Temper tantrums

I was talking to my mom earlier today and I ended up telling her about one of AJ's temper tantrums. I realized I should write about it because even though I don't think so at this moment, I'm sure one of these days I will actually remember thse moments with a little bit of fondness. At least it'll be a good story that portrays just how intense he can be when he doesn't get his way.

Ryan has become very attached to his new sunglasses and wears them very often. On the way into school this morning he was wearing them and AJ REALLY wanted them. Being the mean mommy that I am I wouldn't let him have the sunglasses. I just picked him up and tried to walk through the parking lot. He started screaming and kicking and hitting. I just turned him to face outward so that he couldn't hurt me. When we got to the sidewalk I put him down because I didn't want him to fight his way out my arms causing a thud on the concrete. As soon as I put him down he threw himself to the ground face down. He laid on the sidewalk kicking and screaming with his head buried. My biggest "tool" for dealing with tantrums is to just ignore, ignore, ignore. Doesn't really matter to me where we are. So, Ryan and I just kept walking (talking all about how fun school would be). One mom did walk out of the building during this and looked at me a little funny. I just explained to her that he was mad at me--he's fine. After maybe a minute he got quiet. I went back to help him get up and on the way up he discovered an ant crawling by on the concrete. We talked about the ant for a minute and he forgot all about the sunglasses he SO badly wanted just moments before. Isn't it amazing how quickly they move on to something new at this age? Unfortunately, the next tantrum can come on just as quickly, too. And, when you are the youngest of 4 you certainly have more than your fair share of things to tantrum over. I do understand his plight-I really do! Life is tough when you're only 1.5 and you have no concept of your limitations.

I am looking forward to him getting to the "age of reason" when rewards and punishments mean something to him. Maybe even a tiny bit of impulse control would be nice. This stage is just sooooo hard! Of course, they are also extremely adorable at this age so it redeems them. AJ seems to balance things out so nicely by being way too cute right after he's way too frustrating.

Here is a picture of Ryan's sunglasses on his forehead--not from today, but a few weeks ago when we first got them.

Ryan's last day of preschool

Today was Ryan's last day of school! He was only there for about an hour because I had to pick him up early so we could take AJ to the Dr. But, picking him up early turned out to be a good thing because I was able to get some really great pictures. Ms. Natalie was leading the class in a weather song and then Ryan was chosen to check the weather and tell the class what today's weather was. Then they let me take a picture of the whole class together. He has some of the nicest preschool teachers. I thought it was really great that they let me take all the pictures!

Here is Ryan with Ms. Natalie (speech therapist) checking the weather. When she asked him what the weather was he said "raining". Silly boy, it was not raining. She asked him if he sees rain and he said "nooooo". So, then she showed him the little cloud and he said "cloudy". He then had to say it in a sentence "It is cloudy".

Here he is showing the cloud and telling the class "it is cloudy". He's looking at me because the flash has distracted him.

Here is Ryan with Ms. Natalie-his speech therapist. She is just amazing! I know Ryan has made a great deal of progress all by himself with or without her, but I don't think he'd be making THIS much progress without her. He has really enjoyed his time with her and I certainly hope she doesn't go anywhere before next year. It's always the really great ones that seem to find other opportunities.

And, here is the whole class!
The teachers are (from left to right): Ms. Natalie, Ms. Tami, Ms. Dawn, and Ms. Amy

Sometimes you just have to laugh!

I've often said that sometimes I just have to laugh to stop from crying....I wasn't literally going to cry in this situation, but it's an example of times that I just laugh because otherwise I might find myself getting very frustrated. Of course, how could I get mad at that face?! Here are a coule of pictures of AJ at breakfast this morning. Not only is there milk all over the tray, his cup, and his entire body....but it's also all over the floor and the dog's face. I think AJ is Bailey's (the dog) most favorite kid in the house. AJ absolutely LOVES to throw food at the dog! Often times I will give AJ a bowl full of goldfish crackers. AJ will sit on the floor, eat one and throw one to the dog. Needless to say, you can always find the dog laying very close to AJ when he has food. Some days I wonder why I even bother to buy dog food!

At least he does eat some of it......but why he throws the spoon on the floor and eats cereal with his hands is beyond me! But, one thing I find funny is that I NEVER would have even given Kaeli a bowl full of cereal and milk at this age! I would have been sitting right next to her helping her eat it. The contrasts between what I do differently between my first and 4th child are numerous! At least he's getting ample opportunity to explore his world. :)

Memorial Day Weekend

We spent this Memorial Day weekend around the house. Friday day was spent putting together our new above ground kiddie pool. Friday night we went to a cookout at a friend's house. Saturday we had Steve's family over for a cookout and the kids spent their time in the new pool. Today (Sunday) the girls were in the pool almost the entire day! The pool might kill alot of grass, but it sure will be GREAT for keeping the kids entertained this summer. We didn't spend any time getting the ground level so we have a "shallow end" and a "deep end". I'm slightly concerned it won't hold up, but it's done amazingly well for the past 2 days of frequent use. As long as it holds up, it'll work out pretty good since Ryan can touch the bottom on the shallow side. AJ hasn't been in the big pool at all. He thought he wanted to go in one time, but changed his mind when I dipped half his body in it. Fortunately, I had the forethought to buy him a little baby pool/sprinkler. He LOVED his own little pool and even Ryan spent a good bit of time in AJ's little pool. Between the big pool, baby pool, slip n slide, and swing set we had a great set-up for kids! I think we're going to have a great summer!

Here's a couple of pictures of Kaeli and Paige in the "big" pool. It's 14' x 42" (but the shallow end is less than 36" deep.

I had a tiny baby pool at the bottom of the stairs for them to wash their feet in....can you believe the 3 of them huddled up in the 3.00 pool?! Right about now I'm wondering why I didn't just buy of these!

Mom-Mom watching Ryan and AJ in the baby pool. This little pool/mat is awesome for toddlers! The ring fills up with water and then sprays tiny jets of water up. The water then fills the middle of the pool with about an inch or two of water. It was absolutely PERFECT for AJ!

Ryan was running and then jumping into the little baby pool. What made it so funny is that he would hold his nose all the way up until he got ready to jump in. He obviously has no idea WHY he's holding his nose--he must have seen Kaeli or Paige do it at some point. It still makes me laugh just by seeing the pictures. He's soooo funny!

Ryan's first preschool field trip

On Thursday (May 22), Ryan had his first class field trip and they learned about dinosaurs. The dinosaur lesson was followed by a picnic at the playground. This was their end-of-year festivities. They do have one more day on Wed, but it's just for fun. I am going to take the camera that day in order to get pictures of him with his teachers. Ryan will stay in this same class next year because he just turned 3 in Feb. Only one of his classmates stays in this same program-the rest will be moving up to the 4 yr old program. This field trip was a combination of 2 (maybe 3) classes, by the way.

Ryan is in the middle (white shirt). They are being scientists and trying to put the dinosaur bones together.

Taking a picture with the big inflatable dinosaur.
Ryan is one the dinosaur. AJ is standing by one of Ryan's classmates. She is the one that will be returning to the class next year with Ryan.

As usual, it's next to impossible trying to keep AJ confined to one small space-so we spent a good bit of time outside during the dinosaur lessons. He sure did like putting handfuls of sand on his monster truck!

Ryan was being a little stinker outside--he would NOT let me get his picture on the slide. I'd try to sneak up on him to get the picture and he'd turn around and run away every time.
Here's AJ climbing up the slide--notice the mischievous grin on his face because he knows he's not supposed to go up the slide.

AJ and Ryan on the space shuttle bouncy toy.
Here's a picture of the "flower" Ryan picked for me. I have dried up dandelions all over the place because he loves to give them to me. I just can't bring myself to tell him they are weeds, so I accept each flower with LOTS of oohs and aahs.

AJ made a phone call today

I got a call from my friend Amanda today telling me she had a voicemail from AJ. At first he just did some heavy breathing and then he started saying "hi" over and over. He LOVES phones and he very often has some kind of phone up to his ear. Today he must have taken my cell phone off my desk. Lucky Amanda--she's the first name in my phonebook so she got the call. Funny thing is that I didn't even realize he had my phone. Honestly, he has it so often that I probably saw him but didn't think anything of it. So, if anyone gets a call from me with heavy breathing--just say hi to AJ and tell him to give the phone to mommy. ;)

YAY! One more out of disposable pants....

MAYBE! Paige was still wearing pull-ups to bed at night up until last night. For the past few weeks she's been showing some signs of finally being tired of having to wear them, but I haven't been pressuring her at all. As she was getting ready for bed last night she announced to me that she wasn't wearing pull-ups to bed. I was a little nervous, but we'll never know if she can do it if we don't try. I checked on her at 11:00 and since she was still dry I took her to the bathroom. She was able to go and even had a smile on her face as she walked back to bed--she must have realized what a major breakthrough this was for her. She got a drink of water before getting back in bed and that made me nervous. But, first thing this morning she ran into my room and whispered to me "mommy, I didn't pee in the bed last night!" She was so proud of herself!!

I'm almost afraid to hope that this might be the end of pull-ups for her. I'm so ready to be done with those things stinking up her bedroom!

In just a few weeks we are going to start "potty-training boot camp" for Ryan. He's now 3yrs 3mos and it's time for him to get out of diapers. I'm going to attempt to go "cold turkey" and just deal with the messes as they occur. With any luck he'll get the idea after only a day or two.

How nice if I could get down to only buying diapers/pull-ups for only one child!!

We just put 'em in cages!

I figured out the best way to REALLY shock people. I can start carrying this picture with me and when people ask "how do you do it with 4 kids?" I'll just show them the picture. Although, knowing me I'd never be able to keep a straight face when I say it. Besides, there's enough people out there without a sense of humor that I'd probably have CPS knocking on my door.

These pictures were taken a few days ago. Ryan and AJ were playing in the basement and I had to run upstairs for a few minutes.

When I came back down this was what I saw:

And, the funny thing is that AJ was soooo mad at me for opening the door to take this next picture. It took me several shots to get him with even half a smile on his face. His arm is in the air because he's on his way to closing the door again. The whole time Ryan was yelling "lock door" because he wanted me to actually LOCK them in. Thank goodness we have one of the most patient dogs on the planet!

Bedtime Stories

Tonight the girls asked if they could read bedtime stories to Ryan and AJ. Kaeli asked to read to Ryan and Paige asked to read to AJ. It worked out perfectly and I was pleasantly surprised to see Ryan and AJ just as content with the situation. Paige is so proud that she can read now! I'm very happy for her, too!

Kaeli reading Bible stories to Ryan...they even did a little bedtime prayer together that I thought was so sweet.

Kaeli and Ryan again

AJ and Paige reading The Napping House. This is a super-cute book, by the way, if anyone is looking for a good book recommendation for the younger set.

Here's AJ and Paige again.

AJ Update

I can't believe AJ will be 20 mos old on Monday. That is soooo close to being 2!! I wanted to do an update on him because he's doing so great with his development. I often worried that he would be like Ryan and be a "late-bloomer", but alot of that concern is dissolving. He is getting speech therapy once a month until he turns 2 because at 18 mos he was a little behind in his speech skills. He qualified for 1x week, but summers are very hectic around here so I opted to take it slowly for now. I just like having the speech therapist to touch base with and get ideas on how to help his speech skills continue growing. Really, I'm not sure if he would have completely qualified for speech if not for Ryan's delays. I think AJ was borderline and so Child Find decided to go ahead and start speech now-just in case. At this age speech therapy is so much fun, anyway. Basically, he just gets a trained therapist to give him undivided attention and play with him for 45 minutes. The therapist comes to our house and it's completely free.

First of all, AJ finally said what I most definitely consider to be his first functional word. One day this past week he kept shoving his sippy cup at me and screaming. I just ignored him because I had no idea what he wanted. Finally, out of sheer frustration he shoved it at me one last time and said "ice". I'm guessing that he will now take off in speech considering how quickly I jumped up and got him a piece of ice for his cup. Other than ice I'm pretty sure he says "hi", "rock", and "eye". I haven't heard it yet, but mom-mom and Kristen heard him say "bubbles"....I can't wait to hear that one! He also has quite a signing vocabulary. The other day he came up to me, grabbed my arm to get my attention and signed "more" "milk". Talk about a proud moment!

His favorite thing to watch is Signing Time videos. He comes up to me and does the sign for "caterpillar" when he wants to watch it. There is a song called caterpillar dreams in one of the videos that he just loves.

He LOVES to imitate everything he sees....so we definitely have to watch out. He's quite a little daredevil, too. I don't think he knows any fear and all I can do is stand back and watch him (and stand near in case I have to help him). He crawls up the swingset ladder and slides down head first. The first time he did it, he ended up with a mouth full of mulch. We thought that would teach him a lesson--no chance! He continues going head first and just laughs. He's such a lovable little boy, too! He loves giving kisses and hugs and looks so darn cute when he blows kisses.

Here are a couple of pictures I took recently of him playng peek-a-boo. He's sitting in the laundry basket because he loves to be pushed around in it. Don't you love how those chubby little hands are turned backwards to hide his eyes?

Quite a day!

First of all, our morning started out really crazy! I got all the kids out the door and into the car--that can be quite a chore in and of itself most mornings. Keep in mind I always park in the garage and just rush the kids out the door while I'm still turning off lights and tidying up the kitchen. I dropped the girls off at their school first with no problems--well, almost no problems. Paige forgot her backpack, but I take no responsibility for that. I even reminded her to grab it, but she chose not to listen. No backpack means no snack for her.

After dropping the girls off we headed to Ryan's school. It's only 5 minutes away and we were 15 min early. We had time so I went home to get my wallet since I wanted to go to the plant nursery after dropping him off. We get back to the school and I realized that I didn't have shoes for him or AJ. They got in the car with no shoes and I didn't think to check before leaving. I could take him home to get the shoes, but he'd be 15 min late for school. I noticed a pair of Kaeli's flip flops staring at me. You should have seen Ryan walking into school with those huge yellow flip flops. The funny thing is that the smile never left his face. Thank goodness for laid-back boys--Kaeli or Paige would have flipped out over that! I hurried home to get his shoes and ran them in to him.

As I'm driving off to head to the plant nursery I realize I forgot to send Ryan's backpack in with him! Oh well, I was NOT going back in to give them his backpack.

We finally get the nursery and I quickly found a nice annual to plant in the yard. I chose the vinca flower and I highly recommend it! They are so pretty and supposedly drought and heat tolerant--a plant I can love!

AJ and I got home just a few minutes after Mom-Mom and Kristen arrived. They stayed to watch AJ while I went to Kaeli and Paige's school to do my weekly volunteering in their classrooms. Fortunately, that part was uneventful....well, except that I forgot to bring Paige her backpack like I promised.

When I finished with my volunteer work I had just enough time to head over and pick up Ryan from school. I took him home, made lunch for him and AJ, and then left again. Mom-Mom stayed with the boys while I headed off to the school again for a Kindergarten luncheon. I was able to eat lunch with Paige and spend some time on the playground with her afterwards. I even remembered to take her packpack this time.

After the luncheon I headed home to get the boys down for a nap. While they were napping I set out to plant the 3 trays (90-something flowers) of vinca flowers I just bought. As I was planting them I was questioning my sanity over buying THAT many teeny little flowers to plant. I only finished two trays today. I can't wait until they start maturing into full-size flowers. I will certainly take a picture because I think it will be very pretty. At least I hope so!

The rest of the day was alot like that. Just crazy busy and I am very forgetful. Of course, forgetfulness usually accompanies being insanely busy, doesn't it?

Oh, our worms came today and I have officially started my vermicomposting bin! The kids were all excited to see it set up. I'm very eager to see how it goes and can't wait to have my first usable compost. Although it will probably be several months before that happens.

Our caterpillars did arrive last weekend. I think we will see the first one form its chrysalis any day now. I've been absolutely fascinated by how quickly these little creatures grow. It certainly lends more meaning to one of our favorite children's book called "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". It's no wonder they eat and eat and eat like crazy the week leading up to their chrysalis formations--they have to in order to grow so fast. I'm not kidding, I've never seen anything grow this fast in my life! I guess I should have known this, but I just never realized how unbelievable the growth rate really is.

Flower Market pictures

Here are a sampling of our pictures of the Flower Market--in no particular order. Steve was there, but he was taking all the pictures so we don't have a single picture of him. You can click here to see all of the pictures from that day.

Mom-Mom riding on a bouncing ride with Ryan and AJ.
This is me and Paige on a ride that I swear I thought was going to make me sick!

AJ and Ryan on the motorcycles--AJ was having fun even though you couldn't tell by his expressions.

Paige on the flying ride--she rode this ALL by herself!!
Ryan on Pop-Pop's shoulders

Aunt Kristen with Ryan

Kaeli with Aunt Kristen

AJ on Uncle Jimmy's shoulders

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms that read this!

We spent all day yesterday at the Flower Market in Wilmington. We went with Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop, Aunt Kristen, and Uncle Jimmy. It's become a tradition to go on Friday before Mother's Day every year, but this year Friday was a complete washout with heavy rains most of the day. Saturday ended up being a pretty decent day weather-wise. It was especially nice having everyone there. With 4 kids it's almost necessary to have everyone there. Kaeli spent a lot of time riding the "big rides" with Aunt Kristen. Paige kind of went back and forth between the kiddie rides and the big rides. Pop-Pop really helped by going off with her when she wanted to do the bigger rides. Of course, Ryan and AJ spent all their time on the kiddie rides. We have lots of pictures that I will get on here within the next couple of days.

By the way, I should describe the Flower Market for those that aren't familiar with it. It's a big event held on Mother's Day weekend every year. All proceeds from the event go to local children's charities. The Flower Market has a little bit for everyone. There are rides, of course. There are also lots of booths with people selling hand-made crafts, etc. There are several tents filled with all sorts of annuals, perennials, garden vegetables, hanging plants, etc. all for sale. Then, of course, what event would be complete without a huge selection of foods? Every year we give the kids some money and they use that money to buy my Mother's Day gift. It works out well because then I know that my gift was specifically chosen for me by the kids. With all the pretty things around, it's always interesting to see what the kids decide on for me. The girls really get excited about giving the gifts they found.

This morning the kids and Steve woke me up with breakfast in bed. Right now it's still a bit challenging to have breakfast in bed. Kaeli and Paige are finally old enough to just watch and talk to me as I eat. Ryan and AJ just want to eat everything on my plate. Of course, Steve just fed them before he even made my breakfast. But, for whatever reason, they seem to think that the food on my plate is FAR better than anything else. They seriously look like little vultures....and that's exactly what Steve calls them. :) I don't mind, though, it's part of the charm of the whole event.

When they bring me my breakfast, they also bring me the gifts from them. I just love seeing the excitement and pride on their faces as I open everything. Before becoming a mom myself I never could have understood just how happy small child-made trinkets could make a person. I don't know what makes me the happiest.....there are just so many amazingly wonderful aspects to the whole event. For example--after I put the girls to bed last night they stayed up "wrapping" my gifts in plain white copy paper. That's all they had in their room and they didn't want me to know what they were doing. They didn't have any tape, so they just had to fold the paper. Kaeli had even used the copy paper to stuff the bag the gift came in to make it look like a gift bag. I can just picture the two of them in their room last night working so hard to make my gift even more special.

From Kaeli I got a little heart-shaped pin to put on my shirt. She made it in art class at school. It was painted red with little white dots all over. She also bought me a very pretty picture frame and bar of hand-made olive oil soap at the Flower Market. She also made me a very pretty card that said "I hope you have an awesome Mother's Day. And I hope all your wishes come true". :)

From Paige I got a very pretty hand-painted square porcelain tile that she made in art class at school. She also bought me 2 bars of hand-made olive oil soap at the Flower Market. The porcelain tile was wrapped in a piece of construction paper with a beautiful picture drawn by Paige with the words "Happy Mother's Day" written on it.

Ryan gave a me a rose cut from our rose bush. AJ gave me lots of hugs and kisses. :)

Steve helped me build another box for our vegetable garden. In the new box we planted another tomato plant, a red bell pepper plant, a sweet banana pepper plant, 8 lettuce plants, and a cantaloupe plant. I'm so excited about how our little garden has turned out. Now we just have to see how well it grows!

Other than that we got some regular yardwork done and then had some friends over for a cookout. It's been a very busy day and I'm definitely just about ready for bed!

Mealworms--day 2

Kaeli's 2nd grade class has been studying insects. As a classroom project they have been taking care of caterpillars and mealworms and observing the life cycles of each. Kaeli found out from her teacher that Petsmart carries mealworms, so she has been begging me for at least a week to buy some for her to keep at home. I did finally go yesterday while she was at school. When she got home I was able to "surprise" her with them. I have to laugh at the fact that my child gets excited over the fact that I bought mealworms for her (by the way, they are only $2-3 for a package of 50 Petsmart). I did buy 2 little critter cages for Kaeli and Paige to keep them in. Kaeli went online and googled mealworms to find that they need to be kept in a substrate of oats or bran and they need small pieces of potato on top to provide moisture. They are supposed to change the bedding/food at least twice a week. Stay tuned to find out what they turn into!!




Kaeli is holding the mealworm in the picture above. Paige can't bring herself to touch them. I have to do most of the work in changing the bedding and transferring the little guys back into a clean cage for Paige. Kaeli does it all herself. She is soooo attached every single one of her little mealworms. Today she was trying to pick them all out of the original store "bedding" to put them in our new "oat" bedding. She brought me her plate and said "mom, I'm scared that I might be missing one....will you help me look?" It was just so cute because she probably has 20 of them total, but she was worried that even one may have been left behind. We systematically searched through the remaining substrate and she was happy that she had not left a single mealworm behind.

We are currently waiting for our butterfly eggs to arrive in the mail. They should be here soon! Within a few weeks we will be caring for earthworms, caterpillars, and mealworms. It'll be like one big science classroom......and I'm loving it!! :)

OH, and one last cute little thing.....when I took the upclose picture of the mealworm Kaeli said "we can take a picture of each stage and then I can put them in my scrapbook in a circle and show the whole lifecycle".

Updates

First, Missy's mom seems to be doing well. Missy was at the softball game yesterday and was in good spirits. She thinks her mom will be home in a day or two. They did do some brain imaging yesterday to check for damage from the lack of oxygen but she had not gotten the results back. Missy doesn't think they will find any. Thanks for any prayers for their family. From every account I've heard it's almost a miracle that she made it through this alive and even more of a miracle that she doesn't appear to have any permanent damage.

Worm composting....I ordered my worms today! I couldn't find a local source. I should also say that composting is not a necessary part of square foot gardening. I just think it sounds like a really cool way to teach the kids about a vast array of biological systems and interactions. Most of you know this, but some may not.....before becoming a full-time mom I was a biology teacher and my degree is in biology. So, that may explain a little about why I'm becoming so involved with these things. In fact, as I type this Kaeli is reading a book about earthworms. A few days ago I showed her how to reserve books online at the library. She reserved 3 books about gardening and earthworms. Nothing makes an ex-biology teacher turned mom more thrilled than to see her very own child taking such a big interest in biology.

No update on the garden.....it's growing, I guess. I have been known to stand out there and stare at the plants to see if I can find any evidence of new growth.

That's about it on the updates. I still have a lot to say tonight, but I'm doing 2 more entries.

Lots of stuff

First, I thought I'd write that Missy's mom seems to be doing better and they think she will recover without any long-term effects. She regained consciousness last night and was responsive to Missy. I did call and leave a message to let Missy know we are thinking of her and her family and let her know to call if there's anything we could do. I just feel better being able to let her know we are thinking about her. Not much, but there's really not a lot more I can do.

Other than that--I'm beginning to realize I might have a few too many "irons in the fire". I mean, it's great that I've discovered a whole new world of stuff that I never even realized existed--stuff that just absolutely meshes with my interests and even the interests of Kaeli and I think Paige, too. But, I'm feeling just a tad bit overwhelmed at the moment--it's been a rough day.

First, I spent a good bit of time on the phone yesterday trying to figure out where I could get lots of "redworms" to start a composting bin. I did end up getting a phone number, but it took approx 5 phone calls to get it. If anyone else decides to embark on a journey like this, let me give you some information that will help. Just start off by calling your state's Cooperative Extension. It's going to be affiliated with one of the state colleges.

So, today I finally got in touch with a "master gardener" at the cooperative extension--I'm not sure how they attain this status, but they are volunteers that basically help people like me. The lady I spoke with today was soooo helpful. She's going to send me information on composting workshops. She also told me about a composting outpost they have in our town where they have many different forms of composting on display. She felt that worm composting was more work than the other methods, but that's ok since I'm mainly doing it for the kids more than just to make dirt. Maybe I'll do the worms just for the kids' pleasure and do a real compost pile outside (when I get around to it). I also told her about some kind of gnat population we've developed in our garden already. She told me to catch some of the flies and bring them in to the office for identification. Once they have identified the flies they can tell me what, if anything, can or should be done about them. So, this is just incredible that I now know I can just pick up the phone for help when I run into a problem with our newest undertaking.

Of course, stumbling across the Cooperative Extension led me to all the 4-H club information and camps. I cannot believe I didn't know about this before now! I think Kaeli would just LOVE to be a member of a 4-h club! There is a science adventure camp in August that I'm definitely signing her up for. It's 2 nights and 3 days and is right here in town. Unfortunately, Paige isn't old enough. But, I'm not sure if she's into science, anyway--we'll have to wait and see what her interests really are. I spent a good bit of time on the phone finding a club to join. The first club leader I spoke with was nice, but I realized each club kind of has its own "personality". And, their specialty seemed to be in the realm of livestock. Their current project is raising an animal (goat, horse, etc) to take to the state fair. I could just see us trying to raise a goat in our backyard. I told the lady about the only thing we could raise is a dog or a cat. Besides, they are raising these animals to sell---I can just see Kaeli getting attached to an animal for months and then taking it off to "market". Nope-that would NOT be a pretty sight.

I do think I found a good match for Kaeli and Paige, though. The club we are interested in has 3 different projects running right now. One is sewing, one is cooking, and the other is photography. I think my girls would enjoy either of those 3. Also, she said that next year the projects would change based on the kids' interests. I'd like to see a project involving science. MAYBE I could even volunteer to lead a science project since that is definitely my "thing". The culmination of the projects is that the kids end up with a product for display and sell it at the state fair. It really sounds like a lot of fun!

With all the garden stuff going on I haven't had much time to devote to learning about scrapbooking. Oh, and of course, the laundry and general housekeeping tasks keep vying for my attention. Actually, the housecleaning part is what has me frustrated. I want to concentrate on all this fun stuff, but now the house is becoming a little disorganized and THAT drives me absolutely bananas!! Today Kaeli actually had to dig through folded laundry to find some shorts. Paige went to school in an outfit that actually embarrassed me this morning. Normally, on Sunday night I lay out 5 outfits for the girls to choose from all week. This makes it easy because then *I'M* the only one digging through their dressers and I don't leave a disaster behind like they do. And, Paige doesn't have the best sense of style. Let's just say she is quite the "creative" fashion diva. Today she went to school wearing a cute sleeveless summer dress with opaque (wintery-looking) tights and a pair of athletic shoes. Not terrible, but there was just something about the combination that made me laugh--of course, I didn't laugh in front of her, though. So, needless to say I absolutely HAVE to get up to their room and re-organize their dressers and lay out clothes for the rest of this week. There is no telling what Paige will come down wearing tomorrow if I don't get things back under control. :) So, sadly I must spend the next couple of days doing housework and organizational tasks instead of all the new, cool, fun stuff.

What do you do when you can't do anything?

My heart so deeply aches tonight for someone I barely know, but that has made a huge impression on me. Tonight at the girls softball game I had the opportunity to really talk to and get to know one of the other moms. This mom (Missy) has always seemed like a really great person and I was hoping we could get to know one another better. I could just tell by the way she interacted with her children (and mine) that she has a loving, compassionate heart. Her son (almost 3) and Ryan played alot together at the games. Oh, and she has a HUGE soft spot for Paige. She was telling me tonight that she doesn't know what it is about Paige, but she just adores her. So, we really had a great time talking and I got to know her really well.

At the same time, I had the opportunity to meet Missy's mom. Her mom also made an impression on me as a wonderful and sweet person. My regret right now? I didn't get her name. I regret that so much because she's currently unconscious at the hospital.....I want to pray for her and I don't even know her name!

Here's what happened. Ryan and AJ were starting to get antsy so I decided to leave a few minutes before the game ended. Missy's mom and son (Missy's brother) left right about the same time I did. Their car was near mine and I waved as I drove off. When I got home I found out that just moments after I drove off they had to call an ambulance for Missy's mom. When Steve got home he didn't know much and had heard that she might be having a seizure. But, the head coach just called Steve a bit ago and we found out it's just not good. We don't know why, but the coach just kept saying her airway was closing down. She couldn't breathe. She was on oxygen, so I know she must have some kind of lung problem/disease. But, for some reason the oxygen wasn't doing enough for her. Coach Mike said they "lost her" a couple of times in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. When he left the hospital she was still unconscious. And, based on his description, Missy's having a hard time.

I have Missy's phone number, but it's her home number. I want to do something for her and for her family, but I don't know what I can do! I am going to call tomorrow to see if there's anything at all that I can do. But, somehow that just doesn't seem like enough.

Of course, I can't stop thinking about how quickly life can change from perfectly normal and happy to tragic and terrible within a matter of only a few minutes. I wish I hadn't left early, but then again, what could I have done? I have so many thoughts and wishes, but none of them make a bit of difference to what Missy and her family are going through right now.

If anyone out there could just say a prayer for Missy, her mom and their family I know they would appreciate it.

Picture of our newly planted garden

And here is the final, final product.......just waiting for the veggies to grow now. In order to give some names to the plots I will name the back row "A" and the subsequent rows will be "B", "C", and "D". The individual squares in each row will be assigned a number starting from 1.

So, using that as a frame of reference here is what we have planted in the garden.

A1, A2, and A3-1x tomato plant (1x=1 per square)
A4-2x cucumber plant
B1 and C1-1x strawberry plant
B2 and B3-1x bell pepper plant
B4-1x jalapeno plant
C2-1x zucchini plant
C3-1x squash plant
C4-4 oregano seeds
D1- 4 cilantro seeds
D2- 4 basil seeds
D3-
D4-4x bush beans


In true "Bridget" fashion, I've decided that one 4x4 plot just isn't enough. I want to dedicate half of a plot to strawberries. I'd also like to grow some salad veggies--lettuce, carrots, radish. I'd also like to add a red bell pepper plant since they are one of my favorite veggies! So, I've decided to do the digging this week and Steve has agreed to build another box for me. I hope to have that one in the ground by next weekend.

And, I've decided to start a worm composting bin. Kaeli is absolutely fascinated by earthworms and has been asking for a "worm farm" for at least a year now. I'm embarrassed to say that before now I had no idea how we would go about keeping worms as a pet. Once I began reading about gardening more, I realized keeping worms as a pet is the PERFECT way to get rid of organic kitchen scraps and maintain a continuous supply of rich dirt for the garden. The liquid that drains through is also considered really great fertilizer. So, Kaeli is thrilled to know that we will finally be getting a worm farm. It's even better that the kids will get first-hand experience seeing how worms help the soil. I'm in the "research" phase right now, but I'm hoping to start our new project within the next couple of weeks.

Oh, and yes---I'm still working through learning how to fully utilize the Photoshop Elements software. It's slow going since I'm torn between wanting to learn all about gardening/worms and digital scrapbooking. But, I'll get there.....eventually.

Square Foot Gardening

I am so excited that we have our very first garden! I always wanted a garden, but just never thought I had time to take care of one. Of course, I have been either pregnant or taking care of a little one most summers during our 9 years of marriage--so I was probably right that I didn't have time. This summer is different, though. Our youngest child can walk all by himself and that alone makes a big difference. Although, one thing I didn't count on is his intense desire to walk on a garden and to pull out everything within his reach!

A couple of months ago I learned about a method of gardening called square foot gardening. It sounded easy enough so we decided to try it.

Steve built a box that is 4'X4' and left the middle empty. You don't have to amend the soil underneath the box, but we chose to mainly because we have terrible soil. We dug up the grass and then mixed bagged topsoil into the soil left behind. Then we filled the 4X4 box with a very rich humus and topsoil mixture. The grids on the top are just to mark off 1x1 sections that make planning and planting the veggies easier. We chose to only do one section this year since it's our first attempt at gardening. We've planned out a section of the yard that would be good for up to 4 of the boxes, so maybe next year we'll add another box or two.

We did the planting this afternoon, but I just didn't have time to take a picture afterwards--it was too close to dinnertime and bath time for the kids. By the time that was done, it was too dark for pictures. I will definitely get pictures either tomorrow or Monday.

Ryan is helping Steve dig up the grass

We now have all the grass out and Kaeli is helping to loosen the dirt left behind.

And here is the finished product!

Our plan is to eventually kill off the grass around the box and make pebble/stone paths around the box/boxes. This will help to reduce the amount of weeds and grass that end up in the garden box. When I post "post-planting" picture I'll include a list of what we are trying to grow this year.

No glow bear

I just got the girls to bed and I'm still half giggling to myself. Every night Kaeli and Paige sleep with the closet light on and each of them has a special stuffed animal that they sleep with. At Kaeli's age, it seems there is a lot of pressure to ditch the more "childish" stuff. As I was getting them in bed I asked if they wanted the closet light on. I saw Kaeli give a quick glance in Savannah's direction before answering--NO MOM, we don't need lights. I could see that both girls kind of wanted the light on, but each was afraid to admit it. I kept the closet door closed, though. Then I tried to hand Kaeli "glow bear", he's her beloved stuffed animal that she's been sleeping with since she was about 3. She still sleeps with him every night, but she said "mom, I don't need glow bear". I said "Oh, you're not going to sleep with him tonight?" She said "mommmmmmmm, I haven't slept with him in a long time". I got the hint and just said "oh, yeah, I forgot". I decided to use that as a teaching moment to tell them that no one is going to think badly of them or like them less just because of what they like and don't like or what their preferences are. Of course, adding that anyone who does judge them based on that is probably only trying to makes themselves feel better, anyway. As I turned to walk out the door, Kaeli says "OK, you can open the closet door a little bit". I can't wait to see if glow bear finds his way into her bed tonight.

Paige's first sleepover....

and I miss her so much! It's funny how many times I've asked "where's Paige?" only to have Kaeli look at me like I was crazy. She's slept over with her grandparents before, but that's different. Probably the biggest difference is that I always called to say goodnight or she called us. I think it's hard to know that I'm not going to say goodnight to her at all. But, I'm very happy for her and I know she's having a great time. When we got to Emily's house, she jumped out of the car and barely said goodbye. I'm pretty sure she's not missing me right now.

Kaeli has her friend, Savannah, over for a sleepover tonight. They've been doing lots of "girly" stuff and actually played school for a long time. I find that funny considering that today was a day off from school. Guess they just can't get enough of it. It's 9:50 right now so I'm going to have to give them the bad news soon---it's bedtime. Kaeli wanted midnight. I comprised with 10:00.

Ryan had fun with his friend this morning, I think. We had a our 2 neighbors over most of the morning as well, so I can't say that Ryan really interacted with Brian a whole lot. With 7 kids all running around there's not a lot of one-on-one interaction. I was really impressed by how well they all played together, though. Probably the cutest thing thing is seeing AJ doing everything he can to keep up with them all. I think his favorite thing to do is just imitate whatever he sees the older kids doing. At one point Kaeli climbed up on top of the monkey bars. She was a little nervous coming down so once she reached the ground again she laid down and "hugged" the ground. AJ saw her and, without a clue why he was doing it, he laid down and "hugged" the ground as well. He did try to climb up after her, but I had stop him halfway up. It's amazing how grown up he seems already.

I better get the girls to bed now....and I won't be far behind them.

Now we're getting somewhere

I ended up downloading a new image editing software yesterday called Photoshop Elements. The webiste was offering a free 30 day trial and I decided to give a try....it's supposedly a great editing software once you get the hang of it. I stayed up late last night trying to figure it out on my own and finally gave up! This morning I was asking everyone I know if they have any experience with the software and I actually came across someone that has used it!! Even better-she's been doing some digital scrapbooking for a few months now. We certainly had a lot to talk about this morning! She suggested that I get the Photoshop for Dummies book and, of course, I went straight out and bought it. Those that know me well know that I do not possess much patience and that once I get involved in a new project I dive in head first. Steve just laughs and tells me it's my OCD (obsessiveness mostly) kicking in. By the way, no I don't really have OCD...I don't think?.....but I certainly do have a tendency to throw myself entirely into a new project. Personally, I think it's because I have a need to conquer whatever challenges I face. In fact, I had a funny conversation with Steve today. I was telling him that I'm loving having a real hobby. He just responded with "your hobby is finding new hobbies". He summed me up so well-- I think I find a new challenge, work feverishly to conquer it, and then move on to another one.

Anyway, enough psychoanalyzing myself....the point of my current blog post is to say that I'm now getting somewhere. This "dummies" book is very well written and I'm learning so much. Not just about the software, but also about the technical information behind digital images. It's amazingly fascinating. I'm only on Ch 2 and haven't even gotten into actual editing yet. I'm still trying to learn all about how color is created and the "behind the scenes" features of the software and digital imaging.

Now I'm off to get the girls from school, feed them dinner and head off to a softball game. They don't have school tomorrow, but we already have a full day. Ryan's having a friend over in the AM. Paige is having her first sleepover at a friend's house tomorrow night....how exciting for her! And, Kaeli is having a friend over here for a sleepover. This should be good for the girls to do their own thing apart from each other with separate friends. The funny thing is that the little girl Paige is spending the night with is very, very quiet like Paige. Their teacher says they are always together, but they hardly talk.....it's like they just enjoy that neither pressures the other to say a word. :)