How Does Your Garden Grow? Highs (and lows) of 2011

 I've been lacking on the updates of the garden because, really there hasn't been much to update. The flowers did decently well, but mostly because they all bloomed before the heat stress set in. Here's a few pictures from this past summer.
 I think I've posted these before, but I really like them, so here they are again! These are some daylilies that I transplanted from the backyard to the front yard. I'm so glad I kept them!

 These next few flowers were killed by the heat before they could get much bigger than this. Pretty sad.

The cosmos did eventually bloom! They were beautiful!

 So did the Sweet Peas. Also beautiful, but they didn't get up to their fabled 12' tall. This was about all I could get out of them before they too were singed by the torch of summer. I'm not bitter....promise...

 These daylilies (Grapette) were a big surprise this year. I bought them last year from K-States gardens, but they didn't bloom. They just needed a little time to establish roots in their new area. They bloomed this year and I'm so glad I waited for them! I LOVE the ruffled edges and the dark purple to yellow throat! Beautiful!

So this year wasn't the best year for the veggie garden. In fact it was a MAJOR disappointment.

At the beginning of the season I had 34 tomato plants. I had expected to be processing gallons and gallons of tomato sauce, puree, diced tomatoes...the list was endless! The heat this summer made it impossible for them to set fruit. So far this year I've had a record breaking LOW of approximately 10 purple cherry tomatoes and a weird wild hybrid plant that produced 5-7 Roma/cherry cross tomatoes. They basically look like giant red cherry tomatoes. The rest of the 32 tomatoes have yet to produce ANYTHING. And I fear it's too late for them. I've honestly about given up. I'm keeping them out there mostly for the blooms on the plants. We've got some hummingbirds close by that like tomato blooms. BUT, my rule is if they are benefiting in SOME way, they stay. But I'm no longer watching for anything to ripen. It's just too heartbreaking and disappointing :(

The lettuce was all eaten by rabbits, the peppers were stunted by the heat and almost never got established. Our pumpkins were attacked by vine borers and more or less done for by the beginning of July.
The carrots hated the soil they were in. Too much clay. When they were pulled up...it was just sad. They were shorter than your pinky finger and about as round.
And the purple green beans, while they did produce the biggest harvest, well, I didn't get them staked when I should have. They were attacked by heat, bugs, poor soil, and weeds that tried to choke out the little life left in them.

HOWEVER....I did plant my first fall garden. So far I've gotten carrots and more purple green beans in the ground. I'm still planning on 3-4 varieties of lettuce and spinach. And I'm working on a post for that as well. I'm staying hopeful the fall harvest will make up for the summer harvest. Until then, I'll be praying over the soil. 'Cause I don't know what else could possibly work.

A Double Birthday Party and Fall "Decorating"

We had a very full Labor Day weekend filled with family, friends and fun!
It kicked off with a trip to Irish Fest at Crown Center. Of course, I forgot the camera. But the highlights were picking up some Irish tea for Dylan, and the kids got to meet many of the Disney princesses! There was some of the best Irish music and food! I had the best fish and chips for dinner there! Raglan Road is calling my name, I can feel it! I also picked up a new (temporary!) wedding band. Mine is already getting a little too tight for me. It's a beautiful infinity trinity knot, but unfortunately has no bling on it.
Saturday we had family and friends over for the kids birthday party.

 We grilled out, relaxed and enjoyed spending time with everyone!

And of course there were presents!

These kids were so excited about everything they received. They wanted ALL their presents open and played with at once!

I also got a few pictures of the cakes I made for them.

Photo credit: against the tide

It took a while for me to figure out what Shawn wanted for a cake. All he would tell me for awhile is a green cake. Baffled, I had planned on making him one that resembled a birthday present. Finally about a week ago he said the words " big fat caterpillar" when we were talking about it and I realized what he meant. The Very Hungry Caterpillar! He was so thrilled he had at last gotten through to his sometimes dense mama! We showed him the picture in the book of the "big fat caterpillar" and he confirmed that was exactly what he wanted!

Isabel was MUCH more concise about her cake. She described a white heart with pink and purple and red flowers all over it. I drew up a sketch of it and she approved! Here's what hers ended up as!

Around cake time is when my camera started acting up and I didn't notice it until I looked at the pictures a while later. The lens cover has been sticking lately so when the camera turns on it doesn't always open. These were the pictures I got of the kids blowing out the candles :(

Oh well, I suppose. Better luck next year.  All in all it was a wonderful day and the kids had such a good time! They were so tired by the end of it!

Sunday we got to release the Painted Lady butterflies we had grown. They were part of Isabel's birthday present and so we decided it was time to let them go be free!

These were part of a homeschool project on changes (metamorphosis) as well as patience. It was so incredible to see the kids watch the caterpillars change to butterflies. Isabel just LOVED it, so we're going to be doing this project again next year, probably with some more in depth studies.

Back inside the kids set to playing with a play-dough set they received on Saturday. They came to show me their creations and were so proud of themselves!

I'm sure you've also noticed by now the blog has a new look! We've "fall-ifyed" the decor around here! Let me know what you think. I'm also hoping to be posting a couple DIY tutorials soon, so stay tuned! Happy Fall, y'all!

Busy Week!

I've been flying like crazy around here trying to get the house up to par for a gathering on Saturday. We're having a double birthday party for the kids, complete with homemade cakes and grilling out! We invited my side of the family who all live about an hour from us as well as friends who live here in town. We'll have no less than 7+ kids running around the house, as well as family for who this will be the first time seeing our "new" house we bought almost 2 years ago.

These pics are from my our recent baking expedition with the kids. Isabel helped with mixing the batter and pouring it into the cupcake tin. Shawn was pleased just to help decorate and eat!

We've also been potty training Shawn for a couple weeks. He's making progress, but still refuses to tell us when he needs to go, BEFORE he soils himself. We're finding out what times of the day he's most resistant to the idea of going, and are finding ways to help him through those times. But still, not a fun journey, especially with everything else going on.

I'm hoping to have a semi-tutorial up on Sunday or Monday over the process of the birthday cakes, but for now, I'm keeping mum about their theme. I'm really hoping they turn out as wonderful as the concept in my head looks. Stay tuned!

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for Isabel!

 She was so excited to get to school this morning she was practically dressed and out the door by 7:30!

We took the traditional first day of school pictures, and of course had to let brother in on the fun!

She's in the 4's class this year since her birthday's not til late September. Only one more year til Kindergarten!

Brother needed one departing shot. It helped ease the pain of  the sudden realization he won't be going to school this year. Poor kiddo.

But then he realized he had full reign of the toys while sister was gone, so the tears were short-lived.

Happy Monday ya'll!

A Friday Flashback

August 6, 2008 our baby boy was born.

He looked like this:

And he came out screaming mad. (Really, he made my ears ring in the operating room!)

This boy turned 3 on August 6, 2011 and now he couldn't be happier!

Except when his sister annoys him.


We had a VERY small birthday party for him a couple days after his real birthday.

But he didn't really care when we celebrated.

 Cake was involved

so he was a happy camper.

Which, really, is pretty much most of the time, 

 And that's the way I like to keep it!




 

A confession...

All right, world. I'll own up to it.
Cause pretty soon, I won't be able to hide it anymore.

I've been keeping something kinda big from you...for quite a while now.

Mind you, my Mr. has been privy to this news all along. It's nothing new for him.
In fact, this kinda kicked me in the rear...the very day I wrote this post.

That's right, we're expecting baby #4!!!

So much for not being pregnant during the excruciating summer!! God really does have a sense of humor, huh? Especially for...ahem, that, to happen the day we announce our adoption! Just keepin' it real (and PG :D) here, folks!

So baby #4 the same time we are working on baby #3....I'm not really sure which is which anymore.
We have told the wonderful people at the pregnancy center we're working with and everything is still a go on the adoption. We're still filling out paperwork, but now you know the real reason behind our lack of progress. Of course, if we are chosen during my pregnancy, the birthmother will obviously be informed we are indeed pregnant, and the adoption will only proceed if she still feels we are the forever family for her baby too.

We're due late February, but we get the luxury of being able to plan this baby's birthday since I'm a scheduled C-section. My doc is already talking about that sometime during week 39. Currently I'm only at week 13 (about 3 months pregnant).

It's been a lot to process lately, what with the slight possibility we could be bringing two newborns home relatively close together. And all the other hurdles we will need to jump with the adoption any way (now while pregnant! HA!) namely, the homestudy. (For some reason it scares the dickens out of me....please don't ask why, I really don't know) But I'm hoping to bite the bullet and get that started, sometime in early October. We'll see.

All I know for sure is we're going to be doing a lot more of THIS for awhile yet:

Cloth on the prairie (can you smell the sunshine!)

Regardless, expect to see more of me around here lately. I've got no less that 183 other posts I want to get up here before they float away from my memory forever.

Maybe not quite that many, but you get the idea.

P.S. Isabel and Shawn's 52 pages are updated! Hooray!  You can find them next to the "Home" page under our current family scripture.

It's been entirely too long...

since I've posted here. Much has happend (as always does) in the past couple weeks. Hoping to get a post up by tonight sometime. Stay tuned!