Shiloh's Strawberry

Pin It Now! Shiloh was so excited about our first ripe strawberry. It wasn't very big, but she was begging to pick it.

She gave me a tiny taste, and it was actually pretty sweet!

I recently planted some blackberry shoots that my mom gave me, so I am hoping they take! Berries are so pretty!

June 12th

Pin It Now! June 12th is exactly 5 months after Lincoln's birthday.

June 12th is exactly 2 months before Mullin's birthday.

June 12th will be one month and 2 days after our 12th anniversary.

June 12th will also be the day we find out if we will be going through a second lay-off.

While Mark disagrees, I hate knowing in advance. Just something else to wonder and worry about. Something to nag at me every now and then. It makes me realize just how weak my faith can be, too. :(

The Brownie I Had to Force Myself to Eat

Pin It Now! It's ten minutes until rest time is over and Lincoln opens my bedroom door, a peace offering in hand. It's a Glazed Mint Brownie that he's topped with mini M&Ms.


"This is for you Mommy, because I was so bad during school today."


Truly this child did give me some grief today. He can be quite strong-willed at times. This is the kid who could literally argue with his own reflection.

I was definitely touched by Lincoln's sweet way of apologizing. Any time he upsets me, he always wants to "make up" for it by doing something nice for me. And today it was by cutting a brownie for me. What he did not know was that I ate one right after all the kids went to "rest time". I was quite full, but I did not want to make him feel any worse than he already did, so I forced myself to eat it. They are very delicious, by the way!!!

I sort of had a feeling I'd find something like this in the fridge when I came downstairs. Thank goodness he had the sense to NOT lift the baking stone, so he cut it inside the fridge. (I won't even mention the fact that I spent over an hour one day last week carefully cleaning out the refrigerator.) Yep, there were brownie crumbs everywhere, but ya know, I didn't even mind cleaning up this kind of mess because I knew that Lincoln was truly sorry for acting the way he did. :)

Love that kid!!!

Backyard Babies

Pin It Now! I've got babies in my backyard that don't poop or cry!!!! Seriously, all my fruit and veggie sprouts are as cute as babies. I love looking at them everyday!

This year I'm having a go at growing some strawberries and tomatoes. I don't have room in my garden box, so pots on the porch will have to do. One of my strawberries is about the size of a gumdrop--oh so cute!! No tomatoes yet, just a few yellow flowers.

Last year my yellow squash and zucchini did so well, I planted those again. I couldn't get onions or cilantro to grow from seeds, so this year I am trying cucumber and cantaloupe. Yea--everything has sprouted. I am curious how the cantaloupe will turn out. The fruit is supposed to be small and very sweet--great for smaller gardens. We shall see...

Shiloh counts our apple babies. Goodness, I think there are about 30 on this tree. Our other apple tree is larger but only has flowers so far. I didn't take a picture of our orange tree, but it has way more buds this year than last. The oranges are tinier than peas. It is so strange that it takes apples just a few short months to fully develop, but oranges almost a year!!!

This tree is not a fruit tree, but wouldn't that little nook under the tree be a perfect home for a whimsical gnome? In just a short while the 2 oleander bushes will bear beautiful, carnation pink flowers, and the Lantana on the ground will be covered in yellow blooms. I'm thinkin' a gnome would love it here!!

Princess Toes

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I love Spring Break. Not only do I get a break from teaching, but I get to spend some extra time with my sweet Shiloh girl!!!!

I rarely ever paint her toenails because it takes time, it is messy, and it usually chips within a few days. But, I spent some special time with just her and I painted her toes Racy Red. I called them her princess toes. She loved it!!!

Amazing Ant Experiment

Pin It Now! Yep, another home school science experiment. We have been learning about ants and bees for the past few lessons. Arizona isn't lacking in ants by any means, so I thought the "jelly experiment" would be perfect for the kids. (And did I mention EASY!!)

Our experiment involved 3 mini paper plates, strawberry preserves, blue, Crest toothpaste, and Palmolive, lavender dish soap. And of course, ants. The goal of this experiment was to see if ants would cross certain barriers to get to the jelly.

All ready to take them into the backyard. We will have plenty of ant hills from which to choose.

It is a tad bit difficult to see the anthill, but it is in front of the plates toward the bottom of this picture. The ants we have don't really bother me that much any more. In fact, I have even read that they can be beneficial for gardens. Last year they didn't bother the food growing, so I have learned to live with them. It is virtually impossible to exterminate the entire colony, but when the hills get out of control, I do use a little pesticide. I want my kids to be able to actually play outside without being taken over by ants.

Okay, the jelly on this plate is surrounded by toothpaste. See the ant? She would not dare cross the toothpaste. She went round and round the plate as did many other busy foragers, but none ever crossed.

Dish soap blocks the jelly on this plate, and again no ants would cross the stuff.

It was like Christmas for the ants when it came to the plate with nothing but delicious strawberry preserves!!!

I don't know what it is about watching ants, but it was interesting and fun!!

Even Shiloh was entertained by the ants. Well, that wraps up another Rivendell Academy project.

Lingered Far Too Long

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All I needed were Yo Kids Yogurt and Jelly Beans. But, I decided to look just for a minute longer because I was at TARGET, and well, they just have so many cute things.

Right across from all the lovely wrapped Easter candy was a neatly organized shelf of whimsical garden accessories. I sort of have a weak spot in my heart for this sort of thing. The little gnomes and chubby toadstools were calling to me. They needed a home. It truly was difficult resisting their pleas, but I just cannot possibly afford to decorate my garden--not when SNAP and WIC are my two closest companions at the moment. Oh well, one day, maybe my garden will be a gnome's ultimate dream home. Until then I will just wait b/c I have extremely particular taste in garden accessories, well any accessory for that matter. Bye, sweet Target gnomes. :(

To get to the registers, I had to pass the little girls' clothing section. I could have just walked right on by, but no, I had to take a peek. Fortunately I had all 3 kids with me, so they kept me from sticking around too long. Cute, cute.

I did leave with a little something extra, though. Found some cute brown flip flops with Topaz gems. Bought them with a gift card. (Thanks, Dad)

So, Tell Me About Yourself

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I decided to spend a few minutes with my sweet, baby girl (she's 3 1/2) before rest time began, and as we were cuddling together on her toddler bed, I asked, "So, tell me about yourself."

Her response, and a serious one at that, was... "Well, I have a brain in my head (me laughter), and I have bones all in me."

Alrighty then.

Happy Birthday to Me

Pin It Now! Yep, the big 33. Guess it isn't so bad.

Last year at 32, I reported that I had zero gray hairs, and well, it seems that in a year's time I now have one, single gray hair that continues to sprout right out from the middle of the top of my head. For now, I'll just keep pulling it out. Thirty three is just too young to have gray hair!!!!!

My boys know how much I love M&Ms, so they got me a cute, little tin to keep them in. :)

Ate lunch at Paradise Bakery and went shopping with my mom.

Yes, this is a picture of me mailing something on my birthday. I am sure the folks in line thought I was a bit weird.

My mom kept the kids for the night, so Mark and I were able to eat cheesecake and watch a movie in peace. We bought The Truman Story for 5 bucks at Target, and what a great movie that was!!!

I Didn't Know Dave Matthews Was A Movie Star??

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When I hear the name, Dave Matthews, I think of a singer and a very popular, certain song, not a movie star. But, we watched a movie last weekend starring the Dave Matthews. Anybody know which movie it is?






Here are a few hints:


*movie is based on a 1930's classic novel for kids

*I cried when I read it and saw the movie (older version) in about 3rd grade or so.

*It's about a boy and his 2 dogs---surely you know by now!!!!!














Where the Red Fern Grows!!

Mullin just finished reading that novel last week, so I borrowed Disney's updated movie from the library. It's just an all around, good, clean and wholesome family-friendly movie!!! Unfortunately, those are getting harder and harder to find.

The only negative element--your kids just may want a dog or two now.

Sorry kids, dogfood's not covered by SNAP and dogs don't clean themselves. (At least not in a sophisticated, civilized fashion!) I love my poop-free yard, too, and my slobber-free tile. No dogs in my near future! (unless they are stuffed, of course)

B is for... Begging to do School

Pin It Now! My sweet, little baby girl is asking for me to do school with her. I honestly wasn't planning on starting anything "formal" with her until August. But, she's asking, so what's a mom to do? Of course, start "school"!! www.first-school.ws to the rescue!!!! Need to dig out my Abeka pre-school stuff, too.

Getting ready to glue the letter "Bb" to her blue paper.

Has to get it just right. Letter A was a few days ago. Today she asked me where her letter

B was.

Can't tell, but she did color the letters first, along with some little pictures of things that start with B.

I started school with Mullin much earlier, but I had the time back then. Same with Lincoln. Really, I don 't think Mullin or Lincoln were any more ahead when they were at the age Shiloh is now. Somehow, when I have had spare moments, I have managed to teach her the alphabet, counting to 10 or so, and Dora is teaching her Spanish. We read tons of books and she can't help but hear some of what the boys are learning. Not to mention Clifford the Big Red Dog computer game is also helping out a bit. She is definitely not behind or anything!!