Crazy Neighbor

So I'm that neighbor, the one everyone comments about behind closed doors to their families. "you'll never guess what our crazy neighbor was doing today, she was picking the wild violets and putting them in a jar" I wonder if my neighbors think I'm some kind of witch or hippie with all the "harvesting" I do around here. Who else purposely plants wild raspberry bushes... hey they have great raspberries, bigger and better producing then burpee's, plus they are helping ease the river bed erosion! We have such a small plot of land but I have like 20 raspberry bushes, 5 blueberry bushes, a cranberry bush and a huge garden, then comes the weeds... yeah I use them too! Today I picked a quart of wild violets for jelly. You place them in a glass jar and pour boiling water over them and 24 hours later you've steeped the sugar and colour out of them, the last picture shows the colour coming out already... that alone was totally cool! If I hadn't gotten called into work tonight, we would have eaten dandelion fritters for dinner! Gonna make dandelion jelly over the weekend! Hopefully a quart of dandelion wine and mead also next week! I just hate picking the tops off in an attempt to end their takeover and literally having to throw them away... this year we are recycling the dandelions!!!!!

haircuts for the boys

Since T-man kept threatening to do the boys hair himself, I broke down and took them to get their haircut... I was too afraid I'd come home to shaved heads otherwise! Not sure that either one liked the experience that much... but it's done. My little man sat so still and was so good, the little dude had to have a few talkings to though, but not too bad for his first salon haircut!

The Animal Show

Last Friday the little man's school had an animal show, the kids were asked to bring in a stuffed animal or the real deal. Our little man choose to do the real thing and Grandpa brought over Sylvia since Daisy barfs in the car! Sylvia won the little man the award for friendliest animal. His friend James brought the kitten, which he loved petting... especially since our cats are over the love me/pet me stage and far into the feed me/ignore me stage of life. Then came Lane's animal... a race horse named Virginia Hero, all the kids got to feed him a carrot and pet his nose. We all had a great time!

kit-tay por-kno

So sorry Amy I had to. This is Reuben and he is just beautiful... and sweet as can be... and talkative... a purrrrrrrrrrrfect cat! Amy was afraid she'd find him on the "web" a little inside joke, since I was taking so many pictures of him. Truth is while I don't think he enjoyed the camera in his face he is quite photogenic! These are from my visit to the Outer Banks last month... when life was still enjoyable!

We went Topless ;)

Yup we decided to go for a trip up into the mountains today... with the top down. The boys were not impressed at first but they got into it eventually. When we started driving down the mountain the little man says to me, " I've never seen something so the beautiful, I can see the whole world from here mama." Sometimes the things he says are just so cute! I'm glad we took this adventure today, even though I felt bad for wasting the gas!

Making up for lost time.

Mama and daddy got yelled at by our wonderful nutritionist during our last visit... no more spoon feeding the little dude! We were too afraid he'd drop too much to be able to weigh his food correctly. Obviously from these pictures the little dude is making up for lost self feeding time, as he is not only doing a great job of feeding himself but he is doing it double spooned! Yep every meal is now self serve and he maybe drops one spoonful which he desperately tries to scoop up anyway! Guess we parents need to let our little baby grow up to his little dude title! Poor little man is in the background here fairly disturbed by the camera's flash... he still has an ear infection and allergy issues which just makes everything intolerable - to HIM!

Signs that Spring is finally here!

Yum... Army Guys:)

But seriously, just when I thought the boys were in for a boring bill paying, job hunting, veggie plant replacing (more on that topic in a later back blog), day we heard the rumblings of something big going down the street. We looked outside and saw this massive truck with a massive loader on it... you can see from the pictures that by massive I mean shed moving massive. Well someone could not decide what pants to wear and while fussing in the house the driver of said massive vehicles let the little dude sit in the big truck and blow the air horn! He was quite proud of himself. Poor little guy missed out on that though, and I obviously hadn't gotten the camera yet! We spent over an watching them work, and watching how they used their equipment... it was cool!

back blog 21st March 2009

Anything he can do I can do better! Or maybe not! I was amazed that the little man zoomed up this rock climbing wall ( nothing really should amaze me with that child), even more amazed at how far the little dude made it before getting scared and giving up... although later in the day he did accomplish this feat... we will keep that a secret from the T-man though, he'd probably freak!

back blog March 2009 sometime

Quick catch it while you can, they are not fighting, touching, smacking, choking, scratching, hitting, or yelling at each other... what a rare and wondrous moment... and I caught it on film!!! I think the little man might actually be smiling!!!

back blog 21st MARCH 2009

I finally got the garden fence moved to outside of the second half of the garden. This will serve two purposes solely because of the dog. Our lovely Daisey seems to have a very big appetite for veggies... more then half of the garden last year went into her belly, ripe or not, did not bother her either way... this year it would be nice to get to the majority of it before she does! Also if we keep her out perhaps my house won't smell of garlic and onions all the time!

back blog from 26th MARCH 2009

Well we started out the day with a sheep, then while I was as work T-man gave her a bath, so what perfect timing for a trim. So an hour later we had a dog... well more like a rat with really big ears. That was less than a month ago and she already needs another face trim... we must be feeding her something good the way her hair grows! Maybe I should eat dog food... then my hair would grow fast too... Bichon Frise have hair like humans, that what makes her allergy tolerant to me:)

sinus infections for all!

ugghhhh... well I've got a nasty sinus infection, I'm pretty sure the little dude has something allergy related, T-man has had a few asthma attacks, and the little man has an ear infection, he woke up last night screaming and tears poring down his face, then this morning he woke up with a fever, poor little dude. He went to the doctor and they asked us not to give him any antibiotics... like we can watch him in that kind of pain, so we got a prescription but we aren't suppose to use it for 2 days... uhmmmmmmm... this is where I say okay and do the wrong thing... he was in PAIN... not hey look at me I want attention, but serious PAIN!!!!!

On other news I scored an extra shift at "mind" the Gap... so I worked a killer day... 6-10am, then came home grabbed breakfast, a shower then headed back out. I got the little dude enrolled for Kindergarten... with no issues, and then went back to work from 1-5pm... that brings me up to a total of 32 hrs for the week at minimum wage... I've got to pay way past due bills but I'm too scared to. Perhaps some cold meds, and beer and I'll tackle them after I read a bit. I'm currently reading a beautiful blue death... way to much detail not much dialogue, not my preferred choice in writing style, and yet I can't seem to put it down, I want to know who dun it!

After some soul searching today...

... I realize that maybe I've turned into one of those snobby Middletown folks I use to hate growing up. I didn't really know Francie Billioti, they moved down the street from us, but I really didn't know her. She was 2 yrs younger, and a cheerleader... the cheerleader kinda explains why I wouldn't have run in the same circles... me the art weirdo nerd. She was nice I remember that, not the typical oh you're not popular so go on away type, never the less a few months ago when I got a friend request from her on facebook I kinda wondered why... I accepted and found that she was a wonderful mom by reading her comments, but being still back 18 yrs in my thinking, I never really commented back those thoughts. I kinda wish I had. Today after reading blessings and wishes from all sorts of people, wow, it occurred to me... people change, and this girl she just got better... as opposed to me who maybe has regressed.

Aquarium fun!

Well we were wondering how we would afford a trip to the aquarium this summer if I lost my job...the little man has been begging us for a trip! As luck would have it I lost my full time job on Tuesday but we had a free invite for today. Biomarin the makers of Kuvan for the little guys PKU held an info session with lunch provided at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. The boys loved it. The fish, the sharks, the crocs, the turtles, the rain forest...loved it loved it loved it, keep running from exhibit to exhibit... but by far the Escalator was the most popular item in the whole place!!!!! Good thing for us adults that there are multiple escalators around!