We Are Sowing!

Back in February, mom had a fun idea to take a gardening class at Thanksgiving Point. So one Saturday morning she and dad and I headed off to learn about growing plants from seeds. Dad attended a general gardening class at the same time. We left with several packets of seeds, a small tray of seeds already planted and big plans!

A couple weeks later we got together with several more supplies and seeds and got sowing! While we planted and labeled our little babies, dad and Mo* made the light contraptions we would use to give our little seedlings warmth and light.

And what do you know, within a few weeks pretty much everything was growing. It was so fun! I kept a vigilant gardening journal and checked on my "babies" every morning. Every time something new would pop up, it was like Christmas! My tomatoes really worried me. They were what I was most excited to grow from seed and they were one of the last seeds to germinate. But up they came and they did very well.

Now lest you get too jealous and think I am some kind of magical green thumb, I had several failures and over-watered and under-watered a couple times. So . . . for the most part it was a success and hopefully everything survives the transplant in the summer! I'm so glad mom thought of this fun idea! We had so much fun checking on each others plants and progress. I still check in on her little plants to see how they are doing! What a fun hobby. I feel so agricultural!

Signs of Spring!

I have been so excited to see little green surprises popping up out of the dirt all over the yard. Since this is our first year in the house, and we've really only lived here during the winter months, I don't know what kind of plants we have in the yard. I am feeling very grateful to the previous owners for all their hard work planting the bulbs that make me so happy to see. Every time spring comes and the little green sprouts pop up out of the dirt I can't help but think of "The Secret Garden". I love the way Burnett describes the world coming to life again after a long, cold winter. I love spring!

Ahhh, another not-so-lovely sign of spring. Yellow jackets. Bart's* arch enemy. Our lovely wood beams in the entry of our house that I love so much are also loved by yellow jackets. I believe Bart* killed about 100 of these babies after he discovered a huge nest above one of the beams.

And, of course, playing outside again without coats, gloves, boots, etc. The girls found another use for the sleds we used in the winter. They made perfect boats for their imaginative play.

Special Delivery!

Anyone who knows me, knows I love a chance to be a nut ball, as Junie B. Jones would say. I love being silly. So when we found out that my brother in law, Aaron had to go to Afghanistan for 2 weeks, I knew we had to do something silly to help cheer up Shanna (my sister in law) while she was home with the four kids missing him and worrying about him. I concocted the idea with my other sis, Emily, and by the time our ideas were formed, we were feeling pretty darn clever and hilarious. (o: A quick run to the dollar store, a little wrapping, card making, printing off labels and Wa-la! We had a funny pick me up package for Shanna to keep her busy - one present to open each day.

We even got Ned's* mom in on it by utilizing her amazing poem writing skills for the card that would explain what this package was all about. (See above) She writes the most adorable verses, I seriously think she should work for Hallmark. Emily, the amazing card maker, used her talents to make everything look so beautiful. We were a good team!

Some of our favorite things were completely silly and nonsense items like the random balloon wrapped in a fancy box. Or the box that contained exactly two Smarties for each of the kids to enjoy. Or another box that simply had a feather. (Hey 14 days is a lot and the box wasn't big!)

This was a little inside joke, but one of the ones I was most proud of. I still laugh when I read it. On the front of this lotion I made a fancy "Boil Cream" label.

And the lovely bust of a giraffe. The perfect antidote for a day when you're feeling blue.

I am happy to report that the package was received with much laughter and helped Shanna feel just a little less lonely, I think. (o: Love you Shanna!

Happy Birthday Mystery Man

The girls were soooo excited for daddy's birthday this year. They love helping plan everything and surprises are just so much fun to be a part of. We planned a lovely dinner of crepes and showered daddy with gifts like a big box of Captain Crunch, Coke, some items to use with his new Grill he will hopefully get soon and a couple movies.

Finally, he came home to our surprises and lovely birthday decorations.

The highlight of the evening was watching the hilarious play the girls wrote and produced for daddy. They incorporated their special present to him in the play. A HUGE container of Cheeseballs! If I remember right, during the scene in the play when the cheeseballs came on stage, there were choirs of angels singing. (O: How could anyone NOT have a happy birthday with a cheeseball play by such funny girls?

Grandma Beth

Well, just because we live a lot closer to most of our family now, doesn't mean we get to see them as often as we'd like. We have slowly, but surely, made our way around the valley to see our wonderful extended family. When the girls had a day off from school in March, I thought it would be the perfect time to head down to Orem to finally visit with Grandma Beth. Beth married my grandpa when I was a teenager and has been such a sweetheart to me all these years. I consider her my "adopted" grandma and want the girls to know her. We thought it would be fun to bring the girls' scrapbooks to show her what they've been up to this last year. She took time with each of them to ooh and ahh over every page and they loved sharing all the fun things with her.

Natalie found one of grandpa's old tigers in the basement and has not stopped talking about it since. Grandpa loved tigers. We also got to see grandma Beth's "Daughters of the Utah Pioneers" flag that she designed! The girls were very impressed that grandma Beth made an official flag.



Before we headed to lunch, Beth gave each of the girls a very special little glass box in the shape of a heart with a fancy flower on top. They were so excited to have something so fancy.

After our fun visit, Beth took us to lunch at Village Inn. We had such a fun time and the girls really enjoyed getting to know Grandma Beth better.

Miss Manners

On the day it was my turn to be in charge of activity days, Miss Natalie was not feeling well. We had to change our plans around a bit, which actually ended up being more fun anyway. We held our activity at my house while Nat watched a movie in my bedroom. The girls did little skits where the first time around the main characters were rude. They had to "rewrite" the skit so the characters had better manners. They really got into it and did a cute job. Then we ate some snacks using some good manners that we learned after playing a funny game. This has been one of my favorite activities so far. The girls were pretty cute and had very nice manners that day! (o: I've had fun getting to be Sarah's activity days leader too!

The girls have have right now are (front to back, left to right) Sierra, (the one next to her is a visitor), Kaitlyn, Mandy, Sarah, Sunshine, Nicole and McKayla.