Today I finally got my garden in order and we now have greenery! YEAH! No more brown soil in empty boxes to look at. LOL I have some seedlings and I planted some seeds as well. Right now I have garlic, basil, thyme, tomatoes, yellow squash (seeds), zucchini squash (seeds), green peppers, sweet orange peppers and cucumbers (seeds). I still have a few empty spots and I'd like to plant some carrots, just because I think they would be fun for Brenna and she LOVES carrots! I did not plant any corn because there was no room but maybe tomorrow I'll get a wild hair and dig another ground bed for Brenna's corn. That is a lot of work though. It will more likely happen IF she helps me do it. So far I have not had much help from her. I told her that I better not be like The Little Red Hen and have her only help to EAT the fruits of my labor. She has promised to help me water as well as weed so we'll see what happens there. I'm very close to MAKING her do some good, hard manual labor. No quitting from her. It'll be good for her. LOL Maybe I will teach her a good lesson and NOT plant corn this year if she doesn't help. Maybe she'll want to help a little more next year if I do that. HAHA!
Tomorrow I will take some pictures of my garden boxes and post them. It will be fun to post them every week to see the progression IF I remember.
Today I said a little prayer after I planted everything. My Grandpa, who just passed away, was a master gardener and had a HUGE garden when I was a little kid (well, up until about 6 years ago). He grew THE BEST tomatoes, okra and green beans. I remember being a kid and going to my Grandma's house and eating his homegrown veggies. To this day fried green tomatoes remind me of him -- my Grandma made the best!!
I prayed and asked my Grandpa to please help me with my garden and to grow good, good vegetables. :) I'm sure I won't have plants as good as he did but maybe he'll lend a helping hand. I might have some good luck though because I did ask my Grandma if I could have this old wooden sign that he used to have in his garden that says, "Grandpa's Garden" and she said of course.
I really, really miss him A LOT.
Wish me happy gardening!! :)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Lazy Day
Today was pretty lazy and very uneventful. Don't even know why I am posting - guess out of boredom. The house is very quiet - Brenna is in bed and Brendon is with a friend at a concert in Corpus Christi. Brenna went to bed pretty late last night because she stayed at my Mom's house so she's in bed early tonight. We were all sick over Valentine's Day weekend, so Brendon and I had our night out last night. Not much of a night out though - just to a movie. We went and saw "Twilight" which I had been wanting to see since I read the books. There are four 700+ page books and I read them all in one week. Best books I think I have ever read. I just could NOT put them down! I read while I cooked, I read while I cleaned - I read every minute that I possibly could. Poor Brendon and Brenna saw Mom doing nothing but having her face in a book. I noticed that Brenna did a lot of reading that week too. It is true about kids doing what they see their parents doing. Nothing better then my kid mimicking my reading though. LOL She sure does impress me with all the words that she can read.
My garden beds are still brown and empty. No green in them yet. I did plant some garlic cloves yesterday so we'll see what those do. On Monday I am getting some plants from my friend, Mieree, as well as transplanting our tomatoes from the pot that they are in. Brenna is insisting on one of the boxes being just hers so we'll see how much I can get away with planting what I want to in both boxes. She has her heart set on planting corn. That girl LOVES corn! Corn is kinda a pain though because their root system is so shallow (they blow over easily). And you don't get that many ears per stock. I think I will make another place along the fence for her corn. At least we can tie it up on really windy days and it won't take up so much space in our small beds.
Anyway, today Brenna and I did a lot of math stuff. She got out her math curriculum that I hastily bought last year and we did a few pages in her book. She did really good and thought it was a lot of fun. She made up a few games using her Littlest Pet Shop pets. She tried that once when I was in my "school at home" mind frame and I knocked it down. Today I realized that she learns just as much doing it HER way and by playing then she did doing it MY way and sitting at the table all serious-like. But it is sooo much more fun! I have come such a long way. LOL
Ok, I'm getting tired of sitting at the computer. I'm off to play Guitar Hero and pretend that I'm a rock star!! :) LOL
My garden beds are still brown and empty. No green in them yet. I did plant some garlic cloves yesterday so we'll see what those do. On Monday I am getting some plants from my friend, Mieree, as well as transplanting our tomatoes from the pot that they are in. Brenna is insisting on one of the boxes being just hers so we'll see how much I can get away with planting what I want to in both boxes. She has her heart set on planting corn. That girl LOVES corn! Corn is kinda a pain though because their root system is so shallow (they blow over easily). And you don't get that many ears per stock. I think I will make another place along the fence for her corn. At least we can tie it up on really windy days and it won't take up so much space in our small beds.
Anyway, today Brenna and I did a lot of math stuff. She got out her math curriculum that I hastily bought last year and we did a few pages in her book. She did really good and thought it was a lot of fun. She made up a few games using her Littlest Pet Shop pets. She tried that once when I was in my "school at home" mind frame and I knocked it down. Today I realized that she learns just as much doing it HER way and by playing then she did doing it MY way and sitting at the table all serious-like. But it is sooo much more fun! I have come such a long way. LOL
Ok, I'm getting tired of sitting at the computer. I'm off to play Guitar Hero and pretend that I'm a rock star!! :) LOL
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Gardening Time
Sickness is finally winding down in our house. Brenna got over her flu surprisingly fast and was much better by Sunday. Brendon was sick during the time that Brenna was so I had my hands pretty full for a couple days. By Sunday I was completely down and out. I got it much worse than the two of them and am still fighting off head stuff today. I slept ALL DAY Sunday and had not felt that bad in years. Thank goodness Brendon was well enough to take care of me and Brenna. Hopefully tomorrow I will be better - that's what I've been saying for three days though so we'll see.
I can't wait to feel 100% again because Brenna and I need to get started with our garden. Last week I made two 4x4 raised beds and got some compost/soil mix delivered. I spent a good two days hauling that stuff from the front to the back. We are going to do square foot gardening. We've already started our tomato plants in a pot and they sprouted about 4 days ago. We are going to grow those as well as cucumbers, yellow squash, basil, garlic and carrots. We are looking forward to it and can't wait to get started.
Here's some pictures I took last week.
I can't wait to feel 100% again because Brenna and I need to get started with our garden. Last week I made two 4x4 raised beds and got some compost/soil mix delivered. I spent a good two days hauling that stuff from the front to the back. We are going to do square foot gardening. We've already started our tomato plants in a pot and they sprouted about 4 days ago. We are going to grow those as well as cucumbers, yellow squash, basil, garlic and carrots. We are looking forward to it and can't wait to get started.
Here's some pictures I took last week.
Friday, February 13, 2009
The Flu...and other dreadful things
So Brenna has her first case of the flu. Poor girl is feeling absolutely terrible. I took her to the doctor today and they tested her and confirmed it. She started feeling bad this morning and I just had the urge to make her an appointment - which usually doesn't happen for me at the first sign of illness but I just had a gut feeling I guess. The doctor is kinda the last resort because they end up telling me what I already assume or know (lots of rest, fluids, ect...).
So anyways, the test came back positive and the doc suggested that she take TamiFlu since we caught it early. I said okay because I love, love her doctor and trust everything he says. Big mistake. I never, ever recommend ANYONE to take that stuff - it is horrible!
I gave it to Brenna as soon as we got home and within 30 minutes she was feeling ten times worse and vomiting all in my kitchen sink (couldn't make it to the bathroom). Okay, yes, the side affects said vomiting may occur as the body adjusts to it but what happened was just ridiculous. Not only did she throw up about 6 times but she had excruciating stomach cramps for the rest of the evening. Any "medicine" that does that throws up a red flag for me.
After all that drama I sat down at the computer and researched this TamiFlu. I came across a web site (click to read) that had a forum on it and started reading what people had written. Terrible stuff. There was a lot that described exactly what happened to Brenna and then other stuff that was much, much worse. So no more of THAT crap! Too bad I paid $50 for it.....ugh! It's not like a "miracle cure" for the flu anyways - it only shortens it by about one day. To be honest - I'd rather have my daughter sick for one more day then to feel the way she did after taking that medicine.
Anyway, she went to bed pretty early tonight. She still has a pretty high fever of course but hopefully she'll feel a bit better in the morning. Nothing but rest and forcing down fluids for that little girl tomorrow. I already have the couch made up for her with lots of books, magazines, drawing pads and her colored pencils. I even hung big, heavy blankets on her windows in her bedroom in hopes that she will sleep in a bit. She's going to miss her basketball awards ceremony in the morning and I'm kinda bummed about that but what can you do?
Anyway, more tomorrow if I can get on here. Brenna and I are starting a garden and I have lots of pictures to share!!
So anyways, the test came back positive and the doc suggested that she take TamiFlu since we caught it early. I said okay because I love, love her doctor and trust everything he says. Big mistake. I never, ever recommend ANYONE to take that stuff - it is horrible!
I gave it to Brenna as soon as we got home and within 30 minutes she was feeling ten times worse and vomiting all in my kitchen sink (couldn't make it to the bathroom). Okay, yes, the side affects said vomiting may occur as the body adjusts to it but what happened was just ridiculous. Not only did she throw up about 6 times but she had excruciating stomach cramps for the rest of the evening. Any "medicine" that does that throws up a red flag for me.
After all that drama I sat down at the computer and researched this TamiFlu. I came across a web site (click to read) that had a forum on it and started reading what people had written. Terrible stuff. There was a lot that described exactly what happened to Brenna and then other stuff that was much, much worse. So no more of THAT crap! Too bad I paid $50 for it.....ugh! It's not like a "miracle cure" for the flu anyways - it only shortens it by about one day. To be honest - I'd rather have my daughter sick for one more day then to feel the way she did after taking that medicine.
Anyway, she went to bed pretty early tonight. She still has a pretty high fever of course but hopefully she'll feel a bit better in the morning. Nothing but rest and forcing down fluids for that little girl tomorrow. I already have the couch made up for her with lots of books, magazines, drawing pads and her colored pencils. I even hung big, heavy blankets on her windows in her bedroom in hopes that she will sleep in a bit. She's going to miss her basketball awards ceremony in the morning and I'm kinda bummed about that but what can you do?
Anyway, more tomorrow if I can get on here. Brenna and I are starting a garden and I have lots of pictures to share!!
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Parenting
I have been reading a lot (no surprise there!) on what is called peaceful parenting. It makes a lot of sence to me and I love the whole concept of it. I found something that someone wrote and thought it was worth posting on my blog. Those of you who don't have small children will probably find no interest at all in this, but even if just one person reads this and gets something from it it will make it worth posting....
Stop thinking about changing "for good" and not just for days or moments. That is just another thing to overwhelm you and you don't need that!
Just change the next interaction you have with the kids.
Stop reading email right now and do something "preventative"— something that helps build your relationship with them. Fix them a little tray of cheese and crackers and take it to them, wherever they are, unasked. Sit down on the floor and play with them. If nothing else, just go and give each of them a little hug and a kiss and say, "I was just thinking about how much I love you."
Okay—so that is one good, positive interaction.
Again—just change the next interaction you have with the kids.
Focus on making the next interaction another one that builds up your relationship. If the next one is because the kids are fighting, STILL keep in mind that you want this interaction to do something positive for your relationship with the kids and stretch your thinking as to how you can make that happen.
In other words, you kind of think from their point of view about yourself. Consider what thoughts you want going through their head. Do you want them thinking: "She never takes time to even find out what the problem is?" Or "She always blames me?" Or "She's such a hypocrite, doesn't want to hear us yelling, but then she yells at us." "She hates me." And so on. What do you want them to be thinking—what words (articulated or not) do want tumbling around inside their head?
Maybe "She understands how I feel." Or "She really cares about helping us solve our problems." Or "She is trying hard to be fair." Or "She's calm even when I'm not." Or "Mom is the best listener in the world." "Mom loves me even when I'm causing problems."
And, eventually, you want them to think like this:
"Mom will help us find a solution."
"I can stay calm like mommy does even when I'm mad."
"I can listen carefully like mommy does when there is a conflict."
"I can recognize feelings, like mommy."
"I can come up with new ideas, like mommy does when we have trouble."
There is no substitute for being authentically "there" for them—for genuinely trying to help them resolve problems. For putting your relationship with them at the forefront of every interaction, whether it is playing together or working together.
None of us are perfect; we'll all have some regrets. But with my kids 19, 16, and 13, I can now say that I will never say anything like, "I wish I'd let them fight it out more," or "I wish I'd punished them more," or "I wish I'd yelled at them more." I will only ever say that I wish I'd been more patient, more attentive, more calm and accepting of the normal stresses of having young children.
One interaction at a time. Just make the next interaction a relationship-building one. Don't worry about the one AFTER that, until IT becomes "the next one."
Stop thinking about changing "for good" and not just for days or moments. That is just another thing to overwhelm you and you don't need that!
Just change the next interaction you have with the kids.
Stop reading email right now and do something "preventative"— something that helps build your relationship with them. Fix them a little tray of cheese and crackers and take it to them, wherever they are, unasked. Sit down on the floor and play with them. If nothing else, just go and give each of them a little hug and a kiss and say, "I was just thinking about how much I love you."
Okay—so that is one good, positive interaction.
Again—just change the next interaction you have with the kids.
Focus on making the next interaction another one that builds up your relationship. If the next one is because the kids are fighting, STILL keep in mind that you want this interaction to do something positive for your relationship with the kids and stretch your thinking as to how you can make that happen.
In other words, you kind of think from their point of view about yourself. Consider what thoughts you want going through their head. Do you want them thinking: "She never takes time to even find out what the problem is?" Or "She always blames me?" Or "She's such a hypocrite, doesn't want to hear us yelling, but then she yells at us." "She hates me." And so on. What do you want them to be thinking—what words (articulated or not) do want tumbling around inside their head?
Maybe "She understands how I feel." Or "She really cares about helping us solve our problems." Or "She is trying hard to be fair." Or "She's calm even when I'm not." Or "Mom is the best listener in the world." "Mom loves me even when I'm causing problems."
And, eventually, you want them to think like this:
"Mom will help us find a solution."
"I can stay calm like mommy does even when I'm mad."
"I can listen carefully like mommy does when there is a conflict."
"I can recognize feelings, like mommy."
"I can come up with new ideas, like mommy does when we have trouble."
There is no substitute for being authentically "there" for them—for genuinely trying to help them resolve problems. For putting your relationship with them at the forefront of every interaction, whether it is playing together or working together.
None of us are perfect; we'll all have some regrets. But with my kids 19, 16, and 13, I can now say that I will never say anything like, "I wish I'd let them fight it out more," or "I wish I'd punished them more," or "I wish I'd yelled at them more." I will only ever say that I wish I'd been more patient, more attentive, more calm and accepting of the normal stresses of having young children.
One interaction at a time. Just make the next interaction a relationship-building one. Don't worry about the one AFTER that, until IT becomes "the next one."
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Homeschooling Doesn't Necessarily Mean You're at Home All Day! LOL
We've had a pretty full day so far and left this morning at 10am and didn't get home until 4pm. I have a lot to do tonight like catch up on laundry, so I thought I'd take advantage of the quietness I have in the house and post real quick. Brenna is outside playing with Ben and William, the twins that lives across the alley from us. Sweet kids - very polite and very considerate. Brenna gets along with them soooo good.
Anyway, Brenna and I left this morning to meet with a few families from our homeschool group. The group will not be doing co-ops this Spring so a few of us have taken it upon ourselves to get together and do projects and play dates. It is a very small group with only 5 parents and about 10 kids. I kinda like it though because it seems a lot easier and a lot more personal. All the kids get along great and had fun playing today while the parents planned the stuff that we will be doing. We'll be going weekly for the next five weeks. If things go smoothly, which I'm sure they will, then we'll do it again after Spring Break.
After our picnic lunch with the group, Brenna and I went to my Mom's and took care of Keira while my Dad and her went to my Grandma JoJo's for a couple hours. Keira is in day care now but my Mom takes care of her every Thursday. She is such a joy to be around and is so cute and so smart. Brenna just loves her dearly and does a wonderful job taking care of her. She took her in the backyard and they played for quite a while. After we left my Mom's Brenna went to her last basketball practice of the season. Her last game will be this Saturday and then they'll have a little party at the park.
Well I better go get dinner started and put a load in the washer.
Hope everyone else had a wonderful day too!
Anyway, Brenna and I left this morning to meet with a few families from our homeschool group. The group will not be doing co-ops this Spring so a few of us have taken it upon ourselves to get together and do projects and play dates. It is a very small group with only 5 parents and about 10 kids. I kinda like it though because it seems a lot easier and a lot more personal. All the kids get along great and had fun playing today while the parents planned the stuff that we will be doing. We'll be going weekly for the next five weeks. If things go smoothly, which I'm sure they will, then we'll do it again after Spring Break.
After our picnic lunch with the group, Brenna and I went to my Mom's and took care of Keira while my Dad and her went to my Grandma JoJo's for a couple hours. Keira is in day care now but my Mom takes care of her every Thursday. She is such a joy to be around and is so cute and so smart. Brenna just loves her dearly and does a wonderful job taking care of her. She took her in the backyard and they played for quite a while. After we left my Mom's Brenna went to her last basketball practice of the season. Her last game will be this Saturday and then they'll have a little party at the park.
Well I better go get dinner started and put a load in the washer.
Hope everyone else had a wonderful day too!
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Brenna's blog
Here's the link to Brenna's blog.
http://brennasblog09.blogspot.com/
I will also put it on the side bar under the "Links" section.
http://brennasblog09.blogspot.com/
I will also put it on the side bar under the "Links" section.
Fun Times (with Lots of Learning!)
What a fun day we had yesterday! Brenna and I spent all afternoon playing board games. You should have seen the pile of boxes that we accumulated in the living room. I think we brought out just about every game we own. Brendon was home from work and was at the dining room table on his laptop most of the day catching up on things that he missed while he was in Connecticut. The only thing he heard pretty much all day was laughing and giggling and squealing. I'm sure we were pretty distracting but I know he loved it. :)
Brenna learned how to play Monopoly yesterday and she was actually quite good at it. I never realized what a wonderful learning tool that game is. She counted out her money, first with a little help and then she progressively became better at it and she added the dice in her head to determine how many spaces to move (all of her games have only one die). She learned strategy and also how valuable it is to save money for important things and not be so frivolous. Very good 'life lesson'. LOL
We never did finish the game because she became a little bored after almost an hour but we determined that she won because she had the most money as well as the most expensive property. I guess one reason the game is marked for ages 8+ is because of how lengthy it can be. When we started it I did not expect her to finish. I thought she did pretty good for lasting as long as she did.
We also played Battleship (good at teaching rows, columns, strategy and grids!), Sorry!, Hungry, Hungry Hippos, Connect Four and Littlest Pet Shop. We didn't get around to playing all the games we pulled out (we have tons!) but we're planning another game day today at some point.
It was nice yesterday putting off any kind of housework and doing things that I thought HAD to be done. Guess what? It will still be there tomorrow. And it is. LOL I need to start doing that a little more often I think and not be so anal about my house always being perfect - there are more important things then that. I think I've come to the conclusion that there are 'good messes' and 'bad messes'. Good messes consist of Brenna's toys and games and art stuff cluttering our house and bad messes, of course, are dishes, laundry, ect... LOL Today though I DO need to get some dishes done. :)
Anyway, so far today Brenna has created, drawn and named her own animal species (very interesting and creative!) and we made a four generation family tree. She's also made a Barbie museum and set up little scenes with her Barbies along with labels such as "Cowgirl" (Barbie dressed appropriately riding a horse), "Bath Time Barbie", "Fishing Time"(she made a boat out of paper), "Where's That Skateboard?" (with Barbie searching in her closet) and "Your Majesty" (Barbie dressed as a princess in her castle with another Barbie bowing toward her). She had a lot of fun doing that and she says that she's going to do a lot more today.
Brenna's had a cold the past couple days along with a fever so today we're not doing much and will probably relax at home again. She does have her Musical Theatre class tonight that she will probably go to because she has not had a fever since yesterday afternoon. She really, really enjoys it and so far it's been her favorite thing that she has tried. Her last basketball game is this weekend but she has no plans on returning to it next season. She will do kickball starting in a couple weeks so we'll see how that goes. I'm just happy that she tries as many things as she does, even if she ends up not caring for it too much. So far she's been in gymnastics, ballet, tap, karate, soccer, basketball and musical theatre. At least we can never say she didn't try things. LOL :)
Okay, I'm off to play with Brenna!
Till fingers and keyboard meet again.....
Brenna learned how to play Monopoly yesterday and she was actually quite good at it. I never realized what a wonderful learning tool that game is. She counted out her money, first with a little help and then she progressively became better at it and she added the dice in her head to determine how many spaces to move (all of her games have only one die). She learned strategy and also how valuable it is to save money for important things and not be so frivolous. Very good 'life lesson'. LOL
We never did finish the game because she became a little bored after almost an hour but we determined that she won because she had the most money as well as the most expensive property. I guess one reason the game is marked for ages 8+ is because of how lengthy it can be. When we started it I did not expect her to finish. I thought she did pretty good for lasting as long as she did.
We also played Battleship (good at teaching rows, columns, strategy and grids!), Sorry!, Hungry, Hungry Hippos, Connect Four and Littlest Pet Shop. We didn't get around to playing all the games we pulled out (we have tons!) but we're planning another game day today at some point.
It was nice yesterday putting off any kind of housework and doing things that I thought HAD to be done. Guess what? It will still be there tomorrow. And it is. LOL I need to start doing that a little more often I think and not be so anal about my house always being perfect - there are more important things then that. I think I've come to the conclusion that there are 'good messes' and 'bad messes'. Good messes consist of Brenna's toys and games and art stuff cluttering our house and bad messes, of course, are dishes, laundry, ect... LOL Today though I DO need to get some dishes done. :)
Anyway, so far today Brenna has created, drawn and named her own animal species (very interesting and creative!) and we made a four generation family tree. She's also made a Barbie museum and set up little scenes with her Barbies along with labels such as "Cowgirl" (Barbie dressed appropriately riding a horse), "Bath Time Barbie", "Fishing Time"(she made a boat out of paper), "Where's That Skateboard?" (with Barbie searching in her closet) and "Your Majesty" (Barbie dressed as a princess in her castle with another Barbie bowing toward her). She had a lot of fun doing that and she says that she's going to do a lot more today.
Brenna's had a cold the past couple days along with a fever so today we're not doing much and will probably relax at home again. She does have her Musical Theatre class tonight that she will probably go to because she has not had a fever since yesterday afternoon. She really, really enjoys it and so far it's been her favorite thing that she has tried. Her last basketball game is this weekend but she has no plans on returning to it next season. She will do kickball starting in a couple weeks so we'll see how that goes. I'm just happy that she tries as many things as she does, even if she ends up not caring for it too much. So far she's been in gymnastics, ballet, tap, karate, soccer, basketball and musical theatre. At least we can never say she didn't try things. LOL :)
Okay, I'm off to play with Brenna!
Till fingers and keyboard meet again.....
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