The Garden is Thriving!

Well, it has been fun to watch over the past month. We are growing squash, lettuce, peppers, swiss chard, and peas. I hope to expand my repretoire in the future. Here are some pics. The kids have enjoyed seeing the progress everyday.

SATURDAY IS A SPECIAL DAY!

Saturday! I love Saturdays, when we aren't out of town. There is so much to be accomplished that has built up from the busy week and there are plenty of hours to do it. I started out this morning at 6 a.m. on a hike. Jodi and Cheryl and I headed out East to where Meridian Road dead ends. There is a beautiful hike that is the perfect amount of time. We got home at 8:30 just in time to get kids working and get the household in order. I cut up a huge bowl of strawberries for breakfast and couldn't believe how large some of them were. Do these grow this large naturally, I'm not sure. Oh well, because they are delicious. I am loving Spring time.

My kind of F.H.E.

Well, it was turning into one of those hum drum Monday nights until Jodi Lewis called. She told me to grab the kiddies and let's go to our favorite restaurant, Oreganoe's for Pizookies! At first , the practical side of me said, oh no, we can't, it's a school night, I've eaten good today, don't wanna ruin it etc. etc. blah blah blah excuses. Then the wild side of me threw caution to the wind and said " Oh yeah, let's do it!" The Arizona weather was perfect and the Lewis family owns a "couple" VWs. Jodi picked me up in the convertible bug and Dean took the rest of the family in the orange bus with a ragtop! Sweet! We had a fun drive to downtown Gilbert and indulged ourselves in the yummy pizookies! Good times. Thanks Lewis Family!

SQUARE FOOT GARDENING

Finally. Finally, I can say that I am following the words of the prophet. Every time gardening has come up over the years, I usually just cringed and hoped that the subject would change. Now, I can proudly say that I have A garden. Now, if it produces anything edible , is a whole different ball game. Thanks to Grandpa Huish, we spent about eight hours building our box from scratch and filling it up with 1 foot of high quality soil. Then, we cheated and got the little sprout starters from HOme Depot. Voila! Garden in a day. It was so beautiful, that I just had to take a picture of it. I hope to learn a lot about it over the coming years. I really admire those that have learned to garden , especially here in Arizona. I expect that I will make many mistakes, but hope to be blessed in spite of myself. Who knows, if I make it work, maybe I will build another box next to it. Time will tell. Now I need to work on my year supply of Chocolate.

February 2009

This month started out with a bang. Dale and I went with the Lewis', Pearces', and Williams' up to Midway Utah to go snow skiing and have a little getaway from the kiddies. We got to ski at Park City the first day, then Deer Valley the second, and then Dale went snowmobiling at Daniel Summit on the third day. Lots of fun in the snow. Utah is a beautiful place to visit, because I was happy to get back to the warmth of AZ after 4 days away. You really have to switch gears from only worrying about yourself what you need as opposed to returning home and forgetting yourself and worrying about the needs of 5 little people. It was a refreshing break and I was happy to be home and get back into routine. Then came the week of Valentine's. When I was a little kid, my mom would have us decorate paper bags and hang them on our doors. My mom and the other kids would put little treats or special notes in the bag every day until Valentines. It was fun to anticipate "what" would be in the bag. It was fun to see what the kids would write to each other. I must say that my girls caught on to the idea better than the boys. Go figure. It was fun, though. That whole week I spent preparing for our ward VAlentines Party. We ate Costa Vida for dinner, played fun games with cheesy prizes and then dipped lots of yummy treats in the chocolate fountain. WE had a great turn out of over 100 people. Finally after that I could relax.

Happy New Year!

It seems to be that time again to make new year's resolutions...................OVERRATED! I am continually starting over, starting fresh, I don't have to wait until Jan. 1st. I can even make a new on on Feb. 1st if I want to. This new year has started out with less than a bang. Not too much going on here. What a boring blog. I will try to get more creative and have a crazy life to illustrate these blank pages. I am finding Facebook a little easier to communicate these days. Although, I do love to view all of my friends creative blogs. We have been busy going up to the cabin and enjoying the great Arizona snow........at least what there is of it. I do get the big time Loser mom of the year award. I missed Blake's sign ups for tackle football. I also had five crying kids when I found our little Sophie, Yorkie, a new home. And, well, what else more could I mess up? I am trying to get rid of all the sugar in the house. Talk about outright rebellion. Our house is literally up in arms. So, needless to say, I NEED A VACATION! There, I said it. I am in need of a break. Thank goodness, I am going away for a few days the first of FEb. I need to get together until then. WIsh me Luck!