First Foods

I started Emily on baby food a couple weeks ago. I have been making all my own food which you can read about over at my other blog. So far I have made sweet potatoes, bananas, carrots and applesauce. Here she is getting her first bites of rice cereal.
She wasn't quite sure about those first few bites. Of course she has an audience watching her.
By the end she was eagerly opening her mouth and trying to grab my arm.

She has been doing pretty well although now she is having a little bit of issues going potty. Next up on the list may be prunes!

Behind

Yes I am behind in blogging. I have a long list of things that I want to cover and pictures I want to share. I am hoping to have a "blog night" one of these nights and get caught up.

School is out for the summer! This school year went really fast. In the fall I will have a sophomore, 8th grader, kindergartner and preschooler. Hard to believe.

I am sure we will have an incredibly busy summer. I am looking forward to having the kids home. I am sure it will bring even more pictures and events to share so I guess I better get busy!

Tony's Band Concert

We are wrapping up the end of the school year. It's hard to believe it is almost summer break. We have been busy with school events the last couple weeks. Tony had his last band concert for the 10-11 year. He seemed really focused a did and nice job.

He also had his last choir performance which I failed to get pictures of. This was one of the funner concerts to listen to.

Tony was able to go on a choir trip to Kansas City a few weeks ago. Will was one of the chaperons so that was good for Tony to have him along. They left at 5am on Friday morning and returned about 10:30 pm the same night. The first stop was at another school where the 2 choir classes switched teachers. They performed their concert and each of the groups were given pointers by the other instructor.

From there they spent the afternoon at World's of Fun. Unfortunately the weather was a little chilly and rainy but I think both Will and Tony had a really good time. Tony was pretty excited when he got home because he won a basketball playing some game. Will was equally excited because he successfully went on the Mamba, a 200 foot roller coster. Pretty good for a guy who is afraid of heights.

Garden Tour in Pictures

I finally finished planting my garden. Well, except for a few more tomato and pepper plants. Here is a tour of all that is growing in my yard.

My apple tree is getting big, no fruit this year though. It is only 2 years old. The peaches look so terrible I didn't even take a picture. I have a few blooms but they are scarce. I am afraid these trees may come down this fall and we will have to plant new ones in the Spring.

The cherry tree. Lots of blooms this year!
Here is what is planted.

So far I have 6 tomato plants
6 jalepenos
4 green peppers
2 red peppers
2 zucchini
1 butternut squash
2 cucumbers
4 cantaloupe
onions
carrots
lettuce
spinach
green beans
sugar snap peas
russet potatoes

The back fence is also lined with more green pole beans. Under the hay is my potatoes.
Zucchini just starting to sprout.
Front quarter from left to right is strawberry bed, snap peas on both sides of fence, onions and 4 hills of cantaloupe.
Here is looking at the back quarter of the garden. Starting on the left and making our way right we have carrots, spinach and lettuce, onions, green beans on both sides of the fence and then the strawberry bed.
My strawberries are a little crazy. I didn't thin them out last year and now they are taking over!
They look really really good though. I already have some little berries starting to grow. I am SO excited!
Lots stop and look for eggs.

Yay! 3!
Thanks girls!
My first signs of potatoes. I have about 8 sets of leaves coming up.
I planted 2 Japanese climbing cucumber hills. I made this trellis with some posts and chicken wire I had in the shed.
Here are my raspberry plants. This is my second year with them. I had a few random shoots that started growing so I dug them up and planted them along the back of our shed. Hoping those will grow into healthy bushes as well.
Next to the 3 new raspberry plants I planted my watermelon.Here is my herb garden. Staring behind the stump and going clockwise I have sage, 2 basil plants, an area for garlic in the fall, cilantro, parsley, oregano and dill.

Hi little ladies!

Pot of mint.
Pot of chives.
I was running out of space for everything I wanted to plant. Here is the east side of my house. I have Iris here. I didn't really want to dig them up so I decided to just plant my sugar pumpkins in hills in front of them. We will see how this works.
So there is the tour. Pretty excited about this years season. I had no major expenses (like the fence last year) and I planted alot of things from seed this year so my total amount invested in the garden is around $65 ($30 of it was the cost to rent a tiller). I should be able to feed my family for the summer and have enough to put up for the winter (crossing fingers).

Busy

This has been an incredibly busy week. All has gone well though so I am not complaining.

Jake is finishing up his track season. He had his last track meet last night. He has been running the 2 mile and the 1 mile with an occasional 800 meter here and there. He has done so good. He is always bummed cause he isn't in the top few but he forgets he is a freshman running with varsity kids. He has nothing but improvement ahead of him. Since he is varsity he will get a letter this year too so that is way cool. We have his banquet tonight. I am excited to attend that.

Last night he ran the mile in 11 minutes 54 seconds, his best time this season.

Last evening went a little like this. Headed to Dallas Center at 3:40 to watch Jake's meet. Left at 5:15 and headed home so Tony could change into band uniform. Head to school to watch Brodie and Drew play Tball at 6, watched the first 25 minutes of the game then headed up to the highschool so Tony could get ready for his concert at 7. Got home around 8pm, kissed little boys goodnight, nursed the baby and went to sleep.

Weekend

Happy Monday! We had a GREAT weekend. We got quite a bit accomplished around the house, spent some time with our families and relaxed a bit. It doesn't get much better than that.

I had a super Mother's Day. Will made breakfast which consisted of eggs, bacon and waffles. He and the kids got me 2 new wooden planters for the deck and a year subscription to Mother Earth News. Then I spent most of the day working outside in the garden. I got all my plants in! I still need more peppers and tomatoes, but I would say I am 80% done.

I planted zucchini, cantaloupe, cucumbers, Jalepeno peppers, and some tomatoes. I already had planted peas, green beans, lettuce, spinach, onions and carrots. Once I got my garden done I helped the little boys plant their container gardens. They were so excited. They each have 3 pots of their own to take care of. Brodie just sat and stared at his after we planted and I asked what he was doing and he said "watching it grow".

We have an incredible busy week this week. Doctor apts, T-ball games, track meets and band performances. Looks like it is suppose to be warm so we will spend any extra time outside.

Emily 6 Months Old

It is hard to believe this little girlie is 6 months old already. Time goes so fast.
She can get anywhere she wants to be almost. She just rolls and rolls and rolls. I am sure it won't be long before she figures out how to crawl.
Yes I put her in a silly hair bow. I couldn't resist. She is so darn cute!
We are doing better at sleeping now. I nurse her to sleep and then have been laying her in her little chair. Yes, we are no longer sleeping together in the recliner...at least not as much :) She still struggles with reflux (although it is better) so I feel better letting her sleep in her chair. She really isn't a fan of the crib yet, plus I like having her in our room.
She is a pretty happy little girl. She has a bit of anxiety right now with men. She isn't a real fan of her uncle or grandfathers. It will pass though guys so don't take it to heart!

Big Helper

Things have been busy around here. I Haven't stayed real up to date on this blog. School is winding down, less than 4 weeks left and then it will be Summer break. Jake has been busy with track and weight lifting up until a recent fractured hand. Now weight lifting is on hold till his cast is off.

Tony has been busy with band, reading and trying to figure out a good 4-H project for the county fair in July.

Brodie and Drew have been having a blast playing T-ball. Emily has learned to roll over, and over and over to get where she wants to be. She also likes to help momma bake!
The next couple weeks will be extremely busy but I will try and be better at posting at least a few pictures here and there!