Prayer

Parker is attending preschool sponsered by a Presbyterian church in Tyrone. One of my fears of sending my child to another denomination's church would be the memorized prayers that sometimes those in other churches use. I can remember visiting one of my friends from church, when I was younger and her brother would say "grace."

So imagine my surprise when I ask Parker to say the blessing and he begins reciting

God is Good, God is Great.
Let us thank him for our food.
By his hands we are fed,
Let us thank him for our daily bread.

And to top it off, Preston now recites God is Good, God is Great right along with Parker.

The surprise has even been better when we visited my folks and my siblings look at me, and I say that is how the Presbyterian's bless the food.

So maybe I haven't done the best at setting the example for the order of prayer in our home. We try to bless our food, sometimes the boys close their eyes and other times they are munching away. One time while Parker was blessing the food, Preston was chowing down and Parker had to take a break in the middle of his short prayer for a drink. You gotta love kids.


We are taught that prayers should come from the heart and to stay away from a "memorized prayer." One that my parents used was

Dear Heavenly Father
Thank you for this day.
Bless this food for our good.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

To a kid this is kind of the same deal. The same words recited before eating, however in this case we are addressing Heavenly Father and closing in Jesus's name.

We have tried not to get real excited about the God is Good prayer. When Parker blesses the food, we offer 2 blessings on the food.

This picture is from the 2nd day of school, we were running late for a first day of school picture. On a side note, Parker loves school. He has a great teacher and it is a great group of kids there. I have made new friends with the mom's there.

Is there a Constable in the neighborhood?

What started out as a joke has become the real thing.

During the May election there was a spot for Constable on the ballot. I wrote Jim's name in and then went home to say "Hey honey, you better go up and vote and write yourself in for constable."

This led to a series of questions to those in authority, to getting signatures and then being appointed by the judge to be the temporary constable until January. Jim would need to win the election in Nov to keep his constable status.

Well Jim took classes and went shopping. He became trained and bought an official uniform even down to the boots. People thought girls were picky about their clothes, in an effort to save money I was quickly informed that a certain look was needed to be achieved, so he could not skimp any corners. He also bought weapons.

Come election day in Nov I stood outside the polls for 4 hours in the cold weather asking every passerby "My husband is running for Constable and would sure appreciate your vote." I then handed them a slip of paper that said "Write in James Rayburn for Constable." He won the majority with 49 votes. You might be wondering what the boys were doing while all this campaigning was going on, they were playing with their trucks on the other side of the parking lot.

So Jim went out to do his first assignment. He knocks or more like pounds on the door. The guy says whose there and Jim replies "Constable Rayburn" They guy replies back "cash or check." Obviously he had been visited before and knew the drill.

He has only had a handful of assignments and all the folks have been nice. He hasn't needed his gun thank goodness.

Halloween 2009

I have new things I want to blog about, but feel the need to go in chronological order. So here is Halloween. The Goodwill carries new costumes and when Parker saw the fireman outfit this is what he wanted. They did not have Preston's size. Preston and I went shopping another time and Preston kept talking about the fireman, so we utilized Parker's rain coat. We had the hat from a recent birthday party and they both have fireman boots for the barn and rainy days. So there you go.
This is Parker taking a picture of Preston and I. I started on this costume the year Parker dressed up as a lion, 2 years ago, but didn't get it finished. Last year I tried to get to done, but ran out of time. So 2 years later Dorothy was finished.
This was the group shot before we headed out to our first house. It was unseasonably warm so I was fine in my short sleeves. Preston was tired and I ended up carrying the firefighter most of the way. We walk to a few houses on our road and then a little road behind our house. We drive to some of our friends from the Fire Dept.

As Parker was going from house to house he said something like "this is my favorite holiday" "I love trick or treating."

Someone called me Goldilocks. That made me smile.

I have to include Parker's preschool party too.

We dropped the kids of at the upstairs and the moms went downstairs to decorate for the party. There were some fun decorations that we put up. Preston loved being part of this. I tried to get him to stand by the great pumpkin, but no luck.

Notice the mural on the wall? It was so cute. The black box had flashing lights inside and the kids had so much fun crawling through it.


I think the idea is to crop the extra stuff around the photo, so it looks like you are posing with the characters. I didn't have time to crop it.

The group had some good costumes:) lion, ghost, fireman, princess, bee, butterfly, mermaid and my favorite the giant m& ms.

The string on the donut game. Notice Parker was done first as he is exiting the picture.Preston on the other hand loved this game and cleaned up all the left overs.

An inside of look at a Firehall meal

Many of you already know that my husband is a volunteer firefighter. Because the company is volunteer, we get to volunteer some time in helping with fund raising efforts. One way that the fire hall raises money is by serving meals. I actually enjoy helping out the kitchen. Last night the Fire Police had their oyster supper. I thought I would give you an inside peek at what goes on behind the scenes.

The food preparation is started quite a bit in advance. Yesterday morning the men starting breading oysters at 8:30 am. All food was ready to go, with the exception of the oysters that they were frying when I arrived at 5:30. Tables and chairs were set up along with place settings. Tickets were sold in advance to know how many to plan for. The menu consisted of fried oysters, ham, scalloped potatoes and corn. Many times if you serve they also want you to bring a cake. I got off the hook on this one this time around. They also have cups of ice cream that they serve with the cake.

The job of a server is be assigned a table. You make sure they have plenty to drink and make sure their food bowls stay full. (they usually serve the meals family style) However last night we did a buffet. We had 2 lines. I did not want to be in charge of the oysters. This is what folks are coming to eat and they can get a little possessive about the amount that you give them. Especially when the fryer in the kitchen can't keep up with the demand. My station was scalloped potatoes. It was a safe place.

The meals are always all you can eat. Now I suppose most folks who attend these functions are hefty eaters. They look like hefty eaters. They probably aren't aware of the food serving sizes that the food pyramid suggests, like more vegetables than starches or that serving a meat is the size of a deck of cards. Did I mention there were rolls on the tables too? And when they came back for seconds it was for the fried oysters.

After everyone is finished eating it is time to clean up. If the meal is served family style the guests eat on real plates. They did use paper plates and cups last night, but we still had the silverware, water pitchers, punch pitchers, coffee pitchers and all the trays from the buffet to wash up. You go through and clear the tables. Each table is set with cream, sugar, butter, pickles, rolls, salt and pepper and applesauce. You take everything back to the kitchen and put away the condiments and stack the dirty dishes. There is a very large sink for washing the dishes. I have seen some of the fasted dishwashers at the fire hall. One washer and 3 driers drying and putting away until everything is cleaned up.

Often they will send the helpers home with some food for helping. It is good food even if they do serve to many carbs and not enough veggies. I munched on some yummy rolls with butter and pickles. My boys had ham, applesauce and cake. Yes we brought the boys along. We want them to get involved in a early age with volunteering and also realizing that you have to work for some things. They tend to stay close to me or Jim while we are hustling and bustling.

Then well all the dishes are done and the food divided up you go home and crash because you are so tired from being on your feet all night.

Is this what it is like to wait tables?

My part time job

In 2005, before I was a Mom I worked at Keystone Payroll. It was a good job for me. The pay was good, I had a good boss, I liked my co-workers that I worked with and I enjoyed my work most of the time. I resigned my position to become a stay at home mom. Well I still keep in touch and I go in during their busy times. I am already trained and it is ok to "lay me off" after the busy period.

Jim (the name of my old boss) called me with an opportunity to work during the month of October. As it turned out the local competitor Updegraff & Updegraff run by a father and son team needed some help. The younger Updegraff was sick in the hospital and it was not looking good. They only have an administrative assistant, so there is no back up plan for a vacations or if someone gets sick. However people still need to get paid and employers still need to pay their taxes. Employers must file their taxes on a quarterly basis, January, April, July and October. These were always busy times for me before. The normal work needed to be completed plus submitting reports to the IRS, State, State Unemployment and local agencies.

While I was working we found Wendy. Wendy went to South Hills Business School and studied accounting. Keystone hired to Wendy to help out during the busy times. I would often save some of the easier stuff for Wendy to do. Now I am doing Wendy's job. I wonder what happened to her. She was a good helper. I get the benefit of using a different part of my mind for a few hours a week without the stress of the deadlines. Because someone else has to worry about getting it done on time. I am just the helper.

This time around I am actually filling out the reports. I was so excited after my first day of work. In the past I have just counted forms or stuffed envelopes. I love working with numbers and I actually like filling out forms. I know many of you are probably thinking I am nuts for liking paper work or taxes, but this is what makes the world go round. Each of us likes something different.

Plus in talking to other moms I have discovered there is something satisfying in doing something that can be "checked off" the list and it is done. It doesn't start over again like dishes or laundry which I am always doing. It won't get dirty shortly after it has been cleaned.

I am sure you are wondering when am I doing this work and what I am doing with the boys. Well I found a 12 year girl who was available to babysit. Her name is Joanna and she watches the boys after she gets home from school and Jim picks them up on his way home from work. I work a few evenings during the week.

It is kind of crazy taking on a part time job on top of my full time mom job. The laundry and dishes are still waiting for me after using my brain for a few hours. The boys are a little more clingy because I have less time to spend with them and it has interrupted their schedule. I try to take my time to spend with them and this leaves even less time to do those household chores. I am glad it is only for one month.

In the mean time it has been fun to wear some nicer clothes, converse with my co-worker Linda and use a different part of my brain, plus my list of companies that I can check off when I have completed their forms.

In November I can go back to focusing more on my family and house until January, when they will call me again to help them out.

Canning jars

This past week I tried canning pears for the first time. I was a little intimidated. My Mom had always thought they were a lot of work, so I never took the opportunity to try for myself. My friend Lori canned pears and when she explained her process it didn't sound too labor intensive, so I bought a half bushel from the Amish and gave it a try.

Anyway this post is more about the canning jars than the canning process. The pears went well in case you were wondering. I got 19 quarts from a half bushel. We had 2 jars not seal and one of the boys saw the pears and wanted them, so we even ate some of the warm unsealed ones. They were so good.

As I was filling the jars I was noticing the designs on some of my jars. I wondered how they came up with the designs on these jars. I wondered what would be the trademark design for 2009. I wondered just how old some of my jars were. And isn't it a neat concept to think how many times these jars have been reused?

Did you know that there was a big push for canning around World War 2? People were encouraged to grow a garden and can the excess and then eat that food in the winter so that food canned commercially could be sent to feed the troops.

So Designs. I have a jar with the liberty bell on it. It commemorates the bicentennial celebration of America (1776-1976). This jar was probably manufactured in 1976, the year I was born. I like to joke that I was a bicentennial baby. They also made special quarters that year. I recently received a special set of salt and pepper shakers with the bicentennial theme on them. Who knows what else had the bicentennial imprint.

I have another jar with a grid on it. It is the only one that I have. that is kind of cool.

Some jars are kind of square, others are perfectly round with no logo on at all. Most of them have "Ball" or Kerr" or "Mason" imprinted on them, the name of the company that manufactures them.

My Mom has a jar that has no neck. It is just straight. She likes to keep that one in her collection. Sometimes the canning jars switch homes as I can some of my food at her house. If I were to give someone a jar of my canned goods if they can themselves they are likely to keep the jar, which is fine. If not, then they usually return it.

My jars are a collection from my mom, Grandma, yard sales and people giving away because they no longer can. It is neat to think that some of my ancestors canned in the same jars that I am using today. A few I bought brand new as I couldn't find any used ones when I needed them.

The jelly jars sometimes have a quilted pattern on them, which makes the jams look real pretty inside.

I tried to google jar designs, but didn't really come up with much, so I only have my own thoughts to write about.

What would be the theme for 2009? A picture of Obama? A picture of a "clunker car"? Did they make one in 2001 of the twin towers?

I did not take pictures of my cool grid jar. It is already on the shelf with my pears in it, but perhaps as I use my food I will take pictures of my cool jars in my collection. For now you will have to be pleased with a picture of my pears.


At this point my jars are full. My family has grown as well our eating needs, so I am keeping my eyes open at yard sales, good will and free cycle for some more jars to add my collection.

My Saturday afternoon adventure

I recieved a post card in the mail announcing some fun Sat afternoon activities at our local garden center. They were offering barrel rides and a corn maze. I thought this would be something the boys would enjoy. We kind of had a lazy Sat, so by the time I was ready to go it was time to feed the troops and then Preston would probably fall asleep on the way and miss the fun. So Jim was willing to stay home while Preston napped.

The garden center is located 5 minutes from the Rail to Trail so we took our bikes along for a ride. We arrived to find the parking lot full and found a spot close to the barrel rides. Parker was very excited. We waited for a driver, who didn't appear to be much older than 10.
Parker wanted to ride again, but I least wanted to walk around and look at the plants and did not want to wait for him to finish the ride.
After the barrel ride we ventured over to the Corn maze.
The maze was not laid out the best. At some points we were walking betweens rows of corn, we had seen leaves on the ground and assumed this was the trail. The corn was pretty tall. Parker took a picture of me and you can see the ears are above my shoulder.
We ended up getting lost, so when we got close to the end we just made our own exit, not on the normal path. It was real muddy in the corn field and I had mud caked on my sneakers and my pants were muddy from Parker running into me.

Our next stop was the restroom. I asked Parker to hold my camera and the following are the pictures that our budding photographer took.
Parker's foot.

The fish pond. This is on my wish list.
We were walking along and he says giggling "Mom I just took a picture of your bottom." Actually he had a much closer picture, but I wasn't ready to post that for all my friends to see.
Some nice black eyed susans. I would like some of these, but not sure where I would put them.
The fish pond. The boys love to look at the fish. They even like to go to Petco just to look at the fish. I am afraid to get a fish that one of my cats will think it is a snack.
A very nice waterfall. Can you see why I would want to browse and walk around?
I was able to use my own camera and take a few pictures of pumpkins. On the left these are Cinderalla pumpkins and an on the right Fairy tale pumpkins. I never knew there were so many different varieties of pumpkins.
Turkish Turban pumpkins.
And pumpkins that look like they have warts.

We ended our trip with a spur of the moment purchase a, Sour Cherry Tree!

We went bike riding and got some ice cream afterwards. Parker fell asleep on the way home. It was a fun afternoon.

No pants

The other day I look out my window to discover 2 boys without pants running around outside.

Preston's pant's had a broken snap so when he was moving around there was nothing to keep them zipped. He came up to me saying "mess" which is what he sometimes says when he needs a diaper change.
Parker on the other hand removes his bottoms to use the potty and then for some reason doesn't think he needs to get dressed before going outside to play.

Fashion $ense

Thursday evening we had an Enrichment on Shopping for clothing on a budget. We played a game "Name that price." Several outfits were on display with what the original cost would have been, but none of them were purchased at full price. Then we had to match up the price tags with the outfit. Claudia, was our teacher and she stumped the group. Thinking I might be able to use my fashion sense from earlier days, She called on me and paid me a compliment that made my day. She said "For those of you that don't know, Emily used to be quite the fashion statement in the day." Then I chimed in before I became a mom.

Anyway this made me feel so good that someone else thought I had it together on the fashion part of my life. This caused me to reflect a little about my fashion statement or lack of during my life. So as she called on me I was wearing my brown linen skirt that I bought at Old Navy pre-Parker. So it has to be at least 5 years old. The shirt I have worn this night is a coral polo that I bought shortly after Parker was born, so it is 4 years old. So much for a fashion statement. When I was dressing for the evening I needed something light weight, it was weigh in night and coral goes well with brown.

There was a time in my life when I had more clothes, more time to shop for my clothes, more money to spend on clothes and certainly more time to put outfits together. I reflected how my sister, Rebecca just returned to BYU-Provo and packed up her Nissan Sentra full of her clothes. I imagine her car was packed pretty full for her one person. She even left a drawer behind. I too when I was in college had tons of clothes. I think I could fit all my clothes that I wear now into 1 large suitcase at this point in my life. Now if I had to pack up my kitchen, that is a different story. Bring on the truck and trailer.

When I was working, clothes were important. I was representing my company. I needed to look nice. I liked to shop and had extra money to spend. I think at one point I could go an entire month without wearing the same thing twice (well shirts at least).

Since becoming a mom I just don't have the time to keep my nails painted. I changed sizes in the process and have cleaned out the majority of my clothes. I tend to wear my clothes, wash them and wear them again. I am fine with this. I have also learned to downsize, because when you have to pack several outfit changes for your kids plus diapers there isn't a whole lot of room left for my clothes anyway.

Do I still like to shop? Yes.
Would I like several closets full of clothes again? Probably not.
Would I like some more fashionable clothes? Definitely. I told myself once I reach my goal weight I can go shopping and get some newer stuff.

Of course when you dress kind of conservatively and keep with classic styles like dockers and polos. They really don't go out of style.

There you have my thoughts on fashion.

My Garden tour

This past week was Ag Progress Days here in Central PA. They offer tours showcasing some of the research that Penn State does. I have always wanted to take this "High Tunnel" tour, but having kids and stroller would never lend me to board a bus, let alone entertain them while I tried to listen. So I got a babysitter and headed out by myself to Ag Progress Days.

They had 2 times for the tour a morning and a afternoon tour. I am not a morning person, most mornings I still haven't had my oatmeal by 9:30. I chose the morning tour because it would be easier for a babysitter (no naps involved), thought it might be a little cooler for me, and then I would have the afternoon to recover.

So I get up early, the babysitter arrives early and I get out the door. I knew that I had to park and then walk to sign up for the tour. I didn't expect to hit the morning rush of Ag Progress Days. Of course I am running behind and cutting things kind of close. I didn't want to miss the bus. I only live 15 minutes from Rock Springs, but it is bumper to bumper once I get there. Pick up trucks, vans and car loads of people are flocking to see large tractor displays, eat yummy food showcasing some of PA's best agriculture, and learn more about farming. It was 9:10 by the time that I got my parking space. It took me 10 minutes to walk to the far end for the bus tour. I made it, but really had to walk fast.

Penn State has about 100 acres of land that they use in various areas of research. Our guide was very knowledgeble on the subject. His job to oversee these High Tunnels .

They grow a little bit of everything inside these tunnels. This is what a High tunnel looks like.
This is what I thought was considered a high tunnel.

This is actually a row cover.

It was ok though. The tour was very informative and I enjoyed myself quite a bit. Here is what I learned.

• High Tunnels extend the growing season. The research facility can still harvest tomatoes up until November. They can also get produce earlier than the rest of us.
• The High Tunnel has less problems with Disease, because they are shielded from the elements and rain.
• Rain actually brings with it disease.
• The sides are adjustable to control the amount of heat inside the tunnel. Blankets or solar covers can be added to keep heat in longer (in cooler months) or to shield from the warm sun ( in warmer months).
• They still get weeds inside the tunnels.
• They take a bio friendly approach to dealing with pests. So instead of using pesticides to control bugs, they release other good insects to eat the bad or destroying insects. A fascinating idea. They also have 2 resident cats ( a favorite of mine) to control any rodents. We saw one and he appeared to be well fed.
• Plants get bigger and produce larger size produce because they don't have the effects of wind, sun or rain to beat them up.
• They use a drip irrigation system that can also deliver fertilzer to the plants.
• Penn State harvest the plants and vegatables to sell at a farmer's market down town on Wed. They even grow some more exotic things to cater to the many nationalities present on campus.
• Pressure treated lumber is not as bad as it used to be. They have changed some of the chemicals that used to make it.
• If you use pressure treated lumber for raised beds, just line the bed with plastic or landscape fabric and this will prevent your plants from coming into contact with it.
• Small trees can be grown inside a tunnel. We saw hardy kiwi.
• The ones at Penn State have doors large enough to fit a small tractor in to work the soil.
• High Tunnels are avaialble to the consumer for about $2000.
  

As I went on this tour and realized that the guide gets paid to play in the dirt and experiment with growing different plants it seemed kind of a fun job. Now the documentation that goes along with the experiments might not be the fun part, but that is what provides you and me with the results, what works and what doesn't work. That is just part of research I guess. For some reason I had the mind set that most research was done in a chemistry lab and not outside growing yummy food or beautiful flowers.

I came away inspired to keep gardening and doing my own experiments at home. Trying different varieties or techniques of gardening.

Be creative @ your library

This was the theme for the Summer reading program at the library. It gives me an incentive to see how many books I can read to the boys in 5 weeks. Later on when they are bigger they will have to read their own books. There were a few books that Parker didn't want to finish, but I made him sit threw it so we could be in the running for the prize for the person who reads the most books. Little did I know that 89 books was just a drop in the bucket. The winner had 300 books read to them.

In my new attempt to get my house in order, we took a picture of their certificates so that we could um, discard them. Gasp.

Preston is holding his out for you to see. We took the boys to story time during the school year and they are nice enough to let Preston tag along, even though you are supposed to be 3. Well when it came time to singing time he loved to run up and be a part of the flannel board. When they called his name he giggled and ran up to get his own certificate for reading 60 books with 1706 pages. That is a lot of sitting still for a little guy.

Parker is studying his. Like I mentioned he had 89 books with 2924 pages read to him.

My kitchen

One of Jim's friends from New York is a professional organizer. These types of people love to organize and they get paid to help others who feel lost and don't know where to start. I chatted with her when we last visited New York last summer. This planted a little seed in my mind.

I have really struggled to keep my house in order after having babies. Housework seemed to go out the window. I would much rather spend some free time on the computer than tending to housework chores. I finally realized that I was in over my head and decided that I would call an organizer for help. I went to a web site that lists professional organizers by area and found Kelly.

Kelly came to my house in June and I showed her everything, all the rooms in the in house and the basement too. I am tired of not being able to find things. When I go to clean I am intimidated by all the stuff that I have accumulated. I know how to organize. In fact in my pre mommy days people would often compliment me on my organizational skills. I just needed to make it a priority and be accountable to someone.

I started with my kitchen. I pulled everything out and then decided what to keep and then put it back neatly. I was able to even make space for some of my Pampered Chef that had been sitting in the computer room. I didn't take before pictures, I was too embarrassed. But here are some after shots.
My next assignment, the master bathroom.

A Double trip to the Dr

I had overlooked setting up an appointment for Parker for his 4 year old well visit until May. They didn't have any openings until July, so I got the bright idea that I could take both boys to the doctor for well visits since Preston was due for his as well in July. I want to share with you a recap of our day.

Dr Coggins enters the room

Dr Coggins: Hi, we are here to do both boys, double the trouble.

Later on when it comes to Parker's turn, I saw a different side of Dr. Coggins. He is goofy with the little guys, but talks to the patient in a funny way.

Dr Coggins: Let's do Parker now.
What is your favorite food?

Parker: Cottage cheese and apple butter.

Dr Coggins: That's a central PA trait.

Parker: And apples.

Dr Coggins: I am going to look in your ears. How many ears do you have?

Parker (giggling): 2

Dr Coggins: Do you have any animals that live in your ears?

Dr Coggins: I am going to look at your belly. How many belly buttons do you have?

Parker: 1

Dr Coggins: How many belly buttons does Mommy have?

Parker: 1, too.

Dr Coggins: Mommy has 2 belly buttons?

Parker: No 1.

Dr Coggins: Now I need you to do some exercises.

Parker: I can do jumping jacks (does jumping jacks and goes in circles.)

Dr. Coggins: Well ok, that is good. I have some different exercises, they are kind of boring compared to jumping jacks. Can you stand on your tippy toes? Can you stand on one leg? Can you jump on one leg?

Parker does his best to do Dr Coggin's exercises. I then mention about checking his hearing. He says that age 4 is when they do that. He will send the nurse back in to check his hearing. His job was to say "beep" each time he heard a beep. He did a good job. He cooperated real good.

Then came the vision test.

Nurse: Cover your eye like a pirate.

Parker covers his eye and did real well. The picture of a boat he even called a ship. Until he got down to the small line then he started cheating, removing his hand. He even said it was too little to see. All and all they were not concerned and said they would check again next year.

Preston is 34 inches tall and can now be turned around forward facing in the other car seat. This was instructions for this particular car seat that you have to be over age 1 and taller than 34 inches before facing forward. We had already turned him around in the other one a few months ago.

We go back in 6 months to check up on Preston's vocabulary. He will point to an object and tell you what it is, but doesn't really communicate a whole lot.

We were there for an hour and half. Maybe doing a double appointment wasn't such a good idea after all.

My Garden

When people ask me what I doing this summer I tell them we are growing a garden. I really enjoy growing my garden. I wanted to show you some pictures of what I have growing this season.

It seems to be an ongoing process keeping up with watering, weeding and mulching, but it is really enjoyable. Our biggest challenge is keeping the boys out of it and their big trucks too.

My flowers

This spot is with the back patio. There is a little section of dirt amoung the patio. These are petunias. Parker picked out the colors.


This is in the front of my house. I have found that Geraniums seem to thrive in this spot. I like the pink ones. Although somehow we got some red ones too.

My Vegetables


I plant my vegetables in the front yard, because that is where I have sunshine. You can see my dirt plots. I made mulch pathways so that I knew where to walk.

My garden is just for munching. I don't have near the space for growing what I would need for canning. I found this out last year when I only had 3 tomatoes ripe at a time. We have planted tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zuchini, brocoli, and watermelon.
I planted a bush variety of cucumbers, since I am limited on space. I planted marigolds in between for their asethic properties and also they are supposed to help with bugs.

The tomatoes have really taken off. We bought some plants, a friend gave me some and I even started some from seed.

Landscaping
The final thing I have been working on is adding perienals around the trees and mulching. I still need to do more mulching.

I am kind of picky about my plants. I wanted plants that were a little different than what all the neighbors had, because I have to express my own sense of style. I have only found a few that I really liked. Hopefully each year I can add a little more to fill out my beds.
Things have slowed down with the gardening for now. There seems to be more work in the beginning with pulling weeds. The weeds have slowed down now. I just need to remember to water so that things do well.
We got a rain barrel this year, so now we have access to some free water. We are on town water so any water that we don't have to pay for is nice. the only downside is the outflow of water is really slow. I have 2 watering cans that I fill up. While one is filling I am watering with the other, pulling weeds or staking tomatoes.

Preston's 2nd birthday

Preston celebrated his 2nd birthday recently. We like to celebrate with family and have a nice meal followed by cake and ice cream. His birthday falls close to July 4th, so his celebration got tied in the with the wrap up of the 4th of July holiday weekend.

Both Gary and Dwain Plessinger and families were in attendance. We had leftovers from the camp out. Preston was napping while the eating was going on, but woke up in time to get some of his birthday dinner.

I insisted on decorating a cake a little more than just a 9 X 13 with frosting. I feel this is my duty as mom to make a fun cake. I decided on a round cake decorated like a baseball, since Preston likes balls. I had found a recipe for a white buttermilk cake and wanted to try it. I put raspberry jam between the layers and a combination of buttercream and white frosting with almond flavoring. The cake was delicious and was a big hit with the crowd.



We got to also have home made ice cream this time around. What a treat!

Some things about Preston.

He is a laid back guy.
He likes to be included in what his big brother is doing.
He still likes Mom or Dad to pick him up and carry him and he weighs 28 pounds, all solid too.
He has a hearty appetite, although is more of a meat and rice guy than fresh vegetables or fruit.
He likes to have shoes on all the time.
He is a quiet guy.
He loves to play in the sand box and with cars and trucks.

Happy Birthday Preston! We love you and can't believe how fast the time has passed since you entered our family 2 years ago.