How does the garden grow?

We have a huge yard but the trouble is we don't have a lot of great sunny spots. Our neighbors all have huge trees that shady our yard. So gardening is a challenge. To be honest our backyard is neglected and our front yard gets the most attention. We have done several things out front and someday I will focus on the back. I stick with some of the traditional things that my grandparents did when this was their house. Things like growing tomatos under the frount windows along the foundation of the house. Pat thinks this is totally strange but it is the best spot we have! It bothers him that we grow our "garden" in the front yard but our options are limited!

So this year I have been at the Farmer's Market and have picked up a lot of my plants there. The tomato plants were great and are doing very well. We have an apple tree in the middle of the yard that is getting huge and is loaded with apples! This one tree has 3 different types of apples. It has some black spots on the leaves which I think is apple scab, I guess it is a bad year. I have noticed that a lot of my plants are yellow but I think that it is the lack of sun. So hurry up summer!

My grape vines that line the sidewalk to our house our looking great. Last year was the first year that I actually had grapes. I planted these 6 years ago, it took 5 years to get grapes. But last year we had a lot of grapes and this year it looks like the harvest will double! They are concord grapes which are my favorite! The kids love to squeeze them out of their skin eating only the center of the grape.

Meet Dora, the newest member of the family!

So, we have expanded! We made a trip to the feed store to get more fencing and I did not expect to see any bunnies. The lady had said that she would call Pat when they got more bunnies in. Well, when we got there the first thing the kids spotted were the bunnies. There was a white and black spotted bunny that is similar to Sunny or a tan bunny with gray. Ciara wanted her bunny and was not leaving without it! She picked out the tan bunny who is now named Dora! She promised to use the potty if she got the bunny. I feel for it! Needless to say, she is still in diapers!

The two bunnies who we now know are girls are not friends! They don't want to be in the same cage so now I have two cages to change! These girls are messy.

Miss Dora has huge back feet so I think that she is going to be a big bunny. She is supposed to be a dwarf but she is already larger that Sunny. She is a really sweet bunny and lets Ciara hold her without a problem. Welcome to our crazy life!

So The Ark Continues With our New Member!

So I made the mistake of taking the kids to the Monroe Feed Store! We went to get a piece of fencing to make a trellis and end up with......I child who is in tears because all he wants is a bunny! Ok, so if I bring home another animal, I may be single! So save your tears for daddy. And Daddy bought it hook, line, and sinker! What? That wasn't supposed to happen!

Patches cried, "All I want is to bring the bunny home because he is homeless!". So Daddy says, "Ok, be good this weekend and I will buy you the bunny!". I think my husband must be ill because he is never for more animals. But he justified it by saying that Patrick is so responsible and he feeds the dogs. Oh, and it is is graduation present!

Sunday morning, dad and son head out to get their bunny! Ok, so is it a boy or girl! No one is quite sure. So what do you name a non-gender specific bunny?? Sunny, of course! Just like the Easter bunny that we visited!

So we have added to the Ark! 2 dogs, 2 cat, several wild ducks, and a bunny. But you say there is only one bunny. Not so fast! My husband came home for lunch today and said, "Don't you think Ciara should get a bunny, too? Ok, maybe he is really, really sick! So today after work Daddy will take the kiddos to pick up another bunny! I cannot say that I don't love the little addition but give it a week! Oh, did I mention that they think that these critters should live in the HOUSE! We will have to see about that! Sunny is a cute bunny!

Patrick’s Lego’s

Patrick has really begun to love Lego's. He had received a few gift cards for Christmas and one for being a ring bearer which he spent last week on Legos. Patrick really likes the houses. We bought him a Lego house for Christmas which was his first big Lego set. I don't remember Lego's coming with extensive directions that they come with now! There are large book that come with each set. Maybe that is why they are so expensive. They look so big and cool on the package.

Pat and Patrick have been spending hours building their Lego creations. I did get a chance last week to build the "Crabby Shack" with Patrick. Pat gets incredibly frustrated with putting these things together. So

Snow Much Fun!

We have really been enjoying our house in Roslyn. The snow has been great, although I fear that it is almost all gone now. Patrick has been loved all the sledding that he has been able to do. You cannot get him in the house. But the best part is that he can sled right off the back patio, down the hill to the alley. No more searching for just the right spot to sled.

We have been riding the snowmobile, now that we are down to one, but Friday we should get the other one out of the shop. I think we have a future snowmobiler on our hands. Patrick is absolutely addicted to riding. He begs and pleads to go out. Now if we could just get Ciara to love the snow! (Maybe next year). Patrick's only request is "Mom, cannot you go slow like Daddy?" Not a chance kid! We can ride right out our backdoor to the Coal Miners Trail which takes us just about anywhere we want to go! Next year, we hope to find a small 120 snowmobile for Patrick, I think he will be ready.

New Year’s Meal Planning!

One of my resolutions this year was to start Meal Planning—Rachel is my inspiration. Rachel is very organized in that respect and I admire that. I cannot imagine myself that organized but I am giving it a shot! Just not yet! You see my oven went out about 2 month ago and you never really know how much you depend on something until you don't have it. I baked my Christmas cookies at the cabin and we had steak for Christmas dinner. It all worked out but I am ready to bake again. We had decided to wait until we got home from our trip. So we are home and then do you just put in a new stove? No! I have to look around and decided to do a mini facelift of our tired kitchen. So needless to say we still do not have a stove. But today, I think and hope is the day! I just have to go to the hardware store for some wire and wire a plug in because the old wires are too short!

So what projects did I start?

When I pulled out the stove –I ripped out the stupid linoleum that surrounded the stove and was peeling since the day grandpa put it in!

That I decided to replace with tile. But trying picking out tile, there are so many choices. Do you go blue, green, or neutral browns? Well, I have to admit I went boring but safe beige and browns! We went with white appliances because if I were going to go with stainless I would only do that with a full remodel! And stainless has proven to be a lot of work at the cabin! It is very frustrating to be cleaning all the time and it never looks clean. So, maybe when I get granite, new cabinets, and the kids have left home!!! But for now white it is!

So I have tiled around my stove, put in a new white hood fan, hooked up the gas to the stove, put in one new fixture above the sink, and installed a dishwasher (which I have not had for 3+ years)!

What I have left to do is wire the plug in for the stove, get my faux granite looking linoleum, 2 more light fixtures, build the faux drop ceiling above the cabinets, finish the glass tile backsplash (after countertops), and finish painting! And of course, clean up all the mess! I will be happy to have a stove this afternoon!

Pop Pop's Wedding

On December 29th, 2009, my father in law was married. We made this winter trip back to NJ for this wedding. After 50 + years of marriage, Pat's mother died 3 years ago. My father in law meet Madelyn and they have now married. All of their grandchildren were in the wedding and my husband was best man. My little man was so cute in his suit and loved the attention of being the ringbearer!