How Does Your Garden Grow?

All of my gardening skills, such as they are, I got from my Papaw. He was a lifelong gardener and I have lovely memories of his backyard garden in Irving. It seemed huge to me then, but now as an adult I realize it must not have been all that big, after all. I remember long hours on his back porch shucking corn, snapping beans, and shelling peas, all the while listening to the adults talk about this that and the other. My cousin Adam used to help Papaw till the back and mow the front...one of my favorite memories of Adam is sitting on the riding lawnmower singing the theme song to "Green Acres" at the top of his lungs. Adam always was a huge ham!

I'm sure my memory is just hitting the tip of the iceberg, but I know Papaw always grew tomatoes, corn, peas, green beans, potatoes, blackberries, strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, and probably a whole bunch more I'm forgetting. Nothing tastes as good as home-grown fruits and vegetables!

I've been pleased that Bill was bitten by the gardening bug, too! He built our Square Foot Gardens from scratch, and to be totally honest he actually puts a lot more grunt work into the garden than I do. He's usually the one out there watering almost every evening in the summertime!

This year we're growing tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, blueberries, strawberries, purple onions, yellow onions, broccoli, red potatoes, yellow potatoes, carrots, rosemary, dill, cilantro, basil, and corn. We're even trying our hand for the first time at having a grapevine. We're starting to get some babies on some of the plants and I'm so excited!

Did you know that if you don't pick the broccoli when it's ready that it will flower? I had no idea. My stepson noticed the other day and said "my broccoli isn't broccoli anymore!" Check it out, that bunch of flowers that you see was actually a head of broccoli a few days ago:

Looks like we have some little buggies feasting on the leaves, too. :)

Here are a few more pictures of our gardening delights!

Human Paper Dolls

The last few weeks I've been hard at work making pillowcases as appreciation gifts for the teachers who were willing victims in our pie-throwing contest. My sewing stuff is all over the place, including a laundry basket full of fabric scraps. Last night I was laying on the floor stretching my back out when my stepkids got the brilliant idea to "dress" me up in the fabric scraps. We had some serious Project Runway going on! Bill made the mistake of joining me on the floor and of course the kids immediately descended upon him too. This hilarity entertained us all for a good 45 minutes. L has the most contagious laugh I've ever heard, he cracks himself up, which in turns cracks the rest of us up too!

My husband is a saint:

Photo Booth Fun

My sweet friend Robin had the most awesome 50th birthday party last weekend! We had so much fun. I can't believe Robin is actually 50 (she doesn't look a day older than 32!). She is one of the funniest people I know.

In keeping with her hilarious personality, at her party she had a photo booth where guests could take silly pictures. There were even costumes like crazy hats and feather boas. They printed all the pictures for a scrapbook for Robin, which I thought was a fabulous idea!

Needless to say Bill and I took advantage of the opportunity to take some hysterical pictures! I even managed to talk my dad into taking some with me, too. Check us out!

Fake Hamsters

I vaguely remember hearing about the Zhu Zhu pet craze around Christmastime, although I didn't pay much attention to it at the time. I remember my sister mentioning that the little $9 fake hamsters were in such popular demand that some folks were paying upwards of $300 on ebay to have one in time for Christmas. That is insane! Thank goodness the craze has died down and they are now available all over the place. A few weeks ago a commercial came on for them and I heard my stepdaughter mention that she wanted one for her birthday.

Naturally when I saw an adorable pink and white one randomly one day I knew that's what I'd be getting her for her birthday! I also got her some of the accessories. I really didn't know much about Zhu Zhu pets prior to actually seeing one at CVS that day....they are little robot hamsters that are actually downright cute. They squeak and make adorable noises, and they move seemingly on their own. It's actually really interesting.

They also have their own little playthings, which are much like real hamsters have. I bought her the exercise wheel and couldn't wait to see what it did...would you believe those little suckers actually run on the wheel, just like real hamsters do?!? It's really pretty freakin' cute.

M loves her pink one, and with birthday gift certificates to Toys 'R Us she bought herself another brown one. I felt kinda sorry for poor L, so the day after her birthday I surprised him with one of his own, the black one. We set up their little activity village and those tiny things just went to town (the hamsters, I mean), playing, running on the wheel, sliding down the slide, squeaking and giggling and being all sorts of cute. We...umm I mean the kids, were enthralled.

I found myself doing a little bit of robot hamster surgery on the brown one...when he came to us he was squeaking and giggling but not doing much else. He wouldn't move the way he was supposed to. We tried changing the battery but that didn't work. We had just about given him up as defective when I had the brilliant idea to Google "my Zhu Zhu pet won't move"....lo and behold I found easy simple instructions for opening him up, twisting around one tiny miniscule little screw, and closing him back up. It worked! Success! Mr. Brown Zhu Zhu is up and running again and Wendy gets lots of props for fixing him, woohoo!

I loved having real hamsters myself growing up, they really are so cute! But alas we already have about 4 animals too many in our house now, and I'm not about to add another (until we can find an orange kitten with extra toes, that is, to replace beloved Ernie...but that's a whole other blog post!). For now we'll all be content with the cute little robotic fake hamsters.

Check out their play area! And this was before we added the accessories that my sister gave M for her birthday!

Doc Higgins

I'm so glad my mother-in-law is not yet on Facebook, because I'm so excited about a surprise that I'm getting ready for her that I can't even keep it to myself one second longer!!!

Her father, Bill's grandfather, was a veterinarian for the Ringling Brothers circus in the 1950's and 1960's. He passed years ago so I never met him, but I have heard many wonderful stories about Doc Higgins! Suzann, my MIL, has so many interesting memories of growing up in the circus.

A few months ago on a whim I googled his name, and found a circus history message board where some of his old circus friends were trying to get in touch with him. I have corresponded with a couple of people, and one of them was kind enough to send this amazing picture:

That's Doc on the left.

Bill and I printed out that picture and had it framed for Suzann for Mother's Day, and I thought she was going to cry all day, she was so happy to see a picture of her daddy! 

This has led me to an exciting new project: I've been researching all over the interwebs to try and find more pictures and articles and mentions of Doc Higgins. I've been so fortunate to find a few gems, and I'm working on a scrapbook for Suzann's birthday this summer. It's been so fun and exciting finding all this information and I can't wait to share it with her!

The possibility for even more exciting things exists in a collection housed at Emory University. A man named Robert Brisendine did massive amounts of research on circus history over a span of several decades. I have an article that states he collected Doc's circus memoirs in 1966. Some of the memoirs Mr. Brisendine collected are in written form, and some of them are on audio. I am waiting to hear back from the people at Emory to find out exactly what there might be in Mr. Brisendine's collection relating to Doc, and whether or not I can access any of it electronically. If not we will definitely be heading to Atlanta this summer to check out what they have! Apparently this collection is massively huge with hundreds of articles, memorabilia, pictures, and audio tapes. I can't even begin to imagine how Suzann would react if she were to hear her daddy's voice on audio! I hope the Emory people get in touch with me soon so I can have a better understanding of what they have. 

In the meantime, here are a couple of the gems I have come across through the magic of Google! 

Doc with a lion named Frasier: 

A very fuzzy picture of Doc in front of a tiger cage (on the left):

And several other articles mentioning Doc. I am not sure if readers will be able to actually read them or not (they might be too fuzzy), but I have printed nice copies for the scrapbook. 

One of my favorite stories about Doc is this...he was trained to be a small animal veterinarian (dogs and cats). When he first started working for the circus, apparently he was a little bit nervous the first time he had to sedate a lion, being concerned it wouldn't stay asleep through the minor procedure. Well he sure did a great job because according to family lore that lion stayed asleep for about 4 days! 

He must have been an immensely interesting man; I so wish I could have met him! Putting together this project has been so entertaining for me and I can't wait to see Suzann's face!!!!

Bye bye Old Mosby

A big welcome to the newest member of our family:

Whee!!! It's so fun having a new car (new to us anyway)...but I was a tiny bit sad to give up my little old PT Cruiser. I've been driving that car for 9 years, and it's been reliably with me through a lot. I had that car almost as long as I've had my dog! It was definitely showing its wear and tear, and the time came for it to be replaced. We sure love the new Murano!

Funny Food

Recently I have developed a fascination with food that unexpectedly resembles other food. Case in point: I came across a recipe for these adorable hamburger cookies a few years ago:

They are so cute, and so easy to make! Ever year I make a big batch for my parents' annual July 4th party, and they always get rave reviews. Not only are they adorable, but also pretty tasty too! By the way, these will be featured in my article for the June edition of StepMom Magazine.

Last weekend my mom got the kids some stinkin' cute cupcakes, then my sister came across the website where they were originally featured: http://myfoodlooksfunny.com/. Those cupcakes were such a hit and so fantastically cute that this week when I had an opportunity to provide goodies for the teacher appreciation potluck at my stepson's school, I just knew I had to make them. Check out Peas and Carrots Cupcakes:

Aaaaa!! These are so cute I can hardly stand it!! Those are Skittles and Starburst candies you see on top. I have already requested our library's copy of the wonderful cupcake book that I think the idea originally came from. I can't wait to try some more!

Lest you feel sorry for the poor teachers for getting "veggie" cupcakes, we also made Healthy Garden Salad for them. This is one of the most delicious salads I've ever tasted!

Babies!

On Wednesday nights my church has a marriage ministry for couples to work on their marriages. I help out with childcare, and I always have the 13-24 month-olds. They are so cuuuuute and I love spending time with them!

One of the best parts is that we typically have regulars who are there every week, so we really get to know the kids and their parents. I love watching how they grow and change over the months. I used to be scared of babies, and I am still kind of scared of the teeny-tiny ones, but I really enjoy this age! They are pretty mobile, they like to play with toys, and some of them are starting to develop language. As an educator I know how important early language skills are, and it's so interesting to watch this development in action.

Last night one of my favorite little guys saw his big brother on the playground out the window, and he kept saying "That's my big bubby!" over and over again...a few months ago this little boy didn't have any words at all! It was so adorable. It seemed like all our little ones were in especially good moods last night which makes it even more fun.

It doesn't matter what kind of stressful day I've had, hugging on those sweet babies is always a treat and puts me in a good mood. What is it about babies and the way they smile and the way they smell (unless they're poopy, ew), that just warms the heart?!

Top 'O the Mornin' to Ya

I just realized that I posted pictures of my February and April crafts from StepMom Magazine, but I forgot all about March! What can I say, it was a busy month!

St. Patrick's Day Barrettes...these are sooo easy!

Lucky Heart Pins (you can't see from the picture, but there is a pin glued on the back):

Miniature Blarney Stones...Legend holds that kissing the famous Blarney Stone in Ireland bestows upon one the gift of eloquence. 

And last but not least, a miniature Pot of Gold magnet: 

Funny story about the "pot" of gold...the first time my stepson saw it he said "oooh, look, a tiny purse!" haha. About half an hour later Bill came in the kitchen, saw it on the fridge, and said, "What's with the purse on the fridge?". I guess maybe it doesn't look as much like a pot of gold as I had intended it to...teehee.

The Case of the Sneezing Cat

I posted before about my cat Callie's episode of marathon sneezing, that cost us a few thousand dollars and her a few bad teeth. We were told that taking the bad teeth out would reduce the noncancerous tumor the vet thought was in her nasal passage and end the pitiful sneezing. It was pathetic, really, hearing her sneeze painfully 30 or 40 times or more in a row.

Imagine our surprise when a few weeks after the surgery the sneezing started up again. This time Bill refused to take her back to the specialist who took out the teeth. It's kind of a long boring story but basically he felt we'd been taken advantage of, let's just say that the way that clinic handled things could have been different. And obviously it didn't work, since the sneezing came back.

So this time he wanted to take her to the same vet his parents use, which is quite a drive from us but he and my inlaws speak highly of her and trust her. Coincidentally, my inlaws have a a cat named Callie...let me tell you, hilarity ensued when the vet clinic got us mixed up, as their Callie is much older than mine and a completely different color!

In any case. This vet, the third we've seen for this problem by now, diagnosed an infection in the sinus passage. She gave Callie a shot and sent us home with antibiotic drops. All for a whopping $55. And guess what, it's been several weeks now and she hasn't sneezed one single time. After all that money to take out teeth, who have have though that a simple $55 worth round of antibiotics would cure the cat?! Unbelievable!

I am glad she's back to feeling better though. Silly girl.

Strawberry Pickin'

A few weekends ago brought glorious weather. This being strawberry season, we decided to take the kids to a pick-your-own strawberry farm nearby. Normally Bill and I do this sans kids but we figured they're old enough and would enjoy it.

Unfortunately we didn't pay any attention to the torrential rains the night before, so when we got there the strawberries looked good but they were awash in a muddy field. Truly it was muddy: 

We still managed to have a great time and pick some delicious strawberries. Honestly, I think the kids had more fun in the mud and catching ladybugs than they did actually picking berries!

They had a cute little "ladybug house" near the rutabaga plants with hundreds of thousands of ladybugs flying around. The kids spent a long time catching them and ooohing and aaahing at ladybugs crawling all over us. We'll definitely be going back...but maybe not after a rainfall next time!