Garden update

Awhile ago I posted about our new garden venture! We are starting to get some produce and it's so much fun! Here's an updated picture of how things are looking. Right now we have lettuce (not doing very well) brocoli, onions and green beans in one bed. In the other one there are 2 tomato plants, 4 pepper plants, carrots and cucumbers. We also have 4 raspberry bushes which I'm looking forward to the most! Come the beginning of July to my house and it will be like a farmers market!






Our other big lawn/garden thing going on right now is that we finally caved and bought a John Deere riding lawn mower! 2 weeks ago I mowed and it took 2.5 hours. Then later that night Chris mowed the neighbor's yard who were out of town with their rider and that whole thing took him 22 minutes. The next day we went out and bought one:) It finally arrived yesterday so Chris mowed ours and the next door neighbor's yard in under an hour. Totally worth it to me!!

baptism

What a gorgeous Memorial Day weekend we had! We headed up to Decorah on Sunday morning for Grace's baptism. It was a wonderful service and the kids both got A's which was a first for them!! Both Chris and I said afterwards that the excuse that our kids are terrible in church isn't going to work much longer...:) Baby Grace did really well and even got excited when they poured the water over her head! After church we had a wondeful lunch at Brian and Amanda's house with friends and family. The kids all got into their baby pool with their church clothes on so of course there was some mischief:)

Grace is telling us to get that itchy dress off of her right now!


After the lunch and naps, we headed to the Decorah pool! It was opening day so lots of people came out for it. The kids loved every minute of it...jumping off the side, eating popsicles and popcorn, and going down the slide were their favorites:) Olivia isn't afraid of the water at all. She was jumping in and going completely under water. Max would have flipped a lid if we got his hair wet. Mya was a little more daring than Max, but not by much.

Play-doh 101

I started making my own play-doh awhile back when my mother-in-law gave me a recipe. At first I was a little skeptical because it seemed so easy to just buy the play-doh. However, once Mya started eating it, I decided knowing what ingredients were in play-doh would be nice:) Now we're hooked. This play-doh is like the old school kind...you'll know what I'm talking about when you smell it. It lasts FOREVER which is a bonus. (as long as you keep it in a zip lock of some sort) It's something that Mya can actually participate in making because it doesn't contain any eggs, so that is another bonus here. We've started giving it away as gifts to Max and Mya's little friends too! Here's a step by step in case you're interested in giving it a whirl.

You're going to eventually put this on the stove, so I usually do the whole thing in a pan that can go right on the stove. You could mix it up in something else and then transfer, but I hate doing dishes.

(I'm giving you the recipe already doubled)
Step 1: Mix the following together:
2 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1/2 c salt
2 tsp oil
4 tsp cream of tartar
food coloring






Step 2: Put on the stove at medium to medium high heat. Once the play-doh starts to get lumpy, you'll need to stir constantly.



Step 3: Take the play-doh off the stove when you have one big lump of play-doh and all the liquid is gone.



Step 4: As soon as I take it off the stove, I take it out of the pan to prevent it from over cooking. I just set it on the counter or table and let it cool. Then...I immediately go soak the pan in hot water and soap so it's easy to wash.



Step 5: As soon as the play-doh is cool enough to touch, you can start to knead it until it becomes smooth and gets the air bubbles out.



Step 6: Before you put it in zip-lock baggies, you want to make sure it's completely cooled or else it will leave condensation on the baggie and you'll get mold. I usually just let the kids play with it for awhile which takes care of that problem!

Enjoy!

The streak continues...

I grew up going to Twins baseball games. Usually once a summer we'd go up to the cities for a game. Between those games growing up and the games I went to the year I lived in the cities after college, I had never seen the Twins lose in person. Saturday Chris and I went to a game with my sister and some friends and the streak was in jeopardy. You wouldn't have thought so going into the 9th inning with a 6-2 lead, but the twins managed to give up 5 runs in the 9th! We ended up winning on a sacrifice fly in the 12th inning...5.5 hours after the start of the game! The game was super exciting. Would have been super exciting to anyone there, but for us...(6th row behind the Brewers Dugout)it was unbelievable. The twins have a new outdoor stadium this year and they filled it Saturday with the biggest crowd of the season so the place was rockin':)

Awesome view of the city from the stadium

check out the ball just as Mauer is about to hit.

The team after Mauer scored the winning run.



Friday night we had an adult evening out at my sister's house. She had a little party on her deck with some family, friends, food and entertainment. Tara is truly the hostess with the mostess....the party was a ton of fun!

22 months and counting....

The countdown to 2 is on! Mya is 22 months today and is definitely showing signs of being right smack dab in the middle of the terrible 2's. If you are a friend of mine on facebook, you saw last week that she was crib jumping. At home she was able to get down with ease...her body never once leaving the crib until her feet touched the ground. Both Chris and I were able to witness it in person and on the video monitor. However..one long plummet from the crib at Grandma and Grandpa Huinker's house and she's scared shitless (pardon my language). I'm not glad it happened (because she could have been seriously hurt of course) but since it did happen, now she won't jump out! For a couple days after the plummet, she would say owie when she got in her crib. I'd just respond with ...yep, you'll get a bad owie if you get out of your crib and that seemed to work! We were really struggling with what to do if she continued to get out. I didn't think she was ready for a toddler bed, but I also didn't want to spend $70 on a crib tent only to have it for a couple months. We'll see...tomorrow she may start getting out again, but for now she's caged up!

If either of my kids end up getting tattoos, it will be Mya for sure. She's so into writing on her skin. If you give her a writing utensil, it first goes on her skin and then on paper. The other day I had my hands full and walked by a green marker on the gorund. I distinctly remember telling myself not to forget to go back and pick that up before Mya got her chubby little hands on it. I forgot. Here's the consequence I had to deal with.



It's a really good thing that Mya was born with a sibling already in the family, otherwise the adjustment would be terrible. She is at her best when she's getting one-on-one attention from mom and/or dad. She just loves attention from us and is even better at playing by herself if Max isn't around. She'll be playing quietly while I get other things done and as soon as she hears the pitter patter footsteps of Max upstairs, she immediately goes into whiny mode and needs me to pick her up or hangs onto my leg. She doesn't want Max to get my attention and she knows that he's going to get it if he's just waking up in the morning or from a nap.



Her favorite things these days include popsicles, talking, juice, playing in the car, swinging, talking, her babies, shoes, purses, gum, helping,and oh...did I mention talking? If this gives you any indication of what life is like...Max asked me the other day if Mya could stop talking PLEASE! I had to laugh, but then agree with him. I have a pretty good idea what she wants, but others have more difficulty. It could be that words sound similar. Pine cone/popsicle, water/Chloe/Love you, rock/truck/walk/duck, juice/shoes, tractor/cracker/sticker all come out exactly the same! The words she uses the most these days are "self" and "Mya". They both mean the same thing---I CAN DO IT MYSELF THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Everything from emptying the little potty chair, to getting in and out of her carseat, to taking off/putting on her diaper, getting dressed, getting Max dressed...ahhh, this list could go on forever.



All in all...a pretty typical almost two year old with a little added twist of Mya:) Wouldn't trade her for the world.

Play group

Thank goodness for playdates! We have a good group of people here in Dubuque who are always willing to get together to let the little ones run off some energy and the big ones enjoy some coffee and adult conversation. Lately Max has been interested in some new games with his friends and neighbors. They are the ones that bring back so many memories of my childhood playing these games with the gang on Mound Street. Duck, Duck, Gray Duck/Goose (depending on where you grew up) Ring around the Rosie, Tag, Hide-and-go-seek, and Red-Light, Green-Light are the popular ones these days. Mya sort of participates, but she doesn't really understand. Here are a few pictures of a recent day when ring around the rosie was the big hit. Hide-and-go-seek is one we play at home ALL THE TIME. Max always wants to hide from Chris when he comes home from work. The problem is...Max is horrible at hiding. He can't stay still for one second without telling the "seeker" where he is hiding. He actually has some pretty good spots to hide, but won't stay quiet! Mya usually gives away my hiding spots because she finds it necessary to follow me around the house 100% of the time! I try to use the game to teach her to count to 10. She's getting closer, but we're still a ways off. Here's a video of her yesterday trying to count while being very distracted by a balloon:)

Mother's Day 2010

Happy late Mother's day to all of you Mom/Mommy/Mama's out there! I feel very blessed to have such wonderful role models in my life. I read someone else's Mother's day blog tonight and she titled it "To whom much is given, much is expected". I couldn't agree more. I am so proud to be the one chosen to be the mom to my two little rugrats. I sometimes complain about how much they "need" me, but the truth is, I hope everyone in the world feels a fraction of the amount of love as I do from my kids on a daily basis.

I had a great day yesterday, but was way too tired to blog about it last night! We spent the weekend up in Decorah. On Friday I watched my niece Gracie. It went WAY better than I thought it would, but that could be because Grace is pretty much a straight out of the textbook kind of baby. Then on Saturday Chris came up and we did a trip to the fish hatchery and even got some tennis in despite the frigid temperatures! Here's our 1st semi-successful photo of the 4 cousins together. We have some work to do, but at least no one is crying!



Max, as usual, got pretty excited about the idea of a holiday. When I told him on Saturday that Mother's Day was the next day, he asked what we did on Mother's Day. I told him it was a day to celebrate all the mommies of the world. His next response..."When is there going to be a day to celebrate Maxwell's?" Pretty clever I'd say. My mom helped Max with a little gift for me on Sunday morning. He woke me up to some fresh cut lilacs and a Hershey candy bar wrapped in the latest ad from the Sunday paper. He was so excited about it and wanted me to open the candy bar immediately (at 7:15 am) I obliged, but thankfully he turned his back just as I was going to eat it and I put it down. Even I can't eat chocolate that early in the morning! He must have been asking my mom some questions about Mother's Day because then a few minutes later he told me that Daddy gets to have a Mother's day in just a couple of weeks! Chris was thrilled to hear this news:)

We went to brunch and had a great time. Going to the country club in Decorah is a little like going to a class reunion. I got to see some of my old friends who now have kids of their own that I'd never met and I also saw some teachers who can't believe they're old enough to be saying Happy Mother's Day to a former student!

Chris topped the day off by volunteering to drive Mya home in the van! Max rode with me and fell asleep while Mya rode the whole way home without sleeping a wink! The only bad part of the weekend was coming home to a freezing cold (61 degree) house! We got through the night with some space heaters and after a service call this afternoon, we found out that there were 4 dead birds in our furnace pipe! Getting a few whiffs of that smell was enough to tell me that the $70 I was about to pay the guy would be the best $70 I'd ever spent.

Anyway...that wasn't intended to be so long! Here are a few pictures from the weekend.





Side note: Auntie Tara...I hope you enjoyed the pictures of Max in the leisure suit you bought him. After the fight we had to endure Sunday morning to get him to wear it...you can pretty much guarantee it will not be worn again:(

For Uncle Jeff

Cinco de mayo!

Most people don't know that back in 1912 Hellman's mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the "Titanic" was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after New York City.

Mexicans were crazy about the stuff.

The Mexican people were eagerly awaiting delivery and were disconsolate("desperados") at the loss. So much so that they declared a national day of mourning which they still observe today.

It is known, of course, as ...sinko de Mayo.

Ha, ha....just kidding. Happy Cinco de mayo everyone! This "voluntarily observed holiday" is my favorite 2nd tier holiday. It was also my 2nd favorite day of the school year when I was teaching. (can you guess my favorite day of the school year??) It's a fun excuse to eat good food, drink good drinks and wear a sombrero!

95% of people think that it's Mexican Independence Day, but it actually just marks the date when the Mexicans won an unlikely battle at Puebla against the French army on May 5, 1862. Mexican Independence Day is September 16th. Now that you got your history lesson for the day....go have a margarita!

Birthday wishes

Happy 86th Birthday Grandpa Bill! I'm sure today will be no different than any other day for him...walk a couple miles with a 125 lb dog (at least), breakfast at Denny's, cut the grass, work on some woodworking project, drink a pot of coffee, pick great-grandkids up at daycare, and read the newspaper and 3 magazines cover to cover! I'm pretty sure all of those things are what makes him the youngest 86 year old I've ever known. Here's to many more Bill. Wish we could see you more often!