The Long Awaited Table!

Getting this table was quite the accomplishment! It started last year when we sold our old table on a Monday evening and had planned to turn immediately around on the weekend and buy a new table. Well about Wednesday car troubles struck and instead of dipping into our regular budget we used the table money! It was good to not have to worry, but bad cause now we could not get our table! This was BEFORE Thanksgiving. Just before Christmas we borrowed a folding table from some friends so that I could have a place to put my sewing machine for Christmas projects. And we used that until just before Easter! Ha Ha Ha  At first we were waiting to get enough money together again to get the table and chairs and bench with out denting our regular budget. The week of Christmas we received in the mail a Christmas card containing a Gift Card to Walmart for just the amount we needed for this set. We do not know who sent it, we have suspicions, no matter we are VERY grateful for this kindness and generosity!  So, why, do you ask did it take so long to get it? Back order. Yup, multiple times, and in various color schemes. I took to checking Walmart.com daily until it was there in the color we wanted! We are SO glad to have it!

Honestly, I didn't realize just how much I missed having a table until I got one back! And I had been missing it!  A couple days after we got it we went to the fabric store and got some cloth for covers. This is what the minis picked out. I really like both actually, and love that they are stain resistant!

Garden Saga: Round 2

So after we lost our first set of seedlings I decided to try direct seeding everything. The peas are actually starts from inside, but everything else was a second attempt direct seed.

 You may wonder about the paper cups in my garden... Let me explain. I thought it would be a good idea to use the seed starting pellets from the indoor starter kit, but needed some way to keep them concentrated in the garden. So I cut the bottom off the cups put the pellets in them and put the seeds in the pellets, my hope was that this would give the seeds a good start and then help them root in the regular soil.

 These are the radish starts. We litterally just stuck them in the ground! These and the cabbages and beets. And they are all doing well! ( I was surprised at how very very tiny the cabbage sprouts were!)

 This is more or less how we look today! The farthest away are the beets, then the cabbage then the radishes.

 My watermelon row is looking slightly better now, but still sad.

 The big ones are the zuchinis. The medium sized ones are the summer squash. The small ones in the back there are the cucumbers. Everything is getting round two or miracle grow tomorrow!

 And here are our peas. They have not grown much to be honest. I just dont know that we are going to get any peas. They say it is too hot here, they may be right!

 For the record, if all else fails, we can declare this years garden at least a partial success! These are fresh radishes I picked today! MMMM watch out, some of them have a bit of a kick!

The Garden Saga

Okay, so we decided to make a valiant effort at a vegetable garden this year. First I asked Matt to modify my existing garden.  Instead of one large 16X13 bed he divided it in to 4 3.4X13 beds. This makes it much more manageable for me to do alone.

I prepped the soil with the aid of my handy new  manual tiller. Good abs work out if you want to know!

The kids and I started every thing inside from seeds.  I must admit the plants in the above and following pictures all died. Well not the tiny little pea plants you see, but they obviously didnt get put out in this round of planting.

Here they are. The next morning the looked awful! The next morning they were dead!! As in returning to the soil already! So sad.  But I was not about to let this be the end! I tried again. More to come!

More Easter!

The Minis got to open their Easter gifts before church so that they could have them at church. The each received an age appropriate New Testament. Up until now they had only the Book of Mormon, time to branch out!!!

 After we opened them we went through the Easter story again, so they would understand what we are celebrating! Then off to church.

 After church and naps we went up to Uncle Billy and Aunt Linda's house for dinner and an egg hunt! Super Fun!! The kids are waiting with Uncle Brandon for the eggs to be hidden.

 They are ready for the Hunt!!

 Aunt Linda explained the rules and game!

 Clara was telling Aunt Deb about all her loot!

 They did hugs and kisses around, these are the two I caught on camera! We sure love this crew!

 Ben LOVES his watch! Now he doesnt have to steal Uncle Brandons!

 Showing out for Ray Ray!

 More family phot opps!

 The baskets were HUGE hits! (yes that is our first barbie!) and Ben is flying a fighter jet!

 Even Rebel Dog had an Easter surprise! He hunted up his new monkey while the kids were huntin' eggs!

Finally we capped of an amazing day with a campfire and some "would you rather".  Great fun! We are soo blessed!