33

I turned 33 a few weeks ago and had a wonderful birthday. Breakfast in bed, church, pedicure, and some of our family came over for dinner. It was a nice relaxing way to spend the day.

Chinese Cabbage

I was utterly shocked when I saw the size of the chinese cabbage I picked up today from our Crop Share. I'm pretty sure we could eat off it all week. We won't, but we definitely could.

A Week in Review

Swim Lessons. Hadley learned to swim last summer, but forgot how to or at least I thought she had. She jumped into the pool without anyone else in the pool a few weeks ago and did a mermaid kick. Frank said it was a 50/50 shot if she would have saved herself. He jumped in and saved her. So I quickly signed her up for swim lessons again. Wouldn't you know, that the day before she started she swam across the pool. Funny how that happens. But I am still really impressed with the sweet lady teaching her and how she got her to float on her back the very first day. Mrs. B is REALLY good at her job and Hadley adores her! Her instructor tells me that we have swim meets in our future and maybe even a kid swimming for the gold. She is a little fish. And is doing really well with her floating.

Art Lessons. Ellie had a private art lesson this week. She loved it. I think we are going to sign up for regular lessons. She started with the color wheel. With the three primary colors she made this:

And learned all about Primary, secondary and tertiary colors along with the compliment color.

Ice Cream man. He comes once a week now. And it's a great business for the ice cream man because treats are no longer 50-75 cents. Oh no. This man is making 2-3 dollars a treat. But the kids love it!! So when I actually have cash I give in.

Play date. A neighbor asked Hadley to come over for a play date this week. I sent her in an Aggie cheerleading outfit. Not on purpose. Hadley had actually dressed herself. But my friend sent her home like this. Yes, she's a die hard Tiger Fan.

Spinklers. The weather has been really weird this week. Yesterday we were wearing jackets in the morning and then playing in the neighbors sprinkler by the afternoon.

Running Club. A few weeks ago a group of about 15 kids in the neighborhood decided to start a running club. Every Monday and Thursday they meet and run a mile around our neighborhood. Gavin brings Tippy and they all love it. One of the moms hands out treats and prizes as they run. It's been three weeks and the kids are still excited to run. Not sure how much longer it will last when the Texas heat starts blazing.

Pointe West

We booked a last minute trip to Pointe West for our last five days of Spring Break. We were all really surprised how nice it was. We were excited to find a place within driving distance that was so relaxing and nice. Two pools, a lazy river, three salt water stocked fishing ponds, work out room, game room, two restaurants, crafts for the kids every day, smores and root beer floats at night, and golf cart & kayak rentals. The beach wasn't all that fabulous, but we didn't care. It was just nice to sit in the pool and view the bay or ocean. And sip a few pina coladas while doing so. :) And the weather couldn't have been more perfect!! The kids had a blast and we will most definitely be going back!

The kids all shared a queen bed...it actually worked out!!

We rented the golf cart for the week and drove it everywhere.

Lots of Fishing...

Quick picture after eating lunch outside.

Pictures on our balcony..

They Loved the Lazy River.

Gavin and I caught HUGE crabs.

We drove by the old beach house I had as a kid growing up. It is still standing.

Ellie and her first fish.

More fishing...we pretty much fished every day. The kids loved it.

The highlight of Gavin's trip- a 25'' red fish that he caught ALL ON HIS OWN. He was so proud!

We left the resort one time to eat at Marios and then hit up the Candy Factory on the strand. My parents always took me to both of these places when I was little. The kids loved them too- especially the Candy Factory!

Sad to say goodbye to such a great trip.

A Zoo- Literally

Two of my girlfriends and I took our kids to the zoo last week. It was a GORGEOUS day for the ZOO and everyone in Houston who wasn't out of town thought so too. It took an hour to get there and almost two hours to park. They even closed the zoo parking lot and wouldn't let us in because it was so full. That was a first. Luckily for the Suburban and my friends Tahoe, we weren't afraid to jump a curb, and stalk people walking out of the zoo for a parking spot. After driving around for nearly 1.5 hours we decided we had no other choice. Needless to say, once inside it was awesome and gorgeous and the kids had a GREAT time seeing all the animals and hanging out with their friends. It was worth the trip there and the TWO hour drive home where I thought I was going to run out of gas and didn't notice until I was in the far left lane of four lanes, in rush hour traffic, Downtown. Yes, that was fun. My friend had her head out the window and was asking cars to let us over. What an adventure. We finally made it to the gas station with 0 miles until empty. Thankful we made it home.

Our Garden 2011

Every year I make some sort of Garden. I used to do container gardening in our old house, but haven't here since our backyard is mostly pool and patio. Last year I tried those hanging planters where the plant grows upside down- they didn't work for me so I was disappointed. My neighbor Traci was doing her garden and I volunteered to help her and was telling her how jealous I am that she has the space in her backyard to do it. And she said, "Why, you could build one on your side yard." And I thought about it for two seconds before realizing she was totally right. I had two rose bushes die from the freeze. So instead of replacing them, I went to Lowes and had the lumber guy cut me wood to build a garden. I got 18 bags of different composts, peet moss, and vermiculite and let the kids each pick out their own plants. We headed to three different nurseries to get all we wanted and then headed home to get to work.

The night before Frank left for Bham, he nailed the main box together for me (He looks thrilled doesn't he? He didn't quite understand why we needed a garden when while he was in Montana I decided to buy a crop share of a farm in Brenham- more on that later.)

While Frank was away, the kid and I got busy. Gavin was so into it. He would get off the bus every day and want to do something else with the garden. And each time he did, even if it was to water the plants, he put on his cowboy hat. LOL.

So, first we mixed all of the soil on a big tarp so it was all mixed well. 18 bags. Mixing this was better than any workout I've had in the gym. But I had a great little helper to help with the big task.

Then we started filling the containers with dirt:

Next we soaked the plants really well in water until no bubbles came up and then we planted them:

In this container below we have four different kinds of tomato plants, cucumbers, mint, eggplant, mild and hot jalapenos, mixed sweet peppers, basil, and cilantro. To the side we have an aloe plant, and rosemary.

This is our lettuce garden (four different kinds of lettuce):

Our Kumquat Tree:

And the tree I drove all over town to find, our lemonade tree. It's a cross between a lemon and an orange. And supposedly when you juice the fruit, it tastes like lemonade. I hope I am not disappointed because I am so excited about this little tree.

I am bound and determined to find a Meyer Lemon tree. After that, I think we are officially done. I am hoping it all takes off and we get to reap the rewards of our labor with some fresh fruit and veggies!! I'll keep you posted.