Snail Hunting

We didn't have them for dinner but they were going to be part of a snail farm . . .

until a certain 5-year old went to show them to our chickens.

The End.

His Royal Sweetness & Sons

Surprised me yesterday with a camera I have been saving up for.

They have been saving up for this, too, only I didn't know it.

They are so thoughtful and good to me.

Now I need to get my chores done so I can go play!

Storms

Praying for our neighbors in Joplin.

{please pray}

And knowing all the while, there is no reason why that couldn't - shouldn't- have been our community. Contemplating storms with my boys today while watching one roll in and over us.

Langston was terrified that our dark clouds this morning were hiding a tornado like what we saw on the news last night. So, we decided to celebrate our 'rain delay'

{we had planned on playing outside all day today!} with a helping of indoor s'mores.

We'll be keeping the oven warm this afternoon as another round of storms is predicted for our area.

Track and Field

Home Cleaning Tip from the Mother of Sons

It's generally a satisfying feeling to watch my sons finish up their chores quickly so they can head outside and enjoy a great adventure after a satisfying meal.

And then, Spring Cleaning comes and I realize that their speediness is due to skipping the dust-pan step when it comes to sweeping.

Who needs a dust pan when your home is equipped with this handy, built-in crumb catcher?

I can only hope I don't find any mice or insects living in here. . .

Home Decorating Tip from the Mother of Sons

Fresh cut daisies next to a mysteriously-appearing camouflage sock {dirty, of course}

for a beautiful table centerpiece.

{Filing this in the 'if you can't beat 'em join 'em' category}

Just another reason why I've never been featured in Better Homes and Gardens.

By the way, this surprise was much nicer than the time I found underwear on my table. I know it is surprising to hear they weren't mine. . . No kidding. . .

Ry's Home Office

*WARNING* If you are a neat freak, you probably don't want to see these pictures. I find them very disturbing.

Our son, Ry-man, has a problem. It's more of a creativity problem, so perhaps not a problem at all. The last several months he has been addicted to drawing. He goes through 50-100 pieces of paper each and every day. Tree huggers, close your eyes.

Other than the perpetual mess on my living room floor, I am completely enjoying this addiction. I love to listen to him illustrate his drawings. There is a LOT of action involved in these pictures!

He loves each illustration and can tell me exactly what is happening in each one.

Just in the last week his office has included: Horatius at the Bridge re-enactment company, Civil War artifacts, battle scene re-enactment and book company, a medical clinic and a medical school, and a Star Wars something or other.

And then yesterday, because I couldn't stand it any longer {somebody please send this kid a filing cabinet!}, I helped him pick up about 200 sheets of paper {when he wasn't looking} and donated them to the recycling bin. A few hours later, Ryland had placed Crime Scene tape around his office {that's a completely different subject on why my kids have crime scene tape to play with. . .} so I'm thinking he probably noticed some papers were missing. Ugh!

Today, his office is home base for a detective agency. So far, though, I have not been interrogated.

Creative kids make me smile!

tomato adoption

Seems we don't really have room for the 90 {or so} tomato seeds that I planted several weeks ago. Thankful for my friends who have agreed to give some of them a good home for the summer!

The Egg Hunt

A truly wonderful thing about having older sons is I now have someone to hide Easter eggs for me. I save so many brain cells by not having to think up creative places to hide eggs!

They got pretty creative {by necessity} when it came to hiding their Dad's Easter basket. From what I can remember from this scene, duct tape or some sort of adhesive was involved.

Receiving, or at least pretending to listen to, last minute egg-hunt instructions. . .

"Stay out of your Mom's gardens. Anything with candy in it will be split 50/50 with me. . ."

Just kidding. Except about the gardens.

What came first, the egg or the cat?

I'm not sure if the egg was hidden by the cat or if the cat came to hide the egg!

A Thomas Lego train. Sheer delight!

Found!

It took awhile, but. . .

"Remember to stay out of Mom's gardens!" Hmmm...is this a test?

Leave it to my husband to hide my Easter stash next to our electric meter, a thing near and dear to his heart. Leave it to me to check there first. I do know him pretty well after 15 years!

Baby pears!

The hunt complete! Now time for sugar overload.

The beginning - our garden

Finally, it has warmed up enough to be outside in the garden. Except for the wind, yesterday was perfect for getting our hands in the dirt. It now officially feels like gardening season since the tomatoes are in. It will still be a few weeks for the squash and melons to go in, but we are getting there.

These are the seedlings we have been babying for the last two months- they are finally leaving the nest {greenhouse} and spent their first night in the garden last night. It was a proud moment for me- I get a little weird about my baby plants.

It doesn't look spectacular - yet. But I am able to envision what it will look like come July.

Three rows of beans - two rows of green bush beans {Kentucky wonder} and one row of pole beans {Dragon Tongue}.

Tomatoes. I love tomatoes. We have Yellow Pear, Amish Paste, Lemon Drop, Gold Medal, Jelly Bean, Roma, Green Zebra, Eva Purple Ball and Brandywine. Have I mentioned that I love tomatoes?

The peas we planted in early March are doing really well and I'm looking forward to harvesting them in about a month, as long as it doesn't get too hot.

The raspberry patch. So excited to harvest berries this year!

The girls - not part of our garden, but they are next to the garden so we can visit every time we are out there. How I wish I could give them a free-range life. Someday!!

Our broccoli looks very happy and healthy.

And last, but not least, my big helper last night. The garden is definitely a family project.