Quote of the Day

"So, dude. What are you going to do all summer now that you're done school?"

"I'm gonna stay inside a lot ... and play school."

(Now there's a dedicated student!)

First Harvest!

We ate our first harvest from the garden today! It was a radish. A single, tiny, lonely radish we carefully sliced into four little pieces :-). Many of the radish's friends should be ready to pluck from the ground this weekend!

In other gardening news, we have plenty of green poking up through the soil. The spinach, peas, beans and sunflowers appear to be growing especially well. Sadly, the zucchini is nowhere to be found. (We planted the seeds over three weeks ago, so we should have sprouts by now. Right?) This past weekend we sowed our second crop of beets, carrots and lettuce. We also thinned all those cute little seedlings.

Gardening is turning out to be really fun. Our three-year-old especially enjoys helping mommy water the plants each morning. (She also enjoys digging up the plants. Yikes!)

The Big Green Field

Our family loves the big soccer field behind our house. It is truly an endless source of entertainment. Right now I am watching (what I suspect is a church group) play a rowdy game of dodge ball. Yup. Dodge ball. It is hilarious.

In other parts of the field I see a young family chasing after toddlers, another family lounging in the grass, and a couple of soccer players. Earlier this afternoon I saw a man flying a huge kite. A cricket league plays in our field several nights per week. Kids' soccer practices are always fun to watch at supper time.

I think we love our field because it is fun. Almost without fail, people visit the field to play and relax. We hear lots of laughter. The sea of lush, green grass is rather intoxicating and people enjoy playing within it.

When I think of all the ways God has blessed our family, I am truly thankful for our beautiful house. Most of all, I am grateful for the huge grassy field it sits upon.

Quote of the Day

This morning I cracked open a jar of mayonnaise to use in a recipe. Our little girl saw the jar and exclaimed:

"Hey look, Mommy! It's egg butter!"

The Whirlwind

Phew! We're caught in a busy season around here. End of school activities fill our calendar for the next couple of weeks. For a family who plays it very low-key, we're not used to all the excitement! I'm looking forward to the end of the craziness next week!

We've been...

Dancin' up a storm

Celebrating kindergarten graduation

Crafting for a special birthday girl

Baking for a party

Practicing piano

Shopping for the teachers

Working on the yard

Going on a field trip

Hangin' at a picnic

And trying desperately to stay caught up on sleep!

Menu Plan Monday

June 8, 2009

Here's our menu plan for the upcoming week:

Monday:  No cooking (supper with my parents)

Tuesday:  Chicken, tomato and red pepper pilaf, green salad

Wednesday:  Super-easy quesilldias, sliced oranges  

Thursday:  Meaty noodle casserole, fruit salad

Friday:  Leftover night

Saturday:  Homemade pizza, veggies with dip, cupcakes for the Birthday Girl!

Sunday:  No cooking (supper with Ben's parents)

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Org Junkie!

Who Ordered This Crazy Weather???

Tonight they're forecasting frost for the third night in a row.  It's June!  Where is all this cold weather coming from?

I've diligently covered our garden each night with old sheets.  I think almost everything has survived.  The peas actually seem to be loving the cold temperatures.  Only the tomato plants look frost-bitten (and I think they'll bite the dust, sadly).  At least it's early enough in the season to try the tomatoes again. 

Here's to hoping tonight is the last we see of winter!

Say It Ain't So!

Here's to hoping our cute little sprouts don't freeze tonight.  They're predicting a chance of SNOW!  It's June, for goodness sake!  I'll definitely put our garden to bed under some comfy old sheets tonight.

Let the Sun Shine In!

The big gardening news of the day?

We have sunflower sprouts!  In one day they are already becoming HUGE (compared to our other little seedlings).  I'm curious to see how quickly they grow.  The variety we chose is supposed to reach six feet tall!

I'll need to buy some garden stakes this weekend...

Great Books for Children:

How Groundhog's Garden Grew

by Lynne Cherry

Gardening seems to be the topic of the moment around here :-).  Our family has shared much excitement this week watching tiny sprouts emerge in our backyard garden.  It's been fun and a terrific learning experience for us all.

Our family is also reading the following fantastic book:

Lynne Cherry wrote and illustrated How Groundhog's Garden Grew during several artist-in-residencies at institutions such as the Smithsonian Museum and Cornell University.  Cherry's illustrations are beautifully detailed.  Our family particularly enjoyed the pages depicting many types of sprouts!  The story "introduces children to the cycle of an entire gardening year: gathering seeds in fall; storing them in winter; planting in spring; weeding and watering in summer; and a delicious and bountiful harvest at Thanksgiving time."

I can only hope our little backyard garden grows to be as lush and green as Mr. Groundhog's ....