Herb Garden In Progress

In my neck of the woods, March brought us record rainfall. It rained and it RAINED!! Now April has brought us record warm temperatures. Tomorrow it is supposed to be in the 80's! Craziness. I packed up the winter hats and snow pants today really hoping that we don't get hit once more with snow. This is New England, it is still April, and it really could still snow.

According to the Farmers Almanac, it is not safe to plant here until May 9th, the date that the Almanac estimates we will be free of the danger of frost. This date is over a month away and I am itching to start planting NOW!!!!! But, until then, the kiddos and I have been outside every day getting the gardens ready. The first one we tackled was the herb garden. I wish I had pictures of the before. It was in ROUGH shape.

Now, I have to say,  this herb garden has been a long term project.  When the hubby and I bought the house almost 5 years ago, the herb garden was a lovely fish pond. A pond that did not hold water and was the biggest pain in my neck. So the fish pond got filled in, and the herb garden was started. At this time I worked full time and gardening and my job in retail did not work well together.  The next spring/summer I was preggers with Logan. I made a lot of progress at the beginning of the season, but once I couldn't bend over to weed, the garden went wild. Gardening and being huge with baby did not work well together either. And the spring/summer after that, Logan was a baby, which also did not mesh with the gardening. And the next 2 years, repeat with being preggers and again with having a baby to tend to.

Now, with no job, no pregnancy, and no baby, this is the year I plan on getting all the gardens in order- the herb garden, the veggie garden, and the various flower gardens. This might be wishfull thinking, but with Logan and Sophie (and the hubby who excels at heavy lifting and digging up monster Hostas) as my eager assistants, I am hoping that we can do it!

So, with out further ado, here is the herb garden, minus the plants.

I removed 9 monster Hostas from around the edge- remnants of the past life as a fish pond.

I made 4 "benches" out of rocks, one for each member of the family. I want to make plaster decorative stones to put in front of each bench. I want the kiddos to have their own spot to plant near their bench. I can't wait until May 9th!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

I Am But A Child

Logan came home from school today with this poem in the valentine from his teacher. It is so beautiful and true of every child at the age of 3!


I Am But a Child

Look at me, I am but a child.
I won't be grown up for awhile.
Let me enjoy my childhood days
Give me opportunities to run and play.

Let me make discoveries, give me space
That I might develop at a steady pace.
Let me be messy, let me explore
Then as I grow I will learn that much more.

I am very energetic though still quite small.
I run, climb, spill and that's not all.
I am but a child in my own little world.
Inside me there are struggles and twirls.

I have not learned to share or sit still,
When I am older perhaps I will.
I am full of life and curiosity
But that is how I learn, you see.

I need your help in all I do.
I need your love and approval too.
I need your patience day after day
So that I can grow in a positive way.

Play with me, smile at me, hug me too.
I need to know that I am accepted by you.
With your help and guidance, I'll grow to be
all that you expect from me.

by Lenora McWhorter

Valentine Crayons

We are on a cleaning and de-cluttering spree over in this household. While going through our crafting supplies I noticed we had 2 containers full of broken, old crayons. By OLD, I mean some of these crayons are a good 20+ years old, and I'm not joking! They came from MY Nana's house. The crayons I colored with when I was little. Yeah, we don't throw anything away over here!

I have always wanted to melt down crayons to make big cool looking crayons, so I figured we would give it a try. I found a "recipe" here, and I actually went out and bought a Valentine themed cookie tin (mutli-functional, and used to make Valentine cookies too). I decided to use all the crayons on hand and buy him a new box of "big boy" crayons now that he has finally stopped breaking and eating them. Here are pictures of our project in action!

 

 

Ha, Ha, I just noticed Hubby sleeping on the couch in the last picture! Here are pictures of the finished product:

 

This is Logan's "Space Ship" color. 

We had a lot of fun making these. And the house didn't smell like something burning, like the hubby kept saying it was going to. They look nice, but they don't really function that well. I was hoping that we would have created  large enough crayons for Sophie to manuever with her little hands, which she can, but they only work when held at a certain angle. It seems that most of the wax floats to the top when melted.  Maybe from using cheap crayons? The wax part doesn't make a mark. Oh well, they will be perfect for rubbing creations.

Homemade Graham Crackers

The kiddos are huge graham cracker fans.  We eat them like they are going out of style.  Since I try to cut out on preservatives by making what I can at home, I thought I would give homemade graham crackers a try.  Would they notice?

The first time I made them, Logan helped me. We used the same cookies cutters we used for our Christmas cookies. I think he was expecting the finished product to taste like the cookies, so he wouldn't eat them.  The next time I made the graham crackers I cut the dough into rectangles so they looked more like the store bought ones, and he loved them. Kids are weird.

Graham Crackers

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup butter or shortening (I use butter)
* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I use light brown sugar, because that's what I have, but dark brown sugar     might make them darker)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (sometimes I use a little more)
* 2 cups whole wheat flour (I use graham flour)
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon cinnamon (we like cinnamon, can use less or omit)
* 1/2 cup milk

* cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on top

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter (or shortening) and brown sugar. Stir in the vanilla. Combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Cover and chill dough until firm. It may seem really hard after chilled, but it softens when rolled.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into rectangles, or use a cookie cutter for fun shapes. Place 1/2 inch apart onto the greased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crisp. Edges will be golden brown. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

Boob VS.... Bottle???

OK, I'll admit it. I subscribe to Parenting magazine. My school age neighbor was selling magazine subscriptions as a Drama Club fundraiser, and I couldn't say no. It was the cheapest of all the "parenting" magazines, and at the time came with a free subscription to Sesame Street Magazine, which is pretty sweet.  So, anyway, I am sitting at the bus stop waiting for Logan's bus, flipping through the latest edition of Parenting, and an article catches my eye. Well, not really an article, but one of those 1/2 page FYI type paragraph things, titled "Spotlight on Bottle-Feeding" by Patty Onderko.   The first two sentences really got my blood boiling! Here they are:
 
"Breastfeeding has become so politically correct that moms who bottle-feed are reporting that they receive very little information on how to do it right, according to the latest review of studies.  "Once a woman decides to bottle-feed, she should be supported," emphasizes British researcher Rajalakshmi Lakshman, M.D."

Where to start, where to start??!!!  Well, I guess first off, I don't think the issue is BREASTFEEDING VS BOTTLE FEEDING, as the article sets the sides.  I breastfeed. I use bottles, or I would if I worked or had a kid-not-included social life and actually needed to pump. Most women who breastfeed use a breast pump and store breast milk. How else is the child going to get this breast milk, but with a BOTTLE?!   This statement gives a false impression to perspective breastfeeders that if you breastfeed, you can't touch a bottle and that a breastfeeding mom must always have her boob ready for feeding time.  After all, the first point in this article is how to safely clean a bottle, something ALL moms should know. That's why I believe the issue is Breastfeeding vs FORMULA FEEDING, and it soooo drives me bonkers when formula feeding is called "bottle feeding"!

And as for calling breastfeeding "politically correct"???? UMMMM, how about calling it "what Pediatricians recommend"?? Calling breastfeeding "politically correct" makes it sound like a fad, and  that women who breastfeed are doing it to make some sort of statement, not because it is best for them and their baby. GRRRR.

Now, I'm not all anti-formula over here. I  only breastfed Logan up to 7 months, so he was formula fed for awhile. Did I once think I was doing it "wrong"? Uh, no. I read the container. Unlike boobs, formula containers come with DIRECTIONS!!!! Seriously, the only problem I had was not being able to find the little scoop! But maybe that's just me, because there must be some women out there having problems if there are actual "studies".

And as for being an "unsupported" bottle feeder?? Hello! Not once when I fed Logan a bottle in public did I get uncomfortable glances from passersby like I do when I breastfeed Sophie in public. Not once did people act surprised when Logan still had a bottle at 11 months, like they did when they heard Sophie was still being breastfed at that age.  Women don't give up "bottle feeding" because they have no one to turn to for help. Now really, are we going to be seeing fliers around town for "bottle-feeding" support groups?!

In defense of Parenting magazine, they also had a blurp on the same page that states that women are breastfeeding longer. And there is also a full page add for a car battery which I thought was pretty impressive.

Wordless Wednesday