Hula

E's teacher is from Hawaii, and their class along with a few others were asked to sing a traditional Hawaiian song for her school's May Day Assembly this morning. She was also asked to read for part of the celebration!

Welcome Atalie Mae

Congratulations to my brother, sister-in-law, & Atalie's big sister Inger!

April 29, 2010

12:02pm

9 pounds 6oz
19in

A Game of Catch

New Games, Lot's of Fun!

The Rocky Theme Song

Can you hear it?

I finished the garden today!  After I tenderly placed the last start (chives), I brushed the dirt from my knees and gloves, & punched my fist into the air as those celebratory trumpets bugled inside my head.  I did a little dance in my gray hooded sweatshirt, pumped my fists in front of me and shouted "Woo-Hooo!"  Of course we're not even close to done, there's lots of maintenance and tending to do, but the hard labor of digging and tilling is so over.  Now I can get back to being a bit of an inside mommy, and planning our chicken coop!

Keeping an Eye on Me

N likes to snack from his little roost behind me and belly laughs as I toss handfuls of turf into the wheelbarrow, or rev up the engine on the rototiller after I've cleared a section for planting.

I decided to leave a little walking strip between the two beds; something interesting to break things up and I can always rip it out if I run outa room...Although looking at it from this vantage point, I'm seeing that I probably didn't leave myself enough clearance for the lawnmower...(sigh).

Carrots, Cuc's & Sunflowers

This morning I had some extra help out in the dirt, while N slept.  E's been home sick for the last 2 days due to a sore throat, and her cousin Mabel get's to come and hang with us on Friday's again!  With their help I was able to extend the bed another 2 feet out, and sow carrot seeds, cucumbers and giant sunflowers!

Tomorrow:
potato's
bush beans
pumpkins
lettuce

Tickle, Tickle!

D is still getting used to the routine early morning wake up calls our baby kindly gifts us.  This morning I looked up from the computer just in time to see N reaching up to tickle his dad's foot as he lay on the couch.

Workin' the Earth

Happy 40th Anniversary Earth Day!  Today I was up to my elbows in soil and compost.  I changed my mind about the final location of our garden, and started in, again.  It's a s-l-o-w process because I'm ripping out grass and reusing it in another part of the yard, so I can't just till everything under...After I got an 8' x 6' bed all ready with the compost all mixed in, I just had to my tomato's to their new home (and you can see my raspberries along the fence line)!  I'm bone tired, a little sunburned but very excited about being well on our way to growing a lot of our own food this summer!

On the other side of our hideous chain link fence I moved a few plants in from across our backyard, and added a little ornamental rock path and border with all the stones I've been picking out of the pea patch.

Make Week

I'm a few days late in the game, but check out Simple Organic's 'Make Week' idea!

Celebrate Earth Day's 40 Anniversary with a Carbon Neutral Blog

Did you even know your blog in effect gives off CO2?  "According to a study by Alexander Wissner-Gross, PhD, physicist at Harvard University and environmental activist, an average website causes about 0.02g (0,0008oz.) of carbon dioxide for each visit. Assuming an average blog gets 15,000 visits a month, it has yearly carbon dioxide emissions of 3,6kg (8lb.). This can mainly be tracked back to the immense energy usage from (mainframe) computers, servers, and their cooling systems."  For every single blog that participates in this project, “Make it Green” and “Arbor Day Foundation” will plant a tree in the Plumas National Forest, which is situated in Northern California and was devastated by multiple fires in 2007.  This program originally started in Germany with a goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.  They plant a tree for your blog and thereby neutralize it's carbon footprint for the next 50 years! Everyone can make a small contribution to the environment. Every tree counts!

Visit the Make it Green website and see how you can join, Arbor Day is April 30th.

* Quotes from Make it Green website
* Photo from  PLAY Green

:::::

This is the response I recieved after my request was submitted:

"Thank you so much for participating in our initiative and making your blog carbon neutral! Your tree will be planted this month by the Arbor Day Foundation. The scheduled start plant date was Monday, April 19 and the trees will be planted by a contracted crew. The roads are being plowed, all contracts solidified, and twelve shipments of 150,000 seedling each are being assembled. We thank you for the support!

There are still some trees looking for a sponsor. So if you know some people who have a blog or website, pass it on and we'll make their blogs carbon neutral too!"

The Leaning Tower of N

* FYI you may find this easier to view in a dark room



Can you believe this?!  This week the little turd has habitually fallen asleep sitting up!  The first time he did it his room had been quiet for about a half an hour after I had put him down for his morning nap, so I went in to check on him.   I found something identical to what this little clip shows and immediately helped him lay down which woke him up and threw him into another "I don't wanna take a nap," fit.  So the last few times I've just let him figure it out, but the end result is pretty much the same; he'll fall over eventually which startles him into tears...He's totally going to be one of those annoying people that fall's asleep on your shoulder on an airplane.

Sunday, Fun-Day!

The weather was terrific today!  E had her bud Asher spend the night last night and all 3 kids were early risers this morning so we took 'em out to a coffee shop before we bought what I consider to be my very best Craigslist find e-v-e-r!  You'll recognize it from yesterday's post, only this little green seat is ours (the other's was borrowed)!  Yay!  These things normally run for about $100, and we walked away with ours for a twamp ($20)!  We picked up new helmets for the kids, made our first trip to the park as a foursome!  E has had a little bit of trouble transitioning from her beginner bike to this new one (new to her, it was mine growing up) but she's taking the spills with stride & smiles.

And N loves riding up front with his dad.

Mushroom Head

We're getting in gear for our summer bike rides!  In preparation we've been looking for the best way to cart the boy around...we got a trailer off Craigslist and we're test driving a few bike seats to see what will work best for us.  N got to try out this handlebar seat this evening, and wasn't too sure about what was happening; he especially didn't like the round bulbous helmet we strapped on. Although to be fair, the first time I snapped it on I accidentally pinched that tender waddle under his chin...

Sweater

 Same stripes, 5 years apart!

*Tania took the 1st on of E when she was 11 months old, and now here N is just a few weeks away from that point.

Backyard Farming Giveaway!

Want this Peeler?

Enter to win over on Backyard Farming!

Cousins Meet

We couldn't stay away for long.

Axel & Auntie

E just held him, and held him, and held him

Sweet Cuddle Time

The Cousins

Bird's Eye View

N got his 1st shoulder ride today!

Welcome Axel Benjamin!

Axel Benjamin Birt

Born at 6:45pm

8lbs 11oz

21.5"

After laboring most of the day at home my sister gave birth to a very healthy baby boy this evening just 3 hours after arriving at the hospital!  He looks so much like his older sister, and yet he called up quiet little nuances of my own boy too (maybe it's just their boy-ness).  He has curly sandy blond hair, long fingers and had already found his thumb.  Laila was as excited as any 1 1/2 year old could be.  She kept pointing to her brother saying "Baby," and "Nigh-night," as he was pretty sleepy for her visit.

The Big Sister

Face to Face

The Whole Clan

Gram & Papa

A Little Laugh

Useless into Useful

I bought this Noah's Ark & Animal's puzzle toy for E before she was born.  She played with it very sparingly and mostly it just collected dust.  It's cute and all, but doesn't make sense.  You can shove any of the animals into any of the slots sideways so there's no skill sharpening at all.  N has used it a little more, he'll rip off the top, dump all the animals out, and then drop them into the boat's belly again with a very sweet sense of pride.

Then just today I was on an online mission to find baby friendly refrigerator magnets (ones that I could theoretically leave N alone with and not worry that his bowels were pinching closed while he slept because he swallowed a few on the sly).  And a light bulb went off!  I fired up glue gun, and adhered large super magnets to the back of all the wooden animals!  Yay!  And N loves 'em too!