Garden Update

Raised beds...potatoes in front are growing nicely, but the peas may burn up soon.

 I have been working on my garden little by little when I have free hands and no tiny one hanging on my leg....usually in the last wee minutes of daylight left each evening, if I'm not too worn out from the day.

This is the other side of my garden, where there are no beds yet. My plan is that next year, I have at least two or three more raised beds or bordered planting areas.

I love my tractor tire flower bed (:

Sunflower bed....going to have a ton soon!

The first of my sunflowers

Bubble Mania

Kids love BUBBLES! I decided to try my hand at making my own bubbles and I found this cute idea for a bubble refill container on Pinterest. I can't even remember where I found the recipe, but it works great!

I made the recipe times four to fill my container, but to make a single batch use:
1 cup water
4 Tbsp. Dawn or Baby bath--I used baby bath so it won't sting eyes
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

This will make a TON of bubble for CHEAP!!

I had a few frosting containers that I'd saved, because I just couldn't bring myself to throw them away, I knew they'd be handy for something and sure enough! They are great for filling with bubble and holding the bubble wands!

I thought this would be really fun since we have friends visiting with their kids this weekend and will save me from having to refill little bubble trays all the time! I can't wait to see how the kids like them!

Made in the Shade

We live in the country. We live in a barn...for real...well, sort of anyway. We have a huge metal shop building with 3/4 of it as my husband's business and the rest is our house. I know...sounds a little weird, but when you are in my house,  you don't know it's inside a shop. Anyway, one of the things that we did not do when we built, was build a porch for our house. Mostly because we had originally thought that we would build a house separate from the building and we didn't want to spend the extra at the time. Now, we have decided we kind of like the idea of staying where we are and adding on a porch, maybe an extra bedroom later, those sorts of things.
Anyway, to make a long story a little shorter, we have a ginormous playhouse that my husband built for our kids (only one kid then) when we moved in three years ago and it is the only place that we could even begin to shade until we add on the metal porch (which is, if you know anything about metal buildings, not a cheap endeavor). Yes, we have trees....small trees that hope to grow up someday. And, the east side of our building does not have a door from the house to it nor is it in the fenced yard.
We'd talked about using the space under the playhouse as a patio area....only problem is that the most open side of it faces west, which as you may know, is the hottest direction to be facing on a summer evening.

So, armed with a cordless drill borrowed from my neighbor (who lives 1 1/2 miles away), some laundry line rope, hooks, two fabric shower curtains, and 20 drapery ring clips, I went to work to make a shade that could be pulled back or taken down easily if needed.

Here's what happened:

 This is before I started...I didn't even pick up the Tonka trucks (:

 Since I was being "She-Woman" and doing this by myself, there are not lovely pictures of me trying to hold a huge DeWalt cordless drill on a step stool above my head to do this...that was the hardest part of the job.

  Looks a little like actual outdoor curtains, but WAY cheaper....the entire project only cost around $50 and half that was the shower curtains. The only thing I need to do now, is figure out a way to weight the bottom because we live in "Oooooooklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain...." and whips around everything in it's path!

Make Your Own Pizza Pockets

 Believe it or not, this is my own concoction! I'm sure there is a recipe for this out there somewhere, but I was improvising and came up with this quick, easy dinner idea- Pizza Pockets!

Ingredients:
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
2 oz. shredded part skim mozzarella
1/4 cup pizza sauce
2 oz slice ham
Desired amount of Italian seasoning


Heat oven to 375. Roll out crescent dough and take apart in quarter sections (two triangles together). Put about a tablespoon (give or take--to your taste) of pizza sauce on one end of the rectangle, then top with about 1/8 cup of cheese and 1/2 a slice of ham. Then fold over and press edges, then bake according to crescent directions, roughly 13-15 minutes-- Makes 4

*11 WW Pts. Plus each
*You can add veggies, different meat, different cheese- whatever pizza toppings you want--just make a pocket out of it!

BIG hit with the kiddos!!

Summer Bucket List

After searching Pinterest and online for summertime "bucket list" ideas, I was inspired to make my own list.

 Just a word of advice, though- if you search online, you will most likely become completely overwhelmed and feel that you are lacking in every area of your life because the woman with the perfect website or blog makes you want to puke on her perfect little picture because she can do nine thousand things with her ten kids in tow and still look super model-ish and unstressed as she tells you her latest homemade accomplishment ....whew...glad I got that out!

Anyway, the point is, that there is no right or wrong when it comes to your list and we can't do it all, contrary to popular belief (and all those cool blogs we come across--yes, I am guilty of feeling guilty, too!). So choose things that are meaningful to you and your own family. Also, be sure these are things that are realistic and doable for your family.

Take into consideration these tips when you make your list:

1.  The ages of your children- this one is self explanatory, you want things to be age appropriate

2.  Your summer schedule- for example, my husband is crazy busy at work and does weird night hours in the summer, so he is out for lots of things or we have to do them on the weekend

3.  Your geographic area -we live in a small town, 25 miles plus from lots of things to, so I wanted to be sure we added lots of things to do at home or very close

4. Your summertime budget-every mom knows you don't want to break the bank for a fun summer so 

             keep your budget in mind when you make the list

5. Ask your children what they'd like to do-I've been asking my four year old what he'd like to do this summer and he is already excited about doing many of the things on our list

I am already beginning to think that the benefits of doing the things on our list, will be that I can pass on wisdom to my children as we do things, they might accidentally learn something, the physical activity, the quality time together, and the memories we will be making. Don't forget to take pictures so you can remember your summer! One fun idea would be to take pics of each thing you do and make a bucket list photo book that your family can enjoy forever (and don't worry about this one...that's what all those cool photo sites are for-you can add pics and make a photo book without craft skills!)

Enjoy making your list! Here's mine- hope it inspires you to make your own with your family!!

 

SUMMER BUCKET LIST

o       Aquarium

o       Zoo

o       Philbrook Museum

o       Woolaroc

o       Movies

o       Library

o       Cherry Street Farmers Market

o       Broken Arrow Farmers Market

o       Picnic

o       Play in sprinkler

o       Blow bubbles

o       Paint outside

o       Sidewalk chalk

o       Make homemade ice cream

o       Swimming

o       Obstacle course

o       Treasure Hunt

o       Air & Space Museum

o       Camping

o       Visit a children’s museum

o       Visit a natural history museum

o       Go to a Pick-Your-Own farm

o       Make garden stepping stones

o       Make popsicles

o       Go to the Lake

o       Nature Center

o       Make butter

o       Mini golf

o       Go fishing

o       See some fireworks

o       Shade for under playhouse for table and sandbox

o       Incredible Pizza

o       Plant pumpkins & work in garden

o       Catch fireflies in a jar

Spring Garden

 My garden is a work in progress. Lots of people have the problem of not enough space...me, I have the opposite problem....there is so much space that I want to fill with beautiful garden that I don't have the time, money, or energy to do it all at once. So, I am taking baby steps.

 This year, I managed to convince hubby to let me have some raised beds instead of trying to take care of an enormous, spread out area. I wanted things more concentrated to help reduce weeds and make it, well, prettier. 

 I am trying out a method that is new to me (mostly since I haven't had a ton of gardening experience) but actually a method that has been used probably since the beginning of time....companion gardening.

 It's suprisingly simple really. It's just a matter of sorting and planning. As you can see, my garden is just beginning to grow, but I am looking forward to seeing what happens! 

Next year, I am definitely adding strawberries and some other perennial fruits and vegetables. After that, in the next few years....rock paths, arbors, sitting area, expanding my perennial flower garden, a little garden shed/greenhouse......aaaaah....I can see it now.....and my kids will grow and help...and hopefully, enjoy the garden as much as I do! There is so much to be learned there, as well!

World Vision Update

So.....we finally (a couple weeks ago) managed to raise our $100 for our World Vision gift of two chickens and a goat! This was something my four year old and I started around Thanksgiving and we put in pocket change, a dollar here and there, and he put in lots of his spending money (not just from his giving jar) into the bucket and we did it!!

Now, we have begun a new gift to work on...5 rabbits for $80. The boy is loving this and I love seeing him want to put all the change he can find in the bucket and seeing how fast we can fill it up! I discovered a clean cottage cheese container with a slot in the lid is a great way to do this because you can count it periodically and when you do lots of change like we do, you can take the whole thing to be cashed in when it's full and put the cash back in it right then. We put a picture of the rabbit on the container just like we did the goat and chicken one and we are all set!!

Also, World Vision will send you a card with a picture representing the gift you gave.