Rule #13: Sometimes you just have to be patient

A lesson for both parents and children. Haven't posted about the kids lately so this one is a "people" post!  Last week Mckinley started the "army crawl" using her legs as well, but not up on her knees. She has been a bit frustrated about not being able to do what she wants and we have been anxiously awaiting the first real crawl.  She has quite a strong personality and definitely keeps us on our toes.  Lately she has begun waving and handing me various objects that she picks up. We are quite surprised that she can actually get her little puffs out of the snack cup. She has also been saying "Da Da" for a while now, but now sometimes specifically calls John Da Da.  She has said it a couple times when he enters the room, but also says it for other things.  She also loves the /T/ sound.  First word?  I'm not calling it yet. Larkyn has been enjoying the warm weather and is able to climb and slide without hesitation. She is doing really well with the climbing stairs which are pretty large steps for her little legs! She is also still thrilled with going to school and continues to amaze us with funny little phrases, comments, and new skills. Recently she has begun hearing sounds within a word and pointing them out. She has been recognizing the beginning sounds in words and pointing that out for a while now, but recently told me that Rapunzel starts with a R and at P.  When I inquired she sounded out the word emphasizing the /R/ in the beginning and the /P/ in the middle. Then I understood and we talked about the fact that that was  a middle sound and continued to talk about the ending sound. Music to a reading teacher's ears!  We have all enjoyed the recent warm weather and are proud to say that all the garden beds are weed free and the new beds in front of the garden are on their way to being made. Wish I could have planted this weekend, but hopefully that will happen some time this week :)

Valentines Day 2012--Banana Grams for her teachers

Celebrating Read Across America Day--Oobleck!

Vino Bambino!

Forgot to post about Larkyn's first Letter in December!

Proud Girl!

Rule #12: Start Your Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplant EARLY!

In the past years I have been so jealous to see the gardening stores have huge plants by May, so every year I have been starting my seeds earlier and earlier.  Last year we got some relatively inexpensive lights and I rigged them to a low plastic container if front of the basement window.  It worked out pretty well, but this year not only did we start a bit earlier (yay) but John rigged an even better lighting system in the same location (on Petey's dog crate).  Talk about DIY and use what you have! I love it.  The lights were a little higher than I would have liked, but they worked out fine so we just left them.  Please ignore the books in the back.  We are in the midst of reorganizing the basement.  Anyone want some old MLA or Holt Handbooks?????  So the 6 varieties of Tomatoes (Brandywine, Italian Heirloom, Gold Medal, Federle, San Marzano, and Cherry), Eggplants (Listada and Diamond), Peppers (Heavyweight, Healthy, Bull Nose, and Orange Bell), Basil, and Flat leaf Parsley were all started on February 23rd.  The next week I also made some newspaper pots for the Fuju Dawn flowers I ordered and Royal Carpet Alyssum flower seeds I have had for a few years.  Another new experiment was that I planted some Marigold seeds and Sensitive plant seeds in an egg carton.  We'll see how that goes!  The Sensitive plant seeds are very old, so I'm not sure that they will come up.  Today is officially Harvest Monday where you can check out what people around the world are growing at Daphne's Dandelions (on my blog list).  I am sprouting some mung beans and that's about all that is new this week.  I am not going to add anymore pics of the radicchio and arugula but they continue to be plentiful and producing for us. Guess planting almost 100 will do for us and last the whole winter.  Many of the plants are on a second crop for us as I cut at the base of the plant and they sprout up again!  I am excited to potentially have a few newer types of Chicory, Swiss Chard and Tatsoi under the hoop house next winter.

The DIY Set Up!

Another Shot of the New Set Up!

Baby Tomatoes- March 5, 2012

Baby Tomatoes

Couldn't Resist Another Perspective!

The Newspaper and Egg Carton Pots (some baby plants are emerging).