Gardening!

We've been wanting to have a garden for a while now. But... we have a tree issue.

Or several tree issues. 

All of these fall leaves (and this is only a fraction of what we get) are hanging tightly to branches all summer long, providing plenty of shade but virtually no sun. 

Last year an expert was nice enough to pay a visit to our house to give us any advice. He basically said we couldn't grow anything here. But, we could try some container gardening and move them around to the few spots on our decks that do get sun. So, we planted one container of lettuce and another of spinach.

We got a few sprouts and were sooo excited! So were the squirrels that love our landscape. They ate every last bit.

So that was last year. This year, a dear friend with a beautiful, sunny yard and a beautiful, successful garden offered to let us plant on her property. I was so excited. Britt was a trooper yesterday preparing the ground for our new plants. We have tomatoes (the kind Britt's Dad and Grandpa grew...yum!), zucchini, yellow pepper, lettuce and spinach. I'm hoping to plant a yellow squash plant, too.

We also bought a raspberry plant and some shade-loving herbs that we are going to try at the house along with new shade plants and ground cover for the yard.

To enjoy it all I painted a bench that's been sitting, neglected, on our front porch. And we added a hammock to a couple of the zillion trees in the back. Will try to get some pictures in the daylight and post.

Potty Surprise

Britt says this needs to be on the blog so we are going to blame him for its presence here. I would have to say it's definitely one of the funniest videos ever but, be warned, it's definitely bathroom humor (although no nudity).

So, we are still in the potty training process and it just takes a while. We read books and sing songs and just talk until "the moment" arrives. On this particular day she was talking so much I decided to videotape some of her cute expressions. Little did I know the cuteness would take a very sudden and serious turn.

Papa Visits the Classroom

Today was a special day for many reasons. First, it was the last day of student appreciation week and the kids have been doing fun things like crazy hair day, jersey day, show and share day...today was mismatch day. I think we pulled it off pretty well! It was also the day the kindergartners were rewarded with their banana split party. For weeks now they've been working to learn how to spell a list of more than 30 first grade words. The more they learned the more toppings they earned!

MISMATCH DAY!!

Probably the thing that made today the most special was that Papa was in town. We didn't want Nicole to miss school today so Papa (and Mommy and Allyson) went to her class and read the kids a story.

It wasn't long before Allyson spotted her sister and decided to join the group.

Then it was time to line up for lunch.

On the way to the cafeteria.

Watching Dad squeeze onto the kid-sized benches was one of the funnier things I've ever seen.

Nicole was called to the front to be recognized for receiving a "Happy Husky." Happy Huskies are awards any teacher or staff member can give to kids for catching them doing something good. In the background you can hear Dad telling Allyson that Nicole was receiving an award. Then you hear him say, "Where are you going?" It wasn't until I saw her little hairbows in the viewfinder that I realized Allyson went up to find her sister.

After lunch the kids take a lunch walk.

After school Papa and Nicole worked on puzzles and then she suckered him into playing the Horton game. He was thrilled.

That evening we went to the mall, to Andy's (of course) and came home to watch "Despicable Me." What a great day!

Our Little Graduate

Nicole graduated from kindergarten tonight. We were so excited to have Papa here to attend the ceremony.

Before everything started they had a slide show with each kindergartener's picture and a quote of what they'd like to be when they grow up.

Nicole said, "When I grow up, I want to be an archaeologist because I really want to find out the nature of the dinosaurs and I want to find real fossils." 

Some of the other kids' quotes were hilarious! Her classmate, Aidan, says, "When I grow up, I want to be a policeman because I've never seen a bad guy and I want to catch a bad guy one day." 

Little Kate says, "When I grow up, I want to be a mom because I am going to have some children and my children will give me company." Yeah, good luck with that one, Kate. Ha Ha. 

My favorite one...I didn't get a picture...was a little boy who said when he grows up he wants to be a Wal-Mart worker because they make $9/hour and they don't have to pay taxes on whatever they buy there and something about they make a lot of money. It was so funny!

Here's a few shots of the kids on stage. 

There are four kindergarten classes at her school. 

While other kids were getting their diplomas, Nicole and her friend, Kielee, were chatting it up. 

Nicole and her teacher, Mrs. Curry.

They did such a cute program. It started by telling us the year they will graduate high school: 2023!

Lifelong learners...

This song was my favorite! Unfortunately a group of people walked in front of the camera right at the end of the song. But then, at the end of the entire program, they repeated the end of the song! Yeah! (It's the last video on this post.) You can click on the "You Tube" icon and choose to watch it on you tube and the screen size is larger. (Don't worry, it's an "unlisted" video so only those with the link can watch it.)

Seven Days in a Week Song

Seven Days in a Week Part II

The kids sang a Spanish song called "Animales." Nicole loves Spanish and was pretty animated. I recorded it in three parts. The last part is very short... I didn't realize that, at the end, the kids would make all of these funny animal faces. I only got Nicole doing one of them but it's pretty cute.

Getting her diploma!

After receiving the diplomas they went back on the risers for the finale:

We went to Incredible Pizza after the ceremony (Nicole's choice). She tried to win a stuffed bunny with "the claw" game and, when it didn't work, the worker opened the door and gave her the prize! She was pretty excited. We gave her some balloons and a new puzzle to work on with Papa.



Zoo Field Trip

Allyson and I enjoyed tagging along on a field trip with Nicole's class on Friday.

Allyson loved the petting area.

Giving the goat a kiss. 

Chasing the duck. 

Cheetah. We learned this is the fastest land animal on Earth.

Sleepy little red fox. 

Another sleepy red fox. We thought they curled up like our Marrie dog. 

Elephants were snacking on the grass. 

We learned the Asian elephants, like this one have a smaller, bumpy head! 

Thankful for the fence. 

Raccoon. 

The giraffes are our favorite. You can buy feed for them and they'll eat right out of your hand.  

The bald eagle was absolutely beautiful. 

Wow. 

They had to go in the reptile house...

This snake freaked me out when it started moving its head and looking straight at me. 

After the zoo we went to the park for lunch. Unfortunately, I started not feeling well and Allyson and I had to go home. But a friend brought Nicole home so she could stay and enjoy the rest of the picnic and play time. Oh, and the bus ride back to the school!