Keep Calm and Carry On

I have seen a version of this picture/poster in many places and think it is pretty clever. A great mantra at our house. However, I thought the other two were pretty clever too. I think I NEED that pillow.

dontchathink?

Little things

Last time we were in Cali, mom showed Tris and I her straw bale gardens and we were so excited about it that we both went home and started our own. It took about two weeks to condition them and get them all ready for planting (notice the big white bag of ammonium sulfate?). The girls and Westy happened to get quite good at soaking them with water every day.

I planted mine a week ago. Here's what they looked like on the 15th of March. Lots of tomatoes, basil, dill, squash, even some strawberries. I probably should have planted lots of one or two things instead of one or two of a bunch of plants. I am growing quite a bit of tomatoes though. We're hoping for a bumper crop before the heat kicks up.

(Oh, this makes me so giddy) Here's what they look like today. One week later and I swear, no MiracleGrow! My little desert garden is happy and thriving!!! Can you see how fast things are growing? If you listen closely, you can hear all those little plants thank me for planting them in such a nice little garden.

Trip to Palo Alto

Last weekend, Ryan and i had a fun getaway (without kids!) to Palo Alto. Our hotel was actually right across the street from Stanford. BEAUTIFUL.

When we came home, I had to laugh. The only pictures we took were of the local high school (Los Gatos), a beautiful field in Palo Alto, and a house we loved (Los Altos). We actually walked through a few open houses, ate the most delicious sushi EVER!, and ended up in Santa Cruz one afternoon.

We are such real estate nerds...

St. Patricks Day

Yesterday morning we were in the middle of our normal getting ready routine. I was getting myself dressed and ready, kids were supposed to be cleaning their room (disaster! and a never-ending battle) and making their bed before we got breakfast on. I heard a loud scream from the girl's room and Neeley ran in screaming. She had somehow fallen from the top bunk onto her left arm. After doctor's appointments, x-rays, and a trip to the orthopedic doctor, we found out she has a minor fracture on her wrist and needed a cast. I thought the cast should be green for St. Patty's day, but alas, no green cast material.

We did end the day with a nice potluck at the park with friends.

Happy International Women's day!

I know it is a day late, but my sister found this and I couldn't resist copying. Too good to pass...

The 1932 Soviet poster dedicated to the 8th of March holiday.

The red text reads:

The 8th of March: A day of rebellion by working women against kitchen slavery.

The grey text in lower right reads:

Say NO to the oppression and vacuity of household work!"

I actually found a real explanation of this on wikipedia. Look it up, it actually sounds like a riot! To celebrate the holiday, I ran myself sore at 5am (which wasn't too hard to do, I haven't been in a while. Okay, a long while. hello????)

washed every sheet and blanket in the girl's room, cleaned out a closet, went to a school program, , shuttled kids around to all their after school activities, spent a good long while making dinner only to have not one person touch it, homework, piano practice, and finally falling to sleep at 8:30. Yep. 10 toes up by 8:30. Glamorous, I know.

Happy International Women's day to all women out there!

I want to be a Fairy

Dear Tooth Fairy,

How are you doing? What do you make our teeth into?

Can we be secret fairy pals? If not, it is ok. If yes, that's great!

If you can, leave a bag of fairy dust on the paper. Place right here.

Love, Hattie

I wish to be a fairy

Transportation day

We have one of the coolest community events every year. Transportation Day is a Saturday morning full of all sorts of vehicles/transportation items on display and lots of things for kids to climb on, in and around. This was particularly fun for us because Westy is all about things that transport.

His favorite??? The garbage truck, the UPS truck and the trains. I assume it is because he sees these things around our community every day. They had so many means of transportation, buses, horses, cars galore, motorcycles, boats, bikes, delivery trucks, fire trucks, school buses, etc. Here are only a few of our favorites.

Garbage truck. We sat in line for this one the longest and he was pretty peeved when we had to leave.

A helicopter landed right in the field by the parking lot. It really was awesome.

Border Patrol vehicles.

The bus.

Tractors.