Everything else update

ok, now that i have updated on my garden what not to do, i will update everything else, not that anyone but me really reads this, my official record will be up to date!

my father in law passed away this summer. we were able to get there right before he died. i was concerned about how my kids would do seeing him. i was torn between feeling they needed their last memories to be of how he used to be vs seeing him one last time to say goodbye. i think frankie did great, he was not scared at all. my father in law did not look anything like himself, and was not even really conscience for more than about 20 sec at a time, but frankie stayed by his side, patted his hand and and head and was able to get him to open his mouth for his meds. gracie was very quiet, she did not say a hole lot. then at the funeral, frankie again patted his head and straightened his tie when we went up to the casket to say our final goodbyes. both kids lost it when chris lost it. then when we walked away frankie said he thought he was gonna be sick so i rushed him out of there. other than that, both kids did remarkably well. they also did well considering being stuck in a hotel room for most of the 10 days we were there. also had to move 3 times to 3 different hotels. but their uncle frank and aunt carol were great and two of the days, took them out to do something fun. frankie impressed them with his knowledge of the names of the different flowers. gracie blessed them with her non stop chatter! lol and her inability to keep a secret even if it meant she did not get ice cream two days in a row! lol

we got back in time to get ready for school. both kids leave at the same time this year which is a huge blessing. i am already hearing frankie stories from people at school. i was informed he has been made the official "information specialist" in his class, he said he was so excited to finally get to share all the information he had stored up in his head! the latest story at this time, is that frankie felt it necessary to tell his class about the mating rituals of sea slugs! how, because they have both male and femail parts, it is not a lovey dovey, gooey, kissy get together, it is more like "ding ding ding" a boxing match, at which time his teacher had to stop him! lol
Gracie, she was nervous, not only did she get a new teacher, who was not only new to her but new to the school, but she also had a classmate from last year again, that had caused alot of drama the year before. so we have been working on figuring out why God has put her in her class again and discussing how to avoid the drama this year. she started out very unsure, but has quickly adjusted and has a much better attitude, which i think is due to alot of prayer!!!

gracie, had new struggles this year with her allergies. she had been breaking out on her face where her skin would peel and flake off and it kept spreading, first abover her eyes, then her forehead and her nose and mouth and chin. she is scheduled to go for topical skin testing at the dermatologist next month, but for now she can not wear jewelry, fingernail polish, use baby shampoo or hand sanitizer. other than that mess on her face, the rest of her skin has had a very mild summer, which has been a blessing.

frankie tried taking alto sax lessons, however he did not enjoy it at all, and said it hurt his neck and hands, so luckily he decided during the trial period so we did not have to buy the sax at all. so he has decided to take piano lessons, we bought him a nice keyboard (until we know he is going to stick with it) and he starts lessons in sept. he also got a new fish tank and fish, we have lost 2 out of the 4, will wait and see if they last a month before we will buy new ones. however, i find the names he chose for them interesting......pine, oak, hickory and maple! ???? i don't even begin to try to figure out his mind.

while in ohio, and drastically trying to find things to entertain the kids, we pulled up some of comedian/ventriliquest jeff dunham episodes. "walter", "achmad (sp?) the dead terrorist" and "jalepeno' on a steek" being some of the favorites. we have laughed and laughed over those things for so long, they are becoming a running joke around here. so when we took the kids to the fair, we got a good laugh when gracie said "look mom! a hot dog on a steeeek!" lol you have to hear the sketch to get how funny that was! lol also at the fair (which yes we did take them out of school to go to, cuz they start school before the fair even begins!!) we discovered gracie is quite the little tool lady! she was excellent at using an electric screwdriver, totally impressed the carpenters there showing the kids how to do it. she also was able to hammer together a little metal toolbox pretty good. frankie did one side as well....but the men there told chris he ought to nurture her talent in that area. we also encountered silly safari there. the kids were able to really participate which was great! however they did not ride the rides, they were way expensive so we bribed them with new webkinz and ice cream to avoid that money trap! worked well for me too as when we got their webkinz, i picked out a new candle! whoo hoo! ok i think this is enough for now, i need to get better about posting on here so the kids will have a better record. i admire my granny, she kept a daily diary for just about every day from the time she was a senior in high school. i need to be better so they will see how funny they were, and the lessons we all learned through their growing up years. that is my goal for this blog, whether anyone else reads it or not. i know the kids will when they are older.

What NOT to do when gardening

Things i have learned from my first year of gardening!
i have learned alot this year on what NOT to do and what NEEDS to be done next year! lol but thanks to all the praying i did, God still saw fit to allow me a pretty good bounty. i have been sharing with family and friends. did not have enough of greenbeans to can, but have had enough for a couple of meals, def did not plant enough corn, but have been able to have an ear or two for each of us at a couple meals, and boy is it good!!! will def plant lots of that next year!

tomatoes....learned an important lesson, just because they have so much room when they are small does not mean you can ignore the rules of how far apart to put them! lol AND you need to really cage them! little green thin bamboo sticks can not be considered staking them.lol however! we have finally got them ripening up and have been blessed enough to share with lots of others, and i learned i do not need so many cherry tomatoe plants! lol

i learned i need to learn recipes and the "how to" on canning BEFORE the harvest comes in

my potatoes, well let's just say, ya, ummmm i don't know, but i think next year i will keep adding dirt on them and have a seperate garden (with out grass!) for them. in fact we learned from connor prairie to give each vegetable it's own little square patch of several rows, that seemed nice. but i never got but the one bloom on the potatoes but tonya told me it would be ok to go ahead and dig them up, not sure what i will discover but i am thinking i will not be needing all the storage room i thought for my potatoes, & glass jars full of freshly canned veggies etc... so we have longer to plan the root cellar idea! lol

i have had tremendous luck with zucchini, and pumpkins. seriously, chris calls zucchini the herpes of the vegetable garden (don't know if that was appropriate to type but that is what he said) (& ya, i learned i really need to hold off from planting the pumpkins too early and that they spread realllllllly far! lol ) but i have shredded and frozen lots of zucchini and made so much zucchini bread i dream about making it in my sleep. now i plan to cook and freeze the pumpkin to use later in pies and bread.

i also learned i need taller poles for my pole beans

also i need to plant the peas with everything else so i don't forget about them (what a sad day that was, have you ever heard the whimper from a pea garden that was neglected and forgotten? well neither have i but i am sure they were)

that cucumbers spread as much as pumpkin vines do, that green peppers for that reason, should not be planted so close to cucumbers, that cucumbers can for some odd reason not get any longer than a few inches yet plump out as wide as a regular cucumber, now that is a site to see!! but lots of others did fine.

that cantelope can go bad before it ripens

AND that you can not leave carrots in the ground as long as you think or they will turn bitter!

so i basically can write a book on what NOT to do now! lol but i have high hopes for next year! AND i know to fertilize the stuff early on AND not to leave grass between rows AND we are going to make our ground ready this year so that there is not so much work next year! as we will be busy with our chickens you know!
lol hopefully next year i will have alot of berries on my strawberry plants, raspberry plants, and blackberry plants, AND will be able to harvest some of my rhubarb, ANd will know to spray the apple and pear tree out front early on. whew,
ok i think that is a good update, what do you think? i think because when i was praying all along, i had promised God that if he allowed me to have a bountiful garden (no matter what mistakes i made, and boy did i) i promised to share with others and i have worked hard to keep that promise, & he has continued to bless with a continued bounty! now the problem is stretching it out so everyone gets a little.