Thursday, November 4, 2010

Growing boys...

We are thrilled to no longer be dealing with diapers and sleepless nights. Woo hoo!!! But I am sad how fast these munchkins grow. We are never happy are we?!

My two oldest boys have started losing teeth. The second oldest boy lost his first one before his older brother. So our eldest son lost his first tooth Sept 21, 2010 and now has another couple loosed. Then the next oldest lost his first tooth August 3, 2010 and several days later lost another one. He is waiting for more to fall out. They are both waiting for more to fall out - money maker! They love it when their dad and I don't communicate and they profit from both of us. I put money down for their tooth, then their dad comes in and puts money down for a tooth. Neither of us knowing what the other did but hearing the next day about how much they made on their teeth. Punks!

This is my eldest after his first tooth - we had to help him smile to show the tooth:

This is his younger brother - please don't be grossed out by the yellow teeth - he was eating when it happened (plus he went to the dentist afterwards for his regular cleaning):

Fall Gardening

What happened to summer, I will never know. I have pictures with dates to help me know what I did for next spring and summer. So now I have a few fall garden crops in the ground. I went very simple because of a hectic schedule....broccoli and brussel sprouts. While I love cabbages, beets, lettuces, etc. I just didn't have the oomph to do more. It was all I could do to get those in and that was after killing 24 plants in three days. It was still very hot and dry here in the south in September when I planted a first round of 18 broccoli and 6 brussel sprouts starts. I didn't mulch or put straw around them. I watered good the night I planted them, came back two days later - all dead! Waaaahhhh! I give up!

Then my garden neighbor's husband bought 18 broccoli plants when she only wanted 3 - so she gave them to me. I planted them. They are growing now. But it cooled off and rained too. That always helps. I also put wheat straw around the plants to help keep the moisture in and weeds off.


This picture was from Sept 24, 2010 but you get the idea. The plants are probably 5x the size now. I should check on them. We have been having good rain and sun so they will be fine.

I learned something interesting - don't use wheat straw in the spring. They will go to seed and then grow. Good to know! But in the fall it is alright.

I let one of my plots just sit for now and through the winter. It is a good plot so I don't want to wear it out. Just kidding. I just don't have the energy. So I will amend it with my compost over the winter. Then my second plot that was horrible with weeds, the garden board decided to experiment and cover with black plastic. Did I tell you that that plot is infested with fire ants!? Another reason to cover it - kill those suckers!! They bite my toes and ankles. It hurts. They bit my son. He won't come back to the garden.