Seedlings

Well I put my biggest seedlings outside today, to start the "hardening off" stage. I read online that the last frost for Sudbury is around May 17th, so I'll take the next two weeks to put the plants outside for a few hours each day, to get them ready for the big transplant. I didn't know you had to do this until recently. Good thing my timing worked out right! The only thing that concerns me is that the peas are so tall they're hitting the top of my dome, and I don't want that because the dome gets very wet, and I don't want the leaves to rot. So we'll see how the weather goes. I may have to plant earlier than May 17th, and cover them at night so if there is a frost, they don't die. I have one very large tomato plant, and one not-so-large tomato plant. I did re-seed a few more, to replace the ones my cat ate, but they haven't sprouted yet, and I'm just crossing my fingers that they'll sprout and I'll have more than one tomato plant. Of course, I have no idea how many tomatos one plant produces, so maybe I'll rue the day I wanted to have 3 tomato plants, but whatever. You guys all like salsa, right? and bruchetta? and tomato sauces? You might be hearing from me when it's harvesting time :o)

Earleys in Town

My mother's youngest sibling, Bill and his wife Karen came to town yesterday. Their family is based in Winnipeg, but currently Bill is on a contract over in China! He's worked all over - Florida, Las Vegas, Manitoba, and now China. How worldly! Of course since they were in town, the family got together to see him. They're leaving tomorrow. Here are some pictures of our evening! (Oh and pat me on the back for blogging this within HOURS of coming home from the do. heh heh)

Here is Hayden sitting so cutely in his toy box. This was before we left for Penny's house and the get-together.

Sage made strange the minute he got in the door, and cried his head off. Too much loud laughter and strange people for a little baby. Karen tried not to take it personally. Here Sage is beginning to warm up to her.

Auntie Sandy with Hannah. She and Sage mostly took turns crying, with very few overlapping moments. Hannah that is, not Sandy. Sandy did very little crying at the party.

Hayden and Karen hit it off very well. Here they are the moment before a kiss.

Hayden's job at the party was to hand people this blue toy telephone. Mostly everyone obliged him by talking to whoever was there. Most of the time the call was for Hayden. This is Uncle Bill taking the important call.. probably from China.

Granty Penny and Gramma/Granty Sandy thought it would be cute to sit the babies next to each other to play. The babies of course freaked out and both started wailing. Oh well! Notice that Sage and Hayden are dressed in the same orange t-shirts and similar army pants. I am a corny mom :oPTwo Uncles onna couch. Big one Gerry, little one Bill, Hayden observing.

Bill: "Wait, let me take my glasses off!" Bill: "There, now you can see my pirate expression." Karen: "Look happy or I'll slap you" (true story) After the pose, their natural expressions.

Sandy must be bouncing a baby. It's in her blood.

Hayden was facinated by this cat toy. The ball scoots round and round, and cannot come out of its little track. At one point the cat and Hayden were both playing with it. Look forward to some video footage, which I'll post after Bill and Karen upload it to YouTube.
From left to right: Wendi (Hannah's mom) Sandy, Sage, Elizabeth, Gerry, Penny
Cousin Chris (Wendi's husband, Hannah's father, Sandy's son), Jake, Wendi

Tent Babies

I got this little pop-up tent for Hayden for his first birthday. He doesn't often play with it, cuz it's usually stored in a little bag in his room. But yesterday he unzipped the bag and out popped the tent! Jake and I set it up properly for him, and Sage ended up being enthralled with it too! They were so cute playing in it together :o)

In other news, our friends Chris and Sabrina were over for lunch yesterday, and they offered us the use of their pool for the summer! It's 15' wide by about 3 or so feet high. We measured the lawn in the front, figured we'd only need 19' of fencing to make it safe (and legal), and asked the landlord if we could put it up. He was okie dokie with it, so we're very excited! Of course we offered to re-seed the lawn afterwards, but he didn't really seem to care about that aspect of it. Yay hooray! Bring on the heat, Mother Nature! We'll be ready!

Dawn Langstroth

Dawn is my friend from High School. She recently finished her first cd (I say first in hopes that she'll do plenty more) and here's a link to some of her performances http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=DawnLangstroth

Her own website is http://www.dawnlangstroth.com/.

Dragon Fruit

Or 'Strawberry Pear'. From Vietnam. I saw this at the grocery store today, and was intrigued! I did NOT expect the inside to look like that at ALL. It tastes great, like a cross between a pear and a kiwi.

Sage On The Floor

Sage was being really cute and looking like he wanted to start trying to crawl. I shot some video of him.

Simple Math

A friend of mine is a teacher for junior grades, and she recently received this in her pile of marking.

I thought that was frigging hillarious!

Sage Eats Bread Bits

geeze

Gardening is HARD WORK, man.

I should've taken before and after photos, cuz the dirt and sod from the garden I am digging out at the front is filling the holes that Lacey dug at the side of the house. In one spot the hole was 18" at LEAST. We bought some "critter ridder" stuff to sprinkle on after I'm all done transferring dirt, but I didn't get done. It's supposed to deter dogs and skunks and other animals from digging. Wonder if it works. It was hella expensive! ($14) I worked for about 45 minutes digging and moving dirt around, and it was a workout for SURE. [Incidentally, if anyone knows why Curves isn't open on Sundays, could you tell me? Also if anyone reads this who has any clout with people AT curves, and could influence them to have it open on Sundays, that would be great. Thanks.] Since I don't have a wheel barrow, I used a lid to a fake rubbermaid bin which we don't use (the lid, not the bin) and piled the sod and dirt onto it and then pushed it across the lawn and gravel driveway with my feet. I used alternating legs and also alternated using my adductors (inner thigh muscles) and quadricepts (outer thigh muscles). Yahoo! Work in that resistance training! Most of the garden is dug out, just a little left to do, and then when I can (probably Tuesday after Jake gets home from work) I will go get some peat and poo (can't spell manure) and work that into the soil. I'm not going to plant yet, don't you fret, but my dad said it's good to give the peat some time to de-fluff (my word, not his) before I plant.

An update on my mom: She's doing well. They moved her to a nursing home "holding tank" at Laurentian Hospital. The floor she's on is not a hospital floor, it's a place for people who are waiting for beds at nursing homes. She might be there a short time, or a long time, depending on when a spot for her becomes available. It's a very large room, and it's nice. She's got a dresser and a bed-side table, and the wall behind her is purple! The other walls are off white and the curtains are a nice tangerine, and all together it's very soothing and calm. From her angle, she's got a beautiful view of the bricks of the building next to her *snort* but at least it's a big window and lots of light comes in. If she weren't limited by the fact that she needs the oxygen on that side of the room, if she changed sides, she would be able to see Ramsey Lake. But unfortunately the room's not set up for patients to be on that side. Too bad! She has a nice roommate, a lady named Margarite. The physical therapist said that as soon as my mom can stand unaided, and transfer herself into her wheelchair from her bed, she'll be taken to the hospital's POOL and they'll do aquasize with her! I couldn't believe the hospital has a pool, but they do! She's very excited about that, and it's a really good motivating goal for her to have.

Hayden of the Many Shirts

The other night there was a basket of laundry in the living room, and while I was at Curves and Jake was on the computer, Hayden decided to re-organize it. Then he decided he wasn't wearing enough shirts and pulled 6 more on over his head. And yes, that is a pair of my undies he's got on him as well. LOL What a nut!

Domestic Jennifer

Lookit what I did. I not only planted some spinach seeds that I'd forgotten the other day, but I made Sugar Cookies too! AND didn't even wimp out on the decorating-them step. Which I was going to do, but then they looked so plain and lonely... I had to dress 'em up.

So here they are, enjoy. (Although we'll probably enjoy them a lot more than you.)

I think the middle guy in the top row is wearing a Richard Simmons' outfit. And two of 'em aren't wearing pants at all by mistake.. hehehe, opps!

Hayden the Wonder Kid

On Friday while Jake was at work, I was putting Sage down for a nap. While doing so, Hayden not only found the camera, he turned it on and took a picture. I'd thought I heard the little bleedle-beep of the camera being turned on, but I was SURE what he was doing when in the next couple of seconds I heard the shutter sound effect. Lucky for me Sage was out, so I was able to go right away and check on Haydo. Here's his masterpiece. Not bad for his very first photo! Not even blurry.

And now I can see why kids think mothers have eyes in the backs of their heads. You have to get good at discerning what a kid is doing by the sounds he or she is making if you can't see them. Also of note: an unseen kid playing silently needs to be checked on immediately.

Inch by inch...

..row by row, gonna make this garden grow. All I need is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertilzed ground.. and a place where Lacey won't dig 'em up.

Ever see that commercial for Tomatos In A Bag? Jake and I want those. Tomatoes you grow indoors, in a bag you hang on the wall! Where pets can't get at 'em! Alas, they are an american product, and you can't ship soil and plants across the border. However, I was not about to be thwarted from tomatos for a second year in a row. I'd started a bunch of tomato seeds last year, but they died when they were a few inches high cuz I didn't know you had to KILL, er, I mean thin out, all but one of the seedlings in each peat pot. Anyway this year I know better. While researching a canadian version of the TIAB (tomatos in a bag) I found out that there is a hydroponic organic green n clean store right here in town, on Barrydowne! Hey that rhymes. My friend Sabrina and I were feeling equally green-thumby and we went there and bought a whack of supplies for our indoor gardens. We then went to the dollar store and got a large assortment of flowers, herbs, and veggies. I planted mine last night and I'm pretty proud of the fact that it looks so organized! Even if I only get ONE plant out of the whole deal, I'll be pretty stoked. I just hope it's a tomato......

Nice plastic dome, eh? It's 6" high so the seedlings can stay in there till they're bushy and tall, and the cat can't nibble on 'em. I have in the back row: coleuses, phloxes, petunias, periwinkles, and johnny jump ups. In the front row I have peas, tomatos, basil, mint, and garlic chives.



OOoohhhh! I'm so excited!

At the Nerpin's House

We tried to get a family photo. Hayden cries if we're all in the same shot. It's like he's got a sixth sense about cameras about to capture all our images at once. It was like that at Walmart too when we tried to get portraits done a few weeks ago. Sage was squirmy then as he is in these pictures, and Jake looks sleepy. Well, take your pick of the "best" of these LOL.

Kid TV

An old friend of mine brought this to my attention. If you're around my age, and you watched TV, you're sure to remember this show. It makes my heart burst with joy and glee :o)

Alanis Morrisette - My Humps

Poop story - don't read if you don't want to hear about poop.

This morning Hayden came up to me and said "poop onna potty" and I said "you want to poop on the potty?" and he said "Yeah! Yeah!" which really, doesn't mean much cuz he'll ALSO say "more?" and I'll say "more what?" and he'll say "Yeah! Yeah!" BUT to give him the benefit of the doubt, we whisked off to the bathroom and he said "pants oooofffff" and then "diaper ooooffff" and then he sat on the toilet. He said "penis doooowwnn" and then played with a little bath toy for a few minutes. I was being patient, but reminded him that he wanted to poop on the toilet. After a few minutes I was kinda thinking this had been a false alarm, AND THEN, LO AND BEHOLD, he made his pooping face and he POOPED! YAY HOORAY!! It was then I realized I don't have much experience wiping someone else's bum while they're sitting on a toilet. But I did done good. LOL. Hayden got a lolly pop and I think I should've gotten a gold star too :o)

Counting Hayden

Hayden spontaniously counted to 13 while I was on the computer this afternoon, so I grabbed the camera to see if he would do it again. He got into it, and the minute-long vids are cute :o) Oh and sorry for the swaying, just pretend you're on a ship. I thought he would participate more if I mimicked his body movements.

Saturday Night Bath

The Szabbies came over on Saturday afternoon in order to be in town for Sunday morning Brunch with my family and my dad at Cranky Joe's. Jake was working but popped out of the kitchen every once in a while to see us. It was really fun, and a great buffet. The food was expertly prepped :o) And cutest of all was that while I was at the buffet, all the dish labels were in Jake's handwriting.. he's so loveable! I just love him. But back to the night before. I gave the three older kids a bath before bedtime. They had so much fun! And afterward, Anya's hair got soooo curly! It looked like a baby perm!

I thought the kids looked so cute wrapped in their towels, like clothes pegs with kid heads :o)

Hayden is about to pee on the floor in this picture.
Zee Curls...
An awesome shot of Anya and Hayden

Ball Bopper Video