Planting Time!

So, we finally got around to putting our vegetables in the ground. Above you see our Pepper Plant, Collard Greens, Brussel Sprouts, Cauliflower & Broccoli. Can you tell whats what? lol

I still want to plant an herb garden, but I can't decide whether to add the herbs to our existing garden, or create a container garden for them. Decisions, decisions!

We aren't done yet. We've still got some mulching to do, and I need to figure out why my sprouts are wilting... So, once everything is growing beautifully, I'll post another picture. Meanwhile, here are a few from planting day...

Oh, and I know you all want my hat!!

Plum Tuckered Out

The kids went to the Children's Musuem on a field trip Friday. Poor Aidan...they must have worked him good! He fell asleep sitting up at the counter


The he curled himself up on the barstool for the rest of his nap!

Big Week!

This was a big week for Ava & Aidan. They got school pictures back, had partent-teacher conferences, half-days at school and they got to visit with friends & family at Ashton's birthday party.

The conferences were pretty informative, and I am impressed with their school - especially the Community Services Department, which is in charge of the pre-school, Kindercottage and aftercare programs that the kids participate in. Ava's teacher told us that she is very mature for her age (big surprise there!! lol), she has mastered many of the skills presented and is a joy to have in class. Aidan's teacher had an equally glowing report for him, she just mentioned that he needs to learn to focus (again, big surprise!!).

So, they are doing great in school and they both love it.

We also got two new tortoises, who have yet to be named...I'll post pics and names when that happens... In the meantime:

Ava, Age 5


Aidan, Age 4

The little man is 1!

The Man


The 'Cake'


The Beginning


The MESS, I mean, the middle :)


The End!

How Sad

Tonight André discovered that one of our tortoises had died (we've had these two tortoises for about 4.5 years)... I fed him yesterday afternoon, so it must have happened sometime today :( We had two, one was large and one was smaller - it was our big guy.

We think he must have suffocated - Andre found him under a copper cover (the top to our fire pit) in the yard. He liked to hide in shady spots during the hot part of the day. Apparently, and obviously we don't know for sure, he went underneath it and it somehow got stuck - since he was pretty good sized he propably tried to get out and in the process knocked the whole thing on top of himself. Kind of like getting locked in a hot car :(

What a downer... we wanted to get another tortoise, and have one for each kid. Well, now we only have one. We'll see what happens, see if we get another one.

The picture...

A few people have asked where the 'about me' picture was taken... It's atop Mt. Lemmon. We went there to celebrate our anniversary last year - made a family date of it and packed a picnic. It was fun, and it's beautiful!!
Tucson rests in a valley between several mountain ranges, one being the Catalina's - which is where Mt. Lemmon is. It can be seen from all points in Tucson, and yet is like a completely different world. It snows, the leaves change, there are actual SEASONS... it's great.

I finally decided to do it...

Create a blog, that is.

This will be a place to unload - to good, the bad & the mundane...starting now!

So, summer is almost over and it's supposed to be almost 100 degrees today. How is this even possible? I want to wear sweaters and courderoys, but instead I'm in shorts and a tank...my point is this: André built a nice garden in the back yard - great raised bed, I can see it from my bedroom and the dining room. It's pretty, or it will be once we get or vegetables planted. BUT, it's still too hot for fall planting, and it's too late for summer planting. What's a would-be gardener to do? We have a little pepper plant, given to us by a friend. That's it. That pepper plant is my little pride & joy at the moment, but there is only so much love that you can give to a pepper.

Must. Plant. More. Veggies. This is my new mantra (until tomorrow, when it changes)

That's all for now - Baby Boy is intent on trying to turn off my computer. I guess that's his way of letting me know that my 10 minutes of alone time has come to an ubrupt halt.

Keri