Well, it was a beautiful day today! We got up, ate at Elmers... treating ourselves to part of our $50/month allowance for eating out. We then hit Home Depot and Lowes and picked up some stuff for the Geo as well as the stakes I need to do my 'florida weave' for my tomatoes. We also hit a great deal on bamboo poles for making teepees for veggies like pole beans. So I put up two teepees, each with 4 legs, and will plant my beans as soon as the ground warms up just a titch more. My mesculen is coming up now, I'm very happy to see. I was afraid that it wouldn't due to all the nearly-fresh horse manure we tilled in, but I see the leaves emerging. So far for my garden I have lettuce planned as well as beans, broccoli, peppers, squash, tomatoes, strawberries (already going) onions, and maybe potatoes if any ground frees up that's in the sunshine. Oh, also have the peas popping up in the front yard. Some of my onions are popping up as well, but will have to figure out where I'll put them. I might just have to thin them and put them in containers.

McKenna was very good for me today, as was my husband! We hit the farmers market after the home improvement stores and found just onions and asparagus. I would have purchased asparagus, but he was out. And didn't want to write a check for a buck for the onions. I'll go next week and see if anything else shows up. I'm determined to try to eat what's in season this year and try to avoid out of season things, unless I really have some cravings for strawberries in November! I'm also planning to ask our herdshare lady Laura if she'll (not this year) let me help her process her meat chickens when the time comes. I think it would be good to know the whole process from start to finish, especially if I plan on ever having chickens for eggs and meat. Of course, that would only happen if we move out of this subdivision, which I'd like to think would happen eventually. I think it would be good for McKenna to really know the hows and whys of how meat gets on your plate. Educational and all that jazz! That's it for now... I'll have to take pictures of the teepees I put together in the garden, and then when I have pole beans growing on them! Yay, I'm so excited!

I had my physical therapy appointment yesterday. Patty watched McKenna for me, which was nice. I went in and saw a nice woman named Jamie. She stays at home with her kids except for wednesdays and only works from 8am to 1pm... How nice is that? Anyway, after having me move my arm this way and that and manipulating it she declared I have a weak rotator cuff with a bit of tendonitis. She said when it's painful, you tend to use it less, which actually worsens it over time. So she gave me exercises to do twice a day by pulling on a length of stretchy surgical tubing in different ways and I'll report back to let her know how I'm doing in a week or so. I think it's a good idea especially for if my shoulder decides to act up again down the road. I certainly don't want to get to the point I did where I had my arm in a sling! So, that was that and McKenna and I went home.
Noel and I discussed our garden a little bit in bed and I brought up a nice staking system I read about for tomatoes called the florida weave. It's easy to install, cheap, and tear down in the fall is a breeze... according to the article! Just need some stakes and twine and that's it. Here's a link for those interested: http://www.foogod.com/~torquill/barefoot/weave.html

I want to get my brandywine tomato into the ground asap since it's showing signs of leaf curl on the ends which indicate inconsistent watering. It's in a pot and I keep it evenly moist, so I'm hoping I don't lose it. It's a little early for it to go outside, but I think I'd better get it out there by this weekend. I'll have Noel put in the staking system this weekend and I have two more brandywine tomatoes starting from seed, so I'm hopeful for a good harvest. I'm going to put in some romas as well, so I can can up some sauce this year. We go through an awful lot of diced and stewed tomatoes, as well as sauce... so here goes! My peppers are coming along nicely, too. They will be nice and sturdy as I've had them right up under lights since they've emerged.

I did the milk run again this week, but thankfully won't have to go again for 5 more weeks. I picked up for an extra person, which will become a regular thing. She won't be participating in the drives out to get milk as she lives in Meridian. We're just dropping her share off at Melissas and then she'll just drive to Melissas to pick it up. Poor Laura and family are still living out of a motel since their commode isn't fixed yet! It took me a good while to get all the milk loaded. It's heavy stuff and I think I now know where I may have strained my shoulder! lol Also picked up eggs, and found some cracked, so I swapped them out for good ones in the other cartons. I felt a little bad about that, but I don't want to pay 1.50 for less than 12 eggs! But a buck 50 is a good price as the cheapest eggs I can get in the supermarket right now are about $2/dozen. And those are from the unhealthiest hens kept in battery cages. My eggs from Laura are from her free range hens and they have great diets... access to greens and bugs and good food and her eggs have the brightest orange yolks I've ever seen. And they're tasty, to boot. I also picked up a dozen for Patty as she wanted to give them a try. Laura had been charging a dollar 25 but I noticed that she raised her price up to 1.50, maybe for the higher price of feed? Not sure, but I'll let Patty know before I get anymore for her. They're still a great deal, in my opinion.

Last night I was cruising the internet and came across this puppy:
http://puregreencars.com/news/300MPG-All-Electric-and-Plug-In-Hybrid-Aptera.htm

It's slated to be available in the US for under $30,000 and the electric version will be coming out first, followed by the hybrid/plug-in model. Can't wait! As it is, Noel's getting a bonus check for the first time in a couple of years and he'll be able to fix up the Geo's engine, and maybe get the second Geo running. Then I wouldn't have to drive the SUV so often. :)

Interesting article on the Foreign Affairs website. Gave me a lot of insight on how oil-rich countries are plagued by a whole host of problems.

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/previews/5273/20080501faessay87301-p0/michael-l-ross/blood-barrels.html

Have I mentioned recently how I have the loveliest, most helpful, charming, well-behaved child in the neighborhood? :) These last two days would have tried most kids patience, but she did really well for me. Yesterday, I had to have my arm looked at and we were at the doctors for almost 2 hours. I came early because they said they needed insurance information from me, but upon arrival told me they had everything they needed. So I was 20 minutes early and McKenna jumped around and spun around (very discreetly of course!) and talked with two couples that were nearby and was just a chatty Kathy with them. They didn't understand half of what she said, but were charmed. She held up 3 fingers when the nurse asked her how old she was and I was amazed she remembered, as I'd only showed her how to do that once. We must have waited for the doctor for at least half and hour and she was up and down on the examination table, keeping herself occupied and then I gave her a dry erase tracing book that I think my mother got for her, but can't remember. She sat and played with that for a long time. Doc finally came, told me I might have a bit of tendonitis in my right shoulder and I have a weakness of my rotater cuff so he sent me for x-rays.... so we went down the hall and I had to check-in with this lady, whom I told "by the way, I'm pregnant" and she was like - 'does the doctor know?' and I said ' I thought he did' Turns out I assumed that the nurse told the doc I was pregnant because she spotted it right away and asked me about the baby, etc... then I assumed that they would just put extra protective aprons on me. Oops, guess not. I went back to sit in another waiting room for the doc to come talk to me, which took another 20 minutes at least and he came in and said, 'we'll just do therapy and save the x-ray for after you give birth if you're still having pain.'

So then I was over to make an appointment at another desk for tomorrow where they will show me some exercises to do at home to help strengthen my shoulder. But the point is, McKenna was a darling for me the whole time! I was more impatient that she was! And today, she had to come with me for my dentist appointment, because I totally spaced getting someone to watch her and she sat and played with this pillow the technician gave her and then put on the headphones and laid on the floor to watch the tv in the ceiling. She did so well they gave her a choice of toy that's usually reserved for kids that had cleanings done. She picked something out that she already has at home, a little squishy softball... and she got a lollipop from the nurse from the day before, so she was pretty proud of herself! I have high hopes for her as a big sister. I'm hoping jealously will be at a minimum, since I plan to make sure she doesn't feel left out and I think she'll be a great helper. She loves holding babies whenever she gets a chance.

Other than that, not much going on. My shoulder actually feels much better, but I wanted to keep the above appointment just because it tends to be a recurring thing and I think having some exercises to do will help in the future, when it comes back, as it no doubt will! That's it for now, other than doing laundry and dreaming about putting up my own tomatoes this year. Aren't I just SO domestic? ;)

McKenna and I were alone today as Noel is at a LAN party. We stayed home and watered our garden and irrigated our lawn and kept my mesculen seedlings moist. I really want some salad greens this year! Noel picked up a soaker hose for me that I'll use on my garden once I get most of the plants in. For now, I've got an oscillating sprinkler to use on the seeds and young plants until they become more established. I have my beds all made and am just hoping it doesn't get too hot too soon and bake the earth before I get my mulch down. Ideally I want to wait to do mulch when I have my plants up and showing a couple sets of leaves. Noel also picked up some twine for me to use with my peas... and I may even be able to use it for the teepees I want to do. Don't know yet. I'm just itching to get stuff into the ground, but it's really too early for most things except my lettuce and peas, which I have in the front. Ah well, it'll be worth it. And the garden should look a lot nicer this year without all of the grass and ragweed around and in it and with some mulch down to keep soil moisture more even. I'm also determined to stay on top of my compost. I've been putting down a thin layer of straw over the kitchen scraps and then sprinkling in some water to keep things moist. I hope that will help stuff break down better. The composter is also in the full sun now so that should make a difference.

I've been researching alternative fuels and vehicles lately. A conversion kit for a car to go to electric is anywhere from $6K to $28K - plus the batteries, which are $1 to 3 thousand have to be replaced every 3 to 4 years... but no having to fill up on gas! No regular maintenance that you'd need to do with a regular engine! I was on Craigslist and couldn't believe all of the SUV's and trucks that were for sale! Even if we wanted to sell our Chevy Trailblazer, we'd never get a good deal for it. I was looking at pedicabs http://www.electric-bikes.com/pedicabs/pedicabs.html#Pedal-Electric%20Pedicab
and some have electric assists, but they are expensive too! And I'm not sure how safe I'd feel having McKenna in it with me on my way to Walmart... besides, where the heck would I park the thing? I really think we should look into getting this countries passenger trains running again. I mean, what happens if oil gets too expensive or runs out and we haven't come up with an alternative fuel source? Those of us in the suburbs away from urban centers will be up a creek! Makes me want to homestead and be self-sufficient even more. Well, enough rant time - it's getting close to McKennas bedtime. She's having a tougher time of it now that it's staying lighter out and she can still hear the kids outside playing!

Forgot to mention I'm 24 weeks 6 days along today. Had an appointment yesterday and I've gained 9 pounds so far, and they measured me too, but can't remember the measurements except the nurse said it's normal. Heartbeat was normal, too. So I'm almost into my 7th month! I think I've gained more weight with this pregnancy, too. I only gained 13 lbs with McKenna.

Today was a give and take of stuff... I hurt my wrist while edging around our tree out front and tearing out the grass from its base. Didn't actually start hurting until an hour later and then it was a sudden sharp pain when I moved my hand a certain way. That was yesterday and today it's been stiff and feeling cooler than my other hand. I'm not seeing any swelling or anything so I'll tough it out until monday when I go in to see an orthopedic doctor about my shoulder.

I did manage to put together a kite for McKenna today that Noel picked up at Harbor Freight for $5.00... it flew okay, but we really needed more string to let it out. McKenna thought it was the coolest thing, but then she was torn between flying the kite and wanting to watch the Clines rip out their tree from their front yard. LOL

Noel's coming home soon and we'll be having hot dogs and chips and he'll be turning on our irrigation since our grass is starting to dry already!

So unfortunately I have to go see yet another doctor about my shoulder and upper arm. I've been having progressively worse pain in my right arm and it's getting to the point where it hurts to drag it with me when I roll from my right to left side in bed. I had it in a sling today and finally popped some tylenol and decided I should have someone look at it. I've had this same thing happen before, it just usually goes away on its own. Problem is, right now is a time in my pregnancy when I'm not getting up twice or three times a night to pee. I usually get up around 5 or 6am to go and then sleep till 8am. Last night my arm kept me awake and it pissed me off! So off I go to an orthopedic doctor next monday. I'm hoping it's nothing serious. My father suggested early arthritis, but I swear I'm not that old yet, AM I??? *Sigh*

Nothing else going on today. McKenna and I took a walk and she played on the swing set out back. It was about 55 degrees. The manure is as ripe as ever, but is ok if I sit just outside the back door. Noel came home early and then disappeared to hit the eye doctor. And I've got beef stew going for dinner made out of our leftover sirloin steak from our grass fed cow. Yum!

Oops, and forgot to mention he purchased a newer Geo since his current one has been stalling a lot on him lately. The transmission is crap and the suspension is also crap. So we have a new Geo (1994) that currently isn't being driven because it lost power on the highway on his way home from purchasing it from the guy. The guy refused to give him his money back. Thing is, Noel test drove it twice, both on and off the freeway and took a mechanically inclined friend with him the second time. They both thought it was a great deal and ran beautifully. So, evidently there was oil leaking around the spark plugs and that is what the problem was. They got it started and drove it back home and Noel is hoping to learn enough about auto mechanics that he can pull apart one car to get the other one running well again. Who knows where that will lead?

Stay tuned for more....

Noel went out and got some manure from a nearby farm today. Enlisted Joes help to spread it out over the garden. It stinks out there now, so he'll have to rototill it in soon before the neighbors complain! I could smell it when I was in the front yard and the wind was blowing. It was sunny most of the day with the cherry trees blooming profusely. I snapped some pics of our tree. It was also snowing today. Kind of a strange day. I realized it was snowing right after I finished watering some peas I sowed yesterday. LOL Nothing else much going on. Everyone's healthy and happy!

Today was milk delivery day! It took 3 hours, but McKenna enjoys going to the farm to see all of the animals. Laura has about 50 or so cornish rex chicks under lights that will be for meat and has more on order for egg production. McKenna petted the baby goats and the baby calf that is Faiths baby. Faith is a jersey cross who is Lauras biggest producer right now. There was also a big fuzzy sheep there that got a nice scratch. I went to pet one of the chickens that was in with the chicks and got a bunch of feathers in my face. They obviously don't like to be petted! Poor Laura's bathroom broke, so they are staying in a motel about 12 miles from their place. They have to come back home twice a day for the animals.

Our first drop was at Christina's and there were a bunch of kids McKennas age out playing, so she ran around with them while I handed off the milk and used the restroom. If I wasn't pregnant, I'd be able to make the entire round without a pit stop!

Anyway, all went well and when I got back home I potted up a raspberry sucker that a co-worker of Noel's gave us. It'll be a bit before we get it in the ground, probably. I also transplanted my strawberry plants into my lasagna garden. Noel still needs to put the drip irrigation in, but there's only 4 plants in that bed and he'll be able to work around them. Another beautiful day out today at 64 degrees, so we'll be outside for the rest of it, I think!

I looked at McKenna today and saw a little girl instead of a toddler! She is growing up so fast I can't believe it. She's speaking better all of the time and is such a big help to me. We did my lasagna garden in the back corner of the yard and I must say it was a LOT of work. I had to wet the newspaper and lay it down first, then the half-finished compost, then the manure, then the peat moss and last the straw. It was a lot of bending up and down and my back is feeling it! But all the work hopefully will be worth it in the end. After I transplant my strawberry plants there, all I'll have to do to keep on top of it is to keep mulching. I'm hoping the newspaper I laid down was thick enough. Anywhere from 4 to 8 layers of it got put down. A co-worker of Noel's is giving us a raspberry sucker that I believe is still dormant so I don't have to plant it right away. I'll stick it in a container until I get my back back and then put in another lasagna garden along the fence between garden #1 and #2. Whee! I'm re-thinking doing newspaper on the large garden though since it was so much work. Maybe cardboard instead, but I'm going to need plenty of greens and browns for my layers. I might end up just having Noel till in manure and leaves, then plant and put a LOT of straw on top to try to keep down weeds. I do want to make beds though and have paths, which Noel thinks is a waste of space, but it will be so much easier to access plants without walking on them, plus I'm the one that does most of the weeding, planting, picking, etc... so I think my way of thinking will prevail! lol

Braxton Hicks contractions have been kicking in a lot lately. I've had them going on for about the last month and a half and didn't realize what they were until about a week ago. I just thought it was the baby moving. Guess I didn't have them this early with McKenna. But now that I know, they do feel like very mild contractions although as time goes by they get stronger. This baby is sneaking up on me. I don't even have her room painted yet! I'm excited though. McKenna will sit with me and snuggle up to my belly and pat it. She's really cute about it. Asked tonight if she could hold the baby. I told her yes after it was born. She definitely is realizing we're going to have a sister for her.

Enough for now...

Well, today was another fantastic one temp wise. Got up to 76 degrees... a little warm for manual labor, but that was okay. I didn't get my small garden done because I was waiting on Noel to get the right sprinkler head attachment. He got the wrong one when he went out just before dinner so has to go back for the right one. He says I can start creating the garden tomorrow as long as I leave that sprinkler available to him to access, which should be no problem. I think I'll go out tomorrow with McKenna and pick up a bag of manure, compost, and maybe some more peat, but only if they are really cheap. We found a source of free landscaping rocks in Caldwell that we'll use to line the garden with and probably also the main garden as well, since our other option was brick and trench edging is out of the question because even Noel can't get the spade deeper in than about an inch down into our clay soil. He did admit how it could look good if it was properly done (at the right depth) so I might try softening the ground up with water and see if that works any better. I sat outside with McKenna for most of the day in the backyard in the shade and she swung on her swing and pulled out her pool inner tube and wore that around and rolled on the ground with it. She's got streaks of dirt on her face and arms! But she was a happy camper today. In fact, it's nice enough out now that that's where she is. I don't know what I'll tell her on tuesday... it's supposed to be a high of 56 degrees! I can't wait for May!

I checked and noticed that the pepper seeds I planted under my fluorescents are starting to emerge and my brandywine tomato plant is telling me it's time to put it in the ground. I hope it can survive another couple weeks! We'll see how it goes. Other than that, beans and squash can go directly into the ground and I might give potatoes a try this year. Can't wait!

I'll have to get some photos up of our progress in the backyard! I didn't get to my smaller garden today because Noel needs to put on a different sprinkler head so he can hook up some drip irrigation for me. I'm willing to wait for drip irrigation! So we concentrated on the main garden. He rototilled around the whole thing and we dragged out the clumps of grass to make it more even then laid down the black plastic. Working on top of that stuff really heats you up! After that, he pushed the utility trailer full of wood chips across the yard (that's using his muscles!) and lined it up with the edge of the garden and we used rakes to drag it all out of the trailer and then the wheelbarrow. So now, we have wood chips around our garden and once I borrow a spade from one of our neighbors I'll do some trench edging along the front of the garden since that's the only area that will need it. I may end up deciding I need to line it with bricks, but the important part is being able to mow over the edge without having to worry about wood chips flying everywhere! I'll have to look at some options. Noel may want to use the plastic liner stuff that he bought a while back, too. If that's the case, he may have to do some of the work! That stuff is tough getting into the ground! You have to dig pretty deep, especially if you want the top flush with the ground. The main thing is keeping the grass from encroaching into the wood chips.

McKenna had a blast outside with us today. She got lathered up in sunblock and 'helped' us unload some of the wood chips from the trailer with a stick she picked out of them. Then found a much larger stick (the woodchips were a little 'rough' around the edges!) and played sword. It got up to 69 today but felt much warmer in the sun, especially as the day wound down. It was a great day for doing all of this work! And don't worry, I took plenty of breaks! I mainly helped straighten out the plastic while Noel tacked it down and then I raked the chips evenly after he wheeled more over to the area I was working on. So it was fun and we were all in a good mood. Maybe tomorrow I'll get the photos up on our blog or webshots.

So I've got an itch for another phalaenopsis orchid, and there's a show coming up in May so I'm excited. Now I've just got to save some money. They're only going to be $15. to $20. dollars but we're a little tight on spending cash at the moment, doctors bills and all!

So I'm redirecting my attention back to my gardening. Today we will put in the wood chips around the garden area. Noel's planning to rototill to make the area more even, since it's still pretty uneven from when he dug up the irrigation a couple years back. He just came in and told me he surprised a black cat sleeping under the tarp and on top of our wood chips in our little utility trailer. He thought that was pretty humorous. It leapt over our fence and was gone.

Right now I'm waiting for Noel to dig up a sprinkler head in the back right corner of our property so that I can put in a lasagna garden. He even suggested it so that I could transplant the strawberries that are still in our main garden. He wants to rototill that whole main garden, so the strawberries have to go somewhere. I've got the outline done for my smaller garden and have the peat moss, newspaper, and leaves/straw ready to go... just have to wait for him now.

It's a beautiful day and is supposed to get to 69 degrees today, which will be nice and warm in the sun. McKenna will be outside with us most of the day, I imagine except for when I come in to make lunch and dinner! More later!

Good day! Except for McKennas melt-down right before her quiet time... but that was all because she wanted candy and I said 'no'. Such a mean mommy aren't I? lol

We went out and delivered empty milk jars to Christina who is next to pick up milk so that she would have some empties to give back to Laura. Laura had a shortage last round and it resulted in less milk that we would have normally gotten. After that we headed to the mall. Guess I haven't been there in awhile because I could have sworn there was a Payless shoe store. Guess not! But there was a Foot Locker. Didn't do me any good though... they didn't have the type of shoe I wanted. Then we headed to Lowes and I picked up some Long fibered sphagnum moss so I could re-pot my orchid, which I did when I got home. There were plenty of dead roots as it didn't like my semi-hydro mix I had it in. After I pruned the roots, it ended up going into a much smaller clay pot and I layered in the moss and some orchid back and called it good. It's been growing roots and leaves for me, but I was really worred about the dead roots I knew were in the medium. Didn't want any problems down the road. So I had fun doing that and Mckenna helped me out. She's been a good little helper lately!

Oh, our dinner last night went well. The kids didn't seem to go for the raviolis, but the adults liked it. We had just enough with only a little left over. It was nice enough outside that the kids played outside for awhile, too. They swarmed Noel after dinner. Shoulda got a pic of that since at one point he was literally covered with child. lol Lots of tickling going on, basically. That's it for now!

Oh my God my back hurts! I've been doing raviolis for the last 1-1/2 hours plus fettucine when I ran out of filling. I ended up not having enough yesterday because of my mistakes. McKenna helped me crank out the pasta into sheets which actually was a BIG help, especially when I had to go really thin for the fettucine. Since I had to make another batch of ravioli today I decided to go green! So we'll have a mix of regular tannish colored raviolis mixed with green. I feel so Italian! lol

I also got the floor swept and mopped and just have to vacuum... I'm thinking of leaving the pick up stuff for Noel when he gets home. He can do that and put the leaf in the table and then all I'll have to worry about is is making the sauce and cooking the raviolis since everything else is done, except bread. I usually like to have garlic bread or something with this kind of meal, but honestly I don't think I'm up to making any! I'll call Noel and see if he wants to pick any up on his way home.

Now it's time to see if I can't get McKenna to take a quiet time. She says she just peed, and when I looked in the bowl the toilet tissue in there obscured my view of any yellow. She lied a minute ago and said she went when she obviously didn't. Ergh! We're getting to a difficult stage. I need some sort of dealio I can throw in the bowl so that when she goes I can definitely tell that she went. Anyway, I gave her her sticker and all that goes along with a successful pee, so we'll see if she has any accidents in the next hour or so. She's had a LOT to drink this morning. Kiddo #2 has been quiet while I've been working, but now that I'm sitting down is acting up. Must be the snack of red pepper, strawberries and green apples!

Pasta-making day! We're having our friends Joe and Patty and their kids over to dinner tomorrow night and Noel requested ravioli. I didn't let the dough rest long enough in the beginning, so unfortunately had to scrap the first few raviolis I made, but then the rest worked out after I let the dough sit for 2 hours. Froze the raviolis and will pull them out tomorrow for dinner.

It's a beautiful day out today, too... and I need to take McKenna for a walk. Noel is out shopping. Woohoo!! I really dislike shopping, and it's great when he does it but the downside is he brings home stuff that's not on my list quite frequently. He likes having backups of EVERYTHING!!! LOL

Great day today so far! We woke up, and went for a walk. Came across a yard sale and I picked up a doll house for McKenna for 5 bucks! I posted a pic on my blog of her with it. Later we cleaned out flower beds and mowed the lawn. The front yard is looking a lot better. Had turkey salad sandwiches for lunch then Noel played with McKenna for awhile. A little TV and then McKenna took some quiet time. Didn't sleep, but that's okay. Right now I'm in the process of baking chocolate chip cookies and don't know if I'll get around to making dinner! LOL Might be a leftover night! I posted an updated pic of my fishtank at the bottom of the blog. Got a few more plants a couple days ago. That's it for now...

We got home from our latest ultrasound today. This was the follow-up for the check on the spine for spina bifida. The doc gave me a thumbs up at the end. That's a relief! So no spine problems, although since they don't see high test result numbers like mine very often he wants me to have an ultrasound either with him or my own doc every 4 to 6 weeks. He was saying I may be more at risk for fetal growth issues or pre-eclampsia and stuff like that, so I suppose it's good to monitor that. As long as insurance covers those extra ultrasounds!

The other highlight of my day was finding a double yolk when I was cracking eggs for breakfast. LOL I'd never seen one before. I even took a picture of it! I suppose I'll post it here on my blog if I get around to it. Nothing much else to report today. I'm still feeling good and we're starting to think about girl names now that we know the sex of the baby. Some names on my list so far are:

Olivia
Casey
Kyra
Bryn
Annaliese
Rene
Madison
Sofia
Keira

They are mostly a mix of german, irish, english and spanish names so far. I really like Olivia, Madison and Sofia... and Noel thinks Casey, Annaliese and Keira are "OK". I'm surprised he didn't shoot them all down! I don't expect it will be any easier picking a name this time around than it was the last time. In fact, a co-worker of Noel's suggested McKenna, so we didn't even come up with it on our own! Tootles!

So we got back from our ultrasound a few hours ago and folks we're having another GIRL! We are excited. I know Noel was pulling for boy this time, but he's excited as well. Out-numbered by females now, but still excited. We won't have to purchase new boy clothes, which will be nice since lots of McKennas baby clothes are in excellent shape. Kid #2 will be happy about perpetual hand-me-downs, but oh well, that's the way the cookie crumbles! We also brought a rw CD and got a 3D movie of the baby made and I'm sure Noel will get that up asap on our greenhousegamer.com site most likely. McKenna came with us (no fever today) and thought it was pretty neat seeing the baby in 3D... she has a cute little mouth! It's mostly a profile of her face, showing also her shoulders, upper chest and arm. Pretty sweet! That's it for now, my tummy is growling! :D

Sickness is our constant companion these days! McKenna woke up with a mid 99 temp today but was pretty perky for half of the day. Noel and I cleared out the shed since it was a really nice day today and she was out with us for most of it, 'helping' us and playing with her toy shovels. She did really well, actually. After lunch though, she lost her luster and just now around 6pm I took her temp and it's 101.5. I decided to give her some kids tylenol since it's higher than it was. (I don't like to give fever reducing meds unless the temp gets about as high as it is with her, after all fevers have a job to do!) If she's still carrying a temp by tuesday I'm going to call her ped and see what he suggests. It's an on and off low-temp/high-temp/no-temp (Noel's b-day) and it's kind of frustrating! She really doesn't seem to have any other symptoms of illness, except for a little runny nose here and there, but nothing to write home about!

So, in other new you can actually walk into our shed now instead of literally having to climb over stuff. I re-organized all of my fish stuff and made a big pile of stuff that can go in a yard sale. There's lots of stuff I kept though, because eventually once my kids are older I may want to get back into my fish. As it is, I did bring in my 30 gallon to set up once I know what I want to do with it. I didn't want it to get buried in the back of the shed again. With the 30 gallon set up, I'd only have 2 tanks, and that's only if I keep the 10 gallon going, which I think I do want to do, especially since I'm getting plants into it. Besides, it can always be used as a VERY nice quarantine tank for new arrivals! ;)

Tomorrows the big day! We'll find out the sex of our baby and let everyone know. I'll post here and send out an email. Catch ya later!

Forgot to mention that I have a picture of my 10 gallon tank after I re-vamped it. It's the bottom-most pic on my blog, all the way at the bottom. I'll keep updating the pic as I get more and better plants in there. It's still hazy as I was impatient and took the pic before I let the dust settle. All I have right now is the moss near the top, the anubias in the bottom right and some bacopa on the left hand side and also floating at the surface. I'll probably move the bacopa around a bit as I'm not too sure of where it's going to end up or grow best. In the upper right hand corner there's also some pothos roots growing down into the tank. I find it's a great way to root my cuttings is to just stick them into the top of my tank.

Up this morning to a child with 100.6 fever, she went down, ate breakfast and snuggled with her daddy for awhile, then laid on the sofa for awhile longer. Noel went out to get groceries and while he was gone I re-did my 10 gallon with the Schultz aquatic soil I picked up topped with a natural-colored gravel. Placed the plants I have back in there and I'll have to take a picture soon. I want to get a couple more plants in there, but I have to say it looks so much more relaxing and nice for the fish. They did nothing but pick at the driftwood after they went back into the tank. McKenna perked up enough to help me pick the MTS snails out of the old gravel, since they're a good algae cleaning crew and they don't eat plants. She kept picking them out and holding them, and I kept telling her to put them back in their bowl of water so they don't die. So far, so good. She was so engrossed in what she was doing, that she had an accident, but I had her help me clean it up. She hasn't done any pees today or yesterday in the potty, but it could be because she's been sick.

Noel worked on putting a satellite up on our roof and I was on the phone with him telling him the signal strength. The whole time, McKenna had her head on my tummy trying to 'hear' the baby, and she'd blow on my tummy and kiss it. It was really cute. Right now, Noel's discovered he's locked into the wrong satellite, so out he goes again with me back on the phone, I suppose. That's it for now, folks!

Happy Birthday honey! Okay, it was yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to post. We hit McDonalds for lunch, then Lowes to spend some gift card money and then went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. McKenna got to dress up in her prettiest dress, which she loved, but she didn't do too well at dinner. She was pretty grouchy although she didn't have a fever or anything. We picked up a german chocolate cake at Wal-Mart and went home and feasted! Overall, I pretty nice day.

So I'm feeling a little better today, mainly just a hang-on cough. McKenna woke up with a 101.3 fever that I knocked back with some tylenol and she seems to be doing fine otherwise. She's taking an extra-long nap today that is probably well deserved! It rained a little while ago and now the sun is out. Guess I should think about dinner. Probably spaghetti. It's cheap and easy... maybe I'll get up the energy to make some bread to go with it. I've been looking at all of the beautiful shell-dwelling species of fish that I want to get as soon as I'm able to get my 75 gallon up and going. Probably not for another couple to 3 years, though. Having a newborn will make it a little tough to keep up with the cleaning routines! Here's a pic of the two different species I'm trying to decide between:

http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Lamprologus_stapper

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1753si.php

I'll need to work on saving shells for them... escargot and whale eye shells tend to be preferred, with an opening between 1 to 2 inches. They have some really neat behavior. Will bury themselves in the sand and will kick sand out of the way of a shell so that they can get it to turn. They'll even bury the shells until just a tiny opening is left for the babies.
Right now though, I'll just have to concentrate on my 10 gallon. See if I can't keep any plants alive! That's it for now. Snack time!

I'm feeling a little better today, but McKenna has a low-grade fever that we took care of with some tylenol. She's still her perky self, so hopefully it'll pass her by relatively quickly. She's having some chocolate milk before a little quiet time. Had a good conversation with my dad just now. We chatted for about 1/2 hour while McKenna played a lovely song on the piano! Nothing much else going on. I think I've got enough energy to make a pizza, so around 4pm I'll get the dough started. We've eaten out a bit too much while I've been sick!

I was hoping to dye easter eggs with McKenna today since we didn't get around to it on Sunday, but I'm still sick. Managed to get through the day alright with McKenna and this evening I have a low-grade fever. Feels like whatever I have has decided to take up residence in my lungs, so maybe this won't be a 48 hour thing. Of course, I've been feeling really crappy since Friday so who knows? Noel cooked dinner though, which was a huge help! I was thinking that I haven't had the flu in a long time and last time I had it, which was 4 or 5 years ago, it started out like a cold. So I'm crossing my fingers that that isn't where this is leading.

McKenna was very good for me today. Earlier today when I was feeling better, we took a short walk. Didn't manage to get around the whole block because it started sprinking so we turned back. McKenna checked out the worms and slugs that were coming up onto the sidewalks. She thought they were pretty neat.

Kiddo #2 was kicking up a storm all day today, so he/she wasn't feeling affected by my health, that seems pretty sure! Other than that, nothing to report!

Happy Easter Everyone! Unfortunately for me, not so great but McKenna had a visit from the Easter bunny and loved her basket. I wanted to get her to an easter egg hunt, but it probably won't happen. Noel's not interested really in taking her to one, and I'm not feeling up to it, so I suppose we'll do something next year. She's back into her basket now, after eating her healthy snack of banana, grapes and cheese stick. Sure brings back memories of chocolate ice skates and telephones and tons of other weird things. Tomorrow when I'm feeling better (hopefully) I'll dye some easter eggs with her.

Well, still sick here. Had a massive headache last night and Noel gave me a scalp massage which really helped. It's gone this morning, but the sore throat, runny nose and cough aren't going anywhere. I woke up at 5:30am this morning because it sounded like there was someone with a buzzsaw in our room. Turned out it was just Noel snoring and since I felt like crap and couldn't sleep anyway with my nose running I just got up. I taped a couple episodes of The Biggest Loser, which I was disappointed to find didn't record properly. I got the last half of the first episode and none of the second one. Freaking home theater system!

Anyway, I'm hoping to get a break today. Noel did a bunch of shopping yesterday and was out a lot so I had McKenna. Nothing got done around the house. My lovely clean kitchen fell completely apart and so I'm depressed. Yay! What a great post, huh?

Well yesterday there was no effort on McKennas part to pee in the potty. She woke up late and took her quiet time around 1:30pm, for which she got a pull-up. Didn't fall asleep until around 3pm and finally got her up and going around 5:30pm. When she got up it was loaded with poo AND pee, then she didn't pee again until her bedtime when she got another pull-up. I'm thinking yesterday she really didn't get enough fluids. She usually goes more often. I think I'll only give her pull-ups right before her bedtime when I've gotten her into her pj's. That way I'm not breaking up her day with pull-ups and confusing her. Ugh... I've got to get some routine settled or she's just going to be more confused. She really likes her potty power dvd though... watched it back to back yesterday morning!

In other news (thank God, right!?) I'm sick with some sort of throat thing. Yesterday it was mainly a dry hot throat but today it's a lot worse and I'm feeling pretty worn out and breakfast isn't even over! McKenna seems to be fine, but hopefully if she gets sick she'll wait until I'm better. Of course, I've got milk to deliver next Thursday so hopefully there will be NO sickness by then!

Anyway, that's really it for now.

My husband deserves vindication as last night when we went to bed he offered me a back massage. I must say it put him back into my good graces although he never knew he was out of them! LOL He's a good doobie - putting up with my moods lately must be tough, but he's always been pretty thick skinned.

In other news, there have been no accidents so far today! I borrowed a CD from my friend Patty called Potty Power and while it's cloyingly sweet and cute and just barely tolerable to an adult palate, McKenna loves it and has watched it 3 times today. It's a half-hour long. She did a pee after her quiet time today so we did the song and dance and went downstairs for the sticker. She was very proud. Now if she keeps it up, we'll start discussing all of the toilet paper I'm finding in the bowl after she goes! Nothing else major to report. I scored some newspaper for my garden project from my neighbors Ron and Shirley across the street so McKenna had a trip out and about before it started raining. We also hit the library to get and return some books. They are having the story time right now so we'll probably go next week.

That's it for now!

Okay, pity party time! My lower back is killing me and it feels just like the Sacro-Iliac joint dysfunction that I had with McKenna, only it's starting earlier this time. I've dropped a broad hint and a direct request today to my husband for a back rub and have gotten no response. I'm not going to nag him about it, so I don't think I'll ask again if I don't get any offers of a massage. I brought down my exercise ball that I purchased when I went through my physical therapy for this last time and am doing the exercises I remember. At least we have a new pump in our bed and I'm not having to pump it up 3 times a night.

In other news, after McKenna's two accidents today, one of which was on the couch I got the bright idea to have her help me decorate her potty with stars and moons. She thought that was pretty neat and while I was cutting some more in the kitchen to put on, she went pee on her own on the potty. Thank God! I just hope she keeps it up! I also made another potty chart with new stickers for her.

It's mostly been a rough day with McKennas one bright spot.

Well, McKenna is backsliding during the day for number 1 and I think it's because we're doing the no pull-ups at night (there have been accidents the last 3 nights) and also gently pushing for number 2's in the bathroom during the day. I think it's too much for her and since night-time wetting really isn't a potty training issue, I'm going to postpone that. She is co-operating with number 2's during the day and by that I mean she gets a pull-up after lunch and will go to the bathroom if she has to go number 2. She'll stand by the sink to do it. I could go back to giving her a pull-up at naptime but then I'm not up there to supervise when she goes and to make sure she's standing in the bathroom when she does it. SO, by eliminating the nighttime training, hopefully we can focus just on the number 2's during the day and she'll stop having accidents during the day. And her accidents aren't all the time, it's mostly the first pee of the day and an afternoon pee. She still will sit on the potty at other times and go. When she does have an accident I do make her take off her pants and take them to the washing machine and have her help clean up the mess. We call it an accident and don't give it anymore attention (except for the cleaning up!)

Anyway, it's frustrating but I know I need to chill and talk with Noel because he's talking about 'shouldn't she be doing this already?' Sounds like Joe when Christi was going through her potty training issues. *Sigh* Ah well... that's the latest.

We just got back from Eagle with 4 70lb bales of wet straw... it'll work well on my garden for a mulch. We got that for free since it was wet otherwise they would have been 2.50 a piece. Then we headed for south Nampa and picked up about 2 yards worth of wood chips. The guy there also had some barn litter from his neighbors horse, which is mostly small chips, straw, urine and a few poos combined. There was a huge pile of the stuff anyway that would work out as a compost. He charged us $10 bucks for the wood chips, which filled up our utility trailer (and was worth paying since he had a top-loader (not sure if that's what it's called) that he used to dig into the pile and dump it into our trailer. No manual labor. Noel especially liked that! lol If we come back for barn litter later, he'll charge the same thing. There is a place in Eagle that has horse manure for free and they will help you load it, but it may be a shoveling operation. But that's okay, when we go for manure, we'll want manure and not the litter... the litter would be for a later mulch, maybe in the fall or something. The manure we'll want to till into the ground, then put down newspaper to discourage weeds and then the straw as a mulch. I'm hoping for great vegetables this season!

While we were getting wood chips McKenna and I petted a nearby horse that the guy called his 'lawnmower' Original, right? LOL She didn't seem very impressed, but he was a friendly straw colored guy. At the place with the straw bales they had cows and chickens and she seemed more interested in the cows.

Anyway, time to start planning dinner, I guess. We've worked up an appetite. Spaghetti for dinner. Yum!

McKenna is back in underwear at night and the last two nights have been pee-free. She's very proud of herself! And we're proud of her too! To ease the constipation issue, I'm giving her a pull-up before quiet time. When I see that she's going I make her go stand in the bathroom while she does it. Yesterday she took herself to the bathroom and stood near the sink and today she just went in there while I was typing this. The next step will be getting her to sit on the potty (with pull-up still on) and go that way. Hopefully, the end result will be that I can simply remove the pull-up before she sits on the potty and there we go! It sounds easy... but we'll see how it goes.

I've been trying to get back into flylady. If I can do it, I'll have a routine to follow and get used to before the baby is born. Lately, my house just seems like a disaster area and when I was doing flylady it looked great. And it really wasn't that much work, either! So wish me luck. I'm catching up on laundry today so I can get back to one load a day. I've shined my sink and cleaned my kitchen so that I can KEEP it that way. I'm having McKenna pick up her toys if they're laying around more than half an hour without her playing with them. Stuff like that.

I'm thinking about setting up my 30 gallon tank and getting rid of my 10 gallon, which is on my kitchen counter. I've been trying to grow aquatic plants and so far I have cabomba, java moss, anubias and bacopa. The cabomba is the only one not looking well. I picked up a couple of liquid fertilizers for the water column, so I'm hoping that's having an effect. I would love a nice low-tech planted tank with some rummynose tetras. I love those guys! But my water here is 8.2 and pretty hard. Cichlids are more up my alley, so once my kids are past the toddler age, I may break out the 50 and 55 gallon and set those up with some Tanganyikan shell dwellers. I like Stappersi and Ocellatus Gold... my favorites so far, but I'm doing more research. Both of those species are aggressive, and mulifasciatus are less so, but I'm not as impressed with their coloring. I may do Julidochromis marlieri as they bred very well for me, although they had to have a tank to themselves. They are also Tanganyikan. Whatever I do, I'll have to save up some money for it. Many of those fish aren't exactly cheap, but they are prolific breeders and a couple local fish stores around here take trades or give credit for fish, so at least I can supplement my hobby somewhat. For the time being, I'm just playing with keeping my plants alive in my ten gallon and watching my guppies. And enjoying my one tank and McKenna's interest in it. I let her feed the guppies and she always wants to hold my malaysian trumpet snails, which bury themselves in the substrate during the day. Fish tanks will be a good learning experience for her - chemistry, life and death, etc...

That's it for now!

More later!

So, we got the results of the afp (Alpha fet0-protein) test back and my chances of having a baby with spina bifida were 1 in 4 according to the screening. So we went in for an ultrasound of course dreading it, but nothing major was found. The doc (different one from my normal OB) thought there might be a vertebra with a slightly bigger opening than the others, but skin was covering the spine there, so if there is something it's very minor. He even said as much since he had to look so hard to find anything. His exact words later were "I'm not actually sure I even see anything" But he wants us to come back every month so he can watch that spot.

Personally, I'm just happy he didn't find a major loss of backbone with spinal cord protruding from the area. He wanted us to do an amnio but we declined after speaking with a genetic counselor. I have what he calls 'lakes' in my placenta, which are these dark spots on the ultrasound. They might be blood-filled or not, and it's probably left over from the tearing of the placenta I had early on when I had a moderate flow of blood at 5 weeks. The dark spots could just be whats left and are healing up. The blood flow is good from me to the baby through the placenta though, so the lakes don't appear to be anything to worry about. The doc says they are very rare, and I think it's his curiosity that prompted the amnio request.

There's a 1 in 500 chance of miscarriage with amniocentesis, so if we have it done it will be very late in my pregnancy where the chances of a live birth are greater is anything goes wrong. The genetic counselor even said that amnios are more often for the practitioners benefit than the patients, since they pinpoint what exactly is going on inside, if anything, and can help them plan what type of delivery might be best. Anyway, it was a load off to know that there was nothing major, and most likely nothing wrong at all! I do resent having to see another doctor throughout my pregnancy, even though it's probably for the best. It's a lot more driving (to Boise, not Nampa) and later in my pregnancy both docs will want to see me more frequently which means I'll probably be seeing both docs every two weeks. A pain in the butt, and I hope this doesn't lessen the likelihood of having a natural birth. Oh well, that's the update on the saga. I wasn't planning to tell everyone about it, since I was hoping it would be a false positive and a 'oh, you're fine go on home', but since I have to have follow-up care and there's a suggestion that there could be something very minor, I figured I'd document it in my blog. Can't have kiddo number two thinking I don't want to write about him/her as much as the first one!

Well, this Wednesday the 5th we will find out the sex of the baby. They are also checking for other things, which is why it's earlier than normal... but we're excited and will let you all know on Wednesday what we're having!

I put McKenna in a pull-up and she did a #2, and unfortunately she was constipated. She just wanted me to leave her alone while she did it. I'll continue with her pull-ups at quiet time and bedtime and call her doc after Wednesday. Gave her some mineral oil and prunes today to keep things easy on her.

After doing more research, I've decided that tomorrow I will give McKenna a pull-up for quiet time since that's when she does her #2's, and will call her pediatrician to see what he thinks. If she's holding back, then she's not ready to use the potty. I'll keep you updated!

Last night was night #2 of an experiment with McKenna and potty training. She does #1 just fine with only an occasional accident, but has only done #2's a few times, both of which occurred right before we left on vacations last year. She hasn't done anything since and I'm hoping to get her jump started by putting her in big girl undies 24 hours a day. I was noticing that she only did her #2's in her pull-ups..... SO,

Night #1 consisted of limiting liquids after 5:30pm, a bedtime pee, and then another pee before Noel and I went to bed. She also woke me up around 2:30am to blow her nose. I sat her on the potty to do so, and she peed! It worked well. She was dry throughout the night and a big celebration ensued!!

Night #2 consisted of the same thing with liquids, a bedtime pee, an 11:30pm pee, which she was still awake for and she slept through the night, coming into our room (dry) to get into our bed with us this morning. I had her pee before doing so, which she did and more celebration and lots of snuggling with mommy and daddy. So far so good... I'm feeling good about this part, since she had been waking up dry in the mornings anyway at times. Limiting liquids really seems to work.

Now, we just have to see about her doing #2's. I'm hoping that by her having underwear on, she won't want to poop in them and will use the potty. We'll see. Her last poo was Friday, so I know she's holding it. I'll let her go another day or two maybe, then see what the doc has to say. I don't want her to get constipated on top of everything else. That would just make sitting on the potty painful as well and scary and new. Ergh, anyway wish us luck with the potty saga!

So, lasagna gardening being my new obsession, I spent the day yesterday at my friend Patty's house raking up her leaves in the front yard to take home for my garden. I also scored some newspaper, which was cool. Of course, now my shoulder and back are killing me, but the shoulder already had a head start so I can't blame it on raking. I realized after I got home that I haven't raked that many leaves in a long time, and it's not like her yard is huge, either! It has 4 flower beds, and there were only a few leaves in them, so I really didn't have much to rake. She has more in her backyard, which I might go back for when my shoulder is feeling better.

While I was there, after I finished raking, we were inside chatting and McKenna ran at me, and clambered up on the couch on me and stuck a knee right into baby-to-be and man did that hurt! I'm not feeling any aches today, and laying on my stomach last night I was able to feel lots of kicks from baby, so I'm not concerned anymore. Guess I'll just have to start guarding my belly a bit more, especially as it starts to stick out a bit.

We've been doing very well reining in spending, so I treated myself to some live aquarium plants and planted them in my tank. The guppies and tetras in there are having a ball. Hopefully, I can keep them alive. I did add some higher watt compact fluorescents, so I think they should do okay. It's nice seeing real plants in there, though! Well, I hear my daughter, so better go get her up for the day. Later!

Well, two nights ago (Saturday night) at 11:16pm I felt the baby kick for the first time! I was actually concentrating on it and had just had some candy an hour before so I figured that's what juiced things up! I'm into my maternity pants since I don't fit into most of my jeans anymore. I do have some nice soft sweat-type pants that still work, thank goodness!

Trying to eat well is my biggest challenge right now, but not too difficult. It was harder when I worked while pregnant with McKenna. At least if we go shopping every week I can pick up fresh veggies and fruits.

Speaking of which, I've been actively planning my garden for this spring. We're going to surround the garden with wood chips and the get some straw (for $2.50/70lb bale) and some free manure, both from farms in Eagle. The woodchips we're getting from a tree service and he's selling for $20. and will fill up 'whatever we bring'!! So great deals there. I'm planning to eventually do a lasagna style of gardening where you don't till, but do a raised bed and layer different materials over time so they break down:

http://ourgardengang.tripod.com/lasagna_gardening.htm

But for now, since we tilled compost into the soil last year, we're going to till in manure, sand and some other amendments, then smooth and cover with newspaper to keep down weeds. Then we'll throw the straw on top for mulch. This fall I'll throw some more compost and fall leaves onto the garden and next spring will just plant directly into the bed without tilling, then mulch again with straw or grass clippings. Since I'll be very pregnant during most of the growing season I want to make it as easy on myself as I can and if I can keep down weeds, that will be a huge success and relief! I'm looking forward to having McKenna help me in the garden and she really liked it last year. She was good at planting those bean and corn seeds. I like the idea of lasagna gardening for the flower beds I want to put in in the backyard also. No digging involved which is great! Don't know if I'll manage it this summer. Probably not, but it's something to look forward to and plan out. I'm also thinking of xeriscaping our front yard to cut down on mowing and water use.

Okay,, well gotta go. Love to all!

I've decided I like Ron Paul for our next president and just thought I'd pass it on! I never was so interested in politics until I got involved in homeschooling and learned that you have to fight constantly for your freedoms. Here's a blurb from his website:

Congressman Paul is known among his congressional colleagues and his constituents for his consistent voting record. Dr. Paul tirelessly works for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies.

For more information on Ron Paul, visit his website at http://www.ronpaul2008.com.

Some highlights of Ron Paul’s record include:

• Ron Paul is in favor of allowing Americans to keep more of their own money by eliminating the IRS.
• Ron Paul is well-known among his colleagues for never having voted for higher taxes or unconstitutional spending.
• Ron Paul is a strong proponent of a secure border and against extending welfare to illegals.
• Ron Paul supports putting doctors and patients back in charge of health care decisions. He is a staunch defender of health freedom and against government-managed medicine.
• Ron Paul adamantly defends our 2nd amendment rights and opposes federal gun regulation.
• Ron Paul is strongly pro-life and in favor of repealing Roe v. Wade.
• Ron Paul does not support a military draft, and strongly opposes going to war with Iran.
• Ron Paul is in favor of capturing Bin Laden and believes that it is critical for the United States to have a strong national defense.
• Ron Paul is for protecting individual rights and opposed to unnecessary violations of our privacy like the “Patriot” Act.
• Ron Paul supports removing troops from Iraq as soon as possible and allowing Iraqis to take responsibility for their own protection.
• Ron Paul believes that it is important to maintaining our national sovereignty by opposing trade organizations like NAFTA, the UN, and the WTO.
• Ron Paul wants to stop corporate and banking interests from controlling the U.S. economy. He supports eliminating out-of-control inflation by getting rid of the Federal Reserve.

On other fronts, not much happening. My pregnancy is going well and McKenna already talks about the 'baby inside'. Kind of cool! I've been downloading some pre-school stuff to do with her and she's showing a good interest. Also likes having some sit-down reading time. Well, gotta go... I've got some yogurt that I need to check on... hopefully it came out all right this time!

Well, my last ultrasound showed a healthy baby and a breakdown of the blood that was in my uterus, which is very good. Heartbeat was 193, which is within normal. I'm experiencing light queasiness in the mornings, and have been really tired. I've tried to take a nap every day while McKenna has her quiet time. Doesn't always work out! ;) We finally pulled the crib out of McKennas room. I'd been on Noel awhile for that, and it took him literally two minutes to get it out! Only had to take off one side of the crib.

It's snowing like mad here. Noel took off in bunches of powder and hard snow coming down so I hope his commute to work was reasonable. He's starting his English class and has been dreading it. I helped him come up with a thesis and outline, as I think that will help him get started. He's doing it on the benefits of computers in our daily life. He needed something he knew a lot about. He's got a 10 page paper, 2500 words, due at the end of this class and I suggested he do it on the advantages of homeschooling since he knows a bit about the subject, and I'd be able to help him with it.

McKenna is talking more, and I think it helped having Annie here for 2 weeks... she's more of a talker than we are and I'm sure the added vocabulary helped McKenna vocalize more. She's expressing herself much more clearly now and I think when we see family in summer, they will be quite blown away! We had a wonderful Christmas, and took McKenna sledding up towards Bogus Basin with Noel's mom. Found a great hill with a small 7 foot drop off at the end, but we were able to stop ourselves before getting to that point, although Noel saw one guy go over, who was unharmed. McKenna went with us down at an angle, and that worked much better. We had more control and were able to stop. She LOVED it and didn't want to stop, but her snow suit was not completely water proof and I could see it getting darker from the moisture, so we were there maybe an hour, tops. We went up to the lodge at Bogus afterwards and had hot cocoa, and then had to leave because Annie was treating us to lobster. We picked it up at the Albertsons in Eagle where they had steamed it for us, and took it home and pigged out. We have some great photos of McKenna checking out her lobster and trying to feed it parts of itself. She never did try any of the lobster. Annie and I polished off 3 of the suckers. It was quite yummy!

So we had a good time and a good Christmas. McKenna's up now, so I need to wrap this up. Next post soon!

So when we got back from our vacation, it seemed like a Christmas dream that I had conceived while down there. Yep, I'm pregnant. Unfortunately, I'm at risk for a miscarriage due to lower than normal hcg levels, spotting, clotting, and all sorts of other great stuff I'm sure you'd all like to know about! Last Saturday night we went into the ER because I was feeling symptoms of ectopic pregnancy and my doc said I should go.

So they did an ultrasound and the baby is where it's supposed to be and there's a heartbeat of 141. The ER doc did come back and tell me I had a little bit of bleeding in my lower uterus and that it's not uncommon to see that. She said it's quite likely I'll go on to have a normal pregnancy, but that it does put me at risk of a miscarriage. But at least I know where the spotting and clots are coming from, otherwise I'd be freaking out. I have another ultrasound this friday to check on things again, and hopefully everything will be progressing as normal. I'll be about 7 weeks along this next Saturday. (The doctors determine it from the first day of the last period). Keep me in your prayers. I'm going to need it for this one!

So we got back from our Christmas/Thanksgiving/2 birthday celebration/vacation and it was fun! Noel and I decided to save money and go down in our pop-up camper and I brought food for us so we wouldn't have to eat out.

We went down hwy 93 through Nevada and started out at 4 in the morning. McKenna slept until about 7:30am in the car and we had breakfast in Twin Falls.... stopped off in Jackpot to stretch legs and made it into Caliente, NV (narrowly missing some deer) for the first night. Noel was particularly cranky which didn't help my mood but we got through it all right.

The next day we headed out and went through north Las Vegas and south on Hwy 95 in Cali back into Arizona and Quartzsite where Noel Sr. lives... we stayed there 3 nights and McKenna got to know her Grampa. We also met a bunch of other people living in that trailer park (snowbirds) who are pretty neat. More rough talk then I'm used to, but heck - one womans shirt said "Quartzsite - trailer trash" or something to that effect. She was really cool and of course, these people are no trailer trash! McKenna got to know the next door neighbors who had a green frog that would 'ribbit' everytime someone walked past, so she was always asking to go over there and play with it. Noel Sr. also put out some vegetable trimmings and seed and every night we'd watch as the little bunny rabbits came in to feed... not more than 5 to 15 feet from his trailer... one night there were at least 15 of them, I'd say. McKenna loved watching them, but wanted to chase them even more, so it wasn't until after she was in bed that we could sit out and watch them.

We checked out the 'main event' as they call it, kind of like a permanent summer swap meet, and we looked for butter-making paraphanalia... I found one butter paddle for squeezing the water out of the butter, but the little butter churns I found were too expensive.

So after Quartzsite, we left and headed into Phoenix and stayed with Mom and Dad. I immediately went in to drool over her new long-arm machine and I'm so envious of Tish that she's so close to that thing and I'm so far! Anyway, I got to drive it and use pantographs and it was an experience, let me tell you.

The first 'holiday' we did was Thanksgiving, which my brother Dwight actually wasn't there for, but he got there the next day and by then Sherri and Mark were back from the Grand Canyon, so EVERYONE was there and that was cool. We did pasta the next night, I think and that was my thing... I made the dough and rolled it out and then mom stuffed and made the raviolis... we had pasta everywhere let me tell you and I even had leftover dough, so I made fettucine and had it hanging over the backs of chairs and wherever I could to start it drying. Dwight walked in and said something about how it looked, and his daughter Deanna was taking pictures of it (as I recall). Anyway, without the fettucine, we probably would have been short on food for everyone. People were coming back for seconds, and we had to make sure there was enough for the guys because THAT was the day the water heater went out and they were all back there, 3 cooks in the kitchen so to speak, getting it put in. Noel described himself later as 'head grunt' who did all the work, Dwight as the guy offering advice and Mark was the joke teller. Of course, I came out at one point and overheard a joke my brother was telling (Dwight, not Ethan) about Homer Simpsons beard and didn't do out there again! lol
So we ended up getting this homemade pasta dinner together with no running water, but it came on shortly before people finished eating so we at least managed to get the dishes cleaned up!

We did mom's birthday next day I think (Wednesday, at any rate) and she got some gift certificates from JoAnnes and some other stuff I can't remember. She didn't want people to make too big a fuss since it was mostly to be about dad. Tish did mom's birthday dinner at her house and did homemade pizza, which was really good. We all hung out there (actually this was before Dwight, Debbie, Jenny and Deanna showed up, so I know I've got my days mixed up, oh well) and I got to see Tish's garden which was REALLY cute, much nicer than my butt ugly one... lol McKenna played on the swing set with Logan while Ashlynn tossed cheerios around, (at least that's what I think they were ;)

So for dad's birthday everyone gathered at the dining table and he opened gifts that he expressly said he didn't want anyone to get him, but heck it's his 75th, what are we going to do, take him literally?? He got some Civil war stuff from Sherri, a book on Ancient Europe from me, and can't remember the other things. He was moved to tears though to have everyone there. I mean, it's been at least 15 or more years since the whole families been together. At least, I can't remember the last time.

So the next day we did the Christmas swap, where there's 3 rounds and people get to steal a gift they want. Everyone brought a couple of gifts to swap and there was lots of good stuff... a drill, lotions, a small drive for a computer, a hand carved wooden bowl, a beautiful painting (which I stole from mom, who was the one to open it origionally) and I brough a handmade red bag with seeds I collected from my garden and some candles. There was more stuff, but I can't remember everything. I know the gift I brought ended up getting split, which was fine. Jenny got the bag, Tish the seeds, and Tish and Sherri split the candles which were very yummy smelling, I might add! Everyone had a great time.....

So when we left, we headed north to see Gene and Cathy, who are friends of Noel and his dad. Gene is a homeopathic doctor and Cathy suffers from fibromyalgia. While we were there Gene gave me an 'exam', which consisted of touching me in various places while asking me to hold my arm straight out from my side and resist his arm as he pushed down on it. The verdict was I had allergy, headache, adreanal, and ovary problems and the latter is causing the first three issues. He said I have low estrogen and prescribed some herbs for me to take. I tell you, it was a different experince. I have to admit I was skeptical even though he was dead on about issues I was having ( although he already knew about the fertility and allergy issues from previous conversation) It was my first encounter with anything other than your classic western medicine. I'm holding onto the script since I want to research homeopathy more before just driving out to my handy compound pharmacist to get this filled... lol I've made an appointment anyway with my OB/gyn to talk about fertility treatments in early January and I want to see what comes of that first. Of course there's the next few days to get through to see if I'm pregnant this month. I'm not holding my breath! ;)

Anyway, the trip was fun. I got to see Carrie and she's due in January I believe. We chatted for quite awhile, and got some quality time in! I didn't get to see Ashley since she's in WA, but Noel and I are tentatively talking about a trip to the coast next summer, and we'd see her then if that works out financially.

So the verdict is that McKenna had a blast, the camper was comfy, we saw family and dad got to show us all off in church that Sunday. When he asked us to stand up and two whole pews did (13 people), I heard a lot of gasps and such, so that was kind of fun... and dad was proud.

Okay, enough for now... gotta run and get the little one ready to face the day! Love to all!

It's been ages since I've posted! We've been pretty busy this summer. We all went up to Stanley to visit mom and dad and had lots of fun. We had a great mouse escapade. Field mice kept getting into the trailer, so we bought some traps and got about 5 mice. Mom had found 2 drowned in the dogs water bowl (severe drought up there) before we got there. Noel caulked under their trailer to prevent the mice getting in and that seemed to fix the problem. We did some fishing and swimming but the lake is pretty deep. You walk out about 5 steps and you're up to your neck. McKenna didn't swim in this one........ don't blame her. The water was pretty cold, too.
I was pretty sad to see the damage up there, though. The pine bark beetle has damaged about half the trees and so there's tons of dead trees up there. They've just started letting the logging companies go in and take out the dead trees.

So we also went and stayed at a cabin in Garden Valley with our friends Patty and Joe and their 2 kids Joey and Christy. It was a pretty nice spot, basically on a jutting piece of land between two rivers that connected a bit farther down. So if you wanted the colder faster water to do some fishing in, you walked a hundred yards or so one way, and if you wanted to wade the shallows and ride a tube down the river, you walked the other way. Once we managed to keep the kids away from the drop off that's right outside the cabin, it was a pretty relaxed time. The kids LOVED wading in that river and wanted to ride our backs down on the tubes... we'd go almost to where it connected to the larger, main river and then haul our tubes back up to do it again. Mucho fun, gotta say. We'll probably do it again next year and maybe make a tradition of it if we can swing it.

Patty and I then went and stayed in Cascade in a motel for a few days and did a bunch of stuff. Mom was in the RV park during that time, so we had some meals with her and did the flea market and a lunch with her also... then Patty and I went to McCall the next day and did a craft fair, lunch, and some window shopping. The craft fair was really fun, but smaller than we thought. Patty got some homemade soap that smelled fantastic. You could tell the lady was really talented. I purchased a shell necklace that had dried flowers in it was an acrylic or laquer of some sort over it... Anyway, we had a great time.

Then I was up in Cascade again to stay with mom for a week with McKenna. I made a few pairs of earrings and we did a lot of reading. McKenna went to the playground every day to swing, and they were good swings, not like the plastic swings that most are made out of now. We had a surly neighbor who came over to scream at me and mom about the dogs barking, but everytime they barked, we'd bring them in so I don't see what his problem was. Anyway, he was an ass and we got a formal notice from the park saying if we couldn't shut the dogs up we'd have to leave the park. So we drove to McCall for a 'correction' collar for Heather, the scottie, since she was the big barker. Mom was on the verge of tears and was REALLY upset that she was doing this to her baby. But the collar, once it was positioned properly, did it's job and she hardly barks now. Mom takes it off when they're in the trailer and at night.

Noel and I are selling our Saturn and Chevy and with the money we make off those two are going to put it towards a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer, extended version with 3 rows of seats. (I personally don't think we need the third row, but he wants to be prepared for visitors that fly out and some more kids coming our way.... ANYWHO, I'm just going with it. So we listed the truck already and we'll see if we get some nibbles. The trailblazer is nice. We test drove one and I feel a bit loose and rattley in it but I imagine it's because I'm used to the 'snugness' of the Saturn.

McKenna can say phrases now..... 'I want up/down/out' and of course food items and stuff. She's getting very voluble and I'm glad to hear her stringing sentences together. Can't wait to see family in December!

We're holding our breath over the lay-offs at Micron. With 10 to 15% going, some productive people are going to lose their jobs. Noel's pretty new to his department so we're crossing our fingers. We've already been talking about him looking for another job in the area if he loses his job and the possibility of us having to move to another state for work. Washington is high on the list since it has a good tech industry. But it's restrictions on homeschooling are stricter, so that would be a downside. It would be cool to be closer to Ashley, but then we'd be farther from our friends Patty and Joe and their kids, whom McKenna has become close with. Noel's group is supposed to start cuts tomorrow, Monday, so we're thinking we may know tomorrow morning after he gets to work. He's currently shaving up in case he needs to go out tomorrow looking for a job! Wish us luck!

McKenna did her first poo in the potty yesterday! We are so excited for her! And another one today, although she asked me for the first time to put a pull-up on her (after the poo) so who knows whats going on with that!

We had a great 4th of July party and I'll get pictures posted soon. Our friends Patty and Joe and their kids made it, although the others invited didn't, for various reasons! The kids did their sparklers and McKenna liked most of that. We'd put one in her hand and she'd start walking towards the street while watching her sparkler... we kept having to herd her back. On the cul-de-sac towards the front of our subdivision they had a few really big ones that went up. Those were nice, too. I think next year I want to go to the big show at the Idaho center a few days before the 4th, as well as do our party the night of.........I miss the big shows!

Well, we visited a herdshare in Caldwell to see about raw milk. It looks promising! Laura has 3 cows right now. One is dry, due to calve on the 5th of this month, one is a heifer and the other is currently giving out a couple of gallons of milk. She does lack pasture right now, but has the irrigation all set to flood her pasture area and has seed ready to go, so by the time we find out if Noel will keep his job, she may even have some grass started.

Speaking of jobs, Micron is going through a lay-off period right now and Noel is waiting to find out if he'll retain his job. I have a good feeling, as I expect he's pretty much in demand by his boss... he's the one who's asked to do lots of special projects so that can only be good, right? We'll know within the next two weeks if we need to make a major life-style change! Although we're determined that I stay at home with McKenna and not have to go get a job. I'm thinking if we did need extra money I could always start teaching piano again. 5 kids each week would get me about $200. a month, which could only help if Noel had to take a lower-paying job.

So enough of this depressing talk. I made my first sourdough loaf of bread from the 170 year old starter that Noel brought home for me and it is quite yummy. With a little artichoke and parmesan cheese dip it's to die for! I'm going to cut up some of the bread and serve it with the dip for tomorrows party. Now I need to try a loaf with my own starter that will be a year old in a couple of months. I know it makes fantastic pancakes, but haven't used it in anything else! Oh, and McKenna had some of the sourdough loaf and ate a little and spit the rest out. The sour flavour might have to grow on her! LOL

I hit the Boise Co-op today and picked up the dip I mentioned as well as some duck eggs to try and some pasture-fed, free range chicken breasts...........EXPENSIVE!! Four breasts cost me almost $25.00!! I also picked up some free range ground lamb to try. I've never had it so we'll give it a whirl. Also got some artisan cheese that was hand-made locally called flagship cheese. I had a sliver and it was really tangy, not really sharp though. Very nice, but again, a bit too much for McKenna... I would love to try making cheese, but I think I'd need to pick up a humidor for cigars and rig it to accept cheese at the right temp and humidity. Who knows......it'll make for some fun experiments!

Did a bit more research on buying locally. I have a number for a family farm in Caldwell that has chickens......I'm going to see them in a couple days to see if the chickens are free range, with proper housing and all, but I'm thinking they will be fine. And they might have eggs too, although the ones we've been getting at the Karcher Ranch Market are great and also from a family farm.

I've looked into CSA's, which are Community Supported Agriculture and you basically buy a share of a farm and get a portion of whatever they produce (eggs, fruits/vegetables, etc) and it's fresh and in season. If I can't get my vegetable garden to produce much we might do that. We'd also get more variety than I could get from mine. It's interesting what's out there when you look. I hate factory farming and CAFO's and although a lot of vegetarians and vegans use them as excuses to not eat meat and dairy, I'd be happy eating meat and dairy as long as it came from TRULY happy cows, chickens, beef, etc......

If anyones interested www.localharvest.org has links to local farmers where you can get lots of fresh stuff.

The more I think about it, the less I want big corporate farming groups to control what I eat. That may sound a bit radical to some people, but with all the loss of topsoil and the pesticides I think it's a good cause to take up. Course it won't happen overnight. We probably won't get our grass-finished beef until next year due to lack of funds, but that won't stop me from getting our chicken and milk now.

We saw Sawyer Brown in concert last night at the Idaho Center. For those of you who don't know, he's a country singer and I'd never heard of him or seen him... the groups been together since the mid-eighties, I guess. So, it was an outdoor concert and we were invited by a co-worker of Noel's... I was sitting on the grass (we arrived early) in the HOT sun, and the whole time I guess we were keeping an eye out for them (actually, Noel was because I'd only met them once) and they ended up sitting down right in front of us, only half-recognizing me (Noel was getting food) and I only half recognized them, so it wasn't until Noel got back that I realized who they were.......ANYWAY! Sawyer Brown came out and I, having no clue who he was saw a kid in army fatigues and a blue t-shirt and a kind of cowboy hat and really thought he was like early 20's tops. He moved his feet and legs like only a really flexible kid could, I thought! So then he says that his groups been together 25 years and I had to go home and look him up on the internet because I needed to see what this really energetic guy looked like. From his photos, he looks like he's early 30's, but he's 43. Lucky guy. Anyway, great energy and everyone loved him. His songs were really good. Rodney Atkins also sang and I did recognize one of his songs...... both were really good performers. We had a really good time......could've taken McKenna, I guess but it was really loud and hot for most of the time and I think she would've been pretty grouchy the whole time.

An excellent link on raw and pasteurized milk for those interested!

http://www.westonaprice.org/transition/dairy.html

So, we finally got our raw milk and it's really good! Thicker, and a little sweeter. I haven't given any to McKenna yet - guess it will take awhile to work through that fear that she'll drop dead the instant she has some. I'm not planning to give her any of this batch, anyway. I probably won't get anymore milk from this girl at the Karcher ranch market, either. Her mom has their cows on hay year round and I'm really looking for cows that are on pasture a good part of the time. I may have been given incorrect information about cows milk being legal to sell in Idaho. Another source I've found says it's actually illegal to sell and only people that own their owns cows can drink the milk. Although, I've yet to find any info anywhere that says I'd be arrested for being caught red-handed with a raw milk mustache! lol

Anyway, I've found a herdshare in Caldwell that looks affordable and sounds as though it may be what we're looking for. The Jersey cows are on pasture part of the time and get good hay in the winter months. There's 3 of them right now and the owner is a home-schooling mom who's interests (according to her web page) seem to be aligned with mine. It costs $25. for start-up and then $10.76 a month for milk (which is about what we pay now) ranging from a quart to a gallon per week depending on production.

I am interested in possibly making my own cheese, butter and yogurt if we sign up for this. I recently read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver and it was basically about subsistence farming... the family tried an experiment to eat only what they could produce on their farm for one year, or to buy locally if they absolutely had to. The book really opened my eyes to whats happening with our food supply in this country, from the billions of dollars spent on pesticides to the loss of top soil. I came across a statistic that said that currently the typical 4 person family needs about 4 acres of land in order to survive, and that by 2020 there will only be about .6 acres per family. In my opinion, the more I can do to buy locally from farmers that are using organic practices, the better! The foods yummier, too!

Another thing I came across is a study that showed that currently our milk, pre-pasteurization has lots of bacteria in it, including salmonella, listeria and e-coli, but because we pasteurize the milk, the corporations running these huge dairy operations don't bother with cleanliness. They also give their cows antibiotics on a regular basis so that they don't get sick in these conditions. On the other end of the spectrum, an organic dairy farm in California, I believe (I'll have to find the link to the article!) tested their milk, every batch that went through, and found no traces of these harmful bacteria in their milk. Their cows were fed properly, got lots of sunshine and fresh air and green grass and the people milking were careful to keep everything very clean and the milk properly stored at the right temperature. From what I understand raw milk does contain e.coli, but it's normally a benign microorganism. The most likely source of the new strains of virulent E. coli is genetically engineered soy, fed to cows in large commercial dairies. If there is any type of milk likely to harbor these virulent breeds, it is commercial pasteurized milk.

Time to go... McKenna's down for quiet time and I think I'll take a nap too!

I've been into buying locally now for awhile... since it's summertime I'm visiting the farmers market every saturday and buying local, healthy, yummy stuff from the farmers. Since I didn't get a lot of peas this year in my garden I'll probably buy a bunch and can/freeze them. I also looked into raw milk and found it's legal to sell but not advertise in this state. A girl I met at the Karcher ranch market is bringing me some milk from her family's small operation tomorrow. Sounds like a good farm from everything she told me and they've all drank the milk since she remembers. Found a lot of pro and con info out there on it, but I'm particularly interested in the possibility that it could help reduce the histimine levels in my blood that cause my allergies. I'd like to avoid allergy shots or a steroid shot this year! Cheers!

McKenna is doing very well with potty training! She's been going every day, some days only once and some days more. In addition to her star chart, she gets to wash her hands with "Nemo" soap that are pretty colors of the rainbow. She's feeling very proud of herself. She'll come get me when she pees and will say "PEE"!! And we go in and I give her some toilet paper to wipe with and then she helps me empty the potty into the big toilet. We then wash our hands with Nemo and she gets a star for her chart. Did I mention that she's really proud of herself!? :D And we are VERY proud of her! She would love calls from friends and family to tell them all about it!

WOOHOO!!! McKenna peed in the potty (for real) for the first time today!! She was running around naked and started squirming and hand her hands down there so I said, 'do you have to pee? Go sit on the potty" so she went in and next thing I know, I hear running water so I run in and she's got a big smile on her face and I said, 'did you pee-pee?' and she stood up and there was like a cup of pee in the potty!!!! She got to wipe with toilet paper and got a sticker on her chart! We were all on a high for like half and hour!

Why is it that whenever I want to do anything on the laptop I end up with a kid and a cat in my lap? I've yet to figure it out, but I'm open to suggestions! LOL

Well, I ordered a kentia palm off of ebay. I've been wanting something to put next to my piano ever since I moved McKenna's little bookshelf into the other room. I'd also like to get a corn plant, also known as Draceana. They are nice upright, tall plants that work well in a narrow space. Ever since I've started having luck getting things to grow, I just can't seem to stop picking up plants! At least, after summers over I won't have a lack of things to do! I've already rooted some epicsia suckers and will soon (hopefully) have 3 new "Chocolate Velour" epicsia's hanging around! Also picked up a spider plant, one of the hardier looking varieties and it gets morning and evening sun and seems to be doing really well..........I've added a compact fluorescent to my nepenthes miranda as it still has only the pitcher it made while in my terrarium. It's getting 16 hours of light a day, which is a healthy amount for that plant. I've placed my wandering jew outside because the stems and leaves are looking a little lank. I think it'll beef up with more sun.

Noel and I took McKenna to Boondocks yesterday. We played a round of miniature golf with her, which was really interesting! She liked to go grab the balls and throw them in the holes. Needless to say we didn't keep score! After that we did the bumber boats. Noel had McKenna and it's a good thing because he got me soaked with those squirters and his aim was deadly. McKenna would have gotten really wet and mad, but she was safe with him. I couldn't seem to get the stream of water low enough to hit him! Anyway, that was fun and then we went back in the the kids area where she could go in and play... it's a maze almost with swings and slides and ladders and trap doors and tunnels. And it's free! You just come in and set the kids loose and there's netting everywhere so that they can't really fall and hurt themselves. She had a blast in there. Afterwards, it was back home and lunch and a nap. She was falling asleep in her pb&j!!

Today, if it warms up a little and the wind quits, we may go to the Boise Botanical Gardens. I'll post again if we go. It should be a good time of year to go. Noel finished homework and a test yesterday after Boondocks (on leadership skills) so he shouldn't have any excuses for not going! :)

Our gate blew off in the wind a couple of days ago, so Noel's trying to get it fixed. Didn't seem all that windy, but there were some good gusts. He's off to home depot. I just listed our king mattress on craigslist with a pic so hope to get some nibbles. I've been wanting to clear that room out a little. If the king sells, we'll put the single in there. I found the cat beds in the garage and cleaned them up and set them in on the bed, and they're actually sleeping in them! So I'll move them to the twin when we get it in there. Luckily the mattress looks in good condition. No smells, stains or anything gross like that. And we only slept on it a few years before we got our other bed, so for being 8 years old, it's in good shape.

I purchased a kohleria http://www.robsviolet.com/koh_manchu.htm and it's now blooming! Beautiful orangey-red blooms to brighten up my terrarium alongside the orchid. Noel and I also purchased a gorgeous rocking chair for $10. that we saw on craigslist. It's really old-fashioned looking and only needed some screws tightened and added. We have it in the living room for the moment, but when the next kiddo comes we'll probably put our glider-rocker up in the bedroom for him/her and just keep this new one down here. It's a medium wood color with burgandy cushions. I'm really pleased with it. It fits in with the decor nicely. Well, got a new pic of McKenna up on the main page of my blog, but so far having problems getting the others on my webshots so I'll keep trying. Well, gotta come up with something for dinner. Later!

Ok, this is kind of gross, but McKenna's been constipated. I gave her a little bit of mineral oil and some dried apricots and we're just now in the bath... I was reading and heard her say 'poo-poo' and looked and saw a nice big turd floating in the water with her. She almost freaked out, but I calmed her down and fished it out. (Not with my hands, thank you!) Anyway, I have a feeling she'll be feeling much better now! LOL Ah, the joys of mommy-hood! :)

Looks like my nasturtiums are poking their heads up out of the soil around the tree in the front yard. McKenna helped me pick grass from around them. Unfortunately the tree roots are really shallow and I can't really dig the grass up too well without damaging them. So I dumped some potting soil around the tree (not too deep) and planted the seeds and of course the grass is poking up through. Don't know what I'll do... anyone have any good ideas? :)

Got a guy coming by to look at our dryer. We really wanted to sell them as a set, but I said he could take the dryer by itself, so of course we need to get at least $100. for it. Crossing my fingers! After he's gone, it's back to the garden I go. I've got a few bucks set aside - I'm tempted to go pick up some plants at Zamzows. I'm so impatient for everything else I have to start growing! My larkspur and delphinium are just coming up out of the soil. Don't know if I'll get any blooms from them, but the delphinium are perennials, so I can always mulch and divide next spring and hopefully get some good healthy plants. I've got cosmos, bachelor buttons and four o'clocks started from seed and they are looking good so far. The four o'clocks are almost ready for hardening off, but only two seeds sprouted, so I might have to plant some more. I did divide my chrysanthemums (sp?) and put them in my new flower bed, and that's where I'll probably try my four o'clocks and my cosmos. The bachelor buttons I'll save for my main bed and they'll be in the front, with my established yellow snapdragons behind. Okay, everyones probably sick of hearing of plants already. Oh!! My iris are in bloom... I'll have to try to take a pic and get it on my blog. My white ones in back and the purple/white ones in the front that my neighbor Shirley gave me. They are looking fantastic! And my sweet william is starting to bloom. I also bought 3 pink geraniums to put in pots and hang on my front porch rail. It sound like a lot, but my flower beds are really bare looking since I'm waiting for plants from seed to be ready to go. Ah well, I'm loving it and McKenna is loving helping me, and we're getting sun so we're happy!

Well, the weather has been most excellent around here..... 70's low 80's... I've been outside in my garden most of the time. I've got plants started from seed that I'm going to plant in another week or so and I got a new flower bed added onto the end of my porch. I plan to put in another one across from it on the other side of my gate. McKenna has been a big help. She'll hold a bag while I dump old mulch in it, or help me rake the leaves out of the beds. We've got the pool up in the backyard and she went in for a swim yesterday for the first time.

I was saying goodbye to Noel yesterday as he was leaving for work and I said 'have a good day' and she mimicked me! Sounded darn good, too. It had Noel turning around and praising her. We're still working of potty training. She'll sit on the potty but not do anything. Ah well, it'll come.

Noel has been experiencing tired eyes and headaches more often, so went into the eye doctor. Turns out he needed a prescription for glasses. He picked them up a couple of days ago and they look really good on him. He says he's still getting used to them, but his eye-strain at work has disappeared.

Today is overcast with rain expected so I'm doing laundry and baking. Made breakfast muffins (cheese, onion, bacon) banana bread, and a loaf of regular sandwich bread. Read up on some ways to save money. Noel just got a raise, which is nice (over $2.00 extra an hour) but if gas prices keep climbing, we're not going to see any of it! I've lost my last piano student (temporarily, it sounds like) so no extra cash for spending money, but if we can save some money on groceries, I might get a little for my garden. We've also put up our old washer and dryer as well as a birdcage for sale. If we sell both for what we want, we'll get almost $500. which will help out. Anyway, life is pretty good at the moment. McKenna and I are enjoying being outside more often and I'm enjoying the nice tan I'm developing! Still working on the next kiddo, but a lot more relaxed about it. Stress-wise, anyway! That's it for now, time to play with the kiddo.