Mayden says: boys vs. girls

"I wish I was a boy for two reasons. First, I wouldn't have to have a baby in my belly and second, I'd be able to get my bathing suite on faster."

i'm inclined to agree with her!

ladies & gentleman we have a reader!

I'm so proud of this girl! she's doing so well with reading and it happened really fast. the best thing about this is how well she does figuring out the bigger words. I'm excited to watch her progress this summer. go! go! go!

Garden 2011

I'll use this rainy week to take a minute and talk about the garden. the poor sopping wet garden. 

so about a week ago on my birthday we planted tomatoes, sunflowers, zucchini & some pumpkins that came from my Pop Pop. He's the patriarch of the family gardening. The only thing I need to get in the ground yet are the peppers. 

the spinach has been in the ground a while now and last week we had out first harvest. since then we've harvested a few more times as it regenerates so fast!

slso, new this year are my herbs! (thanks mom!)  I have 4 (rosemary, thyme, basil & parsley) I don't know how often i'll use them other than making my favorite basil pesto. Nice to have on hand though!

what we are reading

can you tell who's is who's?

I'm sure you can figure it out.

1. Trouble at the Dinosaur Cafe- A library book pick of Cam's that he absolutely loves! we've read it about 369 times in the last few weeks and i'm sure that won't be the last of it. Good thing I love it too!

2. The Good Book- Chris's new find that he just started reading. Thoughts broken down into chapters & verses just like the Bible but w/o all the God/Jesus stuff. 

3. The Magician's Assistant- I'm almost finished this one! A good read but nothing mind blowing (yet)

4. Ivy & Bean: and the ghost that had to go- The second book in the series and May and I are 1/2 way through it. Good thing we borrowed the 3rd one too!

32 on my 32nd

taking a break during our birthday hike this morning!

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4. Vietnam."
2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can, What can you touch? wine glass, tums bottle, remote, alarm clock
3. Before you started this survey, what were you doing? looking for a survey to fill out
4. What is the last thing you watched on TV? The Wedding Singer 
5. Without looking, guess what time it is 10:06
6. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time? 10:21
7. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear? movie playing
8. When did you last step outside? What were you doing? a couple hours ago. spent most of the day outside gardening, mowing, chick care etc. 
9. Did you dream last night? not to my knowledge
10. Do you remember your dreams? negative
11. When did you last laugh? a few minutes ago
12. Do you remember why / at what? at the movie i'm watching
13. What is on the walls of the room you are in? shelves, pictures, cobwebs :o)
14. Seen anything weird lately? i have a 3 year old son, weird things happen often
15. What do you think of this quiz? not bad
16. What is the last film you saw? before the one i'm watching now, Walk the Line
17. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? anywhere but NJ... as long as family/friends are nearby
18. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy? a house w/ lots of land
19. Tell me something about you that most people don't know. i would have more kids if i had the $
20. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do? food for everyone!
21. Do you like to dance? not in public, but with the family in the kitchen- most definitely!
22. Would you ever consider living abroad? uhhhh YES
23. Does your name make any interesting anagrams? probably
24. Who made the last incoming call on your phone? my Nana <3
25. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? a photography related template
26. Last time you swam in a pool? last summer
27. Type of music you like most? most anything
28. Type of music you dislike most? country
29. Are you listening to music right now? no
30. What color is your bedroom carpet? blue
31. If you could change something about your home, without worry about expense or mess, what would you do? fireplace, upstairs... oh i have big plans!
32. What was the last thing you bought? razors

project hatch 3 - the 6 pack!

I've failed to give you a final count and account of the hatching project. my bad. Hatching started a day early (as it normally does for us) on Thursday. We'd observed lots of egg movement and peeping on Wednesday and by noon on Thursday #1 was out! In total we have 6 chicks, 3 yellow, 2 black & 1 brown. We almost had 7 but one gave up the good fight just before fully hatching. sad. Cam's brown egg did hatch with a yellow chick, 4 white eggs hatched and one of the blue eggs hatched with a beautiful brown stripped chick. Sadly none of the green eggs hatched. The last to hatch came into the world with some drama and I was almost certain it would die or i'd need to help it die. Thankfully by morning the little guy was doing much better. They are all doing well and becoming less content with living in a box so I maybe transferring them outside at least during the day and brining them in at night for a few weeks. Next step is to reinforce the coop and to start opperation: keep chickens alive! easier said than done.

Mayden's eye: using the timer

Mayden took this picture of Cam and I snuggling this morning (he wasn't feeling very well) but then May wanted to get in on the action. So i taught her to how to use the timer on her camera. She set the camera on a chair, pushed the button and then ran to get in the picture (about 7 times!)

 this time we were instructed to "smile"

"make a funny face"

"make a sad face"