Finally Spring!

Today was beautiful - here are some pictures I took of the kids....










Some other pictures of the garden...

Autumn in the Garden

This is my first year gardening. I've already killed some things, most notably the pink creeping phlox that started the whole obsession. I have a black walnut tree near my little front yard garden - they are notorious for poisoning plants that try to grow beneath them. After he dumped some enormous tennis ball sized nuts all over everything, I started giving him a sideways look whenever I crossed his path - which is every time I leave the house. The upside of this is that I have an excuse for any and all failures, and I use it liberally.

Here are a few pictures that Frank took for me in October. I figured I better get some photos before the first frost hits, and I spend the entire winter wondering what will come back in the Spring.

Trick or Treat?

We had a great time trick or treating. The weather held out well enough for us to fill up half a treat basket. The only casualty of the night was our cat, Play-doh...Frank did not have a Halloween costume so he shaved the poor guy and, well, the picture says it all.

Happy Halloween!

Happy First Year, Alexandra

Hell is....

Target in Atlantic Station the Saturday before back-to-school.  What was I thinking?  Oh well, it could have been worse - I could have been at Walmart.  

What did we really need so badly?  Um, panties.  I had been noticing that Ariana was looking... well... uncomfortable lately, and finally I realized that the poor kid had been growing and needed me to upgrade her unmentionables.  So off to Target we go, and the whole time we're there, she's tugging at the ones she's wearing, and I am really ashamed for not noticing she had an issue sooner.  

Of course, when you go to Target for one thing, you immediately realize that everything you're running out of at home (and more) is sold at Target, so 1 hour later, I'm carrying Alexandra, and pushing one of those ginormous buggies that has side cars big enough for 12 kids.  Neither of my kids are in it.  I have a basket full of stuff and I can't find the panties.  I ask.  They are in a new section that I've never been in - full of little girl undergarments.  OK, so Ari is delighted to find they have a pack of 7 with each day of the week written on them, and Alexandra by this point is crawling around on the floor.  I'm amused too, but I have to get out of here.  So I round the corner to collect our Cart/SUV and there, just one aisle over, I find myself face to face with the training bras.  It's a wonder I didn't wake up at the ER.  Turns out the only thing you can't get at Target is a stiff drink.

At least my girls make everything fun....

Alexandra played with the panties for the rest of the afternoon....

Ariana and Alexandra making each other laugh.

Last Monday I started teaching Ariana to read.  I wasn't sure if it would go well, but so far it has been fantastic.  The material is not over her head and she's enjoying it and learning very well.  It's so rewarding for me!  She spent some time on Saturday teaching her Lion how to read.   I think he's catching on quickly too.  Here they are...

The summer drought has taken a few victims in the garden.  Lost a few perennial geraniums and a cushion spurge who managed to rot.  Here are some happier residents....

And instead of crying over the rotted spurge, I picked up a new silver spurge, called Shorty.  The little nest he's planted in is made up of Dragon's Blood sedum.