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I will be doing a full week of book giveaways, so you'll want to return to enter!

Garden

So this year we decided to plant a garden. We still belong to the CSA, but we wanted to grow some food ourselves, particularly some tomatoes. After reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I became convinced that we need to be finding more local sources for our foods, and we should be growing some of it ourselves! So we build a planter box in our front yard, which receives the majority of sun.

Here it is after we built it and filled it with dirt. We then planted seven heirloom tomato plants, and the kids had planted radishes at their library group, so we put those down the middle.

Here it is after we planted some other things: peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers (small for pickles), and even more tomatoes. We ran out of room, so we planted some things in tubs. You can see everything is getting bigger.

Here's a shot as of yesterday, right after the kids harvested their radishes. They were thrilled! The tomatoes are getting quite large. We have a few blossoms, but it's really not anywhere close to tomato season around here yet. Today it's 50 degrees outside, so we don't have the consistent >70 that we need for good tomato production (I know that at least one of ours is fairly early and will produce at lower temps, but they prefer it to be warm, that's why we get tomatoes late into September around here)

And here's the radish harvest! I used a few of them in the coleslaw tonight and it turned out beautifully. Both the kids ate lots.

I will continue to share our harvest as things become ripe and we pick them.

Win a Getaway

Check out the Seattle Mom Blogs for a chance to win a Seabrook vacation . I just took a look at the houses available, and wow, they look wonderful.



Take a chance, you just might win!

GASP!

That sound you hear...yeah...that's me gasping for breath.

Today we started the Couch to 5K running program.

Uh, yeah, you heard me right, I was ACTUALLY RUNNING.

Well, not exactly running, slooooowly jogging, but I was attempting. I give myself huge props...except when I was jogging, Logan came swiftly walking past me saying, "Mommy, I can walk faster than you are running!"

I am determined though, and even if I never make it running faster than Logan can walk, it's certainly better than sitting on the couch eating Milk Duds (like I would ever do that, right?)

LOL...I am going to pass out now.

I knew I should live in the country...

You Should Live in the Country

You are laid back, calm, and good at entertaining yourself. You don't need an expensive big city to keep you busy. You'll take the peaceful life over the stressful life any day of the week.

Where Should You Live?

Condolences for Steven Curtis Chapman

On Wednesday evening, contemporary Christian musician Steven Curtis Chapman's five year old daughter Maria was killed in a tragic accident. There is a commemorative blog set up http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/inmemoryofmaria/ where people can leave messages for the family, and there is a fantastic video of Steven and Maria that they just made a short bit ago.

The Kid in Me

In searching for a picture that captures the essence of The Kid in Me for this photo contest, I couldn't find anything of me personally that spoke "kid." Maybe it's because I'm almost always the one taking the picture, but this picture of Logan just called out to be entered. He's screaming, on the beach, enjoying the glorious summer day. What is childhood about other than that?

Sharing Some Links

I haven't had time to do this for a while, so here are some fun links I've seen lately:

Coffee and Vanilla does a monthly "Wholesome Lunchbox" event. Great photos and ideas for packed lunches. Four weeks until my kids are out of school and I really needed some inspiration!

Are you a mom? Maybe you'd be interested in joining the Mom Select panel. Looks interesting, I'll let you all know if/when I hear from them.

Boo Mama talks about the (mostly) guy phenomenon of "Unboxing"--trust me, read the comments too if you want a great laugh.

Culinary Fool has a to-die-for looking coffee cake. I loooove coffee cake, this is a must try for me.

Fabulous Nightline report about a family in LA who have turned their yard into a garden...and so much more :The Real Simple Life

Movie Update

Haven't updated the movies we've watched recently, so I thought I'd do that again.

32. Dan in Real Life 4 1/2
33. Ladies in Lavender 3 1/2
34. Death at a Funeral 3 1/2
35. The Darjeeling Limited 2
36. Bee Movie 3
37. No Reservations 3
38. Five Days 4-4 1/2
39. Horton Hears a Who 3 1/2
40. I Am Legend 3 1/2
41. Daddy Day Camp 2 1/2
42. No Country for Old Men 3 1/2
43. Nim's Island 3-3 1/2
44. American Gangster 4
45. Nancy Drew 3
46. Water Horse 3
47. Martian Child 3 1/2
48. The Mist 2 1/2
49. Rendition 3
50. Lars and the Real Girl 4
51. Pippi Longstocking 3
52. Juno 4
53. The Orphanage 4

April Reads

So, a little bit late, but here's what I read in April

47. There's No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern C+
48. Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult C+
49. Who Stole My Church? by Gordon MacDonald A
50. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger B
51. Shem Creek by Dorothea Benton Frank D+
52. Black Ice by Linda Hall C+
53. Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz B+
54. Blood Brothers by Rick Acker B-
55. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion C-
56. The Prince Charming List by Kathryn Springer B
57. Vanish by Tom Pawlik B
58. Love Starts with Elle by Rachel Hauck B
59. The Edge of Recall by Kristen Heitzmann B-

No Audios completed this month. I started quite a few and gave up.

One of those Moments...

Hubby and I went to Starbucks today. Kids were at 4-H, we had just come from the hardware store where we compared the pros and cons of each type of outdoor clothesline--which, by the way, we did not buy yet because there are so many things to consider.

Anyway, went to Starbucks for a treat, because I had some gift cards I could use. We got in there, and I handed the cashier my two gift cards so he could check the balances. He said, "our machine is broken and it isn't reading the cards today. You can use them, but it won't take any money off of your balance, so it doesn't matter how much money is on the card. If any."

This SHOULD have been my clue to think, "ah-ha! Free coffee!"

But no, I ordered a grande iced tea.

The clerk says, "Grande? Are you suuuuure you don't want Venti?" Making every gesture in that direction other than winking and pointing to the card, but I don't think I would have caught on then either.

So hubby orders a grande frappuccino. Again, he says, "Only grande? Are you SURE?"

We are just puzzled still. We both say yes.

He places our orders, then rings us up, slides my gift card through the machine, and says thanks for coming, we got our $6 order for free.

Ok, are we just DENSE or what? We took our drinks outside, and we both commented on our extreme idiocy at not getting what the guy was trying to say, which was:

Order the biggest, most expensive thing, because it's FREE!!!!

Another giveaway

This week's giveaway at My Wooden Spoon is a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer. Head on over there and enter to win.

She will be having weekly giveaways through the next three months, so get in on the action!

Giveaway Goodness!

My Wooden Spoon is hosting a 3 month long giveaway! She is giving away a prize each week through July 31. This first week's prize is this Cuisinart food processor.

Head on over and enter! You just never know...and you have a much better chance at winning this than you do at winning the lottery :)