Edible landscaping...

I'm trying to use every available centimeter for food production this year. Here are a few strategies for using edible plants in my landscaping...

Peas...



...will grow nicely up this fence.


Pole beans...




...will climb up my front porch and porch railing. They will need some support for climbing the cement (on Don's "honey-do" list).

Winter squash...





...will grow along the border of this bed, out onto the cement area. Yes, it will block the path to the front door, but we rarely use that door anyway.

Chicken Coop

Don Sr. built me this chicken coop for my birthday. Don picked it up yesterday in Hope and today he's putting the finishing touches on it along with fencing a chicken yard! I'm very excited to get these hens outside where livestock belongs (stinky!).

Garden Progress

As you can see, the garden progress is s-l-o-w because of the wet and cool weather we've been having. Aside from a few warm days, it's felt like March since, well, March...

Happy strawberries


1 of my square-foot gardening bed. These beds have the disadvantage of having Storm tromp through them when something interesting is on the other side of the fence.
This was supposed to be my corn bed, but only about six corn plants germinated. They must have gotten eaten up by the crows or squirrels. So I planted my squash plants in there instead: pumpkins, cukes, and winter squash.


Happy potatoes.

Another Day Brightener...

Day Brighteners...

...for those who need them ((((hugs)))).

I don't want to jinx myself...

...but I haven't changed a poopy diaper in three days!

We knew he was good...

...but his music teachers apparently think he's "outstanding!"

Last night Sean and I attended Dylan's end-of-the-year band concert and at the end they presented awards. Dylan, along with Tia Anderlini and James MacMillan (who left before I was able to snap a picture) are the three Outstanding Undergraduate Musicians. Dylan feels like he is in great company as he really admires Tia and James' musical talent.

Dylan has three more concerts, including a talent show on June 8 where he will sing a duet (And Then There Was Music) with Cassie Marno. The fun never ends...

Hola! Estamos en casa...

What a grand and glorious holiday we had with our good friends Frank and Heather Smith. It may have been just a tad bit too short, but that's really the only thing I can think to complain about! We spent hours eating and playing games, which is the ideal way to spend time on a vacation according to the Murphys and Smiths : ) Other than the eating and playing games, we did a little shopping in Ensenada and took in some shows on the ship. Here are our favorite holiday pics, in chronological order:

Frank and Heather about to board the ship.

Here are Don and me about to board the ship. The Queen Mary is in the background.

I love this picture of Heather and me...I just wish I could Photoshop our hair! This is the top deck of the ship on the first evening.

Frank, Heather, and me ashore at Ensenada. We spent the morning shopping here. You can clearly see the baby in this picture!

This was a huge Mexican flag flying in the coastal fog. Someone with a really nice camera would have had a hayday with it!

Wild and crazy Heather after one too many margaritas!

: )

This was actually a mask that they bought for their son, Nolan, who did a great job of holding down the fort while they were gone.

Going back to the ship in Ensenada.

We're just finishing breakfast in the dining room on Sunday morning.

Heather and I learning how to make animals out of towels...yet another skill we now possess!

Cribbage on the deck, with food and drink a mere few steps away. Life was pretty sweet...

18 weeks plus a couple of days...

I can't even imagine what 38 weeks will look like!

Everything is going well pregnancy-wise. I have my OB/GYN appointment a week from Wednesday and my ultrasound is June 12. I'm hoping to find out the gender at that appointment.

Oh yeah...the baby is moving around a lot now, and I'm getting Braxton-Hicks contractions frequently.

Patience Sleeping...

with her ever-growing entourage...

P.S. When I took these pictures I noticed that Patience sleeps with her eyes open (a little) just like Dylan! It's the freakiest thing when they're asleep but staring right at you...it must be a genetic defect...

Photography By Patience

Let me know if you'd like to book a photo shoot with her...

Happy Birthday Patience!

This morning Patience slept peacefully until 7:30, while the rest of the family willed her awake to enjoy her birthday surprises. When she finally woke up, she was thrilled with her decorations.

Big brother Sean helped her see and enjoy each of her treasures!

Here is Patience with her American Girl doll, Alice, who is wearing her doggie costume.

Here is Patience holding her Backyardigan friends: Pablo, Tasha, Austin, Tyrone, and Uniqua.

And finally, here is the beloved scooter. Jordyn also likes the scooter. A lot. I have a feeling this will become the bone of contention until Jordyn gets her own scooter. For now Patience is being very kind in taking turns with Jordyn.

Happy birthday, Sweetheart! You've blessed our lives for 4 wonderful years and we continue to thank the Lord for you!

Preparing for Patience's Birthday

Tonight after Patience went to bed Sean, Dylan, and I assembled her scooter and decorated for her birthday. She got an American Girl doll with clothes from Grandma and Papa Lee, a scooter from Don and me, and a Backyardigan stuffie from each of her five siblings. Oh, and there's candy, too.

I can't wait to see the look on her face tomorrow morning.

Mother's Day Tea

Patience's preschool had a Mother's Day Tea this morning. Don watched Jordyn so I was able to go and enjoy myself without the benefit of a pre-preschooler. Here are the kids singing us their songs.

















After our musical entertainment, the kids served us Strawberry Shortcake. Here is Patience with her best friend, Danica.



















After our refreshment, each of the kids presented his/her mom with a flower in a hand-decorated pot.

















Here is my friend, Pam, who is Danica's mom.

Superman!

Nathan is going on a drama trip that leaves tomorrow. It's in Summerland, several hours away, and he's there through the weekend with his drama teacher (Nathan's favorite) and several other students. One of the activities for the drama festival is a costume banquet. All of the guys decided they'd go as superheros, and all the girls are going to be leading ladies. Nathan rented this costume today...

Here is a damsel that doesn't want rescuing...

Here is a more willing damsel (lighter, too!).

Pretty Yard

Here is what our front yard looks like with the new beds with bark mulch in them. The last picture is of another bed that only got half-done before we ran out of bark mulch.

New York, New York...

Here is Dylan all dressed up in his suit the evening they watched the musical "Hairspray." He said that was the highlight of the trip.

Here is the whole group in Central Park. I think there were 69 kids!

Here is Dylan on one of the tour busses sharing his iPod.

He had a terrific time in New York, and said that it was worth the money he spent going...

Saturday morning, bright and early...

Dylan's flight was late last night, so Don ended up fetching him at around 4:30 this morning. Dylan is home safe and sound. I can't wait until he wakes up so I can hear all about his trip. He didn't call once from New York, even though he had my mother's toll-free number. Grrrr. Next time we'll clearly outline our expectations.

Guess what time Nathan called me this morning from the middle of the ocean to find out who won the Sharks game last night? 6:30! Everyone was still sound asleep on this Saturday morning. Oh well, at least I was able to tell him good news (Sharks won in OT, going into game 6 in Dallas). Pretty amazing considering they were less than 15 minutes away from elimination and down 2 goals when they finally pulled it together. So now Nathan's happy : )

This morning Don is going to help our church move a single-mom family from one house to another. There are lots of guys helping so it should go quickly. Too bad it's drizzling out...that's never fun weather to move in.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Friday

This morning Sean and Nathan left bright and early for their cadet weekend. The weather is supposed to be pretty good (not raining) for them, which is always a plus when you're out on the water in the middle of nowhere.

Aunt Dorothy came and visited this morning and ended up staying for lunch. We had a nice visit and the girls were disappointed when she left.

I had a doctor appointment this afternoon. Everything went well. Specifically, I am miraculously not anemic...which is a first for me during pregnancy. And, I got my "permission slip" from my doctor that says I can be allowed on the cruise ship in 2 short weeks.

Right now Don has Jordyn, running errands in Langley. He's going to bring home dinner (Yes!).

Tonight at 8:00 we get to check and see if Dylan's flight left NY on time, and then set our alarm clocks accordingly so we can go pick him up from school in the middle of the night. Good grief! Any guesses how much/long he'll sleep in tomorrow?

Chicks are all alive (another miracle considering Patience and Jordyn's curiosity and inability to leave them alone) and are starting to grow feathers!

Happy Friday!

I'm a dork...

but you probably already knew that!

Somehow, somewhere, I had turned on "comment moderation" which means that when you comment on my blog, it won't show up until I approve it. I was wondering why I hadn't received a single comment lately! Anyway, I fixed it and now the comments are showing up again.

Please forgive me for all of the unkind thoughts I had about my readers who weren't leaving any comments : )