Peas

Our peas are coming up beautifully. Ethan dumped the whole bag in 5 square inches, so I had to replant them into rows. They are close, but growing! I am wondering if they will end up smothering each other, but so far so good. My mama says gardening is all a big experiment, so I figured I would just throw them out & see what happened. I am looking forward to eating some good peas!

Ethan's Curtains

Sarah's Mom gave me an idea about how to make super-simple curtains on the cheap. It was fun getting the sewing machine back out! I miss all the crafting. One day, I'll get back to it... And my other most recent project, Ethan's quilt.

Mother's Day Ideas

For Christmas, I commissioned an artist on etsy to make a bowl for my parents. It turned out so cute that she's selling them as Mother's Day presents! Sure, it's risky putting grandkids names on the bowl, since it's still biologically possible for the the list to become outdated. But I figured it was worth the risk. It was fun creating the bowl - and since it was a brainstorm between myself & the artist, I had no idea what to expect! If you are interested, check out justmare's shop for a unique Mother's Day gift! For Christmas, my mother-in-law got one of these adorable little dishes, from MudHutt, which would also make a great Mother's Day gift. Right now I'm scouring etsy for new ideas!

Growing Asparagus

I just planted asparagus today! (not my asparagus pictured above) Kitchen Gardeners says that you can't eat it for a few years, after that, it will harvest for 20 years! We're planning on staying put for a while, so that's just fine by me. Low maintenance - that's my type of gardening. Anyone ever planted asparagus?

View from the Farmers Market

Aren't these beans from the farmer's market beautiful? Any ideas on what I should do with them?? Went to the farmer's market this weekend to pick up my blueberry plants!

Nut Allergies

We now officially know that Ethan has peanut & tree nut allergies. We've been staying nut/shellfish-free for Ethan's whole life, but never knew if there was an actual allergy to them. But today we went in for the scratch test. This is obviously very disappointing for us. The bad news is that they are most likely lifelong allergies, unlike his allergies to milk & eggs which children typically outgrow. The good news is that he does not have allergies to shellfish. Pictured above is his little back, while undergoing the scratch test.

About the Scratch Test:They test potential allergens, along with controls, to see how the body reacts. There is a slight prick (which does not hurt) & application of the allergens. At his testing today, you can see results for nuts, peanuts, shellfish & eggs. Then, you have to keep the child from scratching & rubbing while it hurts & itches like crazy (for those who react). I basically just lightly blew on his back for 15 minutes while he whimpered & squirmed on ocassion. The middle row is shellfish, which is negative for allergies. The bottom left is peanuts, and the right column is tree nuts. He tested very very high for walnut allergies.

What really bums me out? He prescribed us 3 epi-pens. I took it as a good sign that he had never felt a need to prescribe me an epi-pen until now. But the nut allergies are the big bad allergies, so it looks like we're in it for the long haul. At some point, we'll go in for a more comprehensive blood test, which is more accurate as well, but I just couldn't handle that today.

Bummer.

**As always, I prefer not to discuss this in front of Ethan when possible. I want to minimize any feelings of being left out, self-pity, or awkwardness that you can imagine might accompany such a diagnosis.

A Happy Easter

Since we only get about 2 family shots a year, I thought I'd share! We had a great Easter in Decherd, TN, filled with family, fun & sugar. It was our first Easter celebration where we didn't have to confiscate all of Ethan's chocolate eggs!

Fruit Crushers from Trader Joe's

I just found an awesome new fast food at Trader Joe's. Perfect for lunchboxes, with absolutely Zero mess, Applesauce Crushers, and Apple Carrot Fruit Sauce are delicious! I tried these out on a group of 3 year olds. My son loves the Apple Carrot Crusher, but one of the kids did detect a weird texture to the Apple Carrot one. These are now a staple in our house! $2.99 for a pack of 4 from Trader Joe's.

Train Set

I'd first like to say that I'm so excited about all of your gardening! Even more excited that you haven't all abandoned Blogger altogether! I hope to see some posts on your blogs about the lovely rewards of your garden.

Now to the excitement of our household for the past few days. It's hard to tell who's having more fun with our newly acquired train set - E or his Daddy!!!

Gardening Trend

Lance, Ethan & I are starting a vegetable garden this year. Pictured is the bed that was totally trampled during all the house construction, so I'm clearing it out & going to put in a vegetable garden. Right now, my big job is clearing out all the MINT which is running rampant in the bed. (Folks: Mint smells lovely, but spreads like wildfire!! Put it in a pot, people!!!)

This year, I'm starting light & easy, with peas, tomato, corn & maybe some blueberry bushes. It looks like I'm not alone though. The gardening trend is exploding these days, with our economy in the tank and all.

Indications are that 7 million more households plan to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs or berries in 2009. This is up 19 percent from 2008 and anticipated to nearly double the 10 percent growth already seen in this area from 2007 to 2008.

Any of you folks joining in the trend? If so, Whatcha planting? Any favorite easy Southern climate plants?

Or maybe no one is out there. Have you all left Blogger for Facebook?

Hunting

I haven't posted any pictures of Ethan at any of his preschool activities, so I thought I'd share this little picture of Ethan at his Easter egg hunt, with the boys & girls in Miss Betsy's class. 3 sets of twins in his class. How about that?

It's a Big, Big World

As a baby, Ethan never cared too much for music. He still doesn't today, refusing to sing in school performances, and silencing me when I sing, with a "I don't like songs, Mommy!" I used to be a pretty big music snob, so I can't figure this one out. I've never heard of a child who doesn't like music. (He does like "Cotton Eyed Joe" though. Go figure.) Anyway, a few months ago, I came across this album by Renee and Jeremy. KATIE BELLE LOVES IT! Every single time the song, "It's a Big, Big World" comes on, she quiets down immediately. There have been times we just put the song on repeat indefinitely to make it through a long car ride. Anyway, just wanted to pass this great music along to those who have small ones at home. Click here to listen on YouTube. You can also find more songs on their website.

Any of you have some baby or toddler favorites? Did you know that They Might Be Giants makes some AWESOME toddler music?? Click here to listen to "Alphabet of Nations." It's fun to hear your kid say "ZIMBABWE!"

Katie Belle

Please excuse the self-made double chin in the corner. I just thought she was adorable. Right? That bow stayed in place for approximately 6 minutes.

Roasted Veggies - A Recipe

I haven't been trying many fun new recipes lately. That will change soon, since our CSA starts in May! I have been making Roasted Vegetables a ton lately. This 'recipe' is a bit like my 'granola cereal' recipe. I'm not sure if this is exactly how I make it, since it's different every time! I end up tweaking them every time, based on what ingredients I have on hand. But here goes! We eat every bit of these, but if you have leftovers, you could throw them on a pizza, in pasta sauce, or puree them in broth for a yummy soup.

This is about how much I use to feed our family:

5 New Potatoes, Quartered
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
10 Baby Carrots, Whole
1/4 Red Bell Pepper, Sliced
1/4 Yellow Bell Pepper, Sliced
1 Yellow Squash
Salt,
1/2 Lemon, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large roasting pan (I love to do it in a cast iron skillet to add some iron to our diet.), toss potatoes & onion with 1 Tablespoon olive oil & 1/2 tsp salt. Roast 10 minutes. Add carrots, squash, bell peppers, lemon slices, and a little more oil & salt. Continue roasting 45 minutes, turning veggies a couple of times, until they are golden & tender. Remove lemon from veggies. Garnish with a few thin slices of fresh lemon on top (optional).

(I have roasted veggie recipes that call for heat ranging from 350-425 degrees, and time ranging from 30 minutes - 1+ hour. You have to figure out what works best for your oven.) Other Optional Additions: Green Beans, Sweet Potatoes, Herbs, Black Pepper...

Before & After - Kitchen

Here are a few more before & afters of our kitchen. A view you've already seen before, but here's a side-by-side. We removed the wall between our eating room & kitchen. We also removed the wall between the playroom and hall & did some serious space planning to make use of the height of the cabinets, etc. Good thing the hubby got to use that architecture degree! I don't have a true "before" picture of this view of the kitchen, because there was a wall in the middle of this space. But once we gutted it, it looked like this:Then, we put up the drywall & things started looking good! This is a slightly different angle, which shows more of the old "playroom" to the left, which is now opened up to the kitchen. This also shows the process of laying down new hardwoods to match the old. Also, that door & window used to be in opposite places, but we switched them to add a little more space in our kitchen.And here's the finished product! It feels GOOD to be home!

The World Effect

An old classmate of mine, Meggan, is off for a 1-year-worldwide-adventure with her new husband, Beau! How cool is that? They are chronicling their travels on their blog, The World Effect. I'm ready to pack my bags!!! On second thought, something is telling me that all those planes + 2 small children might not be quite the same experience. I guess I'll just have to admire the pretty pictures.

Potty Crisis, Part II

I need help AGAIN!

Thanks to your advice, I abandoned potty training back in August, because the majority of you said "He'll do it when he's ready."

Sure enough, right after his 3rd birthday, he was ready. Right there in the middle of Home Depot, Ethan says, "I've got to go poo-poo!" And just like that, he was potty trained. A few accidents, but doing great for a couple of months.

Until about 6 weeks ago. We moved back in, and he was totally fine for a week. Then, he started having accidents. And I'm not talking about just a few of them. I'm talking about the-#2-kind-of-accidents every day. #1 accidents too. He pretty much never voluntarily chooses to go potty anymore.

I don't know what to do. I've tried discipline. I've tried comforting ("Everyone has accidents.") I've tried revoking priveleges/toys. I've tried promises of a treat/toy. I've tried making him clean up his mess. I don't know what to do anymore.

The doctor said it would resolve itself in a few weeks. Nope. It has been more than a few weeks. I'm SO tired of cleaning up the mess.

ANY IDEAS? HELP!!!!

Garden Blogs?

Things are popping up all over the yard right now. So far, I've been enjoying daffodils and hyacinths (yum). My peonies are starting to pop up and the lilac (yum again!) is beginning to bloom. I can't wait until my garden looks like this again!In the meantime, I'm trying to find some good garden blogs or websites. I found these, but it doesn't look like any are southern-based. Any of you Southern Belles or Gents know of good regional gardening sites?

Some Gardening Blogs I've run across so far...
Heirloom Gardener
Ewa in the Garden
GardenRant
Away to Garden
The Compost Bin
You Grow Girl

The Economy

The economy. I know it's complicated, folks. Good thing we have SNL to clear things up for us.

8 Month Update

Katie Belle is 8 months old! She is so incredibly active - yesterday she easily climbed a flight of stairs! No doubt she will be an early walker too (although I'm just not ready for that!!!) Here's a look back at the past 8 months. These pictures are getting harder & harder to take! You should see the outtakes. (Most involve the paper being eaten.)

And months 1-4. Love that girl!