You Know You Have a Bunch of Little Ones, #18

You know you have a bunch of little ones when your friends ask you to bring paper plates to the party.

(or maybe that means they finally got tired of your cooking) :)

You Know You Live in the Country, #3

You know you live in the country when you lose track of how many ticks you have pulled off your children, and you get pretty darn good at getting those suckers out with one yank of your tweezers!

Although I have to say, the tick that somehow got onto Anne's eyelid, right on top of her eyelashes, was particularly challenging (and extra gruesome, as well!).

It required two yanks.

And the loss of a couple eyelashes.

With a bit of crying as a result.

Ick! I won't soon forget that one!

Tractor Boy

The Garden

A shot of the main garden from 5 days ago. Dan was hard at work putting cages around the tomatoes.

Rainy Day Party

A while back, when we were going through a rainy stretch, the kids made a party in the basement for all of us. They spent a long time setting it up and then came and invited Daddy, Mommy, and Anthony to the party.

They set up a little "bed" for Anthony on the floor. He lasted in it long enough for a couple of pictures.

Everyone had a drink and a plate of food:

Joseph did not want to sit down at first because he didn't like the food on his plate.

Ah, now it's okay. I've got a donut, some pickles, and a chip. What more could you ask for at a party?

The girls enjoy some tea:

Dominic goes right for the good stuff - ice cream!

Anthony Is Three Months Old!

Our baby boy turned 3 months old yesterday!

He smiles and laughs a lot.

Catherine is a big help with Anthony. As you can see, she can carry him around, at least until he gets too heavy. He's 15 pounds now!

Anthony loves his big sister!

And his other big sister, Anne.

And here are the Three Musketeers!

Oh, Daddy Is Happy Now!

The Friday of Memorial weekend, Dan brought this Chevy Silverado home on a test drive:


Dan had been driving the same car for the last 12.5 years, so it was time, and a truck with an extended cab actually will fit one more person than his car did, and will also be very useful around the place.

Catherine was sad when we told her Daddy was going to get a truck to replace his car, and she started crying. However, when the truck was actually there, she was as excited as anybody.

Dan had a liner sprayed in the bed of the truck, so it was delivered a few days later. It came in the evening after the kids went to bed, so the next morning they had to go out and see it even before eating their breakfast:

Now Daddy is ready to do some hauling!

Snowpeas Galore!

Our first picking of snow peas:


Here come Catherine and Dominic. What have they been doing?

Look at that teamwork! What is in the bucket, kids?

Look, Mom, we picked some snow peas!

Then another day, the four older kids and I picked the snow peas (while trying to keep Anthony pacified sitting in the stroller) and this is what we got:

While everyone else was napping (except for cranky boy Anthony, I carried him in one arm the whole time!), Catherine and I blanched the snow peas and put 6 bags in the freezer. She was a great help.

Then all the recent rainy weather hit. It rained and it rained, and the garden was too muddy to get into. So the snow peas sat. Finally this past Saturday, Dan pulled up all the snow pea plants and then he and the kids picked them over. We got a whole sink full of snow peas. They sure are yummy!

Baby Anthony At 2.5 Months

Picture taken Memorial weekend.

See How The Garden Grows

These pictures are from the end of May. Dan made some raised beds before Anthony was born. In the far one are the perennial herbs - chives, mint, oregano, rosemary. The middle bed contains strawberries, which we won't harvest until next year. The near bed has rhubarb and asparagus.

Above are the snow peas, which we have been eating lots of. Behind are some of the beans and off to the left is where the corn is. Both of those are coming up well.

A few cherries on the little cherry tree!

Peaches growing on a tree planted by the first owners of our place. This is on the opposite side of the house from the garden.

And just look at this crazy peach tree growing on the slant. That is about a 45 degree angle!

Catherine is getting to be a big help in the garden. Once Daddy showed her how he wanted the watering done, she did a great job watering the newly planted pepper plants.

Daddy and his little helper, Joseph, till another small section for the squash and zucchini, as well as extra tomatoes and peppers. He ran out of room in the main garden, even though it is twice as big as last year's garden! If he tills it, he will fill it.

Main garden currently holds: gourds, pumpkins, watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, corn, beans, snow peas, various kinds of peppers, onions, and several kinds of tomatoes.

There are also some herbs in pots closer to the house: cilantro, basil, and dill.

Exercise For Busy Moms

Exercise is when you strap an almost 15 pound baby to your chest and vacuum nearly the entire house. Whew!

Let's Take A Break!

What could be a better way to take a break on a hot day than by lounging in the shade on a hammock?




Dan hung the hammock near their clubhouse (which he built last summer) and the kids have figured out how to balance the hammock in order to get all four of them on it.

I guess technically it is still spring, but it sure feels like summer!

Okay, Mommy's turn on the hammock!

Can't Pick Just One

Anthony is ready for a ride.

Picture time first, young man.

Okay, let me kick and see if I can get this thing to start moving.

Here comes one of the kittens to investigate. I have to watch out, though, because they think Anthony's little wiggling feet and toes are something to play with.

I Want To Know

Why do they make ceiling fans with these three speeds?

1. Barely on

2. A little more than barely on

3. Tornado level

Spring Flowers

One day a couple of weeks ago, Catherine and Mommy (and Anthony - you can see his hand there) went for a walk around the yard and took pictures of some of the flowers blooming at the time. Above are roses.

I'm not sure what these are.

The grotto with some of the last irises. Remember the big fire? Behind the fence is the big field which not long before had burned. Now see how fresh and green it looks.

Radish Delight

This picture is from a while ago, but it shows a big chunk of our radish harvest. Not all of it, though! So you can see, we had a lot of radishes. We ate a lot raw and I steamed a bunch of them.



Here are the five kinds that Dan planted, with a pencil thrown in for perspective. From left to right: Champion, Snow Stix, French Breakfast, Sparkler, and Cherry Belle. My favorite for eating raw were the French Breakfast. They were more mild than the others. The Sparklers were the hottest of the bunch. The Champions, the Sparklers, and the Cherry Belles were great for steaming.



It still felt like we had more radishes than we could eat or give away, so I found something else new to try. Pickled Radishes! I saw this recipe in a magazine called Living The Country Life.


Pickled Radishes

2 cups sliced radishes (8 ounces)
1 small onion, cut into thin wedges and separated
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt

Put radish slices and onions in bowl. Stir together vinegar, sugar, and salt until sugar dissolves. Pour over radishes. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight. These will be very pungent.

I made them twice. Once with onion, once without. Curiously, those without onion were even more pungent than those with onion! In fact those even rated the term "stinky" by the kids. They tasted good though!

Here is a picture of the sliced radishes before pickling:


And here is a picture of the pickled radishes:
Yummy!

How To Make A Little Girl's Day

If you have a daughter who has to wear hand-me-downs from her older sister, and gets upset about it sometimes, one way to get her grinning from ear to ear is to buy her a "new" dress at a garage sale (for $1, woo-hoo).

A hand-me-down from someone else is way more exciting than one from your sister.

It is a really cute dress, by the way.

Zoo Two

On our second trip to the zoo this year, the kids were somewhat terrorized by these birds in the jungle. It did seem like they were stalking us.

Another fun trip with friends.

Catherine and Dominic check out the emus and wallaroos.

Joseph fits right in with his "monster" shirt.

Whatever, Mom.

They lined up spontaneously in perfect stairstep fashion.

We love to go to the zoo!

At least the kids and I do. Dan said he'd be fine going once every 5 years. Party pooper!