::orchard garden::

We started my orchard garden.
See the pony and Bruno in the distance?

Isn't it pretty?

I love freshly tilled spring dirt.

Josh told me to stop breathing deeply through my nose.

Mmmm - the smell.
18ft by 93ft of endless potential

 Isn't Josh a good sport?

This will be 24 tomato plants with aisles, a three sisters area, and 50 feet of melons.  

(If you come over you must say "Brooke, what nice melons you have."  Got it?)

The melon patch was shortened in this plan to make it fit better

::seriously?::

"Mommy help me!"
That means - grab your camera and get in here!

And I find this.

What is worse?

That he was playing with scissors or that he had enough time to wrap his entire hand?

I thought he was watching some morning cartoons with Lily.

I think we can safely say he was not.

::dragonfly banner::

Max was very helpful with our tea party banner.

I am not sure were exactly we are going to use it.

Maybe the back of the treat table???

We had lots of fun making them on my cricut cutter.

::better::

I am so much better.

And I have no idea why.


Am I just distracted by shorties, and goaties, and new puppies, and gardens, and josh, and good friends?


Is it spring?


I feel like me live in Seattle. Raining every day.


BUT SOSOSO GREEN, it even smells green.


Is it the post partum/PTSD passing?


Is it my onions and peas starting to show?


I am just SO glad to have my brain back.


I missed it desperately.


(if you have no idea what I am recovering from check my infant loss label)






With that said –


Here is a list of things I want to get done ASAP


Clean family room, playroom, kitchen, art room


Get the kids prescriptions renewed and weigh adjusted (asthma meds)


Get the goats tattooed for fair and dewormed


Get the new puppy to the vet


Do at least two letters for my alphabet wall


Get Lily back in riding lessons


Start making tomato cages


Make schedule to finish all the planting by mothers day

::biggest fire ever::

This is all the limbs from last year and this spring.

We are not joking around.

We have at least one bonfire every year, but this pile was one of our biggest.

See my Christmas tree poking out of the top?

Lizzie had to inspect our work.  

These boneheads did not help.

 Bonfires are a social event.

So we brought out our favorite Cowles family and got to partying.

First each kid picked a 2L to explode with mentos. 

(I try to be the "fun one", who else buys you your own 2L to explode?)

Then they walked around drinking straight out of their personal 2L all night.

 As the sun started to set, we lit this puppy up.

 And it went up like a demon.

I love our bonfires.

The grownups pull chairs up closer and closer as the night gets colder.

Kids play and run and snack and dance.

Occasional one gets yelled at for a safety violation.  (MAX)

Every now and then a kid snuggles up for some loving, them runs back to the others to play.

Next thing you know its late.

And then the next day the laundry room smells like smoke, because of all the smokey sweatshirts.  

The kids wake up in the morning and are stunned at "how much smaller the burn pile is"

It's all around cuteness and comfiness and goodness.

Living in the country sucks on Halloween, but it rocks on bonfire night. 

(And most other nights too)

::cottage garden layout::

Between the strawberry patch and Lily's garden I want to do this and grow black beans on it.

::cupcake flowers::

I saw this in my family fun magazine and I knew it was PERFECT for the tea party.

Cheap, easy, pretty, fun - yes please

I used three different size baking cups.

Fold them all in half. 

Cut the petals out of the middle and largest sizes.

 Use a hole punch to put a hole in the center.

Push a green straw through.

I wrapped the straw with clear scotch tape about 1/4 of the way from the top to stop the flowers from slipping down.

I LOVE THEM!!

Each place setting will have one.  

:spring::

Lily had her spring program.  

 She didn't feel like it had enough motions in it, so she added her own.

This was her art that she had on display.  

I loved it.  All of it.  Her crazy show-biz antics and her colorful art.  LOVE IT!!

 That night this baby got worn out.

And so did these two babies.

 But the Easter bunny never rests.

 And my otter helped him.  

Imagine all the animals he will bother with this new net.

PS- we caught the pony yesterday and brushed him up and took him for a pony ride.  Both kids sat on him and I led him.  He was the best stroller ever.  How wonderful to get in some horsey time. 

::broccoli:

 This year we added some more compost to the cottage garden.

Yeah! for animals that poop all the time.  

Last years poop is this years dirt.

Lily thinks that is horrifying.

 

I cut out boxes to be the weed mat around the broccoli.

Notice lots of little holes for water to soak in?

Then I covered the whole thing with last years leaves.

I hope it works.

Last year I just put everything right into the dirt, but I wanted to try the cardboard/leaves and see if it cuts down my weeding time.

(Aren't my chives on the left so pretty?  They are HUGE this year.)

::princess ella::

I got to do the most fun newborn pictures of little Ella.

Here are a few teaser shots

Link here for more

::triplets turn one - party planning::

I LOVE IDEA BOARDS.

All the party blogs I stalk always make them.

They are a gathering of the idea's the designer has for a party.

And I finally figured out how to make them.

Picasa - collage

It's that simple.

Just like my headers. 

(Link here to go to a tutorial about the headers)

I am super honored to get the chance to help out with "my triplets" birthday party.

They aren't really mine.

I didn't birth them.

But I did help raise them.

And I love them. 

And their parents.

I started begging to help with their first birthday party when they were still in isolettes. 

(you might know an isolette as a different word - incubator)

At first I wanted to do a monster party:

But it wasn't the perfect idea.

AND - I didn't keep track of where I got the images!

SORRY!!!  

It is good manners, as well as maybe illegal, to post picture with out saying where they are from.

So -

I can't find the monster cupcakes

Monster iron on - the trendy butterfly

Printables - space ships and laser beams

Monster cupcake toppers - I got nothing

Orange hat and shirt - little one boutique

Monster duckies, masks, and pop up - oriental trading company

Monster cakes 

But Dr Seuss was just right!

cake pops - cake pops shoppe

quotes hanging from the ceiling and 2 cake with cupcakes - annie's eats

table setting - link here

sassy little girl dress - aquamars boutique

thing one and two cake, party hats, goldfish/hat center piece, and photo booth with red frame prop - catch my party

I am one table - catch my party

black onsie with tie - bubbles and bugs

cupcakes - vanderbilt wife 

Stay tuned for more details!!!

::don't judge - new puppy::

Josh and I had a husky when we first met.  A little female named Rasta.  A very athletic dog that ended up getting hit by a train.  Josh says she wasn't hit by the train.  But her body was found next the the train tracks with no obvious injuries.  You be the judge.  Anyway...

Josh loved that dog.  And he has been going on and on about wanting another one.  Since he has been humoring me about my goats who am I do not humor him about a puppy?  We tried petfinder to rescue.  But one place turned us down because I told the truth about having a husky 9 years ago that died.  And the other place wouldn't answer our calls or emails.  Fine.  We wanted to do the right thing and rescue, but that wasn't going to work.  So we went puppy shopping.  

We looked at two litters near us, but they were not perfect.  Then we found a great lady in Fort Wayne.  Once we got a hold of her we had to rush up to see the puppies, so we ran to Lily's school and busted her out an hour early to drive up and see the babies.  It was hard to pick.  There was a little red male that was very handsome.  But this little lady stole our heart.
 

 So - now we have a little husky baby named Luna.  (Think Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood - we are such geeks) 

 

I gave him the rabbit to hold so he would leave Lily and Luna alone.

 

She is cute and smart and the kids love her.

BUT - I hadn't really thought about the disruption that a puppy is to schedule.  I keep reminding myself that house breaking an indoor dog is hard work.  Hell, I can't even house break Max.  But I have had puppies before and I will figure it out.  She is really cute.

PLEASE - throw any puppy tips you have my way!!!

And does anyone know anything about the "furinator" brush??