5. things that make me happy

1. My kids helped my husband and I make some raised beds and I am excited to be able to plant soon.....We built them 4'x4' and 10 inches tall.  We lay down newspapers over the grass, (well this one has cardboard instead of newspaper), then added a layer of old leaves, then compost mixed with just a little vermiculite and one bag of soil for all so actually very little soil added in. We have a huge compost pile that has been unused for years so we had enough for 5 squares and two long beds. 

 In between the squares is going to be flat rocks surrounded by gravel eventually I think...

2. My youngest didn't help but he was good and didn't try to run off the whole time we worked! and that is a wonderful thing, truly. He's on a 3 week good streak in his autism classroom at school. (If only we could figure out why, and make sure we keep doing what ever it is that turned his behavior around....)
I talk about him as if he was litttle, but as you can see he isn't anymore....

 

3. I have been having fun sketching and planning where things will be planted...

4. Making painted rock herb markers...

 I draw it on using my regular tip gel pen, then I add thickness along the edges...

woodland guardians

watching over my artwork

 judgmental  critics?

Then I spray them with a varnish, i have tried all different kinds, any will work.

5. My daughter is back home from New Mexico and excited about helping plant as well!

competitive meals

It's been very nice having all 4 of my kids home over the holidays.... And to help my husband, the cook out, we have started a new thing here, new for us at least.... We each take a night to cook, and all but the youngest participate so that's five nights taken care of! and as I may have mentioned before... My family is very competitive, so this has become a "who can make the best meal" kind of thing.... But in a fun way! I am by far the worst cook of the family and I get home the latest so it's been a challenge to come up with something quick and good. So excuse the paper plates on my night and the lack of magazine quality photos but here's my chicken cutlets with mushroom sauce and mustard asparagus from last night. My son said it was his favorite of all our meals so far and we've been doing this for 2 weeks. This is more of a shock than you may realize as I expected them to be saying,"oh... God.... It's Moms night!?!". On their night most of them so far have come up with wonderful meals without even using recipes, and they just throw in all these spices and herbs, while I follow a recipe exactly, no variation if I can help it! Can't wait to see what we have for dinner tonight!





I almost forgot... I'm linking this to time travel thursday on the sidebar....
and share the joy! At http://meriak.blogspot.com/