Official Biker Boy

A year ago, Isaac mastered balance on his bike but still needed help stopping and starting.  Half a year ago, he agreed to stop himself and learned the finesse to do it without falling over every time.  Two days ago, he finally rode his bike off the sidewalk, onto the grass.  After a first tentative attempt, he started wooohoooing, riding off and on the grass, which became his form of "off-roading."  Today, he requested to go off-loading again.  Something about the ability to ride on the grass, over bumps and ditches, gave him the confidence to wobble his way to his first, unassisted bike-start-up.  After that, I declared him an official bike rider!  Yay!

Here's the video of him showing his new skills to his dad.

Good job, Isaac!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I have been working really hard the past couple months to make the back yard a better place.  I started with the exhausting work of digging up sod to create planter boxes along two of our main backyard walls.  Then the kids helped me scatter wildflower seeds on top of the newly laid soil.

Adel didn't understand my excitement when the seeds began to grow.  I reminded him of the hours  I had spent digging and told him that those hours would be wasted if I couldn't get anything to grow in the planter boxes.  He got it then.

The first glimpse of a sunflower. 

A week later, the seedlings sprout...

...and grow! 

Another sunflower growing. The proof is right on top...a sunflower seed. 

One of the planter boxes is lined with my potted herbs and wildflower seedlings are growing up between them. 

The other is just the wildflowers and some small shrub trees I moved from the front yard.  I have plans for our two benches to go in that corner on either side of the paving stone, but I don't want to block the sun yet, and stunt the growth of the wildflowers. No flowers yet.  So hoping they will come through for me!

After two weekends of weeding, mulching, and pruning, our rose garden is transformed to an enchanted cottage garden by the little freebie playhouse we gained last year. 

I think  I'm more enamored by this scene than the kids!

And Adel helped me plant our first lemon tree.

The tree I picked has lots of little lemons growing on it.

This one is the biggest so far.  So excited for the hopes of our first small harvest.

I used a wedding arch that I bought for $5 from a friend's garage sale to prop up our misplaced wisteria, hoping that someday it will actually bloom, before it pulls the fence down. 

A friendly visitor.

Abby helped me plant some already-grown flowers in a small planter box by the new barbeque spot.

Sadly, those flowers didn't make it...tiny pots and full-sun dried out the roots too quickly.

But we found some dessert flowers that are now thriving there.

The BBQ area.  I added 2 stones to put the BBQ on so that it wouldn't take up our precious tiny patio space.  I also dug the tiny planter box for the desert flowers and another shrub tree from the front yard.  In the background, you can see the new hose reel on top of another stone.  My plan was to dig that whole wall and create another big planter box, but I ran out of steam.  Maybe next year.

Our purple trees that we planted last year are just starting to bloom.

One month after planting, I still have not put the benches in place because of the wildflowers.  They are still growing well.  The tallest, broadest ones are the sunflowers.  But still no blooms!  Please bloom, wildflowers!!!

Additional pics will be added here, once I see some blooms!

Abby At Home

I have written an "Abby At Home" post before, but I'm just getting sentimental about this sweet, slow time we've spent together the past two years with big brother in school and little girl at home with me.  Preschool two days a week this year has been a great experience to get her out and give another form of entertainment other than TV watching.  But the rest of the days, it's just me and Abby bummin' around, doin' our thing.  Here's a snapshot of her "thing."

Helping fold the towels.

And finding a better use for them.

Playing Legos with brother...her first set of "girl" Legos.

Making a work of art out of "The Newlywed Game."

"A Tea Party with Mimi." 

And even though she watches a lot of TV on the days she's home with me, she watches so actively at times that I enjoy watching her as she watches.

Dancing with "Yo Gabba Gabba."

Singing with "Blues Clues."

Getting creative with viewing venues. 

And there's lots of creative play too.

One day, she got out the puppets and put on a show for me, telling a very creative story:

"Once upon a time, in a far away land, there was a king and queen and they watchdid a show and it was a happy show.  But suddenly, a witch came and she was a good witch but she turned bad. She turned so bad that she turned into a dragon.  The king ran away and the dragon killed the queen."

"But the fairy came and healed the queen." 

"The knight told the king the queen was dead but when they got there, they couldn't find her.  'Where is she?' the king asked.   The knight didn't know."

"But then the knight rode off to India.  The knight got off the horse and he saw the princess Indian." 

"'Have you seen the queen?' "No.'" 

"Then the prince hoped on his horse and go-did to Asia.  And he talk-did to an Asia person. 'Have you seen the queen?' 'No.'"

"Then the knight got on his horse and go-did to the wizard. 'Have you seen the queen?' 'No, but I can take her here with my spell.'"

It ended with the queen back to life and the whole cast of characters beating up the wicked witch.

And on to the next activity: 

Connecting with her doggie.

Occasionally she disappears upstairs for over an hour and I wonder (pleasantly) what she does up there!  So, I sometimes go up to sneak a peak.  

Dressing Teddy.

Setting out her new jammies in the order she plans to wear them.

I sure do cherish these days with my girl.

Easter 2012

One of the few times of the year when we pose for a family picture.

Last year, Abby was so feminine and sweet, but this year, she caught on to her brother's seriously competitive egg hunting strategy. 

His egg hunting skills haven't changed a bit.

In the end, Abby was pretty impressed with the weight of her own basket.

The best part: the spoils!