Garden Week 2

This is how the garden stands at week 2. Everything is progressing well and showing growth. I can't wait for all the veggies.

Here is a picture of my dwarf lilac bushes. Since they're up front by our front door, you get the most fragrant smell of lilac when you walk into the house.

Go Go Go Fish!!!

First, I liked to say that it's all my fault. Everyone kept saying they couldn't post comments and I thought it was something with them. So, I decided I'd try to post my own comment and I couldn't. What gives? So I redid my settings which finally allowed me to post a comment. Maybe I can hear from you all now.

Nana's 90!!!
Wall art at the restaurant
What happens when a boy hangs out with all women.
Nate loved his swing!
Some good old fashion fun!
Pretzel monster!
Nate and his bus.

My Nana celebrated 90 years on the 23rd. Go Nana!! My mom (who's in from Iowa), Aunt Kathy, myself and the kids went up North for Memorial Day weekend. We had a great time. We started by hitting the outlet mall on the way up. I had some stuff to return and it gave me an excuse to go shopping. After that we picked up some lunch. I have never feed Nathan fast food but I figured it would be the easiest thing to do. I got him chicken nuggets from Wendy's and can you believe it, Nate ate 4 1/2 nuggets. What a piggy! It's now his new favorite food and can he inhale them.


So back on the freeway my mom decides that since the one outlet didn't have what see wanted we should try the other outlet. Yes, there are two on the way up I-75. I agreed since Wendy's gave me sweetened ice tea. Gross. They had to have dumped a 5 lb bag of sugar into it and to top it all off, they doused their fries with so much salt which made me parched. By the time we arrived there Nate was cranky. I let my mom shop and I took Nate out of his car seat. He got to play driver while I looked for his binky. How cute he was behind the wheel. Kodak moment, or at least I thought but the camera had another idea. I tried to turn it on but it wouldn't work. After I got Nate back into his seat, my mom discovered the battery was in upside down. But the plus side was I found Nate's binky so he could take his nap. It was in a safe spot in my pocket the whole time.


We pushed through the rest of the way and were happy to arrive at our new resting grounds. We took it pretty easy. Friday we shopped in Elk Rapids. Saturday we had birthday lunch at Pearl's (a Cajun restaurant) and then headed over to do some shopping in Alden. I let the kids pick out on item to buy. Audrey picked a Chihuahua lil'kin webkinz and Nate picked a die cast yellow school bus. We took a stroll down to the docks to see Torch Lake. It was really windy and cold. We didn't see any fish but found a crayfish. Audrey was so excited. We'll be going back for the 4th of July and hopefully get to do some fishing. Sunday we went back to Alden, they have this muffin place I really like and I wanted to get spices from their mill house. The kids got to play at the park but mom forgot her camera. I got some pics from the other park we visited. I guess I'll have to duct tape it to myself. Nate really likes to swing. Later that night we had s'mores and boy! was Audrey wearing it. We packed up Monday and came home.


We were disappointed that we didn't see BOB (the bobcat). He was sited the previous two days before we headed up. But we did see deer, rabbits, birds, chipmunks, lots of bugs and a skunk. Thank God we were indoors when that skunk came by.


And to note on the title, there was endless rounds of Go Fish and Old Maid because that is all Audrey wanted to do up North.

Garden Week 1

These are the cutest flowers that my Aunt Kathy got me. They are Dwarf Irises. They only grow about 6 inches tall!Here is everything planted. I got too much stuff for such a little space so things are a little crowded.

Red plants are beets. To the right is red cabbage and at the end eggplant.

It gets kind of wacky here but I have green bell peppers, to the left jalapeno peppers, onions in front and cucumbers in the back.

2 sweet banana peppers, 2 rows of sweet corn.

4 tomato plants and my herbs: Chives, thyme, oregano and basil. Chives and thyme come back every year so they're quite big.

Peas and Beans Audrey will be growing in planters since I ran out of room. Oops!

Check out the other 2 post below

ENT Check-up

Nathan had his ENT check-up today. No mention of an ear infection. That's good! But the doctor agrees with me (notice how I wrote that, it's not me agreeing with the doctor) that Nathan needs ear tubes. We are getting scheduled for June 3rd. I'll let you know how that goes.

What's in a Name?

Nathan is really progressing into the toddler stage. I have enjoyed watching him play and explore his world around him. He recently got a music set from grandpa. It's a drum, maraca, flute, castanets and a kazoo. He picked up real fast how to play ALL the instruments. This morning I sat him down with the drum as the Happy Monster Band was on Disney and it was so cute watching him play along. He's been learning how to run (no thanks to his sister) but it's still to much for him. For Pete's sake, the kid just learned to walk. I'm just thankful the kids are getting along and Audrey enjoys playing with her brother.
All this has got me thinking about how our kids are a gift from God. I'm sure when we all heard the diagnosis of Achondroplasia dwarfism from the doctors we wonder why God chose us. Or maybe "why us?" in general. I've had a long time to think about that. I grew up with a sister who had cerebral palsy, many times I wonder why God had done this to my sister. Why can't we just be a normal family? "What is normal?" That you have to figure out on you own, normal changes. But I believe that my sister was who she was to change people for the better. We learn from those that are different. It is our voice and our stories that help to better the world. Anyway, getting back to what's in a name, I thought about the meaning of my children's names. Now I may have at one point of known the meanings when we chose their names but of course don't now. Today, I looked up Nathan and Audrey's names to see their meanings.
Audrey: Noble Strength
Nathan: God has Given
So of course I have to read more into it then really what's there. So, if children are a gift of God, then God has given me Noble Strength. And now I know why I was chosen to have a son with dwarfism and what I must do with the gift given to me. I want to point out that this is pure coincidence and names were not chosen for their meanings.

Shout out to all the Mothers!

Just a quick message to wish all the mother's out there

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Springs Here, Time to Garden

I was thinking that I needed something fun to put in my blog each week (or so) and gardening is it. I always put a garden in every year. So I will post a picture(s) with each blog. So far I have gotten all the weeds pulled and the soil treated for planting. I'm looking to get my plants next weekend and hopefully between rainfall get everything planted. I have until May 19th to get it all set. I'm going up north for Memorial Day. I hope that there are others that garden and will share what they like to grow. I think this can be fun.


While mom does all the hard work, my children are lying around on the couch. Aren't they cute all cuddled up. You can see I am having quite the extreme in children size. Audrey is continuing with her swimming lessons and is advancing quite nicely. She wasn't ready for the next class but I think she will be there soon. I'm looking into getting her signed-up for soccer. She has told me she wants to play soccer. I just hope it goes better than karate.

Sunday, we had a nice family day. We took a ride to "the Farm" as I like to call it. Great grandma and grandpa have quite a bit of property and lots of animals. Audrey gets to ride her 4 wheeler with her dad and Bentley, our dog, like to run after them. He found some rabbits to chase when they went through the woods. I hung back with Nate, maybe in a couple of years he'll be ready.
Nate has continued his walking. He now is practicing holding objects and walking and gaining speed. It won't be long before I'll be chasing my little munchkin. The other cut thing Nate does now is tackle our cat. He waits till he get close enough to him and then throws his body on top of the cat and pins him down. It's hilarious!!

Here's Jag. He was too busy watching birds to face the camera.

Here's Bentley.

Here are 2 pictures from my cherry tree last year. This year as it bloom we got a huge T-storm come by and the delicate petals were blown away:(