our Earth Month!

so as you have seen, i havent been blogging much lately and i think i can honestly say that its for two reasons. reason #1 - lack of time, energy and creativity. reason #2 - i guess i feel my life hasnt been exciting enough for anyone to read about. but for those of you who love me for who i am and really want to know the more intimate details of my days, here it goes.

in many ways this has sort of been an Earth Day month in our house....

• tuscan and i started a project this spring...planting seeds! last fall i saved all the seeds out of the centers of my marigolds and this year we decided to plant them. so we started saving plastic containers (reuse!) from yogurt, butter, playdough, we also used some old formula cans that my dad had saved. they are all lined up on our livingroom window sill and surprisingly they are growing quite well. if they are big enough by the end of may i have every intention of putting them out at our yardsale to see if we can make a few dollars! i figure if i put tuscan out there asking people if they want to buy a flower - we should make a killing!! no one seems to be able to say "no" to him, especially when he shows them "the eyes"!

• frank and i started a new garden out in the backyard. last year we had wanted to put up two chunks of white picket fencing but when we found out we would need a permit to do it we opted not to. it would have potentially cost us up to $300 in fees to put up $150 in fencing...no thanks! so instead we decided to create a more natural barrier! we extended our exisiting flower bed to stretch across the length of our backyard. in it we planted iris that kellie had sent me from OK last year before she moved, in addition to purple allium that i ordered at the end of the season last year. we also transplanted a shrub that we had in the corner near the house and some yuka (spelling?) and lillies. so hopefully it will all blossom the way we have envisioned it. there is still a lot of thinning out to do in the exsisting flower bed, but at least we have a head start early on in the season!

our new flower bed...

my much anticipated arbour!!

• for Earth Day, the kids and i watched Wall-E, courtesy of Kellie when she was here. and earlier that week i got a great deal on a pair of Wall-E sneakers for the twins...$5 with a coupon at famous footwear, cant beat it...so they took turns wearing the new kicks around the house for the day! i also made a vow that day not to use any of my major appliance, ie -dishwasher, washing machine, etc...and i was successful! needless to say that caused a minor back up on the laundry situation but it was worth it. its the least i could do after all the diapers my family has created in the landfills the last few years!!

the twins bottles recently made their way into the recycling bin...they were becoming less and less interested in the bedtime bottles, so one day while unloading the dishwasher i decided enough was enough, i needed more room for sippy cups and the bottles had to go...and they did! never to be thought about again! they now march their little bottoms up the stairs (no more carrying by mom), they brush their own teeth and get a sippy of water - which always ends up getting thrown out of the crib and onto the floor, along with their blankets before they fall asleep...crazy kids!

tuscan is completely daytime potty trained and takes care of business all by himself (aside from turning on the sink to wash his hands-his stool doesnt help him reach that far), but no pull ups - not even when out in public or driving in the car! but he does still wear a diaper when napping or to bed at the end of the day. somehow he cant figure out how to not pee while he's sleeping, i keep reminding him...but we're still working on it! any suggestions? (as i am typing right now i am watching him take all his clothes off and change into his jammies all by himself. apparently when you approach the age of 3 you become immensely independent!)

frank and i took the kids to his resturant for dinner last night...family date night- partly to celebrate tuscan's birthday yet again! and i have to say, it was wonderful! im sure there are many families in america that dread (to say the least) taking 3 little kids, babies if you will, out to dinner at a less than family oriented resturant! franks resturant is no applebee's, although it is still quite casual. but they were perfectly well behaved! just one more outing that made us so proud to be parents. tuscan drank his very own shirley temple. all 3 of them were eating calamari! they each ate their dinners without any fuss and shared an enormous piece of multi-layered chocolate cake! the couple that was sitting behind us stopped at our table before they left to tell us that we had a beautiful family, our children are extremely well behaved as they had nearly forgotten there were 3 little kids sitting behind them and that we as parents were doing an amazing job! another family stopped us on our way out, to say just about the same thing, as well as two older woman who were standing outside! i know there are times when i dont see it- because im the mom - but frank and i truly have been blessed with remarkable children and without even trying they do such a good job at making us so proud everyday!

as we laid in bed last night, we couldnt help but chuckle as we were recapping on our day. we love our life, there is nothing more we could ever ask for right now, nor could we have ever imagined being so content at a time when we thought our life couldnt get crazier!

if He brings you to it, He will bring you through it. and with much grace if your lucky!