It's Garden Time!

Well, it happened. We actually made a garden! Anna and Scott came down this weekend with a rented tiller, tools, soil and manure and we all got to work clearing out the old, existing garden in our backyard.

I'm sure that when the old lady that lived here before us was here, this garden was lovely and full of flowers but when we moved in, the garden stopped being weeded and it quickly became over grown. That's why it looks so unruly!

So we started digging out all the old flowers, bushes, weeds and grass and then it started to look like this might actually become a garden!

Adam and Anna tried their hand at the tiller which I assumed was a giant machine that would rip up the ground (weeds and all) but is really just a motorized aerator.

Then Anna made rows out of our freshly tilled soil. It turns out we actually had pretty awesome soil and didn't end up needing any of the topsoil that they brought down with them and based on the level of growth that was there before, I feel like it's safe to say that we won't have any trouble growing things in this dirt.

Then came time for my favorite part: planting the seeds.

We planted peas, carrots, onions, kale, and spinach and once it warms up we're going to plant squash, zucchini, beans and cucumbers too! I'd like to eventually plant some sweet potato and rhubarb and also get some blueberry bushes but that might have to wait until next year.

Mya wasn't as great at gardening as we were hoping but hopefully she'll get better once she learns the do's and dont's (do: wear shoes and gloves, don't: walk on top of the rows). She suffered one toe injury (2 foot injuries total so far this year) and yet she will not wear shoes outside. Part of me can't blame her but the other part of me can when she complains and whines later about her foot hurting.

I germinated the seeds we'd be planting a few days ahead to give them a head start since we were late getting them in the ground this year. Some took really well and others not so much. The kale germinated really well but the peas, carrots and spinach only had a few seeds that sprouted. I'm hoping that they still take to the soil and grow good anyway.

When we were done planting, we watered them and marked them and called it a day.

I think I like gardening which is good cause y'know, we just planted a garden. Now if we just got some chickens we'd be all set...!

10 on Tuesday

1. Henry has a thing for "Inner Ninja" by Classified. If I open it up on youtube it allows me time to cut all ten finger nails!

2. Adam was off work all last week because he sprained a joint in his lower back. He's been going to physiotherapy and I think he's back on his feet now. He went back to work yesterday and now my days are long and boring with no one to talk to except the kids.

3. I'm sick, Henry's sick. Being sick sucks. Sore throats. Fevers. You name it. Hopefully it'll be gone soon cause when that boy is sick he sleeps even crappier than usual.

4. Me and Adam decided to ditch our tv and landline and get two cellphones instead. We're saving $100 a month doing it this way which is a no brainer especially since we hardly ever watched tv anyway and we have a WD box.

5. The lawn needs its first mowing of the year and it has yet to happen. I'm pretty sure the crazy lawn guy across the street is starting to lose sleep over it.

6. We finally got a baby swing for the swing set and he loves it!

7. This post was started on Monday and is only getting done today.

8.

9.  We bought the kids little Adirondack chairs and they are so cute! (The chairs, not the kids. Well, ok. The kids are too I guess.)

10. And one last cute picture to complete the late post.

10 on Tuesday

1. I went back to preschool this morning! Mya was happy to have some of my attention without sharing it with her brother and I got a cute potted pansy out of it!

2. Spring clean up is upon us and piles of garbage grace the ends of everyone's driveways. This made Mya happy as she started to notice there was always something she wanted from one pile or another. I did end up letting her have a corn broom and two halloween pumpkin candy basket things. She was happy with that. Oh, and we got these cute little wooden cars from our neighbour.

3. We're hoping to get the garden tilled this weekend...home grown fruits and veggies here I come!

4. Today was a lovely 22 degrees! Two loads of laundry on the line, baked beans in the slow cooker. Today is a happy day.

5. Adam likely has a herniated disc in his back. This is crappy on many levels.

6. I'm going to make a trip to frenchy's soon because I'm sure my children have gotten together to decide to outgrow everything all at once.

7. We got to see Elisa and Marianne's new house on Sunday. They have an awesome house and this summer is going to be so nice on the lake!

8. I'm looking into planting an avocado tree even though it could take seven years before it bears fruit. Avocados are yummy and I'm pretty sure I'll still love them in 7 years.

9. I'm enjoying a nice peach wine Elisa gave us to bring home. It tastes like sunshine in a glass!

10. Mya grinds her teeth when she sleeps and it bothers me deeply. It's one of those sounds that you can't get out of your head once you hear it and I worry a) for her teeth and b) what is stressing her out so much that she grinds her teeth at night?

Wordless Wednesday

10 on Tuesday

1. I think Mya has a bladder infection and I really, really don't feel like taking her to outpatients this morning and missing Henry's nap time.

2. The weather has been so. nice. lately. Laundry has been hung on the line almost everyday! It's about time the snow took a vacation. I was tired of the white stuff.

3. I feel bad when I drop Mya off at preschool and she asks me to stay there with her and I can't. She asks because she's noticed other mothers hanging around either to help out when one of the teachers are out or just because their child wanted their mom to stick around. One of these days when I know someone will be here, I'd like to leave Henry home so I can spend a day at preschool with her.

4. I LOVE the look of my diapers sunning on the line but I hate how they're kind of hard/stiff when I bring them in. I tried extra hard today to not add too much soap and give them a good rinse. I hope that it worked!

5. The kids have been enjoying their swing set but we have yet to get a baby swing (I know...). We need to get on that.

6. We took Henry on his first bike ride the other day and he seemed to like it! It was Mya's first time on a bike this year but thankfully she picked it up quicker than last spring. Still, it was a lot of stop and go rather than ride.

7. Henry got his first nose bleed the other day. He fell on the driveway and scratched up his nose and lips. Poor guy!

8. We're going to get to see Elisa and Marianne's new house on Sunday!

9. We still need to take the winter tires off the car. And it better be a nice long time before they need to be switched again.

10. Mya's been saying she wants bangs but I'm hesitant to take her because of how her last hair cut went.

Chocolate Avocado Mousse

So the other day I came across a recipe for chocolate avocado mousse and immediately thought "that sounds amazing!" One of the biggest perks was that it was dairy free! Yay!

So I whipped it up last night before supper and stuck it in the fridge for dessert. Again, I had to use our tiny mini chopper and do it in three batches (we should probably invest in a proper food processor). It turned out really good and luckily we had strawberries and bananas on hand so we cut them up for dipping since it seemed odd to eat it straight up. It tasted just like when you have a chocolate fondue and I ended up eating what was left of mine after dipping and I got a tummy ache. I think it's too rich to eat either just on its own or in larger quantities. Even though I got a stomach ache, I felt good knowing that all I was eating was avocado, cocoa, honey and some coconut milk. All good stuff! The kids and the hubs liked it too so I wonder how long the leftovers in the fridge will last....

Banana Ice Cream

The title of this post would suggest that it's about ice cream made with bananas but it's about ice cream made of bananas. We've recently decided that it would be best if our whole family went dairy free. Me and Henry were already dairy free and Mya still hadn't seemed to outgrow her issues with it so we've taken her off dairy too and her skin has cleared right up! Adam found this recipe for banana ice cream and we thought we'd give it a whirl since we had a bunch of bananas lying around and it's been a really long time since I've had ice cream. The comments seem promising and I'm hoping it works out since we'll be using a blender instead of a food processor.

Verdict: It turned out amazing! The blender ended up being useless so we ended up using our mini chopper which is like a mini food processor. It just meant we had to do it in 3 or 4 small batches as opposed to all at once. It was a hit with each of us and Mya even said "it tastes just like ice cream!" We're considering trying it again sometime but adding new flavors like peanut butter or strawberries. Yum!

Please don't let the crappy photo fool you. It really was yummy but I only thought to take a picture of the left overs after I had returned them to the freezer...so it looks less appetizing than when it's fresh.

Banana ice cream for the win!