Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Snapdragons, Oh my!

To save on money, we have started some plants from seeds and we now have little seedlings.  They are so cute!  I feel like I have another baby around.  Feed and water them, make sure they get out in the sun for a while, come in when it gets too cool out.  No diapers to change, though.  That’s the great part!!  Hopefully, my little plants will all make it through this cold weather we have been having and grow to be big strong plants that will feed us all through the winter.  Sweet, little things.

Aren’t they precious? 

Conner and I are so proud.

Raising Boys

What is it that is so funny about the “Banana, Banana” song?  You know the song…Mom, mom, bo, bomb, banana, fana, fo, fom, me, my, mo, mom, MOM.  Well, for little ones under four, it’s the best song in the world.  I think Conner has sang this song to every word under the sun.  Yes, even truck.  Let’s not talk about that.  He was singing one of the renditions the other night when we had the cousins over and they thought it was hilarious!  Every word is funny in that song.  And, I kind of like it for the whole rhyming lesson he’s getting from it.  No complaints here…except when we get to truck.  Yikes.

I have been couponing lately.

It’s becoming an obsession.

Someone help me.  I’m out of control.  But, I’ve started thinking.  If I’m trying so hard to save money with coupons, why not start actually making my own things that would be even cheaper to make than to buy with coupons.  So, I have begun to bake bread with the help from this one..

He’s great help, but he says that the bread that he helps with is better than the bread I make by myself.  And it’s true.  I don’t know what I do wrong.  Or maybe I should be saying, I don’t know what he adds to make it better.  Probably better off not knowing.

I’ve also started my tomato plants from seeds and we water them every day and let the sun shine on them and make sure this one…

doesn’t get into them and eat the dirt.  He’s ornery like that.

 

I’ll update you on the plants as they grow.  If you don’t hear anything for a while or see me in the store buying tomato plants when the time is right, please don’t ask.  You may crush my pride.  Either that or Gage may have dirt stuck in his teeth.  Oh, to raise two boys.  (I secretly love it!)

Cream Cheese Brownies=Yummmmm

Are you ever in a hurry and need something sweet to take to a get together?  That happened to me today.  We have a Scrap ‘n Craft at our church and realized when I got home that I have nothing to take to it!  My go-to dessert is this simple brownie that I usually have all the ingredients for.

Here’s what you need:

1 box of any kind of brownie mix w/ the ingredients to make the brownies

1 8-oz cream cheese, softened

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup sugar

Chocolate chips, optional

Mix the brownie mix as the directions on the box says and pour into a 13x9 baking pan.  Mix the cream cheese, egg and sugar in a separate bowl.  Next, drop the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownies in the pan and create a marble effect with a butter knife.  Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and throw into the oven.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. 

These are so good and so simple to make!  Now I’m going to get ready for my scrapbook party!!

We Heart Spring

Conner and I have started doing little preschool activities just for fun…and (don’t tell him!!) keep him learning what preschoolers need to learn.  Here are some pictures of a counting exercise we did.  I put a number in the bottom of the cup from one to ten and Conner put little candy hearts (it was near Valentine’s Day) in them, appropriate to the number on the paper.  We’ve been having so much fun doing these little activities together and I love thinking or researching new things for him to do. 

We’ve absolutely loved this spring weather and soak up every moment we can spending time outside.  With the rising food costs, we are planning a pretty large garden, so we have started getting it ready.  We are planning on planting tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, corn, green peppers, potatoes, carrots (just because I think it would be fun for the boys to pull up out of the ground!), cucumbers and little pumpkins (again, for the boys for fun and maybe a little fall decorating!).  We’re also getting our flower garden ready.  The boys are so helpful right now...probably because it’s the beginning of gardening, so pulling the wagon seems new again!  I’ll take what I can get. 

I know, realistically, when it’s time to weed and hoe, all boys (including the hubby) will disappear.  A mother’s work is never done, but they are so worth every single thing I do for them.