Tools

Sometimes there are tools that you cannot live without.  They make a daunting task easy.  They make it fun.  They make you do it.  :)  Here are a few of my favorite "tools" that get me going. (I should mention none of these are my personal photos.  All were searched out by using google images)

My vacuum.

This baby may not be the best in the market, but it is heads above my last one.  (But not quite as good as my 1st Bissell, may it rest in peace.)  Vacuuming was always a favorite, preferred chore of mine until I had this yellow beastly vacuum that refused to work.  Since replacing it with this beauty, vacuuming is back in "preferred chore" status.

My Bosch.

I loved baking before this guy came a long, but I was content to use my hand mixer or a wooden spoon.  Now, it is my sole baking mixer.  It mixes, it kneads, it blends, shreds and it's easy to clean! I love you Bosch!!

My gardening gloves.

I don't mind getting out and pulling some weeds or digging in the dirt or planting or other types of yard work, but until recently you would find me doing all these chores bare handed.  I hate the bulkiness of gardening gloves. It felt awkward to garden in them.  So I went bare-handed. I mean, you can only get so much dirt under your nails, right? After awhile there's no more room for it.  ;)  This summer I had it though. I found some fitted gardening gloves at Lowe's and forked over the big $$ for these.  I love them.  (The brand is Ethel if you are wondering.) Not only are my nails clean after gardening, but my hands are too!  And, bonus- yard work is now getting done.  (I'm going to have a party to celebrate my good-looking yard. Seriously.)

Lastly (for now anyway)-my camera.

Once again, not top of the line, but it's great for my every day use.  As I've been sorting through the last 2 years worth of pictures trying to get a big order ready to print, it's hit me just how blessed I am.  How this tiny little machine can catch the depth of my baby's super deep dimple.  How it makes my oldest look even more like a super model than she already does. How it is the only thing that catch my son's thoughtful smile.  I could cry for all the happy memories that we have as a family that will be remembered in crystal clear detail because of this little thing. 

Do you have a favorite "tool" that makes your life easier?

Sometimes it pays to not do yard work

At the beginning of spring, we found out we were expecting baby #4.  All my plans (not that they were grand) of gardening were thrown out the window.  I didn't even have enough time to get to my winter clean-up stage before sickness set in.  So, I decided, we'll just do what we need to to keep up the bare minimum, i.e. Jeff will mow the lawn.  :)

Let me tell you, for once, ignoring the yard has paid off!  Off my patio I have these 3 giant planters that I like to put the wave petunias in. They fill out nicely.  The only problem with petunias is they are annuals, causing me to shell out money each spring (wave petunias are a little more pricey than your regular variety).  Well, well, well.  2 out of the 3 containers are now blossoming with wave petunias that we neither bought nor planted this year!  That's right.  Due to my lack of diligent care for my flowers, they went to seed and I now have two containers full of beautiful, sweet smelling petunias.  For free. Ha!

One other gardening tip-wait til July to purchase your flowers.  What once was $6 or more per pot, you can now by for $2/pot.  Thus filling the 3rd pot.  :)

Peaches for Me!

For Family Night we planted our first fruit tree.

Step one: Dig hole.

Step Two: Remove rocks.  (Sophie and McKay had a blast playing with the rocks.  Thought I'd got a picture of it, but I guess not)

Step Three: Fill hole with baby tree and pack with dirt.

Here she is!

Now, if it can survive the shock, we just may get a few peaches this year.

First Fruits

Earlier in this post, I bragged on my super-awesome dad and hubby who did an amazing job prepping my garden space for, well, the garden. A few days after they finished, we got our first little seedlings and baby plants in the ground. Among those in attendance: spinach, beans, onion, tomatoes, carrots, pumpkins, etc. Normally I'd say I have a some what grey-ish thumb. My gardens aren't usually that great. Not because they don't have potential, more because I just forget to water. And weed. Thanks to the ground cover my dad brought over, the latter is reduced to a bare minimum and the former....honestly, do I even need to bring up all the freakish rain we've had lately? (Which, btw, I have LOVED!) My garden is starting to resemble a small jungle. But-it's all worth it because today I got my first real crop of spinach! Last year I also planted some strawberry plants. They've spread out a bit and I also picked my first bunch of berries. Wahoo!! I am so making a nice, juicy summer salad for dinner tonight.