Prom & Poison Ivy

Shem finally had his first date,  He took his friend Christie to Prom.  aaaahhhhhh.   I tell you what, I think I was more nervous than he was.  It was a whole new experience for me. I kept giving him pointers,  Hold the door open, offer your arm, complement her on how nice she looks, you are responsible for her so take good care of her, take some breath mints, check your teeth after you've eaten, but most of all have fun.  As he left I almost shed a little tear, thats my first baby! and I was starting to see the man in him.   

Now onto the poison ivy, I think Dan is a magnet for poison ivy, he always gets it, and reacts badly to it.  When he was younger he would itch it then scratch his face and every where else then it would spread all over him. Poor Guy!  Now he knows not to scratch it. In this picture it is actually starting to look better.
This is how Dan feels about poison ivy and having his mother post on the blog about him.
We know spring is here when the poison ivy comes out.

Garden bug has bit.

 We have actually had 3 days in a row of sunshine.  So to the garden I did go.  When we built this garden I had the grand idea to put weed barrier and gravel in the path ways.  I looked real good the first couple of years, but slowly the weeds crept in. ( If you look at the pathways on the left you can see what a mess they are)  So now I am in the process of covering them with cardboard & straw which I should have done in the first place.   

Next I have been working on eradicating the bermuda grass that has overrun the right side outer beds.  If you don't know what bermuda grass is consider yourself blessed.  It is used around here for hay and for lawns, it is very hardy and INVASIVE! if you don't keep on top of it it will grow in everything.  

So I dug all the soil out of the front right corner bed, got new topsoil to replace it. I then found enough rouge strawberry runners in the pathways and other beds that I was able to fill that whole corner bed with them.  Strawberry jam, Yummy!   

So far I have onions & garlic growing in the back beds,  peas & spinach just planted in one of the front beds and strawberries.   

I am trying to be better about keeping on top of the garden so maybe if I post about it regularly I will take better care of it. Right?    

Happy Gardening!

Easter

Easter weekend Chad, Melissa & Kiddos came out to visit. We had a fun time together. Saturday Melissa & I  took some of the kids swimming while Shaun & Chad took others shooting guns.  Later we set the kids up with movies & pizza so the adults could have a date. We took Jerry & JoAnn with us. We went out to eat and then we went bowling where there was a little competition going on. But in the end Jerry beat us all with his awesome bowling skills. We decided that we need to go more often.   Of course Melissa & I both forgot our cameras to document the fun events.  

Sunday we had a yummy easter feast, the kids got to dye their eggs and have a easter egg hunt.  Church services were very good.   On a humorous note, Dan & Jordan barely got out of the church when they stripped off their sunday clothes to the t-shirts & shorts they were wearing underneath. Those two are so much alike it is scary.   We have such a fun time when family is here.

Notice Dan's face, he looks a little uncomfortable with those extra cloths underneath.

Alex, Jordan, & Ethan

The creative juices are flowing.

Having fun dying eggs.

A little brag moment.

Spring break was 2 weeks ago, and of course we had all these great outdoor plans. But wouldn't you know it we had rain most of the week.  The kids made a list of things they wanted to do and one day was craft day. The girls decided they wanted to make skirts. So we dug out the scrap fabric and they made their own A-line skirt. They were so proud of themselves.  Guess what they wore to church on sunday? 

Silly girls!

Usually on General Conference weekend is a pretty laid back time when we do a few project around the house relax and enjoy conference. Well this time it was a little different, The boys had several activities  going on. (the older they get the more they go.) Shem had a quiz bowl tournament by Little Rock so it was an overnight trip and he got back late Saturday night. Their team made it to State finals so he is pretty excited about that.  Daniel had a band competition Friday night, which he will find out how well he did Monday at school. He thinks he did pretty good.  On Saturday He had a Martial Arts tounament in which he won 1st in forms and 3rd in sparring.    Good job boys!   So there is my little brag moment.
Saturday night Shaun & Dan were gone to the Priesthood session and I had no desire to cook dinner so I called up my friend Jeannie who felt the same way. So we got our kids together and scrounged a quick meal.  The kids had fun and the moms kept their sanity.   *notice Aleena, quiet shy Aleena, kick'n back with her bud Josiah.
We all love conference weekend.