Wooops.... More time than I thought went by...

So, once again, an obscene amount of time has passed since I last posted. So what's new with me? Wow... to begin with... I finally graduated from Nursing School, albeit by the skin of my teeth, and I passed my boards. I graduated and got licensed in  Sept of 2012. I got hired on to a nursing facility as an as-needed/on-call nurse. The hours are not that great, and greatly vary even week to week, but I do love my work. I starting going to On Hooks and Needles (a knitting/crocheting group) on Tuesday Nights for a while, and I was able to completely my "break the fast" from knitting project: a lovely scarf I have been enjoying the use of for some months now. I will post pics later. Been having some random adventures with my Best Friend as well, and was able to enjoy Swing Dancing far more regularly. I tried on and made it onto the All Girls Beginning Charleston Team, the Shoe Shiners,and we had a few performances in December LOL. Great times were had. I also got to start on my first set of hand knit socks... which unfortunately got pulled from the needles by a few of my darlings, and pulled apart that I now must restart them. In January, we started a new project: Hydroponics. which was upset by darling C, who thought more fertilizer would make the plants grow faster... Instead, it killed them.  I also had some fun making birthday cakes for O and RA. Again, pics will come later. And I've restarted the hydroponics. So yea, I've been keeping busy. I hope to post pics in the next few weeks. Add in that Rb just go the next report card, mostly B's I'm very proud of her progress. E and C have Parent-Teacher meetings later this week... Here's hoping for more good news as I continue to home tutor them ! Till Next Time.

Spring Weather

My first sprouts

Well, my first hoop house is nearly finished. That took a long time, because of the fence that ran along side it and was taking up half of the space. We had to wait a week to talk to the project manager and ok us moving it off the garden. He said they would do it. So this past Wednesday, we said enough, and moved it ourselves. We tilled this morning, and I have laid down plastic to keep weeds from growing until the early summer stuff is ready to go in. I have lettuce that is sprouting, and flowers, and some herbs, radishes, beets, turnips, and carrots. I just transplanted my bush peas. Yay for having one hoop house up. The salad bar hoop house I will probably set up on Tuesday, so a week from Tuesday I will be setting stuff out there, with any luck. I'm excited because it's about time to start my main Spring crops. More plant starting.

The dolphin painting

My first Hoop House

I have not had time to work on much of anything crafty since I finished that painting. Maybe March will see more posts and more Crafts. I also have a month and a week left before my next round of finals. Sheesh. The time does fly by. I have taken photos of my sprouts, the painting, and the garden to share with you.

Sprouts round 2

Winter Weather and Computers

Well, Last week was not the most productive as far as study time went. I am to the point in my semester where papers are going to be due, and that is highly distracting somehow. Luckily, My replacement laptop is on its way! I'm so excited about that! I leave home most every day to study for between 2-5 hours, which is when most of my quality work  (typically) is done. My new computer should be here on Tuesday, so Happy Valentine's to Me!


We are having a beautiful snowy day here in Utah today. A soft snowfall has been coming down all day. Which for those that are sad about the low snow year, is a really good thing.  I'm kind of excited too. It Feels like cleaning and spinning weather for the week (Yay) And I am very much looking forward to my projects this week.
Last week, if you recall, I decided to finish a first -attempt painting of a dolphin (go me for finishing it). I  finished it on Thursday night. I will say it's a rather rough first attempt, but since I have extremely minimal experience with painting, I think it turned out OK. I will try and attach a photo later, but my camera seems to be MIA at the moment.

This week, along with the usual brigade of school, housework, and the like, I have a couple of Special projects I will be attempting to complete.

The most new and experimental project will be done on Friday, and that is the construction of my Hoop House so I can have some early cold crops in the two to three months before we put the main garden in. I can't wait!
Along with this I plan to start the early plant seeds that will be placed in the hoop house in about 3-4 weeks.
And finally, I'm going to Spin! Yay! Hopefully pictures will follow. Have a beautiful week!

An Update. After a Long break.

December was rough.I spent a lot of time studying and  a lot of time worrying about passing my semester. I found out I passed my classes and I celebrated. By knitting 3 pairs of mittens :)  In about 4 days.

So. Things are really crazy at the house right now. I'm in my last 2 semesters of Nursing School (YIPPEE!!) and all the headache and craziness that goes along with that. E is in 1st grade, C is in Kindergarten, and Rb goes to school in the Fall. Ra just turned 3 and our duckling, O, just turned 1 in December.

And I am getting really itchy. It's been a really mild winter in my part of Utah, and I'm feeling the gardening itch. So. I am thinking about how to distract myself.  So. I am thinking I want to do some painting, during down time in studying, and maybe some spinning. But I also think I'm going to be naughty and let myself  start a few seeds next week. A couple Flowers, a couple herbs, and some lettuce and spinach. Just so I can play in the soil and use my grow lights. But for tonight, Painting. I have a dolphin painting I was working on in December. I am thinking I'll finish it tonight. But I am also thinking I want to do another figurine. Hm. What ever I decide to do I will try to post a picture later.

Have fun!

Summer Do's

So. I've been wanting to do a post for some time with the various hairstyles I put my girls in on occasion. Ironically I forgot to get a picture of my own hair yesterday, when I had tried a newer style of an old look I do.

These are actually from a couple weekends ago, I kind of got busy with cakes and forgot to put them up.So Without further ado:

My sweet RB, This was inspired, I think, by the blog A princess and her Hair, But I will have to double check that.

RA, with little "Puff Buns". One wouldn't get all of her hair and keep it up for Grandpa's house and the Farmer's Market, so I gave her two, One at the very top of her head  (which you can see) and one directly below it at pony tail height.

And my Oldest, E, with cross braids into two "messy bun pony tails." Again, this was inspired by another blog.

Unfortunately, For the life of me I can't seem to find the blogs that inspired two of these looks. So if this looks like something you posted and I follow your blog, just let me know and I'll edit this to give credit where it's do.
Thanks for reading today!

Happy Father's Day

Before I comment on Fathers, Please forgive this shot. RA couldn't keep her sweet fingers out of the cake before I took a picture LOL. While it has a very rough base icing, the border is the best I have ever done, Yay Me! and the writing is also an improvement. I do hope to do at least 2 cakes a month and post them on here to keep track of my progress, or lack thereof, LOL. (I also took a side shot of the border, if any one is interested.)

But the big topic of the day is Fathers. I have a wonderful father. He and I shared a lot of bonding moments, from him attending ballet recitals and various special nights for the Young Women, a group I was apart of at Church, to taking me to Seminary (another church meeting for the teens) in the unholy hours of the morning, to spending wonderful hours as the sun came up fishing and hunting, and going camping, and working the firing range. To this day, I am not sure that he knows how much my little family and I love him. I highly doubt he will read this, but just in case, We love you Daddy, thank you for being the best!

And now I have a Husband. He is a wonderful man and a down right amazing father to our five special little ones. He does so much that I admire him for, and he makes so many sacrifices to better the family. Thank you darling. For all the late nights you work so I can go to school. For all the nights you stay up with the little ones so I can get some sleep. For reading to the children, and playing and being the silly Papa they adore so much. We wouldn't be our Old Fashioned Loving Family without you!

To fathers everywhere. Remember, even though we may not always tell you when we ought to, we appreciate what you do for us. And that includes those stand-ins: Brothers, Uncles, Family friends, Single moms that do both roles for whatever reason. You are loved, and appreciated, and you make our families, and therefore our societies, a better place to be. Know you are Loved.

Home Schooling

 

      Our family has had an interesting ride because of the twists and turns in our path. One of my goals as a mother has always been to see to it our children have the best education we can give them. This I decided to do by Homeschooling.Unfortunately, Because of being a nursing student, I don't have a whole lot of time to devote to teaching the children. So. My mom has stepped up and is teaching the children, right now in particular, E, how to read, during the summer break via Skype. We are using the Pathway Publishers readers, which is an excellent program, I highly recommend it. E has been reading almost daily for a month and a half or so. She is nearly half way through the first of 3 readers for the first "grade". I am so proud of her. C will be starting soon, once we get the pre-reading workbooks for him. I am hoping to do another few updates this week. I have some hair updates, just need to get the pictures online first, and I'm planning to do some cakes this week as well!