Memorial Day Weekend

We had a huge to do list this weekend. Here's a view of what the Jones' have been up to:

• Dog sitting for a neighbor (we go over there twice a day)
• Nate built me another raised garden bed (see picture below. I still need to sort through the pile of dirt that Nate dug up to install the bed. It's good soil and I need some more in the beds, but it's also filled with rocks. I'm paying Kayla to help with it...)
• He replaced the brick flower bed with a wooden frame (I want to paint it. Do you think we should paint it white or a blue to match the house?)
• Nate installed a wheel on the girls' swing set house. (Mikayla was sitting in a chair turning the wheel and pretended to reach in her purse while turning the wheel with her knee. Um, have I ever done that?)
• I planted some seeds in our new garden box. (Mikayla requested corn and a huge sun flower. I also planted a few green bean seeds, a small tomato plant, and a few onion bulbs. I wish it didn't matter how deep to plant each seed. It gets confusing and I'm not good at judging what a few inches is. We'll see if anything grows...)
• Friday I mowed the lawn.
• I've been working all weekend at my cleaning job. (I have a few more hours to put in early tomorrow morning. Today I cleaned all the windows inside and out and cleaned out/organized their garage. Maybe they can pull both vehicles in now! Yeah!)
• I started a stamping/free drawing project of painting grapes and leaves around our kitchen. It's turning out pretty cool! (See picture below)
• And, if this wasn't enough, I have one week to complete a new article assignment for Rochester Women. It's an article on the small towns west of Rochester. Elyana and I spent Friday morning exploring, interviewing, and taking photos. I need to find some time tonight or tomorrow to compile the hoards of info I now have!

Totally unrelated to this weekend, but Mikayla will be losing her second tooth soon and is already planning her note to the Tooth Fairy. She will write three notes: one to say, "Please give me the nice box back my last tooth was in." Another will say, "Don't take the box this tooth is in." The last one will say, "A suggestion on how much to give me would be either 100 dollars or 100 dimes."

Here's the couple of pictures I snapped:

Still Trying to Garden

I'm starting to grow some strawberries and raspberries in my first raised garden bed. It just produced it's first two strawberries, of which I didn't get to even taste thanks to my Ellie (strawberry juice dripping down her chin). Also, while talking with the neighbors, my girls "planted" a dandelion in my garden box. They kindly watered it too, leaving a crater of water and mud as evidence.



Also, Elyana gave me a few chuckles yesterday. After dropping Kayla off at school, I ventured to Menards with Ellie and Hannah. When Mikayla was little, she called it the Daddy store. We've called it that ever since. From the backseat, Ellie asks if we're almost home. "Nope, we're going to the daddy store first." I reply. "The daddy store? To see daddy or to get a daddy?" she asks. Once in Menards, I had to put Hannah in the seat of the shopping cart since she's no longer in a car seat carrier (we're still getting used to this). Ellie decides since she can't ride in the cart, she'd be helpful and push Hannah for me. Not only did this take forever, but Hannah would lean down and either pull Ellie's hair and giggle or she would rub her little feet on Ellie's head. By the time we get to the checkout, the cashier leans over and says to Ellie, "What's your name?" "My name's Ellie and this (pointing to Hannah) is Trouble," she says. We used to call Ellie that name when she was in toddle mode. I'm reminded of all of the things my girls used to get into when Hannah visits us.

Springtime Fun

After a stressful day, the girls and I decided to wash the van since they needed to come inside soon for their evening baths anyway. Elyana was enjoying it until Mikayla sprayed her in the face. She cried for a minute and then decided to counteract Mikayla by putting on her rain boots and getting her umbrella to use as a shield. Here are some cute pictures I snapped.










Also, Mikayla is really into Geomag magnets. She builds some amazing structures and they of course have a story to go with them. We really need to buy more so I went online to see where we can find more of them and came across this blog site (http://magnetstuff.blogspot.com/2004_12_01_archive.html). Mikayla and I were amazed and inspired by the amazing structures you can make.

This is what Mikayla built today:

Name Signs

I've been enjoying making name signs for new baby gifts. Each sign matches the decor of their new baby's room. They are fun to make and easy enough that Mikayla enjoys helping me paint them. I'd love to make some and sell them someday.

The first one was for my friend Jen and her new baby girl:


The one I just made was for my friend Denise and her new baby boy:

Crazy Ellie

Do I already have a posting this year with this title? I wouldn't be surprised! Monday night I decided to combine time with the girls and triathlon training. I took them in the bike trailer to their favorite park (Silver Lake Three Links Lodge). It's a 10-11 minute bike ride for me alone, but was a 20 minute ride pulling them. We arrive at the park and I need to lock up my bike and take off my helmet. In that amount of time, Elyana had climbed to the highest point in the playground and fell off backward! I was so scared and panicked. Her angel must have caught her because she just has the tiniest scratch on her back. If she had landed any other way, bones would have been broken. I kept thinking, "Do I bike her to the hospital, call 911, yell for someone nearby to help?...) You'd think she'd learn her lesson. Nope. Tuesday night was Nate's softball game. The girls and I went along to cheer him on. Ellie discovered that the bleachers were fun to climb and she could make it to the top of "the tower." Luckily, she likes to announce her next move. "I going to jump from the tower," she says! I catch her and let her down slowly to the ground. Five minutes later, she sees some kids climbing up a pine tree. She manages to make it up a few branches before I catch her once again.

Tonight, no climbing incidents, but a good reminder at dinnertime why we don't eat out much. She stuck rice up her nostril, tries to pick it out, then decides to "wash" her finger in her glass of milk. I tried to suction out the rice. I have no idea if it's still in there. She claims, it's all better. I guess if there was still rice up there, she would still be trying to pick it out. Who knows. What's next with my crazy Ellie?! I'm looking forward to dropping her off at the neighbors house tomorrow morning to help chaperon Mikayla's Kindergarten field trip to Oxbow Zoo.

I know what my mom would say, "She's just like you. I was on a first name basis with the ER when you were a child!" I'm not sure if that's comforting, except, I turned out just fine I guess.

Catching Up Once Again

I can't believe I'm so behind on blogging. First, some news that some of you may not know about is I'm training for my third triathlon. It's an all women's one in Pleasant Prairie, WI on July 12th, called Trek Triathlon. It's a version of the Danskin Women's one I did last year. I really liked all three courses and would like a shot at them without three flat tires this time! However, I have 10 weeks to train for it. Not that bad, just gets interesting balancing the family, the always growing "to do" list, and all my odd part time jobs.

Now to update the blog with some pics of the girls:

A $2 outfit I bought last night at Walmart. Very cute!


A 5 year-old's sense of humor!


Karin, I had some excess to cut off of the tulle I borrowed to fix the bike trailer with. Mikayla begged me to make her a bride veil. Once again, a quick project with the hot glue gun!




Doctor Elyana




Elyana gets so into playing the computer, she forgets to sit down.