It’s been a while since I did a WIP…but better late than never!

* Since my last WIP, I have completed Eleanor’s longies, as well as some shorties (will post pictures later…probably much later…maybe in a few days…lol). I even decided to make some blue shorties for Corinne. I really like the Tiny Birds pattern and will most likely stick with it for all my longies/shorties projects. So really, I’ve been quite productive in the past month with my knitting
* Thanks to Mrs. H, I tried out Super Cook, where you input the ingredients you have on hand and it will generate a list of recipes that you can make. I came across this recipe and thought I’d give it a try:

Candie’s Bakery-Style Crumb Coffee Cake

Ingredients
* 3 3/4 cups flour
* 1 3/4 cups sugar
* 1/4 lb butter (softened)
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 eggs
* 1/2-2/3 cup milk (I ended up using 2/3 but had to bake for 45 mins)

Topping
* 1/4 lb butter
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 2 teaspoons cinnamon
* 1 pinch salt
* confectioners’ sugar (for dusting)

Directions
1. Mix together in a large bowl flour, sugar, baking powder, salt; and set aside 2 cups of this mixture for the topping.
2. Add butter, eggs and milk and mix well.
3. Grease and flour a 13-inch rectangle baking pan.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. For Topping: Take the 2 cups of reserved flour mixture and add to the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.
6. Mix together with your fingers until blended and lumps begin to form when you squeeze the mixture making small pea-sized crumbs.
7. Cover the entire cake with crumbly mixture.
8. Bake for 30 minutes. (Again, I used more milk, so I had to bake longer)
9. When cooled, dust with confectioner’s sugar.

I forgot to take a picture before sending this to work with Michael, but I’m sure I’ll be making it again since my “taste test piece” was scrumptious!

* Our garden seems to be doing well, especially three of our broccoli plants that are in a “Poppa Earthbox.” The others in the individual pots, well, aren’t doing so well. The tomatoes,of course, are growing like there’s no tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll begin to see some results! Honestly though, I’m not too worried about the garden this year…I have too many other things to think about…such as….

* Eleanor. I had my weekly appointment yesterday and everything seems to be right on track. My blood pressure was 119/79 (which didn’t mean a darn thing to me, until I saw this chart…way to go me!). I was surprised that I lost a pound since last week (which brings my total weight gain to 24lbs), but the doctor measured my tummy and said baby was measuring great. I have about four weeks to go, but part of me thinks I’ll deliver within three weeks. Thank goodness my bag is packed and already in the van!

Picture it: Mid-March, a young mother of two (with one on the way) plants a variety of vegetable seeds in small containers in hopes of producing a bountiful harvest come mid summer and early fall. What was this mother thinking?! Was she thinking? Obviously not. That mother was me and I can tell you…I was dreaming… dreaming BIG!

I had originally planted carrot, snap pea, broccoli, tomato, & strawberry seeds in peat containers. Yes, they sprouted and yes, they grew….all of them. And they all became too much to deal with. I mean, c’mon, I have two darling daughters to care for 24/7, as well as a household, two dogs, and I’m now 32 weeks pregnant (which means I’m tired…lol). How in the heck was I going to make that 2 acre walk to the rear of our yard to take care of a garden as well…mulitiple times a day? I wasn’t. So I had to ditch some of the more “needy” vegetables. The carrots had to go, as well as the snap peas - which can grow to 6 feet tall. Michael constructed a couple of his own Earth Boxes for me, in which I decided to plant some of the broccoli. The others I planted in random pots. I’m actually really curious to see which broccoli plants produce better - Earth Box or regular pots. The tomato plants I planted in last year’s real Earth Box. I know they’ll do well since last year was a huge success. The strawberry plants are still in smaller containers, but will be planted in the garden area, which Michael dug & filled with good dirt. This took him HOURS and I feel so silly not being able to use it for the mega-garden that I had planned for. (It’s amazing the stuff he does for me…just an amazing provider!) But at least the strawberries will have much room to spread out and produce a lot of fruit next year.

So here’s a picture of what my “Garden-ette” looks like at the moment. I still have to position them where I want them and tidy up…but I suppose that’s why it’s my Work In Progress for today

It’s been over a week since I blogged…tsk tsk. BUT- I finished Corinne’s dress AND Lilli’s tank (I made this tank up as I went along: used #2 straight needles, alternating knitting and stockinette stitch - four rows each, and then knitted the upper chest area. I used a little under two balls of Cascade Dyed Fixation Effects in Parfait ) I know, I went nuts. I also finished book # 9 in the Left Behind Series, Desecration. Great read…now onto book # 10: The Remnant. So I guess those aren’t really “Works In Progress,” but our vegetables are! Our snap peas, broccoli, & carrots are thriving! I can’t wait to transplant them into the garden this weekend (and get my window sills back!). Our strawberries have begun to sprout, but I’m still waiting on the tomatoes. We’ll see what this next week brings

You’ll be happy to know that I picked up the Anouk pattern and decided to finish the second half…but that’s not what this WIP Wendesday is about. Today it is about gardening. We planted our snap pea seeds the first week of March and they look about ready to be planted in the raised flower bed by this weekend. Woo hoo! Carrots will be planted next…yuuummy!

Spring is exactly one month away! Yet, as I write this, snow flurries are dancing around my back yard.

This year, we’ve decided to plant green beans, broccoli, carrots, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, and Lilli’s favorite: strawberries! Last year was my first year gardening and was quite a learning experience…but I had to start somewhere! This year I’ve decided to do things a little (okay, a lot) different. I’m starting these plants from seeds, rather than buying an already sprouting plant as I had done last year. Michael is also going to build me a raised planting bed, since (as we discovered last year) our entire area is comprised of shale…not the most fertile ground. And most importantly, I’ve done my research this time around rather than “winging it.” Virginia Tech has a great planting guide for our area. According to the guide, I can start planting my peas on March 1st! Taking into account that I can NEVER trust the “predictable” weather, I’ve decided to start my seeds indoors. Not only will this give me a sense of peace knowing that my seeds won’t come across an accidental frost, but it will allow Lilli to have more of a hands on learning experience at an earlier stage in the gardening process.

We have decided to postpone our chicken plans this year. It didn’t really hit us until a few weeks ago that we’ll have a new baby in July, which doesn’t leave much time to tend to chickens…lol. So, we’ll just have to continue buying those perfect farm-fresh eggs from the Schrock’s for a little longer - darn

It’s Monday…and since I haven’t blogged in a WHOLE WEEK I’ve decided to do a recap and skip Music Monday (however I did hear a Def Leppard song yesterday while over my neighbors’…reminded me of 1st grade, rockin’ out in the back of the bus - which, by the way, I could only ride in the back because my cool cousin was in 6th grade - while listening to my tapes on my walk-man…wow- 20 years ago?! Now that’s a flashback!).

Weekly Recap:
* My Dyson came in!!! How crazy is that?! I’m ecstatic about a vacuum cleaner. But really, with two kids, two dogs, & an “outdoorsy” hubby, our home tends to be a cheerio/furball/dirt magnet. This Dyson makes me want purposely spill things- just so I can use the vacuum! I know, I have issues
* I’ve put my knitted baby blanket project on hold for the past two weeks and was swayed by a certain 4 1/2 year old to knit her a Kitty Cuddly. Lilli has been pestering me for a while about this - in fact, ever since she lost the knitted bunny “Bow” a few months back. I think she finally realizes that if she loses something, she has to do without it…it may not always be so easily replaced. It took me 3 days, but “Kitten” was finally born… & Lilli keeps him safe on her bed Something I didn’t expect, though, jealousy from Corinne. She wanted a kitten too! So, a couple days later, “Mini-Kitty” was born and all was well in Corinne’s world.

* Organic Seeds! That’s right, planting season is right around the corner and I want to be prepared! Thanks to http://www.organicaseed.com , we’re right on track. Michael is looking forward to the cucumbers that will be pickled, I’m looking forward to the green beans, and Lilli is THRILLED about the strawberries! As the months pass, I will be sure to start blogging about this subject more often
* We had a visit from my dad! He stayed with us a night, while on a business trip in DC. Michael and I enjoyed his company and the girls had fun spending time with Opa. It was cute seeing Corinne hold his hand as they walked and Lilli making sure he sat next to her at dinner.

* I finished the book, Power of a Praying Wife. My good friend Vicki has asked me to start a small group with her (for which I am still humbled) that focuses on how to be true Christian wives…not as the world thinks wives should be, but how God has commanded wives to be. I’m really excited about this opportunity and am so thankful that God has surrounded me with such wise & godly Christian women. Vicki gave me two books last week: Power of a Praying Wife & Divine Romance. I should have DR read by the beginning of next week and prayerfully God will reveal which book He wants us to start with. I’m interested to see where He leads us
* Lilli is a reader! That’s right, my 4 1/2 year old can read! In fact, she puts letters together and makes up her own words! Her latest book is “Kit” from the Calvert School’s Early Phonics Storybooks. Here are a couple examples from the book: “Kit has a hat” & “Kit can sit.” She is so smart and I pray that her thirst for knowledge continues to grow.

* Lady had her check up and is looking good. She weighs 13 1/2lbs and is in great shape. Within the month, she will be getting spayed.

* Baby Clarke is growing! I’ve felt little flutters here and there and have noticed a more prominent bulge (thank goodness…I don’t like that beer-belly look…I’d rather prefer the I’m-hiding-a-small-melon look…lol”) Here’s the latest:
* By week 17, your baby weighs about 4.97 ounces (140gm) and is 5.12 inches (13cm) long.
* He or she has a much more normal “human” appearance now. She holds her head more erect and her body and limbs are longer in proportion to her head.
* Pads are forming on his tiny fingertips and toes. Soon those individual swirls and whorls will be apparent.
* Her eyes are looking forward now, but they are still firmly closed.
* Meconium (composed of products of cell loss, digestive secretion and swallowed amniotic fluid), is accumulating in the bowel. This black gooey substance will become your baby’s first poop!
* The umbilical cord is growing thicker and stronger and continues to rush blood and nutrients to your growing baby.
* Her skeleton is tranforming from cartilage to bone. The bones remain flexible to make the journey through the birth canal easier.
(info courtesy of www.pregnancy.org)

* The best thing about this week was by far my date night!! Michael and I have made it a point to have a date night at least once a month. As a parent, it is so easy to get caught up everything else: the kids, house, dogs, job, you name it and “forget” about your own needs. It’s also easy to “forget” to have a date night…something else (see list above…lol) always comes up. Michael is more than a dad, I am more than a mom…we are each other’s other halves with our own interests (no, Elmo is really not my favorite actor and no, I really don’t like playing with cardboard boxes and pretending it is my fort). So we’ve marked our monthly date night on the calendar…in permanent marker This past weekend we went to Red, Hot, & Blue and had a GREAT time! The food was awesome, as was our waitress Liz. But the best thing about our date was just being able to share a conversation, laugh, & be silly together for a couple of hours…just the two of us. I was woo-ed all over again

That’s it in a nutshell! Readers, I pray your week is richly blessed!

PS. I posted this blog in Linux…woo-hoo (sense the sarcasm, Michael )

Our garden is growing and I’m so excited…I don’t know where to begin!

I must admit that the past few months I haven’t been too hopeful regarding our organic garden. We planted tomatoes, squash, green beans, watermelon, & corn all in May and I hadn’t seen any real production, with the exception of our tomatoes & green beans…both of which I’ve been told pretty much ”grow no matter what.” Great…go me…I grew something that is super easy to grow.

But TODAY! All the hard work: planting, fertilizing (those cows in the field behind our property sure helped out!), watering, pruning, the list goes on and on and on…finally paid off! We have a female squash flower. So? This is big news because ALL the flowers that have bloomed so far (about 30) have been males (they have a thin stem whereas the female has a bulging stem).

Obviously we don’t yet have squash so I’m saying a little prayer that “Sandra” (the female squash flower) doesn’t hold out on us. Also, our corn has 6 silks! If the silks are pollinated, they turn brown, which I noticed one had turned brown already. We’ve had one watermelon growing steadily and two more are following suit.

I’m so thankful that God has allowed our garden to grow organically. Without the use of pesticides, we’ve been having to spend more time tending to the plants (which is also a blessing because it allows me to teach Lilli how things grow, what bugs are good  & what bugs are bad, and besides - what kid doesn’t like to help water the plants?!). My nemesis, the Squash Bug, was a real problem for a while. They literally suck out the nutrients from the vine while injecting a poison to kill the plant. All my leaves were turning yellow and I had no idea why  . Google came to my rescue and I found that the organic way to get rid of them was to simply pick them off and drown them in a bowl of water. Easier to do for the adults:

since they were larger and easier to locate. The babies though:

are so tiny and move around quickly. I didn’t mind just squashing the baby squash bugs…hahah no pun intended . The Japanese Beetles:

found our garden to be the place to hang out. (Lilli is really good at finding them and “stomping” them…lol). We also found that Tomato Hornworms:

loved snacking on our tomato plants. Lilli loved having them as pets for a day. Michael wanted to get Lilli a terrarium so she could learn how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, but the hornworm actually buries itself in the ground, forms a cocoon, and then emerges as a moth:

I think a milkweed caterpillar would be a better lesson, since it cocoons itself while hanging…at least we could see it then. The birds used to be a problem but here’s a secret I’ll share with you: hang old cd’s from the stakes and the sunlight reflecting from them scare off the birds. Sure it looks a little silly, but at least you won’t have to worry about the birds enjoying the fruit of your labor before you do
Psalm 104:14 (NLT)
   “You cause grass to grow for the livestock
      and plants for people to use.
   You allow them to produce food from the earth…”

*The pictures above are not actual pictures from our garden. I will try and get photos from our garden online soon