this and that

I am finding it hard to admit it is May.  My mind feels like it should still be March.  So either I'm losing my mind, or time just isn't slowing down like I keep telling it to.

We have been up to a little of this and a little of that.  Staying busy (how can I not be busy with an almost 2 year old?) and enjoying the beautiful Spring that we have been given.  Here are a few of my favorites!

Easter morning - our Easter this year was rather relaxing.  Here is Little Man in his Easter tie.  He loved wearing it because his daddy also wore a tie.  I didn't even get a pic of the 3 of us.  Bummer.

I love this time of year and I think that Easter is becoming my favorite holiday.  I love the NEWNESS of it!

He got a little Easter bucket from us with a few goodies - sunglasses, books, bugs, and a plastic basketball egg filled with fruit loops.

"I can do it ALL. BY. MYSELF.  Why would you offer help with my sunglasses?  They are exactly the way I put them on my face ALL. BY. MYSELF."

This is a daily battle, I mean conversation, we have about pretty much everything!  The kid wants to be SO independent and he tries SO hard to be.  But for the meantime he still needs his mama's help.  Although he tries to tell me otherwise.  And I'm okay with that.

We finally made it to the brand new Cabella's that opened in Wichita.  It is a nice store and will be a fun rainy day place.  My excitement over the new store was rather subdued.  Mostly because it is within  5 minutes of Corey's office and perfect for lunch hour shopping sprees.  So far so good though!

Lawrence would touch the deer's nose and it must have felt funny because he would pull his hand away and give a shrill giggle every time.  Love him!

  

We got to spend a day in Kansas City with a good friend while Corey was doing some work up there.  We went to a neat place called Deanna Rose Farmstead.  Little Man loved it.  I think he has a little crush on Abby (center) but I'm cool with it - she's so darn cute and sweet.  And I know her folks.

He got to feed the baby goats and loved it.  They were easy to please though - his bottle was empty most of the time and they desperately sucked away.  

We got our garden planted!!!  So excited for our second harvest.  We planted yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley, jalapenos, green beans, watermelon, and pumpkins.  The cilantro from last year came up and I already harvested it and have it in my freezer!  I am trying out "companion gardening" - the concept that certain plants thrive when grown near certain other plants.  For example, tomatoes like parsley, so they are supposed to grow better when planted near it.  The parsley is the only thing that hasn't come up yet, so not sure what that means for their "companionship". 

Another trick with companion gardening that I am learning about is how to use natural things (plants, spices, flowers) to repel insects.  For example, if you have cutworms on your tomatoes you can sprinkle cayenne pepper on the leaves/stems and for some reason they won't like that.  At the end of last year as I was pulling  out the old squash/cucumber plants I discovered "cucumber beetles" that were COVERING the ground.  They didn't hurt the veggies but it grossed me out.  So I read that a remedy for that is to plant radishes in your mounds to keep them away.  But use of a radish that I can think of!

I want to learn more about the timing of when to plant certain things.  And what things to start inside early.  We wanted to plant onions and lettuce also, but we were too late in the season.  So we will include those in our fall garden with the broccoli and cauliflower.

Little Man helping me plant watermelon seeds.  I like the addition of some fruit!  How do you grow blueberries?  I also want to add strawberries and asparagus but we will first have to add a bed so they can come back every year.  Heck, you can call us Dillons!

The final garden spot.  My aunt told me an "old" story last summer ----  When you go to Kansas in the summer, be sure to lock your doors.  Or you might end up with a carload of squash.

SO WATCH OOOOUUUUUTTTTT.

Little Man loves to "drive".  Seriously.  It is the first thing he talks about in the morning, when we are outside, and when dad gets home.  I am rather concerned considering Corey drove for the first time at age 7.  Granted he was on a farm road - but he was alone in the car, no passengers, and this was with permission.  Eeeeeeek.

We have had a lot of tractors around our house lately (which does not help the driving obsession).  Our yard project is underway.  And we are surrounded with dirt, or mud.  So fun with an almost 2 year old.  It will be nice to have grass in the future though. 

We also had a special visit from my sister and niece.  We got to take the kids to Tanganyika one day to see and interact with the animals.  Little Man enjoyed hopping thru the kangaroo pen.  And niece enjoyed the Gibbons (sorta like monkeys) that were playing around.  The Lemurs have had babies and they are like 6 inches tall.  And the first mama kangaroo was carrying her baby in her pouch (last year there were probably 6 babies at once).  If you haven't been there then you should check it out.  And I don't even get kickbacks.  

They also played outside a ton and climbed all over the mounds of rock and dirt.

Seriously, it doesn't get any cooler than going to Auntie Abby's house and playing on piles.

We have had a fabulous Spring!  I can't wait to see what the Summer brings  :)