Got mint?

Really, do you? Because if you don't, I can give you some. Heck, I can give you some even if you do! I have the mint patch from hell. I spent the day today with Ed ripping mint out of the flower beds and trying to tame the mint patch. I shall have mint tea until the day I die, now, because you can't just throw mint out!

That picture is how the mint patch looks now. After, oh, gee, 5 hours of gardening. Really. FIVE HOURS of ripping mint out of the flower bed. Well, maybe 4 hours of ripping mint out, and one hour of planting the new stuff.

See that mulchy bit? Around the big flowering plant (I think its an azalea)? That was ALL MINT. ALL MINT. Oh, and some ferns. And mint. And MORE mint. Did I mention that there was a lot of mint in my flower bed?



All that? That was mint, too. But now, now it is fennel, marigolds, lobelia, dill, and lavender. And in the pots are tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, and peppers. I'm going to find a new place for the pots, but it was starting to rain so I just stuck them there so I could come inside. Pretty impressive, huh?


So the mint is now drying in my mudroom. That is, oh, gee, maybe half of all the mint I pulled. Maybe. So, if you need mint, you know who to call. And you better hope you're not on my Christmas list!

Caroline and the slide

Yesterday Keith decided that Caroline needed to be introduced to the slide. So he got Henry and Caroline out the front door and carried Caroline back to the swing set. Henry has some kind of magnet in him that just draws him to the swing set, so Keith didn't have to worry about him. They got out there, Henry climbed up to the fort, and then I looked out to see Keith climbing the ladder while he was holding Caroline. After my heart resumed beating, I grabbed the camera. She loved the slide, at least until Henry went down after her and landed on top of her. She wasn't a fan of that. But the slide, and Keith hauling her around the swingset - she loved those!

More kitchen pictures

It's pretty much done! It looks awesome!

My little environmentalist

Me: Is that your second soda today? (the rule is one soda, if ANY!)
Keith: Yes (at least he doesn't lie, right?)
Me: Did Daddy say you could have it? (because I sure as heck didn't!)
Keith: No. I got it so YOU didn't have to waste water. (emphasis on the YOU)

OK, you got me. How do you argue with that one?

My kitchen

Ever since we moved in (a little over a year ago!), I've wanted to put beadboard up in my kitchen, as the backsplash and in the breakfast nook area. And guess what?!? We're finally doing it! I have some pictures of the breakfast nook which is currently under construction, but I need to find the cord to get them uploaded. But, until then, check it out!

Friday Five

Look, it's Friday again!

1. It sounds like it's going to be a decent weekend!
2. I'm teaching a class tomorrow morning.
3. The peonies bloomed and I cut them and put them on the table and they smell SO GOOD! And, I got rid of the ants before I brought them in.
4. Speaking of ants, our ant infestation is gone.
5. My kitchen is looking great!

Free Family Wellness Fair 5/16/09 in Media

I have a booth there! Come see me!!

We have had several late vendor additions to the list below, so it's going to be a great day with lots of entertainment and information for the whole family. Please join us and tell all your friends and family to do the same!

Free Local Family Wellness Fair on 5/16/09

The Delaware County, PA chapter of the Holistic Moms Network, in conjunction with Ohm Chiropractic Center , is sponsoring a Wellness Fair on Saturday, May 16, 2009 from 11am to 4pm at Ohm Chiropractic located at 327 N. Middletown Road, Media, PA 19063. Free lectures start at 11am and fair festivities start at noon.

This family-friendly event is open to the public and free! Come early and bring your entire family to enjoy the lovely spring day and the scheduled outdoor activities. There will be an assortment of BBQ and vegan food available, live music throughout the day, raffles and more!

There will be free: massages, small reiki sessions, spinal check ups, reflexology sessions, adult yoga class and several fun children’s activities. Some of the vendors will represent a variety of products: essential oil bath and beauty products, handmade candles, handmade scarves, Ergo baby carriers, Juice Plus whole food supplements, handmade jewelry, Shaklee cleaning products and Selene Whole Food Co-op. There will also be several well-known area birth services, local non-profit organizations and other wellness practitioners with informational booths. Scheduled lectures include vaccine choice, homeopathy for moms and kids and traditional Chinese medicine for children.

For more information, please contact Heather Busovsky.

Oh, Henry.

God bless that child. Really. Because of him, I need to buy stock in hair dye. So the other day he came in and said "I flush Jenga Fett down toilet." Yup, you understood that correctly - he flushed Jenga Fett down the upstairs toilet. Fortunately, Jenga Fett was just a lego and apparently went the way of the fishes just fine. So Ed and I explained to Henry that flushing toys was NOT appropriate, and Keith pitched a fit directed at Henry about how flushing his legos down the toilet was not cool. Yes, Jenga Fett was actually Keith's lego. So we made sure to keep the door shut and thought we had solved our flushing problem. Yeah. Until the other day when the toilet wouldn't flush properly. I tried twice and then told Ed about it. Toilets are NOT my department. So Ed worked on it. Nada. Wouldn't flush. So today we went out to my brother's house to get the snake to REALLY work on the toilet. Get home, Ed goes to work on it, I take ALL the kids to pick Keith up from school (I had to pick up something from his teacher). We get home, and Ed has the toilet on the front yard. I should have known that this was not a good sign and kept on driving, but I'm a glutton for punishment. We get out of the car, and Henry starts clapping and saying "I flush Jenga Fett!!" Um, yeah Henry. We got it. He also flushed one of Keith's medium sized chunky Star Wars figures. And a Weeble. A chunky Star Wars figure and a Weeble can seriously mess up a toilet, let me tell you. Fortunately, Ed was able to get them out of said toilet and get the toilet reinstalled in the upstairs bathroom. And promptly installed locks on the OUTSIDE of all bathroom doors in this house. Did I mention I need to buy stock in hair color???
OH, and then today. After the toilet excitement. Henry came into the kitchen pointing at his nose saying "bool. nose. bool. nose." I kept asking him what he was saying - "Your nose hurts? Your nose is bleeding? You want milk?? WHAT HENRY???" Henry grabs a butter knife out of the silverware drawer (yeah, that's a whole other post) and starts poking at his nose with it. I, being the caring mother I am, said "We don't stick knives up our nose, Henry" and took it away. He wandered off mumbling about bool and noses, and I didn't think anything else of it. About 1/2 hour later, Ed had to run to the store and said he'd take Henry with him. Took him out to the car, buckled him in, then came back in and said "where are the tweezers?" Yup, Henry had shoved a bool bead up his nose. A bool bead is Henryspeak for a blue bead. I am so glad Ed is handy with a pair of tweezers!
God bless Henry.

May the Force be with you

Nine months old!

Caroline is going to be nine months old on Tuesday! Where has the time gone? She's cruising around, standing whenever she gets near something to hold on to, and claps and waves 'bye-bye'. She even SAYS 'bye-bye' when she's waving, usually in response to someone telling her no.