My Daughter Visited UW Whitewater Today!

My youngest daughter was not able to go to a University last year she was really upset about that. She had to go to Gateway Tech for one year to bring her grade point average up. She has been working really hard this year to do that and she has done it. We are so proud of her.

So she has applied to four University's this year. She was excepted to three of the four. These are the ones she has been excepted to
Parkside in Kenosha, UW Milwaukee and UW Whitewater.

Last year we went to tour Parkside and she really liked that one. Today we went to tour UW Whitewater this campus is really big. I really didn't think it would be this big.

The people taking you on the tour are really nice and answered any questions that you had. I was asking a lot of questions because I just wanted to know certain things for her. Things like about housing for her, enrollment fees, bus service for shopping, jobs on campus for her and tutors for help with homework. They answered every question to help me out with my decision, they were really nice about it too.

While we were there I seen a lot of police riding in blazers, riding on bikes and walking around the campus today. Yes I know it is St. Patrick's day but that made me feel better about it all. When we were leaving going by the sorority houses you seen a lot of parties going on. It just amazed me how many kids were out there.

On the way home my daughter was talking about the college and asking us questions about it. I let her know what questions I asked and the answers I got from them. She was happy I let her know.

One thing we found out that they are starting this year is with the westside housing they will be getting free meals. I thought that was really nice to let us know.

They have the three majors that she would like to go to college for Marine Biology, Acting and Psychology.  

When we stopped for lunch she asked Drew and I what we thought of the college. Drew and I both told her we thought that was the one we think she should go to because they offer all she wants to major in. We told her that it was up to her we could not tell her what to do.

To the right is a picture of the housing building. We could not go inside to look at it. There was certain buildings you could tour. The buildings you could tour are sports building, business building, art building and student service center. It was an hour tour and a lot of walking.

She decided this is the University she wants to go to. She started getting everything filled out on line tonight. In May we have to go back so she can pick out her classes and talk to the adviser. She is so happy about all of this tonight and can not stop talking about any of it. We are going to help her out and pay the housing fee to hold a room for her. I am just glad she got into the college she wants to go to. My mom was suppose to come down here this weekend to got with us but could not make it. I know my mom will be very happy for her too. With my daughter happy about this we are very happy for her.

Green popcorn? It's for St. Patrick's Day!

I know today is not St. Patrick's Day but in all of our local schools the kids are wearing
green, drinking green punch, green Jello squares and probably eating more green food
coloring in a day than they should eat in a year.

I made some green popcorn for my little grandson from a recipe they sent home from school. I did have to change it a bit for his dietary restrictions but I thought I would share it.

8 cups of popcorn, popped
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons blue agave nectar
1/2 cup maple sugar
1 3 ounce package of sugar-free Jello

Pour popped popcorn into a large bowl. In a saucepan, melt butter on medium heat. Add agave nectar, and bring to a boil. Stir in maple sugar and Jello. Bring to a boil and stir for 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and slowly drizzle over popcorn.

Line a large baking pan with tin foil and bake at 300 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, checking so that it doesn't brown. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

This was good with lime Jello but might be a bit odd with other flavors. I didn't think this was as green as I thought it would be but maybe that is OK since kids eat so much food coloring.

I intend to try it with a little more maple sugar to see if it will taste like candied popcorn.

Have a happy St. Patrick's Day!

American Idol Top 10!

Yes as of last night it is the top 10 contestants. They will be the ten going on tour this summer.

A lot has happened on the show this week and I will tell you all about it.

Wednesday Night-

There was one contestant that was eliminated before the show aired Wednesday. That was Jermaine and the reason he was eliminated is he has four warrants out for him, two of the warrants is for giving fake names. The producers of the show found out about this and questioned him. Jermaine told them it is true and asked him why he didn't tell them, he said he was afraid to tell them.

The mentor this week was Will I Am.

The music they had to pick was from the year the contestants were born. I have the years for each of them.

Here is the year they were born, the song they chose and what I thought of the performances-

Phil- Born 1990, he sang "Hard to Handle" it was an awesome performance he can sing anything. He also had surgery on Tuesday and still was there to perform.

Jessica- Born 1995, she sang "Turn the Beat Around" she did a great job with the song.

Heejun- Born 1989, he sang "Right Here Waiting" it was all right not his best.

Elise- Born 1983, she sang "I'm So in Love With You" this week she did a lot better. She was in here zone this week.

Deandre- Born 1994, he sang "Endless Love" not to bad he could have done a lot better.

Shannon- Born 1995, she sang "One Sweet Day" for some reason she has not been doing her best lately. I know she could have done a lot better.

Colton- Born 1991, he sang "Broken Heart" this was a great performance by him. He knows how to make the song his own. He also went out for dinner with Daughtry this week.

Erika- Born 1985, she sang "Heaven" she did an awesome job with the song. I really like her voice.

Skylar- Born 1994, she sang "Love Sneaking up on You" for some reason you can give her any song and she can sing her heart out and she knows how to make it her own.

Joshua- Born 1992, he sang "When a Man Loves a Woman" he did an awesome job with this song.

Hollie- Born 1993, she sang "Power of Love" she did a great job with the song.

Thursday Night-

Daughtry performed his song "Outta My Mind". I really like this song. I do like some of his music.

Debbie Lovato performed her song "Give Your Heart A Break". It was alright I really don't know her music.

Here are the results for the contestants-

The bottom three-

Elise, Shannon and Erika

The contestants going on tour-

Phil
Skylar
Joshua
Colton
Deandre
Jessica
Heejun
Hollie
Erika
Elise

Shannon was not safe and she had to sing for the judges to see if they would use the one and only save for her. They did not use that save and she had to go home.

I would really like to hear what you thought of the show. Please leave your comments and thank you for taking your time to read this!♥

FREE Kids e-Book: It’s Wintertime Freddie Frog

Here’s another FREE e-book for the kiddos!

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This post was obtained from www.thefrugalgirls.com.  

For similar posts, visit cjrlbooksandmore.blogspot.com.

My St. Patrick's Day Pins

Saturday is St. Patrick's Day and while it isn't a major holiday for most of the US, it is a very big deal in Ireland and certain US cities with a large Irish populations. I know Savannah, Ga. is one of those cities, though the celebration there is more of a secular holiday now.

My grandmother used to say she was Irish, though we haven't uncovered any evidence in our heritage to support her claim. I always think of her when March 17th rolls around because even though we can't prove she was Irish, I remember her fondly on that day.

I pulled these images from my Pinterest account, some of which I probably will use for my grandchildren. They love both minor and major holidays. I particularly like the shamrocks above because I have always heard that St. Patrick taught people about the Trinity by using a shamrock. Even though many historians now say this might be a myth, I really love the way the artist at artprojectsforkids.org used a cross and hearts to make a perfect shamrock. I must say I think it represents St. Patrick, a missionary, better than the four-leaf clover that is supposed to represent "the luck of the Irish."

I also love this rainbow made from fruit. The story of the pot of Irish gold hidden by leprechauns at the end of the rainbow has always been one of my favorites. When I was a very gullible child, I would have tried to chase the rainbow to the end if my parents had let me. This is one of the best decorative food displays I have seen at brandyscrafts.blogspot.com.

And this is so cute! A "sandwich" made from spinach tortillas with grated cheese or carrot for the beard. The fruit on the top looks very much like a rainbow to me. You can find this at brandyscrafts.blogspot.com.

If I could crochet, I would love to make this shamrock to use as a lapel pin. I don't know how, but maybe one day if I develop the skill and have the time. The details are at cache.lionbrand.com.

I really like the corned beef hash, above. I would also cook some of my Brussels sprout heads from my garden to go with it. Go to marthastewart.com to make this and also the one below.

I would probably never make these sandwiches --- but I really love them because they are so pretty, and perfect. I love cream cheese and cucumbers and maybe this wouldn't be as tedious as it looks. Go to marthastewart.com to learn how to make these pretty sandwiches.

I try not to use so much food coloring but I think I should make the popcorn like the bowlful, above right, this year.

And then I have two suggestions for entertainment, which won't add calories, just fun. For the little ones, Leprechaun Bingo. Go to partiesandholidays.blogspot.com to see this and more ideas.

And below is my favorite Irish movie. "The Quiet Man" is the perfect movie to watch for St. Patrick's Day. It is funny, sweet and it tells so much about Irish heritage.

American Idol Top 12!

Yes as of Thursday night one more has gone home. I did watch both nights to see how everyone had done.

On Wednesday night the guys had to sing a song by Stevie Wonder and the girls had to sing a song by Whitney Houston.

Right now it is called the girls verse the guys.

Here is what each of them sang and how I thought they did-

Joshua- He sang " I Wish" this was not one of his better performances but it was a good one.

Elise- She sang " I'm Your Baby Tonight" it was alright not the greatest.

Jermaine- He sang " Knock Me Off My Feet" I think it was a really good performance by him and he did really good for his deep voice on it.

Erika- She sang " I Believe In You and Me" this was one of best performances she did a great job.

Colton- He sang " Lately" he did a great job with this song.

Shannon- She sang " I Have Nothing" this was not one of her best performances. She could have done a lot better with this song.

Deandre- He sang " Master Blaster" he did a great job with this song.

Skylar- She sang " Where Do Broken Hearts Go" She did a awesome job with her song. With her you can tell what ever song you give her to sing she will be able to sing it.

Heejun- He sang " All In Love is Fair" he did a good job with this song.

Hollie- She sang " All The Men That I Need" she did a really good job with this song.

Jeremy- He sang " Ribbon in the Sky" he could have done a lot better. This was not his best performance at all.

Jessica- She sang " Will Always Love You" this is the hardest song to sing by Whitney Houston and she did an awesome job with it. This is the best I have ever heard it sang. She is the one to beat right now.

Phil- He sang " Superstitious" this was an awesome job because he made sang it his own way. He is another one to try to beat this year.

Thursday night:

The way this elimination is going to go is, America gets to pick the bottom one of the girls and guys then the judges get to pick who is going home.

All the contestants sang together at the beginning of the show.

The runner up from last year Lauren Alaina came to sing her single " Georgia Peaches". Right now she is touring with Jason Aldeen.

Mary J. Blige was the mentor this week and she also sang her song " Why".

Ok this is what you are waiting for the people that were safe this week are:

Hollie
Jessica
Heejun
Colton
Skylar
Phil
Deandre

The bottom three:

Girls                           Guys
Elise                           Jermaine
Erika                          Jeremy
Shannon                     Joshua

The ones that were safe out of this was:

Elise
Erika
Jermaine
Joshua

The ones that the judges had to pick from are:

Shannon and Jeremy

The one that had to go home was:
Jeremy


I would like to here your comments about the show. I think the judges made a good choice this week. Thank you for taking your time to read this!♥


 

FREE St. Patrick’s Day Count and Color Printables for Kids!

FREE St. Patrick’s Day Count and Color Printables for Kids!

On the hunt for more fun Educational Freebies? Head on over to print these St. Patrick’s Day Count and Color Printable Pages for kids!

This post was obtained from www.thefrugalgirls.com.
For similar posts, visit cjrleducation.blogspot.com. 

Garden iPad cover

 The other day I ordered a "garden" iPad cover. It is not the perfect cover but it was reasonably priced and it will protect my iPad from scratches and dings. I ordered it because it has a garden theme and I thought that was appropriate for me.

I also wanted to tell you about a great iPad app I found. It is called GardinateHD. It was started by a gardener in Australia who developed it to help keep records of planting and maintaining your garden. It has a list of plants and the times you should plant them.

You can make notes about all you did to grow a certain plant and here is the thing I like best -- you can put in the date of planting and you can then see when the harvest date should be for your area. I think this is really great and I hope -- really hope it will improve my garden record keeping this year. So far it has been an enjoyable for me. You can even use an online version, but I don't know if it as helpful as the App. There is also an Android version.

If you are wondering if there is an app for almost anything, the answer is probably, yes.

Living With People That Have ADD!

Yes I know how it is to live with people that have ADD. It is not easy at all. You do need a lot of patients with them.

They start doing to many things at one time and forget what they start. If you ask them to do something while they are busy they will not hear you sometimes. It is hard for them to sit still like to watch a movie, do homework or write on the computer. To many things going through their head.

Then some things they do not remember only the things that mean the most to them. They will ask you the same question sometimes two hours later. They need to ask you a question right away or they will forget what they wanted to ask  you or wanted to tell you. They refuse to write it down on a piece of paper so they do not forget.

I am going to let you know about my kids and Drew. These are totally different types of ADD that I do deal with on a daily basis.

My son when he was in middle school is when I found out he had ADD. He was a slow learner also, we had to put him in a smaller class size. The teachers were wonderful they would explain everything to me whenever I wanted to know what was happening with my son. My son's ADD was with school work, to much moving around him and would think about different things all the time. He always wanted me to answer questions right away or talk to me right away so he would not forget what he wanted to talk about. My son is 25 years old now and has a six month old daughter and I hope the baby does not have ADD.

My youngest daughter was in high school when I found out she had ADD. She is not as bad as her brother.  Her's is keeping her mind on school work and having questions answered right away or wanting to talk to me right away. She does forget when I ask her to do something for me if I do not write it down for her. She will also ask me what days I work like two or three times a day. Like last night she wanted me to help her fill out some papers for college and she wanted it done right away. I was trying to relax and talking to Drew at the time. Some of her problem is she does need to grow up some more she is to demanding like her father and she has to get that out of her. She is in college now and is doing great.

Drew has ADD also his is totally different then my kids. He has to keep busy or he gets bored to easy. Some things are hard for him to remember and some are not, he can remember every album he has but can't remember to pick something up on the way home from work. I can call him on my break or lunch when I am at work and ask him to do something for me and he will forget because he does something else. He has a lot of things going through his head that he wants to write or do. One thing I can say he has not forgotten is my birthday for the two years that we have been together. But if I am having a bad day at work he will hear me and then when I get home there will be a single rose lying on the bed for me. I can tell you this much if it has to do with music or something he loves he will remember everything. He is a very sweet man and just wants me to be happy.


Yes even though I grow through all of this on a daily basis I would not change one thing. I love all three of them so much and I would not ask them to change one thing about themselves for me. I have learned how to deal with each one of them in their different ways. Yes it was an adjustment for me but I did it because of how much I love them. I also have done it because I want to make everyone happy.

I would like to hear if someone else goes through the same thing. Thank you for taking your time to read this!♥

FREE e-Book: Sixty Acres and a Bride

FREE e-Book: Sixty Acres and a Bride

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This post was obtained from www.thefrugalgirls.com. 
For similar posts, visit cjrlbooksandmore.blogspot.com. 

Two things

I have some great news about our new Crossroads Garden Club. See the inhttp://twosistersgardening.blogspot.com/formation here.

My seeds are looking so good -- or should I say my plants. Above you can see my baby basil plants and my cilantro babies, too at the lower edge of the photo. They are beginning to put out second leaves. They are amazing!

At this point I will just say that I think grow lights are just wonderful. The difference in growing last year without a light and this year with a light is just night and day -- or should it be darkness and light? I do notice from the photo above that one of my little pots doesn't have a plant!! How did that happen? Anyway, grow lights. They don't have to be wonderful, a fluorescent will do. They also sell just regular lights at Lowe's and Home Depot that are made for growing and they fit in a regular light bulb and are very reasonable.

It is time now for tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. I will be moving these plants to another spot to start my next group of seeds. I would also like to grow a few flowers, especially alyssum and marigolds because they are great companions for vegetables. Some of these herbs I will grow in the regular vegetable garden, too. I am hoping this continues and I have all the basil I could possibly use.

American Idol Top 13!

Yes this is the top 13 of the American Idol. On Tuesday night the guys sang and on Wednesday night the girls sang. Then Thursday night was the result show.

There was over 33 million votes to come in.

America picks the top ten. Then the judges are going to pick six contestants to sing for there life and one of the three spots that the judges get to pick. 

I am going to write a list of all the contestants and the songs that they sang.

Here is Tuesday night with the guys:

Reed- Moves Like Jagger
Adam- Think
Deandre- Reasons
Colton- Decode
Jeremy- Gravity
Aaron- Never Can Say Goodbye
Chase- Srorm Warning
Creighton- True Colors
Phil- In The Air Tonight
Eben- Set Fire To The Rain
Heejun- Angels
Joshua- You Pulled Me Through
Jermaine- Dance With My Father

They said that they were going to call one of the guys back for a number thirteen spot and that person was Jermaine. 

Here is Wednesday night with the girls:

Chelsea- Cowboy Cassanova
Erika- What About Love
Jen- One And Only
Brielle- Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay
Hallie- Feelin' Good
Skylar- Stay With Me
Baylie- Amazed
Hollie- Reflection
Haley- Sweet Dreams
Shannon- Go Light Your World
Jessica- Love You I Do
Elise- One And Only

Top 13 Contestants:

Philip
Jessica
Hollie
Joshua
Heejun
Shannon
Skylar
Elise
Colton
Jermaine (The Gentle Giant)

The six contestants to sing for the wild cards and there songs:

Jen- Oh Darling
Jeremy- I Know You Won't
Brielle- Someone Like You
Deandre- Georgia On My Mind
Erika- Edge Of Glory
Reed- Use Me

The Judges Picks:

Erika
Jeremy
Deandre

Next Week the guys have to pick a Stevie Wonder song and the Girls have to pick a Whitney Houston song.
Mary J. Blige will be the first guest mentor.

I hope to hear your comments and who you are voting for. Thank you for taking your time to read this!♥

Oh, the Places You'll Go, and other reflections

Today is the big release day for the new Lorax movie based on the beloved book, The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. More importantly, it is also the birthday of Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel).

It is hard to find a person who hasn't in some way been entertained and inspired by Dr. Seuss. The first of his books I remember reading is The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. I also read If I Ran the Zoo so many times to my children that I can still recite most of it and who hasn't made green eggs for their kids? I never could bring myself to add green food coloring to ham, though.

In honor of this day, I found some rare plants inspired by Dr. Seuss. Do you think Dr. Seuss was inspired by any of these for his truffula trees?


"Mister!", he said with a sawdusty sneeze, I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees.
I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues,
And I'm asking you, sir, at the top of my lungs" --
He was very upset as he shouted and puffed --
"What's that THING you've made out of my Truffula tuft?"
-- From The Lorax, Dr. Seuss, 1971

By Fort Photo, Michael Menefee: "Oh Gee!" the Lorax said with glee, "I've found a green bee in a truffula tree!"

From Lolabud: Remnants of my clematis blooms, a reminder of Dr. Seuss', The Lorax.

From Lee Sie's Photostream: The Truffula Trees

From MegaGood: Flowers from a Dr. Seuss Arrangement

From Doug's Blog: A Garden of Dr. Seuss Flowers in Boston Near the Location of the Reformation 500

From Nathan's Two Cents

From houzz.com: Great Design Plant: Tree Aloe (Aloe barberae). Plant this Dr. Seuss-like evergreen for an added character in your garden

From Eric Toensmeier - writer, trainer, plant geek: This was apparently Dr. Suess' inspiration for the truffula trees in The Lorax. Theodore Giesel (Dr. Suess) lived just down the road from my house, in Springfield MA.

From Floral Sense: The Blog: Thing 1 and Thing 2

Also from Floral Sense: The Blog: And my floral interpretation of the Lorax trees in the theme colors

From amyfancher.com: Sculptural flower arrangements inspired by Dr. Seuss!

From Project 365, A Picture a day ... and maybe more: Truffula tree

From Rwanda on the Wing: I am not sure Dr. Seuss visited Africa before writing and illustrating The Lorax, but if he had, he would have seen his fictional truffula trees. The umuko, as it is called in Kinyarwanda, or Erythrina abyssinica, lights up the hillsides of Rwanda.

I don't know where Dr. Seuss got his inspiration but he certainly has continued to inspire us, gave us joy in reading and sometimes taught us a few lessons from life. I am pleased to join everyone in celebrating his accomplishments.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
“From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere.”
“And will you succeed?
Yes! You will indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed)”
-- From Oh, the Places You'll Go, Dr. Seuss, 1990

Snack time!

I am sorry to say this is not a healthy recipe or a gluten-free recipe. This is however an easy recipe and sometimes easy wins for me. I also thought it was tasty and made a TON of snack mix. This will serve a large crowd.

I made it because I wanted something tasty that wasn't corn chips or potato chips. This just seemed a more festive alternative. The taste reminds me of chips and onion dip combined in a form that is less messy. Here's the recipe and I will follow it with some gluten-free suggestions.

Ranch Snack Mix

1 box of Crispix Cereal (approx. 12 ounces)
1 box of Cheese-it Crackers (regular-sized box, approx. 13.7 ounces)
1 bag of small-sized pretzels (approx. 10 ounces)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 packages of Hidden Valley Seasoning Mix
2 gallon baggies or a very large bowl

Divide between 2 gallon bags, equal parts of the cereal, cheese crackers and pretzels. Leave enough space to carefully roll the bags to mix in the oil and the seasoning mix. If you would like, carefully stir the mix with a large spoon.

Drizzle  the olive oil between the two bags and roll so that the oil will blend into the mix.

Add one package of Hidden Valley Seasoning mix to each bag. Rolls until seasoning mix coats everything, and you're done. This should last in a sealed container for up to two weeks.

Note: I don't believe the size of the boxes really matter or how much of each ingredient you add. I like the Crispix best so I would probably add more of that than anything but you can make this your way or make a half recipe if you don't need such a large quantity. I used a very large plastic bowl that held the two gallons of mix and I carefully turned the bowl until all was mixed. Be careful not to break the ingredients because you don't want to be left with crumbs in the bottom.

By the way, my husband commented that this stuff was just too good and we were going to have to do something with it because it was making him f

For a gluten-free alternative: Crispix is not gluten free because it contains barley, so substitute Rice Chex for the Crispix. For the cheese crackers use either Wellaby's Cheese ups or Shar Cheese Bites. Glutinos has a gluten-free pretzel that is good and the Hidden Valley Ranch Mix is gluten-free so here are my gluten-free alternative suggestions. I think adding the seasoning would enhance these gluten-free products and make it even better for a party. I think it would be good enough to serve to all guests.

If you try the gluten-free mix, please let me know how it turns out.

Daily Free iTunes & Android App Download

Daily Free iTunes & Android App Download

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Product Features

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Today’s FREE iTunes App: Dr. Seuss The Offical Lorax App (Free)
Speak for the trees, for they have no tongues, with the Official Lorax App! Hold the phone up to your mouth, and talk. The Lorax’s mouth and moustache will move along with your voice.

This post was obtained from www.dealwisemommy.net.  

For similar posts, visit cjrlwebinteractive.blogspot.com. 

One Year Of Blogging!

Yes Yesterday it was one year since I started my blog. I just can't believe it has been that long already. There has been a lot happening for me in the year also.

I added a lot of tabs to my blog with different things I just keep thinking about writing. Books that I have been reading, My personal life, Music, American Idol, The Holidays, Football and Albums I like to listen to. I may be adding one more to the list that I have been thinking about. It may be t.v. shows that I have been watching. I still am thinking about that one.

I said there has been a lot happening for me over the year. Here is a little revue of the year I have had. In February I started this blog and I was not working. We also had the blizzard this month. I remember going outside and helping Drew dig our car out and he wanted to drive around the block to see how bad it was. So I was the one to drive. I also found out this month I was going to be a Grandma. My son's girlfriend was pregnant. We also had to get a new car because the old one was falling apart.

Then in April I had gotten in contact with my ex-husbands ex-girlfriend. I hope this make sense. His ex-girlfriend is the mother of his 8 year old daughter. In April we found out that she was living in Milwaukee so we started to go and get her for some weekends. She really like coming by us because we would take her out to do different things. She was really attached to Drew too. We went up north for Easter.

In May was our one year Anniversary. Yes Drew and I will be together this May for two years already. Our girls graduated high school last year and we had two graduation parties. We went to Chocolate Fest.

In June was Drew's birthday. We also had my ex's little girl that weekend so she could be here to celebrate his birthday with him. This month also starts Summerfest. I always starts the last week of June and the first week of July.

In July we went to Summerfest to see Styx. My 19 year old niece was married. We had my ex's little girl for a week.We have been living together for a year.

In August I finally started my job. I couldn't believe I finally found a job. It was the baby shower for my granddaughter. Also trying to get back to school supplies for two kids.

In September my granddaughter was born. We went up to Shawano to be there for her birth. This was with the help of my son calling saying he wanted mom there. We also had my ex's little girl this weekend. Also Drew had a rose laying on the bed when I had come home from work.

In October it was my birthday. So we decided to go up north just the two of us for my birthday weekend. We went to see some friends and had a great time. My son, his girlfriend, my granddaughter, my mom, my cousin and my we had my ex's daughter came to visit us.

In November was my youngest daughters birthday and we took her and her friend out for dinner. Then there was Thanksgiving we stayed home and I had to work. This was the first time Drew ever made a turkey and it was great.

In December we went to the Christmas Party at Drew's work. We did take my ex's little girl. She just loved it. Then there was Christmas. My kids came with my granddaughter for Christmas Eve morning then they went Illinois and we went up north by Drew's family and spent the night there. Christmas Day we went by my mom's and then to my sisters house. From there it was home. New Years Ever we spent by ourselves and it was great.

In January was renovating our place. Found out my oldest daughter was graduating college this year. We went to see the Carnival of Lights it has over a million lights and a mile long.

In February  we had our early Valentine's. We went to the Mitchell Domes and went out for dinner. It was great.

The way I had gotten this started was with the help of Drew. I have the most wonderful, sweetest, loving and handsome man. Most of all he just wants to make sure I am always happy. I keep telling him as long as I am with him I will always be happy.

I have met some wonderful people on here. I know there are a couple people I would really like to meet. Thank you for reading what I write and leaving the comments.

A great website

I just received an email that asked, "What would you do if you could add an extra day to your year?--Wait, today is that extra day!"

That gave me some food for thought. Today is an extra day we have to catch up and for me, to do some extra garden planning. It is also a rainy day and that isn't exactly what I had hoped for, but as a gardener, I do think rain and proper planning are essential.

http://www.garden.org/

That is why I wanted to recommend one of my favorite informational websites. It is a website that gives you a bit of everything, from houseplants to regional zone info. It talks about bugs and gives you information on almost every topic. I really like the regional garden guides, the calculators, the plant finder and the pest control library.

It would be hard to answer every question that comes up, but this website attempts that.

Of course what you may want to do on this drizzly and possibly stormy leap year day is sit down with you latest garden book and have a good read. I would suggest that a nice cup of Earl Gray topped off with cream in a comfy armchair would just be my idea of heavenly.

Seed starting progress

Last week I planted some of my seeds in peat pots so I could transplant them in our garden later in the season. I am already having more success in this attempt at seed starting than I did last year. One of the things I am doing differently putting my plants under a grow light. Last year I just put the seeds in a room where we had a daytime light source. They grew, but it wasn't spectacular. This year the grow light is making all the difference.

To see how what I did to start the seeds go to my blog post on starting seeds indoors.

Almost a week ago I started with the little Jiffy starter pots above. I bought them at my local WalMart and I ordered some seeds online and bought some in the store.

Above, in the foreground are my Evergreen bunching onions and at the top of this photo are the my American Flag Leeks. I will have to work with them make sure they are hearty enough to plant in the garden. Last year, my onions didn't grow at all.

At the bottom of the above photo are Munstead English Lavender sprouts. Last year, they didn't sprout at all.

In this photo are the tomatoes I have sprouted. Last year I was able to grow some tomatoes but I had problems with the seeds floating all over the trays. They haven't all sprouted yet.

I also have a few cilantro plants. I am very excited about that, too.

None of my pepper seeds have sprouted. I do think they will but it takes longer for them. It might be next week for pepper plant sprouts.

I think the basil is my favorite. Last year, I bought basil plants for $3.49 per plant. That means I have about $84.00 worth of plants here. That is especially wonderful when I think about how much I will be saving if I can grow these plants and transplant them into the garden. I am especially excited to know that the grow lights are increasing the chances of my success.