Amanda's Compost Bins

About 3 months ago I met my friend Amanda Byrd. She has 3 girls, one is in kindergarten, and the other 2 are ages three and two. We both could kick ourselves for not meeting each other sooner because we LOVE each other. She is just like me.... same interests... same values... oh she is so wonderful. I HATE that I'm moving just when we are getting to know each other so well. (but she'll have to come with me, I'm not staying behind! haha)

One thing that she has, that I absolutely adore, is her compost bins!! She knew what she wanted, had her handy husband make them and viola! Compost!! I kind of invited myself over today just so I could take pictures of her bins...

Trap doors were added to the two barrels.... and holes were drilled on both sides for air/water circulation

And then the stand was built with wheels on all four sides of the barrel.... (so you can roll it around)

Inside is dirt and brown/green material. She also waters it daily.... the water then drips into a bucket underneath that she uses to water her plants... compost tea!!

She added some worms early in the year to help with the composting. I saw it several months ago and they were the tiny, thin red worms from a bait shop. Now they are really fat ones!

It's the coolest thing I've ever seen! I didn't get a picture of her garden... but all gardeners know the secret to gardening is composting and WOW her garden has taken off. It's crazy!!  She even gave me some kale from it, yay!

One day, I plan on having a daddy/daughter weekend and my dad and I are going to make me one of these nifty contraptions!  I love it!! She said that her sisters all think she's crazy for it, but I love her for it! So we immediately knew that we were kindred spirits!  She also makes her own yogurt every week! Oh! She's a woman after my own heart!!!

A Little Fun and Cinco de Mayo

While I was gathering the toys to donate (see previous post),  I decided to go ahead and really clean out Amy's room. I was also donating the little rug that was in there, so after I gathered that up, and was about the vacuum... the girls started shouting, "Can we help?! Can we help!?" Ummm..... YES!! So they took to vacumming....

A friend let us borrow their baby-gate and Will was not too happy when it fell over onto his toy. He growled and fussed until the toy was retrieved...

Afterwards, they laid on Amy's bed talking and giggling. It was SO adorable!! It reminded me of the teenage years and all those talks with your best friend in your bedroom.... it was really cute listening to them.

Hey Mom- Amy drew this picture for you. Actually, it's your name but a picture of Dad. I knew I'd either a) forget to mail it or b) it would get ruined before it got in the mail. "B" happened first....

Having a 'smores' nighttime snack.... (she takes after her mama)

The boys sleeping soundly

Today is Cinco de Mayo!!! 

(in case you didn't know) 

We also signed up to have the missionaries over for dinner.... 

so combine the two and you have a Fiesta!!!

 For dinner we had enchiladas, cheese dip, chips and 5 layer dip. 

I also made Mexican wedding cake cookies.

(Did you know you could make your own powdered sugar??? I didn't! 

But I was out, and the recipe called for it.... so I put some sugar into the super blender and wow! 

Now I never have to buy powdered sugar!)

I even made my own pinata!! At the store they were $20. TWENTY BUCKS for something I'm just going to crack open?? Nah! This is a small box that I covered in streamers. We'll probably never be able to crack it open. After I made this I saw a great tutorial online for one made from paper grocery bags. Oh well, next time...! 

 (Lee had to help her a bit)

Will thought her hitting the pinata was hilarious. And he made all of us laugh by his laughter. 

Before the Elders left they shared a spiritual thought. 

Elder Blomquist let Will pick it! 

(the other one is Elder Eldridge)

We love these guys. They have been our favorite so far. 

They made it through transfers this past week so they'll probably be here until we leave. 

It was a very fun and festive 5th of May!!

Giving

Our local Children's Resource Center asked for donations to help people who lost everything in the tornado's last week. Apparently there is a partnering resource center in that county and they have created a 'free baby-sitting' type place where parents can bring their kids while they work and clean up their home devastation. They specifically asked for a few things that we had. We talked to Amy about giving to other kids who don't have anything and then showed her some pictures of wrecked houses online.

She was so sweet and kept saying, "You can give this mom, it's ok. I don't want those kids to cry." I think she would've given away everything she has. What a big heart she has! Unfortunately her mom is a little more "stuff oriented" (something I'm really trying to work on).

One thing they asked for, and she rarely uses anymore, is the play kitchen. I hated to get rid of it... but I'd rather teach her in the 'real' kitchen anyway. And it was given to us... so we can just pay it forward

They asked for some DVD players and we happen to have 2 extra ones (one of which we do use sometimes). Amy went to get it and I said, "Amy, I think we should probably keep that one." She replied with, "Mom, those kids are crying because they can't watch any movies! It's ok, we'll keep daddy's xbox." (which is what we mostly watch movies on) Wow! That taught me a lesson! So we unplugged the DVD player and got it ready to go. We also looked thorough our DVD book and got out some discs that she never watches. I probably would have gotten rid of more, but with Will coming up right behind her, I was a little more reluctant. Which probably was the wrong attitude, we've been so blessed and I know we'll be able to 'get' anything we need in the future. But I did pretty good... and now that I'm in the spirit of it, I'll probably clean out a few more things.

.So anyways, I guess I'm the one learning a few lessons myself. I seem to be the only "keeper of things" in the family. And that's something I'm definitely working on! BUT in defense of myself... I have gotten rid of a TON since moving here! I mean truckloads full. So I'm getting better! But I still have a LOT more to learn!

Feeding Time

Sometimes meals are like feeding time at the zoo around here. I guess that's typical of anyone with small children. But the kids have been pretty funny in their choices....

I made some saffron rice the other day..... neither kid could get enough of it. Who knew!!??!!

Even Amy liked it, which was quite a shock, since I can rarely get her to eat regular rice. We also had a 'fondue night.' The fondue was made from coconut milk, cauliflower and spices blended together. Then we had steamed carrots and potatoes to dip.

The next morning Amy wanted oatmeal. Again, something she never really eats.... only she wanted it 'not cooked.' So both children devoured it raw. (Will will eat it cooked too)

That night we discovered our kids love for steamed carrots. I don't fix 'steamed carrots' much... like the ones you actually peel and chop- I usually just use a frozen veggie mix of some sort. Anyhow- they disappeared lightening quick and were stolen from mine and Lee's plates if we didn't eat them quick enough. So I've been making them every night.

So mealtime has been interesting around here lately. We are just glad they are actually eating something! (Well, Amy anyway, Will is a great eater).

Strawberries were on sale for a little over a dollar a pint so I bought a few and made some freezer jam. I know we are leaving soon, but I couldn't help myself. Once you've had it- store bought jelly just isn't good enough! (I'm sure I'll give a few jars away)

You'd think this was food- nope. He got into Amy's paints. Yes, that's paint all over his mouth too. Thank heavens Crayola (the only kind I buy) is washable and non-toxic.

What it's like having a sister around.... poor Will...

I'm actually amazed she got the bow to stay in his hair. And it was there for a long time!

This one is for Karen (aka 'Granny'). Thanks for the new clothes! The kids wore them to church on Sunday. They looked cute! (well, don't they always??? hahaha) I laugh at pictures of the two of them because Will's head always looks bigger than Amy's.

Boxes, Boxes

A friend from church sells Avon and she asked if I'd like the boxes for moving. YES! Of course! There are 10 and she brought them by yesterday. They have been the biggest hit since sliced bread. Let me tell ya!

Will has just had fun crawling all around and on top of them. 

He's actually pretty steady and it's been fun to watch him "challenge" himself. 

For a slight turn of fun, Amy went to Savannah's house to play today. That was nice. Will has been sick all week, with a fever, and hasn't slept for the past 2 nights... or days for that matter. It's just a teething fever, nothing pressing. But it's meant no sleep for any of us as he's cried all night for 2 nights. Today he was finally back to normal, and I took advantage of Amy being gone and him taking a nap- I took a much needed one too!

I didn't sleep real long... because our new phones came. We are a little late on the bandwagon but we upgraded to Droid's. (Which is an iPhone, just a different brand). We are already in love! This is one amazing machine! 

We were so busy playing... that I burned our dinner! 

Well, the tortilla shell anyway. (We were having tortilla shell pizza's). I took that picture and emailed it to Lee saying, "I burned dinner." He laughed from the living room. 

I'm pretty impressed with the clarity! We used to have blackberry's but I'm not really a fan. So it was nice to upgrade. It's our new toy. I guess we all need something fun every once in awhile, huh? 

Anyhow- that's all that's going on with us. Tomorrow is cleaning day. From top to bottom, wall to wall- we are going to get this house spotless. Being gone last weekend and having a sick kid... well- I kind of got behind. But that's ok, right? Isn't that what Saturday's are for???!!!??