Seed Update!

We have germinated! Three of the seed trays have already sprouted and they're so fun to check on and see how many seeds are growing. Alyssa checks the seeds several times a day and brushes the dirt back in case there is a tender little shot trying to come up. She is very gentle and she has the perfect touch for those little green shoots. We still have lots more to plant, but we are just thrilled with what we've got so far.

The Seeds Are In!

Isaac and Alyssa get home from school early on Fridays. Today when they got home we started some flower seeds for this summer. Alyssa planted sweet peas and hollyhocks. Isaac started a tray of celosia and he will start a tray of tomatoes seeds in March. All the kids picked seed packets out from Lowe's to grow this spring. We love starting the plants from tiny little seeds and watching them grow. Isaac has said about four times this afternoon that he loves wet dirt. After we plant the seeds in dirt and water them, we put them in a tray and stick the trays under florescent lights so the seeds will sprout into little plants.

Here are a few pictures of the two youngest planting their seeds. The very fuzzy picture is of Alyssa and Issac waiting for their seeds to grow. They know seeds do not sprout up in a day, they were just really excited!

Daniel and Nicko have to plant their seeds this weekend so I am sure there will be a few more pictures of wet dirt!

Sleepless in Wisconsin!

I must have somehow consumed caffeine. It is midnight and I am WIDE AWAKE! I do not have the energy to do anything and I have a raging sinus headache...so I'd much rather be sleeping. Tomorrow morning is not going to be so fun for me. I have a busy morning in a little over five hours. However, I have a feeling I'll be up for awhile yet.

So far, I cut all the tags off the clothes I bought today and threw the clothes down the laundry shoot. ( $2.25 for embroidered Tommy Hilfiger tee shirts and $4.00 Tommy polo shirts for Isaac and Daniel. I bought lots of different colors. That's a great start to summer clothing. ) I cleaned out my vanity table drawer, which was very gross! I made a list of everything I wanted to get done this weekend. ( The kids have a three day weekend. ) I read tomorrows BSF assignment, but did not answer the questions. Flipped through the TV stations, but I did not find anything I wanted to watch. And now I'm at the computer and still not ready to fall asleep.

Daniel and Nicko had a band concert tonight. Alyssa had a ton of homework and Isaac set up our seed starting shelves and growing lights. Tomorrow after school is officially seed starting day. More about that tomorrow.

Well, I hope everyone out there is getting a great night's sleep. I also hope that pretty soon I am getting a good night's sleep as well!

We Had an "Almost Full" Moon Tonight!

The moon shining on the lake is so beautiful. Alyssa discovered the moon rising on the way home tonight. It started a very interesting conversation. I'll save you some time and let you know that the boys decided that if the sun exploded, and we did not die from the heat of the explosion, then life on earth would not die off as quickly as you might think...the human race could probably last at least two whole weeks with out sunlight! They took into consideration how everything would probably freeze and it would be challenging to grow food in a field because there would be no sunlight. The most disappointing issue for the boys was that the sun would not implode and turn into a black hole. We'd all be wiped out, but that would be so 'awesome'!

I'm with Alyssa. The moon is just pretty to look at.

Water Park Pictures!

Here are some shots of our weekend at the Dells.

Glacier Canyon Lodge

We have the greatest neighbors in the world...at least the greatest neighbors in Wisconsin. This weekend the kids and I went to Wisconsin Dells for two nights at Glacier Canyon Lodge, complements of our very kind neighbor. And while we were away, we had two fantastic dog sitters watching Morgan and walking her.

The kids spend every second they could in the water parks. We played 3D miniature golf, walked the entire complex to look around and spend hours in teh water parks. Nicko went on the same water slide 36 times in a row. While that sounds like fun, keep in mind that each ride was up a couple of flights of stairs to get to the ride. They played basketball in the water and they got a huge kick out of the best wave pool they've ever seen!

We had two beautiful rooms complete with a kitchen, living room, bedroom and a heavenly bathroom. We got in late on Friday evening so we did not hit the water parks until the next morning, but the kids were so excited about the room, I don't think they even cared.

By the time we headed back to our room on Saturday night, the kids were too tired to even talk. I whipped up a quick dinner and they ate silently. They put in another movie and crashed.

These are the fav's:

Nicko - Listening to the people talk about the water slide and listening to them scream as they went down it for the first time

Daniel - Basketball and everything we did.

Isaac - Human Bowling! (Which is Isaac's term for the wave pool. The people are the pins and the big huge wave is the ball that makes everyone crash into each other.)

Alyssa - The wave pool, the water slides, basketball, the hot tub, the bucket of water that dumped water on everyone, our room, miniature golfing, the 3D carpeting in the arcade, walking all over, the horses, wearing her favorite bathing suit, watching the other kids in the water, looking for the boys when it was time to go back to the room, and the lotion that smelled really good that came with the condo.

Mom - That we have such a generous neighbor to give us such a wonderful experience. Thank You! My other favorite things was watching the kids act like kids in the water.

I have pictures, but I don't know where the camera is right now and I am too tired to go find it. I'll post pictures soon.

Our Take On Super Bowl XLIII

Getting ready for the Super Bowl is half the fun, we have discovered. Isaac worked on his beautiful Super Bowl Decorations for two days. He rummaged, measured, cut, planned and decorated until he was satisfied. When he hung a red pepper from the light fixture, I had to stop him. But overall, he did a great job with some red and white paper clips, construction paper, a glue stick, and a few stickers.

Nicko helped me in the kitchen. The kids created the menu and it was just plain weird, but they loved it. We had a taco bar, cole slaw, tropical jello mold, and BLT dip with pretzel chips!

As usual, the Super Bowl had some highs and some lows. The game itself was a good game. Penalties were a huge factor and the end of the game was very exciting. The half time show was probably one of the best we've seen in a long time. The family favorite commercial was the crystal predicting free Doritos at the office. The MUCH anticipated 3D commercials were a let down. We had four different winners for the football squares with each winner taking home a grand prize of $1.25! The kids ate an unbelievable amount of food and Mom made a mistake of drinking a Diet Coke during the game that was NOT caffeine free and was awake until after three!

The pictures above are of Isaac's awesome decorating job and the paint sample that I am still trying to decide if I like for the TV Room, Morgan being very unimpressed with being dressed up and even less impressed with the 3D commercials (isn't it great that the kids can read her mind?), a mock shot of everyone in their 3D glasses, and the food.

Overall, we love our Super Bowl parties! If you're a football fan, a commercial fan, a junk food fan or just watched for the heck of it, I hope you had a good time.