In Other News

Here's a quick recap of some other things that have been going on here recently:



We tilled up some earth and planted us a garden.

We've got some tomatoes, tomatillos, squash and pumpkins started inside.  Hopefully come June 13th or so (the magic planting day around here) they will all transfer well.

The kids helped Tom plant some corn.  One of Tom's co-workers is Navajo and said that they plant it early but plant it 6" deep.  So we're giving it a go.

We also planted some lettuce, potatoes, asparagus, onions and peas.  The peas are already coming up.

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We bought a piano off of craigslist down in Phoenix.  Livvy and Sammy have been taking lessons from a 13-year-old homeschool girl for about three months now.  They really love Miss April and playing the piano.  The kids are even teaching Tom and I to play.  It's so much fun!

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Ben learned how to ride his bike without training wheels - he's our youngest one yet.  He had the benefit of riding on friends' Strider bikes,  I think it has really helped.

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For Mother's Day we took KFC to the park.  For the first time in three years the weather was nice enough.

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We went hiking for our last official Discovery Day.  We hiked down to some caves that are in Walnut Canyon.  I love this group!

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I gave all the boys a haircut, including Jonathan - his first. Sammy and Ben requested "summer" cuts, which means short.  I was sad to see Ben's curls go, but I know they'll grow back.  He will be a lot cooler with it short on top.  I kept Jonathan's longer on top.  I'm not ready for him to look too much like a big boy.

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Sunday we watched the solar eclipse.  First we had Livvy hold up a piece of paper with a hole in the center.  We watched the sun go from a fat banana shape to a skinny crescent.  Then we realized that if we stood in the shadows of the tree, that it did the same thing except bigger and with overlapping images.  It was pretty cool!

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And lastly to our great surprise and joy, our apple tree has apple buds!!  The tree bloomed beautifully this year but then, as usual, the wind blew all the blossoms away.  We really thought that we had lost our chance at getting apples again.  I'll definitely have to invest in a canner come fall!

That's all that I can think of for now.  I'm sure there will be more adventures to share, there never seems to be a lack of stuff going on around here.