Garden Notes 2/ 27/ 09

ATTENTION: Soon I am going to be starting a Mr. Linky called the Garden Guru where you can link your garden update posts here in one place so we all can learn from each other. We will be our own virtual Garden Club. Keep checking back until we get the Garden Guru and a Button to grab!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We finished our seed starting little greenhouse this week. And by WE I am not including myself... I mean my wonderful husband. Here is as best a photo as I can get, since it is a relatively small laundry room. You can see that the lights for the bottom shelf hang from the underside of the top shelf. It gets nice and warm in there from the dryer. By the time we can plant outside we can also hang our laundry to dry, so that will work nicely in the meantime.

You can sort of see that the bottom shelf holds my trays that were started two weeks ago.



On the top shelf I had to put the peas I started two weeks ago because that shelf is taller. And I put the trays I started today. The lights for this row are hanging off the ceiling.



Mental note for next year: You may be able to start peas inside, but if you do it too early it is hard to prop them up.


My seedlings are doing great. Most of the plants are getting their second set of leaves. Here is broccoli:


Cauliflower:

Cabbage:

Lettuce:


Mint:


Basil: (I think these are the most adorable leaves... )


Today I planted tomatoes, peppers, marigolds, oregano, parsley, more lettuce, and a few more peas. I may regret the pea ones, but I figured what the heck, live a little.

Spring is Coming!

If the green sprouts in my seedling boxes didn't tell me that, this would!
Repeat after me: Spring is coming. Spring is coming. Spring is coming...

Today's Tip

I have had lots of toddlers in the house. I am sure to have more before we are through with the toddler years. I have to admit, I really like 2 year olds. Three year olds are a whole other matter, but Oh I love those 2 year olds.

With my first 2 year old, I was a great mom. I didn't use any child proofing items... I just trained him to not touch what he wasn't supposed to touch. Wow.

Now, however, I am just a bit busier. (That is the understatement of the year.) I just don't have the time to monitor SO closely as to be sure the babies are not getting into things they shouldn't. I needed an alternative to the expensive cabinet locks that somehow the babies can still get into, while the adults are driven insane trying to open a cabinet.

So I grabbed a couple of those links you can buy to attach toys to a carseat. A couple clicks later and I had them around the handles. Now the babies cannot get under the sink to the dishsoap, and we can still undo them easily when needed. Best yet? It cost me nothing!

Head over to Biblical Womanhood for Frugal Friday ideas.

Helping a Family in Medical Crisis...

"I recently read that someone started reading my blog because she was interested in seeing how a large family deals with a medical crisis. This surprised me, as I have not thought of us in that way. But of course, we really are. It just has been so long a part of our lives, it seems normal to us now..."

Read more here...

Mercy Update!

Wahoo! The Mountain has moved, and we are approved to start Propranalol for Mercy as soon as possible. It looks like we will do it starting next Tuesday, and be inpatient for three days. Thanks for all your prayers!

Free Jonathan Park Download...

Head over to In a Shoe to get the coupon code, and connect to Behemoth.com to get the first Jonathan Park Set for Free!

You can also head to Money Saving Mom and get the coupon code for Entrepeneurial Bootcamp... I am in the process of downloading both these things for my Ipod!

Just hought I'd pass these offers on to all of you!

Sometimes you just need to act like a baby.

I read a really great idea recently... that was in advice to new mothers. Act like a baby! When the baby sleeps, sleep. When the baby cries, you cry too. Whatever you need to do.

I have been thinking of this all week... and I think we need to act like babies sometimes. Whether or not we are new mothers. Sometimes we just need to sleep. Sometimes we need to cry. And sometimes we just need to sit and snuggle with someone.

I practiced what I preached, and slept for 14 hours last night. I cannot remember feeling rested in years. Eric claims I have slept through the night at some point in the last 12 years, but since he can't remember specific instances, I don't believe him.

I feel much better for the sleep. I just wanted to let some of you know... when you need to sleep, go ahead. If you need to cry, do it. You'll feel better.

And for those who have all littles and just cannot take a nap whenever you want to... I remember those days. You won't be there forever. Get them all in bed at the same time if possible and take a nap then. See if your husband will take over putting them in bed, and go to bed early. Get a little extra when you can. I promise you'll survive this!

Head over to Ship Full o' Pirates to read more tips!

I have also put this up for my Works For Me Wednesday - so head over to We are THAT Family to check out other ideas!

Kitchen Hint

I was thinking today about what in the world I could share... just because I didn't want to dwell on our continuing insurance issues with Mercy. Anyway-

I thought of something that I do, which I am not sure many others do. I have a sheet of paper with "Cheats" to look at... for example, 12 t. = 4 T. = 1/4 cup. Things like that... you need these things when you multiply recipes by 4 on a regular basis...

I have this paper plus my bread recipe taped on the INSIDE of my baking cupboard... so it is always easy to find and use.

Simple, and since most of you don't have things walk off to new places regularly, you don't need to have this. But if any of you are driven insane trying to find the same recipe over and over... try taping it to the inside of your cupboard!

Monday Mercy Update

Well, insurance has struck again. By just doing nothing, we are unable to have the approval today, which makes us unable to go tomorrow. By them not making a decision, that pushes us back to Wednesday through Friday inpatient at the earliest, which cannot work because the doctor is out of the office on Friday and the weekend this week.

So we are now into next week at the earliest. With Eric's work schedule we are tentatively scheduling the start of the propranalol to be on Thursday, March 5.

I cannot express how frustrated we are with this whole thing. We have been fighting for almost 2 weeks to do this, and they are just stalling. Tomorrow we will call the state's insurance commissioner and see if they can advocate for Mercy.

Please continue to pray for us, that we can get them to agree to cover this, and that we can continue to be an example of Godliness on the way.