Whirlwind and the case of the missing tomato plants

Earlier this spring, when I was transplanting my not-so-upside-down-tomato-plants, Moe decided to help. She was inpatient as I was planting some other baskets at the time and decided to pitch the tomatoes off the deck. I found most of them, and a few couldn't be salvaged, but I was still missing two plants.

Fast forward to this week. I noticed something (a weed?) growing taller and taller in one of my hanging baskets this week. I finally took the basket down this week and found:



Yup, it's got cherry tomatoes growing in it!

All that hard work and nothing to show for it

Let me start off by saying, the girls have never really been picky eaters. They won't eat everything, but they do eat alot of different foods.

And while those different foods include the hard-to-get-kids-to-eat-veggies such as spinach, cauliflower, broccoli and eggplant, try getting a tomato or cucumber or pea or carrot past Einey's lips. Go ahead, try, I dear you too.

But then something strange started happening. You see, during the spring, I slave over making a small vegetable garden. Working the land, planting, keeping the weeds out and watering it. And by July, I can see that the fruits of my labor are about to pay off. The tomato's are almost ripe, there are snap peas in the corner and the peppers are getting larger.

But then, they're gone. All the ripe veggies are gone and the not so ripe ones left. Okay, we'll wait a few more days, we can eat them then. Oh, wait, now they're gone as well.

You see, my child who won't eat common veggies if they are put on her dinner plate (and her siblings) are like that pesky Peter Cottontail. When hey are out playing, if they spy a ripe veggie, they take it and gobble it down. If they are in the mood and there is enough, they will share them. And while Husband and I have to resort to veggies from the grocery store or farmer's market, at least we are comforted by the thought of our children eating their veggies. We'll plant again next year and maybe, just maybe, they will leave some for us.

The moral of the story, if you plant it, they will eat it.

This post was written for the Parent Blogger Network's Friday Blog Blast and is sponsored by Harper Collins and their new title, Deceptively Delicious, by Jessica Seinfeld. Answer the question below on your blog and you could win a $250 gift card for William Sonoma.

Are your kids picky eaters? Were YOU a picky eater? What have you tried to get them to eat, and what have they done to avoid eating what you’ve served? Post about your mealtime skirmishes and strategic maneuvers on your blog anytime today, October 26, before midnight PST. Title your post creatively - we’ll list them below by post name!

Berry Fun!

Childhood Obesity

It's true today that more and more kids suffer from childhood obesity. In fact, it is a growing problem in this nation.

I recently took Meenie in for her four year physical and voiced my concern for her. She is 41 inches tall and 45 pounds - which puts her BMI (according to KidsHealth) at roughly 18.8 or in the 95% for her age. She she was 6 pounds at birth and dropped to 5 pounds, 10 ounces at her 1 week visit. However, just 3 weeks later at her one month visit she was a whopping 10 pounds already! Anyway, her doctor and I talked extensively about my concerns for her. He feels that she is fine right now and doesn't believe in diets for kids. Also, for us, it isn't lifestyle. We rarely keep chips/cookies/ice cream and other high fat snacks in the house. We do keep yogurt/fruit and fresh veggies in the house. The doctor believes genetics play a big part (Husband and I are both overweight). As for activity level, she is always on the go. She is involved in soccer and swimming lessons. During the day, we can be found horsing around outside in the yard, at the playground, on our bikes and hiking in the woods. In fact ,every morning when I used to drop Einey off at school, we would hit the track walking. I swear she can do a faster mile than I can!

Another thing the doctor and I discussed was how school physical education focuses too much on competitive sports and not enough on everyday sports. Instead of focusing so much on soccer, basketball and baseball, they should teach kids about swimming and bicycling and hiking. I know it's not feasible in most schools due to budget and space, but those are activities they can enjoy fully as an adult and with their families. Did you know there is a sport called "speed stacking?" I can't tell you how baffled I was to learn that Einey had a whole section of gym focusing on how fast she can stack cups. I mean, where is the sport/exercise in that? I still don't get it. Gym wasn't Eineys strong subject this year. She consistently got "meets the expectation" on her report card. But you know what, I'm okay with that because I know she is getting what she needs to know at home. She's the youngest and smallest in her class, so I know she isn't going to be the biggest, fastest or strongest! We celebrated when she told us she went from being 21 out of 22 in the 50 year dash to 17! For her, that was a huge accomplishment! In addition to soccer and swimming, Einey spent one afternoon a week at our local Audubon Society for an after school nature class. It's something she wanted to do this summer but wasn't old enough. There the kids took hikes and learned about nature. On one hike, while cleaning out the nesting boxes for spring, they found a pair of field mice who settled there for the winter.

Einey is on the small side. Eighteen months older than Meenie, she weighs in at 37 pounds - to light to even be in a booster seat by state laws! Moe is average for her age I think - she's about 27 pounds. All three eat the same, all three do relatively the same activities (Moe isn't involved in soccer, biking or swimming lessons yet).

One thing that always astonishes me when I see it is that children today do not spend enough time outside. The National Wildlife Foundation recommends that kids get "one green hour" a day of unstructured activity outdoors. One hour! How can kids not be outside for one hour??? That is nothing! I just cannot fathom that kids today don't spend that little time outside!

Between putzing around in our gardens (the veggies are growing finally!), looking for bugs and playing games, we spend more than that time. Sure, I have to be out there with them, but there is always work to be done. My gardens alone take up plenty of time. And when the kids get bored, I stop what I am doing and play games with them! Sometimes I turn on the sprinkler and let the just run, other times I had them bubbles or sidewalk chalk.

Now the garden is another story. I have found that we don't actually get many mature veggies out of our hard work. You see, there are six tiny hands that do an awful lot of picking the tiny veggies. I can't complain too much though because they are eating veggies and generally liking it. Although sometimes I would like to enjoy the freshness as well. There is nothing like fresh veggies right out of the garden! And our raspberry bushes - well they are 1/2 bare now. The girls have been raiding them morning, noon and night!

So I guess for now, we are going to encourage the girls to eat well and have plenty of outdoor activity time. If for nothing else, it will set them up with a lifetime of appreciation of nature and a sense of self.

So far, so good...

Thursday evening, the girls and I went outside for a bit. I wanted to water my flowers and adjust the stakes on the sunflower house. What ended up happening was the girls and I playing a ton of games I haven't played since I was their age. We played Duck, Duck Goose, Tag, Freeze Tag, Stuck in the Mud (another Tag game), Red Light, Green Light, Mother May I and Simon Says. It was great! I almost wished I had more kids so it would be even more fun!

Pomfret Street Cemetery and Cemetery on Rt. 44

Friday, summer vacation Day 2 was very nice, very nice indeed. Husband surprised me by taking the day off of work (for my birthday), getting up with the kids and making breakfast. We had though about going out to Newport, but by the time we got cleaned up and stuff, I decided I would rather grab a few letterboxing clues and see how many we could get. We only ended up having time for two different locations, but that netted us a total of 8 more stamps! Oddly, both location were in cemeteries, so I spent my 27th birthday traipsing around graveyards. But it was alot of fun! And very relaxing, quiet. The first cemetery had gravestones dating back to 1713! It was amazing to be surrounded by objects so old. And the details inscribed on the stones were amazing! Meenie managed to find every woodchuck hole in the cemetery as she walked around. I really thought the girls would have been bored, but they seemed to really enjoy themselves! After lunch, I was able to just sit and relax. My friend brought over a rose bush she brought for my birthday. It was perfect, I had one space in along my fence close to my other rose bushes and I was just saying to Husband that we needed to get something to put in that spot (we had tomatoes there last year - so I'll need a new space for them now). The girls (and Husband) brought me a GC to Old Navy, 5 books (unfortunately, I've already read 2 and am now working on Wicked - so much for summer reading) and an MP3 player (I am so sick of just listening to kids music - it's about time I had some adult lyrics to listen to! Now to figure out what I want to download. Feel free to post suggestions in the comments section.


Saturday was back to work for Husband. We got up and luckily, both girls had the early soccer games (usually they have different times so we are there forever). Even better was they were playing on adjacent fields, so I could stand on the grass between the fields. Even the drizzle didn't bother us. As the rain started to come down a little more heavily, I was enjoying watching them, Moe was carting around an umbrella much to big (I didn't take my camera out as it would have gotten much to wet) and the girls were enjoying playing. Unfortunately, the games came to an abrupt halt with the arrival of thunder. Those storms lasted 1/2 the morning! The rest of the day was just having fun in the house.

Sunday I actually got to take an hour long bath - alone! Moe played quietly in her crib and Einey and Meenie played quietly down stairs. No fighting, no arguing, nothing! We went to church and then stayed for their family fun day. We were there for almost 3 hours (wow!). The girls played games, bounced in the bounce house, dance and ate lots of food. They even tried to win a cake by doing a "cake walk" (musical chairs). They were given a cake anyway even though they didn't win. I was finally able to get them to leave and then we played outside for most of the rest of the day. The girls played their new games together and I worked in the garden. The sunflowers are now up to Moe's forehead and the other girls shoulders. Pretty soon, it will be high enough to make the roof!



Summer Vacation Days 2 -4:
Kids - Happy
Mom - Relaxed, Happy
House - Lived in, mostly clean

Edited to add pictures

How does your garden grow?

This week in the garden....




And as of June 1, this is the progress on the sunflower house. They are standing between 1 and 2 feet tall.

What's that Noise?

Hear that?

Come closer?

Hear it?

Me either.

It's the sound of quiet. Granted the girls are sleeping and I don't have to rush off to get Einey as she is visiting a friend after school.

But, but, it has been like this all day.

We went to the park this morning and I actually got to sit on the edge of the playground and just sit. And do nothing. If I had a book, I would have read it (but of course, I didn't). I did have to do my duty on the swings and monkey bars, but other than that, they didn't need/want my help. If this is signs of things to come, I'll take it!

What have I gotten myself into...

I am a sucker for being involved.

Kids need baked goods for school - sure no problem
Homemade birthday invitations - Of Course
Dinner for a friend who has a new baby - What time?
Classroom Help - I'm there
Homemade Halloween Costumes - Well duh
Holiday Goodies- Baked and delivered in a basket by Dec. 24th

So it comes as no surprise that I am up to my eyeballs in stuff for daughter's Kinderbration- their end of the year celebration. There is 9 more days until the event. The theme: Kindergarten Kingdom. I have just finished designing the program for the event and am currently printing over 60 of the suckers. They are, of course, printed on 8.5x14 paper so they can be rolled as scrolls, like any good royal proclamation. So next up is rolling and tying them with ribbon.

After than, I need to work on the banner. Which hopefully makes it here tomorrow with the express shipping I paid. I shouldn't fear, Oriental Trading hasn't let me down yet. Once that comes in, I need to cut it to size, sketch "Kindergarten Kingdom" on it, and draw (i.e. make husband draw) castles on both sides. Add a few wishing stars, paint and glitter and it should be all set. Maybe some ribbon if I have any extra trailing from the sides.

Thankfully, I am not baking for the event, but I do have to go in and help set up early.

Oh crap, printer jam, I knew that would happen. Only 42 printed, thats why I start early. I still have time to fix it.

After that, it's time to plan for Meenie's birthday party. I have the plan in mind, just need to start working on the invitations....

Planted

I have been spending alot of time in my gardens lately. So much, that I think my hands are going to be dirt colored forever. The girls and I are sporting pretty good tans despite the amount of sunblock applied. A few dozen freeze pops have been consumed. Clementis and Diantus. Sunflowers and Gladioli. Dahlia's and a butterfly mix. Moonflowers and Morning Glories, just to name a few. And of course, I finally got both my Lilac Bush and my Bleeding Heart Bush (actually, my MIL brought me one for mothers day and I brought a pack of 3 bulbs). SO those are in the ground as well.

Today I finally put the sunflowers we started months ago into the ground to form our Sunflower House. I have them staked into the ground, so hopefully they'll survive, I'm not the best at starting things indoors. Just to be on the safe side, I threw some extra seeds down. I have one more wall to plant, but I need to move some wood out of the way first.

And I think (I can't be sure because I didn't see) Meenie planted some Mammoth Sunflowers directly under the swing set. I hope not for our sake. I have thought of planting some morning glories next to the legs on the swing set, but I don't know how much it will climb.