Out in the Garden

We must like trying new things, because it often feels like gardening is one big experiment. Try this, now try that. It's fun!

I'm not a big fan of vegetables, I'm trying to do better, but they just don't taste good to me. But as part of my efforts, I planted two broccoli plants and two cabbage plants this year! Yay for roughage! 

 The larger experiment this year in the garden were cover crops. Our garden was bright green and full of life all winter. Then when we were ready to plant potatoes, we killed off that section of cover crops. You can see it in the background in the photo below.

 Here are the rows we planted our potatoes into.

 It took me a long while to get used to planting in this nearly-no-till situation. But it's working! Now the potatoes are up and growing and the remaining carpet of dead cover crops should serve as mulch/weed suppression.

 The alive cover crops:

 The dead:

 And after working in the garden one day, I started back toward the house and realized that just a year ago we had nothing but dirt surrounding our house. And this spring, we're enjoying watching our trees bud, our shrubs and perennials come back and bloom and grass green up.

 I planted spinach, lettuce and onions in these pots for easy access to salad greens, they're just steps from my kitchen. The bonus is that this photo is a couple weeks old and now the greens are big enough to harvest!

More garden updates to come!

Spwinter Time & Easter

Is it spring? Is it winter? We're definitely stuck in the middle these days. 

 Between the chill and the wind, the boys have enjoyed being able to play basketball inside the shed.

 Our rules are that Noah can't steal the ball from Levi or block his shots - that helps keep the peace while they play.

 Ben was away for a week in Washington D.C. for KARL and we were ready to celebrate his return! Levi and I created a menu and decided that Funfetti cupcakes had to be a part of it (since they're Ben's favorite). And then we thought, how fun would it be to write a message on them! I did the letters for WELCOME, Levi did the rest!

 Can you tell how excited we were to have Ben home?!

 Levi even made a welcome sign that we taped to the windows, and he had recently purchased some balloons so he blew them up, too. Not only did the dining room get decorated, Levi taped one balloon up in each room of the house. :-)

 Each year, Easter brings these temptations....this big bag only lasted 2 days at our house.

On Good Friday, the boys had well-child check-ups and afterwards I treated them to Back Alley Pizza (brick oven pizza place in Newton).  

 They were so thrilled by having their own bottle of soda,

 and then the pizza came it was so good, too!

 Saturday before Easter we spent most of the day outside. It was good to enjoy the sunshine and get some stuff done outside.

 The boys are spending more and more time playing baseball outside these days, and often that means Ben has to play with them. Apparently, my baseball skills are not as helpful as Ben's.  Strange.

Easter Sunday we woke up to this:

 The boys got a couple Easter treats from us that they had to find in the house.

 The boys like to use a dry erase board and markers during church. I had ordered new boards and markers for the boys as an Easter surprise, but the boards didn't show up in time! So, just new markers for Easter Sunday, instead.

Blooms at church covered in snow. 

Easter evening we gathered at my cousin Megan's house for our Epp Easter. My sister and Miki put together this amazing fruit rabbit. :-) 

 We had a wonderful meal and a great time catching up with one another. I wish we could get together more often - the few times a year that it happens just isn't enough!

 

 After we finished dessert, it was time for the grandpa's to hide Easter baskets and eggs for the kiddos. Then, the search was on!

 He's my favorite!

 Levi was in search of one green egg...and while several of us could see the green egg, Ben had to help him spot it...

 got it!

 And, the annual cousin photo! :-)

 While we woke up to a blanket of beautiful snow, it was just as amazing to finish the day off with beautiful, warm sunshine!

Quick Trip to Tulsa

Spring Break is nearly complete, just a few more hours until we're all sadly jerked back into our regular school and work routines.

Ben was away all week on a trip to Washginton, D.C. for KARL the agriculture leadership group he's in.

While he was away the boys and I went with my mom and sister and niece to Tulsa! We left on Tuesday morning and came back Wednesday afternoon and had a great little adventure.

Our first stop was Sky Zone, a trampoline park. There are several such places in Wichita, but none of us had been to one. So this was new to all of us and the kids had a great time!

Noah especially liked dunking!

And Levi especially liked jumping into the foam pit!

All three enjoyed dodge ball - at least until they got hit with a ball in the head. I think Noah stayed clear of any such hits, but both Levi and Rylee got pounded. So they eventually moved back to other fun things.

Next stop was the hotel - most importantly the swimming pool. We let the kids swim for a while before it was time to get ready for dinner. All three kids loved checking out our adjoining rooms, seeing what TV channels we got, making sure each room had all the same stuff (microwave, fridge, coffee maker). It was pretty funny because my sister and I remember doing the same thing as kids.

After dinner, we let the kids swim some more and then we vegged out and watched TV.

The hotel breakfast was not too impressive, but the kids were pretty impressed with the pancake maker!

And finally, as we packed up our things, the kids went wild jumping on the beds!

Next stop was a short walk across the parking lot to the Oklahoma Aquarium.

We really enjoyed the aquarium and the variety of fish and sea life they had.

This photo confuses me each time I see it because you'd think we were actually outside, but we weren't. :-) Rylee especially loved the variety of fish. She knows more about sharks than anyone else I know. She was eager to touch any of the sea life that we could - she's very brave!

She also loved feeding the turtles and was kind enough to let Levi have a turn.

The tunnel that went underneath the shark tank was really cool. Kinda creepy, but really cool!

Outside the boys tried to get their arms bit off...

and then we struggled for a photo of the three cousins - but Rylee's arm was being bit off, soooo.... :-)

We grabbed burgers and fries for lunch and then were on our way back north and for at least a little while the drive was pretty quiet!

It was great to get away and it was wonderful to spend time with my mom and sister!