Did he eat a smurf?

So I was talking to our bug guy today. When I came back in the house I saw that Xandera's mouth was blue. Then I found the crayon. See that angry bird with the missing hair on top? It's in Xander's belly.

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Spring is here!!

One of the things I was most excited about when we bought this house was the size of the backyard. Perfect for gardening! It's also one of the things that I haven't been able to do in a couple years. Two years ago I was pregnant and throwing up too much to plant and last year I had a colicky baby. This year, however, I am back and better than ever! This was our first year planting in our raised garden bed (purchased at least 2, if not 3, years ago but never having been planted in.) Rosemary chose most of the veggies and herbs that went into her garden and I planted a bunch more in containers. I am so excited about our potential crop this year!

Here's Rosemary smoothing the soil (I bought a prepared mix, hopefully it'll work out! Choosing the right soil was the hardest part!).

One the soil was pretty much distributed evenly, she raked it to make sure it was as smooth as possible.

This is the look she has been giving me most of the time lately. She i 4 going on 14. Oi vey. We have our hands full with this one.

Still looking like she's too cool for this whole gardening thing. Don't let that sassy little face fool you. This girl is a gardening fool. She's digging the hole for the very first plant...

Rosemary planting rosemary!!!

Altogether, we planted broccoli, chocolate mint, rosemary, catnip, a pink girl tomato, cucumbers, and a red bell pepper in Rosemary's garden.

In the containers we have a Black Prince Russian heirloom tomato (I tried this a few year ago and it disappeared overnight. I think it was the year I had the hornworm problem. I'm hoping to buy a mesh or something this year to protect my tomatoes), basil, thyme, dill, cherry tomatoes and habanero peppers and in the ground we have some marigolds and a citronella plant (let's hope this wards off mosquitos!). We still need to mulch, but I'm not sure what's best to use. I'll go back tomorrow and pick something up.

It was also time to spruce up the front. We enjoyed collards and cabbages this winter but it was time to replace them with Spring flowers (and leftover broccoli that didn't fit in the back). This was our last cabbage (okay, it was the only cabbage that actually grew). I roasted it with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, fennel, and olive oil and dipped it in balsamic vinegar- YUM!). And my own little Cabbage Patch Kid to display it!

And here are our new flowers- zinnias, petunias, and vincas. The broccoli is in there, but very small. I'm excited to see what this look like in another month! The collards and cabbages were even smaller but ended up HUGE! And in past years we had good luck with vinca. I'm especially excited about my purple petunias! If we ever have another girl, I think I like the name Petunia as an option.

We planted lot of marigolds (I didn't take pictures of the others we planted in the back because they really don't look that great yet. They are just sticking out of weed fabric and need mulch!) Rosemary fell in love with this one and wanted to keep it. She carried it around for a couple hours until finally agreeing that this pot was the perfect home for her new friend. After planting, she helped me water all of our new plants. Then she said goodbye to her new marigold friend and told it "It was nice to meet you!"

The coolest part of today's gardening adventures was when I came back in the house and found the entire family peeking under this chair. They picked some catnip and were testing it out. Romeo isn't the biggest fan of catnip, but it was still fun!

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Cute stuff

My kids have done some cute stuff lately. Rosemary decided it was time to potty train Xander. He found a way of entertaining himself.

In school last week, Rosemary had an art show. It was adorable. They did artist studies on Van Gogh, Matisse, Michaelangelo, and Pollack. She was so proud to display her art and I loved seeing it! This is her "sunbeam" smile.

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Race weekend

Last weekend was the inaugural Gasparilla Race Weekend in our household! Well, technically it started the weekend before. Rosemary ran her very first children's race! Check out my baby girl and her awesome running capabilities!

Unfortunately, I was horribly sick that weekend so I couldn't be there (there is no way to explain how incredibly sad I was to miss this. She had been talking about it for months and was so excited.) But Joe was awesome and took lots of good pictures for me. Here's my baby girl and her very first finisher's medal! Note the blue gatorade mouth!

Last Saturday was my turn. I ran my longest run ever- 15k!!!! 9.3 miles!!! Rosemary brought her medal so we snapped this awesome picture after I finished!

Last Sunday was Joe's turn. His very first half marathon!!!! We couldn't be prouder of him! The morning started completely ominous. A dangerous storm that had apparently taken some lives north of here was headed to the area and we were afraid the race would be a tragic disaster or cancelled. But someone must have told the rain storm to go away because the race started on time and Joe was able to finish his first halfathon! It was COLD! The runners were coming back in with silver warming blankets to keep off the chill. The kids and I stayed warm inside the Convention Center while we waited and decorated his sign that we greeted him with when he came in.

We even got cool flair for our cars. You bet I'm displaying that 15K magnet and Joe is rocking his 13.1 magnet! We earned those babies!!! I wanted a picture of all three of us with our medals, but it just didn't happen. Joe's medal was by far the most awesome- it was a pirate skull and cross bones with a moveable jaw! Awesome!!!

I am so proud of my family! We have come so far this past year! Joe was just running 5Ks and I was walking the mile with the kids in the double stroller last year at this time. And now Joe is running half marathons, I'm running 15Ks, and Rosemary is running her own children's races! I'd say we have a lot to be proud of this year!

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The Firehouse Tour

I had the opportunity to give the kids an awesome experience yesterday! My MOMS Club arranged for a tour of the local fire station! We got to meet the firemen, tour the station, check out the fire engines, and even use the fire hose!! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the kids holding the fire hose, but if anyone sends me one I will update. Both kids loved it, but Xander was especially excited! He got really excited and kept pointing to the fire truck and kept trying to cut in line to spray the fire hose! It was an experience they will remember for a long time!

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Rosemary Rayne

Four is a funny, funny year. Not only is Rosemary super smart, she's a super smarty-pants as well.

Background story: a couple weeks ago I spilled an entire mug of coffee on the computer, resulting in a panic. The screen went blank, I disconnected and removed all sources of power, and turned it upside down to dry until Joe got home and took it all apart, cleaned it, and brought it back from the dead.

So, now back to today. Rosemary spilled her milk twice. The second time she knocked it off the table, soaking the chair and area rug with milk. As I'm scolding her for being careless, she notices that I am drinking a cup of coffee.

Rosemary: Mommy, you have to be careful and hold your coffee with two hands.

Me: I'm an adult and I'm [here's where I see where she's going, so I proceed with hesitation] know how to hold my coffee cup.

R: Not always. Remember when you spilled your coffee on the computer? [then she mimics me taking a sip of coffee with one hand, dropping the cup, and innocently saying "oops."]

What a stinkpot!

Then a few minutes later I caught her doing this:

Rosemary: "Mommy, I think I'm already a sunbeam for Jesus because I smile so hard:"

I'm guessing they were talking about "sunbeams for Jesus" at school today. She's cracking me up today!

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Green Smoothie

Xander had been refusing to eat lately. I found the trick: let Rosemary feed him with a syringe.

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