Natalie 2016: Intention

Each year I set a theme to focus on instead of doing new year's resolutions.  I love the idea of a theme or Strategy.  It gives you guides but doesn't confine you to something that you might give up in a month. 

For 2015, my theme was Simplify/Streamline.  I revisited my theme in this post if you want to see how I had done half way through the year.  I struggled with some of the individual goals that I made for myself but I feel I did a good job overall of staying focused.  In 2014, it was Mastering the Task at hand and in 2013 was a list of goals.  It's fun to go back and read what I had wanted to focus on that year.  When I began to think about 2016 and what I would like to focus on, I struggled with trying to define it all in one theme.  This usually happens but it's great to get your mind thinking this way and pushing you to really put into words all the ideas in your head.

Before I get started, I wanted to share with you our family holiday picture this year.  So grateful for the year we have had and looking forward to many more adventures in the new year.  There will be ups and downs as every year but I hope to cherish the good and shine through the hard times.  

So, Natalie 2016 is going to be the year of...Intention.

This year I am also going to loosely follow the S.M.A.R.T goals guidelines for setting the different goals based on my theme.  Some won't have all the details because it might be a bit personal but otherwise I'll be an open book.

Physical
Run a full 5K by my 36th birthday. I started the Couch to 5K program recently and had issues with my knees.  I'm going to have to work out the knee issues but I'd still really like to run a 5K.  I may need to find a buddy for motivation as well.

Intellectual
Take at least one class/course/instructional session a month. This can be anything as long as it's something I learn from and can grow from.
Read a book a month. I already was able to start this in Dec and knocked out a short but good book call Fish!

Social
Meet up with one or more of my friends at least once a month.  This can be as easy as a lunch or going to knitting group.

Financial
Have a working budget for our family by March. I've become obsessed with budgeting and getting control of our money.  I've been reading and listening to many different resources about how to figure out budgeting and how to make it work for each family.  A lot of people(me being one of them) always felt a budget was constraining and frustrating but it doesn't have to be that way.  Having a budget is a way to tell your money where to go instead of not knowing and then finding out where it went.  Some resources that have been my go to lately have been Dave Ramsey, which he is a bit extreme but he has a lot of great ideas and things that I have learned from.  Also Derek and Carrie from Better Conversations about Money and Marriage podcast and Dave's daughter Rachel Cruze.  They all say it takes 3 months to figure out a budget that works and so we've been working on that and I'm giving us 4 to get it right.
Pay off a large portion of our debt by Dec 2016.  This won't include our home but the rest of the debt we have. I have a set amount in mind but feel that's personal.
*Savings and Emergency fund goal* For some reason I feel the details of this one are private.

Family
Have a movie/game night for our family once a month
Have at least one date night a month with my husband.

Spiritual
Find a church home by Easter.  This has been a struggle for me.  The church I went to for a long time just doesn't feel like home anymore so I stopped going.  My sisters and I have been trying out different churches and we haven't quite found our place yet.  We will.
Read a devotional daily.  I use the Bible app on my phone and set a reminder.  They have a ton of great devotionals but I think I'm going to re-read the Joyce Meyer year long one.  I've read it before and I really enjoyed it.

 And because this essentially is a knitting blog too.

Crafting
Send my TKGA Master Knitter Program Level 1 notebook by my 36th birthday in May.
Finish the projects I have already committed to making by June.
Always have a project for me on the needles.

I think this is a great start to the new year.  The goals are great but mainly I hope to follow my theme of being intentional with my time, energy, and thoughts.

Thank you for taking the time to visit and read my goals.  I wish you the best of luck in the new year!

Happy New Year!

What are your goals/themes/hopes for 2016?

Halloween 2015 with the Rush Family!

Yes, I know it's been a while since I posted...I've been struggling with my voice on this blog.  Once I can find it again, regular posts will resume.  I just know how much I love looking back at my blog posts so I wanted to get this one up here.

Halloween!  I have never been a fan of dressing up for Halloween.  There has been a Halloween or 2 that I did something but never elaborate and usually last minute.  However, once I had my first daughter, my sister quickly stepped in to make sure her costumes were 1. AWESOME and 2. handmade!  For the past 4 years, she has done amazing work! (scroll to end of post for line up of past Halloween costumes ALL hand sewn by my sister "Aunt G")

This year with 2 very opinionated little girls...we had to wait until we could get them to commit to what they wanted before starting.  This didn't leave my sister much time to get both done so I stepped in and took over creating CGRs.  My sewing skills are limited.  I can sew but not very good and I need support and guidance, which my sister provided me.  I don't know about you but I think it came out perfectly!  For her costume, I ordered her leotard online and painted the wonder woman emblem on the front using some puff paint.

I sewed the circle skirt using this tutorial and then painted the white stars using puff paint.  I had my sister help me with the bottom edge because she has a serger and she's better at things like that.

I used a tutorial that my friend sort of gave me through Facebook messaging for the cape and painted a wonder woman emblem on it using puff paint.

The cuffs, headband, and belt were made using some thick Ribbon type material and sewing elastic on them and painted using puff paint.  Her magic lasso was made of gold ribbon as well.  Thankfully my brother-in-law and sister took over hunting down the boots and painting them with paint that we were able to peal off so that she could still use them.

All in all it was fun to create and CGR loved watching it come to life!  I'm so glad I stepped in to make this one...not sure I will do the same next year but I'm glad I did.

My sister did Ria's Belle costume using this tutorial and this came out so perfectly!  Ria was SOO excited about it and woke me up the day after Halloween dressed in it. BTW, she did not go to bed in it.

Halloween night was hosted at my house for the first time ever too! I was slightly stressed about having it as my sister usually hosts but I think it came out perfectly!  Everyone had fun and lots of yummy food and good company!

The set up of our house!  After the girls went trick or treating, they sat and watched the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, The nightmare before Christmas, Room on a Broom, and much more on that screen.  They were up WAY past their bedtime! 

Will be fun to see what they decide for next year!  Hope you all had a Happy and Safe Halloween!

 2014 below.

Did you dress up this year? What did your kids dress up as?  tell us.

Natalie 2015: Simplify and Streamline (revisited)

It's that time of year to revisit the Natalie 2015 theme and see what has been accomplished and what I can focus on for the rest of the year.  Each year, I like to post my goals on the blog(2008, 2013, 2014, 2015) but often times I don't revisit them until the new year comes around again...not this year!  Let's do this now so I still have time to focus on my theme and see what needs to be adjusted.  So no it's not halfway through the year but you know the start of the new school year always feels like some kind of start so we'll go with that. The original goals posted at the beginning of the year will be in italics...my response and updates will be next to them.

Crafting:
1. Organize my stash so that it's visually pleasing and not just stored away. I am currently in the process of culling my stash.  Instead of just making it pleasing to look at, I decided I wanted it stored in safe place but organized.  I also wanted to rid my stash of the filler yarn/fiber and only have stuff I love or plan to use.
2. SPIN MORE!  This is big.  I really want to give Pilar some love this year and spin spin spin!  It's been a while since I spun and I just need to get back to it. Major fail on this one...but I did just started spinning again and really am enjoying it like I always do.  It just goes back to having to store my wheel out of the way from little hands...and so it's out of sight and sometimes just feels like it would be too much effort to set up.  Planning a spinning OWL for the next term of the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup so that might help keep things going.
3. Take more classes. This coming year, I hope to take more workshops and crafting classes.  I want to learn more techniques but mostly I want to learn from those teaching. I haven't managed to take more classes yet....
4. Teach more classes. This got put on hold because of my surgery and life.  I am planning another class in Oct though at Stash - a place for yarn.
5. Travel to a fiber festival!!  This is huge!  I REALLY REALLY want to make it to a festival this year.  We have plans in the works but hope it works out as well as we are planning. A fiber festival isn't working out but I did sign up to attend my first ever knitting retreat Into the Wool Retreat at the beginning of next month in Tennessee!  I'm SO EXCITED!! I am working on a way to attend the Florida Fiber-in with my local knitting guild but as of right now I might only make it out to one day...which is totally better than no days.

Personal:
1. I'd like to simplify our home by purging all the things that are not used/played with or don't have a place in our home.  This especially goes for clothes that don't fit and trinkets that don't hold emotional attachments or have a place to live. This has been a big win so far. I still have a lot to do but I've also accomplished a ton!  I've already purged a LOT of just stuff from my bookshelves, kitchen, and new office area.  As I said, I'm still working on my stash and need to do another pass through my clothes and the girls clothes but I've done a lot already!  It feels great to have less stuff!  It's also much easier to keep things clean when everything has a place to go.  The kitchen is doing amazing because I visited the Homer Laughlin China Company factory store on our trip to OH and I got some amazing steals on a bunch of new stuff for my fiestaware stash!  I love this stuff and want more but have to purge if I bring stuff in.
2. I'd like to purge my wardrobe into a smaller one that only has clothes that I love and make me feel good. Sadly, I still have "maternity" clothes that get worn here and there.  They must all GO! Doing this and it feels good! I have purged my clothes down to only stuff I love.  I bought new clothes and got rid of everything that was maternity or didn't make me feel amazing when I put it on.
3. Make it through the construction that is about to begin on our home and really decorate our living room and rest of the house with pictures and more. Construction on the bathroom and roof are complete!  YAY and boy was that an experience.  I haven't tackled the living room or putting up many pictures yet but I'm getting there.  I have gotten some frames but need to print more pictures and buy more frames soon.

Parental:
1. Focus less on bedtime routine and more on enjoying the time with my girls.  NOT saying I'm going to get rid of bedtime routine but often at night I feel like it's this race to get them to bed before it becomes a meltdown battle of over tired girls.  This stresses me out and I end up not enjoying the time we have together as much.  I really would like to focus more on enjoying the time and less on racing through the time.  This has been an ongoing focus.  When my workday is stressful, I have to focus harder on giving myself and my girls grace but I've been doing good with being mindful of this time.
2. Start having dates with each of my children.  My girls love to be together but I also feel they need some alone time with me.  I would like to start having fun outings with just one of them at a time.  We'll see how this goes.   We have not been good about this because we don't get a lot of time together as a family due to our work schedules.  We tend to focus on family time together on weekend.  It's funny though because this weekend Special K and CGR are going to the Rays game with others and I'm getting to spend the afternoon with just Ria.

Relationships:
1. Schedule monthly date nights with my husband.  We are good about doing date nights but we often realize we haven't had one in a while and then plan one.  I would love to do this monthly in the new year. This has not been nearly consistent enough but we have managed to get some dates in there.
2. Focus more on what I'm bringing to my marriage than what I'm getting.  I feel this is such a better way to love and helps to curb the tit for tat mentality that can often cause grief.  Still focusing on this and it's been great!  Sometimes I get caught up but I refocus and it changes how I react to things.
3. Plan more time with my sisters.  We always love going to brunch together but do not do it often enough.  Downton Abbey is starting soon and we always watch that together on Sunday nights and it's nice to be with them.  Need to work on this for the rest of the year...we haven't been intentional enough with this.

And to finish off I would like to cut out the excess in our life and focus on the good and what truly matters.  Focus on our family and our home.  Give our journey to God and know that he has big plans for us and enjoy the ride that he takes us on.  All I can say to this is Amen!

How are you doing with your theme/resolutions you set for yourself this year?  Are you struggling with any and need to refocus?  Have any made a big impact in your life?

This moment - Grandpa Love!

{this moment} – A Friday ritual from Soule Mama.  A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your “moment” in the comments for all to find and see. 

 

A Series of Thoughts: Growing up

This is very random but it's my current series of thoughts.  Enjoy and be kind.

I am 34...34 and in a couple months I'll be 35 but most the time when I visualize myself I still feel like the scared motherless child, who was fighting to find herself in this world.  Then one day I looked up and here I find myself a married woman and mother of 2 little girls. How did that happen?

It's amazing how time and growing up works.  Internally, I feel like I'm a child raising children but I know that I'm not a child.  Did my parent feel like this when they had 5 girls and a boy to raise?  Did they look around them and think that they were children just like those they were raising?  My mother started having kids in her mid 20s...I didn't have my first daughter until I was 30 and yet I don't feel grow up yet.  Will I ever feel grown up? Now the big question...do I want to feel grown up?

Life has a funny way of just moving forward whether you are ready or not.  Thankfully, God knows what he's doing and what you can do with his help because sometimes I look at what I've been through and what I have accomplished and wonder...how did I make it and what was I thinking?  We often move through life from one event to the next but when you are living your day to day life, it feels like you are just passing the time.  How does all this life happen when you are just passing the time?

My mother passed away 28 year ago today and I miss her every day.  It's strange to think that I have lived on this earth 22 years longer without her than with her.  I know she is with me everyday and I'm reminded of her through my sisters and my daughters.  God knew what he was doing when he gave my parents 5 girls.  He knew what he was doing when he gave me daughters.  He knows what we need more than we do because he sees the bigger picture that we do not.

I often struggle with my longing for my mother.  I'm the person I am today because I lost her when I did.  I had to grow up without her and I gained her influences through the lessons and influences she left in those that knew her.  I know her through pictures and stories that others tell me.  I was the youngest of many and I was spoiled rotten before she passed.  After she passed, people came into my life that changed that.

I often wonder if my sisters and I would be so close if we had not lost her when we did.  Would we need each other as much as we do now?  I can't imagine my life without each of my sisters.  We are all so different yet we are all so similar.  We fight like all siblings but there is something different about how we relate.  It's like there is this magnet that pulls us to each other and you can't see it but it's there.  Is that magnet our mother's spirit?  Will my girls have that magnet too?

My husband and I in the last year have talked several times about moving to live near his family up north.  I want to say I could do it because despite how I see myself, I'm not a child and I would pull on my big girl boots and find a new path but when I think about not living near 4 of my 5 sisters...it makes me crumble.  I just can't imagine not being able to see them all the time.  I know that he is close to his mother and sister that live up north too and I know it's hard for them to live apart but I just don't know if I am ready to spread my wings again.

I grew up with my sisters out of the house.  By the time my mother passed away, the youngest of the older sisters was a senior in high school and soon left the nest.  That left my brother and soon my step-sister and step-brother.  I love them and need them but it's different...that magnet isn't there.  When I left home to go to college, the first 2 years I spent in Tampa and spent almost every weekend with my sisters and their families in St. Pete. Then I needed to find myself...so I went off to college in San Fransisco.  I knew nobody and I wasn't were I didn't want to be.  It was 4 and a half years of incredible growth personally.  Then I just missed having family around so much I made my way back here.  It's sort of a long story so we'll just say it took about 9 months for me to finally make my way back to living by my sisters here.

Since then I have been happy living near them.  My pups found me, my husband found me, and we had 2 amazing little girls.  Through it all, my sisters were my rock.  They were my constant.  I know wherever I go they will always be my rock but it's not the same when they are a walk or very short car ride away.  They have helped me in so many ways become the mother I am and are constantly helping me be the person I am whether they know it or not.

I know this has been random but to sum it up.  I feel like a child.  I miss my mother.  My sisters are my rock and I will keep trusting God knows what he's doing and his big plan for us is bigger than I can ever dream of.

Hope you enjoyed this series of thoughts.

Do you feel "grown" up?

Natalie 2015: Simplify and Streamline

I love the idea of having a theme to focus on each year.  I am not sure I really follow it throughout the whole year but it's always fun to start of the year with a focus.  I'm also a big fan of lists...so I'm going to combine these for this year's resolutions post.

This year my theme is going to be: Simplify and Streamline.

Not all of my goals below fit nicely into this theme but that's ok with me...

Crafting:
1. Organize my stash so that it's visually pleasing and not just stored away.
2. SPIN MORE!  This is big.  I really want to give Pilar some love this year and spin spin spin!  It's been a while since I spun and I just need to get back to it.
3. Take more classes. This coming year, I hope to take more workshops and crafting classes.  I want to learn more techniques but mostly I want to learn from those teaching.
4. Teach more classes.
5. Travel to a fiber festival!!  This is huge!  I REALLY REALLY want to make it to a festival this year.  We have plans in the works but hope it works out as well as we are planning.

Personal:
1. I'd like to simplify our home by purging all the things that are not used/played with or don't have a place in our home.  This especially goes for clothes that don't fit and trinkets that don't hold emotional attachments or have a place to live.
2. I'd like to purge my wardrobe into a smaller one that only has clothes that I love and make me feel good. Sadly, I still have "maternity" clothes that get worn here and there.  They must all GO!
3. Make it through the construction that is about to begin on our home and really decorate our living room and rest of the house with pictures and more.

Parental:
1. Focus less on bedtime routine and more on enjoying the time with my girls.  NOT saying I'm going to get rid of bedtime routine but often at night I feel like it's this race to get them to bed before it becomes a meltdown battle of over tired girls.  This stresses me out and I end up not enjoying the time we have together as much.  I really would like to focus more on enjoying the time and less on racing through the time.
2. Start having dates with each of my children.  My girls love to be together but I also feel they need some alone time with me.  I would like to start having fun outings with just one of them at a time.  We'll see how this goes.

Relationships:
1. Schedule monthly date nights with my husband.  We are good about doing date nights but we often realize we haven't had one in a while and then plan one.  I would love to do this monthly in the new year.
2. Focus more on what I'm bringing to my marriage than what I'm getting.  I feel this is such a better way to love and helps to curb the tit for tat mentality that can often cause grief.
3. Plan more time with my sisters.  We always love going to brunch together but do not do it often enough.  Downton Abbey is starting soon and we always watch that together on Sunday nights and it's nice to be with them.

And to finish off I would like to cut out the excess in our life and focus on the good and what truly matters.  Focus on our family and our home.  Give our journey to God and know that he has big plans for us and enjoy the ride that he takes us on.

Wishing your family a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Love the Barknknit family!

What are your resolutions/themes for the new year?

Masterpieces: Her first sewn pillow

As many of you with small children know, they want to do everything you do normally!  I was recently handed down a sewing machine and I couldn't be more excited about it...and now so is Miss Carmen.  With my sister's help, I was able to figure out the new machine as well as teach Carmen how to sew. 

The first night we just let her sew on some scraps of yarn but she wanted to make something.  We decided that a small pillow would be a good way to start.  The first step was to shop for the fabric and she of course picked princess themed fabric.  Then I washed the fabric and my sister came over and taught her what to do.

She seemed to have a good time with sewing the pillow.  Our table is a counter height table so we had to get creative with how to set her up to sew but it worked out.  She is never left alone with the sewing machine on and I think I might get her some gloves so that she doesn't get poked by the needle.  I'm so glad she likes to craft and looking forward to teaching her how to make lots more things!

And another fun part...the stuffing!

Some day we'll tackle knitting but for now she's just happy with her pillow!  Her Aunt G also sewed one for Ria so they both have matching little pillows.

Happy Sewing!

What age did you learn to sew or knit?  Have you taught your children how?  What trick do you have to teach a 4 year old how to knit?

This moment - teach them young.

{this moment} – A Friday ritual from Soule Mama.  A single photo(or several) – no words – capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your “moment” in the comments for all to find and see.

Currently: my blogging voice, family, knitting, holidays

Hi long lost bloggy friends!  I miss you all and I miss this space.  Some how over the last couple months I have lost my blogging voice and I'm not sure how to get it back.  I can't tell you how many times I've sat down to write a blog post and just get lost.  It always comes back to where do I start and what do I say.  I've been blogging at this space for over 7 years and in that time I've had one podcast, which has been put to rest, and now doing another.  I realize this space isn't the same as my podcast but for some reason I can't figure out what I want this space to be.  As I work this all out, I still want to share what's going on in my life as I always have.  So today we are going to start with a Currently post.  Hope you enjoy!

Currently:

I'm FRUSTRATED with my lack of voice on this blog.  As my life has changed, this blog has changed and I love going back and reading old post about what I was focusing on or thinking about.  I don't want to let this space go quite yet. I need to turn the frustration into planning and organizing the blog posts that are swirling around my brain.

I'm RELIEVED that my girls, hubby, and I have been managing our newish schedule well.  The change happened over 90 days ago and I don't really want to share lots of details but my hubby got a different job with different hours. This change has changed everything about our work week so it was a bit of a transition.  I was happy for my husband because the job change is so good for him but at the start I was very stressed about how it would effect our family.  We've had some difficult times of lack of sleep but overall I think everyone is doing well with the it.

I'm THANKFUL for my local family, who always steps in to help whenever we need them.  When our schedule first changed, I had to have surgery but it was not the greatest timing.  My family was very supportive of me getting the surgery as soon as possible as the doctors were suggesting and they all pulled together and helped me in every way they could.  Without them there, I'm not sure it would have gone as smoothly nor would I have healed as well.

I'm DELIGHTED that I have been able to knit quite a bit lately.  I don't feel like I've had all that much progress because of the lack of finished objects but I have actually been getting a lot done!  As I've said many times, knitting is my therapy and my mind is a better place when I have time to knit.  I have some very pretty things to share with you all soon!!
I'm EAGER to start decorating my home for CHRISTmas this weekend!  I love our home with the Christmas tree lit and my nativity scenes out.  It just makes our home feel so warm and full of holiday cheer!  We won't be in town for the week of Christmas this year but my sister is going to be staying at the house for the week with the pups!  I figured why not get my Christmas decorations up early so we can enjoy them longer and she will then get to enjoy them the week she's staying at the house.  My sister's family across the street will also get to enjoy our outdoor lights so it's worth it.   Picture is from last year.
I'm BEWILDERED how my first daughter is about to turn 4 on Dec 1st!  How is she already 4?  The time has flown by but she is just blossomed into this smart, kind, and loving child that fills this mama with pride!  I can't wait to celebrate her birthday with our family and friends on Dec 6th!  Someone got her a pretty awesome experience gift for the following day that I can't wait to experience with her!!!

I'm EXCITED about all that is coming in the next couple weeks.  My favorite holidays are Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I love spending time with family and give me a turkey dinner and this momma is happy!  I also love Christmas traditions!  This year we are road tripping up to spend the week with Special K's family and I'm so excited about it!  We haven't been up there in 2 years and I am looking forward to the girls getting time with their cousins, Grandma, Aunt, Graunt, and more! I can't wait for them to all meet Miss Maria and get to know her.  Will be an adventure as it's our first LONG road trip with them but I'm so very excited! 

 

I feel LOVED.  With our new schedule, my husband and I don't have lots of time together but the time we do have is spent focusing on family and quality time.  I'm so grateful for everything he does every day for our family.  He works so hard and loves us so much.  I can't express how much he means to me but I look forward to celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary next month and many many more in the future.

Thank you for reading!

How are you currently feeling?

Masterpiece: Sockhead had for my dad's 80th!

Let's catch up with some of my finished objects from this past 6 months...

The first finished object or as we call them in our podcast "Masterpieces" I'd like to share with you is the Sockhead hat. I made this my dad for his 80th birthday, which was on May 32nd, 2014!  He requested a thin hat for nights in Panama when it gets cooler a while back but it took me a bit to find the perfect yarn/pattern/inspiration to get this project started and completed.  I'm so excited how it came out and I love love love this picture of him in it.

I also love these 2 pictures of my first model in it.

 

Project details
Pattern: Sockhead Hat by Kelly McClure
Yarn: The Unique Sheep Verve in the insecta gradiance colorway
Cast on date: May 16th, 2014
Finished date: May 28th, 2014 Just in time for his birthday!
Notes: This pattern says to knit for a bit longer than I did.  I didn't want it to be slouchy on my father and after I finished it I was worried it wouldn't fit it.  I was so glad when he tried it on and it fit perfectly!  I enjoyed this pattern as it was simple and quicker than I thought.  I love knitting with sock yarn so I may have to make a couple more of these for others in my family.

Happy Knitting!

Have you finished any knitting projects lately?

Garden Love: Testing out my green thumb.

One of the most exciting things about owning a home to me is finally being able to plant flowers and play in dirt!

This weekend my sister Fleas and I decided it was time to work on 2 of the planters attached to our house.  Because we are still on a pretty tight budget since my unpaid maternity leave, we didn't want to spend much.  My sister came up with an idea to use clippings from her flowers and some from our other sister's house.  

So Sunday morning, we took the girls to Home Depot and bought several bags of topsoil and 2 bags of cow manure.  We got home and used some rakes to turn over and aerate the soil in the planter on the side of our house.  When we first looked at this planter, it looked like it was all sand but once we started digging in we found lovely lovely dirt!  We mixed up what was in there and then spread out a layer of cow manure.  After that we topped it off with a layer of the topsoil.  

Once the planter was full of lovely dirt/cow manure, we went over and clipped some of my sister's vinca flowers across the street and planted those with some plant food mixed in.  3 of these were off shoots of her current plants and had lots of roots, these look like they are picking up faster than the ones that had no or little roots.  

This is mainly an experiment to see if this will work, I know that it would work better to root the clippings in a pot first.  If it doesn't work the way we are trying it, we will just try again with new clippings and follow the right way but I hope at least some of these take.

Carmen's Aunt Lecia aka fleas bought Carmen her own flower to plant.  Carmen got to pick one and she picked a pretty yellow marigold.

The last part of our gardening was to take clippings from my sister G's red pentas and planted those in the planter by our front window.  This section had a layer of mulch so we just moved that over, dug holes, filled with new dirt and plant food, and planted the clippings.  

You can also see our papaya tree my friend gave us, which is currently living in a pot until we can decide where it will live.  It's had a ton of new growth and am so excited about it!

It was fun spending the morning in the sun, working with our hands, and getting dirty with my sister and Carmen.  I can't wait to see how these flowers do and plant more flowers, bushes, and trees around our new home!  Might be silly but it makes me so happy to do little things to make our house a home.

Carmen had a great time getting dirty as you can tell by this picture my niece took!  My niece and sister G came over and hung out with Maria and Carmen while we finished up planting.  It was a fulfilling morning!

Happy Gardening!!

What kind of flowers have you been successful with planting?  Do you have any advice for this gardening novice?  Would like to get some indoor plants eventually.  Any suggestions?

This moment: snuggle puppy

{this moment} – A Friday ritual from Soule Mama.  A single photo(or a few) – no words – capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your “moment” in the comments for all to find and see.

Happy 4th of July!

Wishing you and yours a very Happy 4th of July! Hope you all had a fantastic day!

We started our day by taking Carmen to see her first movie in a theater Despicable Me 2 and both she and Maria did so well!  Carmen loved watching the big screen and stayed in her seat mostly until close to the end when she was getting sleepy and wanted to sit with me.  Maria either slept or nursed the whole movie.  

The rest of the day was spent relaxing with family.  We tried fireworks with Carmen and she did not like them!!  Maybe next year.

Hope you had a great day!  

Happy 4th of July!