darndest things

I'm not sure about all the other kids out there, but mine say the oddest, most spectacular things when they are 5, or about to turn 5. Well, no. Sarah started early and hasn't stopped, but that's Sarah for you. Leah is almost 5. Recently I've heard:

"Drat!"

"I got it! When I grow up, I can be your girlfriend! Sound good?" me: "oh, yes! It does!"

"Mommy, you need to change your underwear. If you do not put on new underwear, then you need to change it. You really should change your underwear." (What?? I think she's heard this recently, directed to her.)

"Excuse me! I'm not going bananas over here, but I did ask for some cocoa!" (Leah calls warmed soy milk cocoa.)

"Let's turn our house into a museum!"

"This says 'word', right?"

"Oh! 12 take away 7 is 5, and 12 take away 5 is 7!"

"Catch this, Mom!" (Meaning, look at me while I practice a dance step or some other physical feat.)

"If I have enough money when I grow up, I'm going to be a mommy just like you."

Special Day

Special Day is a tradition we are trying out. I got the idea from my brother. Special Day is celebrated on the date of your birthday each month. You get to choose what is served for dinner. You can go somewhere with just Mom or Dad. You can choose a game or activity for the evening. The goal is to carve out a few moments for each child as an individual. So far we've watched movies, gone shopping, played chess and discovered new favorite meals. Simple things really. I think having that bit of guaranteed time does make a difference, however small.

The first thing the kids asked was if Mommy and Daddy got a Special Day too. Perhaps in the future, but not just now. I do want to share my birthday pictures and David's. Our spring and summer simply flew by. The memories did not make it this far. Here they are now.

my 30 year old toes

My birthday falls during our Florida vacation. Although it can be crazy on the beach with four little ones by yourself, (Jesse's working while we're there.) that's just where I wanted to be. (It feels good to pull out some warm summer memories in the cool, soggy fall.)

Leah's Special Day this month is her birthday, so I need to go send those invitations now.

Special Birthday Wishes and Love to my mom today!!

book collection

I collect children's books. Since I am a teacher and have four children, it is not a bad thing to collect. They never get dusty. They make me smile. There is always something new to add. There are my old favorites. I can easily find small gems in the thrift store or at a garage sale. It is the best kind of collection, I think.

With all the extra time I had on my hands, no Internet and all, I went and organized my collection.

There it is. I'm not sure how many there are. I stopped counting years ago. However, I know where everything is - fairy tales, counting, colors, bears, monkeys, dinosaurs, favorite authors, award winning books and authors, social studies, and that's only the top row of picture books. Every drawer is full of books too. Once a month I quickly put everything back where it belongs. Once a year I "touch" every book. This makes a catalog in my mind, and I remove duplicates or what we are ready to pass on.

I'm going to move my yearly book review to November. This is when our church collects books for children at the courthouse. They are read to while their parents are in court and then given the book. Many of them have never owned a book. Sarah is still trying to grasp this thought. I am too. Life without my collection is hard to imagine. Here is our pretty little pile for them.

Clean-Up

Yesterday we started to clean the street. After being cooped-up inside for three days, it felt good to get out and work.

Today we started to clean the house. (Sorry, no pictures.) After being cooped-up inside for three days, it felt stifling. There was crazy follow the leader that left things turned upside-down. The toyroom floor was submerged in, well, toys. Lego ziplines connected every surface in the toyroom. The Playmobil had a party in the bedroom. And the living room saw charades, puppet shows and a museum. Time to clean-up! (Oh! do I love our yard!)

6 month old Anna in just a part of our yard

The Flood

In case you haven't heard, we got some rain. Three days of it. Fifth highest flood lines in fact. There was actually more than 12 inches of rain in our trash can. Every time I tried to post a picture on FaceBook, the power went out. We never lost the electricity for very long. I cooked extra spaghetti, just in case. What we did loose was our phone and Internet connection, for four days. That's long enough to make me realize how much I've come to rely on those particular wires and long enough to put me behind on posting every day. Who knew a Nor'easter and remains of a hurricane would meet in our city and leave all this?

east end of our street

Those lights coming out of the water are along a street across the river.

more east end, an hour before high tide

There's a submerged dock out there.

west end

west end at high tide
The river took over the parking lot.


west end the next morning

Needless to say, we were stuck. The water rose on either side of us and in front of us, but our house stayed dry. We are grateful.

GUESS Science Fair 2009

What an amazing experience for all of us! My only wish is that there was more time to see all the projects. There was some spectacular work in the building and all executed by homeschoolers! Sarah's only wish is for more science fairs! "Why do we have to wait all the way until next year?" Because the mama needs a break? Nope. The girl's talkin' plasma and electricity folks.

She loved the demonstrationand enjoyed the program,

but please do not ask about the I-MAX film.

with the judges

The answer was pretty clear - no. There was some variance, but not enough to sway the results. She did find a substantial difference in agreeableness. After sugar, kids willingly picked up (and were more pleasant.)

We ate lunch outside and ran. Note the weather. Gorgeous!

The homeschool families in our area are so lucky to have Lydia and Shez - two great minds and wonderful women teaming up to help provide this experience for our children. Thank you!

made for each other

I want to remember our amazing day at Sarah's first science fair, but I also want to get to bed. I teach tomorrow, and I need rest. So here is a little conversation between Jess and I. Class is on the states of matter, specifically water. I was looking for books in our vast children's collection, hoping not to have to run to the library.

me: "Do we have any books with igloos?"
J: "That polar bear one. They live in an igloo."
me: "Well, a den in the ice. But it's cute, and we made dens last week."
me: "Do we have any books on ice?"
J: "What about that one where the boy puts ice in his pocket and it melts? Ezra Jack Keats."
me: "Snowy Day. Yeah. We have it."

The best part? He knows what's on the shelves better than I do. I forget. There's too many. However, I know exactly where every book is and could grab these as soon as he described them. He doesn't have a clue. Together, we're complete.

worth it!

Ta-dahh! Today Sarah and I made THIS:

Jesse took some pictures for me.

From 1:45pm-9:45pm we worked. She dictated. I typed. She chose colors and fonts. I formatted. I cut. She glued. She planned. I glued. (There's 2.5 glue sticks of glue on that thing, and over 100 dots of craft glue.) We love it. The presentation board is complete!

Want to know what she had to say while we were working on it? "You're wonderful Mom! I mean, you're working with me on my poster, and that's not easy. You are a wonderful teacher. You are so patient! No wonder people want you to teach young children."

Talk about a still heart moment! And that was just what I needed to hear, after working with her for hours on end with mastitis. I'm so proud of all she's done and love her so.

random

Well, yesterday got so full, I couldn't even blog about it. I sat down to do so, and Leah stumbled into the office crying that no one was cuddling with her. After cuddling, I rolled into bed.

I think that is what happened to the blog here. Life got so full my thoughts were all mush by the end of the day. Having a goal to write everyday helps me to retain a few bits of what I want to get out. I think it would also help to have a laptop to carry around the house and some wireless going on, or at least another computer for the kids, but none of that is going to happen any time soon. And having a theme keeps eating away at me. Maybe that would help. I know some blogs do, some don't. The fact that mine doesn't shows that I started it to keep in touch with family, perhaps build some community, but more a space to remember things. The fact that that is bothering me (lack of coherence here) shows that its time to get focused. But on what??

• homeschooling
• present parenting
• natural living
• living frugally
• allergies
• breastfeeding
• knitting

Now is when I get stumped and decided to just keep writing about life and perhaps a common thread will appear, somewhere.

Yesterday began with Anna's "Aaiaheeeee!" She always wakes with a smile. If I'm already up, she'll lay and talk to herself for some time, just like Leah did. If I'm still in bed, like yesterday, she'll wake me up to nurse. What a joy-filled way to start the day! (I just love the family bed! [well, most days.])

2 month old Anna

I went to Bible study with Anna. Jesse stayed home with the others. We're reading Scott Hahn's A Father Who Keeps His Promises. Yesterday there was a guest speaker who shared a bit of Hahn's history with us and her ministry. You could feel the Spirit flow from her. It was nice to feel that again, and come home excited rather than drained.

I needed that excitement for the rest of the day. We had the second and final sugar experiment play date. I cleaned the kids room for the occasion. Well, as clean as 20 minutes with three helpers and a baby could get it. After the day's observations, it was very clear that if you want kids to help pick up, give them candy. Seriously. The house looked better when they left than when they arrived. I joked that I was doing it for the sake of Sarah, not Science. But we had a great time! Every single one of the 13 kids here was awesome. The moms were pretty awesome too! Thank you again for coming out and subjecting your children to sugar for the sake of Science (and Sarah.)

Then it was off to Sarah's dance class, dinner and shopping in the evening. ToysRUs had a few items on sale, namely a Razor scooter, and now my holiday shopping is done! I got Anna to sleep on our bed before I left. At bedtime Leah told Jesse that since Anna was sleeping in his bed, that he could sleep in hers. so sweet and thoughtful...

Missing Kitty

We lost our cat today. I missed her. (We keep calling it a her, but I still need to take it to the vet to know for sure. Seriously. I even had a friend who is really good with cats take a look, and she couldn't tell. Whatever it is, it is most likely fixed.) I thought about sharing the story here and realized I hadn't shared her story yet. I've mentioned that we have a cat, but never how this came to be.

We, the allergic mama and papa, the severely allergic although she screams if you suggest it four year old - we have a cat. We thought this would never be, could never be, and never became too attached to all the sweet kitties who crossed our path. Somehow, we were waiting for Kitty-Kitty, (Yes, the kids named her.) and Kitty-Kitty was waiting for us.

She was waiting at a rest-stop on I-95. Yes, this beautiful cat was there. She looked healthy, young and thin. She was friendly, cautious and hungry. We fed her. Our dog travels with us on vacation, and she liked dog food. We all felt an attachment. She got in the van easily enough. I did not want her left at the rest stop. We decided to take her with us to the family farm in PA.

We stopped at a WalMart on the way and bought a cat carrier. Moe rides on his bed, but he does not bound between seats and children's laps when children are supposed to be asleep. She did not like the carrier. She cried a bit. She slept. We let her out at the farm. She left through a window for the night. She came back. We took pictures. We put a notice on Richmond's Craig's List in case she escaped from someones car. No response.

Surprise! We have a new cat for the farm. Right? Wrong. The cat was not allowed to stay. We brought her back to Norfolk thinking, "We'll find a good home for her here." We did just that. The deal was this: She had to work as an outside kitty in the city, get along with Moe and not scratch kids in order for her to stay with us. She did!

She stays in our yard. She keeps all other cats out of our yard and from wandering down the street. She comes to the door to be fed. We found a pink lined cat bed and small bowl that someone was throwing out. They are in the loft of the playhouse. She hissed at Moe at first, but now they sniff. She lets Anna pet her. She's caught three rats, two squirrels and three birds. (I don't like the bird part, but am grateful for fewer rats in our house and not so many squirrels eating our garden and being shot [with a BB gun] by our neighbor. Also, she hunts for food, not recreation.) She does not even use the sandbox as a litter box if we forget to put the lid on. She is the perfect cat for us.

I did not see her all day yesterday. I did not see her this morning. I was worried. Maybe someone picked her up. Maybe someone else was keeping her, despite her pretty piano collar. I had the strong feeling last night that she was trapped. I looked in the garage. I called for her. I called Jesse at work. He suggested the van. There she was, asleep on Leah's booster. She must have jumped in when we left the door open Tuesday evening. She was fine. She ate, drank, used the yard and nuzzled Anna's feet. Surprisingly, I could not find a mess or scratch in the van. Now that's a perfect cat.

I'm glad we found each other.

Sweet Science

Does sugar make kids hyper? This is Sarah's question for her GUESS science fair project. Big one. Last year she wanted to invent a telaportation device or a horizontal elevator. Needless to say, we did not participate. This year, sweet success! We agreed on a project. We have a notebook with notes. We made charts together. Graphs and poster boards loom in our future. This has not been a smooth sail, but we're keeping at it.

The conversations we've had, the things she's thought of are simply amazing. She wanted various ages. She listed the variables she could think of. She listed what she wanted to use to identify "hyper". She also explained to me in detail why she did not want to use children who were actively nursing in the study. They may like their breast milk more than the candy. The breast milk may interfere with their behavior. (Makes an LLL leader proud!)

Today was the first of two experimental playdates. 6 kids, ages 3-9. 2 bowls of candy, one full of sugar, the other sugar free. 2 hours of observation. Sarah was so excited! So excited in fact, she was the most hyper kid in the house! Volume, Activeness, Agreeableness all were duly noted. She hasn't drawn any conclusions yet, so I cannot say much more. However, I did make some observations of my own. My favorite was that before the sugar/sugar free was introduced there was a tussle. The children involved held discussions with their mothers, but were not ready to interact with each other. Soon after the candy, they apologized, heard each other out, dialogued, etc. "I'm sorry. I did it to get your attention. I just wanted to play with you." "But that doesn't make me want to play with you! It makes me want to play with you less!" "Oh, OK." That was between 9 and 6 year old boys, and was enough for them to go on playing for another two hours.

With those kind of results, I may just serve sugar at all future playdates!

A great big THANK YOU! to the mamas who brought their little ones over today.

Sarah couldn't do this without them, or you.

Growing Girls

Anna started to scoot herself backwards today. She does not like it in the least. She sees something she wants, goes for it, but only ends up further away. The poor thing just puts her head down and cries in frustration.

Yesterday Leah read the entire first book, the A book, in the Sing Spell Read and Write series. I used a process to teach Sarah and David how to read. Leah taught herself when she was three. Now she yells at me, "I want to read!"

Sarah peeked in the older Presidential class at co-op today. She was invited in and loved it. The teacher sought me out to let me know that she's always welcome, in a class geared towards the 13 and up crowd. (Now I want to take the class!)

My girls are growing up! (David too. I promise to post about him later this week.)

Dress-up Day

I think this is what we should call Halloween 'round here. That is what it is all about for us - dressing up. Not that my children mind walking door to door and having candy fill their buckets and bags, but they love to dress up. Without further adieu, I present:

the cutest pumpkin ever!

a pink cowgirl with a pink horse

the knight who was a cowboy earlier in the day

a beautiful butterfly

stopping for sugar on the way home

crossing the bridge

We ate dinner after collecting buckets of loot that were so heavy they couldn't carry them home. I pushed it back in the stroller. Everyone agreed to get some good food in their tummies before diving into the pools of sweetness. We don't set any limits. A few times a year they can have all the sugar they want. Also, there is no chocolate in this house. We're all allergic to it. The kids sell their chocolate to us, and Jesse hands it out to his college students. The going rate is 5 cents a piece. They each made around $3.00 this year, but I gave them $5 since that's what I had. Everyone ran to put their bills in their banks, so I guess it's being saved this year.

Speaking of savings, I spent not one penny on costumes this year. Anna wore a sweat-suit I bought Leah four years ago. Leah wore the pink cowgirl hat I bought for her dance recital last year - $3 thrift store. I know the horse was a Goodwill find as well, but that was more than six years ago. David was going to be this knight last year. The sword in sheath (that is barely visible) was his treat from Busch Gardens two summers ago. Helmet - 75 cents. Breastplate - 99 cents. Sarah was going to wear butterfly wings I found at a garage sale for $1. Those were not working in the morning, so ones that we received as a Leah birthday gift last year made a fine substitute. Jesse wore a kimono his mother gave us years ago and a hat he got while in China. I wore his cowboy hat and my suede, lace-up, skinny boots. What a fun Dress-up Day!

NaBloPoMo

How do you do it? So, if anyone is still out there, (I know a few are.) and you are anything like me or know someone like me, how do you do it? The whole four kids, homeschooling, teaching outside the home, cooking, cleaning, knitting, planning, blogging part? Maybe I'm forgetting something? Oh yeah, add nursing, volunteering, socializing, partnering, sleeping and chauffeuring to the list. I'll let you know if I think of anything else.

I have a bunch of balls up in the air right now. I dropped the house one. It shattered. I spent two weekends picking up the pieces and have that one back together. I dropped the blog one. You all know what happened here. My one year anniversary went by. My 100th post was back in May. I know by the numbers that others were visiting more frequently than I was. *sheesh*

In an attempt to get myself back in gear here I've joined NaBloPoMo. Some of my friends are writing novels in 30 days. I'm going to post here every day, maybe.

And please leave a comment if you have any blogging tips!

Three in One, Plus Some

Anna is teething. When Sarah got a tooth, she did not sleep well. When David got a tooth, he got a slight fever. When Leah got a tooth, her nose was runny. When Anna gets a tooth: she doesn't sleep well, she gets a fever, her nose runs, she's cranky and she poops a lot. Heavens! Oh, she also begs for soy ice cream. (Have you ever noticed a dog panting, sitting beside the table? Well, this is what Anna does when you get out the ice cream or pour yourself a glass of water. She also waves her arms up and down. So, imagine a dog panting excitedly, bouncing on their hind legs, waving their little front paws, perhaps grunting a bit in their effort to communicate, and that's Anna.)

We've been at this for a month now. The morning of September 13th marked the beginning of the end of my sanity. Well, the whole teething on a plane ride back from my grandma's funeral was when I lost the sane part. Two more teeth appeared on October 1st. Number four arrived on the 11th, and she's showing no signs of stopping folks. I sure am glad they look so darn cute!

L.O.V.E.

How do you spell it? Today i heard it. i read it. i smelled it. i tasted it. i held it. i felt it. Love. My man. Let me tell you. He went above and beyond today. For a girl's whose love language is time, he wrapped this one up for me and gave it to me with a big bow.

When I said my wish this morning was to run errands, with his help, and he said yes. Oh my! I can run around everywhere, all over, with four little people, but I prefer not to. So this guy of mine put aside a day at the office sitting in front of the computer, for a day sitting in the van. With me.

First stop - the bank. This is simple enough. However, somehow he knew to get more of his extra summer paycheck in cash. It certainly came in handy at our next stop - the local home school shop. They gave you 5% off your purchase if you paid with cash or check. We had the cash! We also had the place to ourselves for a bit. We arrived a half hour before they opened. I said my husband had come with me to help with the kids. This was our first stop. My other errands were far away. She let me in. *Thank you!* Jesse stayed out in the van and read "The Horse and His Boy" to everyone for 15 min. before joining me. Having an extra set of child holding arms, an extra set of child checking eyes, a partner to discuss education choices with was simply thrilling. (Sarah too was thrilled to find the next four books in the Narnia series.)

Next was the health food store for gluten free lasagna noodles. Again, he sat and read while I shopped. Our kiddos are great here. However, I'm always rushing. I want to grab my noodles and bulk foods before someone skips/bounds down an aisle a tad too enthusiastically or "helps" a bit too much with the bulk scoops. Also, it can be a challenge to find enough helper tasks for everyone - you get the bag this time, you write the number, now you get to relay the number to the number writer, will you get the twist-tie for mommy? And with Anna having her hands in everything now? Am I ever grateful I was rushing on my own!

On to lunch and Trader Joe's. I took Anna with me this time. Jesse walked everyone else over to their first Sonic visit. Strolling along with one little hand helping me push the cart was a delight. Plus, searching for the catfish, up and down the aisles, three times, high and low, wondering *loudly* when near an employee where oh where he could be, hoping for a hint - that all is getting old for me.

Last stop was the pet store. This one needed some focused time from me for a tricky return, purchase, then exchange. Attempting this while keeping everyone from petting every dog, playing with every toy and darting back to observe every fish was daunting. Instead, my transactions were seamless, and we all got to enjoy the fish together.

Simple, really, but today spelled love for me.

(PS For those of you in the "know", he also mopped the kitchen floor last night. *swoon*)

Where I've Been

Here's my favorite commercial, from back when we had TV. This is what I've been up to. Only, I don't look this good, even when I do have the chance to shower. I haven't been writing, so I'm removing that feature for a bit. It's depressing, since I know I'm forgetting things left and right. What have I been doing? Living. Diaper changes. Pillow fights. (Yes. I get Anna happy in another room, and we have at it for 5 minutes.) Breakfast. Shopping. Lunch. (No peanut butter here of course, but I have the same cutting board.) Baths. Dog. (and a cat now.) Dinner. Diaper changes. Outings. Walks. Bedtime. Stories. (*heart* how the baby sneezes here.) and Laundry! (Only, I don't use the dryer anymore.)

I do all that (and a few other things) holding Anna. She's asleep now, but when she's awake, she wants her mama, and she does not want her mama to sit at the computer. That is boring. A teething baby wants some entertainment to ease the pain. She also wants whatever you are eating or drinking, so beware. She may grab a handful of rice and stuff it in her mouth faster than you can respond. She may pat her hand right into your bowl of soup. (ouch! poor baby! It wasn't very hot, but still hurt.)

And that is where I've been. Living life.

Three C's

Here's an article I wrote for "Pennsylvania Homeschoolers". Enjoy!

I have had many moms marvel and ask how I home school with four children, and one of them is brand new. (Anna Claire joined us on February 28, 2009. This explains the absence of an article four months ago.) For those who have accomplished this, it may seem simple enough. However, for those of us trying it for the first time, it may appear daunting.

I trusted. A lot. I trusted myself. I trusted our children. I trusted our family and friends. Approaching our next "step" with the mind set that "everything will work out" helped the transition go so smoothly for us, it was almost effortless. Looking back, I realize that I actually had numerous things in place beforehand that supported us as we grew. Three of those that stand out for me now are: curriculum, consistency and co-op.

We used a curriculum this year. http://www.movingbeyondthepage.com/ It was just what we needed. I could open a book, know what materials we needed, know what books from the library would enhance the lesson, and have questions ready to help my children stretch their thoughts when my brain was too tired to think. For math we tried Miquon. This is something that Jesse and his brother used when they were learning at home. We all loved it! David started his Sing, Spell, Read & Write journey. Sarah finished this last year. Now Leah cannot wait to begin. In all, school was a pile of books. I learned that although curriculums are not my favorite thing, (I like to be a bit more creative.) they are the best thing for me to teach certain subject areas, and for me to use when I am pregnant and have a newborn.

Two days after Anna was born, we were doing school on my bed. I had prepared for everyone to take a long break, but they craved the consistency of our days. This is something I have always done. We find a rhythm that works for us and stick with it. I have seen our children thrive on this consistency. They know what to expect, usually. With the unexpectedness of a new sibling, our regularity became even more important. This year we began our days with math, followed by reading, curriculum work in the middle and ended with music. Our days of the week also held a pattern: Sarah's piano lesson on Monday while David, Leah and I did lots of school in the car, parking lot and grass, (One of my favorite memories is Anna on a blanket surrounded by buttercups. Leah building a fairy house. David reading me a story about a Bike Hike. Sarah inside practicing Brahm's Lullaby.) Tuesday co-op, school on Wednesday, more school and dance classes for Thursday, Friday relax. It all worked well for us.

Tuesday's co-op was the highlight of our learning with a new baby that was preceded by a tired, pregnant mama. There was friendship, fellowship and learning, oh! so much learning. Whenever a worry entered my mind about what we may not be accomplishing, I remembered our co-op. David and Sarah were content and thriving in their classes. Leah loved my preschool class. Anna was always along for the ride. (You can see a picture of myself and part of Anna here: www.hsobx.org/2009/05/hsobx-spring-finale.html )

In writing this, I realized another "C" we've had all along, connectedness. I believe that leaning at home brings us closer together as a family. We are a stronger unit. Adding a new member strengthens that bond. In a twisted way that I still marvel at, homeschooling helped us welcome Anna and welcoming Anna helped us home school.

Our home school journey will never be the same. Both daunting and exciting, "everything worked out". Welcome to learning at home with the four C's and four little ones!

overheard

We are on vacation. The days are filled with visiting, fixing, exploring. Our second trip is usually in August, to PA, but we bumped it up this year. More on that later. Here are snippets of what I've heard today:

Anna: "aaahhhaa" She's cooing and smiling at everyone and letting the great grandma and grandmas hold and oogle over her and even put her to sleep.
Leah: "I'm going to make a pizza and store it for winter. Isn't that a good idea?" prancing about Grandma's kitchen with a freezer storage container

David: nothing Sorry folks. He was on the roof, fixing that, all day yesterday. Today was spent in the great grandparents' cottage fixing the floor and under the mower, well, fixing the mower. And starting the mower and driving the mower. That is a dream come true. The boy's second word was "gractr", meaning he wanted a ride. Now he can drive. Needless to say, I haven't seen or heard much from him these days.

Sarah: "Well, if this was a fantasy book, this would be the answer. But, it isn't. So this is the answer." studying for her end of 3rd grade test. Sarah too has been off and about. The only time I hear from her is when we are driving to see another friend and studying in the van.

I love vacations...

Super Sarah

Miss Sarah has a blog! Go check it out!

http://www.supersarahr.blogspot.com/

changes - garden I

We got back from vacation to find our gardens had changed. They all grew! Here they are - first with a wide view, followed by what's in 'em.

herb - basil, cilantro, rosemary, dill, a volunteer gourd in the back

garden 1

horseradish (finally! We've tried to grow this for three years for Passover.)

peas (These are the straggling vines in the back. There are a few peas left. Tomatoes are coming up in front of them now. One crop is done and another takes its place.)

turnips

changes - garden II

This one is a bit wild, but full of food.

garden 2
cucumbers

tomatoes

radishes

carrots

yum!