Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens

Every other Wednesday, Natalie doesn't have school, so I try to think of something fun for everyone to do. Today my friend Debbie and all our kids spent the day at Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens in SE Portland (across from Reed College). Admission is free on weekdays and it is such a beautiful place this time of year. Besides doing something with the kids, my real motive was to get a very specific photograph of my 3 babies. When Natalie was 4 and Zander was 2, I got the most precious photo of them walking across the bridge. I wanted so badly to replicate that same adorable scene to include Hayden. Well, knowing my little Hayden, this was not going to be an easy task, but I think I did it...see for yourself:
After feeding the ducks and geese, we settled down in the sun and had a nice little picnic then walked around a bit more and took more pictures. All in all, it was a fun day, but I was getting frazzled by the end. As I look back on my 200...(yes 200) photos from our outing, I think the cutest ones are when they aren't even looking at the camera. Here are a bunch of great shots I captured today.

Let the planting begin

Last fall I researched potager gardens and decided I would give it a try. Yesterday I decided to take advantage of the warm weather and started digging the borders for my vegetable garden. Instead of planting everything in rows, I am planting my plants in shaped beds...It was a lot of work...two days worth of digging, but today I finally got to get vegetable starts. I took Natalie to our local garden center after school and we picked out lots of good things to plant. Here is an idea of what's in store for us if the bunnies don't eat them first...

Strawberries, lettuce, cabbage, leeks, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, artichokes, eggplant, turnips, peas, green beans, broccoli, 3 sizes of pumpkins, cucumbers, zucchini, dill, 3 kinds of thyme, rosemary, parsley, 2 kinds of basil and chives.
Hayden and Zander had fun digging in the dirt and "helping" mommy. After spending about 4 hours in the garden, I only got about half of the plants in the ground. Boy are my arms sore...and sun burnt. It's been downright hot here, well hot for May in Oregon anyway.
While I was busy planting, our cat Harley was having fun swatting at a snake!!! YIKES!

Has it really been a year already?

I can hardly believe that a year has
passed when we moved from this house:









to this one:
There have been a lot of adjustments for sure, but I feel pretty settled now...not organized yet, but I'm still working on it. Last year at this time I was frantically packing and painting while Dan was residing the house in Troutdale. After we moved in, I still had to commute into Troutdale (20 minutes) to take Natalie to preschool. It was a busy time for us and although things have slowed down a little, we are still on the go most of the time. This year rather than unpacking, we spent our day washing the car...it doesn't happen very often, so I was happy to pitch in and help clean our dusty Suburban. It was pretty bad...the kids were drawing in the dust. They all had fun washing the car with us...it was a family affair.

Fun in Fairyland

Today Natalie and her best friend Sarah got to be fairies for a day at the Alpenrose Dairy Fairy Festival. We arrived as soon as they opened and got their faces painted right away. Natalie got a fairy painted on her cheek, complete with sparkly fairy dust. Then they mixed up sweet smelling potions and magically turned them into sachets for their room. After a stop at the castle wall they each made fairy wands with fancy ribbon and fairy crowns made from fresh flowers. The girls had a magical time (and the moms couldn't snap pictures fast enough)! Here are some more of my favorite photos...I can't wait to scrapbook these fun memories:I think I had almost as much fun taking their pictures as they did skipping around like little fairies.


After we left the fairy festival, we stopped for lunch at Peanut Butter and Ellies in SW Portland, a kids restaurant with a menu catering to kids like none other. Sarah ordered a peanut butter and banana sandwich and Natalie had the Mac and cheese. Both girls had berry smoothies and for dessert we all had peanut butter rice crispy treats. Debbie and I both ordered the Nut-tastic chicken sandwich which has a spicy peanut sauce over a chicken breast with lettuce, tomato, onion, bacon and cheese. Mmmm...it was tasty. Also on their menu is peanut butter play dough...that you can actually eat. We didn't order any, but now I want to find a recipe and try it at home.

Fabulous Food Friday

Cinco de Mayo is tomorrow, so in honor of this fine holiday I am going to try a new twist on an old favorite:
Slow Cooker Enchiladas
1 lb Ground beef (I am using ground turkey)
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can of enchilada sauce
1 1/2 cups grated cheese
6-8 flour tortillas

Cook beef (or ground turkey), onions, garlic and green peppers in a skillet until meat is browned and vegetables are tender. Drain. Add enchilada sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. In a slow cooker, layer about 3/4 cup meat mixture, tortilla, and 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat layers. Cover. Cook on low for 5-7 hours or until heated through. Serve with sour cream and guacamole.

I haven't ever made enchiladas this way before, but I am trying to use my crock pot more often, so I thought I would give this a try. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Happy Cinco de Mayo tomorrow!!!

What...Do I smell or something?

I must have a serious case of blogger B.O. or something,
cause in the past week there have only been 2 comments (thanks Dad and Andrea). Okay! I know that was random, but it's been a busy week for me and I'm plum out of things to say...for tonight anyway. Hope everyone is having a good week.

Cheap Date

Tonight after dinner, we piled all the kids in the car and drove to Baskin and Robbins for their annual 31 cent scoop night. Dan and I both had double scoops and the kids each had one scoop, we got a few extra scoops to take home and our grand total was only $3.41. What a deal!

Down on the Farm

Natalie's Field Trip
Today was Natalie's field trip to the farm. I was lucky enough to be one of 4 parents chosen (out of 12) to attend the class trip. It was a teaching farm located in Corbett. The lady who runs the farm was like a drill Sargent, which can be great when you are trying to keep the kids in line, not so great when her condescending manner spills over to the parents. All in all it was fun though. The rain held off until we were inside and even then, it was only for about 15 minutes. We got to see goats, chickens, geese, ducks, sheep, horses, a donkey, a cow a huge pig and the biggest rabbit I've ever seen. I had 6 kids in my group and together we learned all kinds of things about the animals. Natalie was her usual bashful self and didn't want to go too close to the animals...not even close enough for a picture, so most of my photos have other kids in them, which I'm sure the other mommies who didn't get to go will love to have.


Zander's Field Trip
Zander's preschool field trip to the farm was last Thursday. We went to a local farm here in Boring. All the kids got to see sheep, chickens, pigs and baby chicks. They even got to pot their own plants, a zinnia and a tomato plant. Then the kids all sat down and snacked on animal crackers and milk. It was a fun day. I feel so lucky that I get to attend these field trips with our kids. It really gives me a chance to spend time with the kids individually. It also helps get to know the other parents, teachers and the kids in their classes.

Happy May Day!

Today was May Day. Our little neighbor girl was so cute. She made a special May day flower holder out of paper, filled it with flowers, decorated it and hung it on our door. She rang the door bell then took off running. I never did actually see her, but I know it was her. She is very thoughtful that way.
In other news...Natalie lost her first tooth today! She was gnawing on her juice box while riding in the back of the car with Dan who was running errands. She must have bit down hard because it popped right out. It wasn't really even loose. I noticed it was slightly discolored a day or two ago, so I gave it the wiggle test and it didn't move...I was not fully prepared to have her lose her first tooth, but I did manage to make her a tooth fairy pillow after she fell asleep.

Tomorrow I'm going on a field trip with her to a farm in Corbett...I am excited because only 4 parents were chosen to go, but right now it is pouring rain outside my window...please pray our field trip is dry.