Flora and Fauna

Well we have been doing some exploring in the back yard, which is to say we have been weeding and finding new plants. There are a few things which we know, and quite a few that we do not. Thank goodness for Better Homes and Gardens New Gardening Book as my fave reference tool! We knew that we had a ton of bulbs and hosta. The hosta is too out of control now to divide- I'll have to do it next spring. There is a ton! There are quite a few daffodils and daylilies too. We knew that there were a couple of rose bushes, but this past weekend while trimming and weeding, I found another one. AND some Peonies!!! (The state flower of Indiana is the peony, and the state bird the cardinal. One of my favorite flowers and one of my favorite birds, well, I knew Indiana would maybe be okay! And bully for us that not only Indiana, but our own back yard, has both peonies and cardinals!) Also found some other flower that had been crowded by overgrown bushes and weeds, and while looking up some of the various things we have blooming, found out it was lily of the valley! It is quite beautiful and can be fragrant, and is trying to grow back there. I know now that it needs shade, so will trim those unruly bushes back there carefully.

The big bush back by the garage in the corner (which I believe is the same as the two under the living room window on the side) is viburnum. There is another bush growing behind the viburnum in the back, but I forgot about that till just now because the viburnum is that big. I will be trimming that shortly.

The little bed along side the garage is full. I am not sure of all what. There are 2 hostas flanking each end, and the middle is a mishmash of weeds, grass (the fountain grass- I think seeds from the one in the middle area blew over there) and an unknown flower. Wasn't sure if the flower was a flower at all, actually, so yesterday as I was trying to clean it up a bit tried to transplant some of the "flowers". Now I am really hoping that it takes because looking at the leaves I am pretty sure it's purple coneflower, aka echinacea. If I could have left well enough alone, I would have, but there was no way to get around them to get to the grasses, because I had to use the BIG shovel to get those out. And there is actually another one to go! I had to stop yesterday when the chickens woke up.

So now we also have under our bedroom window a bearded iris. It is purple and quite beautiful. I was looking for more, but right now it seems like only one. It is back there with all the Oregon Grapeholly. I don't mind the Grapeholly, it has yellow berries, the leaves are pretty in the autumn, and even flowers. But there is too much. I am working on trimming it back, but apparently the previous owners put the plants in their ideal growing conditions, because they are on fire. One I cut back quite a bit is showing substantial new growth. I will have to keep at it. So there will be some more trimming at Chez Thuringer and hopefully more discovery.

I was trimming the lilacs this past weekend and lamenting that they bloomed for such a short period of time. I had wanted to cut a flower and press it and send it to my mom for her birthday but by the time I sent out her package the blooms were long gone.

Attached are a few pictures of what we have growing here in the back yard. If you recognize anything, let me know. I know we will have to wait out the growing season to find out on more of this stuff as things bloom at different times. But what the heck is that tree out back? And what the heck is that mini tree in the back with the little flowers on it? I am off now back to the book!

Edited to add:

The picture of the peony is not actually mine. It is growing in our neighbors front yard, kinda on the side, and I can see it out our dining room window. There is a large group of them, and they are quite lovely. She is a self admitted non yard person, which tempts me to go out in the dark of the night and cut them and put them in a lovely vase to enjoy in the house before they decline. As I am not like that, I will be grateful that they are available for my viewing daily out the window.

Plus forgot to mention that one of the rosebushes has several blooms waiting to open! I am hoping to see some soon on the newly discovered rose bush in the back.

Smart Boy !!!

Okay so I just went in to get James up from his nap, and upon arriving saw that he had removed his socks (which he does at any given opportunity). So I say to him, rhetorically, "Where are your socks?" and he HANDS me one!!! I love the smarty pants boy!

Damage

Our James has 4 teeth. Seeing what you see here, and the pictures don't show how deep these seem to go, I should not be worrying about what to feed him. I love that this crib goes from crib to toddler bed to double bed. He will have these for a really long time!!!

No new news

Sorry for the dearth of blogging, folks, but really not much has been going on here. I have been a slave to the tv the last week or so watching the season finales of my favorite shows, and the weather has been good so we have been outside some. Other than that we have had relatively slow news days here.
I got myself another cold. The first day was tired and muggy and achy, as well as stuffy and coughing. I decided it wasn't allergies with the achy ant took some dayquil. Day 2 had the aches gone, and now I am still stuffy and coughing, mostly due to a persistent tickle in my throat. PJ was upset that I am sick (again) and I told him I overheard a mom at Ava's school talking about her kids having flu. I know that these little chickens can be "carriers" and I told him unfortunately when we take them out into the world, sometimes the sickness is a part of it. She brought home a nice cold from the Y a few months ago. Its just a part of building up all of our immune systems, and if I get it worse than the kids then WAHOO because as little fun as it is to not feel good, its super no fun for chickens. Now Mucinex is my new friend and hopefully he will treat me right.
Last Friday we went to the zoo with Ava's preschool- all the kids from the preschool were there. It was a zoo, literally and figuratively. One of the moms lost her little girl right before we left. I ran into her, she asked me if I had seen her (she was at the drinking fountain, turned around and the little one was gone) and I said no. We split up and looked in a couple of nearby places and I ran into Ava's teacher and asked her if she'd seen her. She said no and immediately went to the front office where the little girl was waiting. Apparently zoo personnel had seen her unattended, and took her to wait for her mom. DRAMA! How scary how fast this can happen. I was never and advocate for the child leash, but...
Pretty soon after that James started to melt down. He had been without his morning nap, after all. Unfortunately while I remembered juice and snacks and sunscreen, I forgot the camera so there are no pics to share of the zoo today. We saw quite a lot but missed the Africa exhibit, which I understand is big and amazing. The cool thing about that zoo is that you can go and do sections. You don't feel like you have to do the whole thing at once. You can go and see the rainforest, or Australia, or ride the carousel, or see Africa, or go look at the monkeys or the really big komodo dragon. Anything. And they have a fountain the chickens can run thru during the warm weather to cool them off, like Didi used to do with Ava at the Phx zoo.
Speaking of Ava, I told her this morning while she was getting dressed (for the 3rd time- more on that later) that I am going to start calling her Dot for all the bruises she has on her legs that look like polka dots. She wasn't sure what to make of that.
Ava is asserting her independence in a new way now which is getting dressed herself. She will walk downstairs in the morning in an outfit which may or may not be appropriate to the weather, so she may have to change. If not she will reappear throughout the day a couple more times in different outfits. PJ says I need to teach her to fold her clothes and put them away when she is done wearing them for an hour or so, or get her some clothes with buttons to slow her down! Both excellent suggestions. Right now the clothes either lay wadded on the floor or stuffed in her drawer or tossed into the laundry. We will have to work on this.
Other than all that all is well here. We have a fundraiser for Ava's school tonight, a fun carnival, so will go for a little while with the family.
The electricians are here right now working on the basement and also putting an outlet in outside in the front- there's one in the back but when PJ mows the front with the electric mower, we have to plug it in on the inside. That's okay for now, but when Xmas comes we will need somewhere to plug in the lights !!!
Okay I can't think of anything else. PJ's smart green house is done and now theres a bunch of demolition going on at Renaissance Pointe, tearing down the houses that need to come down. I told him if he knows of any specific times I will bring Ava down to see it in action. I think she'll like it.
James is doing well (see next post) and walking around the coffee table or couch (holding on) if there's something on the other end that he wants. He needs motivation. Otherwise he will drop down and crawl or now he holds his arms up for us to pick him up. He spends a lot of the day fussing at me to put him Down and most of the evening fussing at Daddy to pick him Up. Silly monkey!
Hope everyone is good and will try to spice things up here at Chez Thuringer and keep it from being over a week without a post.

Baby's First Shoes

James got his first pair of proper shoes yesterday. There is a shoe store about 2 miles away that was reccomended to me, and so we went while out and about. I actually went to get him another pair of Robeez but while there the lady said he would do better in the Stride Rites, and the sole on them while sturdier than the robeez was still quite pliable. Ava also needed sandals, and chose some pink Stride Rites that you will see another time. James is unsure what to think of these new shoes. As much as I hate to think of the tops scuffing from his crawling, I am trying to keep him in them to get used to them on his little feet when standing. I try to get him to walk, by standing in front of him and holding his little hands and going backwards and encouraging him to come to me, but he puts his left foot behind his right foot and drops down to the floor as quickly as he can. It seems as though PJ has a little more success in keeping him on his feet longer, but PJ did say as a wee lad he preferred to be carried about and so we are figuring, like father, like son. He's doing better, and occasionally taking a couple of steps here and there while standing up. Like in jail, to get around to the other side of a toy so he has more room when he drops to the ground. If there's a mantra about my son, I think it's "In his own time". It's true with eating, it was true with the crawling, and I am sure in his own time he will be walking!

Bike Riding

Ava got a new bike a couple of weeks ago. It is quite bigger than her old bike, so she is higher off the ground. She has a hard time riding on our sidewalks though, as they are quite old and bumpy. She gets unsure of herself, and slows down, which causes her to tip on the big bumps. Also there are places that are eaten up and kind of gravelly, and she is uneasy with them as well. So when we go 'round the block, there are quite a few places where I am pushing James in the stroller (the jogger, it has bigger tires to handle the bumpiness) and pulling Ava on her bike by the handlebars. I've been trying to be patient and hopeful that she will gain some confidence, but Daddy took ACTION! He found a thing, a bike, or half a bike really, that attaches to HIS bike, and therefore they ride together. We got if for quite a deal on Ebay (of course) and he was really excited. He put it on Saturday and they went for a spin. It was a hit! I think he really likes that they can go places together- like up to the Scotts, or down to the library, anywhere really, since he does the pedalling. She helps with that occasionally, tho. Last night PJ was going to go to the gym right after work since I have yoga tonight, but called at the last minute and said he was coming home to get Ava and the bike and they could ride down to the park together. It was awesome. She really is getting some confidence, and perhaps this afternoon I'll get out the stroller and her new bike (with a basket so Baby Hop can ride along) and see how she does with the bumps. We'll see how she does!

Soon to be 4 br 2 1/2 ba w/ finished basement

Last Thursday and Friday, PJ and his friend from work, Paul, took off work and framed in the family room in the basement. Previous posts somewhere show what it looked like before- Wood paneling, and original linoleum tiles. Since then, PJ took down the paneling, we put in some can lights (or rather the electrician did) and had it waterproofed. The waterproofing consists of taking a jackhammer (yes, jackhammer IN the basement) and digging into the floor around the perimeter of the room. Then they put in what they call a tile, or what I have heard referred to as a french tile, which is basically a pipe to allow any water coming in through the ground to be fed out. Then they re-cement the floors, and install a plastic sheeting on the walls, so again, if any water comes in thru the walls, it goes behind the plastic sheeting, into the ground under the new cement, and out thru the tiles. We only had the family room portion waterproofed as it appeared the previous owner had some of the utility room water proofed and a sump pump installed (for those in the sw a sump pump takes any water OUT that has come into the basement). Next we had new basement windows installed, and last Tuesday the gentlemen from Home Depot delivered a bunch of wood on their flatbed (along with soil and mulch for the yard). Ava got to see the men unloading the pallette with the soil and mulch on it with a forklift, and was mighty excited to know that Papa drives one for his work. Wednesday PJ went and rented a power nailer, and then Thursday they got to work. That day the boys made a bunch of progress. Out of the 3 walls that they needed to do, they got one of the short ones and the long one done. On Friday, it was a slower start because we were trying to figure out what to do with the old cleanout and the old gas pipe (we think that's where the stove used to be which is now where the fridge is). We decided the easiest thing would be to hide it all in a closet, which is good because we can put shelves in there and it can be good usable storage. So then they had to figure out how to frame it in. Also we wanted to re-use the closet doors from our bedroom as the closet will eventually be rebuilt in there, so they had to have the measurements just right. They got it done a little after lunch on Friday, and it looks great. As soon as the car sells, I will find a drywaller to get some walls up. Then, we'll save some pennies and get some carpet and move some furniture! They worked hard, and also had a great time. PJ really enjoys Paul's company, so I think the days went by fast even tho they were really working. Here are some pictures. It's hard to get good photos down there, so bear with me!

Somebody Feed My Son, Please!

I do not know how he does this but manages almost always to get a piece of macaroni on his nose or perhaps ear, always in his pants and mostly down his shirt. It's one of his hidden talents I suppose.

After a question about a meshugena, I changed the last post title to Oy Vey, which is one of the myriad things I say to the boy when we are attempting to eat. Attempting being the operative word. (I typed work in instead of word just now- slip of the finger or slip of the Freud???)

His latest thing is that he wants to eat what I am eating (seemingly at breakfast and lunch only). Even if what he has is something that is always successful. Like this morning he had O's, his cup of milk, and a large banana. Ava likes to occasionally have that all together in a bowl, but due to size and messiness, James has it compartmentalized. I sat down with a bowl of oatmeal, and that boy hollered until tears were streaming out of his eyes and I gave him a bite of my oatmeal. Now for those of you who say, "This is a good thing, it will be easier for you to make meals for the kids when he wants to eat what you are eating!" I say in return that yes, that makes complete sense in theory. But remember I am already making an alternative meal for the picky little birdie, and there's the on James' time factor to consider. I.e., I gave him unlimited oatmeal, and he seemed happy. I began to daydream about meals eaten all together (with a wee girl complaining about what she had to eat of course), and prepared to give him another bite since his mouth was less full and he was hollering and reaching for it. But wait! The spoon goes up to hollering boys mouth, and instead of hollering abating, it grows louder AND the push/rub move comes out! Now, I haven't seen that move in quite a while. It's the one where he pushes the spoon away then rubs his eyes to have his hands in his face lest you come back with the spoon for a second try. So I back off, the hollering quiets, and a mere moment later it begins again with the reaching. He wants another bite. Now, for those of you who say, "This is a blessing! Give him some in a bowl with a spoon and let him feed himself!" I say to you, yes, this is a good idea in theory. But with the boy any bowl, plate or utensil of any kind given to him will land on the floor (with any food on or in said bowl or plate) quicker than Dale Gordon Jr.can get himself around the track. It is insurance that he is keeping me on my toes, and also helps bring me back to reality when I get all wistful about having a tiny baby in the house again. Seriously !!!???!!!

Oy Vey!

I can only hope that is good. The boy loves his bagels and cream cheese. Next time we should try lox!