Spring 2013 Garden (and new neighbor update)

There is something so calming, so satisfying, so beautiful about seeing a garden grow. I love it.
This year I didn't get my garden in quite as early as I wanted to but it's all in now. We had a lot of grass creeping in from the bordering field and decided to spray all the weeds, which had to sit for about two weeks before we could till it all up again. It will make it so much nicer to weed later on though!
I have 32 tomatoes planted right now! (Can you say "spaghetti sauce and salsa this fall"? Yes, I think so.) I started some from seed and transplanted some I bought at the nursery, in my greenhouse. I love having a greenhouse. So nice. I also love having irrigation water and a riser right in my garden that a handy man husband rigged up with pvc pipe to flood irrigate each row all at once. Makes watering so quick and easy and puts the water only where I want it.
I'm very much looking forward to a big, beautiful garden this year (can you tell?)!

Update on our robin's nest....

and then there were three....

and then there were four. Oh baby!

A new neighbor

Look who just moved in....

Can you see the robin nestled in the middle?

Two beautiful hanging baskets showed up on my front porch for Mother's Day and about a week later we discovered one basket had a perfect little nest nestled right down in the flowers.
Yesterday a brilliant blue robin egg appeared. Mama robin has been a good neighbor so far; no swooping or squawking. We pretend we can't see her when we walk by (which we have to do to get out the front gate) and she seems to think we can't see her, too. She rarely flies away when we come by.
Only time will tell if more than one little, blue neighbor will show up, if mama robin can continue to put up with us, if we can continue to put up with her, and if the whole story has a happy ending.
We'll keep you posted.
Other recent pics:

Millie and Weston on the old Massey tractor with daddy. Tractors make garden prep a snap and it's great entertainment for kids, too. Get one. I highly recommend it.

Weston LOVES going outside. "The door's open Westy. Be free!"

May Update

Okay. Here I go again, starting anew. Love blogging. Love the idea of blogging. Wish I could just get with the program and make time for at least a small, simple blurp every week.
What happens to me is I'll get so behind that I just can't face the headache of catching up. So, I've decided to just do something (it's better than nothing) and not even worry about adding in all the stuff that I've missed in weeks past.
This is me starting over. Fresh. Nothing complicated. Past is past. (Deep breath, here you go Nicole)

My Weston turned ONE! Can you believe that? Seriously, where does the time go and why does it insist on constantly gaining momentum as I get older?!
We didn't do a whole lot for his birthday, though. Jason and I discussed that when we went to bed that night and kind of felt bad but Weston probably could have cared less and he had a blast with pizza,baseball, and cake. He loved watching and listening to us sing happy birthday to him. Grinned from ear to ear.
Oh, I just love him!!
We, of course, had baseball the night of his birthday. We have baseball every week, Monday thru Thursday, from about a month ago until mid June. Weston had fun playing on the grass eating pizza while we watched Owen play his game. Afterword we went to a different field to watch Millie play teeball. She LOVES playing teeball and does really good. The coach pitches to her and she hits it (doesn't even use a tee). Yeah for Milllie!
Wyatt and Owen are doing well at baseball, too. I have to admit I was a little nervous before the season started. They hadn't played for two years! We moved here during the first season and I missed the signups for the second (they signup SO early here).
School is almost out. I'm trying to prepare myself for summer, keeping the kids entertained, and trying to come up with plans to keep their little brains from shriveling up. We'll see how that goes.
Here are some pictures of recent events (in no particular order).

Weston's 1st Birthday!

Monster cake

Spent most of Weston's birthday at the ball park.

Before cake

During cake (he wanted me to try some. No thank you.)

After cake

Millie loves T-ball!

And tumbling! (tumbling recital '13 outfit)

I know this is almost two months ago but grandpa Eastin came to visit and Wyatt turned 12! I have a 12 year old!

Wyatt's got a remote control helicopter for his b-day.

We went fishing and I was sad that dad didn't catch anything because....

apparently Wyatt caught them all.

Idaho trip May 1st 2013. Horn hunting with grandpa. Found a bunch of deer 4 points (no matches) and a beautiful 6 point elk set. Grandpa found a bunch of ticks (and he was the only one wearing repellant or should I say attractant).

I love my family!