{this moment}

A Friday ritual. 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.- via soulemama

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. 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.- via soulemama

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. 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.- via soulemama

Hot then cold…

On Saturday and Sunday it was close to 80 degrees. We wore tank tops and soaked up the sun.

Here’s a couple of pictures of the kids working barefoot in the soil.

On Monday morning we woke up to a light dusting of snow. The kids think this weather is hilarious.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. 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.- via soulemama

These days…

we have been working on our version of an art studio.  The kids and I both wanted somewhere we could leave unfinished paintings, drawings, projects and have a place to go and create.  The best place for this was part of the third floor, the unfinished part of the attic.  The downside the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter, but we will figure out a way around that.  The pluses outweigh the minuses in my opinion.  Lots of space so everyone can have their own area, exposed rafters which fill me with joy, and a window in the back that swings inward and lets you have a nice view into the trees.   It is not finished yet, we still need to put together a large table in the middle, I need to get some string lighting and bring in some more supplies that are still scattered over the house, but here is a sneak peek.  It doesn’t look like much now, but I see a lot of potential.

We have celebrated the first week of school, worked in the yard, built a new fence, worked inside the house and started soccer practice…

This evening we are going to work on a new fire pit area for the backyard and possibly pitch our tent for a backyard campout.

A Plant Tour

So far all of my plants, except for the bee balm, have survived.  I have been weeding and watering, and chasing sunlight around with the potted plants.  Here is what’s growing:

Kalanchoe was a potted plant gifted from our neighbors before they left.

I believe this is the third year our clematis has come back, despite being trampled and covered with toys it still manages to spring up.

Tomato plants and pepper plants

Tomato and pepper plants continued

 

I believe this is a pumpkin plant, we did not plant it but are going to see what happens. Also, some smaller tomato plants.

A potted pansy

This was given to us by our neighbors and smells lemony.

More gifted potted plants

In our kitchen

In our dining room

I’ve decided I want more of these air plants all over the house. For now we have just the one in the dining room.

Jade plants, succulents, my orchid (stick which never blooms anymore) and aloe plants in the living room.  They don’t get sunlight until I carry them outside.  These are my vampire plants. 

Planter in the front yard. Chocolate mint, grapefruit mint and orange mint. It smells really good.

I also put a plant in each of the kids room, Isabella picked an asparagus fern, Vita picked a small succulent and Blackburn got a Croton “Lauren’s Rainbow” for his room.  Any house/outdoor plants that you have had a good experience with (especially ones that love the shade) let me know.  I am always on the lookout for new plants.

Snapshots

Northside Farmer’s Market- we bought flowers and visited with friends

Backyard Lilacs and Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick

His last day of preschool for this year…sibling love.

Ferris wheel

My favorite part about this picture – Vita ignoring his scream singing.

Getting pumped up for the soccer game.

Soft serve ice cream – twist style for us.

Green Thumb…fingers crossed

I planted some stuff today.  I’m a 50/50 gardener.  I start out with grand plans and then at some point just forget to water and eventually I am left with a stick (I can’t keep orchids alive) or a brown plant in a pretty planter.  Lowes had some plants on sale so I picked up a few.  I love buying all types of flowers and ignoring the directions which causes Ben to frown and give me an “I told you so” look when they die.  This time I reigned in my desire to purchase plants that needed full sun.  We get shade, a lot of shade…so I bought some ferns, some Scottish moss and coleus plants and put them in planters on the front porch.  I also bought a violet for fifty cents, a banana pepper plant and bee balm (which does like sun and I will find it some even if I have to cut down the neighbor’s almost dead tree).  I bought two inside houseplants also.

Plant and Horticultural Study

Last Thursday, Blackburn’s preschool class visited the University of Cincinnati’s greenhouse on the roof of Rieveschel Hall.  The kids were shown different types of flowers, herbs and toured the greenhouse which was 101 degrees that day!  His class is currently sprouting seeds which they will be able to bring home soon.

These were Blackburn’s favorite “the flowers that eats”.