Green!

I think the main reason I like gardening is that you can celebrate each and every time something actually does what it is supposed to do.  I've been having tons of little celebrations here.   The following pictures will probably bore everybody but they make me so happy.

These are the strawberry plants I got on clearance last spring and threw into this big pot.  I kept them in the garage this winter and behold, they are sprouting flowers!  We've had over 10 blossoms so far.  I can't wait to eat fresh strawberries even if it is only one at a time.  

L-R: Sugar snap peas, garlic, and a variety of lettuce.  We are going to start eating lettuce probably tonight.  I just threw in handfuls of seeds and now I will thin it out by eating baby greens for dinner.  Hopefully, we don't eat any weeds along with it as it is a mixture of seeds and I'm not sure of each variety. 

We have rabbits.  But I also have an amazing husband who built me this little fence.  It protects both the garden and the blueberry bushes on either side.  Though you can't tell from this picture, the blueberry bushes are starting to get green leaves!

This picture makes me sad.  I planted these tomato and pepper plants 5 weeks ago and they are barely growing.  This past weekend, I took them over to my mother-in-law's house to hopefully get them to grow under her special light.  It is nearly time to plant them and they are no where near strong enough.  

Hydrangea!!! You came back.  Be still my beating heart.  My favorite types of flowers are the kinds that you can cut and make bouquets out of them.  Hydrangeas top this list.  

These are our new rhubarb plants.  They seem to be settling in remarkably well.  I can't wait for strawberry rhubarb jelly and pies.  

"You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart."  Psalm 104:14-15

Easter Dress

A few weeks ago, I made Kira a dress.  I saved it to have her wear as her Easter dress.  Here are a few pictures that we took on Easter morning.  She wasn't bad but she definitely wasn't cooperative.  We would try get her to stand a certain direction in the early morning light and she would inevitably get distracted by a bird or something and turn 180 in the opposite direction.  Aaron took all the pictures which means he didn't take all the ones that I would have taken.

Overall, I'm rather pleased with the way it turned out.  It is a little on the large size but the pattern only came in 12-18 mo and 2T-3T.  Kira is more of 18-24 mo so I made her the larger size so the dress would last for a while.  I also wish that Kira's nice sandals fit her but they are just a little bit too large.  If you would like to make out this dress, just use this straightforward tutorial.  

Thirty-One Knockoff

A facebook friend of mine is a Thirty-One Bags sales rep.  A few weeks ago, she posted this picture:

While technically it is a coupon clutch, she said that it would work great for the envelope system.  The envelope system is simply a way of keeping on budget.  It involves taking out a certain amount of cash for a given period of time (i.e. a week, a month, etc.) and then putting it into individual envelopes for different areas of your budget.  For instance, you might put $100 into an envelope marked "food" and then when you go to the store you know exactly how much money you have to spend without having to do any math or worry about accidentally going over budget.  We've been using this system since we got married and it has worked wonderfully for our family.  Aaron has told me that I can use a credit card for all my purchases as long as I stay on budget but that is way too much work.  I prefer the envelope system.  The only problem with this system is that I constantly have several paper envelopes of cash floating around my purse and the envelopes inevitably get really beat up looking and torn after a little while.  I never thought about using anything besides paper envelopes until my friend posted this picture.  I wanted it.  No, I was pretty convinced I needed it.  It even went on sale...for $28.  Um, no.  I can buy a whole new purse for that amount of money.  So I started looking on the internet for some diy tutorials.  If found this super helpful one and got to work.   

I decided to only use scrap material to cut down on my remnants in storage and to keep the project cheap.  I'm not sure if it all matches but it was super cheap.  I even had two of the zippers.  My total cost was less than $5 for the 4 zippers I found on clearance.  Here are some pictures of the finished project.  

The button + elastic keeps it all closed and tidy.

There are 6 pockets complete with zippers.  

I put white tabs on each pocket so I can write each category to keep things straight.  

At this point, my child insisted that I take a picture of the "baby" and show it to her.  This is her fake smile. 

I also put a pocket on the back for coupons and such. 

I have yet to actually use it as I just completed this project yesterday, but hopefully it will be helpful and last for years.  I'm excited!