Sowing Seeds

Inspired by a WWII Batman comic in which Batman, Robin and Superman grow a victory garden, the boys have decided to plant one of their own. Mark and Jeremy built a couple raised beds and the boys got to work. They helped us plant onions, garlic, swiss chard, spinach, leeks, peas and carrots. We still have some room in one of the beds, but we're waiting to see how we go before planting any more. We decided to try planting seeds as opposed to using starts, so fingers crossed that something actually sprouts!

Progress

Here's the latest on the yard:

A trench was dug (by Mark and Matt in the pouring rain!)



The first part of the wall has been built (in half a day by Scot, Mark and Brian):

There's still a long way to go, but we're getting there.

A Rainbow of Cars

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Kaetzel Family!



Max, Gus and Luna worked hard to sort all of the Matchbox cars to make this rainbow.

Pot O'Gold:

Cloud:

One More

Eva's grandma took this photo of the kids at preschool yesterday. Aren't they adorable?



Notice the jacket Gus is wearing. Mark came home from work a couple days ago with 4 bags of hand-me-down clothes from one of his co-worker's nephew, all of which were in the size 7/8 range. Gus was semi-heartbroken that none of the clothes were for him, despite the fact that I assured him that they would eventually find their way into his wardrobe. The jacket he is wearing came from the lot and was the only thing I could find that was even close to fitting him, since it was a 5T. He loves it and wears it around the house just for fun. Mark and I were joking that with his shaggy hair (which is GONE by the way!) and his oversized, beat-up army coat, he's starting a new "homeless veteran" fashion trend, which sounds completely inappropriate to be joking about now that I type it out.

I don't even know what to say...

There are no words to describe how much I love this photo:

Our Yard

This is what our backyard looks like as of this morning. A nice size for the city, but overgrown and uninspired. Our good friend Scot is helping us improve it (on a very tiny budget) and I can't wait to see how it turns out. I'll be updating here as the project progresses.
Check out Scot's amazing work here

Eva's Gift

Gus' best-buddy, Eva, turned 4 a few days ago and today we're going to her birthday party. When I asked Gus what he'd like to give her, he said he really wanted to bake her a cake. Eva's mom, Jessica, kindly agreed to let Gus provide the cake for the party and here's what he made:

He knew exactly what he wanted--Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Then he said it definitely need "beautiful sprinkles" because Eva likes beautiful things. He chose a #4 candle and then some pink and purple star candles for her to blow out. He then decided the cake needed a heart and a deer. I love how much thought he put into this gift. It seems so much more special than simply going out and picking a toy--although I couldn't resist buying her a dress! Hey--little girl birthdays are my only chance to shop on the "girl" side of a store. I have to take the opportunities when I can!