Organic Phui Style (OPS)

That is right this is OPS. Our first garden. I really am a nerd when it comes to this so brace yourself for some embarrassing talk. I must give credit to my garden actually being put in the ground to Julie Smalley a good friend I miss like crazy! She said she would help me plant it and I kept on reminding her till she came over. So here is OPS - I was so excited when my first bell pepper was the size of a quarter I made K come down to see it. Now when the neighbors see me in the little garden they ask what I am harvesting or ask if they can have some. To which my kind reply is "get your own freakin garden, I mean sure" needless to say it has been really fun eating the garden. Jacob frequently tells his friends - "you want to go tomato hunting?". They all get really excited and fill up their shirts with all the tomatoes that are even thinking about being red. Then they wash them and eat them all - most tomatoes don't make it in the house. Anyways next year we are planning a huge garden with the two neighbors - it will be in their backyard cause we are putting our house on the market but this OPS has got me excited for more!! I currently have growing - cucumber (in abundance), tomatoes, bell peppers, basil, zucchini, potatoes, cilantro, chives, and some unknown yet large thing. The back row in the top picture are my 8 tomato plants. They are very sad because they grew too big - they were taller than me, but the wind and weight have really pushed them down. I had to randomly put another cage in to try and help the plants have growing options. Next year I will stake my plants.

What the crap is that you may be asking yourself. I too am asking this question - I can't remember what we planted, I am hoping for a spaghetti squash. Julie and I ran out of room in the "garden" so we just planted our extra plants in the middle of the weeds on the side of my house. It obviously didn't stop this big mama from growing.


This is the cucumber plant where the OPS was tested and won hands down. We got a regular Giant store cucumber and cut it up and took the taste test. It was really sad and kind of disgusting how much better the OPS cucumber tasted. While I was eating the non OPS cucumber I thought to myself - I remember this taste and the NEW taste is way better. Then I had to do the test on K and he was shocked at how much better the OPS cucumber was!! AWESOME!!

I must put a disclaimer on my OPS - this is PA where you put it in the ground and presto you have the plant. Also there were a lot of prayers (in my heart) that went out for my first garden. There may have even been a few threats in those prayers. For example, one such prayer might have suggested that if this attempt failed there would never be another. (It was really hot when we planted, and I remember not liking that) But I would NEVER admit to that kind of prayer talk. If you need some cucumbers or tomatoes just come and visit :)!! I must give credit to Sandra and her son who while stopping by for a visit one day weeded with me for a good hour. Then there was K and my mom weeding the garden while I was swimming - what can I say I am way too lazy to weed.

Summer

Isn't summer AWESOME!! We have been busy having fun, and I am pretty sure that is how it should be. We have been doing some projects too but those pictures are yet to be taken. Mom just left a couple of days ago and it was a LOT of fun having grandma around. I think we saw movies like crazy and then there were the facials at the Hershey Hotel (they have amazing hot chocolate). One thing I forgot to do was take any pictures - sorry mom.

City Island has been a place we have visited a couple of times. It is this island in the middle of the Susquehanna river - they have miniature golf, batting cages, and that is where the Senators (minor league bb). They roped off a section at the end of the Island for swimming. It is kind of ugly but they even have cement sand boxes - you couldn't ask for more. We like to take our bikes along with lunch.
City Island



As you can see in the pictures swimming has been a HUGE part of our summer. The neighbors have also been a HUGE part of summer - Jacob and Aman would like to be attached at the hip. They frequently trade clothes or dress like twins. They traded shoes for like 2 months, I never know what swim trunks Jacob will be wearing (his or Aman's), and I even have a couple of Aman's socks over here. Like any good mom I made it very clear that I don't really care what they switch, but I draw the line at underwear!! SERIOUS!!
The Twins

CAMP OUT!! (and some extra)

The kids (all the neighborhood kids) have been bugging us for a while to have a camp out. We finally did it - in the backyard of course. I would love to say it was the best camping experience of my life, but in reality camping in humid weather leaves something to be desired, and leaves nothing dry in the morning. Our free tent was the hit of the night. The other kids thought it was sooo big!

There was of course smore making and scary stories around the little teeny campfire. Soz even put little logs in a circle for the kids to sit on for an "authentic scary story feeling".

Here are some cool pics of a birthday party Jacob and Pence went to a while back. Bryce was turning 6 and it was some cool Star Wars party, complete with certified Jedi training.


Pence was working his bouncy ball moves. We had to deflate the ball a LOT because Pence's legs were too short for him to be able to balance and bounce. Maybe he just needs some more milk!

Oh and here is a picture of me the morning of our sprint triathlon. I look excellent of course - I am thinking to myself "what the crap was I thinking" (it was all Julie's doing). I was really, really nervous looking out at the water, but all in all it was awesome. I had a blast and it took me 2hr 10min to finish it all. A 1/2 mile swim in 59 degree water, 15 mile bike, and a three mile run (or in my case a really slow jog/walk). I had to much fun in the end so I obviously didn't work hard enough but it ROCKED!!

4th of July

What would a holiday be without a project. This year to celebrate the 4th K and I refinished two floors in our house. It is quite labor intensive - I was sweating like a pig and my back was killing me by the time the sanding was done. I got the much easier job of running the drum sander while K got the edger - he was in a squatting position most of the day. He was feeling quite sore the day after!!


Do you see the firework in the middle of the grass?! It was a really weird feeling watching my neighbor light it in the grass - it just kind of freaked me out. I kept waiting for something to catch on fire, but it never happened. It had been raining kind of all day, but still - weird!! (That would never happen in the west)

We could not work all day so at about 4 the festivities began. We ate lots of food with the neighbors - then we did a pinata. After that we did some fireworks at the neighbors house and ended it all at mine with a movie and popcorn. Everyone was super tired when it was all over at 10pm. The next day I got to clean up the big wood mess and put down the poly. It was a sweaty job but rewarding because the floors looked awesome after all was said and done. We also went to a friends house that evening for some food and then we walked over to see the fireworks. They were quite spectacular - K and Dave stayed back at the house and watched them from the front lawn because they just didn't get the big deal. I would say it was all for the kids but I enjoyed the fireworks a lot.
This is the floor after it was sanded.

Here is Pence saying "giddy up" to the vacuum.

This is what the floors look like now - I wish I had taken a before pic - but trust me they looked like crap. One had paint all over it.

Last weekend we went to VA to visit some friends. On Saturday we went to a pick your own place where our friends are members. The fruit of the week was blueberries and the vegetable was kale. I only picked berries to eat them - I left the bucket filling to the kids - and I sure did eat a lot. Then there was a petting zoo and a huge play area with cool slides, bouncers, rope swinging, pedal bike races attached to the farm. It was a lot of fun, but very hot. We had planned on leaving the next day after church (4pm), but I wanted a nap so I could drive home. I woke up to the Wii - so we didn't leave till 1 am but boy did we have fun!!
Jacob - boxing!!

Pence - doing his cool I run when I punch move. It was so cute to see him running and punching - they were all beat by the end!!

On a sad note my excellent friend Julie moved to Utah on Monday the 30th - we will miss the Smalleys - and I will REALLY REALLY miss Julie. We had a fun girls night out party to see her off with karaoke and all (but that is something we won't talk about). Do I sound tired? because I am:)

Randomness

School is over - Jacob is really excited for summer vacation to begin (he even did a little whoop! when he got up in the morning). On the last day of school we had a pizza party with the neighbors and were going to go strawberry picking. We got to the orchard when Jacob complained of not feeling well (above is a pic of him in the car at the orchard). Of course we started for home and we almost made it - then he chucked it all up. Good thing I had some Tupperware for him to puke in, I even had a lid to cover it with so it didn't spill all over the place. Grossly when the airtight lid came off it smelled like pizza - kind of made me want to ralph. He insisted that he felt better so we went swimming with the neighbors but then he puked up on our play set steps - nice. By the next morning he was back to his old self!!



Here are the turtle eggs that the boys saw laid. That is right they saw the turtle lay the eggs - isn't that the coolest. When you think about it you feel bad for the turtle - 5 kids just following it around watching as she can no longer can hold it in. She picked the wrong house to live at. Spencer kept telling me that the eggs came out of the turtles tail. This year we also found a robins nest - the eggs were teal in color - I totally thought they were fake (in my defense the only birds in Cali are crows and little brown tirds).




A note about Khuong - Pence and I were cleaning the house one morning when he went rooting about under my bed. Bad choice Pence - but he found mountains of treasure under there. The monsters that live under my bed are medical books. This is a picture of the books found under the bed. Also found under the bed were 2 bags of candy (k hid them for me - we of course ate them), 2 blood pressure cuffs (if I don't ask you shouldn't), and an Otoscope. Again K proves his weirdness by what he keeps under his bed. Would it further weird you out to know in his nightstand there are surgical sutures, surgical scissors, lidocaine, gloves, and a surgical hat. It is just crap that accidentally made it home in his lab coat.

I LOVE CHOCOLATE!!

Before we get to the important chocolate part. Here are some pictures of the boys holding Ben - he is their favorite baby. The whole neighborhood is in love with Ben. The girls have made me promise I will tell them the next time Ben is visiting.


Now back to the business of chocolate. Love is probably not a strong enough word to describe how I feel about chocolate. I wish I liked things like jewelry instead (diamonds can't make you fat - just broke). For Mother's Day and my birthday Khuong got me some chocolate!! For my birthday he sent me on a scavenger hunt. I started in our room with the clue on the paper heart in the chocolate heart. The clue was as follows:
Mommy, come play with me
Where I like to pass away time
Swimming in the open sea
I'll be waiting for you

I of course made my way to the tub - Pence is a bath man. He especially loves to swim with his goggles on in the tub. This is what I found in the tub, with the next clue.
Mommy, come play with me
Where I like to pass away time
Feeding my pets
I'll be waiting for you

The computer was my next destination - Jacob has a pet Cheetah on webkins.com. (You may think I am mean, but I tried out a fish once. The boys fed it crystal light which ended with me accidentally pouring the fish down the drain) Therefore the computer was where I found this and my next clue.
Honey, come play with me
Where I like to pass away time
Doing inspired projects
I'll be waiting for you

The garage is the place for projects!! The last clue was:
Within our hearts
We bear a gift
For you to share
With those you care


This lead me back to my room and the original chocolate kiss heart - in the center under the covers was this awesome magic bullet!!! I had mentioned that I wanted one like 3 months ago - and the man got me one. (Khuong thought he was very clever because he only had to change one line for each of the first 3 clues)

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!!!

Well Darin - this crazy lady wanted to have a Cinco de Mayo party (she is the one in the green shirt in the pic above - look close she is skinny enough to be missed). I am all for parties if there is food. I got to have it at my house because the yard is large, but Darin did all the work. She made homemade tortillas, marinated all the chicken, made some kickin guacamole, and brought the pinata!! Julie made her fabulous salsa and beans to make it a true festival. I am sure you are wondering where all the mexicans are - well if truth be told the little asian kids are the closest thing you will find to a mexican there (besides me). I am sure you are wondering who this cool super hero was at our party - it is amazing what some styrofoam cups can do for your image.




Here is the bouncer Hang (K's sister) bought for us a long time ago. The kids have been bugging us to pull it out forever - I thought this warrented the work. It is only suppose to hold 2 at a time - I guess the kids didn't read that part. Can you see the static?



There of course was a pinata - Spencer cried when Dave (the pinata controller) moved it out of his bats way. Way to go Dave!!


Here was K at the end playing dandilion war with the kids. He keeps forgetting how much work it is to spray those dang dandelions. Oh he didn't spray them, I did - that is why he continues to encourage seed spreading.



This next picture is one of David - can you tell he is one of my favorite boys ever. What can I say - he wants to go home with me after the gym and even holds my hand to the car.



Here are the many faces of Becca - her favorite face to show me is the tongue one. I told her I wouldn't take anymore pictures of her if she kept sticking it out and she promptly quit it. This is a cute lady.