broken camera

Our digital camera is broken - the batteries go off and on and I am having trouble getting pics off ... we have Ophelia's birthday pics from March 5th and we have some other fun things on there that I can't get off ... so here is an update of what we have been up to recently and then I will include some pics that we took with the built-in camera on the laptop, so that I can appease the masses looking for new pics of Fea. 

- Ophelia turned one!! What?!? how did that happen?

- Kaya has learned to ride her bike without training wheels ~ pics on the camera :(  I am amazed, it was scary for me and she had a few crashes but she is basically there now.  Keidis also took his training wheels off, but his balance is a little less stable and he rides so hard and fast that his crashes are more significant - we have to replace a pedal on his bike so far :)

- Mike is currently recovering from kidney stones - he had one that sat there for over a month and so had it removed after a week of severe pain because of it.  YUCK! Seriously, who ever thought that something 6mm in size could cause a man so much grief?!?!

- we planted our garden - it is about 10x10 plot and we have potatoes, ca

rrots, tomatoes, peas, spinach, chard, onions, garlic, strawberries, p

eppers and sunflowers (for Kaya) - we shall see how it goes! We also got our compost up and running.  Very exciting!

Here are the pics of Ophelia from the camera on the top of the laptop.  She started out cranky (she is recovering from a cold) and ended cranky with some lovely smiles in the middle :)

update on monthly challenges post

So some people have been asking me to give an update about my post in January regarding my monthly goals.  

It seems to be going relatively well ... I think in the future, I would give myself 6 weeks at a time to work on a challenge because life gets in the way and I don't get time to be a diligent about the goal as I would like, but it is going okay.

January was cooking and I got into a real groove with meal prep and planning according to the allergies ... I have added a new dinner every two weeks to the repetoire since then and have added a few different snacks that the kids can have.  Admittedly, we have fallen off the wagon with eating well - after a few bouts of stomach bugs, strep throat and some vacation time, we have not got back into eating allergen-free ... time to start again.  I borrowed my SIL's meal planner (it uses a hockey card holder - very clever - each meal fits in one of the pockets and on the front is the meal name, on the back the location of the recipe (which book, etc) and the ingredients, so if you turn it over, you have a ready-made shopping list - BRILLANT!!) ~ it has worked wonders (the camera batteries are dead so can't post a pic!).  

February was cleaning and I got into a real rhythm and managed to have the dishes done, counters wiped and floors swept EACH night before I slept - this is HUGE if you know me :)  and then I created a semi-regular schedule of when things would like the bathroom, vacuuming, laundry would get done.  Having a bit more trouble sticking to that one!! and again, all that sickness and time off didn't help me to stay on track, but now I know what I CAN do and what works.  A success I think!

March was gardening and we got a good start - I enlisted my family and we have started our composter, LOVE LOVE LOVE it - our garbage is WAY down!!!! and we have dug up the garden plot, it has some BIG blackberry roots in it and so we need to get right down in there and now that the weather looks to be improving, I hope to get out there just a little each day or every other day to start setting up rows and mixing compost, vermiculite and soil into the plot to get the plants going in healthy dirt!  There are tons of worms and bugs in there - which is a great sign and I hope we can get the kids involved in this as much as possible!!!

I just checked April and it is food storage and 72 hour kits - looks like I know what the next 4 Family Home Evenings will be :)  I want to do a fire plan, collect all our 72 hour kits into one space and continue to grow our 3-month regular food storage long term will have to wait!!! For cubs this week we are going to the Bishop's Storehouse in Langley (this is a place where you can buy bulk items of grains, dehydrated goods, beans, etc - you pack it or buy it packed for you) and so I am hoping to kick start myself that way.  I heard or read somewhere that April and October are good months to check out your food storage and emerg preparedness because they fall around the regular General Conferences held by our church and that works as a good reminder, plus it is a good time to do a seasonal change of gear inside them ... good thing I picked April as my month :)

so there it is - I do think that 6 weeks would be the perfect length and I did toy with that idea at the outset, but I had so much I wanted to do :)  next year I will pace myself - who knows, one day I won't have to add cooking and cleaning to my list!!!