Driving my kids to and from school myself

Mornings can stressful. 

Get out of bed. 

This is the hardest for me.  I usually do not feel happy first thing in the morning.  All I want to do is sleep more.  The desire to stay in bed is so strong it trumps my all resloves I made the night before.  I have never liked getting out of bed and actually waking up.  And for the past year I wake up more tired and exhaused than I went to bed.  I do not feel refreshed or recharged.

Get up.

Eat. Kids stop talking.  Eat

Kids, go brush your teeth. Luna, what are you doing!  It's not play time.  Brush your teeth.

Brush teeth.  Gabe!  Where are you!  No hide and seek.  Brush teeth.

Get dressed.  Kids stop playing.  Put on your clothes.

Luna don't forget to put on underwear.

Gabe, put on your clothes!

Luna, where are your socks!

No, Gabe you can't wear blue today!

You have to wear these underwear.  I know you don't like them.  It's all there is.  You can wear the car ones tomorrow.

Come on Gabe put on the underwear.

If you don't put on the underwear.  I will have to punish you.

Just trying to get out of the house on time. 

 Without yelling. 

THE REWARDS

Luna's huge smile as she is going into school and looks back to wave to me.

Gabe greeting me when I arrive to pick him up.

He runs to me with such force I have to do the following;

Procedure;  drop down on one knee grab something. 

But I love those hugs.
AND

Listening to songs in the car with them.

Luna reading me a book.

Talking in the car with them.
Calling out "yellow cars"
Spotting dogs in cars, owls in trees and cats in yards.
Seeing concrete trucks, dumptrucks and cranes.
Simple time together with them, even though it's in the swagger wagon

Fun things to do in Louisville Kentucky

FREE

1.  Beckly Station Splash Park-There is also a playground, bike trail, and wide beautiful creek.

This is a picture of my little one playing in the splash park

2,  Visit this cute family owned candy shop.  They give free demonstrations of candy being made!

Schimpffs Confectionery  http://www.schimpffs.com/

3. Jeffersontown Veterans Park -nice trails, playground, basketball court and a creek with crawldads!
4.  Visit the 21C Museum-  My kids liked the movie screen of letters that fell down like rain.  It's free to get in but beware there were nude art work when we went.

5. BlackAcres Nature Perserve.  Bring some carrots and apples to feed the goats and horses.  Bring your walking shoes to enjoy the trails.
6. Free tour of Greaters Ice Cream.  This is a short but interesting tour in which you see how ice cream is made.  No free ice cream is given, but pints are available to purchase after the tour.

7.  Henery’s Ark
8.  Redeem Half Price book minutes
9.  Louisville Public Library -Their summer program and their story times
10.  Jefferson Park
11. Window shop inside Joseph Beth bookstore-there is a kid area where you can read the books to your kids 
12. Visit Fourth Street Live-Free and fun at night for adults.  4th Street Live Concerts free in summer
13. Wed Waterfront Concert
14. Sunday nights concerts
15. Hang with Neighbors
16. Invite friends over to swim
17. Zip Line at the Mega Cavern
18. Atlantis Water Park- We went last year and it was fun, but I think the kids liked the Northeast YMCA Calypso Cove better, but you must be a member to get into that waterpark.

19. Plainview Smim Club - This is a Louisville Public Pool, so you don't need to be a member to swim there.  It is $6 per child and $8 per adult.  There are diving boards, a kiddy pool, a seperate adult pool, lap lanes and a playground.  There are concessions and tennis courts.

And last but not least the Louisville Zoo.

20. Fruit picking

21.  Champ’s rollerdone, Louisville (date with Luna) or Jammerz Roller Dome, Indiana
22.  Louisville Science Center
23. Iroquois Amphitheater
24. Art sparks-currently closed for construction but used to have $5 Firdays.
25. Bats game
26.  Ice Skate at Iceland
27.  Salsa Dancing
28. Kentucky Down Under, Horse Cave
29.  Joe Huber Family Farm
30.  Cave Hill Cemetery
31.  Open Play at places like SIGS or ALL ABOUT KIDS is sometimes (on somedays) only $5
32.  Open Play at Kazoing (http://www.kazo​ing.com/)- this is a great way for my 3 year old boy to release some energy. again they have special days when it is only $5
33.  EcoKids-Berheim Forest



Best Sweet Potato ever!

I knew it!!! The color of the skin was different. Prettier. Purplish. Also I have bought from this farmer before and his produce is always good. In fact a few years ago I bought from him the best
Broccoli I have ever eaten entire life. This yam was 2 times better then what I have been buying at the store. Incredible!

What makes me happy

Tuna over lettuce

Ingredients

1/8 cup chopped onion (more or less as desired)

1/4 cup chopped tomato (more or less according to your taste)

1-2 cups of fresh spinach or roman lettuce

1/2 lemon juice

1 TPS Joes Real Mayonaise (you can really use anything, but I like this one because it contains no sugar)

2-5 ounces of Albacore Tuna (it must be Albacore, because that is the one with the omega-3's)

Directions

1) pour fresh lemon juice on the tuna

2) mix in mayo and chopped onion with tuna

3) Next lay lettuce, tomato on plate

4) Top with tuna mixture

Purple carrots

I feel so betrayed. All my life I thought carrots were just orange. Now, I can handle the fact that there are other colors. Most foods come in other colors. Red peppers for example. Everyone is familiar with the standard red bell pepper, but there happens to be yellow and orange. That's cool. But the standard is the red one, right?

I've been talking to other people and apparently I am the last to know this! At http://www.carrotsmuseum.com/ I found out that he orange carrots came about from mutations of the yellow carrots.
"Carrots originated in present day Afghanistan about 5000 years ago, probably originally as a purple or yellow root. Nature then took a hand and produced mutants and natural hybrids, crossing both with cultivated and wild varieties. It is considered that purple carrots were then taken westwards where it is thought yellow mutants and wild forms crossed to produce orange. Finally some motivated Dutch growers took these mutant orange carrots under their horticultural wings and developed them to be sweeter and more practical."
So, I just had to buy some seeds and see this for myslf. I choose the Purple Dragon Carrot.
One website said "The Purple Dragon Carrot is truly a piece of natural art. It is absolutely unique with its deep reddish-purple exterior with an amazing contrasting orange-yellow interior. With a flavor that is described as “glorious”, “sweet and almost spicy”

Fairy Garden

Luna's Fairy garden next to the deck in the back yard.

There was pink fairy dust in Luna's fairy garden this morning! 
       She said, "I knew fairies were real"

Then she wondered what kind of fairy it was that visited.  She marvaled at all the pretty pink fairy dust. Could there have been two?  The fairy dust in the water looked blue.  She dipped her finger in and decided in was pink, it just looks blue in the water.  She looked to see if there was fairy dust in the little green house that was in the garden. It is not picture because she took it out to look.  Nothing.  The fairy must not of gone in the house. Then she ran to her other fairy garden which was close by on the back porch (pictured below) to see if that one too had fairy dust.  Nothing.  She went back to this one and looked again.  She wonders if they will come again. Luna also said she can't wait to tell everyone.  Her excited didn't end.  Refusing to eat breakfast because she just wants to look at it all day long:) She then brought the other fairy garden and began taking things from that one to put in this one.  I am sure she will check first thing in the morning:)

Luna's first Fairy garden