Flat Gracie goes to Northern Ireland

Our names are Adam and Shirley Strong, and we live in Glengormley,Northern Ireland, which is 6 miles north of Belfast. We have a 9 month old daughter Beth and are expecting another baby in August. Recently we had the pleasure of hosting Flat Gracie. While she was with us, she wrote about her adventures:

My Adventures in Northern Ireland

In the middle of March I went to visit my grandparent's friends in Northern Ireland. We went to lots of interesting places and the weather that week was lovely! One of the first places I visited was Carrickfergus Castle which is 10 miles north of Belfast city centre on the shores of Belfast Lough. The castle is over 800 years old and is inthe town of Carrickfergus. Carrick means 'rock' in Gaelic and the name Carrickfergus means 'the rock of Fergus'. It is thought that the name comes from king Fergus who died nearby in the sea during a storm. You can walk around the castle, or get a guided tour, and see the life-size models. Some people get married in the banqueting hall in the castle and you can even have your birthday party in the vaults!

I also went to visit Belfast Castle which is in North Belfast on Cave Hill. The first Belfast Castle burned down so the castle I saw was only about 140 years old. There are lots of meetings and weddings held in the castle. It has lovely views over Belfast Lough.

Belfast has a very famous shipyard called Harland and Wolff which is about 150 years old. It was once the largest shipyard in the world and has built many famous ships including the Titanic which sank on its maiden voyage to New York. The shipyard now has two giant cranes called Samson and Goliath and I got my picture taken in front of them.

During my time in Northern Ireland I also went on a lovely walk along Belfast Lough and visited Belfast Zoo. Belfast Zoo is 75 years old this year and has more than 1,200 animals. Most of the animals are in danger in their natural habitat so the zoo does important work to make sure these endangered animals survive. I was very tired after my visit because it is a very steep climb in places!

veggie garden is in

Hours of weeding.

Weeks of watering.

Trips to four different stores for plants.

Raking and more weed pulling.

8 muddy, dirty hands planting.

And one garden gnome keeping a watchful eye.

Hopefully this year's garden will be fruitful AND pretty to look at.

We planted:

Cherry tomatoes

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Green peppers

Cilantro

Broccoli

Onions

Patty pan/button squash

Rosemary

Marigolds

Spring has sprung!!

why i don't clean the garage...

If only I had video to go along with this... it would totally make up for this horrible picture.

Just imagine a lot of squealing, laughing, poking, balancing, tool grabbing, tossing, whacking, picture taking, and creative dancing.

Ick.

What a way to start the day.

interview with a 13 year old

1. What is something I always say to you? Hi, Mir.

2. What makes me happy? When your house is picked up, your dishwasher is empty, and you don't have any laundry to do.

3. What makes me sad? When you pour your coffee creamer into your Dr. Pepper and you don't have any more.

4. How do I make you laugh? Giggling... anything you do.

5. What was I like as a child? You were a good friend.

6. How old am I? 38

7. How tall am I? 5' 10"

8. What is my favorite thing to do? Sleep.

9. What do I do when you're not around? The same things you do when I am here.

10. If I become famous, what will it be for? Cooking and reading.

11. What am I not very good at? Shooting hoops.

12. What am I really good at? Being a mom.

13. What do I do for my job? You transcribe.

14. What is my favorite food? Chocolate.

15. What makes me proud of you? When I do good at dancing.

16. If I were a cartoon character, who would I be? Betty Rubble, because she is sweet, not grouchy.

17. What do we do together? Laugh, dance, act crazy, clean.

18. How are we the same? We laugh a lot and we both like pink.

19. How are we different? We have different color hair. You wear glasses and I don't.

20. How do you know I love you? You let me come over to your house a lot and you take me places and I am practically part of your family.

21. Where is my favorite place to go? Florida.

interview with a 12 year old

1. What is something I always say to you? One moment please.

2. What makes me happy? Dove chocolate.

3. What makes me sad? When we disobey.

4. How do I make you laugh? By interviewing me.

5. What was I like as a child? Fun to be with and you liked to hang out with your friends.

6. How old am I? 29

7. How tall am I? 5'3.75"

8. What is my favorite thing to do? Sit down with a cup of coffee underneath a blanket and read.

9. What do I do when you're not around? You party. I don't know... how would I know if I'm not around???

10. If I become famous, what will it be for? For your World Famous Pot Roast.

11. What am I not very good at? Tuna Surpise.

12. What am I really good at? Teaching and driving.

13. What do I do for my job? Typing.

14. What is my favorite food? Sushi, fish, anything from the sea. Chocolate.

15. What makes me proud of you? Soy in-tell-e-hen-tay.

16. If I were a cartoon character, who would I be? Daphne from Scooby Doo.

17. What do we do together? We cook together.

18. How are we the same? We like foot massages.

19. How are we different? You aren't sarcastic and literal like me.

20. How do you know I love you? Because you say you do and you act like you do, too!

21. Where is my favorite place to go? Your bed.

kid farmers

This year, the kids are going to plant and care for their own garden. I found this really fun garden plan on the Better Homes and Gardens website. They have quite a few plans that are great for a starting point. Their garden will be small and manageable, fun to look at, and will actually have some edible vegetables, too (we hope!).

We gathered seeds from Home Depot and burpee.com. We also got a fun little seed starter tray/greenhouse kit. The seeds from Burpee were more expensive than what we paid in the store, but we had specific things we needed for this garden. There will be Jack-Be-Little pumpkins, Mini-Boo pumpkins, mammoth sunflowers, Queen Sophia marigolds, morning glories, sun gold tomatoes, and sparkler radishes. There will even be strawberries!!

Yesterday, the mailman came and brought our Burpee order. That was all we needed to get everything out and start planting! First we had to prepare our "soil." This dirt was small pellets that we had to water so they would expand. Don't they look gross? They smelled pretty icky, too.

Next, we planted seeds and labeled each section. This was fun, except when one of the sowers kept knocking dirt on the kitchen floor.

Next, we covered the tray with its little greenhouse cover, found it a warm spot out of direct sunlight, and left our little seeds to do their thing. When we checked on them this evening, a few of the seeds had already sprouted! We can't wait to get these plants in the ground, but they need some time here to get started and the Big Farmer has to make the girls a place to set up the garden. Stay tuned...

interview with a 10 year old

1. What is something I always say to you? You're my favorite kid. Don't tell your sisters.

2. What makes me happy? Whenever I do stuff without you telling me.

3. What makes me sad? Whenever we don't do what you ask.

4. How do I make you laugh? Tickling me!

5. What was I like as a child? Well, you weren't homeschooled.

6. How old am I? 38

7. How tall am I? 4.5 feet

8. What is my favorite thing to do? Play with the kids.

9. What do I do when you're not around? You cry, because you miss us. {hee, hee, hee}

10. If I become famous, what will it be for? Being a good typer.

11. What am I not very good at? I don't know. You're mostly good at everything. Hmm... tennis?

12. What am I really good at? Playing the drums.

13. What do I do for my job? Type.

14. What is my favorite food? Chocolate.

15. What makes me proud of you? Helping my sisters.

16. If I were a cartoon character, who would I be? Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

17. What do we do together? Shopping!

18. How are we the same? Our hair is the same color.

19. How are we different? I have blue eyes and you have green eyes.

20. How do you know I love you? Because you take care of me whenever I am sad.

21. Where is my favorite place to go? Chinese food restaurant!

interview with a 6 year old

1. What is something I always say to you? I love you.

2. What makes me happy? Whenever I hug you.

3. What makes me sad? Whenever I cry.

4. How do I make you laugh? Making silly faces.

5. What was I like as a child? You were pretty.

6. How old am I? 38

7. How tall am I? Very large.

8. What is my favorite thing to do? Doing crafts.

9. What do I do when you're not around? Work and get ready for class.

10. If I become famous, what will it be for? Drum playing.

11. What am I not very good at? Singing.

12. What am I really good at? Loving us.

13. What do I do for my job? You and Ms. Dayna take turns taking tapes.

14. What is my favorite food? Sushi.

15. What makes me proud of you? When I do well.

16. If I were a cartoon character, who would I be? Phineas and Ferb's sister.

17. What do we do together? Crafts and play with Plah-Doh

18. How are we the same? We kind of have the same hair color.

19. How are we different? Your skin is a little bit darker and mine is a little bit lighter.

20. How do you know I love you? Cause you tell me.

21. Where is my favorite place to go? Target.

this kid

The spirit of this child rocks me to the core.

These eyes.

Get me every time.

And keep her out of a lot of trouble.

How can one person be so little and yet... so big?

Her imagnination is never ending.

She lives in a land of princesses,

pink ponies.

girls named Ashley,

and is the daughter of a superhero in a pink cape.

She's rough and tumble and yet... so fragile.

She is thoughtful and caring and yet... so stubborn!

She loves with every ounce of her little heart.

She loves big.

smiles big,

hugs big.

She is all about the fun in life, always too busy for work,

or chores,

or a bath.

But not for shoes,

or Webkinz,

or sleeping curlers.

But given the opportunity...

she'll drop everything in a heartbeat to crawl up in your lap...

and snuggle.

It's those snuggles...

and those eyes...

that keep her out of a heap of trouble!

ever ridden an elephant?

There has been this survey going around on Facebook lately, where you check off things you've done in your lifetime. There were a good deal of things on there that I haven't done yet. You know, like been to Hawaii, ridden on a helicopter, seen the Grand Canyon, or stood on the Great Wall of China. But one thing on the list, ridden on an elephant, now THAT, I've done! This was not the first time either.

I have a distinct memory of riding on an elephant as a kid. Memory fails me, but I think it was twice. Elephants have a distinct smell. And feel. Their hair is coarse and prickly. And they way they lumber around when they walk just makes for a very... uncomfortable ride.

When we were in Florida for Christmas, we stayed in Orlando with my sister and her family. On Sunday morning, we loaded everything up and went to church before heading back to my grandmother's house. On the way to Nannie's, we passed an antique mall and flea market. It was Sunday, so there was a lot going on that day. A lot.

Even pony rides.

And elephant rides.

I took one look at the elephant and looked at Hubby like a little kid, asking if we could go back and ride the elephant.

I'll be honest. That's not the way it happened. I said, "We are going back and riding that elephant! I don't care how much it costs... I am putting my kids up on that stinky, prickly elephant and I am going to ride it with them!"

So we arrived at Nannie's house. Sister pulled in behind us. BroR pulled in behind her. I got out of the car and asked if anyone else had seen the elephant. No.

NO?!?

How can you miss an ELEPHANT on the side of the road!!

BroR was in. He's like that. He can be spontaneous. I like that. Hubby wasn't getting near the smelly animal. So we all loaded up and headed back to the elephant. The rides were $5 per person, but she let us ride as a family for $20. That was one generous Romanian woman, huh? It was worth every penny. I haven't laughed as hard as that in a long time.

Pickles had a hard time keeping her flipflops on during the ride. BroR couldn't bend his legs at all. And the commentary coming from the back of the elephant was hysterical. I just remember turning around at one point and asking him if he was done having kids, because having another may prove difficult after riding up there. Summer had the front of the elephant and was practically in the splits over the back of its head. We really did have a lot of fun laughing and cutting up up there.

And then we went home, washed our hands several times, and tried not to smell each other for the rest of the day.

my little flower garden

Here's the finished garden. The girls and I got all the plants in the ground and even had a little fun doing it! I remembered there were some bulbs in a pot in the mess of weeds in the front of the house so we decided to throw those in the corner of the flower bed with some flower seeds just to see what we come up with. Who knows what this will end up looking like!! I am hoping that it will all grow full and lush and up to just below the window.

And yes, that is a bird feeder there. Hubby thinks I'm crazy because the seeds will fall into the flower garden and grow strange wheat-like weeds that I'll just have to pull up. But the cardinals and birds that live in our trees know that little feeder is there and I hate to disappoint them. Besides, Twix likes the feeder there, too.

Here's a closer picture of some of the flowers... gerbera daisies, shasta daisies, verbena, alyssum, lavender, and a couple others that I can't recall right now. I love, love, love gerbera daisies. They are great for cutting and bringing inside. They last a long time after cutting. And they bloom like crazy. I also picked up a basket of tulips on clearance for $3.99. They were ready to be cut so I have two vases with purple tulips right now. I have instructions on what to do with the bulbs. We'll see what I manage to do with those. I've never dug up and saved bulbs before! (I've just left them in the bucket in the front weed bed.)

Hopefully in a couple of weeks, my little flower garden will be fuller and more colorful. I'll post pics when it looks good!

wordless wednesday... farmer or fashionista?

it's day 10 around here...

We have fresh Amish Bread/Cake... It's too yummy and sweet to call "bread."

And bags of starter to give away...

It's one of our favorite days!! Baking day is fun. The house smells delicious. We were all craving Amish Bread and had been waiting for days for "day 10" to get here. I've got to get back to the store... we used the last of the sugar and the flour is getting low. Obviously we've been keeping starter going and making lots of goodies!! The recipe instructs us to leave the bread in the pan for a few minutes before turning onto a plate. Today we couldn't wait! The cake was so hot it was steaming... I almost burned my tongue on the first bite!! But oh, oh, oh... was it good. Anyone need a starter? I might have one available... if not this week then in 10 days!

the goofy gene

Great family picture, huh? It was meant to be a picture of me and Summer, but it appears that Hubby didn't want to be left out. Unfortunately, Summer is very well known among her friends for popping into the backgrounds of pictures. Does anyone remember this one?

Or how about this one?

You see, now we have proof that her goofiness is genetic. And we also know WHOSE genes that comes from.