Seeds, bikes, and birthday celebrations!

Finally - spring is in the air. And that means it's time to start the garden. This year, we ordered our seeds from DollarSeeds.com. They are organic, and non-GMO, so we figured that we would try them out. Brian drew up a plan for the garden this year, and he included a bunch of herbs. This will be new for me. I am not an herb girl. I don't really cook with herbs - but he says that the herbs will help the garden flourish.

The seeds arrived the other day, and we decided to use peat pots to help them along. (Thanks to Felice and Owen for the idea!)
They look like this.

The basic idea is that you water them and they "grow." It's like a science experiment. Maddie had a great time helping Brian with this little project. Once the peat pots grow - (which takes about 1 minute), you simply spread the netting apart, and then fluff the peat, and plant the seeds. Then you put the plastic top over the tray - so it acts like a greenhouse. Once the seeds sprout, you remove the plastic top and put them in direct sunlight as they continue to grow. Easy - right? We shall see.

Meanwhile, now that it is finally nice out - that means the kids can ride their bikes. Both kids were due for new bikes. Maddie had a bike that I picked up at the consignment sale two years ago. And it was shot. The tires had no traction. The seat was ripped. It was a hot mess. I ended up finding an almost new Mongoose mountain bike on Craigslist for $50.Not bad - right? She loves it!

Now, my next project is to find Aidan a new bike. He is ready to move up to a 16 inch bike. And he could probably lose the training wheels if he gets enough nerve to try riding with just two wheels. Luckily, Toys R Us has a trade-in bike event. You can trade in any bike and they will give you a coupon for a new bike. So there you go. New bikes for both kids for a bargain.

And finally - I had a wonderful morning with the girls today. We went to brunch at the Tailored Tea, and then we all got pedicures. We had a great time. Brunch was amazing. I would highly recommend the place. It is in an old farmhouse and everything was so, so good. Then we enjoyed our pedicures, and the girls surprised me with some mimosas. What a lovely morning! I love that it's my birthday month! Let the celebrations continue!!