Josh and the girls had the opportunity to attend a father/daughter dance at the girls school. I had never heard of such an event before but I was very glad they were able to participate. They all had a great time letting their hair down and learning how to attend a dance. 
The individual boards - 2"x12"x8'
Frank helping out with his rubber mallot
Gelsey getting her garden on
The kiddos all helped out
We used the lasagna method to get rid of the grass under and around the planter boxes
In order to do the lasagna method we dug up about 4" of grass and dirt, made a layer of about 12 sheets of newspaper, and then topped it with mulch
The boxes went in the middle of the mulch and were filled with the standard square foot gardening mix: 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 coarse vermiculite
ta da
I've already planted all of the vegetables that I had germinated - keep your fingers crossed that they all love their new home and decide to play along : )
Notice anything unusual? These pictures have been altered to make all of our faces symmetrical. I did this just for fun after reading the Uglies series. In the book, at the age of 16 everyone undergoes a huge plastic surgery to make them beautiful, part of which makes them symmetrical. When I did these pictures of us I was a little surprised at how different the two pictures of the same person looked, all of us have a skinny side and a wide side. I think Josh is the most symmetrical of all of us. I won't go into all of the details but I enjoyed reading the books and also read the companion book that talked about where some of the ideas came from. The "maglev train" in the book is based on a real train that levitates and can go over 350 mph using magnetics. I want one of those built between my house and ABQ so I can go over for dinner : ) Pretty neat concepts with regards to the technology in the books, but wouldn't it be weird if everyone became beautiful at 16. In a way no one would be beautiful because we would all be the same. Anyway, hope everyone is doing well.
On a side note, Frank had to have a blood test today. No big deal really, but... They conduct a blood test on a one year old the same way they do on an adult: apply tourniquet, tap on inside of elbow to locate vessel, insert butterfly needle, and hold still while they fill tiny little blood bottles. You can imagine my panic when I realized what they were going to do, AND that I was the one who got the pleasure of holding him still. The HORROR that I felt was nearly unparalleled! Alas, it was not so bad, Frank is extremely brave, tough, (fill in appropriate adjective...) and he cried a little, didn't really squirm too much, and basically shook it off immediately. WOW! You can see the sticker he got in the photos above, which I'm having him wear all day as a badge of honor : ) Have a lovely day! 
Last week we had one of the largest rainstorms Phoenix has seen in years. We got 5.5" of rain at our house in a matter of days, which is more rain than we got all year last year. Needless to say, I haven't had to water my plants in a week : ) As a result of the weather our dog, Petunia, got to stay inside too, lucky girl!
Frank also tried taco salad for the first time, which apparently tastes better if you put some in your hair too! 
Over the three day MLK weekend we had a double sleepover with two of the girls friends which was a lot of fun for them.
and of course we've all been bundled up and enjoying some hot tea as this weather is out of the ordinary for us! Hope all is well!
After looking at all of the pictures from the red carpet last night I can't decide which of these is my favorite dress. Any thoughts? 
