This Is Us

We found this native bee 🐝 house at costco and have already had a blue orchard mason bee visit and start getting it ready for her eggs.  . Blue Orchard Mason Bees are pretty amazing! 🐝 They are from the genus Osmia 🐝 They are solitary bees, so each female is a queen and lays eggs on their own. However they do like to be by each other and will lay eggs close together. 🐝 They are not aggressive. 🐝 They are non-stinging. The males don’t have a stinger and the females use their stinger to guide them to lay eggs. They are also so busy collecting pollen/nectar and laying eggs that they will only sting if they are about to die. 🐝 They pollinate 80% better than honey bees. Here is more what I have learned: In the spring after they have mated and get some food the females will look for a place to lay their eggs. They cannot drill holes, so they find natural holes such as holes made from other insects or like in our bee house. She picks somewhere safe, protecte...

I’ve put my fear aside and bought some chicks. Daphnie is an Ameraucana, Frenchie is an Olive Egger, and Dixie is a Blue Laced Red Wyandotte. They are so cute and sweet. Nick made the brooder they are in. He is amazing!!! Daphnie Frenchie Dixie Them in the brooder Nick made.

Last year (2018) our urban farm really started to grow.  We got more planter boxes, planted a lot more fruits and vegetables, and had a lot more flowers too.  We put in a fire pit, which I absolutely love! We participated in the #superduperseedswap in October and January and got a lot more seeds.  Lots of tomatoes, flowers, watermelons, peppers, beans, onions, garlic (I will be growing for my parents since Nick is allergic to garlic), carrots, peas, and so many more!  We also hope to get some chickens this year.  Here are some photos from last year... May: June: July: August: We don't have any photos from August.  We were to busy having fun in Germany and France for our 20 year wedding anniversary, taking the kids to Moab, and Freemont!

We were looking up the different sunflowers and came across this blog article from  FTD - Sunflowers Some interesting facts about sunflowers: Did you know... •There are about 70 species of sunflowers. All but three species are native to North and Central America. •Their seeds are edible and yummy! •Sunflowers 🌻 can clean the soil? Thousands were planted after the nuclear disasters in Chernobyl, Hiroshima, and Fukushima to soak up the toxins in the ground. Don’t you just love Sunflowers? Which ones are your favorite?

We haven’t been able to decide on what to do for Zain and Tyler’s room. We had a couple ideas and then we watched the movie 🎥 🍿 “The House With a Clock in its Walls”. They loved the boy’s bedroom with the moon 🌙 phases and we decided to do outer space. We painted a dark blue for the base. Once it dried (couple days) we put streaks of purple, light purple (mixed white and purple), green, and blue-green (mixed green and dark blue) on the walls, then used a sponge 🧽 and went over it with the dark blue (same color as the base) and purple. We then used a paint brush and splattered the white on to look like stars. ⭐️  We ordered vinyl glow-in-the-dark solar system 🌎 with stars 🌟 and shooting stars 🌠 and plastic glow-in-the-dark stars ⭐️ for the ceiling.  The camera 📸 on my phone 📱 couldn’t pick up the glowing very well, but they do glow really good! Also, Nick and I found a rocket ship 🚀 tent/canopy at Target on clearance! 👏🏻 They are so happy and excited! ...