How Does Our Garden Grow!

We went out to see the garden last night, and (though Nelu had already seen it) the kids and I were surprised to see that every type of seed that we planted last week had little shoots coming out of the ground. We'll wait and see and keep our fingers crossed. The tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers we planted as actual plants. Maybe next year we'll start them by seed, but with all that I imagine will be going on with my own schedule, I'm not sure that will happen.

We also picked cherries from Dad's one cherry tree. We have a bucketful in the fridge now, and I plan to make some cherry jam and maybe possibly a pie this coming week. The kids had so much fun. Too bad I didn't have the camera. Evi climbed up in the tree to pick. Samuel picked up the ones that had fallen to the ground and sometimes put them in the bucket, but mostly ate them. And Daniel crawled all around the ground looking for the black, shriveled up cherries to munch on. Nelu got up on the ladder and eventually just climbed right up in the tree, too, to pick the cherries. (I think he felt like he was in Romania again--he hasn't done this in a while!) Dad even got in on the action. (I think he was thinking about that cherry jam and pie.) And I mostly just held the bucket for everyone to drop their cherries in. However, I did pick as many as I could reach, which is not too many.

And one last great thing about yesterday. I got a call from the school saying, what I thought was that Evi got a "bite." The kids had been outside all morning for field day, so I thought it was a bug or bee or something. But when I asked for more of an explanation, the secretary said that it was a bike--Evi was one of the four winners of a bike for perfect attendance this year. I was really surprised. So Nelu, the boys, and I hopped in the car and headed to the school to watch Evi get called to the office for the bike that she'd won. She was very surprised and almost confused. Well, that didn't last long, though. She started breaking it in at Dad's last night and took it for a spin again today. It's bigger than her old one, so it'll be a good one to grow into.

Here she is...our sweet pea with her new, well-deserved bike.


Am mers la tatal meu aseara sa vedem gradina. Nelu stia deja cum arata, dar eu si copiii am for surprins sa vedem ca deja au iesit plantele din toate felurile de seminte pe care le-am plantat! Cred ca brocoli-ul face cel mai bine, dar si porumbul. Abia astept sa vad ce fel o sa iasa peste cateva saptamani!

Noi am si cules visini aseara la tatal meu. Avem o gramada in frigider, si vreau sa fac niste gem si placinta incepend de luni. Copiii s-au bucurat sa ajute la cules. Evi s-a urcat in pom/copac sa culeaga. Samuel a luat visini de pe jos, si a pus cateva in caldare dar cred ca am mancat si mai multe. Si Daniel era jos si manca visinile uscate si stricate de pe jos. Nelu s-a urcat pe scara si dupa-aia in pom/copac--cred ca isi aducea aminte de Romania, ca nu cred ca a mai facut asta aici. Si a ajutat si tatal meu mult--abia asteapta sa manance si el gem de visini si placinta. Eu am ajutat cel mai mult cu caldarea--n-ajung la crengi prea bine. Dar am cules cateva.

Si Evi a avut o zi buna la scoala ieri. A castigat o bicicleta--a fost una din patru copii care au castigat. A fost un premiu pt. ca n-a lipsit de la scoala tot anul (decat cand a fost scuzata pt. calatoria noastra in California la toamna) si cred ca si pt. ca s-a comportat bine la scoala si a facut bine. Ne-a chemat la scoala sa fim acolo cand au anuntat asta, si Evi era surpinsa sa ne vada pe noi acolo si sa primeasca o bicicleta. Bicicleta este mai mare decat aia pe care o avea deja. Cred ca o s-o vopsim pe aia veche sa-i o dam lui Samuel cand este mai mare.

Uite, fetita noastra cu bicicleta ei noua...