New houseplants

I went a little crazy over the last few weeks and bought new houseplants.  I found two at Walmart that were the healthiest.  Every other plant at Walmart was dead, droopy or just looked like they were going to die.  The two that I found happened to be ones that I really wanted.  One of them I had before but sadly had to get rid of.  I now have Pothos Marble Queen and Philodendron Brasil.

I also bought two different types of spider plants on ebay.  I bought a curly spider plant, which I had before but had to get rid off.  I also bought miniature spider plants.  I was sent 3 babies! 

I now have two plants at work with me.  I keep my Pothos Marble Queen and one of my miniature spider plants on my desk! 

My new air plant container

My mother-in-law is going through her things to determine what she should keep and what items to donate to Goodwill.  Before donating to Goodwill, she is offering me anything we want/need.  One of the things she gave me is the glass container with a lid.  She used it as a candy dish but she suggested I use it for my air plants! 

So I took a few pictures to display my air plants. 

I may look for a big enough plant or two to fit inside! 

Pink Polka Dot Plant

Earlier this week, I finally threw all of my plants away that I had in soil.  I kept my air plants.  I knew I needed to get rid of them for our move.  I already miss my plants. 

Yesterday, we stopped by Time Warner to return our cable box.  While we were there, I saw two plants in the back of their office near a window.  One was a peace lily plant and one was a lime green color plant!  It looked like a philodendron!  I even pointed them out to Shannon.  I already have plant-fever! 

Today, Kyle came home from school with a Mother's Day gift he made at school.  I received a Pink Polka Dot Plant in a cute clay pot that he painted blue with dots and other decorations on them!  It is so cute!  I put the plant in our kitchen near the window and as we were getting ready for bed, Kyle brought the plant in the bedroom and put it on our nightstand!  I tried putting it back in the kitchen, but then he brought it back into the bedroom.  So, we have it on our nightstand! 

6 New Air Plants!

My air plants arrived today!  I ended up getting two of each of the following: Xerographica, Ionantha Peanut (BOGO Free) and Ionantha Druid (BOGO Free)!  The Xerographicas are much bigger than I thought they would be!  The Ionanthas are so small!

I still have my two previous air plants that I bought back in February.  

Shannon works today at Best Buy from 12pm until 8pm, then he has to work his security supervisor job from 11pm until 7am! 

Haircut!

I just got back from getting my hair cut!  The last time I had my hair cut was in May 2011!  I love my hair cut!  It feels lighter and will be easier to take care of. 

I had to walk to our credit union to deposit some cash and a check and then stopped at Great Clips to get my hair cut.  I had a coupon for a hair cut for only $7.50!  Shannon needs a haircut too!  I have another coupon for him to use.  We also need to cut Kyle's hair.  His hair is so long, he's looking like a cute little elf!

Shannon works tonight from 10pm until 6am.  Hopefully we can go grocery shopping later today since we are almost out of food.  

I also gave in a purchased 5 air plants today since they were having a Cyber Monday special (free shipping)! 

This one is called a Xerographica:

The one below is called Ionantha Peanut (Buy one get one free):

The last one is called Ionantha Druid (Buy one get one free):

I think I am going to get into Tillandsia (air plants) since they don't require soil!  My houseplants that are in soil are always spilling over and causing a mess because Kyle likes to climb on the shelving that they sit on!  

32nd Birthday

I had a good day.  I did laundry and realized we are almost out of homemade laundry soap.  We ended up going to Walmart for a few things, including the ingredients to make the laundry soap.  I ended up getting a new houseplant, called Pink Arrowhead Plant. I bought the smallest, most compact plant on the shelf.  I love the pink color on the leaves. 

We also bought a Snickers ice cream cake and another dessert. 

Tonight, I made a big batch of homemade laundry soap, so we should be good for several months. 

Well needed bath

This weekend, I gave my potted indoor plants a "bath." I rinsed them in the bathtub by splashing water on the foliage and soaking the soil really well. My plants needed to be cleaned since they were full of dust. Plus, clean plants will help them soak up the sun better.

Plants, snow, iPad update

I received my new air plants on Saturday!  Once I opened them, I put them in water to let them soak for about 30 minutes.  I think the best way to water my new plants is to soak them a few times a week in water for 30 minutes.  Misting may not be enough for them.

I am also downsizing on my houseplants as I hope to have more air plants since they don't require soil.  Soil is messy! 

We had our first snow fall yesterday!  Kyle loved watching the snow fall!  He just stood by the windows and looked outside.  They were predicting 1-3 inches of snow.  This morning, we woke up to snow covering the grass, rooftops, and cars!  Thankfully, today was already a scheduled day off from school for Kyle so they didn't have to miss any school.  We'll see about tomorrow.

I am warming up to my iPad!  I see it as a quick way to turn on the computer to access the internet.  I use it in the living room, if I don't want to turn on my desktop and sit in a separate room from Shannon. 

Air Plant = Oxymoron

When I told Shannon that I wanted to try growing air plants, he laughed and said that they sound like an oxymoron.  I am fascinated by air plants because of how they can be displayed!

Air plants are the common name for Tillandsia.  I am interested in these type of plants for their versatility and the fact that they do not require soil to grow!  No mess!  They can be grown hanging from the wall, upside down or in a decorative container. 

I found a vendor I really like and they are located in Florida.  I finally bought two air plants.  They will look similar to the ones below:

I bought two seashells and they each come with a plant.  You can also grow air plants in glass globes:

I can't wait to receive my plants!  I plan on displaying them on my computer desk so I can look at them while I work and study!

 

Flowers indoors

Sometimes I wish I had my own little outdoor gardening area, just a small patch of area would suffice.  I would probably try to grow vegetables and flowers.  I would love some colorful plants indoors.  I want to try African Violets again!  I would like to start with one African Violet for now and see how it does. 

Fungus Gnats!

Ever since we moved here, my houseplants have had fungus gnats!  They are crawling around in the soil too.  I tried letting my plants dry out between waterings and it seems they are still there.  I finally got tired of sitting there trying to catch the flying gnats with the vacuum hose and bought some organic insecticidal spray soap stuff.  It kills many other bugs but I think it will help with the gnats!  When I was looking for a solution, I wanted something safe to use around Kyle as well as us.  I don't want to pollute the air we breathe and it's safe enough to use on vegetable gardens.  Earlier this week, I tried having small containers of water with a little bit of dish soap mixed in and that caught at least 20 gnats!  Hopefully the organic insecticidal spray soap will work. 

Kyle had preschool today.  He went from 8:30am until 12pm today, so he stayed through lunch.  It sounds like he did better today!  He acts like he doesn't want me to leave but once he's preoccupied, I can leave and he's fine!  He has school for the rest of this week as well. 

We went grocery shopping at Walmart this afternoon.   I am going to try to use coupons to help us save money.  We have a Walgreens about 2 blocks from us so I am slowly building up my coupons and printing them out online.  I am focusing on non-food items for now such as paper towels, toilet paper, toothbrushes, and toothpaste.  I am going to try to follow the Walgreens ad and match my coupons with their sales to help us save more.  I did have to buy paper towels and spray n wash today since we are almost out of paper towels and I really needed spray n wash! 

I finally received another book to read and review!  I've been bored for the last week so now I'll have something to do! 

Our last night!

We had a busy day today!  After we got Kyle on the school bus, we packed up and organized everything else that needed to packed away into the UHaul.  I pulled out our clothes for tonight and tomorrow.  We wanted everything [that needed to be packed into the UHaul] to be ready to go at 9:30 AM. 

Shannon, his dad, and the neighbor left around 9:30 AM to drive the UHaul to our new apartment to unload it.  Apparently it only took them 30 minute to unload all of our stuff.  The neighbor did most of the heavy lifting and moving everything, he kept insisting on doing everything. They were back around 12:30 PM or so. 

While Shannon was gone, I did a little more cleaning and organized our stuff to make sure it was all ready to go for another trip we were taking after Kyle got home from school.  I also had time to update my blogs!  I wrote two book reviews for my blogs!  I am trying to get caught up on my reviews.  I have 4 product reviews to do and 3 books to read and write reviews for!

Shannon packed the car while I waited for Kyle at the bus stop, so by the time Kyle and I got home, we were ready to go.  We left shortly after we let Kyle get settled in.  I washed his hands and gave him a snack and water.  We spent about 2 or 3 hours at our new apartment.  Shannon and I both had our own agendas!  He set up the TV stand, TV, cable box, computer table, etc.  Meanwhile, I cleaned our dining table and kitchen counter tops.  I also unpacked our clothes and hung them in the closet.  I also tried to empty as many boxes as I could so we could take them back to pack more.  I "helped" Shannon set up our mattresses.  We are considering getting a new TV because the one we have isn't digital as we bought this TV about 5-7 years ago! While we were at our new place, we realized that there is no light fixtures in the bedrooms or living room, so it was kind of dark.  We had to improvise and turn on the light nearest to the rooms we were in.  So, we need to buy lamps for the bedrooms and living room! 

I am a little concerned that my houseplants won't survive in our apartment.  Our windows don't get much light since they are covered/surrounded by bushes or trees.

Tonight is our last night here.  I can't wait until we are officially in our new place!  I hope we can figure out how to hook up the washer in the kitchen!  We still have a lot of cleaning and organizing to do!  I can't wait until our moving is done and over!  We plan on going grocery shopping this weekend so we'll have food!  We've been eating out all this week and I am already tired of it. 

Keys to our new place!

We stopped by our apartment today and they gave us the keys!  We brought over 2 boxes of our stuff and 3 of my plants.  We set up my plants on the plant stand and I unpacked the boxes we brought over, that way we could bring home the boxes to fill them up again.

We had a chance to see our place again and I am so excited!  I can't wait until we are fully moved in!  This was Kyle's first time seeing our new place!  He was a little nervous and wasn't sure what was going on.  We showed him around the apartment and showed him his room.  He still didn't understand that this is where we are going to live soon.  He kept wanting to leave. 

We plan on going back on Monday and Tuesday to bring over more of our stuff, just a car load at a time.  Shannon rented a U-Haul for our boxes and furniture for the second half of the week.  I am going to help him load the truck with the boxes and anything else I can lift! 

Just 5 pots

Yesterday I was worried about moving all of my plants when it came time to transport them in the car.  This morning, I was looking at my plants and came up with the idea to downsize!  I repotted and moved a lot of my plants into just 5 pots!  I am also throwing away about half of my plants.  Hopefully with 5 pots, it will be easier for us to move them when it comes time.  I am sad to get rid of my bigger plants but we need the room.  I kept the most healthy looking and smallest plants. 

Groceries before the Snow & My Phalaenopsis

Yesterday we went grocery shopping!  We wanted to do our grocery shopping before Monday because we are in the middle of a snow storm.  School was canceled today and it may be canceled tomorrow.  Last Thursday, I received a call from the Department of Social Services.  It was our food stamps caseworker letting me know that she is working on our application.  She is behind because they are down one person.  She also wanted to verify some of the information we provided.  Thankfully our foods stamps were approved by the time we went grocery shopping on Sunday!  I was ready to pay for our food out of our own pocket. 

In addition to our groceries, I also brought home a phalaenopsis orchid by a brand called "Just Add Ice."  I've been a fan of their facebook page for a few months now.  The page is active with fellow fans and the people at Just Add Ice.  The orchids were discounted by 50% of their original price just a month ago!  There were only about 10 plants left and I chose the smallest one, it looked the healthiest.  My orchid is purple/lavender.

Plant Stand!

I just opened my Christmas present from my MIL and she gave me a 3 tier plant stand!  It is so cute and perfect for my plants!  It fits about 6 of my plants (I am sure I can fit more) and they look great on the stand.  Before, I had my plants sitting on top of boxes in front of the window. 

The stand was really easy to "assemble."  It came in 4 pieces: the stand and each shelf.  I just had to "hook" each shelf into its place.  

Hopefully Kyle won't be too curious and knock the stand over.  He's used to my plants, but he'll notice the stand. 

Day with parents

I spent yesterday with my parents.  They came over to the hotel early in the morning and we all had continental breakfast!  We went across the street to Home Depot and I helped my mom find jade plants for my dad.  My dad has been looking for a jade plant because it reminds him of his grandparent's house, so my mom and I ended up finding two different jades.

Then we headed over to my grandparent's house for a family meeting to discuss my grandpa's funeral and last minute details.

On the way home, we stopped at Costco where I got a zippered sweathirt and matching pants by DKNY.  They are a faded green/avocado like color.  I also bought a layered set of tank tops. 

We went back to the hotel and just relaxed for a bit before we had dinner at Sizzler's!  It was pretty good and I haven't eaten there in so long. 

Loving on my plants

My plants received their weekly watering.  I ended up cleaning and removing debris, removing plants, and moving plants to other pots.

I am working on rooting some of my plants to put in other pots.  My arrowhead plant was getting so big, so I split a baby from the mother plant and planted that up in another pot.  I also took another arrowhead baby and trying to root it to put in another pot.  Ever since I potted my arrowhead plant in potting soil back in April, it's been doing really well!  I am also trying to root a few cuttings from my swiss cheese plant.  I removed the mother plant, I hope to replace it with one of my cuttings as soon as they grow roots. 

I would love to add to my plant collection but I am trying to keep my jungle to what I already have! 

To Walmart We Went

Shannon and I went to Walmart this afternoon before Kyle got home from school.  We needed to buy a fan for our room.  Kyle's been unable to sleep as well through the night because it is hot!  Since Kyle isn't sleeping as well, we are suffering too from him being up!  The air conditioner is on, but with our room upstairs, it is still hot!  The last few nights, he'll wake up with a sweaty head!  Last night his whole entire body was hot.  Shannon had to remove his pajamas just to cool him off.  I also wanted to buy Kyle some shorts and short sleeved shirts for him to sleep in.  We picked out 4 shirts and 4 short pants that can be mixed between each other and they can be worn outside or to bed.

This week, Kyle has been crazy for boca burger patties in a hamburger bun!  So I bought more 100% whole wheat hamburger buns and boca burger patties.  We needed more goldfish crackers because Kyle loves them so much. 

I also bought one more pot for some of my plants, I wanted to transplant them into soil.  I think these plants will thrive in soil.  My plants that are in the Miracle Gro soil already are doing really well!  

After we were done shopping at Walmart, we stopped through McDonald's and ate at home.  It is always nice to go "out" without Kyle!  It's odd, but it's nice to have some alone time.

Studying for LSAT, Dr. Appointment, Plant Fever

Kyle had another doctor appointment, this time it was with an "ear, nose, and throat" doctor.  Before seeing that doctor, Kyle saw the audiologist and he gave him a hearing test again.  He said his hearing looks to be in the normal range.  The "ear, nose, and throat" doctor looked into Kyle's ears.  He said he's going to send over the test results to Kyle's pediatrician as well.  As we left the doctor office, they gave me a piece of paper for billing (to give to the appointment setter) and it said they are going to bill our insurance (medicaid) $418!!

I still haven't heard back from Speakability.  I called them last Thursday and left a message with the person who answered the phone.  I need to call them again and set something up!  Kyle needs private speech therapy.

Since Shannon received some of his study materials for the LSAT test, he's started reading through the books.  He feels better and more prepared to take the test.  They give him tips and tricks on taking the test.  He's learning other ways to answer the test questions too.  He's still waiting on another shipment of practice tests.

I received my curly spider plant that I won on ebay today!  It's bigger than I thought it would be.  For now, it's in the pot that I bought for it.  I plan on getting a bigger pot.  I removed the babies (there were 9 of them) that came with it and planted them in other pots of plants!  I also gave two [of the nine] babies to my MIL.  She has them in her office/sitting room that is attached to their bedroom.  I also re-potted my solid green spider plants with fresh potting soil!  They are getting too big for the small pot they are in.  Once I get another pot, I can separate them and give them more room.