Strawberry plants, Samuri Lydia, and other odds and end from the week

It's gardening time, sort of. After a wild strawberry plant took off by the back porch, Mom decided it might be fun to try a couple of regular strawberry plants there, too. One little problem, though: critters. Lots of them. All eager to eat strawberries. So, Mom put them in her hanging basket. And then the plastic hanger things broke. So, today, Mom got crafty and fashioned a new hanging apparatus out of yarn, braids, and knots. Behold the result:

Mom is especially excited about this strawberry plant because it has pink flowers:

In other gardening news, Mom and the older Muffins planted baby carrots for Jared and sweet peas for Amanda. Should be interesting to see if any plants come up in a couple of weeks. The carrots should be especially interesting, since Jared insisted on planting them his way. If they grow, they will definitely need thinning.

And now, a few more Muffin moments from the past week or so. Mom usually asks the boys to keep the swords outside, but when one wandered inside, Lydia liked it a lot:

Dad made play dough for Jared and Curtis one day:


And Amanda had fun decorating with an Easter cookie kit Mom found on clearance. (The other Muffins preferred eating the cookies, decorated or not.)