My kids are 'stoked' as well. We have be sprouting seeds indoors for the past two months. We check them daily. And they are great about tending to the seedlings but at times, a little overzealous. I am now getting used to finding unidentified things growing in the cell pack's. Why? Because they watered too much, the seeds floated down the cell pack and I am too new to this to identify what is what. Your plans are great but are you growing any tomatoes? If your kids hate tomatoes, ignore the rest of my post. If they like them, throw a cherry or grape tomato in a 5 gallon container. My daughter is in kindergarten. I went into class this week to "sprout" cherry tomato seeds with the kids. I am taking them home to care for them for the next month. The plan is to bring them back after a month, have the kids decorate planters and transplant the seedlings. Since I already have a ton of cherry tomato plants thriving under lights I might have to cheat and switch them out. In any case, I have been very successful growing tomatoes in containers. If you are interested, my best advice is to plant them with potting soil and put a layer of mulch or wood chips on top to help retain the moisture. Good luck!!!!

Julie, like Susan said, don't worry about "normal".There is no "normal". Each one of us grieves as differently as each of our personalities and experiences with our loved ones who have left us. Being that we all have different experiences with our loves, we have different hurts, issues to deal with, circumstances to straighten out in our heads and the list goes on and on. We all have that basic grief, but there is no time table or rules when it comes to what we are feeling inside and when it surfaces. Birthdays are hard for me. Harder than the "Heaven Day" as I call it. I try not to think too much about the fact that I won't ever see Chris again in this life. I try to remember that this life is VERY short compared to the eternity of pure happiness that I will spend with her after my time here is up. That is a happy thought. Try to replace your bad/sad thoughts with happy ones. It will help you survive this. I too, can honestly finally see a significant difference in my emotional state since Chris left. It has been 6 years and 5 months. My heart is finally feeling lighter and I am more ready to do fun things. Chris knows I love her and always will. She loved life and was ALWAYS ready for a great time, so I want to let that part of her that is in me shine. Julie, you will feel better in time. Lu

Jayne, a beautiful quilt for your daughter, outstanding work! Love the butterflies on the border! Yes, I learned the hard way (years ago) that SID quilting by hand was not the best way. Guess we just think "well, it's just quilting after all, what could be bad?" And then, we find out..... Teresa

Forgot to say Ashley 24 today.Thanks for letting me share this.Hugs Judy