A New Beginning....

Today was the first day of school, so naturally I became very reflective all day long.  I kept walking passed my boys' room - beds dutifully made, floor free of scattered legos, and house a bit too quiet.  I moped around all day and counted down the hours until their return.  Somehow, I'm a bit resentful that Mrs. So-and-so gets just as many waking hours of their time as I do.  That just feels wrong to me.  But, at the same time, I'm not quite woman enough to homeschool my kids.  I wish there were a half-day option where they go to school for say four or five hours to learn the basic reading, writing, and math and get some socializing with their peers.  And then I provide all the enrichment activities like music, art, sports, etc.  I think it'd be a better overall use of my kids' time.

So...within all the "reflecting" I was doing, I decided, like so many other parents out there, that the kids are simply growing up too fast!  Time is flying by and I feel like I'm not savoring this precious stage enough.  I'm not documenting, journaling, keepsaking, etc enough.  Hence, I'm making a renewed commitment to spend more time recording these precious moments as best as I can (which means the dishes just might not get done sometimes!).  And I've decided that blogging is the best medium for me to utilize because of its flexibility and wide range of media resources.

I used to regard blogging as somewhat superficial and superfluous - really just something that took needless time AWAY from my family.  Now that I have a more focused purpose I can justify the precious time it will take to do a good job.  My goal is to be true to life and courageously honest in presenting what life is really like at this stage of our family without regard to who may be reading it other than my family and our posterity.  Plus, I'd like to become a better writer.

So, here's to a new beginning...

The day of the first chocolate cake from scratch

The day of the first vintage hand-me-down

Today, No.3 wore a dress to church that used to be one of my dresses when I was little. I would love to find some pictures of me in it, but haven't been able to find any yet. The dress was so cute on her! I didn't realize until now that the dress was handmade - I need to find out who made it. Quite possibly one of my aunts made it for me thirty-something years ago.

FYI - No.3 had just woken up from her nap in this picture. It's apparent that she wasn't really in the mood for a photo shoot.

Garden Update Week #7 - The day of the first harvest!

We came home from vacation to seven beautiful burpless cucumbers! Look at these beauties, and they taste great! We've been enjoying them - the kids like them peeled, sliced and sprinkled with a little salt. Dad and I like them thinly sliced and marinated. Here's a great marinade recipe that I got from my Aunt Rose:

1/4 c. Rice Vinegar

1/4 c. Sugar

1/4 tsp. Course Salt

1/8 tsp. Fresh Ground Pepper (I added this part)

1 to 2 tsp. Fresh Ground Ginger (I like to go heavy on the ginger)

One hint* - you do have to slice the cucumbers pretty thin to really get enough taste. I use a V-slicer on its thinnest setting. Yum!

The day of the first house painting project...

Dad decided that he didn't want to pay the $1,200 quoted price to have the trim on our house professionally painted. So, as resourceful as he is, he borrowed a hugemongous laddar, bought one $25 (after rebate) gallon of paint, and went to work. It's only taken a few weeks, but I'm proud of him for being just about done. Although, I must say I worried a little about him falling...

The house looks great, so now we want to change out the shutters too (its never ending...). I'll post the completed project once our shudders come in and get hung (we had to special order the right size).

P.S. Before you think we're cool for saving the money, we ended up spending the saved money on Living Scriptures DVDs from some BYU students that came to our door last week. *Sigh*

Garden Update Week #5 - baby veggies!

We have little baby veggies - cucumbers, peppers, and even the tomatoes have decided to do something (I was getting a little worried because they didn't seem to be growing much).

My favorite, though, are the darling little tendrils that stick out like bad hair or cling for dear life to the trellises. Isn't nature fascinating...

The day of the first fish babysitting job...

Toby, our friend's beta fish, has come to stay with us for a week. The kids don't have any pets, so they are pretty excited. I just hope we don't kill it.

Garden Update Week #3 - Cucumbers are blooming!

Both the bush and burpless cucumbers sprouted happy yellow blooms a couple days ago! I'm hoping a lot of bees come around to help cross pollinate them now. Apparently cucumbers are gender specific and the pollen from the little girl cucumber blooms and the little boy cucumber blooms have to get together (California could use some gender lessons from cucumbers). The cucumbers accomplish this with the assistance of the bees. Otherwise, the cucumbers will turn out misshapen. I would do it myself, but I can't tell the difference between the girls and boys.

The carrots are really growing too. They are for thinning, which we'll try and get done this next week.

In fact, the entire yard is starting to bloom. We've lived here for five years, but this is the first year that I've actually cared for the landscaping to at least a minimal degree (i.e. watering, fertilizing, weeding, etc.). It's been fun to see things come together after some work we've put into it. Here are some pics...

Butterfly Bush

Daisies

Daylilies

The day of the first kayak solo...

Last weekend we spent a day at my friend's lake house. No.1 wanted to try out the kayak's. After paddling around a bit tandem with Dad, he decided he wanted to try it himself. Unbeknownst to Mom, Dad actually let him try it solo...yikes! But, as you can see, he actually did just fine maneuvering the small vessel. It was a good lesson for No.1 (and Mom!).

Hair Solutions - Take 2

Okay - so here's another shot at No.3's hair. This time I tried a headband that I paid way too much for from a Canadian company called Bugalug. According to the website, the headbands are designed to be non-slip and stay-put, but its really just a fancy ribbon with a basic toggle on the end. I thought the ribbon would be rubberized or something on one side. Next time I'll just buy some ribbon and use the same toggle that came on this ribbon.

We tried the headband for church last Sunday, and No.3 left it in the entire time. I only had to redo it once or twice, which is pretty good for how wiggly No.3 is. I think the headband suits her better than the ponytails.

The day of the first swim lessons...

Yesterday was No.1 and No.2's first swim lessons of Summer '09. This was the only picture I got before No.3 bolted knee deep into the water fully clothed. I'm not sure how I'm going to adequately keep her entertained during their lessons.

No.2 was very excited for swim lessons to begin. No.1 was a little anxious. He's afraid of the deep end where he can't touch the bottom of the pool. Last year he jumped off the diving board several times, so I'm not sure where the anxiety is coming from - (couldn't be his parents putting too much pressure on him).

I'll try to get some more pictures at a subsequent lesson (and maybe be lucky enough to catch one of No.1's male, twenty-something instructors in the background - oops! did I really say that!).

Garden Update Week #2 - Something's eating the beans!

To our great dismay, we discovered that some little critter has been enjoying our green bean sprouts. We're not quite sure what we're going to do, but it'll probably involve chicken wire.

On the brighter side, our peppers grew some darling little buds.

The day of the first buzz cuts...

Dad gave the boys buzz cuts for the first time...I tend to prefer the longer hair preppy look over the skinhead look, but Dad insisted this was better for summer. At least we didn't keep the mohawk that No.1 insisted on.

Lately, No.1 has decided he wants to be a rock star - he's even asked for singing lessons.

The day of the first ponytails...

Doing No.3's hair has been a continuing challange. Today I tried ponytails for the first time. Hmmm...cute, but I think I'll keep trying.

The day of the first T-ball out...

No.1 recently began his rookie year of T-ball. We've been enjoying watching the games as a family. His team is the Tigers, although our little tiger tends to lack a little "eye of the tiger". We're concerned about him being more interested in making cool designs with his new cleats in the dirt than in the line drive heading for his head.

But, in his last game, No.1 fielded his first out. He caught a ground ball mid-infield and threw the batter out at first base. The throw wasn't perfect, but fortunately one of the best players on the team was playing first base and was able to catch the slightly wide throw. I almost cried with excitement, then calmed down really quick when I realized how ridiculous I probably looked jumping up and down on the sidelines.

This is going to be a fun season...

Garden Update Week #1 - We have sprouts!

After one week, our green beans, carrots and corn are sprouting! Only 43 more days until harvest. Of course, we just realized that we will be gone for two weeks on vacation right about the time the first fruits of our labor are available. I guess we'll have to onegai our neighbors to look after things while we are gone!

The day of the first date with No.2

So I decided to choose something I thought No.2 would like, but was different from anything we've done before. No.2 has really taken to helping us with the lawn and landscaping. He seems to like flowers and plants. He notices little things in the yard - subtle characteristics about colors, shapes, and sizes of flowers, rocks and leaves. I'm always finding rocks or hard tree berries in the washer that have made their way out of No.2's pockets. So, our date included an evening at the Franklin Park Conservatory during their special Blooms and Butterflies event.

In the car on the way, I remarked that we had forgotten to take him to the bathroom just before leaving. No.2 replied, "Mom, will they have yucky, dirty bathrooms at the garden place?" I think he was referring to the porta-potty that he recently had his first introduction to at one of No.1's t-ball games. He was so disgusted that he refused to go in. I chuckled imagining a green porta-potty sitting in the middle of a sophisticated conservatory.

My choice of venue was confirmed as we walked up the front walkway to the entrace of the conservatory. No.2 pointed and said, "Mom, we have those plants." Indeed, he had identified cat mint, which we have growing in our front yard.

As we entered the first planetarium, No.2 looked at me wide-eyed and asked, "Are all these plants real?" He enjoyed the plants with the humoungus leaves the best. He also liked feeding the fattest koi I've ever seen.

The weather made for a really nice evening, which made being out on the outside patios really pleasant. At one point, he directed me to a cluster of chairs and said, "Mom, let's sit here and talk." I hope that lasts through his teenage years.

We rounded out our evening at the conservatory with a quick stop in the gift shop where he bought a miniature rubber frog and ladybug and a speckled marble. He also picked out a second marble for No.1 and a miniature rubber butterfly for No.3.

We stopped at the donut store on the way home - No.2's favorite treat. He also got a kick out of the big "D"s used as handles on the shop doors. And as always, he picked the chocolate frosted with sprinkles. I picked out my favorite, a French cruller. No.2 decided he liked French crullers too, so we shared our donuts together.

For me, the best part was just spending unhurried, undistracted time with my middle-child. His personality requires more attention than I'm often able to provide on a daily basis. Although, I guess he's beginning to adjust by knowing he's got to nail me down in order to "talk". I will always have time for an evening out with my No.2.

The day of the first date with No.1

A couple weeks ago, I went on a mother-son date with No.1. We saw a musical stage version of Peter Pan, which was presented by the Columbus Children's Theatre. I wanted to introduce some culture / art into No.1's life to balance out the Star Wars / Transformers / etc. that he's exposed to on a daily basis. It was showing in the Southern Theater, which is relatively fancy (for Columbus standards), and so we got dressed up. No.1 wasn't sure why he had to wear church clothes.

The production was really well done and extremely kid friendly. But best of all, No. 1 seemed to genuinely enjoy it! Although, when we got to the part where the kids started flying, I got all excited and said, "Look No.1 - they're flying!" To which he responded, "No mom, I can see the strings..." Why can't he believe that Peter Pan can fly, but he asks me from time to time whether Indiana Jones is real. *Sigh*

The best part for me was having No.1 come and sit on my lap mid-way through the show. He never does that anymore - he's gotten too independent - but maybe reverted to little guy again for one night for his mom's sake. I guess he's already learning what it takes to please your date...

The day of the first garden...

This week we planted our first real family garden. We've wanted a vegetable garden for a long time, but never seemed to get motivated enough to actually do it. For whatever reason, this was the year I overcame procrastination. I borrowed a million books from the library, downloaded several articles from the OSU extension services, and borrowed some gardening magazines from my neighbor. We started by picking a good spot...

Wouldn't it be great if we could skip pregnancy and grow kids in a garden instead!

Adding a few railroad ties, tomato cages, seeds and seedlings (and about $75)...

And - Viola! - our very first family garden!

Initially, I wanted to keep the variety of crops simple - tomatoes (two types - Rutgers and Pink Lady), cucumbers (one bush and one burpless vine cultivar (a cool new word I learned from my books!)), green beans (Blue Lake and Kentucky Wonder), and sweet peppers. Although, I let No.1 and No.2 pick out seeds so now our garden includes corn and carrots too (Danvers, Danvers short, Chantenay, and some sweet hybrid that's guaranteed to succeed). It would also have included cantelope, watermelon, broccoli, cauliflower and daisies, all of which the kids bought seeds for, but we ran out of space (it's only a 4'x8' plot). Now, if we can keep No.3 from pulling all the leaves off!

And, oh, I couldn't resist adding a few cute pics of the kiddies!

Our custom trellises that second as jungle gyms

Notice the bite taken out of the foam water toy

If you're wondering where No.1 is, he's inside playing Lego Star Wars...the worst mind-numbing invention ever created. And we don't even own a Playstation - it's all free online. If people can sue McDonald's for making their kids fat, can I sue Nintendo for making my kids dumb? *Sigh* So much for family togetherness.