You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch...

Things in the last 48 hours that very well could be followed by some sad, trumpety noise.

1. Packing away Sam's 12 months clothes.

2. Packing away Emma's 2T clothes.

3. Taking down my green bean vines b/c the stink bugs most likely destroyed them.

4. And the icing on the cake...Although, I should be happy that it is probably advanced for Emma to be able to illustrate emotion in drawing a face, why did it have to be me? Seriously, I think I am mostly nice to her, but this gem would make anyone think otherwise.

I walked by her drawing quietly. It was everything pictured above without the smile.

Emma: Mom, I drew a picture of you.

Me: (I'm thinking to myself..good lord! that looks angry...no...she's only 3...let's hope it's a coincidence)

Emma: That's you being angry.

Me: (great.) Why am I angry?

Emma: Because I hit my brother.

Me: Yes. That makes me angry. I'm not always angry, though, right?.

Emma: (added the smile).

Hopefully, I outgrow my Mom=Dr. Seuss Grinch status.

The Late Night Show

Scene: Middle of the night. Sam wakes up itching...I'm rocking Sam in his dark room. Steve is in the bathroom helping Emma who woke up for a potty break. Sam sits up, noticing the light in the hall. Apparently, he needs to get to the bottom of this.

Sam: medsin, medsin, medsin, medsin? (translation: sweet! am I getting some tasty meds?)

Me: No medicine, lay down.

Sam: (lays down for a few seconds, pops up) Potty, potty, potty? Daddy potty?

Me: yes. daddy potty. lay down. (I'm for sure not mentioning who else is in there)

Sam: (lays down for about a minute, back up laughing)

Me: what's so funny?

Sam: bye, bye, poopie, bye, bye, poopies..hahahahah...(cracking up)

Me: hilarious. goodnight.

oh my little sam. =)

PS: He is not allergic to cats, wheat, beef, eggs, codfish, other random things on this allergy screen. However, still itching. Any thoughts? We are using the most hypoallergenic detergent possible.

Summer Vacation - Part 1

San Antonio, here we come! We miss our friends terribly. So much, in fact, that we went ahead and jumped into the scary unknown..a plane ride with two little ones. We were pleasantly surprised when all went well. We arrived at the airport and Jason picked us up in a minivan they rented to cart our growing group around. They live in paradise. A place where a gluten-free/vegetarian diet is no big deal, the swimming pool is refreshing, and good friends and good conversation await on an amazing lanai! Jason, a genius with surprisingly exceptional hide and seek skills, and Amanda, a superhero-goddess in all things domestic, welcomed us warmly!

Our fleet

I saved the best for last. The main reason we came to visit was to meet the newest member of this family and Princess of Paradise, Miss Isla Rose!!!!!! My font choices do not allow me to express how exciting this is for us! I did not take nearly enough pictures of Isla. She is so so tiny and cute! And, Jason and Amanda make such great parents.

Hanging out with Isla is especially exciting for us because it seems like just yesterday that Jason and Amanda were baby Emma's special friends. Babies and ALL that comes with them was new and surprising.

Jason and Emma(1 day old)

Amanda and Emma

Jason and Emma (5 mos)

And now, Isla's here!!!! And, she's more beautiful than any of us could have imagined. Even though, she is so mini and new, she already has a sweet personality and her own preferences. She will let you know if she is too hot and likes to watch everyone around her, taking everything in. It's amazingly fun to see Jason and Amanda glued to their monitor and surrounded by baby gear! During our trip, Emma asked Amanda if she could be Isla's big sister. We can't wait for all of the fun times to come!

Our Hero

Now, there are lots of reasons why Steve is our hero, and I'm looking forward to listing all of them in later posts. But, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Our summer has been full of traveling and vacationing, which is great. We feel very lucky. There are some side effects, though. Bouncing in and out of our normal routines made us pretty desperate for getting Sammy some sleep during our Kentucky trip. Hence, the binky rescue....

I mostly posted this because Sam was laughing at Steve jumping out. Looking back, behaviorally, it was kind of a nightmare. Lots of attention for a teeerrrible act. Also, to clarify, Sam calls his binky "binka" and drink "drinka". My theory is that everything gets an "a" at the end of the word because that's how his sister's name ends. Also, I'd like to remember how Emma likes to give advice these days (i.e. "watch out for that boat, dad."). Good times. =)

Uninvited Guest

Well, look who's been keeping my garden company while we were gone. This little punk ate most of every tomato on one of my plants. So, I have found tomato hornworms on plants before. Each time, we captured it and banished it to a glass jar. Each time, I forced it into a science project. Apparently, these things turn into giant 5-spotted hawk moths that can fly up to 30 mph. I wanted to see this. Unfortunately, (but actually I don't really care), they all did not quite make it. Once, death by squirrel and then, death by hot jar. We'll see what happens this time. Every time this happened, I couldn't help but think, "Well, buddy, maybe you shouldn't have eaten all of my tomatoes."

tomato hornworm

I ran across a home remedy I want to remember for next year. These jerks also LOVE dill. So, if you plant dill around your tomatoes, they will attack that first. The idea is that you would notice this damage before they get to the tomatoes. Learn something new every day.

I also mentioned that we were gone this weekend. This trip concludes our summer travels. We have been on 5 trips all together, and I will be working on a new post about our adventures soon. Probably will be more exciting than hornworm stories! =) Stay tuned!!

A New Invention

A carrot update for those that are interested. So, I decided to pull many more of our carrots for dinner. I've been told by my awesome gardening-guru buddy, Jen, that I should not expect long, store-bought-looking carrots. I appreciate the reality check, because I was really holding out for the pretty, long ones in the picture they have right on the seed packet. Anyway, not so much, but enough to try to eat for dinner.

Pulled, check! Washed, check! Peeled, check! Pre-tasted, check... Arg! Metal taste again. That's okay...we're definitely going to eat these things, even if I have to use lots of butter. To the 'fridge.....no butter! Nice. Water and brown sugar it is then.

Next, the CHAOS that is preparing dinner while supervising 2 little ones ensues. Long story short, I start to smell a funny carrot smell. I remember those carrots on the back burner, and lift the lid to uncover my new invention...gummy carrots. If ANYONE looked into that pan and had to guess what was in front of them, I may have heard, "are you cooking pennies?....in goo?" or "gummy bears for dinner?!?" or "are you cooking the pan from when I changed the oil in my car?" What a life....those mini seeds came a long way only to be turned into inedible, shriveled disks that require a sharp, sturdy object to pry them from our teeth. (Don't worry...I'm talking about the adults' teeth..they were deemed too terrible to feed to the kids). BUUUHMMER. I would have taken a picture, but I was too busy trying not to cry. Oh, well.

My new plan is to come up with a menu per week and prepare/freeze as much as I can. Wouldn't that be fabulous? To just pull meals out of the freezer and presto..dinner! So, I can't really see this ACTUALLY happening, but I'd like to try. What is your favorite recipe to freeze? Has anyone done this before or know of weekly menu resources? The whole vegetarian/gluten free thing might throw a wrench in this plan, but just a thought...we'll see.

G'on...Get Down With Your Bad Self!!

Sam's been dancing since he was so little. He has perfected some of his moves and chooses them carefully!

This happens every time my phone rings.

I call myself to see this happen. Without fail, he drops what he is doing to bust a move!

Stinky Situation

Bad news to report. The green beans are going down hill quickly. Instead of our lovely, long green pods, there are wimpy, yellow, misshapen beans. The culprit: STINK BUGS!! Brown Marmorated stink bugs to be exact. Apparently, these little jerks have "sucking mouth parts" that destroy everything. I've been learning a lot about these little suckers and turns out that they go through a metamorphosis looking a lot different at each stage.

I found their little babies, which look like ticks. Ugh...I start itching when I think of those crawly things. They definitely have that lice effect, where you know it's not on you, but it still starts itching when you talk about it. Hopefully, I'm not the only one this happens to, and hopefully I didn't just create it here. Are you itching? Ok. Ok. I'll stop.

Anyway, I'm looking for an organic answer to this problem. I haven't really found one yet, except I did smash a really big one the other day. Smashing isn't going to work for those little tick-like babies. More good news...some of the research I have found explains that when it gets colder these jerk-face stink bugs look to get into your house. Help!

Choices

So, I just finished the book, Parenting with Love and Logic. It's a book I used to use at my job when I met with families to talk about their crisis. We talked about natural consequences and avoiding power struggles with kids. I feel like I owe all of my former clients an apology. Little did I know that just having a toddler can be a crisis in itself and can instantly morph you into a crazy person.

Anyway...this book gave me a refresher and was really helpful. It motivated me to add more choices to Emma's day and help her to figure out her own problems. I will have to admit, there were a few ideas that were panic inducing. They really drove home the point that our interactions with her will shape her self-concept and develop (or underdevelop) her self-esteem. Ahhh! Enter flashbacks of me being impatient, less than supportive of her, and having my own tantrums. BUT..kids are resilient, right?...So after reading, and feeling guilty, I'm all geared up to give Emma some choices today. The ball is going to be in her court. She's going to feel like she has control and build off-the-chart levels of self-esteem!!!.....OR.....:

Em: I know! I want to trace my letters!

Me: Great idea! Would you like me to bring up paper? or would you like to work on your art desk downstairs?

Em: Oh...whatever works best for you mom.

In case you are thinking this sounds sweet, think again. This girl has my number, can possibly read my mind, and I am terrified of her teenage years. =)

Things I want to remember from this book:

• Children's mistakes are their opportunities
• Setting limits is like building walls that don't crumble and leave kids feeling secure
• Let your yes be yes, and your no be yes, too (i.e. I want to play computer NOW!! Can I? Yes. You can play after lunch. tricky!)
• You can't make a child go to sleep.

Sick.

Read at your own risk..yucky stuff ahead...

On our road trip home:

Me (to Emma): It's a bummer we all have colds. I don't like having a cold.

Emma: Me neither..(pause)..well, I like them a little. It's a little fun.

Me: What do you mean?

Emma: Well, colds have coughs and I like coughs.

Me: You like coughs?!?

Emma: Well, coughs have spit in them and then you swallow it and that's kinda fun!

It's official, we can add optimist to the list of adjectives that describe our 3 year old.

Trying to Find the Humor

The day before leaving for our trip, (aka busy, packing day), Sam became hysterical shouting for food. So, I gave him a cereal bar. He ate it in 1 minute...maybe less. You think I exaggerate. I do not. Half way through the bar, he is already thinking ahead and yelling for something else. He spots a banana... "NANANANANANAAAA". I give him half, more screaming, a reminder to say please, "pleeeeeasepleeeeeasepleease", then the other half. You would think this child has never eaten in his life. Oh, but in fact, he had a snack an hour earlier.

He chants, "barbarbarbarbarbar", hoping to score another entire cereal bar. I try to convince him that he needs to wait for his stomach to settle. I try to distract him with a toy. He is crying this entire time and trying to climb and open the refrigerator (He is 17months).

We have string cheese. He throws himself on the floor because I peeled it (to avoid choking) and he prefers to eat the thing whole thing in 3 2-inch, throat-clogging bites. After the cheese, he has managed to be distracted by something. I turn around to put a few dishes away, and from the family room, I hear, "messss.messs.messs" I turn back around to see that Sam has reached up and grabbed the only ripe tomato from the counter, brought it to the carpet, and squeezed with all of his might.

Behold tomato crotch:

More fun things that happened that day:

yep..that's my phone wedged in the ball popper

Although my sweet Sam is QUITE high maintenance, I am grateful for him everyday. I can only wonder what his future will hold. With his advanced ability to shout food items repeatedly, right now I'm thinking baseball game vendor? "Peanuts, peanuts...get your peanuts, peanuts!" Just kidding, Samalama. ;)

The Verdict

We tried that carrot pictured below. Peeled it. Sliced it. Passed the slices around. Emma quickly gave us her review. She spit it out and said, "disCUSStin'!!!" Unfortunately, I'd have to agree. It had a weird, intense carrot/metal taste. What the what? Bummer.

What's Up, Doc?

Our carrot experiment began in late April. Tiny seeds in a giant planter grew over a couple of months. We weren't sure if we should pull them, but we started to see the orange tops peek out of the soil. I think I will leave the rest in to see if they get bigger. We are going to try a new batch in the fall!

"I can hold it like I am getting married."

(She actually said this. I am amazed at her observation skills. I guess she was really taking it in at my cousin's wedding this weekend. We don't get much by this little one.)

serious business....inspecting our 2nd carrot

100% huggable

carrot mustache

my sweet veggie comedienne

Our Hill of Beans

These beans are part of the reason I dug everything up. During late spring, Emma and I picked out a couple of seed packets from the store. Green beans were part of our first experiment, before the mud pit and cedar kits. A seed pack, starter soil, and a recycled tray from our garage started this adventure. I wasn't expecting them to amount to much, but we were both excited when, in no time, the seeds grew, peeking out from the soil, and sprouted into mini plants! We transplanted them into the garden in early April with an open tomato cage to grow on (rookie mistake). Turns out, they needed a little more support and much more heat.

Well, what a lesson in patience! Those seeds had grown so fast in their first stages of life, but when we transplanted them, they stayed mini plants for weeeeeeks!!! Little by little, they started to climb and ended up getting pretty top heavy. Next time, I will pinch off the runners when they get to the top. This will make the plants bushier, rather than tall and tangly. Live and learn.

mini plants in a row

tall and tangly

Japanese beetle damage (top right)

baby beanies hiding

all grown up and ready to be picked

We've had a couple of scares. First, a Japanese beetle infestation. I learned a few things about Japanese beetles: 1. They are attracted to already damaged leaves. So picking off the ones they have munched on seemed to help; 2. Beetle bags use a pheromone to attract beetles that then fall into a bag they cannot escape. Tempting, but the bags actually increase the number of beetles in the area and can attract beetles who fly 10-15 miles to get in on the action. 3. The smash-with-2-bricks method provides a satisfying, crunchy, gooey end to the uninvited guests. I kept a close eye on the leaves and crushed any JBs in sight.

Second scare, for a couple of weeks at the beginning of July, all green bean production screeched to a halt. I have NO idea why. I'm looking for answers. And, it happened right after we had collected enough to have them for dinner and fall in love with them!!! Sooo tasty!! Again, I don't know what did the trick, but.... they're baaaack!

You know you go to Starbucks too much when...

Is it just me, or are Starbucks' employees freakishly happy and nice? Don't get me wrong. I appreciate this. I am delightfully surprised by this every time. And, it instantly puts me in a better mood. Is this subject covered in training? Does this 'How to be Excessively Happy and Kind 101' class exist? I'm starting to think this is a conspiracy..a secret that only Starbuck's employees have. Do they actually give them a pair of rose-colored glasses at graduation? Or maybe the management have their own freakish, happy-people recruiting skills? I think something is up, and I have to get to the bottom of it. I have daydreams of asking, "you know, I've noticed you are all really happy and nice. Sooo...what's going on back there?" I don't ask, because I'm sure that some Starbucks Secret Service, with shades and earpieces of course, would surround my car and create some kind of diversion. She's getting too close!

Aaaanyway...getting back to reality...

Today during my trip to Starbucks, it was raining. When I pulled up to the window, the Starbucks employee handed me my coffee with extra napkins to dry my car window that I had barely noticed was all drippy. Well, thank you, sir! After pulling away, I made a comment out loud, "Well, isn't he the nicest person on the planet." And from the backseat, an unimpressed reply.

"Yeah. We saw him yesterday."

Oh man. A reminder I go to Starbucks toooo much.

Milk. Does a cucumber good?

One of my favorite things we are growing right now is cucumbers. These curly tendrils are amazing. They quickly grow long and search out anything in its path to curl around. Then, they hold on for dear, cucumber-making life. I attempted to build an A frame support to create a method to their madness. Yellow flowers, spikey babies, and lots of water later, we have CUCUMBERS!!!! This is very exciting for a person desperate for a hobby and who has a history of being the Grim Reaper of plant life around her.

You can see why I would be concerned when I noticed white, powdery spots on the leaves of another cucumber plant I started. After the white spots, the leaves turned yellow and wilted away. Well, learn something new everyday. Apparently, this is appropriately called powdery mildew disease. I don't know how it got there, but I came across a home remedy at www.gardenguides.com. Spraying watered down milk (1part milk:9parts water) on the leaves eliminates the problem and boosts the immune system of the plant. Huh. It's working, so far. I'll keep you posted.

guarding the harvest

cucumber nunchucks?

"ello? ello?"

Ballerina Blues

So, to start, Emma is my smart, sweet, determined little 3 year old. I enrolled her in a dance class that I thought she would enjoy. There are only 2 classes left and she has not made it into one of them. Despite all of my efforts, she is set on not going in and watches the class from the doorway. I am actively trying not to be stressed out about this or let my mind convince me she will have anxiety disorders for the rest of her life. My new plan: relax.....oh, and don't bring Sam. During one of my squatting down-quads burning-attempting to keep my balance-pep talks with Emma in the abovementioned doorway, Sam managed to escape 1 inch from me and set off the building alarm. Nice. He thought this was hilarious and ran into the area where all the other parents were watching their toddlers happily follow along with class. Somehow, they also seemed to be managing their second child without alerting emergency crews or breaking a sweat. I was definitely sweating and the building staff were on their way.

Our Emma. She is thoughtful, perceptive and cautious beyond her years, but I am hoping this won't hold her back. Do I continue to encourage her to go or follow her lead and listen when she says she doesn't want to go? I am looking for the magical thing to say or do. Fall session is coming up. To enroll or not to enroll? It's slowly dawning on me that this is just the beginning of many mommy uncertainties to come.

Recent Ramblings

Sam is my little parrot these days. He repeats anything I say to the best of his ability, which generally comes out kinda goofy. Most recently, he has tackled the words blueberry (bllbllbl), almost (almoss), Grandma/Grandpa (mawmaw and pawpaw), and anything ending in -each (as in bEEEEEach). More of our favorites are lunch (any meal or snack in front of him), sunshine (shushine), and of course I love you (luh lu). My least favorites include EEEEEEat, More (mo, mo, mo, mo, MO, MOOOO), and boobie (a nice little one specifically taught to him by his big sister). If you have met Sam, you know that he eats with a demanding sense of urgency. He challenges me to chop food faster than humanly possible. And, if I had to guess, I'm pretty sure his favorite vowel is the long E, as in pEEEEach, chEEEEEEEse, and EEEEat. Here's a video of a word he is very confident with and uses to express his serious opinions about dessert. He also throws in a Dora impression. Can you find it?

Beginnings

So, gotta start somewhere! I'm creating this blog for many reasons. First, for documenting our crazy but joyful moments. People say "it goes so fast", but it's true. I've been meaning to journal, scrapbook, write in baby books, and such, but have not been very successful. I'm not sure if this will be different than many projects started and not finished, but let's give it a whirl!!!

I feel like lately I am learning something new everyday, so I'm forcing myself to write it down before it completely escapes me. Even being a mommy for 3 years, I feel like there are beginnings around every corner, new experiences where I have no idea what I am doing. Being a mom, for me, is a perpetual teeter-totter between "I got this." and "What the what?!?!"

In this third decade of my life, I have acquired a new hobby. I am also starting this blog to shamelessly gather gardening advice. I recently read Barbara Kingsolver's, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It changed the way I think about buying food an

d inspired me to start a garden.

It's a logical decision, really, to dig up a giant portion of your yard and try something you know nothing about. If it failed...I figured I could rent it out for mud wrestling or pig farming. Well, I'm happy to say that we are swine free!

Before:

I should thank a few. My secret gardening informants are most helpful: Amanda, Jen, Jess, my Mom, and Google. I love that I have seasoned gardeners to care about my garden and lend a tip here and there! Also, a shout out to my wonderful husband who knows me well, has seen me kill pretty much any plant life I have come into contact with, and who gently reminded me that it will take a long time to grow grass back in this spot.