A Summer of Growing

One of my newly discovered hobbies since moving into our own home has been gardening.  I was never excited about it before now.  It probably had quite a bit to do with renting houses and not making the time to tend the garden.  Now gardening excites me.  I don't mind spending time outside pulling weeds, planting things and watching them grow and flourish.  It hasn't only been the vegetable garden that has captivated me, I have spent hours in the front garden.

I planted the front garden in April and May.  If you remember we started out with only a row of mums and rocks straight across the front of the house.

I worked with my dad and designed a front garden.  I enjoyed digging and planting (well, not so much the actual digging) and watching the garden come to life.

I spent the summer watering, moving plants around, adding new things, mulching, weeding and tending everything.  It was fun and I'm proud to say that everything is flourishing and looks quite different now.

I like looking out my front door and seeing the plants, especially the may-night salvia.  It has grown lush and thick.  Right now it's a haven for bumble bees.

The mums are almost in their prime.  I never really liked mums, but after learning what to do with them they've kind of grown on me.  I even bought two for my pots this fall and I am going to plant them in our backyard soon.

The honeysuckle vine and obelisk trellis were an end of season sale.  The vine was literally just a stick with some leaves when I brought it home.  The arborvitae bush by my stepping stone was also an end of season sale.  It has dead leaves in it, but I'm hopeful it will come around.

I decided not to put a border in when we put in the garden this spring.  Next spring one of our first projects will be to put a border in.  I have to weed-eat weekly to reclaim the garden from the yard.  It sends mulch flying and I still think the grass is slowly winning.  I'm a little undecided what kind of border I want and have not been in a huge rush this year to install one.

It's more evident here that the yard is winning, or maybe the plants are just too big now for the space I originally dug out.

I like the way the garden flows around to help hide the ugly retaining wall.

My barberry bushes are already quite a bit bigger and taking some of the focus away from the retaining wall.

One of my favorite things in the garden is the way the sedum has grown to fill the crevice between the rock and the wall, tying the rock into the garden.

One of Aric's favorite parts of the garden is the rock.  He loves standing on it and jumping off.  And, no, I don't make him wear a bike helmet to do that.

39 Months of Cloth Diapering

I have spent 39 months as a cloth-diapering mommy.  We're not some weird, tree-hugging family (not saying that tree-huggers are weird).  We're quite normal.  We recycle, we plant trees, we just don't usually hug them.  However, we made the decision to cloth diaper Aric after plenty of research and discussions with other friends who cloth diapered their children.  Our decisions to cloth diaper were based on two reasons: the first being that we lived out in the country with no trash service and, the second, because we really didn't have much money at that time. 

Since we had no trash service in the country we had to sort through our trash, recycle and burn what was leftover.  Disposable diapers aren't recyclable and they don't burn.  We also had no intention to start trash service.  We didn't have the money for the luxury or the desire to drag our trash down a quarter mile driveway for pickup.

In addition, we were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of money that is spent to diaper a baby.  It was better for us to spend more money up front to establish a supply of cloth diapers and covers than to spend a seemingly endless amount of money over time buying disposable diapers. 

We believed in our decisions and were determined to keep at it.  After Aric's umbilical cord fell off we began cloth diapering and never looked back.  I'm not saying that no disposable diaper ever touched his bottom, but the majority of the time he wore a cloth diaper.  I used the Mother-Ease system and LOVED them.  They worked well for us. (Note: I'm not endorsing any product, just saying what we chose.  They may not work for everyone.)

When Kellyn was born I ordered another dozen diapers to help cover an additional bottom and three Sandy's diapers for Aric and his larger bladder to wear overnight.  We cloth diapered two kids while they were at home.  It's not glamorous, but it did save us quite a bit of money over time.  Neither Ryan nor I have regretted our decision to cloth diaper the kids.

Fast forward to 38 months of cloth diapering; Aric is potty-trained and wearing Pull-ups overnight, while Kellyn is now using Aric's Sandy's diapers.  Kellyn began waking up every night in the middle of the night.  She was crying and wandering around the house.  One night I decided that maybe she was drenched and uncomfortable and decided to put her in a disposable diaper overnight rather than a cloth diaper.  It worked and she started sleeping peacefully through the night again.

Fast forward to 39 months of cloth diapering; Aric is still potty-trained and wearing Pull-ups overnight, while Kellyn is using cloth diapers during the day and a disposable overnight.  Ryan and I were becoming increasingly frustrated that anytime we changed Kellyn's cloth diaper it was drenched and we had to change the soggy cover too.  Yes, our diapers were well used, but they should have held more liquid than what they were, especially since I was adding liners to help absorb more liquid.  Then I thought about it and realized that Kellyn likes to have a drink.  All day long she either has a sippy cup of juice, water or milk close at hand.  Which means she has quite a bit of liquid that needs to come back out.  With a toddler size bladder, she can hold more and her diapers were slowly losing the battle. 

Kellyn is getting close to potty training, but not quite there.  When I become more mobile I intend to work with her and try to potty train her.  (Potty training with crutches doesn't seem like a great idea.)  In the meantime, Ryan and I had a discussion and decided that maybe we were done with cloth diapering and would just switch to disposables for our sakes and for Kellyn's.  The other day we stopped and I'm okay with that.  39 months is a nice long run and we both feel we got our money's worth out of those diapers. (I'm just sorry for my mom, because we made that decision near the end of her visit rather than at the beginning of it.)  Don't worry about those diapers.  They will be boxed up and passed along to a newborn who will get some good use out of them.

Would I do it all again?  Most certainly.  It was a good experience, saved us money, and wasn't the hassle that we thought it would be.

Things Heard Around Here

Kellyn: I got a boat. (Said as she climbs into a laundry basket.)

Ryan: That's not a boat.

Kellyn: It's a Wusty boat.

Translation:
Rusty is a family friend and honorary grandpa to Aric and Kellyn.  He has frequently entertained the kids by pushing them around in laundry baskets and plastic bins while singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat".  Kellyn adores him and has taken to calling anyone she loves and adores "Wusty".  Some day she'll figure out every one's names.

Do Not Text and Clean

The following is a warning for the good of humanity:  Do not text while cleaning the bathroom and taking only enough time to remove one glove to text a silly photo to a friend. 

If you do not heed this warning the following might happen to you, and I will not accept responsibility for your actions:

Me (thinking I'm sending a text to my friend, who loves sharks):
It's a bad picture, but do you see the shark rising out of the bucket?

Response: New phone, who's this?

That is when the sinking feeling began as I realized my phone had not sent it to the correct person, but to the first person on my contact list.  Thankfully she found the whole situation humorous and we chatted for awhile.  I did manage to resend it to the correct person, who had quite a laugh over my blunder. 

And this is what bored housewives do all day long...

You've Come a Long Way

When we first bought our house we didn't realize how bad our kitchen was.  We had been living in an old, dark farmhouse and anything was a step up from where we had been.  I knew the first thing I wanted gone were the peach walls.  We, eventually, wanted to rip out the old vinyl and replace it with ceramic tile and change the layout a bit but we figured we were years down the road from that ever happening.  After painting the kitchen and living in the house I realized how truly disgusting our kitchen was.  The previous owners must have fried everything.  The cabinets, walls, appliances, light fixtures, you name it were coated in a layer of grease; grease that would require an army to remove.

God provided some immediate renovations in the form of a flood from a frozen pipe.  While it was a nuisance and a month of upheaval, we were able to install a new ceramic tile floor for a fraction of what it would have cost us.  Some of the cabinets were water damaged causing all of them to be ripped out and replaced allowing us to change the layout of our kitchen a bit to increase the functionality.

I loved the new, clean cabinets, but realized how imperfect our kitchen walls were.  There were huge gaps filled with caulk along the top edge of the countertop backsplash.  I began looking for tile for a kitchen backsplash.  I wanted it to compliment our cabinets, countertop and paint color, but still remain neutral enough that when we decided to sell our house it wouldn't be difficult for someone else to change out the color theme of the kitchen.  I found a perfect, easy to install backsplash.

After installing the backsplash, I had wanted to install hardware on the cabinets.  I found $150 worth of satin nickel knobs and pulls for $35.  Sadly, after bringing them all home I realized that our cabinet doors weren't quite even and the knobs would make them noticeably uneven.  I decided we could live without the hardware and returned it all. 

The kitchen is finished.  It is more than I envisioned we would ever have and I am truly pleased with the results.  It looks spectacular, is not covered in grease and functions much better than I ever dreamed it would.  It makes me smile when I enter it and happy to cook dinner for my family.

Kitchen before:

Kitchen after fresh paint:

Kitchen after renovations:

Kitchen with tile backsplash, new blinds, and a new table:

Bookmobile Failure

One of the kid's favorite activities is going to the library bookmobile on Wednesday nights.  It parks at a nearby grocery store and after dinner we take the kids to pick out movies and books.  Aric is always excited to climb aboard the bus and pick out items for the week.

This past Wednesday my mom and I took Aric and Kellyn to the bookmobile after dinner.  For some reason I wasn't paying attention as I was picking out books for the kids.  It wasn't until later that night that I read the title of one of the books we brought home:

I remember picking up the book, seeing the word "zoo", and opening the book to make sure it was short enough to hold their attention spans.  I, apparently, didn't read the title or notice the rear ends when I was flipping through the book.  I need to find better criteria for picking out books; criteria that includes actually reading them.

In case you have wondered, I have read the book to Aric several times.  He hasn't noticed that the book is about heinies, but he has asked if he can go to the zoo everytime I've read it to him.

Seeds

I've had a few inquiries about what seeds the kids and I planted in the garden.  I thought since I wasn't going on any exotic or not so exotic trips anytime soon I would try planting some fall crops in our vegetable garden.  The kids and I went to a local nursery and purchased packets of seeds.  We planted broccoli, peas, mixed lettuce and spinach.

I'm not sure how fruitful our crops will be, regardless it entertains me the kids.  We still have assorted peppers and tomatoes that are producing.  I've frozen bags of peppers for later use hoping they freeze well.  I'm also hoping that I will still get an opportunity to can tomatoes.  There is a large amount of green tomatoes on our plants.  It would be nice if they ripen in the cooling temperatures.

Remember the 7000 columbine seeds I planted?  They didn't grow this summer.  When I returned from my brother's wedding I brought back some plants my parents gave me.  I planted those in the area where I had scattered the seeds in the spring.  Apparently churning the soil did something to activate those seeds.  I now have 7000 columbines growing.

Hopefully our neighbors like columbines.

Growing Too Fast

Some days I wonder where did the time go?  When did my little boy go from this:

To this:

Aric has had terrible seperation anxiety since he was about seven months old.  It didn't matter that I dropped him off at the same daycare with the same caretaker and the same kids, he still cried every morning.  As a mother, those tears were heart-wrenching.  Nothing I did made it any better and Aric usually had to be restrained when I left him.  Don't even bring up Sunday School.  At the church we were attending that was worse because it meant he had different teachers and no sense of continuity.

With me now staying home, Aric has been better about getting dropped off at Sunday School.  Last week he was moved out of the nursery into a new class of three year olds.  We had a long talk about how he was a big boy now and would go to the big boy class instead of being with the babies.  I anticipated some problems.  When I took Aric to the class he held my hand tighter as we entered the classroom.  One of the teachers came over and offered her hand as she explained to Aric that the other kids were playing with dirt and water.  He took her hand and never looked back.

This week, Ryan and I took Aric to class.  He was excited to show Daddy the pictures of Jesus on the wall in the hallway and where his new class was.  Once we came to his room, Aric waved "bye" to us as he excitedly went into class.  As a mother it was great to see his confidence, but heart-wrenching in a much different way. It brought visions of a future kindergartner to mind.

I am not ready for him to grow up!

Things Heard Around Here

No cheese!

Said when she doesn't want her picture taken.

Apple Pie in a Jar

Yesterday, while waiting for Ryan to fly back from a business trip, I decided to entertain myself by making a pie in a jar from this recipe.  I thought the concept was brilliant.  Why not have single serving pie in a jar just waiting in the freezer for those times when you really crave a piece of pie?

The kids were entertained, I had some apples that I needed to use, and plenty of time so I began working on my recipe.

Entertained kid #1

Entertained kid #2

I cheated and used refrigerated pie crust because I HATE making pie crust from scratch.  I deeply dislike rolling pins.  I also used regular half pint jars that I purchased cheaply from Wal-Mart.  I didn't see the point of buying special, expensive wide mouth jars for an experiment.

Looking good already and fairly easy to assemble:

I used pie cutters that I bought from Target, not the ones they recommended from Williams and Sonoma:

Ready to be frozen:

I made seven jars and froze six of them.  The last jar I saved to eat after the kids went to bed.  I popped the jar in the oven and set the timer for the recommended length of time.  I went on my merry little way mopping the floor while I waited, all the while forgetting that my oven runs hot.  Yes, my oven runs hot and I burnt my pie in a jar.  Or at least attempted to make the crispiest crust ever.  The filling was still good, but I scooped out the pie crust into the trash and then dished myself up my usual bowl of ice cream.  I'm not saying it's a bad recipe.  I'm just saying 45 minutes was a bit too long.

Nesting

This last week I have been nesting.  No, this isn't nesting because we're expecting a child, it's nesting because I'm having knee surgery in a week.  I know I'll be laid up for awhile and it seems like the time to get things done.  My mom, thankfully, is coming to help out while I have surgery since chasing my kids while on crutches seems a little unrealistic.  The week after my mom leaves Ryan's parents are coming for a visit, which is why I feel the need to get things done now while I can still move around.

I have spent the week touching up the paint in the kitchen, deep-cleaning the living room.  I also replaced the flapper in a leaky toilet, planted seeds in the garden with the kids, straightened things up in the garage, installed a shelf in Aric's room, painted our front door a blackberry color and cleaned out our deep freeze.  Yesterday I went on a massive grocery shopping trip to make sure our deep-freeze and pantry are well stocked for a while.  I also changed the light bulb in our TV (yeah, I'm quite proud of myself, but we really do need to get a new TV before that $300 bulb burns out again).

The shelf in Aric's room:

I want to hang his name above his bed, but can't seem to find the right letters.  I did find some last week that I liked, but, alas, they were missing the R and I.

The finished kitchen:

What better way to showcase our dishes and decorate our kitchen than to display them as part of the kitchen decor?  I'm pleased with the results and my $12 plate rack.

The blackberry door.  It's purple, but not in-your-face-purple.  It goes well with our white house and grey trim.  Go State!  Thanks Pam for letting me borrow your idea.

I've had knee surgery before and didn't feel the overwhelming need to get things done. I think this time is different because I have more responsibilities now that I am a mother. Hopefully I will heal quickly and all of this is just a bit of overkill, but I'm prepared either way.

Things Heard Around Here

I took the kids to Sam's Club yesterday morning.  When we got to the front sliding doors, Aric made a beeline straight to the trash can to throw something away.  I continued through the doors with Kellyn to get a shopping cart.  (Before you think I'm a horrible parent, I should mention we were about three feet away.)  I put Kellyn in the cart and turned to reach for Aric when I noticed him standing outside of the door with his back to me frantically looking around.  I called his name, he turned around, and a visible look of relief crossed his face when he saw me.  That's when he said:

I thought I was lost.

The Gnome Whisperer

My brother, Ryan, used to tell us that gnomes were slowly invading.  I think gnomes are using the little ones, Kellyn in particular, to assist with their invasion.

I frequently find her hunkered down, talking to and touching the gnomes.  Whenever I get close she gets up and walks away.  Coincidence?  I think not.

Things Heard Around Here

Scene: Kids are sitting at the table finishing their dinner, I am at the sink washing dishes, and Ryan has just left the room to get something.  Kellyn begins to cry "Daddy" when he leaves.

Aric: It's okay, Kellyn, daddy will be back.  You stay with me.

I'm glad that Aric feels protective of his sister.  The whole time, though, I was thinking, "What am I chopped liver?  I'm standing right here."

Shoe Lover

Kellyn loves shoes.  Be forewarned if you come to our house and take off your shoes, Kellyn will probably put them on sometime during the visit and wear them around the house.  All shoes are fair game.  This summer in Minnesota at our family picnic, Kellyn was happy as a clam in the entry way trying on the wide assortment of shoes left behind. 

Oh yeah, and her love for hats is still going strong.