The Dirt

This blog began with the debut of our humble garden among the rocks and weeds of our yard.  We mostly grew Zucchini and pumpkins.  Everything else was really not even eatable.  Then I caught the square foot gardening bug and became a devoted follower of Mel Bartholomew the inventor of the square foot gardening craze much to my husbands dismay. 

We are at it again.  I am all fired up again about my garden and I have been nursing some plant starts that I bought on mother's day.  It has been so cold we didn't dare plant anything.  Today I started to get into my beautiful dirt.  You see with Square Foot Gardening it is all about the dirt or as it is affectionately called "Mel's Mix."  I am not as converted to the dirt as I was in the beginning.  It isn't as magical as Mel made it seem.  My husband has snuck in a bunch of fertilizer and weeds actually do grow.  I am still committed to my man Mel and think this year will be the year that my little boxes bloom.  A pulled a few weeds and sprinkled some water and look what already started to grow.  I think this flower is my best work. 

We are Family

Belonging to a big family is a dream come true.   I guess belonging to a family in general can be a dream come true if it circumstances allow.  It is something I think I really want to write more about.  I love to see the children in our home begin to realize that they belong to a family with brothers, sister, grandmas and grandpas, cousins, aunts and uncles.  It feels great to be adopted into a family tree with roots that are deep and nourished.  I don't think our children will understand for a very long time that there is more to all the fun family parties that we have.  I am just now beginning to understand how it was even possible for my extended family to get together and create loving memories and traditions.  For now our kids just expect it as a part of their safe and secure environment and we are going to continue to nourish that expectation. 



Our Rider Boy turned three on Sunday.  He had two parties, one at each grandparents home.  He isn't really a big fan birthday parties, and I dare anybody to try and sing Happy Birthday to him without getting slugged.  One thing is certain--he loves to visit his grandparents and great grandparents homes.  He has his own little special traditions at each of their homes.  This year he was old enough to actually open his own birthday presents before his big brother opened them for him.  He  sat still long enough to open presents and blow out candles and then he was gone on the four wheeler with Daddy for most of the night.  Somehow we left his party last night with some Monster Trucks, a toy four wheeler, an Elmo kite, and three cousins with their jammies.  We got home at about 11 p.m.  and I think everyone finally snuggled down for the night at 12:30 a.m.  I felt overwhelmed at the idea of having six children in my home for one day and two nights, but I felt so excited and grateful for our kids to be with their family.  It is really what this life is all about.  At this point I think I would do just about anything to make sure my kids are always a part of this huge crazy family tree.  It is the only way they will be happy--I know this for certain.

Bonneville County Landfill

There is not much  my husband loves more than getting a steal of a deal.  I have learned many of his tricks of the frugal living trade in our short 4.5 years of marriage.  We disagree at times on the frugality of driving all over town to save a few pennies, but his recent bargain really makes him King Kong for a while. 

A few weeks ago he came home really excited about a silent bid going on down at the county impound.  He was particularly excited about one truck that had caught his eye.  It had all the makings of the "perfect spud harvest truck."  We are a one car family now since we sold Black Beauty, his Pontiac G6.  That really isn't a problem for us until Spud Harvest rolls around.   He went through all the highlights and low points and almost under his breath mentioned that is said "Bonneville County Landfill" on the side.  As you can probably imagine I was completely out at that point.  That is all I need a bright orange Landfill truck parked in my driveway.  There goes the neighborhood if you know what I mean. 

He put in his bid. ($256)  He carefully calculated his bid so that it was only a few dollars over what the junkyard would give him if he won and it was a total piece of junk.  The deadline came and went and I breathed a sigh of relief that he was not the winning bidder.  Then the call came in yesterday with some lame excuse like they couldn't read his phone number.  My husband was like a kid at Christmas.  He called his brother to help him go pick it up.  It just as three flat tires, a broken window, and a bit of garbage in the back--THATS ALL!  I am happy to report the Bonneville County Landfill was removed from the doors.  I feel just a smidge less white trash now.

It is proudly parked on the street to the north of our house.  I can only imagine what the neighbors are thinking.  Not only do they have to deal with the big Norco truck parked on the street, but now the Great Pumpkin has arrived. 

Popsicles

This morning I sat on the floor and ate Popsicles--the cheapo pretend Otter Pops from Winco.  I bought them a few weeks ago with a feeling of excitement for summer to arrive.  Rider has been eating them since the moment we brought them home and he has introduced Lydia to the fine art of Popsicle consumption.  She knows that you choose the color and then get the scissors and find mommy. 

It really wasn't that simple.  It all started with folding laundry and trying to remain focused to see the task through to the bitter end.  I felt determined today.  I was not distracted by the entire memory game exploded all over the floor, or the parking lot of hot wheels race cars strewn around every visible corner in my living room, or that all three of us (mommy, Rider, & Lydia) were still in jammies.   The real problem was with little miss Lydia.  Today was not her best day.  Actually she has not been herself for a few days.  I suspect she doesn't feel well and maybe she is just exercising her princess rights to be demanding--we are not sure.  It so happens that mommies have limits and mine was nearly met today.  I felt frustrated with my 13 month old daughter.  I told myself that I was a bad mom for feeling that way.  Instead of putting the laundry down I just let her back her little self up to me and plop in my lap and I showed her how I could fold underwear even with a screaming child on my lap.  Our typical scene would include Rider doing something extra naughty to send me over the proverbial top, but not today.  He assessed the scene and went and gathered Popsicles for everyone.  He even served Lydia's with a kiss and some comforting words in his little cookie monster-like voice.  I felt immediately humbled.   I will never forget this.

The Day of Rest

Our daddy is down and out with a very sore back.  He hurt it at work on Friday and has been suffering all weekend long.  It has not been the same around here without him.  He left for the doctor about 1 hour before we left for church this morning and didn't return home until after we got home.  Here is what he missed during those hours;

• Two little reverent boys waiting in the foyer of the church for Mommy and Lydia to catch up and blow in with the spring wind.  
• Lydia begging for "miiiiilllk!" the moment we sat down. Rider begging for fruit snacks the moment we sat down.  Austin begging for snacks and entertainment the moment we sat down.
• Rider eating fistfuls of pretzel sticks while rolling around the the floor smashing all the ones he dropped.
• Austin yelling at Rider during the passing of the sacrament to "leave my Sponge Bob band aid alone!"
• Lydia doing back arches and whining for "miiilllk!"  Rider doing dead fish moves while mommy tries to keep him from escaping to his favorite hangout--the drinking fountain.
• Rider went to nursery without incident and Austin to primary without complaint.
• Lydia and mommy hid out in the mother's lounge during Sunday School to call daddy and make sure he was not admitted to any local hospitals.
• Grammy saved the day and arrived just in time to scoop up sleeping Lydia while Mommy taught a lesson in Relief Society.

Daddy has been sleeping peacefully since arriving home thanks to some very effective narcotics.  We somehow managed to pass the time without his wrestling and rides on the John Deere Lawn mower today.  After a quick game of dress up everyone decided that it just wasn't any fun to be awake anymore without our number one man.  They are all sleeping peacefully and Mommy is happily returning to her old friend the blog. 

A return to my roots

It is time to start up the dialog again, or as my husband describes it "talking to myself."  As far as he is concerned this blog is a form of psychology which he is personally grateful for. It allows him to get a little more shut eye not having to listen to me each night during the final few minutes before he passes out with total exhaustion from his work day and the time when my thoughts are just beginning to bloom.  I am ready to spill out my thoughts once again in this blog that I loved so much. When I started this blog we were a small family of three and now we are five and it seems like a lifetime of learning that I am itching to share or to "talk to myself" about. Here we go and now for tonight I can get some sleep.