Something To Talk About

Today is the first day of school! Kiddo started first grade today and he was absolutely thrilled to be going back to his favorite place. He almost fell out of bed this morning when I woke him up - he jumped up so fast! He ate breakfast, brushed his teeth and got dressed in record time and then we had to sit around for 10 minutes waiting for the right time to go.

Lots of things have been happening this month - so much that the thought of blogging about them is overwhelming, which is why I haven't posted anything in a while. Basically, life as we knew it came to a halt and we are starting on a whole new journey of craziness and uncertainty. The last week of July, Hubby was finally laid off (we've known it was coming for about a year now, we just didn't know when), and in the same week our van broke down, Hubby had a health scare, some other medical stuff and he started working from home. Basically, July sucked. One day, I reminded Hubby to pick up some adhesive to re-attach a loose tile in the bathroom, and when he went to check on it, this happened. Yay.

But there were some good moments. Kiddo lost both front teeth. He looks and sounds adorable now. ;)

There was lots of gardening, despite the 105+ temps for the past 65+ days, my plants are still growing. Even this guy was HUGE.

Every few days, this is what I pull in from the garden. The tomatoes are gone now and the zucchini has been demolished by squash bugs, but the okra and peppers are still going strong. 

Pickled okra...need I say more?

Kiddo's birthday is coming up and so he had a very small, very awesome party last Saturday with just a couple of his best buddies. I made cupcakes.

Everything seemed to be looking up, but then on Sunday, our other car broke down.  So now we are down to a couple of road bikes and a dual-sport motorcycle with expired inspection. Hmm, I wonder if I can get 2 car seats strapped to that thing???

Thankfully we have amazing, wonderful, kind and generous neighbors that allowed me to borrow one of their cars so I could take Kiddo to school this morning. It is so nice to have angels so close! Kiddo did not want me to walk him in to his class, but after I complimented him on his shirt and how cool he looked he allowed me to go in. He walked in like he owned the room, marched straight to his locker like he had been to it a million times before, tossed his backpack in and greeted everyone in the room. He is a superstar! ;)

We are potty training Port right now, and that deserves a whole blog post to itself. It is quite the adventure.

Thanks for reading - I will try to update more often now.

Until.
D :)

Hope for the Hopeless

I made it through!

I made it through federal Taxes, local sales taxes, a wedding, 3 senior sessions, a family session, and EKG for Port, an ENT exam and nasal blood vessel cauterization for Kiddo, image submission for CPP certification and traveling to Houston for a baby shower - all within the last 3 weeks.

I made it.

And now I have a nasty case of bronchitis?? that is trying to make me hack up a lung. But, for the most part, I am still breathing and moving.

This has been the craziest month, and I am so thankful for all the opportunities and the business. But I am also looking forward to slowing things down a bit in May.

Well, after the 2 senior sessions, senior Safari, 2 newborn sessions and 2 weddings...

yeah. So maybe...June?

Life is good. Kiddo's ENT appointment went really well.  He had a full hearing test done, which I think determined that he has some hearing loss, but his ear drums are still healing so they weren't concerned. They collected a "sample" of his nasal secretions and determined that there was no bacteria present. Hopefully this will mean the end of the recurring ear infection. They cauterized his nose (after some bullying and a huge guilt trip, but that is a story for another time) and hopefully it will stop the nosebleeds. He has a followup appointment in a couple of weeks. The dr did NOT recommend tubes (thank goodness!) but does want us to give the boy Allegra every day and do nasal saline washes TWICE A DAY.

uh, yeah. I'll be lucky if I can get him to do it once.  We haven't worked up the courage yet...

After a week of Allegra, I didn't notice any difference in his sniffing or sneezing. I am not sure it's working for him at all. And I hate to keep putting drugs in his still developing body.

Port's EKG was awesome. It seems weird to describe a procedure in that way, but it really was. We made it to the dr's office about 30 minutes early and they got us into a room within 5 minutes. The nurse was really great, Port was calm and collected the whole time and the whole thing was over in about 10 minutes. We left 15 minutes before our scheduled time! The dr called me, when I was still driving on the way home, to tell me the results of the test, and everything looked normal. The whole thing was a great experience.

The garden is taking off, finally. I am harvesting lettuce, sugar snap peas and a few spinach leaves here and there. I have planted green beans for the 3rd or 4th time now (I lost count). The squirrels keep digging up the beans and eating them, so this time I built a contraption to hopefully keep them out.

Hopefully it works. So far so good. I know they can still get in it, but I am hoping that since it's not so easy anymore they will move on to other things.

And now I shall go hack and cough myself to sleep.

Until,
D :)

Fall From Grace

I suppose I should blog something, lest you all think I jumped off a bridge last week.

hmm...

Literally, about 2 minutes after I hit "publish" on that last post, my sweet friend, Kim, knocked at my door. In her hands was a beautiful little pot full of daffodil plants! Daffodils are my favorite flower, and consequently my birth flower as well. I love how delicate they are, their quiet beauty, how they are tall and slim and how they bloom each year just in time to drag us out of the coldness of winter.  I love them so much! The rest of the day was just as beautiful, with clear blue skies, perfect weather and fairly agreeable kids. Thank you, God, for always, always reminding me that even when things look gloomy, your perfect Grace is right there, waiting for me to see it.


I've been thinking a lot, lately, on the subject of Grace, and finding that sometimes, thankfully, we receive it even when we don't ask for it.  And sometimes, as with a situation I found myself in this week, we have it to give to others when we don't even know it. And when Grace comes over you, it is an amazing, peaceful, freeing feeling. I found a quote that I think sums it up perfectly.
  

"Grace means more than gifts. In grace something is transcended, once and for all overcome. Grace happens in spite of something; it happens in spite of separateness and alienation. Grace means that life is once again united with life, self is reconciled with self. Grace means accepting the abandoned one. Grace transforms fate into a meaningful vocation. It transforms guilt to trust and courage. The word grace has something triumphant in it." - Yrjo Kallinen

Grace happens in spite of something. Indeed.

One of my saving graces is my garden. It helps me focus, relax, center, and release. Oh and it helps my grocery bill too.  The peas, broccoli, onions and some of the lettuce and spinach have sprouted already. I think I am going to plant some green beans this week because I just can't wait any longer. I love fresh green beans! The area where I planted carrots has sprouted with ant hills. *sigh* Let the war begin.  It is so hard to rid the garden of ants!! Basically all you can do is annoy them enough that they move. I am tempted to give them a place to go; perhaps dig a little patch of the yard that I water frequently.

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace. ~Mary Sarton

Until,
D :)

Dance In My Dreams

This week started out completely sucktastic when, after a sleepless night, the boys woke us up at 5am by kicking the wall that adjoins our rooms. I finally gave in and got up at 6 and ended staying up because they were ready for breakfast. After dropping Kiddo off at school, I took my chances and took Port to Walmart to pick up some much needed items. After spying a Cars nightlight, Port screamed all throughout the store because I refused to buy it for him. Then he screamed all the way to the grocery store because I didn't get him one of the birds that was in the parking lot!! He fussed all through the grocery store and ended peeing all over me in the checkout lane. Then he cried all the way home because he was wet.

There just isn't enough coffee and chocolate to make up for that.

Kiddo came home that afternoon complaining of a headache and he was running a fever. Other than the headache he felt fine, but I kept him home from school on Tuesday just in case. Apparently there is some weird virus going around that only gives you a headache and a fever.  Tuesday he acted fine even though his temp went up and down a couple of times. Really the only indication that something was wrong was his red face and glassy eyes when the temperature rose.

He was a bit weepy though - a little more dramatic and cuddly than usual.  But at dinner last night he kind of freaked me out when out of nowhere he started crying. I asked him what was wrong and he cried out, "What am I gonna do if you die?!?"

{commence to melting into a puddle}

It took me quite a while to get him to calm down from that one. I don't know what possessed him to think of something like that. But I have to say it left me feeling uneasy.  When I picked him up from school today he was pouty and mopey and said he missed me and that he was homesick all day.  This boy LOVES school - I don't know what the heck is going on with him right now.

And of course, Port has been really snotty the past couple of days. Last night he woke up repeatedly screaming for a tissue. Poor guy.

The weekend was fabulous - I was able to get out and plant one of my gardens. I seeded for carrots, broccoli, brussel sprouts, onions, peas, lettuce, spinach and some early cukes and zucchini.  I put some seed in a sprouter last Friday for several kinds of peppers and tomatoes, and within 4 days the tomatoes sprouted! In a few weeks I will plant the other bed with the tomatoes and peppers, green beans, dill, basil and okra. I already have garlic growing there that I planted last fall. I can't WAIT until it's ready! I would really love to try some potatoes this year, but I am afraid I am out of room. Maybe in the fall I can try for a small crop.

I am convinced that Port thinks the only reason I have the garden beds is so that he can dig for worms. The boy LOVES finding worms and holding them in his hand. He asks me repeatedly every day to go out and find worms.  It was fine when I was going out there to turn the soil in the empty beds, but now I have one planted and am about to plant the other. I don't know what he's going to do when he can't go out there and dig anymore. He's gonna be MAD. 

Anyway, today I placed an order with Gardener's Supply Company for some fertilizer and some plant supports (thanks, Mom, for the gift card!) and then I received a catalog in the mail this afternoon and already have another 10+ things I want to add to my list. *sigh* If only I had some extra cash. Ah well.

I had the weirdest dream last night. I was back in college in the music building and a bunch of us were getting ready for a school prom-like dance.  Dr. Barrett and one of my high school guy friends was there helping out and a bunch of us girls were putting the finishing touches on hair and makeup.  I was trying to help out a few of my friends but then suddenly my left hand started tingling and itching. I looked down at it and little thin brown worms started coming out of my hand. They would come out really tiny, and then grow pretty big and long and I would drop them.  It didn't really bother me in the dream - I kept scratching my hand and shaking off the worms, but I couldn't help my friends like I wanted to. So we finally finished getting hair and makeup done and we jumped in a bus and headed over to the high school. When we got there, I realized I hadn't changed into my dress so I asked my high school friend to drive me back over to the college to get my dress. But the darn worms wouldn't stop coming out of my hand, so I couldn't communicate properly and he didn't understand what I needed.

For an hour after I got up this morning my left hand felt funny.

I don't know what it means, but I think I will lay off digging up worms for Port for a few days. ;-)

Until,
D :)

Rat

I am writing this and praying that my internet connection stays on long enough for me to complete the post today. We have been dealing with internet connection issues for a couple of weeks now - trying everything we can and asking everyone we know and nothing is working. It gets better, it gets worse. Some computers will connect others won't. Some will connect some of the time and then at other times they won't even "see" the modem as an option.

*sigh*

For someone like me who spends 12+ hours a day on line, it is frustrating to say the least.

So, we have a deck on the back of our house. It is built up to meet with our back door (obviously) and so there is about a foot (give or take) of space between the ground and the boards.  It's the perfect spot to house any number of wayward critters. I have personally seen a 4+ foot snake slither up in there.  I am certain that the dog, when let out into the yard almost every day, is not chasing phantom animals as she bolts out and immediately starts trying to cram her nose between the slats.  So, I wouldn't be surprised if we had a family of possum or raccoons living up under there. Shoot I would even expect it. We keep two big bins of pet food in Rubbermaid bins by the back door, so I know that some of the critters stop by on occasion to see if we've dropped any kibbles for their midnight snack. 

Our house is also surrounded by many, many trees.  And because of all the woodedness (my own word, I know) - we host more than our fair share of squirrels and birds.  At times it is a nuisance. And there have been several times that I have gone into the garage late at night and heard the scurry of what could only be a mouse or other rodent. Our house is old; it kind of comes with the territory.

Anyway, I am used to it and as long as I don't see anything in the house I am ok.  Well last week when we had been experiencing all those days of hard freeze, I was just waiting for something to try to come into the house. And sure enough, I was sitting here at the computer one morning and just happened to look up at the ceiling. The air vent is right above my head. And there, in the air vent, was a rodent. It was walking around on the grate, just hanging out.

Yeah, I kind of freaked out a little.

In as fast as I could type my distress to my husband, the mouse/rat was gone.  Then I got to worry all day about how exactly it got in there, and how on earth we were ever going to find the hole.  Then, I sort of forgot about it.

The next morning, I happened to look out the back door and sitting there in all his/her fuzzy cuteness, munching on a piece of dog food, was my furry friend.  I tried to get the boys to come to the door to see, but the commotion scared it over to my potted plants in the corner. It perched up on the side of a pot and finished breakfast and before I could grab the camera it was gone.

I know a lot of you reading are grossed out, but I kind of felt sorry for the little guy.  It was very cold out.

I didn't think much more of it after that. 

We were enjoying the absolutely beautiful weather today and Port was running in and out of the house. He was playing with the dog outside, chattering away to her in the only way little boys can talk to their dogs. It was pretty cute to listen to.  At one point things got quiet, and then I heard his chatter grow increasingly excited.  I was working on something with my back to the door when he ran in.

"Look, Mummai, a MOUSE!"

I turned around just in time for him to shove this in my face.

It was IN HIS HAND.

I screamed and jumped and then immediately tried to calm myself down so I didn't scare him. He is at that age where a bad reaction scares him pretty bad so I tried to make light of it. I grabbed him by the wrist and led him back out the door to make him drop it. After scrubbing hands and arms and changing his shirt, I went back out to dispose of it.  I couldn't tell how it died - there was no slobber or anything to indicate the dog did it, and it hadn't been dead for long as it was still warm.

Port was very upset that he couldn't play with the "cute little mouse".  He didn't understand that he couldn't touch him and pet him. I felt so bad!

I know it's silly for me to think that was the only one, but I have to say I do feel relieved that I know it's not camping out in my attic or air vents anymore.

Later this afternoon I returned the favor by putting a rolled up pill bug in Port's hand.  He was fascinated until it started to open up, and it scared him to the point of hysteria.

oops.

We spent some time turning over the dirt in the garden.  He loves looking for worms and holding them in his hand. But they don't wiggle too much. ;)

Until,
D :)

Already Gone

Once again the days are slipping away and I keep forgetting to blog.  It's not really that things have been busy - actually, I think it's been just the opposite.  Starting this weekend though I am going to be completely swamped until Thanksgiving. I am looking forward to it for sure because it is going to be incredibly fun. But I know I will have my days where I will be pulling my hair out in frustration from one thing or another.

I have been trying to tie up loose ends all week; answer emails, follow up with clients, etc. But of course there are quite a few things I am forgetting and missing and putting off. I really wish there was a way to carve out just 2 solid hours a day for me to work completely uninterrupted. I could get sooooo much done. But the constant bombardment of questions and needs and general chaos from the short people around here keeps me from getting anything productive done. And don't even think about suggesting I get up early - HAHA! 6:45 is too early as it is! We don't usually make it to bed until 11 or 11:30.  With any less sleep I really won't be able to function.

Last weekend Grammy and Happy came to town to spend a few days here on their property for their anniversary.  The boys got to see them for a little while one week day afternoon, and then on Saturday they got to spend most of the afternoon out on the property.  Hubby and I got a "date afternoon" of sorts and were able to run errands and hang out in general peace and quiet. It was very nice, but I kept finding myself fretting over doing fun things with my husband instead of working on all my chores and stuff I have been wanting to do around the house. I go for weeks without getting the things I want done. It is extremely frustrating to put off stuff like gardening and repotting plants for weeks on end.

*sigh* my poor garden.

The okra is so tall now that I can't reach the top. I would guess the plants are about 10 feet tall at this point. I have to bend them down to harvest the okra that are still popping up daily.  And now, there are about 10 new little okra plants that have sprung from the ground around the old timers and they are producing too. It is insane! Good thing I like okra...

The peppers are producing like mad now too but have unfortunately succumbed to pests. I just can't keep them healthy.  And I need to pull them but I just can't find the time. I needed to plant for the fall LAST MONTH and I just couldn't do it.  Either I was busy on the weekend of Hubby was. We are hardly home at the same time anymore.

The basil is about done. The plants are getting woody and the new growth is bolting almost instantly. I cut a bunch of it tonight but I don't know if I will have time to wash it and lay it out to dry. (of course I could be doing it right now but I am choosing to blog instead)

I bought some dirt for the other bed, but I think I am going to add it and then cover the whole bed with a thick layer of newspapers and plastic and let it rest until next spring. At this point, if I plant anything it will get too cold before anything can be established. I will probably secure a nice section of the currently growing bed for some garlic since it will not be ready until spring anyway.

So that is the garden situation. Kinda got off topic there - what I really wanted to post was a funny from Kiddo when he and his brother were staying with Grammy and Happy.

Happy had left some cash out on a table or counter and Kiddo walked up and swiped some of it.  Happy told him to give that back. Kiddo said he just found it.  Happy said something (playfully) to the effect of "That's my money and you stole it." My charming son replied:

"I didn't steal it, Happy. I'm not a bank robber. I am a tax collector."

Happy gave him a quarter for such a clever response. ;-)

Until,
D :)

Loose Change

It's the big news here in the Fry household! Kiddo has his first loose tooth! There was much rejoicing! And then there was much crying when the darn thing didn't fall out by bed time. *sigh* Poor guy, he was just so darn excited about losing a tooth.  He's been bugging me all day to wiggle it and check on it; so much so that now the baby walks up to me with his mouth open and wanting me to "wiggle" his teeth. lol! Wiggling Kiddo's tooth kind of grosses me out.

He saw on a kid's show that the tooth fairy comes and "leaves a prize". I told Kiddo that she would leave him some money and he said, "and what else?" ugh. Darn cartoons!

They are growing up so fast.

Kiddo starts school in a month. 1 month! 4 weeks and a few days. I just can't stand the thought of it.  We ventured out on Saturday night and bought all of his schools supplies. It was surprisingly easy to find everything, but I think it's because I was ahead of the game.  I also got him a back pack and a lunch bag with a thermos and food container. He wanted Iron Man for everything, but thankfully I talked him into a generic looking green back pack (his favorite color). Hopefully he can carry that for a couple of years before it wears out.  The lunch bag and gear was PRICEY. Holy crap. He better like it, that's for sure.

I thought about just buying the pre-assembled school supply pack from Walgreens, but when I saw the price ($47.99!!!) I about had a heart attack.  Buying everything he needed separately cost me about half of that price. I couldn't believe it. That is such a rip off!

Otherwise, everything is still pretty stressful, but I am trying not to dwell on any of it.  My dad's surgery went well, we think, and he is home resting now.  Mom's is being postponed for a couple of weeks until Dad is feeling better. I finally made it through a bunch of the business stuff, and now it's just a matter of tying up some loose ends to get back on top of things, then I have to finalize all my new stuff for the restructure. Oh yes, and I need to study for my test. A lot.

And if I think too much about it, the list gets longer and longer and longer...

As of this afternoon the Kiddo has a second loose tooth. Guess the toothfairy needs to do some work so she has money to pay for these teeth popping out! Anybody need a beautiful portrait??? lol!

 This was the haul I took from the garden yesterday. There is another banana pepper under the tomatoes and a whole bunch of basil on the other counter. The day before I pulled 10 cucumbers!!! I don't know what to do with them all!

Until,
D :)

Satisfied

It's been a week and I haven't blogged. Well, I haven't blogged here anyway. I miss writing here - I know I need to get back to it, but I just can't seem to find the time.

I pulled 2 cucumbers, 4 okra and a bunch of black beans today from my garden. I have some jalapenos and banana peppers that are almost ready, and will probably have a few more cucumbers this afternoon. I have a refrigerator crisper full of cucumbers - I need to think of something to do with them quick. I would love to make some pickles....should probably head over to Goodwill and see if I can find some canning supplies.

This weekend we had to take down the playscape in the back yard. It was getting extremely rickety. We knew there was some rotting on the frame, but until Hubby took it apart we had no idea that the entire thing was practically mush. I don't know how it was even standing, much less supporting the boys swinging and bouncing on it every day. Port is pretty sad that it is gone - he keeps going out in the yard and sitting in the baby swing that is sitting on the ground. He has also drug the other swings into the house several times. He whimpers when he sees the slide on the ground. We have agreed to purchase a used set from a friend, but I have no idea when or how we are going to be able to get it. Hubby will have to disassemble it into smaller chunks and load it on to a trailer and then reassemble it once he hauls it to our back yard. However, all of that took the previous owners getting the assistance of several strong guys to carry it to the trailer, and Hubby can't think of anyone that might be able to help him. Soooooo, he may have to spend all day breaking it down into manageable pieces he can carry by himself.

The boys are doing well. Kiddo seems to have found his attitude this past week, and has wowed us with some humdinger comebacks. He hasn't had privileges in days; it seems like every day he looses another day or two. Port is talking a lot more now and it makes my head hurt sometimes when I have to decipher what he is trying to say. He is so stubborn, and if you don't understand him he gets terribly angry. He has started trying to write some. He can identify 99% of his letters and numbers, and knows most of the colors and shapes as well. He sees his brother drawing and writing and he has to do it too. His scribbles will sometimes look like letters and numbers, and when they do he gets so proud! He has to run and show me (by shoving the drawing board in my face) and get his "good job!" from Mommy.

He is all about the "good job". I get the "good job Mumma!" from him hundreds of times a day. It's pretty cute.

{photo courtesy of one of my assistants on this shoot, Kim}

Speaking of good jobs...I've been pretty busy lately. It is really quite nice. I feel a shift coming on in my business and I am trying to be patient and open to any possibility right now. I am so excited about what may happen in the next year or so.

I have been saving up for a new lens, but I changed my mind and last week I decided to invest in myself and my business even more. I joined PPA (Professional Photographers of America). Along with my membership, I received registration to Imaging USA next January. Since it is in San Antonio this time I will be able to drive in each day for the convention. While I am there, my plan is to take the official test to become a CPP, or Certified Professional Photographer.

In saying that, I am also reminding myself that I don't test well and this is going to be a very difficult test. But I really want to give it a shot - I think it will be a great way to educate myself and advance my business to the next level. I want something that will differentiate me from the MWACs (mom with a camera) that are flooding the market with new photography businesses.

So I paid my dues for PPA and my declaration fee for the CPP, and now I have to find a way to purchase the text book for the certification test. It's only around $125...eek! Hopefully I can find a used copy somewhere for a little less. Or maybe I know someone with a frequent buyer card at one of the big book stores that can get me a good deal??? Anyway I will figure something out.

So that is a quick summary of life in the past week. Hopefully I can update more later.

Until,
D :)

Garden State

Happy Monday all!
I had an awesome weekend - starting on Thursday with a trip to Houston. I had two photo sessions on Friday and got to spend the day with my bff and her family. It was wonderful! My backyard mom colored and highlighted my hair and I love it! I wish I could have spent more time with them. Grammy and Happy were kind enough to watch the boys for me all day long and I didn't want to make them resent their generosity, so Friday was my only day away. I am so blessed with inlaws that are relatively close by and so willing to take the boys for me when I am visiting friends and working in Houston. The boys love spending time with them too. Of course, when we left on Saturday, Kiddo cried for a good hour off and on while Port slept. Then Port woke up right about the time Kiddo fell asleep, and when we pulled into our neighborhood, Port started whining and crying for his BeeMee (Grammy). Good grief I just about turned around and shipped them back to their grandparent's house!

Regardless, we made it home safe and sound. Saturday was Hubby's and my 11th anniversary (I know that was probably not the proper way to say that. help! I suck at grammar). Since we hadn't planned anything too special, we picked up a pizza for the kids (Little Caesar's $5 large pepperoni ROCKS) and grilled some steaks for ourselves. While the kids enjoyed pepperoni, we dined on steak, baked potato and a very yummy cucumber salad I concocted at the last minute. While I was gone to Houston, my garden produced 3 very large cucumbers! I don't usually like cucumbers that much, but something made me chop them up with some diced red onion, jalapeno, black olives, tomatoes, salt, pepper and feta cheese. I mixed it all up with some Greek vinaigrette dressing and it was sooooo yummy! It was even better the next day.

We got the kiddos to bed on time and Hubby and I watched a movie (shock! I know!). It was a lovely quiet evening with us together instead of in front of our computers. We really should do that more often.

Anyway, I haven't talked about my garden in a while so I thought it might be time for an update. Things in the garden are, well, um, it's hard to say. Good and bad I guess. It has been both frustrating and rewarding at the same time. First the frustrating: the lima beans never even sprouted. Carrots didn't sprout at all either. The green beans kept getting chomped by a squirrel and so now only one plant survived. I had so much hope for it, but then I discovered one morning that some sort of beast had completely covered it in a fine, sticky netting; over the top and bottoms of every leaf, all over the stems and also the small beans that were growing. It is the most bizarre thing I have ever seen. And you can't wash it off! ugh.

The corn is growing and producing some small ears, but it looks like the shallow depth of dirt and solid limestone bed underneath has stunted it's growth. It is only about 3-4 feet tall. So much for the theory of corn being able to grow in 8 inches of soil. Anyway...

In one bed I planted the lima beans and carrots (that didn't even sprout) along with some cucumber, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, garlic from last fall and onions. The onions were from last fall too - I thought they weren't going to grow and then suddenly they went bonkers. I have pulled a couple and they are very good - sweet and mild, but still small. The broccoli was doing pretty well and starting to sprout some little baby broccoli heads. I was having a bit of a problem with some sort of worm eating through a few leaves, but I thought I was staying on top of it. Then one day after a rain I walked out to check and over half of the plants were gone and the remaining plants and leaves were absolutely covered in these little worms!! I was so upset - they were everywhere! I had to pull all the plants; there was no saving them. :( The spinach and the lettuce produced a ton of edibles until the heat got to be too much for them. The garlic seemed to be doing great, then just last week it seemed to go from "almost ready" to "past ready" so today I pulled them. They bulbs were starting to sprout their own plants and separate. I am still pretty proud of them since they started from 3 little cloves I haphazardly poked into the ground last fall.

The cucumbers are going bonkers out there and taking over the bed. I will soon have more cucumbers than I can deal with. Thank goodness Kiddo loves cucumber. Maybe, I will have enough ready at the same time and can make some pickles!

In the other bed I planted okra, snow peas, black beans, tomatoes, basil, peppers (bell, jalapeno and banana) and dill. The okra are growing great! I get 2-3 beautiful, perfect okra every day. The peas were doing really well at first (better than anything else in the bed actually) but when it started staying really hot during the day they just couldn't handle it. I will try to plant them earlier next year. The black beans absolutely thrived and I am now getting a ton ready to harvest every couple of days. The tomatoes were slow to start but are coming in nicely and the basil is absolutely beautiful.

After a couple of months of absolutely no growth, I finally started treating the peppers with some coffee grounds. They finally took off and I now have several bells, jalapeno and yellow banana peppers that will be ready in a couple of days. I am very excited about it because I have never had success with peppers before.

When everything but the beans seemed to be struggling at first, I tested the soil to see where on the scale everything was. It seems the soil is pretty Alkaline (above 8.0) which is just amazing to me considering how much compost I added to it before I planted. It is also pretty much void of the essential nutrients like Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. Seriously, I have no idea why. Though I have to say that after giving the nitrogen loving plants some coffee, they perked right up. Also, the recent rains have helped a ton - I think a lot of the nutrients were "locked" in the soil because it would get so incredibly dry between waterings. Hopefully I can remedy that some.

We have 3 little blueberries about to turn blue and the blackberry plant is finally blooming. I didn't expect much from the blueberries - one of the pair or plants is less than a year old and they aren't supposed to produce the first year. I hope next spring will be a great one for them.

The zucchini; my word those weird zucchini plants. Last year I had more zucchini than I knew what to do with. This year the plants are super small and so bizarre. One day they look great and the next they look almost dead. Then half the plant will wither and the other half will thrive, and then a day later the opposite will happen. I have no idea what to do for them. I am going to try to build up the soil some and see if it helps. I have seen some squash borers so they probably don't have much longer to survive, but I will try to keep them going for a little longer. I have harvested a couple of small zucchini from them, but I am not expecting many more.

So, I guess that is the long version. Gardening is such an amazing, frustrating, rewarding, confusing adventure. Maybe some day I will actually get good at it. lol!

Until,
D :)

Flower

Happy Monday all!

Today I took the boys out for a spur of the moment session in the bluebonnets. I wanted to check out a spot I found last week, so we stopped in at Walmart, bought 2 white shirts and headed over. It was difficult to do a session with them by myself; it is always easier to have someone else be the baby wrangler. But, I think I got a couple of good images.This is the beginning of a very busy week for me. I found out last week that the twin momma I have been in touch with about doing a newborn session gave birth and on Friday she went home with 2 brand spankin' new (as Kiddo would say) baby boys!! I am so excited and happy for her; it seems everything went really well. So, I get to go into Houston this week and do a twin newborn session for her. I am beyond excited! I love newborn sessions!!

I should be back by Thursday, and then this weekend I am shooting a wedding in Wimberly. I am so excited and nervous and anxious about that - it is a very big deal for me. I hope that my planning and preparation calms my nerves some. Thankfully I have an awesome assistant coming with me, the fabulous Jen of Jen Barnes Photo. I can't wait to work with her again! She assisted me on my last senior session and was so great!

So the wedding is on Saturday and then I have a family session on Sunday. Then a senior session the next week and Bluebonnet Mini Sessions on the next Saturday! Whew! Then on the 18th I will collapse in a heap and sleep for a few days. After that I will be strapped to the computer forever. ;-)

And somewhere in there I have to find time to finish my taxes. boo.

The twin session is on Wednesday morning and I need an assistant. Anyone in the Houston area free to come with me? All you have to do is help me with blankets and baby sculpting (lol!). Desirable abilities include being quick with baby wipes, the ability to fold large numbers of blankets quickly, to remember which items have been um, blessed and if you are good at swaddling, I might even take you to lunch! Please send your resume to me via email. Thank you.

hee hee!

Seriously, I do need some help if someone is free. And I really will buy you lunch after. Email call or text me please!

And, of course, it is Gratitude Monday!


I am thankful for so much!

• My family that came to see us this weekend and celebrate the baby's birthday (the blog post is coming, I promise!)
• my business and upcoming sessions
• great friends, near and far, and for the possibility of future BFFs *wink*
  
• for the rainy days that bring out the growth of mushrooms in my garden - I hate digging those suckers up, but the veggies are loving the moist weather
• for the garden; the dirt I can dig in, the carrots Kiddo loves to pull every day and the promise of good, organic food for our bellies
• for the projects I am involved in - they keep me sane when there are days that I feel like nothing more than a crappy mom.
  
• and for my readers; I am gaining more every week! welcome to all of you!

Join in and let me know what you are thankful for!

Until,
D :)

No Sleep

I am so tired today! After an amazingly busy weekend and the need to stay up late last night to finish a session edit, Port decided sleeping was for the birds and he was up all night long! *yawn*

Friday I drove the boys out to Wimberly so I could meet up with a bride and groom at their wedding venue. It was a long drive, but the boys did pretty well considering. We had our fair share of upsets, but overall they were good. I got back that evening just in time to drop the boys off and head over to Kim's house so we could do our live podcast celebrating our 1 year anniversary. That was a total blast! The show itself ran pretty long, but then afterward Kim's hubby brought out his guitar and talked Kim and I into a little jam session. We sang for probably a good hour and a half before Kim finally kicked me out. If you would like to hear the audio of the live show, and the little clip of our jam session at the end, click here.

I fell into bed late Friday night (actually early Saturday morning) and then had to get up bright and early so I could pick up Kim at 8:30am. We went on a photography location scouting mission and spent the entire morning driving around. We found some amazing places for senior portraits and I am so excited to get to use them!! We got back in time to stop by the brand new farmers market that opened in Cedar Park and then headed home. I had just enough time to grab lunch and then I had to start cooking for a party Saturday night. A couple of our friends hosted a New Moon DVD release party, and I was responsible for making PW's Buttered Rosemary Rolls. OMG they are soooooo yummy!! You really have to try them. It was very cool to harvest some rosemary from my plant on the porch to use on these rolls. Things like that make me giddy!

Sunday we went to church and once we got home I left for a bit to see if I could find a funky chair to use in some of my sessions. I had no luck there and ended up back home with just enough time to clean out the van so I could taxi my evening senior session model and her mom to our location. Kim was supposed to come with me as my assistant, but her whole family ended up sick at the same time so she had to stay home with them. Thankfully a quick call to the amazing Jen landed me with an assistant to take her place. Jen was great - she caught all the stray hairs and messed up clothing and she helped me with some off camera flash I was experimenting with. We worked until after sunset then loaded up and headed back to town. I dropped off the clients and Jen and I stopped at Subway for a quick 9PM dinner.

Once again I crawled into bed way too late. Port was up at 4am and screamed for a good hour or so before he fell back to sleep. Then he was up again when Hubby got up for work, and I don't think he went back to sleep after that. I finally peeled myself out of bed after 8 and found him standing in his crib with his head under the window covering, looking out the window and talking to the squirrels. At least he was happy to see me!

Yesterday was a bit of a struggle - I was desperately trying to catch up on laundry and finish my client session edits and do my taxes. The laundry got about half way done and the session was no where near finished, so last night after our regular Musing Mommies recording session I stayed up late to finish my edits. When we put Port to bed at 8 he really wanted to stay in Kiddo's room. He actually laid down in Kiddo's bed and pulled the covers up over himself. Once in his crib in his own room, he screamed for only a few minutes. But while I was up editing later that night he woke up again. I think it was about midnight. He cried for the longest time. I hate leaving him in there like that but I can tell by the cry that nothing is wrong. After about an hour of off and on fussing he finally went back to sleep. I went to bed finally at around 1:45 and at about 3AM Port started crying again. He cried for about an hour before I finally willed myself up to get him. He was totally fine, not even wet, but he wanted to go to the couch. So I took him there, and over the course of the next hour he got up 3 times to get something to eat. I was so sleepy that I didn't have the strength to stop him, I just wanted him quiet. He ended up eating 2 hot dogs and a frozen waffle! At about 4:30 I had no more reserves so I put him back in his crib. He screamed for what seemed like forever. Kiddo started bugging me for breakfast at about 8 and I finally crawled out of bed at about 8:45. Port was up with his head in the window again, happy as a clam. ugh

The garden is beginning to take off now, though I am getting really frustrated with a couple of things. There is something nibbling on almost all of my baby plants. The green beans are seriously struggling and the black beans have been munched on too. The cucumbers appear to be struggling, and today I watered in the morning and there were 3 cucumber plants (one hill never sprouted). I walked back out a couple of hours later and one plant was completely gone. All that was left was a hole like someone yanked it right out of the dirt. The boys can't get into the garden area without me, so my best guess is it was a bird or a squirrel. grrrr!

Another thing that is extremely frustrating is that something is wrong with my soil. When I planted, it was perfect! It was fluffy and rich and light, and now it is like clay. It is so hard that when some of the plants try to push through the surface, they end up breaking under the strain of the dirt. I am so upset about this!! I don't know what happened. The only thing I can figure is that all the rain we had washed down some of the organic matter?? I have no clue. So, I am going to have to figure out a way to work some peat moss and compost into certain areas and hope it's enough to help the plants already there survive. Another option is to dig up what is growing, amend the soil and then replant. I am scared to do that though - it might shock my plants to death.

The lima beans never did come up and I guess now I am going to have to replant those and some of the cucumbers. I am making floating row covers for the rest in the hopes of deterring whatever is nibbling on things. I cut the bottoms out of a few yogurt containers and placed them in the dirt around my baby spinach plants so they could have a chance to grow and it seems to be helping them. The pepper plants never came up either, so I guess I will spring for actual plants and put them in sometime in the next week.

The good news though is that my carrots, broccoli, peas, corn and lettuce are doing great and I am getting a few leaves of spinach and lettuce every day now. Hopefully once the plants get bigger I can harvest enough to actually make a meal instead of supplementing like I am now. My garlic is almost ready to pull and I am eagerly anticipating that.

Here is what we pulled today. I am slowly thinning the carrots so we can get some big ones. Kiddo gets so excited when we get to pull a few!
That's parsley on the left. Going clockwise from there, carrots, spinach and lettuce. I am going to try to use them all in supper tonight. Yum!!

Port's birthday is coming up on Saturday and I have no clue about what we are going to do. The family is coming in so I need to do something, and make a cake. And mercy, Easter is the next day!!! I haven't even talked to the bunny yet! Ugh. I see a midnight run to Walmart in my future.

Until,
D :)

Empty

Hello my lovies!

I am sorry I didn't blog yesterday, but well, to be honest, yesterday totally sucked. It started with being up with Port for over an hour in the middle of the night and then weird and scary dreams before I even woke up. Then I woke up to Kiddo messing with me while I was trying to catch the lat few minutes of sweet sleep. I was cranky, and I told him if he couldn't be still he needed to go back to his room. Of course, asking a 5 year old to be still is like asking...well it's like asking a 5 year old to be still! It isn't going to happen! So I fussed at him and he burst into pitiful tears, wailing that he only wanted to cuddle with me. Of course the HUGE, GINORMOUS Boulder of Mommy Guilt crushed my chest and so I apologized and snuggled with him for a while before his brother woke up. Then I kicked myself for the rest of the day for not being a normal mom and a nice mom and cherishing every little moment I have with him because in a few short months he will be off to school and cuddling with him in the mornings will be something I will most likely never be able to do again (and probably not something he would want to do anyway). Why can't I ever remember these things in the moment? Why do I have to make him cry to trigger my brain that maybe he is still a little guy that loves me and just wants to be near me? Ugh.

So...I am PMSing. And of course the whole day just kind of went down hill from there. It wasn't that anything really was bad, there were just a million and one little annoyances that added up and by 5PM I was done, done, done. Port is teething and so he is dealing with constant (seriously like every 10 minutes) nasty diapers that are burning his little hiney no matter what I do. So I had to chase him around all day and check his diaper every 5 minutes, and every time he needed to be changed I had to wrestle him to the changing table and deal with him fighting every move I made. We went to the grocery store and I bought way more than I expected (hello! they finally have peppermint mocha creamer in the store!!). I was standing in the check out and I realized that I forgot to pick up one of the free items from the meal deal I was buying. It was a loaf of bread that I could have received for free and I totally forgot it. And of course, I am too weird about these things and the boys were right on the verge of going insane so I didn't bother asking the checker if someone could go get it for me. So I kicked myself all the way back to the van for not getting the free loaf of bread, and then opened the van to find that I had a shopping cart full of groceries and a van full of bicycles and gear. So I had to move everything out of the way and load up the groceries while the boys were losing their minds.

Then there was the usual nap time struggle and dealing with Kiddo during nap time when I am trying to get work done and all he wants to do is play with me. He likes it when we have time for just the two of us and I totally understand, but I really needed to get some things done. And once again, I told him "no" one too many times and he burst into tears and the Mommy Guilt Boulder found it's way to my desk chair. And then I fought with the boulder and the angry woman in my head who was yelling at me for feeling guilty. So there is part of me that wants to teach him to play independently and part of me that is sad that he will be starting school soon and part of me that just wants to enjoy having him around while I can. And none of my parts knows how much to give or take and what is healthiest for him and they are all angry at each other.

Confused yet?

Oh and when I was at the grocery store I bought some yogurt specifically to help little Port with his issue and when I unloaded the groceries from the van I somehow managed to leave one bag in the back.

The only thing in the bag was 5 containers of yogurt. *sigh*

Beyond that I am dealing with other things I can't discuss on here - actually anywhere, and dealing with them internally is just eating me up right now. And most of it is petty and ridiculous and blown way out of proportion by hormones and some lingering, insecurities that I really wish would go live with my 16 year old self because that is where they belong. And yesterday I was just wishing I had 1 friend that I could be incredibly selfish and whiny and a big cry baby with so I could get all of the "dark and twisty" out of my system and be done with it. But that's just not going to happen and so I was mad at myself for wanting that and feeling that way.

And then right about the time I was teetering on the edge, Hubby changed his plans and, though it was nothing at all it tossed me off the ledge. Add to that a couple of other well timed bits of information coming across my desk and by the time Hubby got home, I was a lunatic.

{welcome home Dear!}

So yeah, the day was not so hot. I wasn't planning on writing it all out like this, but I kind of feel better for doing it. One highlight was getting a phone call from a dear friend.

Today was not much better - more poop, more screaming Port, more wrestling with him every 5 minutes when I had to change his diaper, more PMS. Thankfully my sweet, dear, wonderful friend Kim made a trip to the store for her own family and offered to bring me some yogurt for the boy on her way back. Sadly, I couldn't get him to actually eat any of it until late afternoon, but I was very grateful I didn't have to go to the store myself to get it.

The day has had it's bright moments; a couple of encouraging phone calls and a semi-encouraging email, another call from another dear friend and some nice moments with the kids.

Things are starting to emerge in the garden. I have cucumber, zucchini, peas, black beans and basil sprouting. I am still waiting on green beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, lima beans and okra. I think it has been too cold for them until recently. Hopefully they will make their way through the dirt soon.

And hopefully tomorrow will be better. Though, the weather is supposed to be yucky, so I am not getting my hopes up. And I have to do taxes. Joy.

I will try to think of something more positive to talk about tomorrow.

Until,
D :)

Spring Spring Spring

Happy Friday Company Girls and Beloved Readers!

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day! I just love it when the weather is like this! Sadly though, Texas will prove itself unpredictable once again and we'll wake up to rain and cold. Blech. What a way to experience the official start of spring. Oh well.

Hubby has been home with us for a couple of days. He originally took off from work so he could go on a TORCH (the church motorcycle rider's group) camp out. Unfortunately the trip was canceled because the bike trails where they were supposed to camp were closed, but it worked out good for us because we got to have Daddy home. And it worked out great for me because Hubby worked on finally putting the wood down in the hallway!! Yay! No more walking on concrete! It looks so nice! We have a bunch of the wood left, so I think we may put some in the bathroom and then tile the areas around the shower and the tub. I think it will look really nice when it's done.

Little Port woke me up bright and early this morning. We are still not adjusting to the time change well. And today, I believe he is dealing with teething. He has had the worst, the worst diapers all day, including 2 nasty blowouts. And he has been pretty testy as well. Tonight when I put him to bed (he was very upset about it) he cried for a while then stopped. We thought he had fallen asleep but about 30 minutes later he was up and screaming. I went to check on him and he actually asked for medicine. He's never done that before so my guess is his teeth were hurting. He will hardly let me brush them right now. Poor little guy.

Today I was able to get out for a bit while he was napping, so I went to a couple of hardware/garden stores (Lowes and Home Depot) to look at gardening supplies. I purchased some conduit pipe and some connectors and am going to build a frame with netting for my veggies to climb. I need one for the green beans and one for my cucumbers to climb. I think I will use tomato cages for the peas.

We've recently had a flock of birds take up residence near by. I think they are grackels, but I am not sure. Whatever they are, they are noisy beasts and they are pooing on everything. It is extremely annoying. I need to find some helpful tools to keep them out of my garden. I may have to sacrifice some old cds to hang or buy some mylar balloons. I know you can hang them over your plants and the shiny/flashy-ness of them will scare the birds away.

Today I finally got the 2 gardening books I ordered. I had a rewards credit on Amazon (my business credit card gives me $25 rewards every now and then) and so I ordered The Vegetable Gardener's Bible and All New Square Foot Gardening. I was so excited to get them home and look through them. As soon as I walked in and set them down, my 5 yr old confiscated them and ran off to the hammock outside to read them. I wasn't sure if I should be upset or proud! lol! He loves gardening books! I have caught him many times flipping through and reading one of the one's I use, and it doesn't even have pictures!

Tomorrow is supposed to be cold and wet, but thankfully, Sunday should be back to sunny and warm. I am so ready for spring and summer! I can't take much more cold.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend.

Until,
D :)

Can't Sleep

Happy Friday everyone!

Come on in, have a seat, please ignore the mess. It's been a weird, sleepless week and I am just too beat to pick up around here. But you understand that, right?

I replaced my poor, tired, messed up coffee maker today, so fresh coffee is on the way! Thank goodness for store credit. I returned something I was never going to use and it covered the new coffee maker I needed and supplied me with 21 cents to take home in my pocket! Yes! So, grab a cup.

I did not sleep a wink last night. After 2 nights this week of being up all night with Port, I really needed a night of rest. Amazingly, Port slept through the night and I didn't sleep at all. I hate it when that happens! It started out that I just couldn't fall asleep. My mind was racing (I think I must have OD'd on caffeine or something) and I could not shut it off. I was thinking about all the things I needed to do, emails I needed to write and then at one point I had a major panic attack. I started worrying about the "what if" of something happening to me during the day while I am alone with the kids and them not knowing what to do or how to get help. I freaked out that I haven't taught Kiddo how to dial 911 or use my phone. I was trying to figure out how to relay that information to him without scaring him. Then my mind went into all these scary scenarios about what might happen.

I. Was. Freaking. Out.

In the dark; crying, praying, scaring myself to infinity for what seemed like hours, then without notice my mind went off to something else entirely. I started drifting in and out of a light sleep, dreaming weird dreams and having scary thoughts. Hubby began to breath funny and every time he took a breath in I thought it was Port crying in his room. I laid there listening; straining to hear every sound in the house and making sure it wasn't him.

Then my stomach started to hurt (no doubt from all the crying and freaking out). Once that subsided, my allergies charged full steam ahead and I spent the rest of the night drifting in and out of sleep, waking myself up every few minutes scratching the roof of my mouth with my tongue. But I wasn't waking up enough to actually get out of bed and find the allergy meds. I woke up several times scratching the roof of my mouth and the inside of my ear at the same time. I was miserable.

So, this morning I was not the most pleasant person to be around. I hope the kids forgive me.

The roof of my mouth is raw and I can't stop sneezing today. I really, really need to get to the store and get some more oregano oil. I haven't sneezed this much in months.

Poor little Port is having allergy trouble today too. His lips and face have been red and splotchy, and he's been sneezing a lot. Our Ash trees are blooming out front, and the pollen is everywhere. I think they may be part of the problem.

In other news, I managed to get the garden all planted this week. I am starting everything from seed, so I am praying it all works. In one of the 4x8 beds I planted black beans, peas, okra, basil, cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers and dill. I have some additional pepper plants that I started in the house a few weeks ago, and when they are big enough I will transplant them there as well.

The other 4x8 already has broccoli, spinach, carrots, onion, lettuce and garlic growing, and I planted cucumbers and lima beans in the empty space.

In between the 4x8 beds I have a row of zucchini and along the fence line I have green beans and corn planted. I have individual pots containing strawberries, chives, parsley and more dill, and today I bought a few more herbs to go in their own containers as well (lemon balm, peppermint, oregano, and another mint variety). I also have my blueberry plant from last year, a new blueberry plant for it to love on, and a blackberry plant as well.

I am so excited! The soil is amazing and I am hoping everything gets a good start. I just need to find pots for the new blueberry and blackberry and one of those multi-holed herb pots for the herb plants I bought. Then I should be set! I need to also build a climbing structure for the cucumbers and the green beans (though some will hopefully climb the corn). And I need to put up cages for the tomatoes, peas and black beans when they start popping up.

I can't wait! Are you growing anything this spring? Please share your progress!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Until,
D :)

As A Blonde

I don't know if you all know this, but I am was a natural blonde.

{That's me on the right. I have no idea who the other 2 are. Sorry girls.}{my mom and I, circa 1976 - 1977ish. check out that big bottle o' alcohol in front of me! lol! oh stop, I was helping her with the dishes. I think...}

I don't know what color my mom's hair is/was naturally. She dyed it jet black for most of my young childhood, then started dying it a different color every month for a few years. Eventually she settled on a "frosted" look and hasn't really deviated from that since. My dad has always had blonde hair.

I didn't start highlighting my hair until high school. As I got older, my hair turned darker shades of blonde, and I enjoyed having a few lighter pieces in it to brighten it up. My roots were always darker though, leading many people to think my hair was not natural.

But somewhere between 30 and now, my two pregnancies, lots of yummy hormones and age have made my "natural" color a lot darker than I care to see, and so I regularly dye my hair. Sometimes I bring back the blonde, sometimes it's red, and others, a richer, warmer brown.

All of this is to say that while I spent most of my life blonde, I never really identified with the whole dumb blonde stereotype. My friends might say otherwise, but I don't know.

However, yesterday I had a huge "blonde moment".

I can't believe I am going to admit this. This is how much I love you, my friends and readers.

So yesterday I was in the garden, planting seeds. I was tilling up the dirt and mixing in some compost and with every scoop I was turning up earthworms. Big, small, fat and skinny, they were everywhere. Sometimes I would pull up a scoop of dirt and there would be 5 or 6 of them squirming around. So at one point, I was mixing dirt and I came across a little piece of egg shell. I often add egg shells to my soil to ward off slugs and to feed tomatoes, but I hadn't done that in a long time to this particular bed. I figured it was a piece of bird shell (we have lots of birds and nests in our trees) and moved on. I was churning up the dirt about a foot away from where I found the egg, and out popped a worm. It flipped rather rapidly and began to slither much faster than the lazy worms I had been digging up before. I commented to it (yes, I am the crazy lady that talks to the animals. I talk to plants too, so think what you want about that.) "wow, you're kinda moving like a snake there little fella." (yes, I do occasionally say fella too. Sorry) I watched him slither off and I noticed he had two little dots at the "front" end of him that looked like eyes. I thought to myself that I had never noticed a worm with eyes before.

(oh Lord, I can't believe I just typed that)

So...that was at around 3PM yesterday afternoon. I didn't think about it any more after that, but you know how sometimes your brain processes things without you knowing, and then suddenly, at a random moment, the answer will explode in your head. Like, when you can't remember somebody's name and then in the middle of the night you shoot straight up in bed???

Yeah, so at about 11:30, in the darkness of my bedroom, I finally put 2 and 2 together. I'm quick like that.

It was indeed, a snake.

I guess I never expected to find a snake in one of my raised beds. I mean, it's just dirt. I thought snakes liked the cover and protection of leaves and dark places. But thinking about it now, I supposed the soft, fluffy, warm dirt was probably the perfect spot for a nest of snake eggs.

It's a good thing I like snakes, or I would probably never work in that garden bed again. lol.

After doing a bit of research, it may have been a Texas Brown Snake, but it didn't have any dark markings on the head like what I saw in most of the images. It was uniformly brown, with little black dot eyes. I think it was lighter on the belly, but I don't really remember.

I think I need to start taking my oregano oil again. It really helped with my mental clarity.

And I need to go buy some more red hair dye.

Until,
D :)

Ah never mind, it most likely was a Rough Earth Snake. It looked a lot like this, except smaller. {not my image. I found this here.}

White Spider

Sometimes when I am in the garden, I like to take my gloves off so I can feel the dirt in my hands. I am kind of funny that way. Because it's not enough for me to just smell that rich earth and see how beautiful and fertile it is, I have to feel the moisture and the grit and the fluffiness of it. I have to smell it on my hands even after I wash them and I want to get in the dirt enough that I have to dig it out from under my fingernails.

It's a sickness really.

But, it is also easier to plant seeds with bare hands vs. gloved. It's kind of hard to evenly distribute when your fingers feel like stay puffed marshmallows. So today, as I was planting my seeds, (tomatoes, peppers, peas, basil, dill, okra, chives and black beans so far) I took off my gloves to really feel the soil. It was calling to me.

At one point though, I dug into an herb pot next to my raised beds and out popped this friend.
I am not sure what he/she is exactly, though in doing a quick bit of research I think it might be either a jumping spider or some sort of orb weaver. I am so glad it was polite enough to not jump at me as I finished my work in the box. If it is a barn spider (orb weaver), perhaps her name is Charlotte?

Thankfully I was digging with a small shovel, not my bare hand.

Until,
D :)

This Just In: My husband just informed me it is indeed a female jumping spider. And, he thinks she's cute. More on that some other day... ;-)

Perfect Day

Yesterday was the most perfect day weather wise. It was sunny, warm (about 76 degrees), there was a light breeze, the air was clean - it was PERFECT. I spent a good 2+ hours out in the garden digging my little heart out. I made a nice sized trench in between the 2 raised beds and I plan on planting zucchini there. I was going to put them on the fence line, but I think the full sun the area between the beds gets will be better for them. Instead, I plan on putting beans and maybe some corn along the fence. We just need to find something to use as a trellis first.

It's funny how curious birds become when you toss a bunch of grubs out on to a hard, flat place on the ground. The grubs start to squirm and the birds begin to gather...

Digging in that dirt, man it really does something for my soul. And, it really does something for my body as well. Talk about a work out! At one point, I had been on my knees digging out the trench by hand because I encountered a large group of limestone rocks that I couldn't get around with a shovel. I was bending forward and scooping the dirt out and digging around the rocks with my hands and my legs were trembling violently. After 2 hours of doing that, my body was so worn out I felt weak. By bed time last night, I was in pain.

But it was so worth it - I just love, love, love digging in the dirt. The smell of the earth, the feel of it in my hands, the silence of being outside with no one talking to me, and the air and the sun all combined just warmed my heart and my soul. My mind raced with thoughts that all week collided in my head as I sat indoors. Outside, it was as if they had more room to maneuver, and I was able to think things through so much faster. Everything I had been trying to hard to unravel in my head suddenly became clear.

I can't wait to go pick up my fertilizer and compost and get planting.

It was a nice release from the tension and anger I experienced when we came home from church yesterday. We left our dog in the house like we normally do, and when we got home we walked in to a huge, disgusting mess. While we were gone, the dog thought it would be fun to completely demolish a bag full of trash and distribute it's contents all over my house.

ugh

Thankfully that was the only low in a pretty terrific day.

Our church service was awesome. Brad Johnson from Mission of Hope Haiti was the speaker. His message was extremely powerful. He gave me so much to think about. I will have to marinate on it some before I can share. I am still not sure of what to do with some of the thoughts in my head. Some of the music was led by Mission of Hope Haiti's worship leader, Claudel Senat. It was such an amazing, spiritual experience.

After the dog/trash debacle, the big boys left on a hike and Port and I played in the back yard for a bit before nap time. I needed to transplant a few veggie plants I am sprouting in the kitchen and so I collected some random containers to put them in. I found a place in the yard with nice soil and started to dig, and the next thing I knew my little man had joined me with another small shovel and was helping me fill the pots. He had great coordination with that dirt - not much missed the mark. I was really surprised since I don't know when he's ever practiced scooping materials and filling containers. He did a great job, and it was so fun digging with him.

Port's speech is still kind of hit and miss, but it seems to be getting much better when he is on. He's begun to address Hubby and I before he says his gibberish; "Mum, bleeble blobble bleeble blobble. Um, Dad, bleeble blooble, bleeble, blobble." It's so cute. He has been mimicking his brother a lot. Sometimes though he will actually say real sentences. If he falls he will say "I ok". He'll also say "Let's go!" and "I'm ready!"

Today Kiddo handed Port a bag of marbles and just as plain as day he said "Woah, what ees dis?!".

Cracked me up.

Pretty soon I won't be able to shut him up.



With today being Gratitude Monday, I would like to make a gratitude list.

I am thankful for...
1. the rich, dark earth in my yard that will soon be providing nourishment for my family.
2. my sweet babies and the moments I enjoy spending with them
3. the sound of a young child speaking in that sweet high pitched voice that makes everything sound cute. Sometimes, even when he says "no" it makes me smile.
4. my church; the music, the message, all of it. I love attending there.

Feel free to join me. Grab a button and tell me what you are thankful for!

Until,
D :)

Change

Happy Friday Company Girls and Beloved Regulars!

Man, all week long I've been thinking it was Friday, wishing for Friday and dreading Friday. Friday, needless to say, has been on the brain.

And all day today I thought it was Wednesday. Go figure. lol

But, indeed, it is Friday, and I am looking forward to getting some things done this weekend. Hopefully I can make it out and about and get some tasks taken care if before Hubby runs off to do his thing. It seems there are never enough waking hours in the weekend for us to both get our stuff done. And usually I am the one to not do my stuff if time is short because if I really, really have to, usually I can do it during the week. But doing my stuff kid free on the weekends is sooooo much easier! How I long for those few hours to myself. I wish I got them more often.

But I digress.

My parents sent me my birthday present early, a beautiful gift card to Home Depot, and so I hope to be able to do some garden supply shopping and pick up some much desired dirt and fertilizer for my garden. I am so eager to get things planted and now is the time! Yay!!!

Last night we recorded this weeks Musing Mommies podcast. We were a few days late because Kim has been having trouble with her voice. We did a dual podcast with Melody from 2GodChicks. It was so much fun talking with her, and being interviewed as well as interviewing. It is different when the tables are turned! Anyway, I think it was a great conversation and I can't wait until I get to hear it all edited and nice. One little fun fact; Melody and Wendy record their podcast in Melody's closet! lol! Awesome! It was so funny watching her on Skype sitting amongst her clothes and shoe boxes. Hey, you go where the sound is the best, right?

I got little Port to nap today. He protested for a few minutes but finally relented and went to sleep. Thank goodness, because the no-nap day yesterday was not fun. Don't get me wrong, Port was actually pretty good most of the afternoon. But come bed time he was so over tired he fought everything. He didn't want to get his jammies on, he didn't want to tell anyone goodnight, he didn't want to give his "bump-bumps" (fist bumps) to anyone. He screamed his angry CPS calling level scream for a good 20 minutes before finally passing out. It was not fun for anybody. Tonight, he scrunched up his face and huffed and puffed a little, but he willingly went in his room for jammies and he happily said goodnight and bump-bumped everyone (even the cat!!). He willingly went to his room, picked up his toys without asking (my sweet little organized dude) and helped me turn out the light. When I laid him in the crib he scrunched up his face again, but he turned on his little fishy light and only said one "no!" when I closed the door. No crying, no screaming, nothing.

Bliss

I am not ready for him to give up naps yet. I know he can make it through the day without one, but the difference it makes in how well bed time goes is enough for me to put up with the noon time protest so he will take a nap. It may keep us from doing stuff most days, but it is so worth it.

How old were your kids when they gave up naps? I have probably asked this before, but I am really hoping I can get a few more months at least out of him before we have to do something else. (afternoon rest time? stay in your room and read time? I have no clue here.)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

Until,
D :)

Hallelujah

Hey there Company Girls!
I am sitting here at the computer (shocker, I know) playing with all my new friends on Twitter and watching the Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies. (talk about a roller coaster ride - one minute I am snoozing {Peter Pan anyone?} and the next I am moved {KD Lang, Hallelujah - if you didn't hear it, look for the youtube vid when it comes out. GORGEOUS!}, then I just want to make it stop {I love opera, but...}...mercy! lol) Anyway, I wanted to get a quick post out to say hi and check in with you all.

Rachel Anne's little homemade coffee pot cracked me up! That's my girl! Don't let anything keep you from your morning caffeine injection. I'll have to remember that the next time we wake up without power.

I hope everyone is staying warm and dry during all this snow business. We haven't received any here; just a lot of sleet, rain and general muck. I am so tired of the cold. Thankfully the sun came out today for a few hours, and I was able to get out with the boys and run an errand. We hit Sonic's happy hour so I could let the van run for a little bit. The battery that we bought a few months ago for some reason isn't holding a charge anymore, and every time I get in it and start it up it is a struggle to get it to turn over. It will charge up if I drive it for a while, but if it sits overnight or for a couple of days I can barely get it started the next time we load up. That's not a fun thing when it takes so long to get everyone in the car in the first place. Thankfully it hasn't left us stranded yet, but something needs to be done soon. I was going to see if I could get it replaced at Walmart (they installed it) when we went today, but I guess we arrived at just the wrong time because the automotive area was PACKED. So, Hubby will be toting it up there this weekend sometime.

So I got a decent amount of sun on my face today. I am determined to soak up as much as I can this weekend. 2 weeks of dreary, rainy, cold days just about did me in. Can you say moody? I got my package from the garden supply, and it is just sitting here, unopened, waiting for spring weather. It makes me so sad every time I see it. I want to plant my garden NOW!! :(

I found an old video of Kiddo on our computer the other day. I have been trying to upload it to my blog for days, but it keeps messing up. I may have to edit it so I can get it on here. It is from when he was about 10 months old, and includes the clip of his first steps!! I still can't believe I caught that on tape. As soon as I can figure it out I will post it.

I have so much going on right now - I don't know if I am ever going to catch up. But it is all good and I trust that God's hand is in all of it. I am just hoping my patience can last through it.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for having coffee with me!

Until,
D :)

Here is KD singing it at the Juno awards - turn up your speakers!