Is There a Use for Weeds?

It's almost 2 in the afternoon and I think I've accomplished everything that I wanted to for the day. We put on our grubby work-in-the-garden clothes this morning and tended to our sadly neglected garden. Due to the snow and rain we've had in the last month, I haven't been out to pull weeds since we planted.

The garden was covered in green, and not because all of our plants had come up.

In fact, only half of what we planted has sprouted, if that. I finally broke down and bought some starter plants to replace the cucumbers and zucchini. And thanks to the freeze last week, all six of the tomatoes we put in died.

After more than two hours of weeding (Bryan and I weeded while Peter and Cooper gathered and threw a few of the rocks that fill our garden), I pulled out the dead plants and put in the live ones. And since only half of our peas came up, and maybe a third of our beans, we had some extra room. Peter picked out an extra pumpkin plant and two melons and we filled in some of the empty spots.

I really hope things start to grow.

The Girly Show

My totally awesome sister-in-law in Hawaii (I have four sisters-in-law, they're all absolutely fabulous, but only one is in Hawaii, just so you know) has generously loaned us some of my nieces' clothes for our still-unnamed baby girl. I think we're set for clothes for the first six months of her life.

I liked lots of the clothes she sent, but there were two standouts:


Ruby slippers! I love these little shoes! I don't usually put shoes on my kids until they start walking, but I'm going to have to make an exception here.

Too much of my own wardrobe is black, so it's in character that this should be my favorite shirt. But it's not just the color that attracts me. Can you read the words? There's a better picture below.


I gave a nice loud laugh when I read this shirt. Yeah, it's swell.

Thanks again Amanda! We'll do our best to keep everything nice, just in case Clara ever has a baby sister.

Check Again

It is my custom to check on the boys right before I go to sleep. I make sure they're still in their beds, covered with blankets, not in oddly contorted positions. It's been a month since they had a nightlight (Cooper broke the light bulb, the nightlight, and gave himself a painful shock in one fell swoop) so when I walk into their room it takes my eyes a minute to adjust to the dark.

One night last week I walked in for my check. I went to Cooper first. Cooper rarely keeps his blanket on, so it's normal to have to pull it back over him. Sure enough, the blanket was pushed down on the bed. I pulled it up, touched his chest to make sure he was still breathing, and moved to Peter. Peter stays covered, he just sleeps at angles that look wildly uncomfortable. I straightened Peter. My last check was the window. We had opened it that day and I wanted to make sure it was locked.

As I was turning from the window and heading out the thought came to me, "Check Cooper again."

When I had initially covered him up I had had trouble seeing how he was sleeping. He likes to push himself up into the corner of the bed, so I assumed that's where he was. Now, after having been in the dark room for a few minutes, I could see more clearly. Looking down at Cooper, I realized I couldn't see his head. I reached down to where his face should have been and felt pajamas.

I felt slight panic at not being able to find his head. Then I had the thought to pull back the blanket. A mixture of relief and shock filled me when I discovered that Cooper had turned himself 180 degrees. Relief because his head was still firmly attached to the rest of his body. Shock because I had just covered his face with his blanket.

I am certain that it was not my own thought telling me to check on Cooper again. I don't want to think about what would have happened if I hadn't listened. He probably would have been fine. But what if he hadn't been?

I'm so thankful for the Holy Ghost and those promptings that help me keep my children safe.

Recycling is Good for the Ears

Have you heard of this guy? He does mashups, and they are awesome. This is one of my favorites.



Bryan and I spent an hour last night watching his video mashups and listening to his free albums. Although it's mostly rap music, the Donkey Business is really fun.

Warning: Some of his video mashups contain somewhat scantily clad women since he uses footage from the actual music video, so while it's interesting to watch how he's put them together, it might be better to just listen to some of them.

Taste Test

Is it common for a four-year-old to continue to stick toys in his mouth? And shoes?

Peter almost always has something in his mouth. It's usually his hand, which has led to some pretty awful chapped skin. Not his thumb, I mean as much of his hand as he can cram in there. If he happens to have something in his hand, that often gets stuck in too, or at least leaned on his face. Last night I had to take away a pair of my flip-flops he'd been carrying around because he kept putting them on his mouth.

He also licks stuff. Wooden train tracks, pencils, people. I don't think I should ever have to utter the question, "Peter, why are you licking my jeans?"

Seriously, do other four-year-olds do this? Bryan and I feel like we're constantly saying, "Peter, take that out of your mouth." We've tried the ignore-it approach, but it was wholly unsuccessful. We've considered dipping his hands in vinegar, but haven't reached that point yet. Mostly, the habit is just really gross, especially when you are on the saliva-enriched receiving end of the taste-testing.

Last Friday Bryan cleaned the outside glass on the door that leads to our patio. Peter and Cooper watched from inside with rapt interest. Curious as to why Bryan was undertaking this task, Peter turned to me and said, "Is he doing that so that when we lick the glass we won't get sick?"

No, Peter, that's not why.

And don't lick the glass.

Climate Confusion

Peter and Cooper are both winter babies. This will be my first summer baby. As a summer baby myself, I'm kind of excited about this. However, my maternity wardrobe is full of long sleeves and sweaters. I've been anticipating needing to buy short-sleeved shirts in light-weight materials. And I was a little sad that I wouldn't be able to use some of my cute, cold-weather wardrobe.

I needn't have worried.

I took this picture about ten minutes ago while standing in my front doorway:


And this picture just now:


It is currently snowing big, fat flakes. Isn't it almost June?

About that whole global warming thing...

Egg-cellent

We performed another egg test on Peter this week. My friend Kendra (or I could say Bryan's cousin's wife, but she's my friend too, and that's easier to say) posted a recipe for Puffy Power Pancakes. I know them as German Pancakes, although my recipe is slightly different. Her picture looked so good that I decided to give it a try.

I told Peter that I was making something with eggs for dinner, but I would make his with flax seed if he wanted me to. He did. Bryan thought it would end up like soup and not the puffy goodness that we were going to eat. Actually, it turned out surprisingly well. It never puffed up, but it wasn't soup.

Peter ate a slice of his. Then, in an act of bravery, he asked for a piece of mine. He knew it had egg, and he chose to eat it. This is a big step for him. He didn't have a reaction and he knowingly ate eggs. I think that's the first time that's happened.

Also, the pancakes were truly delicious.

Little Bits of Green

Thanks for all the input on the garden. The day that I posted the question I went out to check and discovered we do have a few things coming up. We have a handful of peas pushing through, one bean, both pumpkins, and what I suspect are carrots. The rest of the beans, the potatoes, the cucumbers, and the zucchini have yet to make an appearance.

I'm sort of worried about those last two. I'm afraid there's a leak in the drip line near my garden. I planted the cucumbers and the zucchini right in the front. That front is currently drowning in water. I'm wondering if the seeds may have floated away.

A friend told me that potatoes take longer to come up, so I'm not worried about those. I've seen one bean, although I planted a whole row and they have not uncurled from the dirt yet, but I'll take that one as a good sign. Those plants in the front though, I think I'll give them one more week before I break down and buy plants to put in their stead.

And maybe I'll see about fixing the drip line.

25 Weeks

I'm twenty-five weeks along today, so I thought that warranted another picture. I'm still getting comments about how I don't look pregnant.

I think that's crazy talk.

A Beautiful Day

Yesterday was glorious. It was a beautifully warm day, yet slightly overcast so the sun didn't feel hot while we were playing outside. The boys and I went to the park across the street and discovered that we weren't the only ones that had had that idea. There were thirteen children running through the gardens and climbing over the playground.

They started by drawing with chalk on the basketball court. Cooper stuck with this activity long after the others had moved on. He discovered that if he drew with the chalk, then ran his hand through it, his hand would be covered in colored chalk dust. By the time we went home an hour and a half later Cooper was a mass of dusty pastels.

The rest of the kids discovered that one of drip lines in the gardens had a leak in it. This was a prime opportunity for some mud making. I've been told I'm too strict, but the fact that I let Peter play in the mud is an excellent example to the contrary. He told me they were making pumpkin soup with cauliflower, cow grass, wood chips, and rocks.

All of the kids had a glorious time. Knowledge is power and Peter knows how to turn the water on in the gardens. He suggested turning on a spigot to add to the water content. The fun finally stopped when I realized they might be uprooting someone's garden. Tools were gathered, hands were washed under the hose, and shoes were removed because they were too muddy to clean properly.

After running and playing while I scrubbed sandals, we walked home. I'm not sure which they liked better, getting to make pumpkin soup in the mud or sitting on the edge of sink while their arms and legs were thoroughly cleaned.

It was a beautiful day.

Spoonful of Sugar

We were sick most of last week and are thankfully feeling much better now. The boys never really succumbed, although I was concerned that they were showing signs of being sick. Peter's throat hurt one night so I lifted his no-sweets restriction (for saying naughty words) and agreed that he could have a popsicle. During dinner I checked on how he was feeling.

Me: Peter how does you throat feel?

Peter: It hurts. Does that mean I get a popsicle?

Me: Yeah, you may have one for your throat.

Cooper: (completely healthy, looking very serious) My throat hurts. Please popsicle?

Smart boy, eh?

Frozen Food Aisle

We decided to go ahead and plant a garden this year. I was so excited about it that the day we chose to do it I sat down and mapped out what we would plant and where everything would go. It was even color-coded.

Two weeks ago (which was a week later than last year) we planted all the seeds. Peter and Cooper helped by digging holes and flinging dirt. My brother-in-law was nice enough to help me get all the potatoes, carrots, and marigolds in the ground. I knew it was too early to plant tomatoes, so I waited on those. I was so proud that we had done so much in one day.

We went out the following day and laid the drip lines. I figured that the next thing we needed to do was wait.

And then it snowed.

Multiple times.

I told myself that although plants would have died, the seeds were probably fine. We went out to check on Monday, the fourteen-day mark, to see if we had anything poking through the ground, as the seed packets all assured should happen. Nothing. No peas, no carrots, no edamame. I think we may have had a few weeds growing, but nothing that I wanted to cultivate.

Now I'm thinking that the freeze may have killed everything. And that makes me sad.

Here's my dilemma: how long do I wait to see if anything survived? And if nothing comes up, should I just plant everything again? Or should I try to dig up all the frozen seeds first?

Any help from the gardening gurus out there would be much appreciated.

Brown Eyed Boy

I was going through our pictures looking for things worthy of posting. I found this:

Any guess who took this picture?

Most Important Meal of the Day

When it comes to cereal, I'm a grown up. I buy the non-sugary varieties. They're actually my favorite. Cheerios, Chex, Kix. When I feel like something sweet I go for Special K Red Berries or the wildly unhealthy granola.

Peter, Cooper, and Bryan are all fans of fun cereal. Chocolate? Nice. Bright colors. Excellent. Marshmallows? Even better. When I find a good cereal sale I stock up, mostly on the healthy stuff, but I do throw in a few boxes of the sugar-shock stuff.

Our latest cereal additions are Honey Bunches of Oats (a fun cereal for me), a box of Fruity Pebbles, and a box of Cocoa Pebbles. The Cocoa Pebbles are much more popular than the Fruity Pebbles, although Peter and Cooper have figured out a way to get rid of both. I often mix my cereals together, especially when there's just a little bit left of each. I guess that's where they got the idea. They've been mixing the two varieties of Pebbles together.

However, Peter doesn't ask for each cereal by their individual names. No. He, like William Shakespeare, likes to coin words. He's made up a word to describe this colorful, cocoa, fruity breakfast concoction:

Froclate.

As in:

Me: Peter what do you want for breakfast?

Peter: Froclate Pebbles.

I think it's kind of awesome.

I Lived in Heaven

Bryan's brother Dallin stayed with us for almost two weeks while he was looking for a job and a place to live. He has since found both. Peter and Cooper are both very sad that he's not here to play with them anymore. While he was still with us, I overheard this conversation:

Peter: (to Dallin) Did you know Daddy used to live out of Utah?

Dallin: Yeah, and so did your Mommy and so did I.

Peter: And so did I.

Dallin: No, you've always lived in Utah.

Peter: No, I lived in heaven, and that's not in Utah.

The Mom

Happy (belated) Mother's Day to all the women I know. And I mean that, not just those who have children of their own, but all the women who have nurtured the children in their lives.

I spent my Mother's Day in my pajamas, sick. (Seriously, what is up with our immune systems this year?!) But, I did enjoy having both boys yell "Happy Mother's Day!" And I loved my fully practical gifts: a red can opener (I had requested a can opener, but Peter was adamant that it be red), a cheese slicer (which I've wanted for a while, but didn't think to ask for), and a red flour sifter. I'm excited to use all three.

Need a post-Mother's Day lift? Go here.

My New Life

My friend Camille linked to this on her blog. Although I'm no longer reading NieNie's blog daily, I do think her story is important. And watching this clip helped me understand the purpose behind her blog, and maybe part of the unintentional purpose behind mine. I especially love what she she says about being a mother.

It's eight minutes long, but watch all of it. And have a tissue handy.

Once Upon a Time

On Tuesday night before dinner Bryan went into the boys' room, laid down on Peter's bed, and told the boys he was tired and needed a story. So Peter told him one.

Once upon a time there was a boy and a girl and their names were Mommy and Daddy. And they loved their kids. And they also loved playing with their kids. And after that day they loved sleeping. The end.

I liked his story. And I think he must know his subjects very well. We must talk about sleep a lot.

Seeing Pink

When I tell people I'm having a girl one of the first things they ask is if I'm excited to get to dress a little girl.

Um...

Truth be told, I really like little boy clothes. I like solid, bold colors, and those are easy to find in boy clothes. Not so much in girl clothes. Also, I don't really accessorize myself, the thought of ribbons and bows and headbands and barrettes and bracelets is slightly overwhelming.

And then there's the whole pink thing. Pink is all over baby girl clothes, did you know? I'm working really hard though to overcome my extreme pink aversion. Bryan has told me, "It's okay for little girls to wear pink." That's probably true.

I have proof that I'm trying. The boys and I bought our first baby girl clothes last week.




It's true, none of them are solid pink, but they all have pink accents.

I think that's progress.

You're Getting Sleepy, Very Sleepy

I've spent the better part of today doing stuff for my calling. Updating rosters, organizing information, scheduling rooms, that sort of thing. I usually do this stuff after the boys go to sleep so I can spend their awake hours interacting with them. I've had to resort to daytime computer usage (including writing this post, and yesterday's) because I have a small problem.

I keep falling asleep.

The last two nights Bryan has had to come take the computer from me since I've nodded off with it open and on my lap. The first night I awakened enough to know I needed to eat something and brush my teeth before succumbing to blissful slumber. Sadly, these activities woke me up all the way and I didn't fall asleep again until after eleven. This wouldn't have been so bad except that Peter and Cooper decided to wake up every hour or so.

It was a long night.

And yesterday was a long day.

Given my lack of sleep, I guess it's not surprising that I did the same thing last night. The difference was that I was still full from dinner and didn't wake myself up by eating.

Too bad my body decided it was time to wake up at 3:45. After an hour and a half of praying for sleep, it finally came.

Tonight I'm going to use the computer while sitting at the table instead of in my soft, warm bed. That should keep me from falling asleep, right?

The Mighty Alot

It occurred to me the other day that not everyone has discussions about grammar. To some the topic might be dry or, dare I say it, dull. I am not one of those people. Neither is Bryan. We've had many talks about grammar, we make jokes about grammar, we even laugh at those jokes.

It's one of the things that confirms my belief that we are well suited for each other.

This is one of many grammar jokes that Bryan has emailed to me. Here's a picture of the noble Alot, the main character of the post.


Caution: I noticed a bit of profanity on the side bar for this blog, so tread carefully. The post itself, however, is free of the offending language.