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.