learn and grow

this will be my second attempt at gardening. new seedlings are popping up every day.

it makes me giddy.

i have learned a lot from my first solo attempt.

mostly that bermuda grass is the most awful and invasive plant on the earth.
also that vine-y? vine-ish? plants should be placed out of raised beds
and that there is a nasty fungus in my soil that will kill tomato plants.



so the tomatoes are in a separate box with it's own bottom,
i have added a drip hose and a timer.
and many of new plants to try.

i.e. snap peas, beets, cucumbers, sunflowers, and onions

oh,
and also pumpkins

funny thing is that i actually didn't start any pumpkin seeds, but there are pumpkin sprouts coming up everywhere.

you see, we composted our jack-o-lanterns last fall and those pesky seeds made it back into the soil when i was prepping for this spring

...along with who else knows what.





30 Easy Days:



Day 2: Organize his socks.

day one

Easy will be 30 in 30 days. Whoa.

So the next 30 days are his.

Little gifts, notes, acts of kindness, special surprises - all for him - one each day.

Because 30 is a big deal and he is after all, my perfect match.





day one: a video

no words.

rained in.

we have been seeing some rainy days.

i love it, but i worry about my newly planted garden and flowers.



see? those are my pansies. they have taken a beating.

the rain does make it nice to work on little things in the house - like sewing pillows and moving roo into her crib.

i think she likes it.



but i think she likes sleeping with her mama more so that is where she end up most nights - with her little face nuzzled against my side.

i love curling up to warm soup on these days and watching movies with my girls. they have just found the lost Sleeping Beauty so it has been a favorite again. MaeMae gets a little scared of the dragon, worries about the prince and prefers me to cuddle her, which i don't mind at all - it beats studying endocrine disorders.

Rainy Day 13 Bean Chili recipe courtesy of Bob's Red Mill with my additions

*1 1/4 c Bob's Red Mill 13 bean soup mix
1/2 lb mild ground sausage
1 chopped medium onion
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1-2 tbs chili pwdr
1 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper
other spices to your discretion (cumin, coriander, garlic pwdr. yum.)
dollops of sour cream
fresh chopped cilantro

Sort and soak beans overnight. They will be very pretty as seen above. Drain and cover with water. Simmer until tender (a couple of hours but check kinda often). In a saucepan brown sausage and use drippings to brown onion then add both to the beans along with the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for, oh like 30 minutes to an hour. Dollop (i like that word) the sour cream and garnish with cilantro as the chili is plated. Serve with tortilla chips or just devour it with a spoon.

*Prepare at your own risk. The Dirt does not claim any responsibility in the incidence that intestinal disruptions occur.

**In short, the above may give you room-clearing gas, but it is totally worth it.

Guilt-y

Last night I busted out the 2 containers of what was left of the Breyers Rocky Road aka Heaven From the Freezer.

Easy asked me to dish him some.

The problem was that there was a good container and an old kinda-nasty one. Both only had enough for one serving.

What to do?

Hmmm.

I dished the old stuff first and in my hanging-out-with-toddlers-all-day thoughts it didn't look so bad in the bowl. I assumed I could just pass it off. You know, usually if it doesn't look bad then it isn't to kids. Plus, chocolate is chocolate. Right?

Well I was wrong. I placed it on the counter for E and took off with the good stuff into the other room to check my email. On my return I here it -

"Hey. Honey, so why did you give me the nasty ice cream?"

Uh Oh. What? Is he talking to me? Crap...

"Ummmm..." I'm trying to think of something, but I can't. "Well there wasn't enough of the good stuff and you asked me to dish it."

"I can't believe it." - He's grinning and loving this.

I'm squirming now. Totally guilty. Embarrassed. This has turned into a stupid test of some sort.

"Well," I proceed, "What would you have done?"

"I would have split the good stuff with you."

He states it automatically. No hesitation.

Right. Crap again.

The problem is that he really would have. Easy is a giver. Easy thinks of me. He would have split the good stuff.

Then he continues, just to rub it in, "Guess this means that I love you more than you love me..."

He is enjoying this too much.

"So what does that make me?" I ask.

And he says it. Again without hesitation and with an added smirk, "Selfish."

Ouch. The loathed word. He has gotten me back with this.

So I did just what I had to. I apologized, gave him a nice big chocolaty kiss, and I finished off my Heaven.

Every. Last. Bite.

honeymoon's over.

remember how about a month ago i started cloth diapering? of course you do - you probably thought i was crazy and you were probably right.

but i'm still doing it.

and some days i hate it.

but you see this face?

awe. i know. the cutest.

i love that her bum is swaddled in super soft cotton and snuggled into a cute little cover.

even when i neglect to change her and she leaks out a little.
even though i'm frustrated that she is growing out of her prefolds.
even though her butt is like the size of texas and her cute little shorts don't fit over all that cotton.
even when she poops and i don't know what to do - or where to start - or how to not get any of it on my hands. (i swear i'm like a new dad. speaking of did you ever see this?)
and even though i have to hold my breath when i do the diaper wash.

still... i somehow like it.


even if it does make me a little crazy.

diaper deal here.

moving air

i'm always bugging E to have a project, so we were both pretty excited about this
fabulous garage sale find.

it's a 50's westinghouse fan.

too bad after Easy took it apart, cleaned it, painted it, and put it together it...it didn't work.

fortunately E's grandpa was an electrical engineer and his dad inherited some wiring skills.

they got the fan fired up this weekend and he had a talk with the girls about keeping their cute little fingers away.

when the heat hits in a few months we may be a little more comfortable.

we'll see.

v-day

it's no wonder who the girls picked for their valentine this weekend...

and it will be fine with me if they continue to pick him for the next 17 years.

roo.

has huge kissing cheeks.
is trying desperately to suck her thumb.
giggles contagiously.

i like you. be mine. you're cool.

thanks natalie for the inspiration.
more thorough directions here.

take that target!

A few weeks ago I got an ad from Target in my mailbox. I fell in love
with the little mobile on it.

So I gathered some sticks, string, bought a box of paper flowers,
and spent an evening cutting and assembling birds.

$ = 2ish dollars
hot glue burns on my fingers = 6
little helpers = 2
# of happy babies with lovely birdies to look at = 1

where did it go?

this week has escaped me.

tuesday we woke to a box of fresh citrus on our front porch. i spent the evening juicing it by hand. we had whole wheat pancakes for dinner.

wednesday was preschool, mom and tot art class, tumbling, and nursing class in the evening. i barely had time to breathe, but somehow managed to plant flowers and dig worms with my girls.

thursday i got my hair done. it's darker. and golden. we hung out with our twin family and spent time sewing dresses for the girls.

today i had peds lab all day. great news though - little roo took her bottle. i'm grateful for Easy who was very patient with her.

tomorrow is my last free saturday for a while - bummer.
we are going bowling - yay.

did i mention that i'm tired?

an arizona snow day

music: have a little dream on me by fats waller

no milk in the house

yesterday before church i was making the girls' lunch.

it was a mac and cheese day since we had no bread.

noodles.
butter.
cheese.
pureed squash.
milk.

milk. hmmm. what's this? no milk.

this late in the game i refused to just make something else.

i assessed my options.

make it without milk?
sour cream? would have worked - too bad it was expired.
any other cream?

wait...i don't need cream.

i'm lactating.

i. have. milk!

yep.
in goes the breastmilk.


and i have happy girls with their breastmilk mac and cheese.


what?

you think that's gross?


i suppose it is.
it tasted good though.

but isn't it kinda gross that we drink milk from cows in the first place?
and besides, aren't we the only species that even drinks milk past our infancy?
isn't that kinda gross?