Oh! Hey There!

Huh, true to my nature, I've stopped writing for ages now.  One day I'll get myself together.  It's been a lot of ups and downs, but we're still trucking right along.
 
   We just started our 5th year at the garden!  Had a few things to work out.  We had to re-size our plot to keep in line with the rest of the gardeners.  As it's a large raised bed, it was a lot of work.  Unfortunately there's plants that had to be uprooted in order to get the work done, and a lot of soil to relocate.  I put my delphinium back in the ground, but it's still up in the air if it survived or not.  My gigantic thyme plant that's large enough to declare itself a sovereign country is looking pretty sad.  Hopefully I'll be able to put her back in the ground soon, and give her a good haircut, get her feeling all refreshed.  And then there's my lavender.  When I first got the plot, there was one big lavender plant.  I took a dull, somewhat rusty shovel and split him in two.  Both halves survived and thrived at opposite ends of the garden.  But now, his twin had to be dug up for this move.  However, she's seeming to survive the uprooting just fine for now.

   So far all we have planted, that isn't a perennial, is peas, onions, and a couple leeks.  Two years ago I put one little bitty strawberry plant on the south end, and now it's taken over most of that half of the plot!  'S okay though, there's plans in place to add a new strawberry box they'll be moved to so they can be contained.  I still have the gigantic rosemary plant that used to be planted in a McDonald's cup as a natural air freshener in my car.  Thing is chest high to me now, and I'm 6'2"!  At least one of the dahlias have begun to poke out of the ground.  It's going to take some cleanup to find if the others are still kickin' under there.  For some reason my crocus' only gave me leaves, never flowered.

   Other things going on this year... I met my Grandfather!  I'm turning 38 this year and have finally met my Grandfather.  It's a long story, and as it affects so many still living I'll not get into it, but it is what it is.  It's as simple as this... I grew up with the understanding that I had two Grandmothers and three Grandfathers.  All but my maternal Grandmother and birth Grandfather have passed on.  The opportunity to meet and know my Grandfather wasn't there for various reasons.  But this year we all were finally able to say "to Hell with the reasons" and make it happen.  I couldn't be any happier!  I swear he and I are so much alike it's scary!  There is no way this trip would have happened without the help of my parents.  I couldn't afford it on my own, and so they foot the bill.  My husband also helped out... he dipped into his retirement fund to make sure I had any spending cash I needed to be comfortable.

   It was a fantastic trip!  I haven't ever really flown alone, so I was terrified.  I've flown many times, mind you, but never alone.  I've always had family, friends, or shipmates to hold my hand.  Heck, I've even been on a flight where mid-air we lost an engine and hydraulics, but I had so many folks with me I wasn't nearly as terrified as I was to get on this commercial plane all by myself.  I did have the doc prescribe me anxiety pills, but apparently just knowing I could take them was enough.  There is so much to the travel and meeting that I should write an entire separate post about it.  Maybe I'll finally get to it.

   My eldest has bridged from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.  That kid is growing up way too fast!  He's still bright, happy overall, and so smart.  The Twinnies are getting huge as well.  They'll be starting Cub and Girl Scouts this summer.  We're even starting a Girl Scout troop just so that we can ease scheduling for other Scout families.

   Eldest Son is about to have a birthday, and this year we're camping as a family where normally it's his boys only trip.  But as this year his birthday falls on a weekend, when the whole family had a chance to make a trip he's been dying to make happen, we're doing it.  He's asked for a red velvet birthday cake... we've readied the dutch oven.  ;-)

   I've had my share of health problems.  I have medications for my migraines finally, but if I took meds for everything I would have an all out pharmacy going on every day.  That doesn't sound appealing.  I had heard of elimination diets and how they can sort out if food is your trigger.  I'd done some reading on them a while back, but was irritated by the "lose weight fast" angle, or the gazillion celebrities backing it, or, God Forbid, Dr. Oz puts his stamp on anything.  And nothing made sense just right, and I knew no one I could ask about it.  So I pushed it aside.  Recently a dear friend brought it up because it's what she had to do to regain her health.  I've been able to personally see much of the difference it made for her.  So now I'm looking into the format she tried.  Autoimmune Protocol.  It's pretty extensive, and giving some of those foods up for even a while breaks my heart, but I am still considering it.  It makes sense, and I'm loving the people writing about it, their qualifications, and their experiences.  And I've not seen a bunch of money making, celeb backing, Dr.Oz waving or the rest of the crap that distracts and annoys me.  And I have been able to ask my friend if I have any questions.  As of now, the plan is to slowly phase out some of the no-no's to brace for impact, but to actually and officially start January 2.  Why so late?  Time to prepare for one.  My garden is reason two.  I don't have the willpower to give up my tomatoes and peppers while I'm already growing them.  And then there's travel and holidays, it's awfully hard to stick to anything new during those times.  So January 2 is my goal date.

   Of course there has been so much more going on, but trying to cover it all at once is impossible.  So basically I'm writing to catch the basics and hopefully remind myself to write more later.  ;-)

Ramblings Of My Day

   Today has been one of those days I’d like to remember.  Today was hectic, but it was all about enjoying the kids while I can.  They are only young once. 

   It still breaks my heart to see how big my eldest has grown.  Each milestone puts me in tears.  On the other hand, I’m so proud of the brilliant, big hearted guy he is, and what he’ll do with all that is wonderful about him as he grows.  He’s actually the hardest one for me to watch grow up at the moment.  He’s my buddy.  My partner in crime.  My miracle baby.  I used to say it was him and me against the world.  Don’t get me wrong, I love both of my twinnies just as much.  I guess it’s one of those things you have to be a parent to understand, but you can adore all of your kids equally, and still there are points for each kid that you celebrate, and dread, completely differently than the others.  He’s my first born.  I’m in no hurry for any of them to grow up, but I think because it was just him for the first five years, and as soon as there were more, it kind of feels like he’s left me in the dust.  He keeps hitting milestones and I keep missing the growth in between, because I’m so busy… being Mom.

   

   AAAANNNNYYYYYHOW.  Along with this great kid of mine, is his tremendous heart.  He loves his family.  He loves his Momma.  He’s 10 and still not embarrassed to hold my hand and kiss me goodbye in front of his friends. When he’s tired he’ll still snuggle up, and it doesn’t matter who’s around.  He even requests morning and evening snuggles at home.  One of these advantages… he LOVES for me to come along at his school things.  I’m not a great “in class” mom, but I do well chaperoning field trips.  Too much chaos in one room is sensory overload, and then I get grumpy even though I don’t mean to.  But out and about I get to really enjoy the time. 

   

   I love watching him interact with other kids, and how his classmates treat him.  I even picked on him a little once on a return trip from one tour, some teasing that he didn’t even think twice about, and his friends still all flocked to his defense.  I was so proud of him, and of his friends.  He’s so fortunate to be surrounded by such great kids. 

   Today was one of those field trip days.  We visited a local park that is historical to a local native tribe.  The tribe put together a fascinating educational program.  Not the stuff you see in the old western movies and PBS, but sharing of the legends of that particular piece of land, the stories of their own upbringing and elders, and amazing uses of the native plant life.  There were the tidal pools and the beach, the cedars and the stinging nettles.  There was storytelling, drums and singing.  And I got to share it all with my eldest, by his request even.  After lunch, he was tired from all the excitement and a bunch of running around with the other kids, and walked over to where I sat on the grass, and laid his head on my lap and just rambled on about whatever his thoughts were at that moment.  I’m SO in love with this kid!

   

   He even chose to sit next to me on a mostly empty school bus, instead of by his friends, on the way back! 

   Okay, but it’s not just about him.  I got home, and for once I didn’t have everywhere else in the world to be.  No Cub Scouts, no baseball, no meetings, no.... for the first time in months, I took the night off.  I watched my daughter chase the neighborhood boys, with a streak of dirt from her eye to her hairline at her temple, and another smudge on her chin.  She had picked her own outfit… a long sleeve green and white top with denim short overalls and her hot pink trimmed black sneakers.  I watched as she set up her Barbie “tent” down on the street, with her lawn chair inside, and her hula hoop on top for whatever reason.  When it got in the way of the boys, I watched my eldest and the eldest of the other brothers from across the street shove her things aside, and I watched the youngest of those brothers, who’s usually the one to do the shoving, defend her to the other boys and re-set up her things.  Tonight, after I tucked in the boys, I walked into her room and found her drowning in blankets, sweating oceans, with her face buried between her pillow and her Hello Kitty.  (She calls Hello Kitty her “sister”.  Everywhere she goes, she sees Hello Kitty, and she’s excited to see “my sister!”.)  She’s wearing her pink Hello Kitty PJ’s and for once, not snoring.  Give her a minute and not only will the snores start, but the grinding of the teeth will too.  I’m SO in love with this kid!

   The Littlest Prince came in to my room tonight.  I thought I had settled in for the night.  I’d read them books and kissed them good night, and Daddy had tucked them in.  But he wanted Mommy to tuck him in.  I got grumpy and told him I might go tuck him in, if he’d just let me finish the show I was watching.  He came back three more times before I got snippy and yelled that if he didn’t cut it out, I wouldn’t go see him at all.  He left, somehow still smiling.  I think he knows by now that he can trust I will go give him a kiss good night, even when I’m grumpy, if he asks.  One day I’ll switch it up on him and just not go in.  Naaaaah.  Nope, it’s a reminder to me that I only get one chance to be a Mom to the little him.  One day he’ll be big, and all the tucking in will be over. 

   I thought it would be just the standard routine; walk in, give him a kiss, listen to a “why did the chicken cross the road” joke, kiss him again, and walk back out.  Nope.  He was eagerly waiting for me in the dark.  I came in, and he told me to wait a minute.  He threw off his blanket, shuffled around, and turned on his reading light.  Then he proceeded to start to lay down on the “sweet  spot” where he’d be sleeping for the night, and handed his Tigger blanket to me.  “Here” he instructed.  I went to tuck it under his chin when he sat back up and grabbed the blanket back.  Apparently I had it all wrong and it needed to be in another direction.  After he righted my wrong, he let me try again.  He instructed me to tuck it all around him… so there he was, a blue and orange blanketed little dude burrito.  Then he told me it’s finally okay to turn off the light.  My kid just gave me a lesson in how to “properly” tuck him in.  I’m SO in love with this kid!

   At some point, it’s going to catch up.  The twins will start not wanting to be tucked in.  Their field trips will go by.  Their firsts will start to slow down.  When that starts, each milestone will be that much more bittersweet again, much like my eldest.  Right now most things are still, “I’ll get to do this again” with them.  But soon I’ll be back at “this is the last time I’ll get to do this”.  It’s really only a matter of time.  I’m so thankful that I am able to have days like today, where things slow down for a minute and I can see what’s right in front of me, growing up way too fast.

I've Been Inspired...

   I'm working very hard to landscape a large portion of our front yard/driveway.  It's a huge amount of space and will take a lot of work.  I really only want to do a section at a time.  In the meantime, I don't really want to leave a lot of bare spots while I work.

   A few weeks ago, I came across the idea of a sunflower house.  I've seen bean shelters and such, but something as simple and pretty as a group of sunflowers... that's got my name written all over it.  The kids are 10, 5, and of course, 5.  Sounds like as good a time as any do work such a project.

   Unfortunately, the weather has been less than cooperative.  I never used to be, but lately I'm a total weather wimp.  Don't know where I got it from, but if it's gray, inside I will stay.  So this means I've had a couple weeks to expand on this idea.  Pinterest is such an awesome/evil thing.  And what's great is, no matter how many great ideas I've had, I have still only found one thing I might have to purchase.  The rest is all using supplies I already have, or have available to me.  Oh, and almost all of it can be built by the kids themselves!

   My latest idea is for an outdoor summer game room.  It would start with the planting of the sunflower seeds... and I have a huge variety.  I would dig the trench, but the kids would sow the seeds and cover them up.

   The next step, as our flowers start their stretch for the sun, would be to make games to play.  Pinterest to the rescue again.  My folks cut down two huge trees in their back yard.  Hubby has been chipping away at the heap of log rounds to make firewood.  I would have to go and look at the remaining rounds, but if I can find one of an appropriate size, I can plop it inside the "house".  (I would likely want to treat it first, to prevent damage/bugs/fungus.)  But the kids can take it from there.  We have rocks, lots of beautiful rocks for painting, all over the place.  Painted rocks might just make for excellent game pieces.  And that log?  I'm thinking a game board burned or painted on it.  Either a simple tic-tac-toe, or a chess/checkers board.  Voila!  Outdoor game for an outdoor game room!

  Not only can the kids help me build it, they can sit in the shade and picnic, play quite games, and enjoy a safe spot to play as I do other yard work.  The Eldest loves his quite time reading books, and this might be a spot for him to enjoy for that purpose as well.  I'm kinda excited to see how it turns out.  Well, you know, assuming I can get a break in the gray, soggy weather.

I Finally Made An Awesome Cake!!!

My twins turned five yesterday.  WOW how time really does fly.  I don't think you really grasp that concept until you're watching your kids grow and it seems to be far too fast.  But, growing is what they do best.

I love watching the differences between the two.  My Littlest Prince woke up ready to party.  All he wanted to know was where the party, cake, and ice cream would be.  The Princess, on the other hand, woke up FURIOUS that she'd not become a full grown adult overnight.  She ran right into my bedroom to see her expected overnight transformation in the full size mirror, and was greatly disappointed to say the least.  She got over it.  ;-)

Usually every year I bake all three kids a cake from scratch.  (If we do a celebration outside the house, however, I go with a second cake.  A trusty and dependable store bought.  Mostly because my cake skills are 50/50.)  But I have always wanted to bake cakes from scratch for birthdays, if I ever had kids, and so I do.  This year, the twins wanted strawberry and pineapple in their cake.  I found a great strawberry cake recipe (not using boxed mix) a few years back when the Eldest had requested one, and it turns out excellent every time.  With a little searching, I found a second recipe that included pineapple and orange, but used a box mix.  So, with a little tweaking here and there, I combined both recipes to make this amazing, tropical, strawberry-pineapple loaded, moist and delicious cake.  Here is the recipe as I had used it.

Strawberry-Pineapple Cake

2 cups white sugar

1 3oz package strawberry flavored Jell-O

1 cup butter, softened

4 eggs at room temp.

2 ¾ cups cake flour, sifted

2 ½ tsp baking powder

½ cup whole milk at room temp.

½ cup strawberry puree from frozen, unsweetened strawberries

1 8oz can crushed pineapple with juice

2 tsp (or so) fresh orange zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.  (Or whatever pan you’re using.)

In your mixer, cream butter,  sugar, and dry Jell-O mix together until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, making sure each egg is well mixed in before adding the next. 

In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda.  Add flour mix a little at a time, alternating with milk.  Add in the strawberry puree and pineapple.  Pour evenly into cake pans. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool cake in pans on wire rack at least 10 minutes before removing cake to cool on rack completely.  Do be careful, this cake is soft and breaks easily. 

I fully admit I have not done well making my own frosting, so I used store bought.  I used lemon frosting for the center, between layers, and white frosting for the entire outside.  Pat some sweetened, flaked coconut on the outside to complete that tropical theme.  :-D   That being said, this recipe as written is super sweet, so it's really perfect on it's own, without the frosting.

On the other hand, if you are going to frost it, it really is super sweet.  I would seriously recommend reducing that sugar considerably.  Either way, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.  

Life, Death, George Washington and Elvis, And My Eldest Son

   Today we learned that one of our neighbors passed away last night.  It wasn’t one of the many we know well, but we have seen her puttering around her front yard, and she enjoyed the kids coming around decked out for Halloween every year.  I’m told, though, that she was very ill and lonely. 

   Eldest Son, however, has started to notice a lot of death recently.  As he plays a lot with the lady (I’ll call her Mrs. K)’s next door neighbor kids, he’s met Mrs. K and knew her a little bit.  So I was cautious in approaching the whole thing, and we sat down to talk. 

   The kids he plays with are very religious.  Not in a particular faith I’d follow either.  However, it’s been a very interesting open door for us to hold such conversations with him.  He insists on saying grace at dinner, and prays for us when we’re ill.  I’ve found that while I don’t agree with all they teach him, there is quite a bit that is very basic, and that he’s been asking for since he was an itty bitty.  Today, while talking to him about Mrs. K’s passing, his little belief system came to surface again in such sweet ways.

   See, when his little friend at school passed, he was unable, until Relay, to do much to make his heart feel better about it.  As soon as I got the call that Mrs. K had left us, I knew what to do.  I explained that the neighbor we’d seen the ambulance take away (a week ago to the day) had passed on… that she had been very sick, and very lonely, and that I know it sounded strange, but that it was likely for the best for her.  He was quiet, so I told him that we could go get some flowers and put them at her doorstep so when her family comes by to tend to the house, they can see that someone cared.  That got a smile.  Then he piped up with, “Besides, now she can say hi to God!  And she’s probably meeting some very interesting people, like George Washington and Elvis!” 

We talked a little about how people die all the time, and that it’s part of life.  We touched on the fact that Daddy and I plan on sticking around for a long time, but that things do happen, and we would rather he not mope around too long, but to get out and live his life, and celebrate ours.  He smiled again, real big, and said, “Mom, I don’t want it to be any time soon, but if for some reason you do die, please make sure you say hi to Grandma for me.  Tell her I miss her and I love her.”

Its weird how grown up that little crazy wild child is.  He’s always been an old soul, and sometimes it catches me off guard.  But what a heart that kid has.

A Simple And Delicious Way To Kill Some Time

   Thanks to Jeremy and Leon, I was inspired for a little project… making our own butter.  It’s as simple as a little heavy whipping cream and a jar.  You fill the jar ½ to 2/3 full, seal it, and shake like mad for a while.  After a while it stops sloshing…. Keep shaking.  Eventually you get a ball of soft butter in a pool of buttermilk.  Drain off the butter milk, and basically you have butter.  (Seriously, this is the point where we tasted it, and it was NOTHING like the store bought.  SOOOOOOOO good.)

   So we all took our turns shaking.  It was primarily the Eldest Son’s job, but each of us got several tries.  The kids were so cute finding creative ways to keep that jar shaking.  Plus, with the littlest ones struggling to learn to share and take turns, this was great practice. 

   When the butter ball was finally formed, I took out the sealing lid and replaced it with cheese cloth, and screwed the lid rim back on.  (You know, those two part canning lids?)  Then I simply let it drain for a while as I put some ice in a metal bowl.  When I got as much of the butter milk out as I could, I plopped the butter ball into the bowl with the ice, and used a plastic spoon to smoosh and smoosh.  While the ice helps firm up the butter, the melting water helps remove the last of the buttermilk.  (Buttermilk left in the butter makes the butter spoil faster.)  As the butter released less and less water, I added chopped garlic, removed the ice, and packaged it all up for the fridge. 

   This so sounds like a ton of work, but it really isn’t.  And it’s soooo worth it!  Tonight, we’ll be slicing open sandwich rolls, and using the butter to griddle the insides nice and toasty… to serve pulled pork on.  Yeah, this ought to be super good.

How Difficult Is A Freaking Allowance?

   So Eldest Son has his first allowance and even a bank account to put that money in to.  I never thought something so simple as an allowance and teaching a kid savings would be so difficult, but suddenly I was swamped with things such as, “How much should I pay the kid?  How much work should he be required to do?  Should I just let him freely spend it?  Should I have him put it in a piggy bank or in a real bank?  If a real bank, which one?  How can I teach him to not spend his money as fast as it comes in?”  Good Grief!  That’s a lot of responsibility just to give a kid an allowance!

   My folks tried many forms of allowance.  I remember getting dollar amounts every week, I still have no idea how they came to the numbers they got.  I know that I wasn’t always good at minding my responsibilities, and my folks didn’t always remember to have cash handy come pay day.  Eventually, and it wouldn’t take long, the allowance would be forgotten again.  I think my favorite attempt was at a system where my brother and I each had a jar.  For each chore we did, we’d get a slip of paper to put in the jar, with an amount written on it, such as 50 cents, 25 cents, 1 dollar.  The idea was to save up these little slips until they amounted to enough to buy something.  I think we’d worked each of us up to like $100 and mostly by way of fighting with Mom and Dad until they’d write the stupid paper, not so much actually doing the job.  Yeah, they never paid that one out. 

   Thankfully, my Eldest Son has a more mature mind than I do.  He’s very happy to help out, and very handy to hold us accountable for our part of it.  He’s seven.  His chore list isn’t large.  Keeping his room clean is difficult even for the adults, because there are two kids living in there and no freaking storage.  But he is required to make his bed every day, and it is a top bunk.  He’s learning how to load his own dishes in the dish washer.  He helps in the garden, and in the kitchen.  He helps with laundry and with his babies.  And, best of all, he goes out to the back yard to scoop the dog poop. 

   I determined I needed a number.  I needed something that wouldn’t make me go broke, and would be financially manageable.  I also realize that with time, he’s going to want to negotiate for raises.  And in my old feeble mind, I might just not be able to keep up with him and am likely to bargain myself into shelling out millions.  So I came up with the idea, 50 cents per year of age.  He’s 7, that  makes for $3.50 a week.  By the time he’s 17, that will be $8.50 a week.  Anything over that, he’s gonna need to get a job.  If I have pre set numbers, there is no negotiating with the feeble minded Mommy….

   There will be no paying half if he has a so-so week.  It’s all or nothing. 

   He has several accounts for his future nest building.  If I was to go with a bank account, I wanted a totally separate one that he can just use for his own spending and saving, nothing to do with his nest egg.  We tried to just let him keep his money in his wallet, but then when we wanted to use some, we’d have to divide off what he wasn’t going to use and put it in his dresser drawer so it wouldn’t go missing.  Then we’d forget it was there entirely, and think it was lost.  Cause for plenty of heartbreak when the kiddo would want to spend on something but suddenly couldn’t.  And what is he learning from that?  Not much.  So I figure with a bank account, he can learn depositing, withdrawing, and assorted responsibilities associated with such, and as an added bonus, his money would be safe. 

   Now the question was, which bank.  Nice thing is, for minors, there are nice laws and policies that pretty much level the field.  Accounts are free, taxes are easy, and all is good.  So what had potential to be the most difficult of these decisions was limited to simply convenience.  Navy Federal is too far away to need to make a weekly deposit, or even an every other week deposit, and small withdrawls for a kid to shop.  I have an account at Wells Fargo that I use for the mortgage.  There is a local branch, so that’s where we headed.  It’s super easy to set up an account when the adult already has one there. 

    So then it was the fun part of taking the kid to go get his account.  He was so cute, very worried about what happens to his money if the bank was to get robbed.  We met with Mrs. Sarah who helped us through the whole process and made him feel much better.  She got him hooked, and he so happily filled out his own first deposit slip.  We went over to my favorite teller, and he was so proud to hand him the slip and his 20 dollars.  He has his own book to track his funds, and now brags to everyone that he has a bank account.

   Now the next step.  I don’t want him to pick a shopping goal, save up just that much, and have all his money gone, so I decided he needs to save 150% of whatever the cost.  SO, if he wants something that costs $20, he needs to save $30.  And some of his remaining will be required to go to charity of his choice.  Even if it’s just a dollar, it’s an important lesson, I think.  He’s picked out a Nerf type gun he wants to save up for.  I’m going to put a picture on his calendar of it, to remind him what he’s saving for and about when he should be able to buy it. 

The Princess writes her own schedule, apparently.

   So I’ve been seeing signs from the twins, especially the Princess, that they are ready for potty training.  They both make it through the night, most nights, with a fairly dry diaper.  They both seem to recognize when they are pooping now.  They both go longer with dry diapers.  The Princess, in particular, is getting to where she tries to tell us she’s going potty, or “icky”. 

   My thought process was to wait until the summer, so I have the time and energy, and focus on their potty training.  This morning, CJ was making poopy faces, and getting quite angry.  I asked her if she was pooping, she says, “Yeah.  Icky.  Ew!”  Okay, so usually that means to let her do her thing, and then change her soon.  But she seemed to be fighting it, and was getting increasingly more upset.  Then she chilled out.  I figured she was done, so I went to change her… and nothing was in the diaper.  So I went to put her diaper and pants back on.  BOY WAS SHE PISSSSSED!!!!  

   I let her stand up, thinking I’ll soothe her tears before trying again to put her diaper on.  She made a break for the baby gate at the hall.  I opened the baby gate, and she got herself to the toilet.  I put the potty seat there, and she proceeded to do her business on the potty.  When she was done, she finally let me redress her.

   So much for waiting until summer….

Easter 2011

   Today’s Easter, just in case you missed the memo.  We didn’t, we just got lazy.  Usually our Easter woks something like this:  The day before, we head out to a local church for their egg hunt.  The day of, we have Easter baskets, and the kids get hopped up on the sugar because I forget to pay attention to just how much candy the Easter Bunny purchased.  Then, that’s pretty much it.  Sometimes, I make a bit of ham.  Not often.  We just pretty much use it as a day to give the kids a little fun.

   This year was a tad different.  First of all, as I explained to Boo, the Easter Bunny, unlike Santa, doesn’t have a big storage/toy shop.  The Easter Bunny has the corner on the cheap toy market.  So, that being said, most of their little treats this year came from the WalMart cheap Easter Toy selection.  Amazing, they’re thrilled and all but one are still working.  LOL.  Sadly he bought the Bug a little remote control car and it didn’t work even as we first took it from the package.  But, as it was for the Bug, he couldn’t care less.  We just remove the controller and the wire… I think it cost like three bucks anyhow.  The twins both got a silly carrot golf club with a ball and golf hole.  The Princess got a little pretty little girl figure and some hair “pretties”.  Bug got the car and a little frog jumping game.  Both twins also got little Monchichi’s with cave person suits, and a single egg with M&Ms.  Boo got only three eggs with candy.  One M&Ms , one Pop Rocks, and one with Skittles.  Then he got a mini spirograph, a mini etch a sketch, a little cheap badmitton game (Just plastic raquets and silly birdies), two yo-yo’s, and a batman figure that he gave to Bug because he felt bad that Bug’s car didn’t work.  Did I mention I have the world’s greatest kids?

   But in our house, the Easter Bunny has a sense of humor.  Sticking out of Boo’s Easter basket was one of those bamboo back scratchers.  The deluxe model, with the little carved nubby massage wheels.  Not something you’d expect in a kid’s colorful basket.  He’s been obsessed with the one that sits on his Grandfather’s fireplace mantle ever since he was a tiny tot.  Every time we head over there, he just has to make a bee line to the back scratcher.  So while shopping for paper Easter Grass, the Bunny saw these scratchers on display.  Totally thinking it’d be about $5 or so, the Bunny Dude picked it up anyhow, knowing how loved this little stick of sillyness would be appreciated.  It rang up at 99 cents.  Sure enough, it’s the kid’s favorite part of his basket.

   So I was crawling out of bed, listening to Boo’s squeals of delight, when the phone rang.  I saw the neighbor’s name on the caller ID.  By neighbor, I mean the one who calls with her nut case complaints all the time.  I hollered out to Hubby, “Are you serious?  She’s calling to complain about what now?  It’s flippin’ Easter morning for crying out loud!”  I ate my words shortly.

   The neighbors set up an Easter Egg hunt all along the side of the house for Harlan.  Some had money (totaling 7 dollars for his 7 year birthday) and some with jelly beans (that he shared with the twins).  We told him that Mrs. M called to complain because as the Easter Bunny left, he left a mess all over outside, and that she wants us to clean it up, so he’s going to have to go outside.  LOL.  He was thrilled.  Good thing too, because we had forgotten to set the alarm yesterday morning, and missed his usual egg hunt.  It was really sweet and very special.  Boo called Mrs. M back to tell her, “Thank you for calling and telling us about the mess the Easter Bunny left.”  And she told him she loves him.  She’s nutty, and full of drama, but I have to hand it to her, she loves, and has always loved, that kid of mine.

  Oh, and then it was fun in the kitchen time for me.  I haven’t had much energy to go nuts in the kitchen, like I’m well known for.  But today I got inspired.   While out looking for the grass for the baskets, I saw crepes for sale, a package of 10 for $6!!!!  No flipping way.  So suddenly I decided breakfast for this morning would be a crepes selection.  Never made crepes before, but it didn’t look too tough.  For the kids, I filled them with strawberries, and some with strawberries and bananas, and topped them with some sweetened vanilla sour cream.  For the grown-ups, I sautéed up mushrooms, onions, garlic and ham as a filling and made an incredible white sauce with some zing.  The breakfast was a hit.

   Dinner we went back to the Bahamas with flavors, with a touch of Italy in there as well.  Sounds weird, but it worked well.  While on vacation I picked up a bottle of seasoning from the Bahamas.  It’s an interesting mix of salt, pepper, hot peppers, whole cloves, and gosh only knows what else.  I marinated some shrimp in fresh lime juice and the seasoning while I cooked up some coconut rice seasoned with cinnamon sticks, cardamom, lemon grass, and turmeric.  HELLO YUMMY!!!!  I also made (this is where the Italian part comes in.) stuffed mushrooms as a side dish.  Yeah, happy family.  LOL.

   Throughout the day I worked the home garden.  Okay, well, not outside, but indoors.  I’m happy to say the latest batch of garden babies are doing well.  Hopefully these ones will live.  This is my fourth replanting this year.  Mother nature really needs to make up her mind, dang it!  Several of the scout seeds I had to replant are doing well.  Some still aren’t, but THAT part was to be expected, some will do well, some won’t.  That was part of the experiment.  I replanted two 36  spot trays full of seedlings!  J  Maybe this year I’ll finally have some successful luffa?

   Watched some Disney movies, and now we’re just watching some tv and the twins playing, Hubby is enjoying a microbrew I found for him to try, and I’m realizing that I’m old… because I have to dilute my Kool-Aide now or it’s too damned sweet…

Boo's Birthday

   Yesterday was my eldest son’s birthday.  He turned 7.  Usually, we will throw a kids party for him and his friends, and then do another smaller dinner party with his Nana, Oompa, Uncle and Aunt.  This year, we couldn’t afford the kid’s party, so we chose to celebrate his birthday while on our family cruise.

   He’s been looking forward to the cruise ever since we first ran the idea past him, and it was a total hit.  He got to fly, he got to go to another state, a foreign country, sail on a ship, play on a water slide, and have a blast at Camp Carnival.  For his birthday, he got his family.  Not just us, but Aunts, Uncles, Great Grandmother, Cousins… and he’s still talking about them all and what fun he had.  He thought that was plenty enough, but the last day out, we surprised him with a cake at dinner.  The entire cruise, I’d been hearing people in the dining room sing happy birthday to their friends and family, but when Boo’s turn came around, it was LOUD in that place.  J  He was way overly thrilled.  My Uncle is a magician, and he brought out the tricks.  At first Boo didn’t look too excited at the result of the magic Uncle J, but I know now that it was because he was stumped.  LOL.  He’s still bragging how his Uncle is magic, and how he gave Boo a magic hat.  It has it’s own spot hanging up in his room, and he keeps trying to convince me to let him bring it to school to show off.

   His GG found a fantastic glow in the dark pirate shirt that the kid wouldn’t even take off if I didn’t force him in order to launder it.  All kinds of treats from the family.  (They only just met him and they’re already so good to him.  I knew they were pretty cool for a reason.  LOL)

   Anyhow, so now we’re home.  In two weeks, his siblings will turn two.  I focused so much on the cruise, and the up coming birthdays of the twins, I totally forgot to get him something for his birthday.  I thought I’d already done so.  Normally we spoil him with so many things, he gets tired of unwrapping them before he’s even done.   I felt terrible.  I spent yesterday running around like mad, hitting up the local specialty (read “expensive”) kids store for presents, the local Hallmark for cards, streamers, and a Happy Birthday Banner, and his favorite grocery store for a mini one-bite cupcake and a chocolate covered strawberry.  (He’s not huge on cake, but strawberries….) 

   I put up streamers all over the house and the banner on the garage door.  Put a red “H” candle in the cupcake and put it all on a red plate.  I wrapped the whole three presents I selected for him, thinking for sure he’d be disappointed.  As they were last minute gifts, I wasn’t sure any of them would be a hit either.  There is a learning how to navigate kit for kids, a worm farm kit, and a wooden bow and arrow kit with suction cup arrows so he has his big fancy one, and then just a toy one he can actually play with. 

   Hubby picked up Boo from school and gave him a ride home on his motorcycle, and he was immediately thrilled by the outdoor decorations.  Twinnies weren’t home yet, so we had a mini party before I had to run off to school, singing happy birthday over the mini cupcake, and opening presents.  Three presents to a little boy who is used to stacks, and he was overjoyed!  He fell in love with each and every item.  He and his Daddy get to do the navigation bit.  He and I will work the Worm Farm.  He already got to play with the bow and arrows, which seem to be sturdy enough to hold up to him for a while.  As Hubbs had to run off to pick up the twins, Boo dropped his presents on the ground to tearfully give me a hug, squealing that I’m “the best Mommy that I’ve ever seen in my whole life Mom!!!  Better than anybody else’s!”

   Yeah, I pretty much love that kid.  Oh, and that worm farm, I’ve checked it out, and I think y’all are going to be hearing more about it… ‘cause it’s pretty cool.

   He’d been telling me that it’s okay to share his birthday with his babies.  He didn’t expect much.  He wasn’t selfish, never whined that he didn’t get a kid’s party, none of the things I expect from a kid his age who’s used to being spoiled.  I’m just so proud.

Cub Scout Garden

  One of the many things I do, and love, is I’m an assistant leader for a Cub Scout den.  So the overall group of scouts is called a pack, and then they are subdivided into dens; Tigers, Wolves, Bears, and Weeblos.  Our den became very large, so we divided down into Den 1 and Den 2.  I help run Den 1.  My eldest son and three other boys make up the den. 

   One of the things I genuinely love about our den is that each boy presents their own difficulties.  My son has ADHD.  He’s sweet, but very, very impulsive.  We have one that is a maybe raised a little further on the side of defiant than I’d like to see, one with a few anger and attention issues, and one with a mix of all of the above.  But the thing about them is, they all have heart.  They are all very much sweet little boys.  I know people would disagree, but there are boys out there that are just plain mean and I can’t handle that.  I don’t know if it’s character or if it’s how they are raised, but I have met little children that seem deep down just evil.  These boys aren’t.  They are sweet, handsome kids that want to be their best. 

   So while some people may not take things like Scouting to heart, the Den Leader and I really do.  It’s as though we have a job, and the paycheck is watching our kids improve, and knowing that we are giving them every chance at greatness that we possibly can.  As parents we all have something to learn from each other, and our children learn from each other as well.  It’s an excellent dynamic.

   Okay, so I’m rambling… anyhow, if you can’t already tell, I love gardening.  I’m only just learning, but I really adore it.  There is just something about doing all the work, getting your hands in Mother Earth, taking pride in a little something, and feeling a little bit back to nature.

   Of the four boys in our den, three were in the same kindergarten class.  This class used to go every week to the local assisted living home to read to the residents.  Remember I said these kids have heart?  They had started to talk about how they missed the residents they used to read to.  My son stated that there was something they could still do for these lovely people they’d gotten to know.  And suddenly it hit me… how about we grow flowers for them?  We could hand make arrangements.  I could easily get vases and stuff to put flowers in at the thrift shop.   I also have a ton of left over seeds I was happy to donate to the boys if they wanted to.

   That last thought pushed me a touch further.  I also have a huge selection of veggie and fruit seeds.  When the den split, Den 1 chose to start our meetings an hour earlier, and we rotate meal responsibility or will pot luck, and we all sit around for the first hour getting settled down, enjoy a meal together, let the boys practice telling their stories of the week and taking their turns talking.  I realized that we could grow things to eat, and help the boys harvest their hard work and create meals around the produce they grow.

   As I thought even further, I realized there was just so much they could get out of this.  They have now an outdoor summer activity.  They get to take it, start to finish, seeds to table.  They carry reasonable responsibility over it.  They get to make choices, and they get to give back.  Oh, yeah, there is that part about giving back… they will donate extra produce to the local food banks.  That’s right, we have that too. 

   Here is where it gets really exciting.  It would seem the biggest challenge I had was to find a location for this garden.  I have plenty of room at my place, but nothing in the sunlight that wouldn’t already be in use.  There were several options, but none were quite perfect for the boys.  I remembered that there is a community garden, though.  So I went on a mission.  Sounds like hard work… yeah, I sent an e-mail.  The very nice lady who runs the garden tells me that the plots are all taken and there is a long waiting list.  And then this whole idea took on a life of its own.  Two of the larger plots are run specifically for the food banks.  The lovely lady forwarded my e-mail on to the lady who runs those plots.  She contacted me and told me they’d love our help.  It wouldn’t be growing their own, but it would be work, responsibility, outdoor time, and giving back to the community.  It was a great second place.  I ran it through the pack, who loved the idea.

   But then, yesterday morning I got an e-mail from the main garden lady, who says they’ve had a garden committee meeting over the weekend, and the committee and the city were so thrilled at the idea of helping out the boys, and so impressed that even though we didn’t get what we were looking for, but were still willing to help out, that they donated to us a flower bed that is about 30x3 feet as our very own scout garden.  I met with her yesterday to get the keys to the tools and the run down on how everything works.

   We didn’t even ask.  We were happy to sit on the waiting list.  But they really wanted to do something nice for the boys.  This plot is now big enough that the entire pack can join in and grow whatever they want.  There is a lot of work; the bed needs to be cleaned up and prepped for a real garden.  I think we’re up to it.  And we’re still helping the food bank plots, and a monthly work party.  How great is my town?!  They even provide tools, compost, mulch, Sluggo, they are providing for us some plastic weed barrier, and even digging the trench to put it in.  Heck, if somehow we had a lack of seeds, there’s even some in a drawer to get us started!  There are several gardeners, including a good amount of master gardeners, that are able and willing to help us out… it’s perfect!  Let the adventure begin….