A girl and her Garden

There are few places in my life where I feel organized and in control. The constant ebb and flow and ins and outs of life with two very active preschoolers and a dog who is acting more and more like a teenager every day - creates a state of constant chaos inside the house and often in the yard as well. 

There is, however, a space that is mine and mine alone (ok, maybe the squirrels can still get in). 

A green fence outlines the perimeter of my garden sanctuary - keeping children, chickens and the dog out. It's an invitation-only kind of place - as there is no gate and a child must be lifted over to enter into my space. Every morning before my children wake and before the sun blazes overhead - I wander out to the garden in my pajamas and work a little here and there - there is always something that needs to be done. 

I find satisfaction in the neat rows and grids in the different garden beds - five in all now. I find peace and harmony as I sow seeds, pull weeks and lovingly hand water each seedling and plant.

My garden doesn't talk back - tell me it's mad at me or that it wants candy for every meal of the day. 

In the time it is now - spring-almost-summer, the bugs are not waging war just yet and I can see the daily progress of my plants growth as the pea shoots are starting to grab the fencing and I'm hoping to see seedlings emerge around the teepee trellis I built.

One of the things I love about the garden is that it's mostly all my work. Mike helped me build three of the beds and fill them with soil - but since then it's been my work and one of my personal glories. 

Radishes, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, sage, peppermints, basils, tarragon, lettuces, spinach, bee balm, carrots, cabbage, onions, shallots, peas, potatoes, asparagus, fennel, and many types of flowers - all are found growing in my garden.

Pictures will come eventually - but it's better seen in person. 

Ten on Tuesday

I've recently reconnected with my past Speech and Debate Coach Elizabeth Dillow (from Great Falls High School). She keeps a pretty neat blog and one thing I really like about it is she does this list every Tuesday - called "Ten on Tuesday." She lists 10 things about the week, her family, etc - maybe includes a picture of her girls and posts it.

Many of my dedicated readers know that I've been struggling for the past year (ok 2) in my writing. Lots of excuses reasons that are really good bad mostly. So I'm adopting Elizabeth's 10 on Tuesday and making it my own to see if I can at least once a week post a list of 10 things going on in our life.

So here goes!


1. It's Spring Break for Maddie's preschool and we're trying to pack as much into our week as possible. Yesterday we knocked a bunch of stuff off our my to-do list. We paid our property taxes (OUCH!) and then had lunch at Hungry Howie's with my mom. We saw the chiropractor then came home so I could make dinner. I made some rocking shallot and rosemary focaccia with oven roasted sweet and white potatoes along with some country fried venison backstrap.

2. Wyatt is challenging me in ways that I don't think I experienced with Maddie. He has completely weaned (sob!) and since then has turned into a holy terror who tantrums, screams, yells at me and generally makes my days miserable off and on until he collapses in exhaustion. Everything is a battle suddenly and even the most simple thing is causing tantrums. He's challenging my gentle discipline philosophies like they've never been challenged before!

3. Mike and I harvested a truckload of FREE bamboo from my Felicia's backyard. This morning I built my first teepee trellis for beans this summer and I'm quite proud of myself! It's beautiful and everything was free or found growing in my backyard (saplings). I can't wait to see it covered with beautiful beans and peas  - maybe a cucumber too.

4. Fishing season is starting and it looks like I won't see much of my husband this summer. That's good and bad - good for extra money, but bad because it always puts a strain on family life when Daddy is gone so much. We're trying to squeeze in as much fun as a family on weekends and nights as we can before he's working every weekend.

5. Getting a dog was a mistake. Apollo is a nice dog, but he's still a puppy and obedience training only goes so far when you don't have time to enforce it every second of the day. He steals toys and food, still gets up on the counters at times and I just don't understand the need to sit in the backyard and bark for hours - you'd think he'd lose his voice!

6. Wyatt and I found a worm this morning and put him in a jar with some compost and fruit scraps. He's enjoying watching it tunnel around the glass jar.

7. My garden is starting to take shape! The peas are up a few inches tall now and the potatoes are peeking out of the soil. I have two asparagus spears up and can't wait until next year when I can actually harvest them! I should probably plant more soon. My tomato plants have flowers and i'm hoping to see some tomato seeds sprout soon (i had to start over). I have volunteer potato plants in the backyard where the old compost pile was and I'm excited to say there are some baby potatoes on them! I can't wait to have new potatoes!

8. For the first time in 5 years my bed is not on the floor. I'm sick of our bedroom being the family dumping grounds and this weekend we cleaned it out and made it look halfway nice.

9. I'm taking the kids to see How to Train Your Dragon this afternoon and I think I'm as excited to see it as they are.

10. I love the Spring. I actually like getting up early before the kids are up - sitting at the table drinking my tea or coffee and listening to the birds sing. I built that trellis this morning before Maddie was ever even awake! I dread the coming heat and humidity of summer. For now I love being able to leave the doors and windows open.

sunshine at last

I have to start by saying that this has been the coldest, wettest winter I've experienced in my 10 years on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Generally our winters are fairly mild with a few days below freezing. This year, however we've had weeks below freezing with a small break in the temperature only to return to below freezing yet again.

From a gardeners standpoint it's been incredibly depressing and from the standpoint of a mother with rambunctious children - it's been equally depressing!

So today with the sun shining fiercely and the temperature in the upper 60s if not lower 70s my young family and I ventured outside for some much needed vitamin D therapy!

We I started out the morning by weeding and de-rooting the front garden where we I intend to plant Maddie's birthday garden. As I turned the soil, incorporating the decaying mulch and the compost I purchased recently - visions of all the veggies I will add to her flower bed spurred me on. After about 2 hours of hard work the bed is just about ready to receive flowers and bulbs and some seeds as well.

While I labored in the dirt Maddie and Wyatt laid out blankets and towels in the yard and did some sunbathing. They played a few games and slowly the amount of "stuff" that accumulated became ridiculous!

The mailman was welcomed by Apollo who tried to sound impressive, but his wagging tail gave him away. Moments later the day's mail lay strewn across the yard and at one point when we were all taking a break a small whirling dirvish appeared and contributed to the craziness.

The sun felt so good - I think I had forgotten how nice it felt to be warmed by the sun!

As the weed pile grew and the flower bed looked nicer I noticed a discombobulated looking toad who I'd no doubt roused from hibernation in the dirt. She (he?) was promptly named princess and subjected to all the niceties due to princess toads. Maddie and Wyatt carried it around until I decided it was looking dehydrated and then they proceeded to submerge the poor thing in a bowl of freezing water. She woke up and hopped out of the bowl -only to be placed back into it time and time again. I finally declared that it was time for her to go back to the garden and buried her to save her!

It's been a nice morning - other than thinking a hawk had carried off cocoa (she eventually rematerialized from under the storage building).

I'm trying to start living more simply again - and focusing more on writing and loving on my kids. All the rest can wait -my kids need me more!

So hard to start again...

I feel like it's been weeks since I've written anything of substance in either of my blogs. I've been caught up in the self pity and frustration that came with my laptop's accident - it's incredibly difficult to type on a keyboard where the space bar sticks and every other key you hit doesn't work the first time. I've had to compose a certain rhythm to my typing - trying to remember which key I need to hit twice before the letter appears on the screen. For someone whose fingers fly at the speed of my thoughts - having a keyboard that isn't up to par is enfuriating.

And because I've not been writing I have guilt - guilt over not capturing the little moments that I want to remember - guilt that I'm not staying true to what brings me peace - guilt that I haven't even taken more than 2 pictures of my kids in the last 3 weeks!

All the guilt aside - we have been having fun just enjoying life. We're working on the backyard and have successfully constructed one of the 4x8 foot gardening containers - 2 more to go! I never thought I would find so much excitement in the prospect of dirt and seeds! Last night I stayed up until almost midnight pouring over the website at Rare Seedsdreaming of what my garden is going to produce this summer. So far I've decided on three different types of eggplant and 2 types of cucumbers and some zucchini and a summer squash called lemon squash.

I'll be trying my hand at exotic fruits like "Yellow Wonder Wild Strawberry" and "Giant Cape Gooseberry." I'm thrilled to plant the 5-color Silverbeet Swiss Chard that Barbara Kingsolver writes about in her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and am even going to try planting some "Marina de Chioggia" pumpkins which hail from Italy and are a prized winter squash for soups and roasting.

I've yet to pick out my tomatoes - the choices are just too many and I feel overwhelmed!

My gardening journal is started - with my seed choices and the year. I hope to add lots of notes to help expand my choices in 2010.

Maddie and Wyatt are growing up so quickly. It's been crazy to see and hear Wyatt's vocabulary and speaking explode over the last few weeks. Last night he called me back into his bedroom and talked for almost 5 minutes about the basketball that is stuck up in the rafters at church in the Community LIfe Center. He was so funny - very concerned about it and adamant that it needs to be fixed.

My little princess is almost 4 years old and I find myself constantly wondering where the time has gone. It's so hard for me to accept that she'll be starting VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten) next August and then ready for kindergarten in just about 18 months from now. I'm still trying to decide if she'll go to public school or if I'll try my hand at homeschooling. I am very interested in homeschooling but doubt my ability to stick to a routine or schedule. Lisa Ausley - our senior pastor's wife - keeps telling me that I will be a fabulous homeschool mom and that she has all this faith in me. I love that she's so encouraging... I just have to convince my husband that it will work out.

The busy season is about to start again and once again I find myself not ready for the time I'll be left to myself. Mike has a busy schedule already - which is a huge blessing in the light of our economy's current state. He's going to be gone half of March and there are several other week-long trips on his books.

I'm looking forward to taking my doula certification workshop and am excited to already have a client or two lined up. My goal is to finish my certification requirements before the end of this calendar year.

Whew - it feels better just writing all of that!

Sometimes the hardest part about writing is starting again. We writers tend to sit and obsess about all that we wanted to write - pictures we should have posted or taken, things we wanted to say, memories we wanted to remember - and suddenly weeks have passed and we've nothing to show for it other than a happy family.

The first words are hard - but it's best to start from where you are in this moment than to try and pick up where you left off.

A new year - new possibilities

It seems strange to me that it's already new year's eve. In reflection I don't know what to say about 2008.

There were some great things that happened and also some not so great things.

We are no closer to reconciliation in family matters than we were last year - perhaps even further away. Mike and I struggle with this on a daily basis - we want peace, but it hasn't come to us. Our marriage is stronger these days because of our unity on this issue - but the situational stresses are still hard on us.

Maddie is a precocious almost-4-year-old. She is polite and sweet but at the same time often spoiled and I'm very much ready for the dramatic whining and crying phase to go away forever. She's doing well in preschool and looking forward to next year. We're trying to decide if she'll go full-time or part-time next school year and I'm trying to come to grips with if I really want to homeschool as I'm hopelessly disorganized and have no routine bone in my body! I believe in homeschooling and I'm very wary of our public schools here. I want my children to learn for the sake of learning and not because they need to pass a test. I want to see the light of excitement for education that I had and still have. 

Wyatt - my little man - turns 2 on friday. I'm having a hard time coming to grips with this. He's my baby and still very much a baby in so many ways. I'm thankful that all my friends were right - boys love their mommas. Yesterday he came up to me and said, "Mommy, I love you." It was the first time he's said that - he's been saying I love you, too - for a while now. But this was unprompted and genuine. I love how he wraps his arms around my neck and lays his head on my shoulder and whispers - I hold you or I got you, or love you too. It warms my heart always. He's such a funny little guy - with an amazing sense of humor. I know every parents feels the same way - but he's got a special talent for funny I think. Even his little friend Nicklaus goes around telling people that Wyatt is a funny little guy! (Nicklaus is 3). 

This year will bring some change for me - I'm taking my Doula certification in February and already have a client or two lined up. I also have no choice but to finally face my fears when it comes to dental work (and the financial expense) and will have to make decisions about what I'm going to do to save my teeth (long story). I'm hoping that we will be able to travel some more this next year. I loved visiting Portland and want to take my family to Montana in the next 2 years. I miss the mountains and want my family to experience the splendor of God's beauty and grace. 

The question of whether we'll have another child is also weighing on my heart. I'm going to gather my medical records and send them to a local midwife to have her review them. I trust her opinion more than my own doctor at this point and her thoughts will have a big part in whether we add to our family. I have a lot of fears about another pregnancy - I've had such a hard time with both of mine. But I know that I can do things to help with some of the issues and prayer will help with the rest. Mike and I love being parents - we love our children and while we should be happy with the two we have - and we most definitely are - the subject of baby #3 keeps coming up. 

I'm not sure what the year will hold for Mike. They will continue to try and hold on to the clients they have and hopefully things with the economy will change and they'll be able to expand a bit. I know there are days ahead when I'll be on my own - which is the worst part of being a captain's wife. It's not that I don't like my time alone - I do. It's the no break with young kids that wears me down. 

This year I'm expanding our garden and hoping to use raised beds instead of planting in the ground. I think I'll do much better that way. I'd like to get to the point of growing at least half of what we consume and then trying to buy locally as much as possible. I'm also planning to get a few chickens for eggs this spring. 

I'm excited for what 2009 brings. My kids are getting older and less dependent on me for every little thing and that's exciting (and why I would want to have another baby and start over is still perplexing to me!).

I hope your new year brings you peace and love and happiness. 

December Photo Project- catch up! December 11-14, 2008

Well I've been taking pictures every day and even loading them into photobucket, but I just haven't had time to sit and write blogs for the last few days.

So I'm compiling my December 11-14th pictures into a larger post.

December 11-12, 2008

We had some rain over the weekend and I ventured out to my winter garden to see how it fared after the torrential downpours. The lettuce was a little beaten down, but it has since sprung back up and looks about ready to pick!



A neat effect on one of my broccoli plants - anxiously waiting for it to flower!


Some water beads on a broccoli leaf



My eternal green onion bucket - which I'm sad to say no longer looks this good as Maddie picked most of the longer stalks today while she was making soup! She also tormented my rosemary...


Snowflakes as the sun was setting - the only kind of snowflakes we'll get here in Florida!



December 12, 2008

Christmas Reflections at DeFuniak Springs-






December 13, 2008

Our 4th annual cookie exchange was a huge hit!



A rare picture of Mike and I together and dressed up to boot!



December 14, 2008

We went up to Crestview after church to have dinner with my grandmother. We took a few family pictures of the four of us...
Maddie sang at church in the morning - so did I - and we all dressed up in our Christmas best.


Wyatt in his suit






Mimi and Maddie:

Fall felicitations

I'm sitting here in the living room - feeling a little under the weather - my throat is sore. It's the kind of painful sore throat that drives you insane, too.

All the while my son is driving a helicopter on my foot - making appropriate noises.

Earlier this afternoon when he was still napping I was sitting in here checking my email - the back door was open because the weather is absolutely delicious today.

Into the room pranced our cat, Azzie - the great huntress. She carried a blue-tailed skink in her mouth. I tried to catch it when she dropped it and really should have let her catch it again. 

Needless to say the little lizard escaped and quickly ran under the couch - where he's still hiding.

So the joke will be on some poor unsuspecting person - when it decides to venture out and climb up someone's leg.

There's something about the cooler weather that motivates me - physically and emotionally. I love the fall - and can't wait for the holiday season to gear up.

We're making plans for a small, winter garden. I've purchased broccoli, kale and carrot seeds. I went out to my garden plot and turned most of the dirt over - getting it ready for the compost I've been working so hard on this year. I also added some organic plant food to encourage our yummy veggies to grow!

I'm so ready for the cooler weather to be here to stay - for the pumpkins to be here at the pumpkin patch - holiday craft bazaars, hot apple cider.

I'm full of anticipation!

random updates

The summer is winding down and while it seems I should feel relaxed in the dog days of summer - instead I feel crazy!

There is so much to do... 

This is what is going on in our life right now:

I am planning the annual Ladies Tea for the Women's Ministry at FUMC Niceville. We typically have anywhere from 120-150 women attend. I've hired the caterer, gathered door prizes and hostesses and am hoping the rest will fall into place...by God's grace no doubt!

My voice will be heard! I'm singing in the contemporary praise band at church - a lot! This Sunday, followed by all but 2 Sundays in August. I'll be a busy girl between practices on Tuesday nights and early rehearsals on Sunday morning.

Mike is fishing like a mad man and I'm not sure when we'll cross paths again other than to put my cold feet on him in bed at night.

Maddie starts preschool Aug. 19 and I have no clue what she needs or anything. Some communication would be appreciated. I hear there's a parent's night/open house soon...

My application to be come an accredited leader with La Leche League International has been submitted and I'm waiting for the process to start. 

I've had a few breastfeeding consults lately and this is great - I love helping mommies and babies.

Wyatt has a temper worse than Maddie has ever had!

We're on week 2 of Accountable Kids and I can't tell you how awesome it is!

I am tired, Mike is tired and the kids are mostly sleeping well so at least they're rested!

WOW- women of the word - starts up the last Thursday in August and I'm so ready to be back in a weekly bible study! I've missed the fellowship of all the women at my church. 

In september we're planning to attend the simulcast training for The Truth Project so we can lead a small group either at the church or in our home. IT was amazing and eye opening and incredible for gaining a biblical worldview. If you have access to this group - please consider attending. It will change your life. 

I'm making chicken and dumplings for dinner. :) YUM

I picked a red pepper, a yellow tomato and discovered a cantaloup growing that I had previously overlooked! It's the size of my fist!

Today is my sister's 25th birthday! Happy Birthday Natalie!

Mommy's Little Helper

Due to circumstances beyond my control - Wyatt took a very early nap today and hence the reason he was awake during my normally scheduled "quiet time."

I usually water my front flower garden during their naptime and took Wyatt out with me just now.

He was very interested in helping me - in fact - he insisted in bringing the flowers TO the water. That's right - as I was watering sections of the flower bed he would grab flowers by the handfuls and rip them from their stems and bring them to the water. He'd hold them under the water and look up me with a look of pride on his little face.

What's a few flowers sacrificed in the name of a sweet, little boy trying to help his mamma?