Happy Harvest!

I tried my hand at a REAL garden this year for the first time.  Definition of "REAL?" As in a rectangle-shaped one with multiple rows of plants.  

(Previously, I have planted 1-2 zucchini plants in a flower bed on the edge of our old yard - which I considered not a REAL garden.)

Ryan organized our family - for his Family Life merit badge - back during Spring Break to first, prepare a plot of land in our yard for a garden.  This took half a day, leveling, and getting out the rocks and weeds, and making a "box" around the outer edges with all the leftover boards that were still hanging around our property from the builders 8 months prior.  We really know how to "Live it Up" for Spring Break, don't we?!?  ;)  haha.  Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of that day.

Gradually, I planted the various vegetables & fruits (green onions, onions, tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkins, zucchini, and corn) over the next 6 weeks based on when the seed packet suggested.  (Again, I'm a rookie, so I wasn't ever sure I was doing things exactly right....and I might have been tardy on some of my planting times.)
I don't have any photos of the planting process, either.

And since we didn't have a landscaped yard in, yet, we also didn't have any sprinklers, but our kind back door neighbors (the experienced gardners) let us hook a hose up to their garden spout, so we could at least hand water it.

We divided the garden rows up between us, and each person was in charge of weeding their row.  Like Mom was corn, Dad was onions & tomatoes, Kyle was green onions, Katelyn was zucchini, etc.  Let's just say that some rows stayed better weeded than others!  (like the corn!)

I periodically took pictures through the rest of the season.

JUNE 

AUGUST

We picked our first batch of corn and had it for dinner one night!

(Katelyn's face doesn't look so sure!  :)  That's because OUR corn was not a "pretty" as the corn she was used to getting from the farmer's corn field that used to occupy the land where our home now sits.  Again, I'm a rookie.)

SEPTEMBER

I guess the seed packet was NOT kidding when it suggested putting 3-4 feet in between each row of the vine-like plants (canteloupe/watermelon/pumpkins)......well, I didn't have that kind of space, so I didn't.....and the vines all tangled together and cross-germinated, and produced hybrids, maybe?  Rookie mistake, right?!?

Watermelon

Zucchini

Usually people around here have zucchini growing out their ears, but I can count on my hands how many I got, so maybe I did something wrong?  (Again, I'm a rookie!)

Cantaloupe

Pumpkins

In the end, our onions, green onions, and tomatoes never did come up....they just disappeared into thin air!   (Rookie!) Our [experienced gardner] neighbors actually gave us an "extra" tomato plant she had in a pot and helped my girls plant it in our empty tomato row -- but I think it was a little too late in the season - we never got any ripe tomatoes before we lost our warm weather, they just progressed to the green tomato point....maybe I should just say that we were TRYING to grow green tomatoes - ya know, for Fried Green Tomatoes? - and then I won't look so non-professional!
We also transplanted Miss B's sunflower seed she had planted in a cup at preschool - it grew pretty good out there.

LATER

We picked and ate them!

Another sign of a rookie:

Here's the inside of a couple of our watermelons.....I THINK something is wrong!?!  (Rookie!)

OCTOBER

Our "pumpkin patch" experience was really slick this year.....

We just went out to our back yard and got 'em!

And we carved our very own hone-grown pumpkins into Jack-o-Lanterns with our friends/neighbors one evening.....they all got ripped off by the pumpkin patch prices!  SUCKERS!  ;)

But, as beginner's luck would have it.....there were a couple of our pumpkins in the garden that never did turn ORANGE.....they were STILL green towards the middle of October.  (Again, rookie?)

So, instead, with some Pinspiration, I gave them a little "face lift" - just painted them up, so NO ONE would ever know!

{Except all who read this!}

NOVEMBER

And we displayed them on our porch with some of the pulled-up corn stalks from our garden, too!

 Then we yanked everything all out = end of the season.

Due to the way our landscaping [surprisingly and contrary to our plans] turned out, we're doubling the size of our garden next year!

Is that good or bad?!!?

{We'll hopefully get better at this.}

Anti-Girly Girl

I was SOOOO excited to finally get my first girl when Haylee was born 11 1/2 years ago.  There was WAY TOO MUCH testosterone floating around our home and I was the lone female in the middle of it up until  that time.

Yes.  She is a girl.  As in female.  But, by NO MEANS is she "girly."  In fact, she is turned off by all girlyness.

(although, like all three of my daughters, she DID go through a "dresses only" wearing stage around age 3.)

She still can not believe she wore them.

But I've got proof!  ;)

But that was THEN, this is NOW:

She STILL has never worn the pink jeans I gave her as a Christmas gift last year.

She NEVER wants to get her ears pierced.

She hopes she remains relatively {ahem} "flat."

I know she is like this.  But this latest thing she did really left me shaking my head, dumbfounded.

One thing she for sure is decided about is that she doesn't like to wear make up!  In fact, she has REFUSED - even for her dance recitals when it was strongly recommended by her teacher.

Case in point:

 And this was taken in the darkened auditorium....BUT the stage lights really wash the color out of their faces even more.

Here's one where you can see the comparison to her sister, who is 2 1/2 years younger, and is pleased to wear it, but not Haylee.

But that was like 4 years ago - she quit dance, too - it wasn't worth the fight.....AGAIN, it was too "girly".....she had to wear tights and stuff!!

So, most recently.....like yesterday, Haylee had decided she wanted to dress up like a "Hobo" for Halloween.  She was asking me what we would need to pull this costume together.  I told her we could put brown make up on her face to make her look dirty.

"WHAT?!?" she shrieked.

"Yeah, they have dirty faces.  It's just dressing up - a disguise - it's not who you REALLY are."  I tried to reason.  (Tried being the operative word there.)

"NO WAY!!" she protested.

"Then you won't even look like a Hobo," I informed her.

"Why can't I just put REAL dirt on my face?" she challenged back.

{huh?}  Me, silent, mouth open, trying to make sense of that.

"I can get some dirt right in our back yard!" she pleaded her case.

"So, you would rather rub your face in DIRT than wear make up?" I inquired.

"HECK YEAH!" she grinned.

{WHATEVER!!!}

So, that's exactly what she did.  She went and got dirt out of our still-flowerless-flower beds and applied it onto her face!

Complete with a little {real} dirt clod stuck to the side of her nose there.

AND....she just didn't "quite feel like" changing back into her regular clothes after the Halloween parade that she had taken to school .....so she just spent the rest of the school day in her very holey hobo jeans!!

I guess the "suitable" jeans she had packed were too "girly" after she got a taste of the grungy...?!?

Cougar Town OR Things I've Heard on the Job: #8

During one of my travels, I meandered into a cute little gift shop/boutique that had SO MANY signs with really clever/inspirational/delightful/relateable sayings on them.  I found numerous that tickled my fancy - that described me - and that I wanted to buy for myself.  Except I didn't, because then it would overpower everything else in my home.

One of my favorites was this one:

Because as you know (or don't know?) I am older than my husband!

By how much?  Well, that's debatable.

He says 8 months.

I say 9 months.

You decide.  

I was born Sept. 14th of one year, and he was born June 8th of the following year.

9 MONTHS.  No?

ANYWAY.  Our kids have a hay day with it....whenever we do things in "age order" there is always a big "discussion" whether Matt or I should go first.  The kids want to be all technical about it, Matt just thinks he should go first because.....he's the dad!  :)

But, the whole thing that got me thinking of "Cougars" again was a call I had recently while "On the phones @ jetBlue."

I was assisting an older couple (I know because they have to give my their DOB) from Southern California who were both on the phone with me while booking their flight reservations.  I'm not sure if they were married or not because they had different last names, but they were traveling together.  (If not, Friends?  Lovers?  Brother/Sister?)

She was a 76 yr. old woman named, Helga.

Me:  "Where on the plane would you like to sit?"

Helga:  "Make sure to seat me by a nice, YOUNG man.  And seat a good-looking one in front of me...and behind me, too.  A YOUNG one.  Ya got that?"

Me:  [giggle]

Him:  "You gotta watch out for these "Newport Cougars!"

Me:  [chuckle]

Helga:  "Hey, I'm a German Cougar!"

Me:  "Let's hope for the best."  ;)

(If she IS his wife/girlfriend, he was pretty liberal, accepting her extra-curricular relationship explorations, and all!)  ;)

Excuse Me While I Have a Little Freak Out

Guess where I went last night?

I still can't believe it myself.

I went to the Utah State University open house with my oldest to get some famous Aggie Ice Cream find out all about them, enter to win prizes..... 

AND TO APPLY FOR COLLEGE!

(But I DID enjoy me some Aggie ice cream, too.  

Sadly, the Aggie Blue Mint was all gone by the time we got there, though!)

AM I OLD ENOUGH to be sending my own offspring away to college?!?

Wasn't I just there myself?

 Along with my husband, too?

Didn't I just give birth to him?

 

Weren't we just spending our days on the couch in our apartment doing this?

 

Wait a minute!  He just started Kindergarten, didn't he?

And his Baptism was just the other day.

Didn't he just barely become a teenager?

Well, the fact that he went to the Homecoming Dance last Saturday,

most likely makes the answers to all those questions - a "NO!!"

But, I STILL can't believe it!  Only OLD people have college students, don't they?  I am a tad bit freaked out by this thought!!  It's already time to start making plans for his bedroom?  Hmmmm......A ladies workout room?  A music room?  A napping room?  A library?

There was one thing, a rude awakening,  that has really let us know that the years really HAVE  past by and things have changed.......back in my husband's day, he got the Presidential Scholarship (4 years tuition & fees all paid) at USU.  TODAY, with his same scores (GPA and ACT), he wouldn't even qualify!!  In fact, he would only be awarded the very lowest level of scholarship they give out for academics.  One that wouldn't even cover one semester!  You practically have to be perfect for the big scholarships these days.  

Otherwise, kids, get ready to pay out the BIG BUCKS!

Now Ryan's wishing he fought off his "brain-dead-teenage-boy-season-of-life" with MORE of a vengeance. 

All is not lost.  There are other scholarships he can go for - totally depending on how much work HE is willing to put in to applying/making a portfolio, etc.

He's still hangin' in there in his attempt to get the Regents Scholarship by taking AP Statistics, AP US Government, Biology, and Spanish 2 his Senior year (which aren't even required to graduate, but are required for this scholarship) instead of underwater basket weaving (or any frivolous classes) that his peers, who aren't trying for scholarships, get to take.

But, fortunately for him, because his AWESOME PARENTS are Utah State University ALUMNI, he can qualify for a small scholarship to attend there.

AND, there is even another [small] scholarship for VHS students who are children of Viewmont H.S. alumni!

Who knew there was actually a PRO to having a child of mine go to "Pee-yew"mont?!?  ;)

(my High School rival)

Having Fun Isn't Hard....When You've Got a Library Card

 {Name that PBS TV show}

(Arthur)

(So. Good.)

But, I digress.

But, I am pretty well-known at the library - like they see me walk in and they turn and get my books off the "holds" shelf before I even arrive at the check out counter, without me even giving them my library card!

But, back to what I've REALLY been thinking about......

WHY IS IT that I read three (3) - YES THREE - books on my week long vacation last month.........

..........and I haven't even been able to finish a single one during the several weeks since I've been home?

This is the book I've been on the whole time.  It's not even a difficult, frustrating, deep book.  

(I prefer the "easy reads")

It's a story about a girl who goes on a trip to England to explore the areas

where her recently deceased mom's favorite authors lived.

Like Jane Austen and the author of Frankenstein.

(Turns out, the girl's named after these female authors)

I haven't ever read any of those authors' works.

Who has?

{Wait...everyone BUT me?!?  Haha.}

See, what I mean - I don't want to THINK too hard when I read, just be entertained.

It's not even that thick - LOOK!

But, I've only gotten as far as pg. 119.

119 pages in 24 days.

Wow.  Impressive. (not!)  That's like 5 pgs. a day!

Do I need a new book?

A new life...that let's me read?

A hard, straight chair that won't let me fall asleep while reading?

FYI:

The Three books I read on vacation were:

Not My Type

Twitterpated

Montana Summer

{See, pretty much no brainer, "fluff", escape books}

It Once Was Lost, But Now Is Found

Back on August 30th, Kyle went to a ReAL Salt Lake soccer game with Matt.  RIGHT BEFORE they were about to back out of the garage, Kyle made a last minute decision NOT to take his iPod with him to the game.  So, he ran back into the house, and put it........somewhere.
That somewhere has been a mystery ever since.
He absolutely cannot remember where he put it down.
I've tried to mentally and physically walk him through that evening of the soccer game, and there's just NO RECALL.

So, if you can't recollect, you just have to start looking and looking, and searching and searching - EVERYWHERE.
He looked in his bedroom - through every drawer, on every shelf in his closet, and under his bed.
He looked through his locker in the mudroom - and then everyone else's, too.  (Much to his sisters' dismay.)
He looked between and under all the couch cushions.
He looked through all his pants pockets - and through all his dad's pants pockets.
We figured it got mixed up in the play room somehow, and then thrown in one of our many toy buckets when someone was cleaning up - so he started going through every toy bin and drawer - NO LUCK.
He looked all through the garage just in case he never really made it into the house all the way and set it down out there instead.
HECK, I even had him look in the spice cupboard.....because once, when I was first married, I could not find my keys for hours (I was stuck at my parents' and couldn't go home that night).  And THEN I found them in their spice cupboard the next morning!  But, unfortunately, this time his iPod was not amongst our nutmeg and garlic powder.

{sigh}

This was REALLY BAD timing for him to lose his iPod, because, lately, he and I have been trying to give a "sales pitch" to his dad about how Kyle should get his own cell phone now.  Matt has been dragging his feet because he hasn't been sure if he is ready/mature/responsible enough for that yet.  Losing this was a humongous "Case in Point" that was NOT in his favor!  ;)

He had started to face the cold, harsh reality that maybe it was gone for good (accidentally thrown in the garbage can?)

THEN, today (29 days AFTER it went missing), I got out one of my cookbooks to make some rolls for Sunday dinner.  I was flipping through the pages to find the recipe, and I come upon THIS:

THERE WAS KYLE'S iPOD RIGHT INSIDE THE COOKBOOK!!!

I started chanting/screaming, "Oh My Word!  Oh My Word!"

Matt thought something was terribly wrong with me, and came over to investigate......and TA DA there it was!

Now I remember, I was making Stir-Fried Rice for dinner that [Aug. 30th] night and I had the cookbook open to that recipe on the counter beside my stovetop.

Kyle must've come into the house, after deciding he did not want to take his iPod to the soccer game, and just set it on the nearest counter top - which happened to have an open cookbook on it. (He obviously didn't even notice.)  And THEN whoever cleaned up and put away the cookbook later on, just shut it not paying attention, iPod in there and all, and put it back on the cookbook shelf.  Not to be disturbed again until Sunday.

WHO WOULD'VE GUESSED?!?

Kyle was out doing fast offerings at the time, so he wasn't even home for the discovery, but I made him watch me flip through the pages of the cookbook when he returned (he thought I was odd, but what else is new?) and THEN when I came to the Stir-Fried Rice page, HE COULDN'T BELIEVE HIS EYES!  (He was so glad!)  But, it was deader than a doorknob, and he couldn't use it until charging it for a while anyway.

So, the moral of the story:  If you've ever lost something, in addition to looking in the spice cupboard, it might be good to also check out your cookbooks!  ;)

And the verdict is still out as to whether Matt will agree to letting Kyle have a cell phone!

Even At My Age...

I STILL don't understand teenage boys!

I sure didn't when I was a teenager, myself, but I thought it might come as I "matured."

Nope.

CASE IN POINT:

Just yesterday, Ryan wanted to go to the High School girls' soccer game, but I told him he had to fold the newspapers (from the boys' paper route) FIRST.

Well.....he'd kind of already made the plans, including getting a ride, BEFORE he had asked permission from me.

So, his ride was already on his way at this point, estimated to be at our home in 2 minutes by the time he'd asked if he could go....but I still told him he had to do his job first.

Pretty soon, we hear a honk out in front of our house, signaling his ride is here, BUT he's not done with his little "job" so he can't leave, yet.

So, you know what he does?  

He tells Miss B (his 5 yr old little sister) to go out there and tell his friend he is "on the potty."

{But, of course, she is too embarrassed and won't do it}

I told him to just text his friend that he has to do a job and then he'll be out shortly.

He says, "No."

After making his friend wait a while longer, his friend calls to see where the heck he is....

And Ryan, instead of taking my advise on what to say, tells him, "Just a sec, I'm just finishing up some business in the bathroom, OK?"

Now WHY IN THE WORLD would you (anyone?) rather want your peeps to know, or think....or get the visual of you pooping on the toilet, and taking a long time doing it, instead of them just knowing what you are REALLY doing (a household chore)?

Seriously.

I'm just left shaking my head.  I can't make any sense out of it.

********

And you can probably only imagine where I got with my only-kiss-a-girl-if-it-means-something-not-just-for-fun lecture discussion I tried to have with him recently, too.  I vowed to teach my sons this concept, but he couldn't comprehend the logic in it.

Third Time's the Charm

Matt & I FINALLY made it on our "real" vacation this year....on our 3rd try.
{definition of "real" = not work related, no kids, no cell phone/connectivity, no rigid schedule, no cooking/cleaning and includes sleep, relaxing, lounging, reading, leisure, recuperating, clothing optional (did I say that?), play, laughing, massage, walks on the beach, and service with a smile.} 

After our failed attempt in February.

And after our forced cancellation in April due to a debilitating injury Matt had.

ALTHOUGH, it almost looked like we wouldn't make it on THIS vacation either, when at 3:40 p.m. on the day we were supposed to fly out, (we planned to leave at 9:25 p.m.) we got a phone call from our babysitter having to cancel!
A HUGE THANKS to Mike and Mandy and Dean and Jennifer who all insisted we couldn't cancel our vacation - it was our 19th Anniversary, after all, AND I had chopped 15 inches off my hair in anticipation of Cancun's humidity - so we pieced enough coverage together between them all to still be able to go at the last minute.

Here's the Photo Story of Cancun 2013:

We kept seeing a lot of the same people throughout our stay....and me, always the people watcher, took notice of them.  Matt did too, and we started to name them, and then when we'd see someone, we'd inform the other, "There's cardinal lady" or whatever...

We shared our vacation with:

"My brother, Mike"
"My sister, Beeb"
"Catherine Zeta-Jones"
"Sleepy guy at the bar"
"The decoy couple"
"Red bikini flasher"
"Medusa man"
"The Illinois groupies"
"The bingo girl"
"Tall, skinny couple"
"The shuttle peeps"
"All the single ladies"
"Jennifer Gee" (a girl I went to Elementary & Jr. High with who now happens to be my sister in law's sister in law!)
"Shauna Bushey" (someone from Farmington)
"Twice his wife's age guy"
"The teenagers" (it was an adults only resort, how did they get in?!?)
"The Odd couple"
"The pink shirt guy's wife"
"70's feathered hair"
"The reverse polygamist"

What "characters" they were!

Now, I wonder?  Did others "name" Matt & I, as well, unbeknownst to us?  Nicholas Cage and Bonnie Hunt perhaps?  ;)

{circa 2007.  Matt was asked to play Nicholas Cage in a "Hollywood Squares" game/adult party we had at our church.}

Four Words Can Change Your Life

Several months back, after an annual exam, the Dr. ordered Haylee to have a "Bone Age Test" due to her VERY small size (height AND width) for her age.  Those results came back with the data that she is the size of an 8 year, 10 month old.....

EXCEPT IN TRUE LIFE, SHE IS 11 YEARS OLD.

So, that led to some blood work.  Some of the "conditions" they tested for came back positive.

So, that led us to Same Day Surgery at Primary Children's Hospital for an Esophagogastroduodenoscopy with biopsies.
(Try to say THAT three times!  Heck!  Try to even get through it one time!)

It is confirmed, I was told....

"She Has Celiac Disease." 

So, that led us to meeting with a dietician.

We were told this means a gluten-free diet for life.

"Good News!" the G.I. doctor told me, "She can eat ALL the meat, eggs, fruits, and vegetables SHE WANTS!"

Obviously, the doctor does not know my daughter.  Because what that means is that she will be eating exactly NOTHING!!!  She doesn't WANT to have anything to do with that list of foods she just rambled off in the name of "good news."

We've often referred to Haylee's diet as an "ALL CARB DIET."
I have made mentioned of it before on this blog o' mine:
Seven Is Heaven 
(I listed her 7 favorite foods back then.  Now:  Oreos - OUT, Ramen Noodles - OUT, rolls - OUT, Cookies 'n' Cream ice cream - OUT, Nacho Cheese Doritos - OUT, French Toast - OUT)
Some Sad News
(What are we going to do about one of her favorite restaurants? - they are famous for their ENORMOUS Cinnamon Rolls and Scones!)

Are You Sure We Share the Same Genetics?
(Explaining her "all carb diet")

This diagnosis explains WHY she is such a "pip squeak"......her body absorbs NO nutrients.
(not that there's that many nutrients in rolls and scones and rolls and bread and rolls and cookies and rolls and doughnuts, but still.....a normal person would be a big FATTY from eating those things!)

So, she can't eat what she likes.
And she won't/doesn't dare eat what she can.

So, I don't know what to do.

This changes everything.....and I don't like it!

And now they want all her first degree relatives (Me, Matt, and the rest of my children) to get tested because it's highly genetic - 20% chance that one/some of us have it, too vs. the 1% of the general population.

NO ONE wants to go be tested.  How long can we put this off?!?

YES.  It's because WE CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!