Joy of Gardening & Sunshine

I love to weed.  I love how it creates order and makes everything look so clean outside.  Our new yard is a bit of a mental challenge to me.  The previous owners just planted everything at random, or so it seems to me.  There are way too many types of plants in each flower bed and it looks so chaotic - things planted too close together, no "pattern" to the planting, and too many types of ground cover in the same flower beds.  But none the less, I find joy in weeding and look forward to eventually getting the flower beds to look like I think they should look.

I also enjoy gardening.  I've only done a NW garden a few times, and am slowly figuring out what works and doesn't work.  2 years ago we bought large tomato starts and we got quite a few tomates - a few red ones, but a lot of green.  Last year, we bought smaller tomato starts and we ended up with no red tomatoes and a ton of green tomatoes.  This year, we planted our tomatoes from seed, and have been growing them inside until it's warm enough to put them outside.  They are growing so well in our garden window, I'm not sure we're going to have space for them inside by the time it's warm enough to put them outside.  We'll wait and see how much the wildlife is going to eat.

Amelia loves flowers and has loved picking flowers in our yard and when we go on walks (I only let her pick dandelions and other weeds in other people's yard).  Saturday Amelia proudly showed me a bucket full of flowers that she had picked in our yard.  When I went to check on the strawberries, I sadly noticed that the blossoms were missing.  When I asked Amelia if she had picked the blossoms, she said yes.  When I explained that that meant no strawberries, she dug through her flowers in her bucket until she found the strawberry blossoms, and put them back in with the strawberries.  I had to explain that that wasn't how it worked and advised her not to pick any more blossoms if she wanted strawberries (which she loves).

On one of the first sunny and warm days that we had, the girls wanted to have their snack as a picnic outside.  And now Amelia wants to eat outside whenever she sees a picnic table.

Solutions and Bike Rides

Amelia has had a stuffy nose/congestion since her cold in February, and has snored for a long time now.  I took her to her regular Dr. a few weeks ago, who suggested that she probably had allergies, but also suggested we take her into an Ear Nose Throat (ENT) specialist.  We decided to hold off on the allergy specialist for a bit, but took her to the ENT yesterday.  He concurred that Amelia definitely has allergies, but also prevalent is large adenoids and tonsils, plus adenoid-itis (similar to sinusitis . . . but apparently young children can't get sinusitis because they don't really have sinuses yet).  So the first solution is to give Amelia antibiotics 2 times a day for 20 days to get rid of the adenoid-itis, then probably remove tonsils and adenoids within the next year or so.  The first dose of taking the antibiotic went down smoothly, but the following doses have been forced down . . . even with a "spoonful of sugar" promised afterwards.  It's going to be a LONG 20 days.  Today Amelia picked out special treats at the store to take after her medicine, but I suspect it's still not going to be pretty.

On a happier note, Amelia surprised us by riding the big girl bike all by herself.  She was mad that Sophia was on the tricycle, so Ken suggested she get on the bike - which she's never really wanted to get on.  And then she proceeded to ride by herself.  Amazing!

Sophia had fun riding on the tricycle (with Daddy's help), and at the rate she's growing, it won't be long before she's able to pedal it all by herself.

You go girls!

Random Updates

Today was such a better day than yesterday.  I did 3 loads of laundry, emptied the dishwasher, fixed a crockpot dinner, cleaned 3 bathrooms, got a nap, went on a walk with girls, and played without tantrums!  The only thing that would make this day better would be to end it with more ice cream, but alas, the ice cream cake is all gone.

And speaking of cake, I regularly read The Cake Wrecks Blog and laugh at misspellings and other cake decoration blunders.  I thought of them as I picked up Ken's birthday cake.  It was a small cake (since we had already celebrated with gourmet cupcakes), and I told them that if there wasn't room to write "Happy Birthday Ken", that they could leave it off.  But I guess they were determined to try anyway.  It's the thought that counts, right?

For some reason, the girls like to sit on the kitchen floor when eating snacks.  I really don't mind, since it makes clean up super easy.

We went to Portland last weekend, and among other things, enjoyed a visit with Ken's Dad and Mom.  Amelia loves her "Grandpa Ernie".

Sophia wasn't so sure.  Some times she let him hold her, and other times no.

Sophia loves to climb.  She climbs up chairs, onto our bathroom counter top, and today I found her here.  I guess Sophia wanted more snacks.

Today's Happenings . . .

• The only good thing about spilled milk inside the fridge is that it gives me an excuse to clean the shelves.
• Things we lost under the refrigerator today:  Ken's birthday card and Amelia's harmonica.
• In a quiet moment:  I found the girls playing quietly and nicely with the play-dough.  AND Amelia even put away the play-dough when she was done.
• The only good thing about food spilt/thrown/dropped on the floor - at least the floor gets spot mopped.
• We got mylar balloons for Ken for his birthday.  I can't count the number of times I've gotten them down from the ceiling today (thank goodness for long strings).
• I bought some new summer clothes for Amelia and Sophia and brought them home for them to try on.  Both girls threw fits trying them on; they like getting new clothes, but for some reason they hate trying them on.  The only plus side was that the tantrums were at home and not at the store.
• In another quiet moment I found Amelia methodically pulling off the leaves of my Christmas cactus and tearing them into shreds.
• In response to being sad about the cactus, Sophia gave me a hug and a kiss.
• And if I haven't completely lost it by bedtime, I'll reward myself with some of Ken's leftover birthday ice cream cake.

Amelia said . . .

The other day, while driving down the street, Amelia says to me, "Mommy, slow down, you're driving too fast."  (Ken thinks this is hilarious, btw.)  When I asked Amelia why she thought I was driving too fast, she said "I can't count the trees because you're driving too fast".   Seeing that we live in an area with a lot of trees, I suggested that perhaps she try counting something a little easier, like cars.

Finding Joy in the Rain

Amelia got an umbrella and raincoat for her birthday, and just recently, I bought her rain boots to go with it.  But we haven't had a good opportunity to play in the rain . . . until today.  The weather was perfect for playin' in the rain - not to cold, no wind, mild rain, and nowhere to go afterwards.  So here we are, enjoying the rain, and of course, the puddles.

Finally caught a smile on camera.

 Very serious about puddle jumping.

Sophia hates getting her hands dirty, so after playing in the muddy water, she had to show me her muddy hands so that I could clean them for her.

Amelia showing off her umbrella skills (sorry for the sideways video).

The Things I've Heard & Seen Recently

• Amelia loves to dance and sing . . . and Sophia loves to do just what her older does. So here are 2 short videos of the girls singing and dancing on Easter morning.

• I've wondered when this day would come.  Today I heard, coming from the backseat,  "she's looking at me".  I just started giggling from the front seat.
• I've heard of "mud slinging", but I've never actually seen it.  But every time the girls go outside with me, they start "slinging" dirt at each other.  I'm glad they like being outside, but I wish I could figure out a way to prevent the "slinging" to make outdoor play less messy.
• Sophia has the cutest smile, but I rarely catch it with a camera.  This is what I got when I asked her to smile.
  
   However, when I asked Amelia to smile, I got this: