...how does your garden grow?

Since posting the blog about planting a garden, i have to be honest and say that just two days ago, i am only 3/4 of the way done. The hard part was having to pull out all the nasty crab grass after tilling it. (any suggestions on how to get rid of it PERMANETLY, are surely welcome!) . After "weeding" along the fence i lost my ambition to tackle the larger garden area. It took me a few days (ok. more like a week) to get the motivation to work on the rest. It wasn't until my green thumbed neighbor 'Farmer John' (name has been changed) started planting his, that i felt pressured to get mine in as well. SO....one evening i told jared that i was going to get SOMEthing done in the garden so i could tell myself that i did accomplish at least one small task, (A much needed conviction to myself that i wasn't being "slothful", I suppose.) told Jared that he had the kids and ran out the house before any objections came hurling my way. (actually he gladly accepted the challenge.) I had been working for awhile when Mykael came out wanting to help. Ashton then came out too.
*Ok, picture this....Darkness has settled, three people out in the garden, digging in the dirt while having three large flashlights strategically placed around the designated working area, wind blowing dirt and hair into our eyes, (I should've stopped at that point but was determined to get something planted.) I'm wearing a headband with a flashlight on it,(like what spilunkers would use. You'd think i was mining for gold, the way i looked.) We're trying to make straight rows to plant little peas into. Dropping them and wondering if they landed in the little hole. AND trying to instruct little ones the know-hows of planting a garden when pretending to know for yourself. It was fun nonetheless. We got in one row of snap peas and called it quits just when the rain drops started to fall. :o)
Fast forward a few more days.....And 3/4 of the garden is planted. We just need to do tomatoes, beans, and corn then we can be "done". Oh! and i have to mention....after planting a large portion, we woke up the next morning to a "lovely" (yes, that is sarcasm seaping through that word) lovely thin white blanket of snow. Talk about depressing! I have been quoted in the past of saying how much i missed the snow, but this is getting ridiculous. (St. George is becoming more and more RE-appealing to me as we continue with this insane weather pattern.) I look forward to being able to wake up to warm sun ALL DAY LONG! (yes, i know....i will be eating those words as well, later in the year.)
In the meantime to satisfy mine and Jared's cravings of a lush and fruitfilled crop instantly, we planted inside some little seedlings that have grown into such beautiful little....sprouts. Actually they're starting to take over my extra bedroom and i keep hoping that the weather will warm up soon so that i can plant them into their new "homes" outside. (I guess this is kind of like what it's going to be like when my own little "seedlings" will need "relocating".) Anyhow...
There is still lots to do. The up-keep alone will get on my nerves, but hopefully after working so dilligently through the growing season, i will have good news of our bountiful harvest. And a great tan at that! (Cross your fingers!)

Ashton's 4

Ashton turned 4 yesterday. I have a hard time comprehending how fast that time has gone. But have enjoyed the 4 years i've had with him so far. He has brought to me understanding and great joy at what it's like to have "your own children."

We wanted to go ride go-karts and have wanted to try this fun place, but when we get there, he couldn't drive them, and Eli couldn't even have a ride due to his height. We were pretty bummed. Jade and Kael were able to drive the little ones, and i was able to give Ash a ride on the larger ones. (Jared and Eli had to sit that one out.) After we were done with that we headed inside to play some games. They had a huge play gym (kind of like what you would see at Mc.Donald's) but yet again, Eli was too short and wasn't able to go play. I was quickly loosing my interest in the place and came to the conclusion that "Boondocks" is NOT a place for children 5 years and under.

After a few games, we called it good and went home. We had a cake to decorate and dinner to make. Plus presents hadn't been wrapped yet. Fast forward a few hours and the cake is decorated and dinner was ready. I wrapped while everyone ate and then opened presents. He got what he wanted, a spiderman skateboard. (He hasn't really even ridden it yet so far, but he'll carry it everywhere he goes. It's almost as big as he is. He loves it and that's what matters.)

With the toys he got, they all got interested in playing with them, and it wasn't until about 9:00pm. I remembered that we hadn't had cake yet, I had completely forgoten. So I went to round everyone up for the cake. We sang and had him blow his candles out. As you can see in the picture below, he really was a blowing. He got one out, but was having a hard time with the last three. He blew and he blew and he blew. But it wasn't until Eli climbed up and in one quick breath, knocked out the last three. Funny stuff! But thanks Eli, we would've been there till the candles melted to the cake.

Spring Fever

Being here in the northern part of Utah, we have enjoyed the snow this winter, but boy are we anxious to see the buds, green grass, and feel the warm sun. I planted this primrose last year and it was only suppose to be an annual. It was even pretty scrappy looking when it was growing last year, I really didn't think that it would make it. BUT, much to my enjoyment, it has grown back and making up for lost time. I just hate the location cause you can't see it unless you knew it was there. But it seems to happy and don't want to destroy the beauty that it has become. So if you come visit, ask and i'll point it out to you.

When the weather warmed up into the 70's, we took our cue and headed to the store for supplies. We decided that we were going to plant a garden and in order to do that, we had to till up part of the back yard. We found one to borrow and Jared went at it. We plowed quite a plot and then the next day it snowed!!!

Talk about raining on our parade. We had even gotten A LOT of different seeds including purple carrots and purple beans, habenero peppers (I have NO idea why he got those), and other exoctic looking things. I keep pondering in my mind, "how am i going to process all these things when we have to harvest and i don't even know what the heck they are.")

I think my husband has a hard time comprehending exactly what the outcome will be with all these different kinds of things, so he planted 49 melon plants (watermelon, melons, honeydew, cantolope)in a 15ft. by 2 ft. space and wants to plant more. I figured that instead of trying to reason with him and explain the concept of vine plants, I'll just let him do his melon thing, and i'll do my vegetable thing.

Since it snowed, i was still looking forward to planting so i got a mini greenhouse and planted seeds inside. Mykael planted her flower seeds and only 3 days later, already sprouting. I've got them back in an unused room. (Out of sight, out of mind....thanks to my dear son Eli. He did find them this morning, but i told him that they were baby plants and were sleeping. SO....he'll go in there, but very quietly. (After i discovered the sprouts, the whole fam came in to see. I had just finished telling them that the seeds were sleeping when Jared sneezed and Ash said, "Mom, dad just woke them up." We all got a good laugh out of that.)

Now that it's starting to warm up again, we will be able to tackle the garden once again and finish the planting. Wish us luck. It's going to be a lot of hard work to have a successful one.

Two peas in a pod...

This is Eli's best friend. Korah. We got her about a year ago and love her to death. Although last fall she found a new "family" that wanted her. And they only live just a few houses away. At the time we gave her to them, i was almost due with a little one, Jared was crazy busy with work and having to train a VERY hyperactive puppy just wasn't going well. We felt that she needed a home where she would be happy and trained properly. Well...She has definitely grown up and mellowed out and her "family" unfortunately has since broken apart and dang-it...we wanted her back. Fortunately the guy is totally cool with that and is going to let us take her. We first have to fence the yard in but in the meantime, she comes over all the time play and we stop and pick her up and take her places with us and jared takes her to work in the trucks.
Eli definitely has a bond with Korah. If he has disappeared, 99% of the time he has walked down to her house to see if she can "play". She loves him too. Nothing but kisses for him. When we take her to the park, the two of them like to go play in the sand and dig. Eli will get going on a hole, then Korah will come up and start digging right along with Eli. Then he'd lay in the hole and Korah on top of him. It's the funniest thing. I've attempted to capture those times on the camera, but when i have succeeded, i will definitely post them.
One time, Jade was with us and he was trying to build a tower. He gets it so high, Korah will come over, sniff it, and smash it with her paw. He'd move to a new spot and start over. Yet again, here comes Korah and smashes it. He built about 5 different castles when she would just come and demolish them. Finally, she got distracted long enough for Jade to build a nice one, when here she comes and just lays right down on top of it. It was so funny!!! I had to try to keep things light with Jade cause he sure was getting mad. We love her though. She truly is a beautiful dog. And look forward to getting her back permanately.

Easter

I know i'm a little behind on this, but the pictures are cute and wanted to post them anyways. Easter was spent with Uncle Coley and Shanna who both flew in from different destinations. Coley really got into the egg dying thing and ended up doubling the amount of eggs to color that i had originally planned which resulted in another trip to the store. It's ok, cause the kids had fun looking for the "goods".

We kind of did things a little different this year. Instead of having a basket waiting for them in the morning full of treats, we (or i should say, the Easter Bunny) hid ALL the treats and toys outside in the yard and gave them all empty baskets and sent them on their way. We had ended up buying things that the kids could do/play together. And in lew of Jaden having just started baseball, we bought a SOFT bat and SOFT balls so that when daddy practiced with Jade, the others could participate also. SO...when they found these items, they would all be using them and there would be nothing to fight about. The nice thing about this all was, we did this on saturday and that left us to spend easter sunday thinking about the real reason. A quiet peaceful day thinking about Him!

A weekend with Joe and Nat

Just this last weekend we were blessed with the visit of Joe's fam. I love his kids A LOT! And when our kids get together, it's nothing but chaotic bliss! Thanks for visiting guys. First of all, Corbin is such a sweet little boy and i was anxious to get his hug the morning after they arrived. And that he did. I called for him and he came up to hug me. I love his hugs. Lydia has grown a lot and it was fun for her to tell me how kindergarten is going. Jane, i've decided, is just like Eli in the manner of curiosity. I found myself revisiting steps that I had just recently taken with Eli over and over and over again. For example....Eli loved to get his hands on the baby powder and empty the bottle COMPLETELY until i discovered the simple philosphy of "out of sight, out of mind." Well....I had a slight moment of forgetfulness and didn't put the bottle up and found that Jane liked baby powder too. But for some reason with her doing it, Tinker Bell fairy dust came to mind. Perhaps because she was a girl and Tinker Bell is a girly thing. The babies room was "coated". With Eli, it was just a "mess." Miriam....all i have to say about her is "Big Brown Eyes." They captivate you everytime you look at her sweet cherub face.

I was then able to spend some time outside with Joe and Nat playing with the kids' toys. I pulled from the wreckage, i call a garage, a pogo stick of Jaden's that we all took turns trying out. Much to our surprise we weren't that bad at it and was able to dip our fingers into a bowl of childhood fun. Thanks again for coming guys. I really did enjoy you being here.

Dedicated to the ones we love....

Because i have such an awesome extended family and have been blessed to have had them visit individually recently, here's to you! I love you! (And those not pictured...will be added as soon as you come visit.)