Telling Lacy

It was really fun to let Lacy know that I was pregnant. I really wanted to tell my sister first (after Dave, obviously), so it was fun that we had her in our car driving up to Zion's camp a week ago. They had too many passengers in their car, so Les was the one voted off the Suburban and sat between two carseats in our van. Leslie got in, and I said, "So, I have a special secret to share. Do you want to guess what it is?" Leslie's eyes got big immediately and knew exactly what I was talking about. Since we weren't exactly trying, this was unexpected news, for sure! It took a little while for Lacy to figure it out. OK, we told her. But she didn't get it.

Finally, after about a half an hour or so, I said something about how "the egg hatched" and finally it clicked. MOMMY IS PREGNANT!!! Suddenly she couldn't stop talking about how excited she was! "I'm super very very very very very very ONE HUNDRED excited!!!" When we got to the camp site, within about 5 minutes everyone in our group knew we were expecting. The next day, when other people began arriving, they all knew within minutes of arriving as well.

The only reason she didn't end up telling every living soul at church the Sunday after we went camping was because it was Rose's birthday, and she told everyone that news instead! But she's starting to spread the news to her teachers in Primary now that Rose's birthday is over.

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Happy Birthday to my Mother

Mom, today you turn 60 years old, a milestone in your life. I'm glad that you decided to have children after Leslie. I've been able to become a mother myself and bring two lovely daughters into this world. I hope you have had a great birthday, Mom. I love you!

Sickie

My allergies are acting up today. Bad. I tried helping Dave with some outdoor work, but I was useless. I went home with the kids instead. So Dave worked for several hours while I rested at home, reading a book and trying to watch the kiddos.

They're so sweet. I was just not very nice today at all and despite that, they were pretty good. Other than some scolding for playing in the front yard that I had to do this afternoon (no way I could supervise them for that!). They were very sweet, trying to take care of their mother. Rose brought me a pillow and covered me with blankets, instructed me to close my eyes, and sang me some lullabies, and Lacy made me peppermint tea sweetened with (too much) tylenol, I mean xylitol. She's a very independent girl who knows her way around the kitchen already! She ended up making cups of tea for herself and for Rose, as well.

Now, I've practiced piano (a very small amount today since I'm feeling unwell) and I'm taking an allergy pill (which makes me incredibly drowsy) and going to bed. Hopefully I'll feel well tomorrow!

Where are you going again?

Lacy's grandma has been talking to her about taking her to Leavenworth after she gets back from her mission in Germany. Lacy is very excited about that! But she's a little confused about where she's going.




Lemonwars. Yes, Lemonwars. Oh, and Turner's not going. Poor Turner.

And yes, that's a carrot she's eating. My kids take whole carrots out of the fridge and eat them, a la Bugs Bunny.

Her bags are packed, she's ready to go. Fortunately I'm still behind on laundry, so even though she put every single article of clothing that were in her drawers in her backpack, it wasn't too many!


Of course, books are of the upmost importance, so she took books with her. Especially since Grandma sold it to her with book reading while there! Good thing she didn't say anything about possibly seeing "Sound of Music," too!

Round up them kindergarteners

Today Lacy, Dave and I went to our local elementary school's Kindergarten Round Up event. It was a lot of fun, and my baby is now enrolled in Kindergarten! She got to ride a bus, do some crafts, see the classrooms, and meet other kids. We got to hear from the PTA, the Spanish Club leaders, the principal, and other school staff members. I always thought I'd homeschool, but I felt unprepared, and now after going to this event, I feel really comfortable with the school she'll be attending. I got a really good vibe from the principal and just the whole experience. The principal actually taught Lacy's cousin a few years back, which was really fun to find out.

I can't believe my baby's going to go to kindergarten. And she'll be one of the youngest ones there, since her birthday is 6 weeks before the cutoff.

Stupid me forgot her birth certificate and proof of address. I'll bring it in later this week. Lacy would really like to attend a BBQ on Friday that the school is holding. Maybe we'll do it then.

How did this happen? She isn't supposed to start Kindergarten so soon! She's my baby!

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

How does your garden grow? Hopefully like gangbusters!

Today we worked a lot in the garden. Here's what we have so far.

The salad box, with various types of lettuce greens, plus some swiss chard, carrots radishes and beets. We also have an artichoke that came back from last year. I thought they died off in the winter, but they came back even after tilling the garden. They are some very determined plants! And I'm hoping for some artichokes this year! Any bare spots in the garden are due to either slugs or cats. I will win the war against these critters!

Behind the salad box, we have our peas. Four different varieties, actually. I'm very excited for harvesting them in the near future! They're already starting to climb! I've also planted a few other plants in there with them that are good companions to peas-- onions, carrots, and a few other things. They should be going strong once the peas are done for in the hot summer.

Not pictured is the bean/corn box. Corn and beans are good companion plants, so I put them in a box together. They have not come up yet. This box is next to the fence behind the pea box.

We also have the girls' boxes. Lacy has planted many different things in her box. It should be interesting when everything starts to really get growing. Rose's box has a few sweet peas just sprouting, and she also has some beans in there. If she's planted anything else, it will be a surprise! I tried keeping her box empty for longer because I wanted to have a place for her to dig until we got new sand for the sandbox.

The next box has lots of different types of root vegetables. Parsnips, salsify, turnips, beets, onions and carrots are all just starting to come up. I'm very excited to taste some new things this summer/fall (though I hear parnsips taste best after sitting in the garden all winter, being harvested in spring).

We have another small box with onions and parsnips that I planted a couple weeks before the big root veggie box. They're really coming up well, but cats and Rose have digged in this box! Argh!

On the other side of the house, we have our strawberry/spinach patch. These two are great companions and really play well together. They should both produce more vigerously because they have eachother. And I'm hoping since half of the strawberries are everbearing, it will make even more of a difference on the strawberries. The spinach is still itty bitty, but it's coming up nicely.

We planted about half our potatoes in our potato hill, and we also planted various members of the cabbage family in the box nearby. This planting happened today, so no sproutlets yet. Soon, I hope!

And finally, we worked hard on our tomatoes today. We have 8 that we planted in a box along with other good companion plants, which are mint, chives, carrots and onions. We're really excited at the size of the back six tomatoes! We just got those today, but the two puny ones in front we got a few weeks ago. And all but one are heirlooms. In the foreground is a rhubarb plant that a neighbor gave us. We're still looking for its final home.

Lastly, we planted five upside down tomatoes. We're very excited about these! We have three of the same upside down varieties also in the box, so it will be an interesting experiment to see what produces the best!

I'll update this blog later on in the summer to see the progress of my garden! I still have lots to plant, including squash, more corn and beans, and potatoes!

Now she's having a sweet day

Lacy woke up happy (albeit early) this morning. She asked me some questions about her laundry, as in, why the heck are all my clothes dirty.

"I'm sorry honey, I'm a bad mom."

"You're not a bad mom. You're just crazy."

So there you have it. That's her way of making me feel better about getting behind on my motherly duties.

You know Lacy's having a bad day...

... when she gets kicked out of Primary. Fortunately, a little relaxation in my bed watching "The Sound of Music" made things all better.

Until 7 o'clock. Then her timer went off. She was DONE (and so was Rose). Unfortunately, we were in a social setting, which made for a bit of a dramatic exit. OK, a very dramatic exit. It's so hard to be social with little kids! And we are very social people!

I think she was tired. We tried getting her to bed early the night before, but she played in her bed for a while before finally falling asleep. Fortunately, tomorrow she can sleep in. And sleep in she shall!

Note to self...

When the baked beans turn out too runny because they didn't bake long enough, do not, I repeat, do not put them in the oven to thicken up right before leaving for mutual for two hours.

Seriously, just don't do it.