Ten

1) It's probably not a good sign when you are home alone with your non-potty-trained 2 year old and he disappears down the hall to "get my shoes" and then you hear the toilet flush.

I should go check that out.

2) Aside from the daily morning puke sesh (today's melted into lunchtime), I am feeling better most of the time on most days. With my dad here to help, I'm knocking out projects left and right. It's wonderful and not only is it nice to have his help, but we have a lot of fun working together. He's patient and lets the kids get involved and I love that. I neglected so many things for so long that I feel like I will never catch up on what needs to be done around here, but now that I am functioning and ready to attack the pile-up, slow progress is being made.

3) A few things I've been able to cross off the to-do list are:

a new floor for the chicken run. The rock floor was impossible to spray the poop off of and anytime it rained it became a stinky mud/poop swamp for days that totally reeked.
The new floor only took us about 20 minutes to install, my hens now have dry feet and the coop doesn't stink anymore. And I hosed it off last night when I changed their water and it was a breeze. Success. Thanks for the help, Pops.

We also replaced the back patio steps.

The old steps were original to the house and had rotted out so the bottom step actually fell through to the ground. The bannister was useless, rotted and no longer attached to anything, creating a false security (and a hand full of splinters) if you attempted to balance on it. The original setup was poorly installed so we made a few changes to the new set so they are safe, strong, and will last a long time. After drafting up a plan, we decided to leave the step without a bannister. It's only 2 steps and a handrail is not necessary, and leaving the space open looks better and makes it easier to get in and out of the door.

4) The kids have wanted/needed a shade for the top of their playset for years. I busted out the sewing machine, used some leftover outdoor shade fabric that we got for the pergola to put up in the summertime and in a few minutes I whipped up a new cover. I had put it off for so long because I didn't want to mess with sewing in the velcro to attach it, but I realized the other day that there were already grommet screws in the structure. It attached easily and the kids love their new "house".

5) We spend a lot of time in the backyard in the afternoons when Reese gets home from school. Children are sprayed with the hose, bedtimes are ignored, lawnmower rides are given, chickens are chased, rocks and sticks are thrown, worms and rollie pollies are dug for in the garden, dinners are grilled and eaten on the patio set, and as of yesterday, diapers are removed and thrown "overboard" from the top of the playset/pirate ship. We love this space.

6) We have new "pets". Reese and Quincy found seven caterpillars in the yard the other day and they are now living it up in our butterfly habitat. We have absolutely no idea what kind of butterflies they will become but we love watching them crawl around in their mesh cage, and two have already formed cocoons.

7) none of my clothes fit. Like, none. My maternity jeans from past pregnancies are maxed out for space and I can barely squeeze them on. I hate to break down and buy new jeans when it will be 100* in a short time, but you gotta have at least one pair of jeans, right? I went shopping for maternity clothes and was totally disappointed in the selection everywhere I went. "Business casual" and "works the corner" seem to be the only two styles available this season.

8) The girls are excited about the "sleepover" they have planned at my parents' vacation rental, tonight. I should probably tell my parents about that. And plan a date for Aaron and I.

9) Speaking of Aaron, he hasn't told his coworkers I am pregnant yet, and I ran into one of them at the Bentonville Half Marathon on Saturday. (hahaha NO, I was not running, I went to cheer for Kasey, Katie, Darcie, and Puan...and I still think I was sweatier/more tired than they were at the end) Anyway, Erica took one look at me and burst out laughing because Aaron was keeping a secret from everyone at work. He had wanted to wait to tell everyone until we knew the gender, but the cats out of the bag now. They gave him a hard time on monday for not telling anyone.

10) Last night was our Relief Society Meeting. Aaron called in the middle of it and we had a terrible phone connection. All I heard from his end was, "I had to call 9-1-1"

I freaked and ran out into the hallway so I could hear him more clearly, and then he said something about a dead animal in the house and again mentioned 9-1-1. When I finally could hear everything he was saying he said he got home and found a dead animal in the house. I asked 100 questions and finally he said, "yeah I got home and had to call the police because our house smelled like a dead animal".

I was very confused at this point and told him to tell me exactly what happened and he laughed and said, "Well it SMELLED like a dead animal in here because you boiled eggs again! Gross, Meg! Call 9-1-1 because I am dying! This is what it smells like in Hell!"

Sucker! I can't believe he led me on for so long (our bad cell connection and the background noise didn't help). What a stinker! He, on the other hand, thought he was hillarious. I told him to go open a window and not be suprised if I don't believe him when there actually IS a real emergency because Mr. Funny Guy had cried wolf too many times.

Willy 2012 Garden

Our garden is coming up roses.
Not really. I don't have any roses.
But I have just about everything else!
Right now, everything is just in the baby stage...except for herbs and broccoli.
We harvested our first few crowns of broccoli yesterday.
On April 11th! I can't believe it, either...there have been years that our garden wasn't even started until after April 11, and this year, we are already enjoying fresh produce. Happy Spring!

I found a little surprise in the corner of my yard today...the nasturstium seeds I threw in the ground a month ago (in a rock hard, acidic, partly shaded, neglected corner of the yard) actually sprouted! If they bloom, our chickens will be feasting on some delicious snackies.

The strawberries and kiwi plants came back from last year, and they have doubled!
We cleared out the rest of the rocky area next to them and hope to expand their play area a bit...because who can have too many strawberries? We can't. We've only eaten one so far, this year, but the plants are full of pink and white blossoms.

Also returning from last year (with a bang) are the grape vines! Yay! We planted them last year and are pleased to see the vines making their way up the pergola. Last year the birds ate the grapes (there were only a few), but this year we'll play it smart and throw a net over the goods and hopefully have a few to eat. The vines are still very young to be depended on for production, so we're pretty pleased with the several tiny bunches we see forming after only 1 year of growth.

In front of the grapes are a couple potted rosemary bushes and a basil plant.

Our ever sterile raspberries (left). It's a mystery. Hundreds of blossoms, dozens of bumble bees and not one dang raspberry. I think they need more direct sunlight. They are planted on the north side of the house and are always shaded by the house.

The blackberries (right) gave us a few pints of berries last year and are back in action this year...hopefully with even more fruit to enjoy. I love that I don't have to do anything to these bad boys, they just come back each year and give us food. Easy. Yummy. And they're thornless, so that's a nice bonus.

Oh tomatoes...I can't ever grow enough. Especially after discovering ina garten's tomato basil soup. My mouth is watering for July. We planted a few heirloom rutabegas this year, some better boys, big boys, celebrity, romas (this is roma's last chance, they used to be our garden tomato of choice, but they never seem to thrive in the Arkansas heat, so we've moved on. I planted a couple with the hope that this summer will be a cool one. hahaha.) and an early girl. 14 tomato bushes in all and not one too few. I can never run out of uses for tomatoes, and even after canning and saucing and souping and roasting and brushetta-ing last year, we still picked every last greenie off the vine in november and wrapped those babies up in paper sacks to be enjoyed until mid december. It was wonderful. Garden tomatoes are gold...especially after the hell-tempered summer that tortured us in 2011. We know very few people had a tomato crop at all last year, so we feel very blessed that ours was plentiful. Hopefully this year will be just as productive with 1/2 the bushes in a new location.

Behind the tomatoes are our traditional zucchini and yellow squash. I love them and sing to them as I water (not really. ok maybe I do.) and look forward to baskets and baskets of squash and am determined to not use any curse words when we inevitably become over run with squash bugs.

More tomatoes (back).
12 lovely bell pepper babies that won't take off until the heat arrives. Fine by me. We love our summer peppers and just ran out of the diced frozen bells from last year.

What's in the empty beds, Meg?

Well reader (yes. you. the only one actually reading this.), on the left we have some baby red potatoes that baaaarely surfaced 2 days ago, so I buried them with more compost. In the other half of the left bed and in all of the right bed we have a newbie to the Willy garden: Asparagus! I finally got around to planting some, and if we aren't around next year to enjoy them here, well...I'll dig them up and take them with us wherever we go. I have almost a dozen spears that crept up above the surface (only to be buried again with compost...poor asparagus, such a trodden down life they live...dumped on for weeks and then blamed for stinky pee when harvested.) and while I am sooooo tempted to just pick a few, I know we will have a better harvest next year if we wait it out and let these little babies do their thing this spring. They are beautiful. Waiting sucks. Next year, asparagus...next year.

By the way...I think I planted at least half of the crowns upside-down. Oops.

Here we have the real wait. Sunflowers in the waaay back, more tomatoes (the early girl is back there), pea vines on the back right, green onions (seeds..just planted), cucumbers (right) just sprouted and will be climbing soon, and kale on the left side, which sprouted a week ago but is taking it's sweet time to not look pathetic. I might re-seed.

A jalapeno plant will go in the front right corner after I get more compost in there.

Spring veggies are thriving!

In the left bed:

the thyme is back from last year and looking lovely (far left front corner)

bush variety green beans galore! (right front and back)

yukon gold potatoes (lots of em, baby) (left).

pettite sweet carrots (back left)

dill (back right)

In the right bed:

romaine lettuce (back left)

bush variety sweet peas (back right)

black seed simpson lettuce (front left)

frog skin melon (just planted the seeds, they haven't sprouted yet) (front right)

when the lettuce is done in a month, we'll plant butternut squash (and lots of it) and maybe acorn or spaghetti squash in the right bed.

And finally, more spring goodness.

in the back bed left to right:

cilantro

pettite sweet carrots

broccoli
beets

more carrots

vidalia onions

yukon gold potatoes

in the front bed left to right:

loads of basil (can't get enough)

kale (just sprouted!)

romaine lettuce (for the spoiled hens)

spinach (some is ready to be picked!)

vidalia onions

carrots
greek oregano (back from last year and out of control!

In front of the house, the mint I planted last year has spread and covers a 2 ft space. I love it.

There ya have it. (are you still here?)

More posts (too many, I'm sure) to come!

What are you growing this year?

Am I forgetting anything?

Things that make me smile

Reese and Quincy just sat with their hands on my belly for the last 30 minutes feeling their baby brother or sister kicking and wiggling away. Every movement sent them into hysterical fits of laughter. I hope this little baby has a sense of humor, because he or she is going to be welcomed into a very giggly world.

Besties

No one else exists when Grandma is around. "Gwamma" is Corbin's BFF and the center of his universe right now. She is the first thing he asks for when he wakes up and the last thing he mentions when he goes to bed. It is really cute. He runs out to her car to greet her when she arrives and he downright refuses to be buckled in his carseat unless we assure him that Grandma is coming with us. He has moved her name up to the top of his list in his bedtime prayers, knocking horsies, rocks, animals, sticks, baby, blankies, food, his rubbie, and the rest of us to the end.
He panicked the other day when we went through a drive thru and were delivered our food first, then the cashier closed the window and went back for my change and our beverages. Corbin started screaming, "wait! stop! whoa whoa whoa! Forgot Gwamma's drink! Gwamma needs her juice! Mommy wait!"

He's totally got her back.
btw, "juice" = "gwamma's" diet coke.
We think Corbin has figured out how to mooch a sip or two from his bestie.
True love.

Happy Easter

So Corbin's Easter picture is actually a still frame of a video.
Because the real Corbin never actually is still!
I love that this shot captured his naughty expression.

We had a pretty traditional holiday, this year.

-We ate a big breakfast (hootenannies with blueberry compote and creme fresh)

-a plastic egg hunt for the kids (the Easter bunny is brilliant and puts mini marshmallows, pretzels, animal crackers, teddy grahams, and goldfish in the eggs, so the children can empty their eggs into plastic baggies and enjoy a day of snack mix instead of over loading on candy.)

-Easter basket loot (new school backpacks, glitter glue, garden gloves, and hello kitty underwear for Reese and Quincy, plastic bugs, a Biscuit book, a car, Buzz underwear, and a garden shovel for Corbin.)

-Easter dresses for Reese and Quincy and a new shirt for Corbin

-Watching The Lamb of God as a family

-Church (with exceptional music...beautiful job, Hillary!)

-a yummy turkey dinner (yup turkey, not ham, per Aaron's request) with mashed potatoes (the real kind, NOT per Aaron's request), gravy, roasted asparagus, watermelon, grandma Lynn's Relief Society raspberry jell-o salad, and a homemade chocolate raspberry cheesecake. It was pretty incredible, and dinner was even more special because we had the company of my parents and auntie Kasey with us.

I love that Easter hymns are full of Alleluias and I think we should sing these songs all year, because the great news of the resurrection is not just for Easter Sunday. Some of my favorite hymns are Easter hymns and seem to be held hostage for one Sunday a year. We should sing them all month long...no, all year long.

I have a testimony of Jesus Christ and His great Atonement. I could do nothing without His selfless gift and I am grateful for His love and sacrifice.

Christ lives, and while he lives I'll sing.

Alleluia! Happy Easter, everyone!

Happy Birthday to the Man

Aaron is 36, today!

I feel like I should take advantage of this day and attempt some kind of wise crack about him being all old and stuff and how I'm still livin it up in my 20's (for another 24 days, anyway...gotta milk that while I still can).

But Aaron really just keeps getting better with age. He's my cheese. And old man joke wouldn't be fair or accurate.

Also, Q pretty much maxed out our family limit on birthday jokes this year when she was drawing a picture of Aaron and pulled out a gray crayon. Burn!

Dearest Aaron, have a wonderful birthday. I love you, I love you, I love you, and with every year that passes I love you even more. You are a supportive husband and a loving father and a much greater man than any of us could have ever wished to have in our lives.

Happy Birthday!
and PS- your gray hair is damn sexy.

It's April. I should post something, but I'm busy, so here's

nothing fancy...just a few shots of the offspring.

I have great kids.

PS-check out Reese's crazy death grip on Corbin's arm to make sure he held still long enough to make it into the picture. All without breaking her smile. And who knows what Quincy is dreaming about?