Gardening Fever

 

We are enjoying the opportunity to prep our outdoor areas for the summer. Justin enjoys coming home and attacking the list of things I need done (at least he seems to enjoy it). The kids LOVE being outside with and without footwear. I got a new trike for Phillip about 10 days ago. The kids love pushing each other around while I play in the dirt. Justin spent most of last week digging the dirt out of the raised garden box. I decided to remove half the dirt due to the grub issue from last year, plus the soil was really heavy. Justin hauled the dirt in the van over to the dump in small loads. While he manned the shovel and bucket I worked in the front yard removing rocks from the area near our front stairs. Four poor rose bushes struggled to overcome the heat and heavy moisture for way too many years. Most of the roses were diseased and dead. With the help from the kids we put rocks into small bowls, mostly to keep me from lifting too much at one time, and moved the rocks to other parts of the rock edging. Justin dug out the roses and I finished lining the dirt area with concrete border. Tuesday I planted some poppy and jasmine bulbs up front. Tuesday morning the kids and I drove to Sterling for a Home Depot run. I bought 10 bags of vermiculite, 6 bales of peat moss, and some compost plus a few other items like light bulbs. We all went to Dollar Tree for a moment then had a play lunch at the Burger King play area. We were back home by 1 pm! During this past week I picked up some more compost from Walmart, Bomgaards, and the plant nursery. I stapled new weed cloth to reline the garden box and keep those icky grubs away. Yesterday evening Justin and I mixed the soil square foot gardening style. I love how light and fluffy the soil is! Phillip had a blast sitting on our huge batches of soil. I think he's sported a dirt moustache for the past week or more. Amelia played Little Red Riding Hood on stacked piles of peat moss and vermiculite bags. By 8 pm the garden box was filled once more with dirt! This morning I screwed four PVC pipes to the sides of the boxes and will cover the PVC with 6mm plastic sheeting after I plant early spring veggies. I hope my idea for a temporary greenhouse will help my little plants survive better this year. We are dreaming of fresh BLT sandwiches already...

Phillip is developing some awesome language and communication skills lately. He can say:
no, no
oh, no
Monkey (sounds like daddy, but more like daky)
Mia
side (outside)
bike
ball
Lip (Phillip)
milk
more
night-night
sorry

He pulls my finger all over the place trying to get me to assist him with some Phillip task. He is constantly dirty and boogery! I think the kid lives in his coat just hoping to go outside. Amelia learned how to play her first song on the piano a couple weeks ago. She can play "Give a Dog a Bone" moving her fingers separately. She is sooooo proud of her little self. She also is enjoying a little freedom riding her trike. She is allowed to bike from one end of the street to the other (from the fire hydrant to the school crossing sign). Apparently my neighbors think this is not kosher since the cops showed up at my home on Tuesday asking if Amelia and Phillip were my kids. At the time both were playing on the sidewalk with me sitting on the front steps. I left for 1 minute to get a drink of water and came back out with the kids in the same place. Sheesh, I was upset and mad that some nosey neighbor or passerby called the cops. Whatever happened to good old fashioned friendly neighbors?

Conference weekend was so wonderful. All the talks were so uplifting and inspiring. I LOVE Elder Holland. His talk inspired me to revisit the order of revelation. Several talks mentioned the Road to Damascus biblical story, which made me think hard about my circumstances and if I would recognize my Savior on my road of life. Lynn G Robbins talk was also amazing; he spoke about how to be and do are inseparable. I think those talks impacted me the most. My visiting teacher gifted us a cute little conference basket with treats, drinks, conference color books, and pencils. Amelia was so excited to hear Thomas S Monson and enjoy the conference treasure box. Christine, that was an amazing, thoughtful gift. We had lunch with the Mason family and about half the town. The Mason's have lived in Sidney over 13 years. Brother Mason got a new job down in Texas so they are pulling up roots and moving. They hosted a huge luncheon/party in between sessions. Phillip probably licked half the ice cubes in the coolers before we caught him with his head in the cooler. The weather was a balmy and perfect 80 degrees. Alison and Ella let us treat them to ice cream while Justin attended the Priesthood session.

Wednesday the scouts FINALLY had a very successful Pine Wood Derby. This was the third reschedule after the church flooded, then new carpet pushed the dates back. Phillip was so expressive watching the cars zoom by, whooping with delight. We enjoyed spending an evening with great friends at church.

Lastly, I feel very pregnant. Phew! I feel like two more months of pregnancy will put me under for sure. Either this kid is much bigger than Amelia or Phillip or I am getting old....maybe both?! Sorry to complain again, but my hands are getting worse. Now both hands are painfully tingly and my right hand is on fire about 80% of the time. I am pretty sure whatever is causing my hands to hurt is not carpal tunnel because my index and pinky fingers share the tingly feeling. Yuck-o. I have an ultrasound scheduled for the 11th of May to check the baby's size and orientation. I really, super hope the DR will decide to induce me early IF the baby is over-sized.