Our Little Garden

Stephen has been working hard on our garden. We've decided this is his project, so he's doing all the work. I wasn't ready to take on another project, so he promised to do it all. I've only contributed by telling him what to plant. Thankfully, I'll still reap the benefits!

He has planted lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, cucumbers, green onions, zucchini, pumpkin, red, yellow, orange, and green bell peppers, broccoli, and lots of tomatoes. The tomatoes are a gamble. There's a good chance they won't do well here. But we love garden tomatoes too much not to give them a good try - especially since we have more space than we realized. We also planted some herbs in buckets - rosemary, basil, cilantro, and oregano. So if nothing grows, we'll know we gave it a good effort and we'll try again. If everything grows, our neighbors and friends will love us! We planted way more than we'll be able to eat. Here's our little garden:

 When Stephen was planting the green onion seeds, Evie decided the entire packet of seeds should be dumped out. We might have onions coming out of our ears!

 Lettuce sprouts!

Broccoli!

Cliffs Notes

It seems that I've been struggling to keep up, so I'm giving you the Cliffs Notes version of what we've been up to. Cliffs Notes are on my mind because we've been cleaning out closets, and I have a stack of at least 20 of them from my mom's house that I have to decide whether to save or get rid of. Opinions? Anyway, here's what we've been up to:

 Evie has worn my lipstick more than I have lately. She's been quite the two-year-old the past few weeks, and it's kind of wearing me out. Maybe that's the reason I'm behind! She sleeps in her big bed now, and she loves it, but evidently she doesn't love it enough to stay in it. She has always been my late sleeper/no napper, but she's waking up at 6:00 most mornings and still refusing to nap, and it's a seriously bad combo. We're working hard on re-training her to sleep, so I have hope that it WILL get better soon.

 Hold onto your seats - Stephen and I went out on a date! We went to see my favorite band, Over the Rhine. It was an acoustic evening with just Linford and Karen, so they performed a lot of their older stuff. We sat and soaked it in. They don't know it, but they're writing the soundtrack to my life. :) I felt like I'd gone home for an evening. I miss that feeling. I miss that place.

 We're starting a little garden! It's something we've wanted to do for a couple years, so we're finally giving it a good try. I'm not sure what we're planting yet (I know, we're a little behind), but we have everything else ready to go.

The soil we used has turkey poo in it. Yum!

 Stephen ran the Cowtown half-marathon on Sunday. The kids and I tracked him down along the way. Two years ago he ran the full marathon. I think he was glad he only did the half this year!

One of the signs I made for the kids to hold said, "Enjoy the peace and quiet. We'll be at the finish line!" He did and we were!

Little Helpers

Nate and Evie both LOVE to help me in the kitchen. It seems like every time I step foot in the kitchen they've already pulled their chairs up next to me to watch and help. And every single time I have to fight with myself and tell my do-everything-myself-because-it's-better-and-easier nature to back off and just let there be more mess and less sanity.

We don't buy many prepared foods, so I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. And since my kids like to be wherever I am, this event of moving chairs around the kitchen happens a few times a day. I do tell them no when it's absolutely inconvenient or unsafe, but the rule is that they get to help. I know I really should teach them to be independent and go play by themselves for a little while, but that's another issue.

My kids love to help. And I want them to love to help. And to love cooking. And to learn early that our health and wellness (and pocketbooks) are worth a little extra time in the kitchen preparing food ourselves. Hopefully before long they'll be my bread bakers, waffle makers, and cheerful helpers with all of our kitchen chores.

Letting them help has only burnt us once - literally. A couple months ago Evie was standing next to the stove, right where she is in the pictures below, and she laid her hand on a hot burner. She did it right after I told her it was hot and not to touch it. I think she takes me a little bit more seriously now. She cried for a couple hours, and her hand blistered pretty badly. Once again I was thankful for a nurse friend saving us a trip to the ER. My mother instincts (or was it my frustration with her disobedience?) told me it wasn't bad enough to take her, in spite of what the nurse on call at the doctor's office suggested. Our friend told us how to take care of it and keep it clean. It healed well, and now Evie is much more careful (and so am I!) when she's standing next to a hot stove!

 Putting the clean silverware away. Oops, that spoon doesn't go there. Who wants their silverware in perfect order anyway? (I do!)

Such a sweet little helper!

Saturday Sunrise

Nate was my coffee buddy this morning. Well, he had tea, but it was still nice to sit and enjoy our hot drinks and watch the sunrise together. Stephen and Evie slept in. I think Nate has my sleep genes and Evie has Stephen's - you can count on Evie to sleep in, and you can count on Nate to wake up early. Anyway, one of my favorite things about Texas is the sky. It's so wide and open - no hills or mountains to hide it. And even though I have times when I really miss hills and mountains, Texas sunrises and sunsets are the best! This morning's sunrise was worth getting up for.

Nate asked me if I put sugar in our coffee and tea. I told him I put a very little bit in because we want to enjoy the taste of the coffee and tea, and not just taste sugar. He said, "But I really want to just taste sugar." Can't say I blame him!

 My sweet early riser.

 He drank every last bit.

Our view of the sunrise. 

I know you can't really tell it, but the sky was a bright red/pink color. Beautiful!

Puzzled

Nate and Evie have been in a puzzle stage, and Nate worked his first 100 piece puzzle all by himself! I was surprised by his ability to stay focused on it, and he was very proud of himself for finishing it without help. We had worked it a couple times together already, so I'm sure that helped!

 Nate with his Toy Story 3 puzzle.

Evie was proud of him too!

Kentucky

Still catching up from December. We made another drive to Kentucky! Pretty soon I'll have every Chick-fil-a and Starbucks memorized between here and there. We drove during the day and the kids did really well. I usually say I couldn't have asked them to do any better than they did, which means they were a little whiny, but that's to be expected when you've been in the car for 15 hours. This time they didn't whine or complain at all. Seriously, not even once. They watched a couple movies that they got for Christmas, and we took some clipboards so they could color and draw in their car seats, so I guess that was a winning combo. Every once in a while Nate would ask, "What country are we in now?" We're pretty sure he meant "state," but he has been talking a lot about going to China and Europe, so maybe it was wishful thinking. He asked Stephen if he could go to Europe for his "five birthday." If you know my husband, you know he's taking that question very seriously. Anyway, our children are to be commended for their car behavior! Here are just a few pictures from our visit.

 The Blan cousins - Nate and Evie with Cameron and Katie.

The Iles cousins - Nate and Evie with Samuel, William, and Ethan. 

Sorry Ethan, but Nate was awfully happy to be holding you!

 Katie and Evie

 Our first game of Pacardy (not to be confused with Bacardi).

 

A rare picture together!

 Nate teaching Granddad how to play checkers. :)

 Elizabeth with sweet baby Ethan.

One of Evie's favorite things - holding Ethan.

Christmas Pictures

Time to catch up! We took these pictures downtown Fort Worth the Sunday before Christmas. I thought it would be fun to go downtown after church to get some pictures. If the kids hadn't been hungry and tired, it might have been a good idea. Here's kind of how it went:

 Nate, stand next to Evie. Nate, stop jumping.
Nate, stand up! Nate, stand still! Now smile.

 Okay, then just sit down in front of the window. Evie, put your feet against Nate's feet.

 No no, Evie. Stay there. Evie, scoot back. Smile!

 

Let's go home.

Reindeer Snack Mix

We skipped giving homemade gifts to friends and coworkers last year, but I was up for it again this year. Since there are already so many sweets this time of year, I went with a salty snack mix for our baked treat. I found this recipe for Reindeer Snack Mix, but I wasn't happy with all of the ingredients. I went with pretzel sticks, bite-size shredded wheat, whole wheat chex, Cheerios, mixed raw nuts, and cashews instead. It turned out really well!

I couldn't decide what to use for its packaging. I bought some plain red cups and thought maybe I'd brighten them up with red and white ribbon. But then I did a google search for "plastic cup Christmas craft" and found these Santa's Belly Treat Cups. I used electrical tape for the belt, but then I used glitter glue for the buckle, and I hot glued strips of fluffy white fabric around the top. It was very simple and a lot more fun than a plain red cup!

Is it Christmas time?

"Mom, is it Christmas time yet?" Yes, Nate. It is Christmas time. And, believe it or not, our house is actually starting to show it. Last year we got our first Christmas tree, and this year I've added stockings and some mantle decorations. It may not seem like much, but believe me, it took A LOT of effort! I struggle with American Christmas. Anyway, here's what we've done.

I planned on making stockings this year, but that just didn't happen. So I bought a couple cheapo stockings from Walgreens, cut the names out of red felt, and glued them on with fabric glue. (Why Walgreens? Because I've never had to fight a crowd there, and they actually have the perfect little Christmas selection. My head didn't spin while I was picking out stockings!)

 We love Charlie Brown, so I found this Charlie Brown Christmas poster and framed it for the mantle. Then, our good friend and Stephen's coworker, Miss Cheryl Essex, gave us the most wonderful gift - a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. She completed our decor. Thank you, Cheryl!

I still have to figure out exactly what to do with these guys. Stephen's mom gave these miniature ornaments to us for Christmas a few years ago. Maybe we'll put them on the Charlie Brown tree.

The other new thing we've done to celebrate Advent this year is the Jesse Tree. Each day we read or tell the kids a Bible story, and then they put an ornament on the tree that goes along with the story. The stories start in the Old Testament and lead up to Jesus' birth. We had a craft night at our church a couple months ago where we made all of the ornaments for it, and that was REALLY helpful. I would've struggled to make them all myself, and I would've come away with even more hot glue gun wounds than I did. Ouch! As you can see, our Christmas tree is nothing special, so we just designated the bottom portion of it for the ornaments. If we do this again next year I'll probably take out some stories and add others I think are more important in leading up to Jesus' birth, but overall we've really enjoyed it.

Little Miss Piggy Tails

I've been fixing Evie's hair in pig tails lately. My mom called them dog ears when we were little, which actually makes a lot more sense. Most pigs only have one tail. I guess that's why you say pig tails, with the 's'. But still, they look more like dog ears. Anyway, Evie decided she really likes her hair that way. Every time I say, "Evie, let's go fix your hair," she says, "Like this!" and puts her fists up to the sides of her head. So sweet! Here are some pictures of, as her daddy calls her, Little Miss Piggy Tails. 

 At the zoo - if you can get past that sweet face, check out the huge turtle in the background!

On the carousel at the zoo.

A Pilgrim and a Turkey

Yesterday was our Thanksgiving feast at Wee School, and I came home with a pilgrim and a turkey. They were too cute in their little hats to resist a few pictures.

And this is how I found them this morning. I pray they always love each other this much!

Let's go Nate's room, Nate!

The favorite game in our house for a couple weeks was night-night. Evie would say, "Let's go Nate's room, Nate!" and they would run off and play night-night. They made cozy little beds on the storage bins in Nate's closet, and then went through their bedtime routine - read a book, sang a song, and prayed together. It was sweet while it lasted.

 Nate even took his nap this way a couple times!

I didn't mind one bit when they asked me to play with them. Yes, I'd absolutely love to lie down and rest for a few minutes! Thank you for asking!

Meeting Ethan

Elizabeth and Matthew came to visit last weekend, so Nate and Evie finally got to meet baby Ethan! I got to meet him in September when he was born and I've been showing them pictures of him for weeks, but they finally got to hold him in their arms and love on him themselves. I'm so glad Elizabeth and Matthew didn't hesitate to pack up their 8 week old baby and fly him down here. I know very well how stressful it can be flying with a baby, nursing with minimal space, trying to keep the baby from disturbing all the passengers who were expecting a peaceful flight, changing dirty diapers in the teeny tiny airplane bathroom, and I could go on. We're obviously very grateful they came and can't wait to see Ethan (and his parents) again soon. Here are a few pictures.

 Ethan reminds me so much of my own baby boy. I think it's the big, bright eyes!

 Evie's turn!

 My turn! I think Ethan remembered me from his first days of life. :) 

If I'd known there were going to be pictures I probably would've showered first!

 Meeting Uncle Stephen.

 Having a nice little chat. Ethan is cooing and smiling. Sweet times!

Uncle Matthew taught Nate to play some games on his iPad. Think he liked it? Sure didn't help my case against Stephen's for getting one!

 Wide-eyed boys!

 Hanging out.

Evie is holding his pacifier in his mouth for him. She's always very concerned about babies' pacifiers!