To Garden or Not to Garden

That was the question.

When my landlord showed me a place about 75 yards from our home where I could garden, I was ecstatic.  But then I doubted.  I figured that drought, fungus, bugs, and deer would rob me of any rewards.  Plus walnut toxicity, as the area is surrounded, and I pulled out about a dozen small walnut trees in prepping the soil.  And any financial investment we'd made and physical efforts we'd labored at would be wasted.  (Then again, is exercise ever wasted?)  But let's be honest, can I not garden when I have any square inch of open dirt?  

So thank you to some friends for introducing me to a deer fence (and sharing some supplies with me).  The deer only wreaked havoc once--before I put it up the 6 ft. mesh wall.  After that I only saw their hooves on the outside!

I eventually couldn't keep up with watering by hand (carrying milk jugs of water out there), and I didn't even begin to fight the pests, so it definitely didn't last as long as it could have, and the walnut toxicity did affect the tomatoes, but not completely, and it was still an abundant harvest!  Green onions, zucchini, yellow squash (waaayyyy too much--even after I took out a full grown plant), cucumber, tomatoes, peppers (red and green), and green beans.  It's always nice to have enough to share. . . I just don't like anyone to feel obligated to take it.  :)  I'd usually just bring a box to church and let whoever wanted to take it, and it always ended up empty.   We also had some sugar snap peas and beets on our deck in containers, and plenty of tomatoes and some little strawberries in the front.

Try again:  The cilantro needed more water, the onions and garlic seem to have disappeared, and the pumpkins didn't make it too far.  (Sad about the pumpkins.) Next year.  Plus, other friends have inspired to me to try lettuces!

Back in the spring, Ked loved to eat "vegetables from the porch"--sugar snap peas.

Tyn (~9 months) had Roseola, but you can't see his spots in the picture.  

Snuggler

If it's sucking the thumb that makes a baby more of a snuggler, please give me thumb-suckers for all of the rest!

Ked In Charge

When Ked dresses himself.

Remind me why we paid around $100 for a bed and mattress?  And why do we still have to leave a night light on and put a blanket over the window blinds (to keep car lights from shining through and bugging him) when he now demands to sleep with the lights on?

Ked was very excited about "ice cream on my fire!" for his birthday.  

We have a three-year-old!

Update

A week after his first rock incident, Ked threw another big rock on his toe.  Big black toe, eventually losing the toenail, which he was pretty upset about.  I'm afraid, however, that he's only learned that Injury = Video.

Ked started preschool with his friends.  A bunch of us put it together and are the teachers/supervisors.  A lot of the other mothers were early childhood education majors, so the two hours are fully formatted (and age-appropriately relaxed).  We started out last week at our house.  It was fun, but exhausting too!

Tyn:  After he was mostly weaned, he became Daddy's boy, which Sam loved.  Now he's back to Mama's boy as teething and sickness has encouraged a little more nursing again.  At least he is FINALLY mostly sleeping through the night!  To 5:15am at least, usually.  (That took some work!)

Tyn still doesn't like to eat much, and it's often only with great effort and patience that I can get him to.  (He does like munching on whole vegetables from our garden, however.)  Whoever says that a child won't let himself starve hasn't been around Tyn enough.  Nevertheless, his empty-belly body seems to have abundant energy (especially when he's really grumpy from hunger--that's when he throws his most elaborate temper tantrums).  Just like his big brother, he loves to climb up anything he can.  He has his own little "stomp dance" that he does on tables and desks.  When Ked was in this stage, I got rid of the chairs.  I don't think I can do that again.  Sometimes I just really need to sit down!

Having Tyn weaned makes it soooo much easier for us to get out.  We've enjoyed going to the river and to Dismal Falls.  The boys loved both!  The last time we were at Dismal, we'd been here a month, and I was exactly a month shy of delivering Ked.  We've grown!

I forgot Ked's swimming trunks, but he didn't seem to mind.  Both boys loved the little pools to play in.  

Youth Tubing and Temple Trips

This last week was a busy and fun one with two bigger activities with the youth from our church.  It has been reaffirmed to me that planning and executing activities is not one of my natural strengths, and it has brought a lot of personal weaknesses to the surface.  But I know it's all part of Heavenly Father's plan to help me stretch and grow, and it's definitely working.  Lots of room still for improvement and progress! 

I do absolutely love working with and being with the youth (and other leaders).  They are awesome!

The tubing was really fun.  Riding the lopsided tube resulted in a wild ride in the turbulent (but small) rapids with nothing but a life jacket.  I got some pretty good bruises and scrapes going over the big rocks.  And swallowed some water.  A little scary but the most fun part too!  Made me miss the ocean and getting pounded by big waves. Stupidity resulted in me also falling off one of the bigger tubes and going through the washing machine again, but it was shorter lived, being easier to get back on the tube.

The girls were really nice about helping me get back on my tube.  :)

The Washington DC temple trip was really neat.  A great experience for all of us.  

Picnic lunch and Frisbee after the long car drive.  

I loved watching them play in their suits and dresses.  My apologies to the parents for their muddied clothing!

Here we go again. . . the toddler stage of climbing!

A few days after Tyn turned one, I turned from my desk to see him just chilling on the couch.  It the next week or so, he's gotten up on the coffee table and over and into the bathtub.

This morning, Sam was working at his desk right next to the kitchen while Tyn was playing around.  Sam suddenly realized that Tyn had been awfully quiet, so he quickly peaked into the kitchen and found Tyn sitting merrily on the kitchen table, a ripe banana in each hand, chewing on both of them (eating the peel as well as the fruit).  Hey, at least he was finally eating!  I hope he will be easy on my and just require the pushing in of the kitchen chairs, and not their entire removal (as had to be done with Ked)!

Emergency Room... or Kitchen?

Sam brought a wailing Ked in from outside just before bedtime.  Apparently, after Sam had just told him not to, Ked threw a big rock up in the air. . . and then proceeded to duck under it.  The subsequent split in his head probably could have used one stitch, maybe two, but after assessing the situation and consulting with the man who stitched me and all my siblings up multiple times on the kitchen table (my dad), we opted for the easier, cheaper, and more time-efficient route--peroxide and super glue.  Hope Ked doesn't come to regret our decision (or our handy work)!

Ked watching a video at the end of the procedure.  The wound is hidden by his hair.

(I put the rock there just for the picture to show the size.)

Ked being silly while he displays the imfamous rock.

Tyn turns 1

I tried to let Tyn do some of his favorite things on his birthday--like play with the hose.  He has moved up from the 1st to the 3rd percentile in weight.  We've worked hard for the roundness of that little belly!  It's still a lot of work and patience to get him fed, but we are slowly seeing improvement.

Love the snaggle tooth.  Still working on getting a better picture of it.

In true Tyndale style, he only ate a few bites of his cupcake and smashed the rest.  

For days after, Ked begged me for "cupcake on my fire."

Can't get enough of our little snuggler!

Cars, Trains, and Bikes

Some friends just gave us this little car.  This picture doesn't do it justice, but the boys were sooo cute riding in it together.

Ked and Sam decided to make it a train. Ked did a great job pulling Tyn around. 

 Tyn loved it!  I love his smile in this shot.  (You have to zoom in to really appreciate it.)

Following in the footsteps of his brother, Tyn has become a trick rider at a young age.  

(Tyn almost 12 months, Ked almost 3 years)

Motherhood Badge of Honor

I once heard an acquaintance describe her motherhood badge of honor.  After comforting her crying child, she was left with the remnants of a runny nose on her shirt.  While she at first went to change the shirt, she ended up leaving it on, and felt that it was her badge of motherhood.  "I comforted my child today," it proclaimed.

Tyndale is a cuddler, which I LOVE, but it also means my shirts are frequently covered in marks of drool and slime.  And baby food, since I often feed him while holding him.


The terrain was hilly where we went camping recently, and beginning-walker Tyndale took a lot of falls.  After a particularly bad down-hill face plant, I quickly scooped him up and held him as he cried with his face in my shoulder.  I ignored his fists full of dirt and plant material and the wet debris all over his little body and just held him tight.  It took me a moment to realize that he had a bloody lip, but I didn't realize until much later in the day how much he had bled on my shoulder.  Call it my motherhood badge of honor.  I got to comfort my child.  (If you could see well, you'd also notice the remnants of his breakfast on my shoulder.)

Camp Out

We had our annual church congregation camp out, so we bought a new, bigger tent.  

(I LOVE being able to stand up in it!)

 Tyn was really excited about setting the tent up in our family room, just to check it out.

 Ked was just as excited about the box it came in.

 Tyndale loved walking around, exploring and eating lots of dirt.  I'm always amazed at the flexibility of his knees.

 Ked loved manning the fire, playing with sticks, eating marshmallows, and getting really dirty.  

It's a little scary having him so independent now, and wandering off.  I lost him a few times, one of those times just to find him back in our tent, taking care of himself.

 Tyn thought it was great fun that we were all sleeping together.  He lasted until 3am in his pack-n-play, and then decided we should party the rest of the night.  Ked agreed.  As tired (and frustrated) as I was, it was still tender when they snuggled up to me, even if it rarely lasted long.  Unfortunately we also woke up some of our neighboring campers.

Little Friends

Old photo of Ked, Tyn, and some of their friends at the park. 

This was almost a bad parenting moment.  At some moment during my photo shoot, Tyn suddenly leaned a little too far forward. . . I just barely caught his head in time!

My BABY has become a TODDLER

It's official.  Tyndale is now walking full time.  

TA DA!

I love how his chest is puffed out with pride in this photo.  Really he is just about to throw the ball.  He loves to throw and chase this ball around the house.  (Thanks, Katie!)

 Tyn took his first steps around 10 months, but didn't really get solidly into walking until after 11 months.  He especially likes to carry things around the house. 

And he continues to put everything into his mouth.  A sock is yucky, but it's a lot less dangerous than some of the other objects he holds in his mouth while walking!

Despite his energy, he is absolutely refusing any food from a spoon, and most other foods require GREAT persuasion.  I spend most of my day preparing new various foods and just trying to get him to eat, especially when it's obvious he's hungry.  Then he's so much happier when something is finally in him!  The flat, empty belly when he's already in the 1st percentile for weight is worrying me!

Boston

A few days ago, I was explaining again to Ked that Sam was in Boston.  

“Moson,” Ked said.  

“Boston,” I replied.  

“Moson.”  

“Ba-ston.”  

“Moson.”  

“Ba-STon.”  

Finally, Ked decided to help me get it right.  

“No, Monson and Uchtdorf!"

Walkin' Tyn

Tyn's first steps were at 10 months, 2 weeks, but I think he has too many push toys that he'd rather use.  But here he is practicing some of his moves.  11 months, 1 week

Pete's Dragon Dance

You have to be familiar with this part of the movie to really appreciate this.  He's still working on the heel-kicking part.  I love this boy.  

Ked, 34 months

The Calm After the Storm

We took a quick road trip to Kentucky.  Last time to see my sister before she moves!  :(  Now no one in my family will be less than a 16 hour drive away.  Ked has been begging go back to visit cousin Dane, but I think he still likes his toys more than anything.  

Evening chat on the porch.  Brandi and tired Dane.

Grateful we were able to make it to the temple!  It's getting trickier with multiple kids and the distance.  Many thanks to Brandi and family for providing us a great place to stay and watching the kids for us.

Four years of marital bliss!  And I still can't take a good picture.  I was tempted to cut myself out of this one, but that would kind of defeat the point of a picture in front of the temple, no?

The Tyn-man has discovered the Dora car.  He prefers to ride it backwards.  Unfortunately, he has also learned it can be used as a stool, so sometimes I hide it from him.  Too many near disasters and at least one unfortunate incident.

Some days he's more excited than others that he can do a little walking.  I think he has too many push toys to play with instead. Three cheers for him now eating like a champ!  Just starting this last week.  I now have high hopes he'll rise above the first percentile in weight!  11 months

Just as we were packing up to head home, we got multiple phone calls from friends from church asking if we had power and if we needed a place to cool off or cook food, etc.  Turns out we missed the most exciting natural event of the year!  A derecho--super strong, hot wind storm.  Without rain.  Knocked down tons of trees.  Of course, it wouldn't have been so exciting if we were like many of our friends who were without power (and AC in the humid heat and without water for many who use pumped well water) from 5 hours or so to a day or a few days or a week.  And at least one of my friends still doesn't have power or running water nine days later.  Because of our location, we probably only had our power flicker a little.  

Sunday night there was a fierce thunderstorm in the middle of the night.  I normally love them (we don't have a lot of big trees right next to our home), but this one seemed a little more intense, and it surprised me that I actually felt slightly frightened.  Taking the boys out the next day, I was amazed at all the tree litter scattered across the big grassy area behind our home.  Nothing really big, but lots of little brown branches from the Friday storm, and green branches from the Sunday night storm.  

On the 4th at the park down our street.  One of many downed trees.  

My ingenious husband figured out how to allow Ked to enjoy fireworks!  He loved them, as long as these things were on!

We just watched them from home, as Tyn was asleep, and we live pretty close to where they are set off.

Fun with Papi

Tyn loved our friends' tree swing with his Papa.

Grocery shopping is way more fun when Papi comes!

Tyn 11 months, Ked 34 months

Snakes, Teenage Girls, and Two of my Cuties

(copied from BBW blog)

I was recently asked to head the program for young women (teenagers) in our church. I've been both very intimidated and totally thrilled.  It's a big responsibility and time commitment, but I am totally loving it, and Sam is very supportive, which is crucial.  So neat to be able to have a part in the growth of the girls' faith in Jesus Christ and determination to follow Him.  Of course, it's a big growing experience for me too.  And humbling!

This last week was a week-long outdoor camp for the girls.  I could only go a day (because of nursing), but it was a neat experience.  I thought this snake was a strip of tire while I walked alongside it a few feet away.  I've always liked snakes (my mom's a great snake catcher), but here I don't know a poisonous one from a non-poisonous one, so they are all a little more scary to me.  

And thus we see why I wash all the big utensils right before they are used.  This is Tyn's favorite playground.  

 

Tyn (10 1/2 months) has taken a few steps here and there, but still has a ways to go before really walking, I think.  But he is a little mountain goat climber, and we have found him in some precarious situations, which is scary!

Ked has decided that sometimes he likes the hardwood floor more than his bed.