Walda Cometh

Yesterday afternoon I was in a tank top running the A/C and thinking about making some sun tea.

Then Walda came.

A nearly fifty-degree drop in a matter of hours reminds you that Oklahoma's weather is decidedly bipolar.

Thankfully it got too cold to have any real threat of a tornado, but this morning we got to experience a bit of freezing rain. 

This is when I'm glad I can stay in my pajamas (get the kid breakfast), make a cup of tea (get the laundry basket and balls so she can play), put a fire in the fireplace (clean up the 100 plastic balls she dumped out), reheat the tea (wash the breakfast dishes and start lunch), put on some soothing music (turn it off to put on Elmo so she'll eat something for lunch besides a gallon of milk), and relax (sit down for the 18th time to get up before 30 seconds to kiss a boo boo or go to the potty or get her a snack or yell at Roy for trying to sneak her apple slices).

Doesn't that sound lovely? Sometimes the condensed version is what I think is going on in my head, and the italics are what is really happening.

Now that she's down for a nap I'm reheating my tea again, putting my music back on and took a few minutes out in the freezing wind to take some pictures of this event.

This is when I'm thankful I haven't put any seedlings out yet! 

This tree is normally a nice domed shape, but with the wind and ice it took on a new shape.

We lost a small branch off the maple tree...thankful it wasn't a bigger one!

Off to get another snack, wipe her nose, get the blocks out, and think about what to make for dinner.  And there is GREAT news--my parents are flying to Arizona tonight and on Friday will be headed back east with Ammah in tow! They're due to arrive Saturday night, so if you could please keep them and their travels (and Ammah's house appraisal) in your prayers we'd appreciate it!

50 Shades of Brown

Yesterday Matt and I rolled up our sleeves and set to work on the swath of mud that is our garden space. First order of business was to get those raised beds into the ground so I can get some plants and seeds in. 

I was going to use landscape timbers to have that rustic look, but after calling Lowe's and learning they don't cut that type of timber for you--and not wanting to hand saw 22 timbers--we decided to go with the pre-made cedar beds from Home Depot.

Putting them together was a breeze, then came the task of making sure it was level. I assigned that to Matt while I marked out the edge of a sunflower border and area where we want an evergreen tree.

After a lot of shifting, mallet-pounding, and more shifting around Matt declared he was finished. I turned to appraise it and saw it wasn't parallel with the fence...and if you're doing squares next to each other they need to be parallel. 

During this time, we decided to put Tatum in an old dress and let her go crazy with sidewalk chalk paint. Sadly, I don't have any pics of her painting the sidewalk, or her feet, or her legs, or her dress...we were all too muddy and messy to handle a camera! But I do have an "after" shot...it looks like Roy was a canvas for the paint as well.

After a lot of shoveling, digging, smoothing, tamping, rinse and repeat, we finally had the bones of our garden up. Sunflower, coreopsis and nasturnium seeds are planted, and a nomadic rosemary has finally found a home. 

Since we are expecting some severe weather early this week, I'm waiting a few days to put my seedlings in as I don't want them pummeled by hail the day after I plant them. 

True, it just looks like a lot of different shades of brown at the moment. And Matt bought a different mulch than we already had so we're way behind on the mulching aspect. But in my mind it is lush and green and brimming with gardeny-goodness!

Groovy-land

We left our house around 10:30ish Wednesday morning to begin our trek to see Matt's parents in Groveland, CA.  Or as the locals call it, Groovy-land.

Not much detail other than this will be the last trip we don't buy a seat for Tatum.  Being nearly 34 inches long she is getting far too big to sit comfortably on our laps for an extended period of time in those tiny cubicles of seats.

Here are a few pics from the journey...

And the problem with Oreos for lunch is???

I've been traveling for eleven hours...I have a right to be a double-fisted-snackster...

Headed for Groovy-land...

This little trooper went 15 hours without a nap and had only a two-minute meltdown before crashing in her carseat on the drive up the mountain. She was so out that I walked in and put her in her pack n' play without even changing her diaper or taking off her bib.  She stretched, rolled over and continued sleeping soundly...until about 3:30 when I'm sure she woke up wondering where the hay she was.  After a change, letting her hair down, getting her in pajamas and some rocking she was back down again.

Today we rested, she took a THREE hour nap, then we went down to the lake and then to a park. Here's an overdose of cuteness for ya:

She looooves her Dada

And at the end of the day, after bath time, this is what Matt came into the bathroom to find:

Potty/pedicure time.

Such is our life and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Sod-->BUSTED!

The major portion of the garden area has been sod busted!

I did the math, and I worked over 50 hours clearing 160ish square feet of sod.

Today there was just "the island" left. A portion of grass at the top of the clearing that still had to be dug up. Then we're free to rake it level and put in the garden beds!  I started outside around noon, and worked for nearly 7 hours at it. And it was in the low 40's all day...brrrr! I wore my snow pants (waterproof and warm!) and quite a few layers on top!

To give you an idea of how long it takes to get ALL the stinking Bermuda grass out, I took this picture at 5:58

And this one at 6:57

That is some SLOW going!  And that is one solid hour (and two buckets of grass and roots) of work. I got a cup of coffee before taking the first picture and refilled after taking the second. In between I kept my head down and worked and clawed that dirt as fast as I could.

My furry companion was there with me for most of it. At one point he was standing on the island gazing so quizzically at the dirt I went to take a picture of him...and in a second he went from just looking, to 

THIS

to THIS

With me yelling "No dig! No dig!!!"

Then I thought, "Well...maybe it would go faster..."

Then I envisioned a yard full of holes and that affirmed my gut reaction.

And I've learned a few things in my 50+ hours of digging this past month.  

That I love being outside. 

That my hair actually remembers what the sun does to it and gets so much lighter.  

That Tatum loves being outside too, but when I tell her she can't water the plants any more she gets fed up and goes inside.  

That I love listening to the birds flirt with each other. 

That our soil is actually pretty darn healthy--lots of earthworms and very few grubs.  

That I can now quickly dispatch of said grubs with a pop of my fingers, whereas at the beginning I used the spade. 

That I despise, loathe and HATE Bermuda grass and its never-ending maze of stubborn stolons that will magically create another lush carpet of grass if you so much as leave a quarter of an inch of the stuff. 

That dirt will be under my fingernails even when wearing gloves. 

And that I will be very very glad when this is all covered with landscape fabric and mulch and the real gardening (in raised beds!) can begin.

So goodnight...I've earned a long soak in a hot tub for my aching back! And hey--look! I'm actually in a picture! What you can't see is how covered in mud and dirt I am!!!

Either/Or

One year ago on March 3, 2012--I walked into the front door of our house for the first time. I saw walls that needed painting, a cat smell that needed eliminating, and a wonderful floor plan that I could see our family gathering in.  Matt was camping at the time and so I made an offer on my house without even talking to him--thank goodness we have a good relationship!

It is a year later and the walls have been painted, there is now a toddler smell in place of a cat smell, our family regularly gathers and it is time to turn our attention outside.

When we bought the house the backyard was 100% bermuda grass with a wood deck next to the square of concrete right outside the doors. Not a shrub, not a flower, not a tree in sight. In fact, it was so boring we don't really have any "before" pics.

With limited resources and time I managed to do a 4' x 4' veggie garden that I mostly began too late in the season and some potted flowers.

Last fall we planted a Cleveland select flowering pear tree (which I now am reconsidering for something more multi-tasking like a cherry tree or serviceberry tree), and I dug up two flowerbeds alongside the house to prepare for spring. I planted a few bulbs but nothing else, letting cardboard and mulch chill for the winter.

After a lot of research and numerous measurements and countless sketches on graph paper, I've finally got the bones of some landscaping for our backyard down.  With gas and cable lines running a full 5 feet along the back of our yard by the fence, I'm restricted from really doing much along the fence, although I'll try some vines to help bring a little life to the boring wood.

A few weeks ago, after a lot of snow and some rain and before another storm was supposed to hit, I dug up the outline of Phase 1 garden area in our backyard. 

And realized I was either going to have an awesome backyard come June or I'd just made a really big mistake.

So I've spent the last several weeks outside, digging up bermuda grass, adjusting my plans, taking measurements again. Roy has enjoyed the increase in outdoor activity and decided to adopt a log of firewood as his new toy.

It has grown larger over the weeks...

And has spread...

And I've had a very willing helper...

And a very lazy dog (other than chasing away those savage birds)

I was able to find time to put a few flowers in one of the flower beds I started last fall, and the bulbs are coming up now. The back row will be sweet peas, and morning glories will climb the trellis.

And little by little we're digging up the hated bermuda grass and getting ready to put in the raised beds. It looks different every day...put probably only to us! And now to decide...to tree or not to tree...that is the question.

We're hoping to get that done this weekend and get some seeds in the ground before we leave for Northern California next week to spend Easter with Matt's parents. Wish us luck!

Tatum Is

Tatum is a firecracker. 

She loves playing with big kids. 

She loves to say no. 

She brushes her own teeth and has decided to make the switch from bottle to sippy cup a power struggle. And I thought she was totally read to be potty trained and now she knows she is going but runs away when I try to get her to go on the potty! 

She can use my phone almost as well as I can. 

She says hi and waves to the most scary people in Walmart. 

She knows what Sasquatch says. 

She has the best giggle in the world and we all will make complete idiots of ourselves in public to hear it. 

She loves to tickle her Dada, and only he can get her to go back to sleep in the middle of the night, and stretch a wake up time from 6 am to 8! 

She loves her mama, and snuggles up when she's sleepy and pats my face and says "Mama" in a slow sleepy way that just makes me come undone. Then she squirms to be put down and calls for Roy and goes and decorates him with stickers and sings "Bye-o bye-o baby" to him. 

She is violently affectionate.

She is frustratingly lovable when she "accidentally" feeds Roy or pretends she has to use the potty as an excuse to not take a nap.

This is just a little snapshot of my baby girl--I wrote most of this in an email with my best friend and thought I'd share it with y'all as well :-)

Baby, You Butter My Cheese

I've had the title of this post started for a couple months now and kept putting it off, but after going back to Orange County and talking to so many good friends who follow this blog I realized I need to keep posting things whether its perfect or not.

Was that a run-on sentence?

Too groggy to care. More writing, less editing.

As many of you have seen, I have a very spirited and very opinionated little girl.

She knows what she wants and it is completely my fault if I don't understand the difference between one babble and another. 

A few months ago she was going through a teething phase and was hungry. Bread and butter is one of her favorite things to eat and usually involves her trying to eat as much of the butter and as little of the bread as possible. Another favorite is cheese, which she pronounces "Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese" in a high pitched voice.

She wanted butter. That much I understood. But when I handed her bread and butter tears followed. 

"What do you want?" I asked.  

"CHEEEEEEEESE!" came the tearful reply.

I handed her a slice of cheddar cheese.

She took it...and tears started anew as she handed it back. 

"What?!" I asked, exasperated, "You said you wanted cheese!"

"Bu...bu..." she wimpered.

Then I got it.

"You want butter...on your cheese?" I asked.

Vigorous nodding.

So when we really want to express how much we love each other in our family, we now say, "I'd butter your cheese."