Stinky Cows

On the way to the ward camp out, waaaay out in the country, we kept smelling cow farms and freshly fertilized fields. So I made the comment that it smelled icky, like stinky cows. Well today on the way home from the park, we passed another really freshly fertilized field (seriously, I wanted to hurl it smelled so bad), and Target Boy goes, "Mommy, stinky cows!" At least we know he is listening.

Ward Campout

Yesterday into today was the ward camp out. Because Target Man is working today (and because we didn't want to keep everyone up with Target baby's crying), we just went for dinner. It was a lot of fun. Target Boy can't stop talking about playing in a tent with the pillows and blankets or running through the tall grass with his new best buddies. We enjoyed sitting around the fire and just being in the quiet peace of the country. Anyway, here are some pictures, thanks to Megan for actually taking one of our whole family!

Mommy Pay

We had to run to Target to pick up diapers today after the park. Target boy loves to go look at the Cars Movie Cars and is always really good about not taking any home with him, so I always stop in that isle for him to look. Today, as I was buckling him back into his carseat he said, "Thank you mommy for seeing cars." Its little things like that, that remind me of why I love being a mom.

Speaking of fruits of our labors...

Target Boy threw a dinosaur into our radishes yesterday, so I went to get him out and much to my surprise our radishes were bulging out of the ground. We still probably have double this left in the ground. I figure they will last longer there than in my fridge!

Garden Man

For most of the years of our married life we have at least attempted some kind of Garden. This is not because I feel the overwhelming sense to follow the prophet or anything like that, rather it is because Target Man is obsessed. Every year his mother planted a large garden and he got to enjoy the fruits of her labors. Now he wants his own.

This is the first year we have been able to have a real garden, meaning it is actually planted in the ground and not in big plastic tubs. We opted for the square foot layout, but not the actual square foot method. So far we like it, less weeding, and since somehow that is my job I'm okay with that, and less water. We built a 3 x 3 layout with red pavers and planted nine things.

We probably should have checked the frost free date because our tomato and pepper seeds never grew, but they are now beautiful little plants (I am so thankful that someone else can take the time to grow them in little boxes so that I can plant them in my garden and feel amazed that I "grew" that). But we did successfully grow from seeds lettuce, radishes, carrots, peas, and cucumbers! Oh and later we planted strawberries along the back of the house.

While we were waiting for those little plants to pop up, Target Man would go outside probably three times a day and stare at the ground investigating anything green that might appear in the boxes. He got so excited over even the weeds growing. I was worried that he was going to kill everything by touching and poking and prodding all the new little sprouts. Really he was much worse than Target boy or Target Baby.

This is seriously not posed! I just snuck up on him.

So now we are in the waiting stage, he waters, I weed, we both keep the rabbits and little boys away and we wait until we can taste those yummily delicious nothing is better than home grown tomatoes!

Some Changes

So I have been a bit of a slacker lately and have not been really blogging. There are a few things I really am going to go back and blog about, but before that, I am going to be redoing the layout a little bit. So if you are (for some reason) actually trying to check and see if I posted anything, you may not actually be able to access my blog. It will be back shortly. I just don't think everybody should witness me struggling to mess with html! See you soon.

So I was tagged awhile ago...

Here are my 10 things. I would like to say that for anyone reading this and not yet tagged, do this one even if you don't post it. It was a great self esteem builder for me, it made my day/week better.

10 Things I Like About Myself

1. I love that I am smart. I feel like I am bragging or something, but that’s something I really do like about myself. I really enjoy learning and was jealous when my mom went back to school. I miss the research and the papers. I am a nerd and proud of it! Whenever there is a new event in our family (illness, buying a house, getting a new carseat, replacing a heat pump, etc.), I research all I can about it. I have a desire for knowledge.

2. I love that I like to move. In my family we always say that there are nomads and farmers when it comes to liking moving. Farmers stay in one place; they plant roots. Nomads roam. I am a nomad. I have lived in six states and one foreign country in my 25 short years of life. I have converted my husband to nomadism (a new word I know). We have lived in 4 places in our 5 years of marriage. I would like to say that maybe I am converting to the farmer lifestyle, because I love where we live and don’t want to move. But we have been here for less than a year, and Brett keeps reminding me that I always get antsy and he doesn’t believe that I will ever be content staying in one place.

3. I love that I am confident in my parenting. I may not always do things the way I think I should (or the way others think I should), but I am confident that I am doing the best job that I can. I love that I rarely yell at my boys. This may change as they get older, but I am able to keep calm and rational during meltdowns, for the most part. This is more than I can say about myself in other areas, like dealing with obnoxious customer service phone people.

4. I love that I can crotchet beautiful blankets. It might take me awhile to actually get them done in some cases (sorry Marian), but they are dang good, in my opinion, when they do get finished. Here are some of them; I always take pictures since I give them away.

5. I love that I am close to my family. I talk to my sister April and my mom at least once a day. April and I talk probably close to 5 times a day on average. Even though I don’t live anywhere near them, I feel close to them and a part of their daily lives. I guess that’s probably why I don’t feel like I have to live close to family. Here is the most recent picture I have of April and I together…

6. I love that I am a mom. I guess this is really related to #3, but it deserves its own blurb. I love being the center of my boys’ worlds while I can be. I love fixing owies, making monsters disappear, and teaching my little men about sacrament and Captain Moroni. I love to hear I try out his new vocabulary (“Where grandma be?” and “I does” are some of my favorites) or watch C discover hide-n-seek. It makes me happy.

7. I love that I made the decision to marry B. That may sound kind of strange, but I had always planned on serving a mission for our church after finishing college (I finished at 21). I met B the summer before my junior year of college and had a hard time deciding to give up my plan to go on a mission. It was something I had always wanted to do. I don’t regret the decision I made at all. I love my husband and love being married. I am sad I do not have the experience of being a sister missionary, but when I look at the relationship I have with B, no experience on a mission could be as good. He is just who I needed and my Heavenly Father knew that and thankfully helped me to know that.

8. I love that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I love that I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon and a strong testimony of prayer. I love that I know that I am a child of God. I love that I am responsible for building my relationship with my Heavenly Father and I love that I have the faith necessary to do so.

9. I love that I am a homeowner. We have wanted to buy a house for awhile and we just lived someplace way too expensive to do that. But now, we are the proud owners of what I call the Massive White Beast. It’s really not all that massive; it is just very flat and white from the front, but it’s ours (or really the bank’s, but we’re working on that part).

10. I love that I can sing. This one is simple. I love to sing and always have. My parents have way too many home videos of me dancing and singing in front of the camera. I am grateful that I don’t sound too bad. I am not your next American Idol, but I can hold my own in any choir and an occasional special musical number at church. So next ward talent show, sign me up!

I tag April, Cheata, Emily, and whoever else should be tagged.