And to think I almost gave up...

Thursday night, while sitting on the back porch and staring out at the empty, weed filled, garden beds I convinced myself that it was too much to tackle.

I was already over analyzing what soil would be the best and had convinced myself that I didn't know much of anything about gardening. Perhaps it was already to late to plant any starts. And didn't I have enough going on? I decided I would just wait until next year and I'd be all prepared with knowledge and supplies! Fast forward 14 hours when I was at the park with my friend Jill, watching the kids play and I told her my plans to wait until next year. She wasn't going to have it. She pushed me forward and told me it didn't matter if I didn't know it all, just buy some local soil and wing it! And she was right. I told my mom later that day and she too suggested the same thing. This year could be a trial, a learning experience, I needed to do it! So Saturday morning quickly arrived and I started calling about soil. I needed it delivered asap and I found a winner. I headed to the farmer's market where I picked up 5lbs of asparagus (yum) and 5 different herb starts. (note: I have ZERO experience with herbs but I'm going to give it a shot). I arrived home and Nathan and I started to shovel away the layer of grass and weeds in our raised beds. And let me tell you, it is a PAIN in the ass. You had to shove the shovel in a couple inches repeatedly and then finally lift up and listen to the rip of all the roots of the nasty weeds that have taken over our yard. And do this over, and over, and over, and OVER again. Meanwhile, a gentleman arrived to deliver over FOUR tons of soil to our driveway. I'm pretty sure Nathan wanted to back out at that point because we knew we had to remove that soil from the driveway in the next 24 hours.
Finally, the scraping was finished, then we layered newspaper over the ground, wetting each layer with the hose, and then dumped in the soil. A big thanks to our little helper who spread the soil around with the rake. And of course, the handsome hubby hauling the soil, trip after trip.




The day quickly got away and by sunset we had only put a dent in maybe half of the dirt and we officially had nothing planted. So, blisters in all, I started scraping away and making space for raised bed no.3. Secretly I was excited by this because it only meant more space for planting. After an hour of shoveling I was halfway there to clearing the weeds. I passed out on the sofa at 9:00 from exhaustion while watching a movie with Nathan.






Sunday. Day 2 started bright and early. We had a quick cup of coffee, I went back to scraping the weeds and Nathan headed out for lumber for bed number three. By lunchtime we had the newspaper laid, half the bed finished, and all 3 boys fed. I was feeling confident we'd be done by supper time (forgetting about all that SOIL). So I headed to the nursery to get plants and left Nathan to finish making the bed and fill it with soil. Finally after hours of shoveling and 2 trips to the nursery the garden was finished! I am so excited to have it done and I have to say "it was much harder than I expected". The work involved this year, thankfully, will not be duplicated next year (making the beds, scraping weeds and moving 4 tons of soil). I am thankful for that! Even after 3 beds we still had leftover soil so I laid newspaper and poured some of the soil over our front landscaped area and I will mulch it tomorrow. And still there is more. But it's no longer in the driveway. The weekend was hard but I kept chanting in my head 'fruits of our labor, fruits of our labor'. We will soon be reaping the reward. More excitement to come...

Wordless Wednesday

The Cure

I've found my sanctuary by cleaning carpets and listening to some good music. Feeling much better! Does anyone else find cleaning/organizing calming or I do I have a screw loose?

SSDD (literally)

Warning: The following post WILL include profanity and negativity. Read at your own risk.

Same Shit Different Day has taken on a whole new meaning in this household. I have lost track of the number of times I've cleaned up Biruk's shit. It's either been in a cloth diaper, streaked all over the toilet seat and down the stairs as he's come looking for me or a trail of poop he's decided to scatter through the house. Today, was the latter of the three. I shut and locked my door for FIVE minutes as Conner read to me. Five minutes of peace and quiet so he could read without distraction from his younger brothers. My punishment; a HUGE turd outside of my bedroom door, followed by a pile around the corner. Landon has it all over his shirt while looking at me with his finger in mouth. Lovely. Just lovely. And all I kept thinking was "how the fuck do I handle this?". How in the world do I not harm this child who has just punished me with yet another pile of shit (literally). Tell me oh wise ones, how to I end this awful 9 months of potty training that I've yet to conquer? Conner was potty trained at 22 months old. Yet the nightmare will NOT end with Biruk. I'm at wits end.

In the past 2 weeks I've bragged to people how well Biruk has been and that I thought he was out of his "holyfuckingterrorfromhell" phase. So this morning he kindly reminded me it wasn't over by scooping cup fulls of Conner's morning pee out of the toilet all over the bathroom (they sleep upstairs with their own half bath). Then I later found him in the other bathroom with his cup and ready to rock and roll but thankfully I caught him in time. And trust me people I'm not sitting in my closet crying while this is happening (which would seem perfectly reasonable at this point). I'm a few feet away. I have kept bathroom doors shut but he now knows how to open them (guess I'll be investing in some baby proof things that cover door handles). But please share with me the bright side of all of this because I can no longer find any charm or positives from this nightmare of terrible twos, going on threes.... I feel like I can't get any more organized and clean, yet somehow he finds trouble. He never fails. And I fear my sanity and control that is about to be lost. One moment I feel I have it all figured out and then I'm rudely reminded that I will never have things under control. That there will always be a turd waiting for me around another corner and even more "shit" waiting to be cleaned up.

Time to dust off the carpet cleaner (again) and wander off to fantasy world (calgon take me away PLEASE)....

Now or never...

It's been 3 weeks since our first camping trip of the season. It was my youngest brothers spring break so my folks drove down to Arkansas to meet us and brought along my nephew. My sister drove up from Texas with her five kids and Nathan headed out with me to enjoy the first couple nights. We had an 8 night camping trip planned and we were busting out our new tent (thankfully a cheap tent as well), warm blankets, jackets and winter hats because the weather forecast was not in our favor. The days were going to be in the 50's, nights in the 30's. Thankfully I threw in our little electric heater as a last minute thought. Nathan drove seperately so he could spend the first weekend with us and help me get set up. The weather was beautiful and we got our tent set up while the kids played in the dirt. We ate a late dinner, put the kids to bed without a fuss and enjoyed a fire while gazing at the stars. Thankfully we brought the electric heater because it dropped to the low 40's the first night and started raining around 3 in the morning. And it didn't stop precipitating for the following 48 hours. Saturday our kids spent the day in the van while we either drove around or let them watch movies. It was freezing outside and they didn't have the appropriate clothing. We set my sisters tent up and her screen room and shivered around a fire (a very pathetic fire I might add). I was so desperate to make it feel like camping that even in the cold rain I cracked open a beer and roasted a marshmallow. It helped. By evening the rain turned to freezing rain. That night after setting up my parents popup camper we decided to play it safe and stay inside with them since the weather was unpredictable. Somewhere in middle of the night the rain stopped. I was optimistic things were about to turn around until I went to sneak outside to pee and couldn't open the door because the awning had collapsed and wouldn't allow me to open it. Why you might ask??? SNOW! SNOW! SNOW! And we aren't talking flurries. It must have snowed at least 10 inches (I have the photos to prove it). While it made for a very pretty setting, it was not at all what I had anticipated. And the kids were getting a little stir crazy. Our new tent collapsed (busting the poles) from the weight of the snow, as did my sisters screen room. By this point Landon was on day two without a nap and sleeping 2 hours less per night. To say I was slightly irritable would be an understatement. All that kept running through my head was "why the hell do you like camping again?" My van was flooded with camping gear and we had crashed my parents popup. I don't like not having my own space. But we somehow survived the day and Monday we woke to warmer temps. We ventured to the store for a shovel and rain boots for my boys so they could play outside. By Tuesday it had all melted and we even played at the park and had a wonderful game of tag (my dad even played) that included me learning my bladder mixed with laughter and running is not a good combination. Wednesday was gorgeous as well but by Thursday night (when I was certain Biruk had an ear infection) I called it quits. 7 nights was enough. The rest of them held out until Saturday morning. It was great seeing my family but apparently I am only a fair weather camper who likes her own space.

After a weekend of rest we ventured out the next 2 weekends for more camping. And both trips were wonderful! One was with 3 of my siblings (which included ball tag and learning that my bladder control STILL SUCKS) and the other with Nathan's family (hiking and kayaking). I am already researching for the next trip. I hope to post pictures soon because all three trips offered a variety of beauty! Thanks to all my family for the memories (good and the bad :)! More 'adventures in camping' to come....

Good Friday, Good Listening

The boys enjoying The Clash, Hitsville UK, with dad.

The latest sleeping pattern...

Happy St.Patty's day to all!

Cause & Effect

Totally productive but late night = Completely unproductive day

Putting Landon in timeout while I talk to my dad = Landon getting into upstairs toilet (with Conner's stale pee) and scooping it out with a fake ice cream cone ALL over the bathroom tile. It looked as though the bathroom was flooded.

Landon's bathroom mess = Bath for all 3 boys = splashing and more water on the floor

One batch of rice krispy treats = 3 lbs of fat on my mid section after eating 3/4 of them in 6 hours.

Biruk pooping on potty unattended (for 10 seconds) = Biruk walking out of bathroom with a shit trail following him while looking for me (even though I stressed DO NOT get off the toilet)

30 degree camping trip this coming week with my family = hair up my *ss and pretend shopping for a popup camper (instead of the tent)

Fake fantasy = need to get back to reality

Decided to set up my tent to get me excited = knocked the beautiful light fixture (with 4 globes and a dozen light bulbs) with the tent while putting in a pole

tiny little bump on the light = 25 lb light crashing to the floor = SHATTERED GLASS EVERYWHERE (at 10:00 at night no less)

And all I could think was 'thank god I bumped the tent with this light'. Could you imagine if one of the kids had thrown a football or toy at the fixture? I was almost relieved it happened. And I was able to clean it up while the kids slept. It sounds crazy but I think it was a blessing in disguise.

Weird, crazy, day = weird, crazy, blog post that makes absolutely no sense (with all sorts of grammatical errors)

Paperwork Procrastination

I hate paperwork. Hate it! Paying bills, keeping everything balanced, filing, etc. It all gives me a headache and I procrastinate as long as I possibly can. However, I had several things hanging over me that are all due within the next month. It includes a post placement report for Biruk, taxes, reimbursement on several medical bills (that require filling out forms and faxing them in with appropriate documentation), a care package and the typical monthly bills. Well they have all been lingering in my brain the past couple weeks and since I have some exciting plans over the next week I knew I MUST get these tasks accomplished. Last night I made this very long list of impending paperwork and my dear readers - guess what? I woke up this morning and have not stopped working on it until 15 minutes ago (2 a.m. I might add) and I am happy to report - I'M FINISHED!! I feel like a HUGE weight has been lifted off my shoulders. One trip to the post office and a fax and it will be completed. I'm happy to report the post placement will actually arrive ON TIME! This is a first for me, but hopefully not the last. And because of all this hardwork the little peeps will surely sleep in tomorrow, wouldn't you think? Do you hear me boys - PLEASE sleep in past 7:00. Oh, who am I kidding- I will be greeted by one of their faces in a little over 4 hours.... bring on the coffee!

Slip, sliding away...

For the past week I've either been wiping snot of the kids faces or blowing my nose (thank you irritating allergies). Thankfully we are seeing improvements in the kids after a week of very little sleep for all of us. We crashed at 9 p.m. last night. A Friday night and we couldn't even make it through one movie.

After spending the day at my computer doing taxes and Nathan entertainting the kids we decided to head down to the park. The fresh air was good for all of us and tomorrow is supposed to be even better. I'm hoping to get our raised beds in the ground followed by soil & heirloom starts this week. Wish me luck :)

Don't forget to turn back your clocks in the morning.

I've fallen...

Dear local grocery chain,
Why oh why must you throw all that junk food at me when I walk in the front door of your store? You see, I'm trying REALLY hard to eat healthy and you are not helping at all. Today I made the mistake of coming to the grocery store hungry and b/c of your bargains I left with fixins for rice krispie treats, oreo's (AGAIN), animal crackers, cheezits and ice cream. I have officially fallen off the wagon and hope to get back on. I will remember next time to visit with a full stomach. I really do love you local grocer so please don't let this happen again.

Sincerely,

your loyal shopper,
Chatter

Longing for more of this...

One of those (bad) days...

Life can't always be easy. If it were, I would not appreciate the "good" days nearly to the extent I do now. Today is one of those days that I'm certain the boys really are trying to make me crazy. The 4 year old is definitely testing his limits verbally, the 2.5 year old is perfecting his dramatic squeal after he is told "no" and the almost 2 year old thinks he needs to be attached to my hip all over again. No means yes in their ears and my angry face is a smile in their eyes. It's days like today that I try to be thankful for our health, warm home and running water. It's good to keep things in perspective :). That doesn't take away the screams, fighting and messes. So I'm shoving my mouth full of warm chocolate chip cookies out of the oven and dreaming about a getaway with my hubby that will not likely happen. No harm in pretending right? May tomorrow bring us sunshine and smiling faces...

Mr.Cool

Landon has been putting his arms up behind his head like this for a couple months now. He does it when I change his diaper, when he's lying on the floor watching tv, and even when he sleeps. It's one of those things that I never want to forget because it cracks Nathan and I up everytime he does it.

These are all photo's I had downsized and had planned on blogging about and it never happened. And since it's late and my brain shut down a couple hours ago I will let the picture speak for themselves. I will say one more thing, I'm loving these boys of mine!

It's one of those days...

where I am doing a whole lot of nothing and loving it!

I slept until 8:00 even though the boys were up and needed diapers changed and breakfast fed.

I snacked on oreos and drank coffee all morning.

I watched my boys play and took pictures.

I got the courage to call a blogger friend and I'm so thankful I did. Who knew I'd have so much in common with someone halfway across the country?

I read books to the boys while they ate lunch and made animal sounds with them just so they'd finish their meal without a fuss.

I skipped lunch and ate a big bowl of ice cream, topped with crushed oreos instead.

I am reading blogs.

I made the 2 bigs boys lay down for naps even though they probably won't sleep.

I'm daydreaming about a trip back to Ethiopia.

I'm enjoying the view out my bedroom windows.

The only housework I've accomplished is doing dishes and washing diapers. I felt the need to take the day off.

I have no intentions of changing the mood, it's just too perfect.

I am hoping the evening includes a warm bath, a good book and glass of wine.

How do you like to enjoy your lazy days?

The baby of the family...

Biruk seems all boy these days so I'm going to have to hold onto the fact that Landon is still a baby. Thankfully he still has all his little arm rolls and baby fat. And of course his cheeks. I could gobble this one up when he lies on the floor like this.

Tuhtdown...

I started my day hoping for the Colts to win but after the pregame show I was secretly rooting for the Saints. And seeing Drew Brees with his little boy afterwards made me even happier. Way to go New Orleans! Little Landon, the "ootball" fan in the house, stayed up late to finish the game with dad. Here is a clip of him cheering for a "touchdown".

Beauty...

I am not at all gifted in the cooking department. I've made potato soup a few dozen times and yet it always turns into mashed potatos. My cookies are usually doughy or burnt. I always forget to use salt and the simplest of recipes I manage to screw up. Yet I continue to cook and bake. Nathan's mom has made this beef roll for us several times and finally I attempted it myself since I'm always craving it. Here is proof of my sad, pitiful attempt at cooking. You cut the dough and braid it. Isn't she lovely...