The Coming Summer

We are trying something new. We are going to try and grow things. Things to eat and flowers. Gulp. I'm excited, but a little nervous because I have, ahem, a very black thumb. I'm not proud of it, but I'm working on it. I love gardens and imagine myself working the earth and making things happen. Buck and I were outside all afternoon on Saturday digging things in and planting. We planted 2 blueberry bushes and a grape vine and prepared a place on our slope for strawberry plants.

I welcome ANY and ALL advice on gardening! I'm even composting some things in the garden boxes. Ellis loved being in the pack ALL day yesterday. Here are some pictures of our adventures. Enjoy and please leave suggestions on growing things!

The Parable of the Front Door

I married a man who is almost the exact opposite of the father I grew up with. My dad and brothers are all very hands on and know how to make things work (ie: cars, bikes, tools, and the like). Bucky spent most of his high school goofing around, making people laugh, and pursuing music. Bucky is just as smart as anyone I've met and has a creative side that is seemingly endless.

When we were first married I constantly compared him to my dad. Unfairly, but I did it just the same. And he did it like wise with me and his mother. I constantly felt like I had to live up to this larger than life, amazing woman that he called mom. Over the years, we have relaxed a bit and realized that I will never be his mother and he will never be my father. Thankfully! We are our own people and have unique qualities that we both benefit from.

Fast forward two years ago when we bought our house. It's a cute little house built in 1942. The rooms are small and cozy and it has been remodeled some. Except the front door. Just painted. Bucky has been battling that front door since we've moved in. He's tried to make the seal better with weather stripping and we've put a towel at the bottom to stop the draft. To no avail. It's still drafty and the dead bolt doesn't work and you have to literally hip check it to close. Not good. So, yesterday he had had enough. He went to Home Depot determined to fix the problem. After applying two different weather strips and pulling them off again, he finally found one that worked. The door shut perfectly. Dead bolt and everything. Miracles never cease. :)

But Bucky was determined to fix the draft, so he installed a sweep along the bottom of the door to stop the draft. We took the door off the hinges and nailed it on. Perfect. The door now has no air coming in. The only problem is is that it will now not open. The carpet is higher than the thresh hold. Bucky got really discouraged and said something to the effect of of "Look at all these stupid unfinished projects I have around the house. I can't fix anything."

In previous years I might have concurred with him, but this time I realized that it didn't matter. It matters to me that he tries and fails more than if he doesn't try at all. It matters that he makes me happy and that he makes other people happy. It matters that he's a great father. And you can't compare that to anything else, really.

The Party...

Stuffed animals and kids everywhere. It was actually really fun. We got to meet my sister's new boyfriend. Super nice. Didn't manage to get any pictures of them together. Dang! I'll catch them next time. :) Thanks to everyone who came and played.

Our Evelyn Violet

Evelyn Violet came into this world on a Sunday morning. We had the planned c-section for the following day, Monday. But I went into labor early. The surgery was quick and went well. I was relieved because as any of you have been awake for a surgery know, it can be quite scary to say the least. As they placed this beautiful girl into my arms I remembered how precious she was. Bucky asked me what we should name her and I said Evelyn Violet. I was set on this adorable name.

"That sounds good. Evil and violent." That's all he said. And that my friends is Evie in two words. He was spot on. I should have named her Georgia or Rose or something else, neutral or sweet. She was not a good sleeper and threw up so much we had to wear a full sized towel over our shoulder to protect ourselves, but she was cute and sweet when she wasn't doing either of aforementioned things.

Evie grew and grew and started kindergarten this fall. What a change. She LOVES her teachers and classmates and still HATES getting up in the morning, but at least I can ship her off when she gets whiny. :) We are excited for her to turn 6. It's a turning point, I think, into childhood. I love this age. It's an age for learning and curiosity. So we're excited for you today Ms. Ev, we love ya and happy birthday!

Ellis - 4 Months

Things are really starting to look up for this kiddo. He began life a pretty unhappy guy and now look at him. Every day I just kiss the crap out of him. Thanks Dad for the early birthday present (the camera used for these pictures!). It was really thoughtful and I dare say one of the best surprises I've had in a long time.

Winterfest 2011

The city I live in is called Ogden. This city gets a bad rap sometimes because it used to be pretty scary. Like, drive-by shootings and gangs and what not. But, now our awesome mayor and city council have decided to clean things up. New businesses are reviving downtown and they have tons of things to do here now. The city is coming back to life. I used to be scared to live here, now I love it.

Today we all got dressed in snow clothes for the Winterfest. They close down the main street downtown and cover it with snow. Then they have all sorts of activities for people to do. My kids loved the tubing hill. They provide tubes and made ramps for the kids to go off of. It was awesome and then below they had snow machines (or snow mobiles if you're from anywhere other than AK) racing each other. It made me miss Alaska. :) They had vendors and a 5K and human dog sled races and all sorts of things.

People ask me a lot why we moved up here, now I can say, affordable housing AND community.

Help...

How do you deal with your kids fighting? My kids have been punching each other lately. And kicking. What the heck? I don't remember doing that as a kid. Only every once in a while. We are taking away TV and computer for today because of an incident this morning before school.


Help?