Things, They are A-Changin'

Evan's Garden

Or, at least, they will be. I planted a little garden in memory of my son, Evan, last year. I planned it all out based on a partially sunny space. I picked out plants that could take a fair amount of shade. You know...Hydrangeas, Hostas, native woodland plants. Well, by the time summer rolled around, I noticed the sun's path was a bit different, and this bed was actually in full sun. In spite of the sun and in spite of the terrible drought last year, most everything survived. As the drought continues this year, however, things are starting to look a little ragged. Oh sure, the Hydrangea blooms are enormous.



But they look at death's door when in direct sunlight. Particularly, around the noon hour. So, I have decided to move the shade lovers from Evan's Garden to another shadier locale, and find some sun lovers for Evan's Garden. I won't move things until fall, so they may actually have a chance to survive, even though that means babying several things throughout the summer. So, my question is: what should I put in Evan's Garden? I currently have things with fun flowers (Hydrangeas...I'll keep the oakleaf hydrangeas there, and an Annabelle nearby) and things with fun names (Christmas fern, Toad Lily.) I think it would be a great spot for some sunflowers. What little kid (and big kid) wouldn't love sunflowers? Maybe another "Evan Matthew" Dahlia. What are some other neat perennials that would be good there? Evan loved those pom pom Marigolds, so those would be great, too. Any suggestions? Oh yeah, and drought tolerant is always a plus! Thanks!

I Can't Believe I Ate the Whole Thing!

Little Mommies

Every time we go to the park, there's a bevy of little girls who come over to see the baby. Some just look. Some pull back the little sun shade for a closeup. They look at me and smile and usually say, "Baby!" Their mothers usually tell them to "leave the baby alone" or "let the baby sleep" or even "yes, it is a baby!" It's very sweet to see the nurturing side of girls at such a young age. The boys mostly just run on by, but some little guys take a peek, too.




Duncan and Miranda on the "Caddy"

Duncan takes all of this attention in stride. He's actually pretty popular, too. Little kids just come up to him and want to play. Now that he's becoming more interested in other kids, he'll sometimes make himself available. But sometimes, he just wants to do his own thing.


Stylin' and Profilin'

His "own thing" usually involves climbing. Duncan is a climber. He likes the swings and slides, but he mostly enjoys anything that involves climbing. Monkey bars, firefighter poles, swinging bars, you name it. If it involves monkey like activity, he's there.


Our Little Monkey on the Monkey Bars

Occasionally, Duncan seems to attract as much little girl attention as Miranda, but from the slightly older set of females. We've had girls that are probably in second or third grade follow us around the playground. They play with Duncan. They call his name. "Come play, Duncan!" They help him on the monkey bars. This is actually very helpful for me, when he chooses to not listen to his mommy (I know, shocking, isn't it?) and climb the highest set. His little mommy is up at the top waiting for him and helps by taking his hand. Some girls "mommy" him by telling him he's not supposed to do whatever it is he's doing. With all his mommies, Duncan turns on his selective hearing when he's focused on his playing (aka naughty behavior.) Maybe it's wrong, but I'm glad it's not just me!

Streak Update

I thought I might be laid up for a couple of days after last week's knee "injury." Thankfully, I must have just come down on it hard, and it only hurt for about a day. So, I got right back into my Streak. I've been doing treadmill walk/runs for the last week and a half in addition to my usual crunches, back exercises, and Yoga moves. I would decide to go "hardcore" just as the summer weather really kicks in. It's nice that we have our own treadmill. If I had to drive somewhere to use a treadmill, I probably would have quit already. I guess I'll wait and take on my hilly neighborhood when it cools off. Until then I'll take on pretend hills in my basement. Yay me!

What Would You Do?

I was eating my cereal yesterday morning, and I picked up my grocery receipt from the previous day. The quote "you saved $.93 today" was what caught my eye. I thought to myself, "That's not much." I looked over the list to see that only one item on there was a sale item. I also noticed that there were a couple of items not listed. There were supposed to be two gallons of milk, there was just one. There were also supposed to be four Luna bars. Yep, just three. So, I thought about it. I knew everything got on the conveyor belt to be checked in. I missed a gallon of milk, because the bagger guy got it and gave it to the cashier. So, I guess she just missed those two items. So, should I drive over there, and pay for the milk and Luna bar? The drive over there costs at least as much as the Luna bar. I was wondering if I was overcharged for something, if I would drive back. I guess it depends on how much it was. Had I noticed the mistake while I was there, I would have gone back then. Had I never looked at my receipt (which is what normally happens), I would have been happily ignorant of the whole conundrum.

So, what would you do?

Muchas Smooches!

Back in our early days as a couple, Justin would say, "Muchas smooches!" I don't really remember if he then bombarded me with kisses (remember the little black helicopters, honey?) or if he was throwing long distance kisses or what. I don't remember when or where it began. Lately the phrase has popped back into my head.



It's hard not to kiss all the sweet, chubby cheeks around here.




Miranda sits in her bouncy seat and kicks her leg (or sometimes both legs) to get the chair rockin'. What else would you expect from our punk rock girl? I'll sit beside her when she's still, and give her a kiss on her cheek or forehead. She'll start kicking, like she's excited. I'll keep my face just close enough, so that I can kiss her each time she rocks forward in her chair. So, that's about a kiss every other second-give or take. So, I'm giving out lots of kisses. She seems to like it, because she keeps kicking. She'll stop, and I exclaim, "Muchas smooches!"

Weekend

Duncan with the Nail Gun (It's Unplugged!) and Appropriate Head Gear

Justin installed hardwood flooring in Duncan's Big Boy Room (aka Evan's room) over the weekend. It looks fantastic. Duncan was his Daddy's eager little helper.



Duncan Uses His Little Red Hammer to "Fix" the Saw Horse

He carefully hammered a screw (that's not a typo) on the saw horse. He added his own sound effects when he "used" the real nail gun. It sounded like "chuchuchu."


Daddy's Little Helper

Duncan's little face fell and he sought hugs when it got too noisy. Like when the air compressor came on. I commented to Justin that I thought it was amusing that Duncan was so sensitive to loud noises, seeing that he is kind of a noisy customer. Justin says, "Duncan doesn't think there should be anything around here that's louder than he is!"




We also made time to go to a local botanical garden on Sunday. We'd gone there in Winter and Spring. This was the first Summer trip. I gasped when we pulled into the parking lot. The daylilies were glorious. Of course, the main reason for going there that day was to see the Children's Train Garden. On our previous trips we saw the track, and wondered if the trains were still in use. I was looking up information about local rec programs, and saw that the train runs each Sunday from 1-3.


Choo Choo!

It was a lot of fun. Too bad the volunteers had to take everything down because a storm threatened. I hope we make the train a regular Sunday event.