Goin' green

Gianna, getting bigger and leaner by the minute.

Things are greening up around here, ever so slowly.  I have halted my garden plans for the past few days, due to rain and cold weather.  I am a wimpy farmer. But, I am wearing my down jacket today! Crazy NY weather.

Friday night, we had a thunderstorm. RWF and I both enjoy a good thunderstorm. It was even more exciting because the power went out.  We sat in our dark, quiet house, whispering and waiting for the lights to flicker on.  After waiting for about 20 minutes, we went to bed, excited to go to sleep to the noisy rain and thunder. Then, about 5 minutes after we crawled into our bed, we heard Bode crying and screaming.  Our kids are "white noise" addicts.  So when the power goes out, the white noise stops, and babies wake up. So dealing with the wake-ups (plural) was not fun. But we did enjoy the storm while it lasted.

Then, on Saturday morning, we discovered this:

That is the top of a very tall tree.  Crash, boom, in our yard.  Luckily, it didn't hit the nearby power lines (or our house)!  RWF and I walked around the yard, trying to find the broken stump that the tree split from.  Finding no stump, RWF looked up and saw that it had actually split from the very top! Yikes!

Saturday, Bode had his last indoor soccer game. Next Saturday, he starts a new soccer team outdoors. It will be his first 'real' soccer team/game. I am so excited.  I went to our local sporting goods store and bought him his first shin guards, socks, and shorts.  

On Sunday, we visited Nana, Aunt Dawnie and Uncle Craig, and Aunt Debbie. It was a nice afternoon. The babies just love spending time with their family.    I didn't take any photos because I have found, I rarely have time to stop and take a photo!  I am busy with one child or the other when we are visiting.  The parenting does not stop, even when you are surrounded by family.

The bullying continues at school for Bode.  So, we are having to step up our talks with the teachers involved.  Bode was not in school last week due to sickness, and he still talked about this bully and the meanness. I don't like that this bully is in Bode's head, even while he is away from school for a week.  On Monday, I had hoped that time away from the bully meant that the bully would forget about the meanness. But Bode came home from school and told me that the bully had pushed him down and "was mean" during recess. That's it. It needs to stop now.

Happy Tuesday.

xo

Sunshine on my shoulders

I hate to be dramatic, but today was probably one of the best days I've had in a long, long time.  The weather was warm and sunny.  The sun helped a lot.  Getting outside with the monkeys helped a ton.  We spent all morning outside, took a midday nap break, and then all afternoon outside.  It was so great. 

I love being outdoors.  We are usually outside in all kinds of weather.  I never want my children to look at rain, snow or other less "ideal" conditions as a reason not to go outside.  I love how the Swedes  (?) believe that there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear.   

Alas, with the new baby, I  stayed indoors a lot this winter - despite having good gear for the babe. I just didn't like that Nico couldn't tell me if it was too cold, if he was too  hot, if his eyes/ears/toes were frozen, etc.  It's so hard to tell with a wee babe what he is experiencing.  So I played it safe. And I probably didn't need to be so cautious. But now my lock-down is over, because it looks like we are finally getting some decent weather!  And Nico is older and can at least "grunt" his displeasure or "coo" his happiness. 

Today, Nico sat out on a rug and had a great time. And I discovered that he is now scooting! I put him on one end of the rug, and he slowly made his way to the other side, completely upright. At first, I was confused...did he move? I was so distracted that I couldn't remember where I had put him. But then, I moved him again, and he moved on his own. So I called him "Scooter" this afternoon. I kind of like the nickname. I'm not sure if it will stick.

At one point, he scooted to the edge of the rug and picked up a leaf.  It was so neat to just sit back and watch him. He looked the leaf over for a long time.  He had a Very Serious Look on his face as he studied it, turning it this way and that.  Then, he grunted and grumbled while he smashed and crumbled the leaf to bits.  I tried talking to him while he was crushing the leaf, and he completely ignored me. He would not be swayed by my hyper narrative as he pulverized the leaf.

Gianna is slowly warming up to Nico.  Today she sat down beside him for a minute and I quickly snapped a pic. She also gave him a hug! I didn't document that one, because I was just so shocked by the gesture I stood there with my jaw on the ground.  It must be so hard to give up your status as "baby."  I always try to tell her, "You'll always be my baby girl." I'm 99% sure that Gianna and Nico are going to have the same coloring.  Nico might even be more blonde than Gianna. 

Bode and Gianna love to bike together these days. It is really cute.  Bode can sometimes get rough, bumping his front tire against Gianna's rear tire.  But they do enjoy spinning around each other and "besting" each other on speed.  Gianna has gotten so good at riding her bike. Something just 'clicked' and now, she spins around as easily and as fast as Bode.  I think Bode is a little bit surprised! (Note: no helmets in these shots - BUT - I usually always make them dismount the bike until they put on their helmets. Really. We weren't on bikes for long as I had something else up my sleeve. See below!)

For as long as I've been an apartment dweller and adult, I guess, I've wanted a garden.  I've always talked to RWF and made Big Plans for a garden. But there's always an excuse.  Last year's excuse was I'm Pregnant and Too Tired.  This year, I really want to put something in the ground.  Sooooo I decided to take the eyesore in our backyard and put some veggies in there.  I worked on it today. There is a lot of work to be done.  And it may not pan out. But at least I started something. Right?

I love the idea of having something fresh from our very own garden. I also love the idea of our children learning about where our food comes from and helping in the garden.   This spot that I chose was probably an old fire pit (?), next to an ancient stack of wood. I hope that I can plant something in there, and make it pretty.  If it doesn't work out, it's far enough away that I can ignore it. And, by using this existing 'structure' there is no harm done to our existing grass. Hopefully it will be the perfect starter spot for me.

Last, Nico would like you to know that he is still enjoying rice cereal.

That is all.

xo