Oh dear

All I can hear in my head is the caretaker of Hogwarts, Argus Filch, sneering, "we aaaaare in trouble now, aren't we?" Clearly I am a member of The Weeding Inept Tribe, or TWIT. 

Look at this disaster zone!

If the saying is true about "one year's seeds is seven years' weeds" then we are going to have tomatoes for the next century. Eeeeeeek. I did start in on the wedding yesterday after over a week of vacation and apparently tons of rain while we were gone. I just about bathed in OFF and still got half a dozen mosquito bites, but the super annoying part was how they'd sing in my ears as they bounced off my skin. It was 88 degrees and I was dripping everything- bug spray, sweat, dirt, haha. It's going to take a lot more work, but the upside is that we won't have to buy tomatoes any time soon! Yeeesh.

 

A new toy for Dada

Dada and Carrie headed to a Saturday auction and came home with a fancy pirate kite, some wooden boards, and a Rototiller. They had help getting it home. (Thanks again, Jeff and Cindy!)

So he had to test it out. Hey, it just so happens we needed to get the gardens going. How 'bout that!?

Worked like a charm and we're all delighted. The tiny garden behind the house is planted; the big garden by the creek is tilled and ready to go. Carrie and I spent a lot of yesterday pulling weeds and inadvertently severing worms, sending spiders scurrying and dandelion seeds floating. It was truly sunny for the first time, and I enjoyed every single second of pinkening my skin. That's the word I'm coining. I was afraid my feet were burning in my sandals, so I did what generations of bacon have done. I headed into the creek to apply mud and, whaddaya know, it actually worked! I should have done my back... 

Y'all should be thanking my Mommee

It's not that I forget you guys or that I don't enjoy blogging. 

It's just that it is the end of the school year so there's the usual field trips, projects, permission slips, reading logs, safety patrol training for next year, dentist appointments, how-do-these-people-make-so-much-mess, where-did-this-laundry-come-from-because-I-JUST-did-it, when-will-it-stop-raining, and when will it be summertime already happening.

And did I mention karate, karate, karate? Just checking.

So anyway, I get a text from my mother which ends with, "blog withdrawal" to which I fire back a text proclaiming indignantly that I've been out of town twice a day every day this week! 

Bah. The bad part about blogging is that you have to sit down to do it and that means I can't also be washing dishes or attempting to clean the counter (a never ending and losing battle if ever there was one) or doing any of the other myriad of aforementioned tasks/issues/messes.

So I procrastinate and then really get frustrated by how behind I am once I sit down to organize everything. I want to cry when I see how many pictures have been uploaded and need cropped, explained, etc.

But hey, it's free therapy and my fans are waiting, so away we go!

These were taken this morning lest I forget next week when it actually is mid month. Plus, if the Weather Channel knows anything, it'll be monsooning all of next week anyway...

These guys are growing like weeds in high summer. Damon's whole hand takes up my whole hand these days. He used to be so little. 

The phlox is past its prime, but it is still gorgeous and it makes me smile every time I look out front. 

Our sweet neighbors on the other side of this hedge have a pond. Now we all have a moat.

And since life is always interesting, while Dada was cleaning out the gutters last weekend he discovered that not everything is washing from the roof into the drainpipes and then on into the creek to drain the way things are supposed to. Instead, water is ending up here:

Yes, that would be in the middle of the backyard. Think the swampy part of Camp Lambec's field, down by the chapel.

That's the creek where it is all supposed to go. That's the snail and crayfish and frog and turtle creek. The Carrie creek. I suppose we really should find out what it's official name is one of these days.

The apple trees are mostly blossomless now, but the petals that are strewn everywhere sure smell good!

Some smart birdie built a nest in the hole of the shed's back wall, facing the creek. It'd be my prime pick of a spot, too, with the field across the creek to watch and the shed between my nest and the noisy kids and dog, taking full advantage of the roof's overhang. 

We have some not-too-bright but very determined robins who have rebuilt a nest on top of one of our floodlights, up high, after Dada got it all cleaned off once already. The previous owners came to check out the drainage in the yard and commented that the robins did it every single year. Must like warm, toasty eggs...

It's going to be too wet to mow for the rest of forever, so I'll just sit back and enjoy the foliage. 

A One-derful year

Damon turned one yesterday. I know! How can our Doodlebug possibly be one already!? But he is. He celebrated by being one of two babies in his Sunday school room at church. There were four ladies. Hehe! They were thrilled to share his birthday with him. We putzed around an outdoor shopping center later on, and Dada gave him ice cream and the inside of soft pretzels. Last night he devoured, not kidding- DEVOURED crock pot chicken, carrots, and potatoes. It was as if he thought, "if they know what I'm eating, they'll take it away. STUFF IT IN!" He was using both fists and we couldn't even get it onto his high chair tray long enough to cool down before he had it in his cheeks. Nothing fazed him. And he had more ice cream. And, of course, he was mad when that was all gone. Happy birthday, sweet Bebeeeee.

I figured we could celebrate with some quotes. How bout it? Here's the rest of the quote board from Fall 2010- Spring 2011. Enjoy!

C, end of second grade: Adishon, Subterakshon, Times.

Mama: I burst my button! That's what I get for trying to fit my ego in size 2 pants!

L, age 5.5: How come old men use walking sticks?
Mama: Cuz their legs aren't as steady as they used to be.
L: Mine are steady.
M: You're young and fresh.
L: Yep, I'm young and fresh. And you're old and yucky.

Dada: "Wildflowers" is the Latin word for "weeds."
Mama: *#&^%)#&^%@#^% Grrr!

L, 5.5: Oh, you stupid poop! I wish I did not have a butt!

Mama, impersonating Jeff Foxworthy re: tornado, disaster, etc.
C: Why are you speaking Cowboy?
M: I'm speakin' Southern, darlin'.
C: Where's Southern?

L: There is a black, flying, hopping, and crawling bug in the bathroom. Maybe it flew out. Or maybe it is just camoflauged on my underpants. On the ink part.

M to Dada: Can you please get unplugged and go (help w/ getting kids ready for school?)
D: Yep. As soon as I learn how a human cannon works. *GRIN*

Liamism #278: potty pumper (answer at bottom of post)

Dada, checking Carrie's teeth: no, no, no, no, and no. Go brush again.
C: which ones?
D: In this general direction (pointing to the entire mouth) where your teeth are!

Mama: Liam, what're you doing?
L: I'm brushing my teeth. That was one half. Three more halfs and I'm done! (We brush for 2 minutes in these parts...)

Mama's almost out of Caramel Marvel sauce: does that mean it comes outta the grocery budget?
Dada: that comes outta the Makes-My-Baby-Loooooooove-Me budget. Woot woot!

Liam's all-purpose number: one hundred ninety and eight-two.

Liam: Who was on the moon?
M: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldren...
L: Buzz Lightyear Aldren!?!?!?

Dada, singing: Hot lovin' every night...
M: *smirking* that's the only line of this you know, isn't it?
D, continuing: Woooo-ah! Hehehheeh!

April 2nd, Mama: WHY are there fruit flies already!?
L: What? You got fertilized!?

To get this one, you have to have read A Sock is a Pocket for Your Toes, which is an absolutely charming, rhyming children's book with wonderful art. Dada: a bellybutton is a pocket for your lint!

C, reading: forklifted and raced...
M: "frolicked", Carrie, "frolicked"

This one is for my Dad. PaPa, remember how I used to call shredded wheat "hay"?
L: why do the mini wheats have frosting?
M: to make them even yummier.
L: even yummier than the straw?

C to Pap: can you guess what music this is?
Dada: yeah, what movie about a young wizard who goes to school?
Pap: oh yeah, that's a good one. ..... "Billy Potter."
C and L, indignant: NOOO! HARRY Potter!

Dada: does anyone want scrambled eggs?
C: what kind of eggs?
D: whaddaya mean what kind? the kind in the little shell packages!

Dada: Liam, please pee and wash up for dinner.
L: I did! (long pause) Yesterday.

L: once, twice...
M: thrice
L: what's fource?
M: Hhehehehe

Dada, musing about 2011 garden: Hmmm. I don't think I've ever spelled "broccoli" right. It's like E.Coli. Not sure I wanna remember it like that!

Mama, reading Harry Potter to Carrie: Professor Quirrel... zombie...etc...
C: What's a zombie?
M: they're called Undead. Something that came back to life. They're not real. Like in the Michael Jackson video (Thriller, which scared her to death)
C: So... Jesus was a zombie? He came back to life! I'm confused.

And the answer to what Liam's potty pumper is a plunger, as many of you would have guessed. Have a super week! It's our first week of summer vacation, so if you see SOS smoke signals, come quick! =D