A family fun weekend of epic gardening fails, saint doll arrivals, & potty refusals, settle in!

Hi all! Gosh, it's been a busy week. A pretty good week, mind you, though I have to admit that I feel a little what I term "wimpy." That's what I call it when a person feels a bit fragile, a tad vulnerable, not feeling 100% physically. There are a multitude of reasons:  the kids going back to school soon, the semester starting up and subsequent work craziness descending on both Mike and I in just a few weeks.

*sniffle*

So I'm hanging on to my 54 Day Rosary Novena like a life raft and trucking on. I think I'm also going to pray the St. Monica novena this year, which begins next week. More details on that to come!

At any rate, some fun stuff from the weekend to report in to you about. I know, I know, it's Wednesday already, what took me so long?! :0 I do what I can. ;-)

This weekend I spent lots of quality time with my cute Mike, and our ever unpredictable offspring. First up we have the Very Serious Henry:

This is his version of smiling :0

And the Ever Sassy Anne:

"I'm about to go hide this puzzle piece, so that the next time I ask Mommy to do the puzzle with me, she will think she's losing her mind!"

For the most part, Henry was low maintenance this weekend, as he usually is. Our daughter on the other hand...you know, she's 4. Mass these days? SO MUCH WIGGLING. It doesn't help that the Children's Liturgy of the Word program is on summer hiatus until after Labor Day, so she's in the pew with us the whole time:

"MOMMY. Why is Father Joe doing THAT?!"

"Shhhhh, we need to whisper, Honey, or better yet, wait until after Mass to talk."

"I *AM* WHISPERING, MOMMY!!"

"He's getting things ready for Communion, Sweetie."

"I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM! RIGHT NOW MOMMY!"

"Anne! You are SO LOUD!" That would be a beleaguered, long suffering Henry.

#funtimes

In a thrilling discovery, though, after we got home: an Amazon package was awaiting me! Given that it was Sunday, I was rather surprised. I quickly squirreled it away, as I knew it contained a future feast of St. Nicholas gift for Anne. Last week, Shining Light Saint Dolls was having a sale, and thus I procured Our Lady of Guadalupe for Anne. When I had a moment to myself, I pulled her out and found her levitating:

Apparently her journey was a little rough. :0

But after a soothing session with me, she was as good as new:

It seems that their Amazon store is a bit cleaned out now following that sale, a bit of a bummer. But their Facebook page mentioned that they are restocking with new dolls, so keep your eyes peeled! These are nicely made, plastic dolls for smaller children. I have a beautiful wood St. Nicholas doll on order for Henry's feast day gift, so everybody is receiving a saint this year, like usual. ;-)

After I tucked Our Lady of Guadalupe away, Mike and I trudged out to our poor, beleaguered garden. To say that we do not have green thumbs would be the understatement of the millennium. We usually manage to keep a few tomato and pepper plants alive until the fall each year, but this year we got a little overambitious and also planted cucumbers and small melons.

!

Next thing one knew, we had vines climbing up our fence and attacking the other plants. Bad, so bad. And apparently grape tomatoes think that they can just take over the world by spreading their leafiness over top of the entire garden and sucking up all the sunlight. It wasn't pretty.

I felt guilty (because Mike loves those tomatoes) but I encouraged him to take one of the tomato plants out. We would still have one tomato plant, but there was no way anything was growing with the wild, feral situation we had on our hands. So he did, and also beat back the other plants a bit. And now the remaining tomato plant looks like the garden version of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, and the melon vines put out some sort of liquid that gave me hives. So you could say that things are not going all that great back there.

On the up side, we found two gigantic cucumbers hiding amongst the forest-like conditions:

Anne dancing with the cucumbers...which naturally, she would not eat :0

...and we are getting a nice crop of sweet banana peppers. The bell peppers, not so much, but you can't have everything. I wish I had asked him to take out the melon plant instead, but there really was no way to even GET to it with the way that the tomatoes were growing.

#sigh

In other news, Monday morning found me strengthening my resolve as I entered Anne's room to get her up for the day: I was going to push the issue of her heading to the bathroom first thing upon getting out of bed. Anne has been potty trained for a few years now, but through the night? An absolute OCEAN of pee pee. So we still buy diapers and she wears one overnight. Lately though, she's woken up dry a few times, so it got me to thinking that she may be moving towards being able to go through  the night. Only one thing gave me pause: her bad habit of "not having to go pee, Mommy!" when she first wakes up:

"Anne Honey, the entire WORLD needs to use the bathroom when they first wake up. You are not going to be the lone exception."

"BUT I DON'T *HAVE* TO GO MOMMY."

Standoff!

I wanted to push this a bit, figuring that if she develops the habit of peeing right when she gets up, she may start to be dry on most mornings. If not, so be it. I know that some kids take a long time to be able to go through the night. But this is a bad habit that needs remedying, regardless.

So Monday morning I pushed the potty, and Anne pushed back. No potty, no sir. As expected, tears became involved in this process, as well as a refusal to even get dressed or cooperate with a single thing that I asked of her. Eventually, I went downstairs, and Mike volunteered to take a turn.

Next thing I knew, I heard the toilet flush and see a cheerful Anne coming down the stairs, fully dressed. When it was Daddy, you see, she was willing to pee and cooperate. An inadvertent Good Cop/Bad Cop situation. ;-)

For the remaining time until I left for work, it was clear that Mike was The Favored Parent. She bustled about, fetching him a napkin and offering to get him juice.

*narrows eyes*

Yesterday morning was more of the same, but today we had a good experience, and she cooperated without too much complaint. We'll see how this turns out.

So dear reader, any nighttime potty success stories you want to share? Are you a gardener who wants to shed some light on my abysmal gardening skills? :) Have you got your saint doll list together and ready for the early ordering season?! Do chime in!

I'm back, and I'm hot

It's the unofficial start of summer, and as usual, I have a frown face. I know it's odd, but summer is actually my least favorite season. I hate being hot, and we don't have central air conditioning. Plus, I'm anti-social, and in the summer, everyone is out in their yards and want to talk to you the instant you step out of your house. It's just the season in which I am out of my comfort zone.

But we had a very nice weekend. We got some gardening done. I have a black thumb, so I try not to touch flowers and other plants lest I kill them. But we do have success each year growing tomatoes and peppers. We love the small cherry tomatoes, and those plants PRODUCE. With two plants, we get more tomatoes than we can use. The bigger tomatoes, on the other hand, don't like me, so I don't push that envelope. We don't want them influencing the other plants with their negativity. :) We also planted several types of bell peppers, sweet banana peppers, and lettuce. Out front, we finally put in a new small bush to spruce things up a bit and some mulch to hide the ugliness. Plus, I won't have to weed as much. I HATE weeding with the fire of a thousand suns. Another reason to dislike summer.

Happily, the heat wasn't bad this weekend. We don't have our window a/c units in yet in our bedrooms, and we didn't need to put them. We were fine with just our fans, including Anne. Who has been sleeping from her bedtime at 7:30 pm until 6:30 am every morning.

*angels sing*

Both children played very cute this weekend. Henry and I worked on a 3D four seasons puzzle (dreaming of autumn...) and Anne has been sucking on the faces of her new dolls. I could tell that Henry was wishing that he had a brother when he convinced Anne that she "enjoys" this new game whereby he charges into the room and tackles her to the floor. Also heard from the living room this weekend:

"*I* am Optimus Prime."

"Anne, you're Megatron."

*Transformation noise*

It was nice to be home more, and now it's a short work week, yay.

The seasons are a changin', and the wonders of a backyard garden...

Ahhh, it's August. I'm certain that everybody has one month of the year that they would classify as their least favorite. Mine is July. I do like the 4th of July holiday, for sure, but otherwise, the weather during this month is not my favorite. August, too, can be muggy and humid around here. But still, it's different. The temperatures tend to not peak as high, and the nights start to cool down considerably. Fall is in the air, and this my friends, I love.

One perk of summer, to be sure, is fresh fruit and produce. And our tiny garden has been producing its little heart out this year. Our rabbit fence has kept our bunny friends, cute faces and all, and their nibbling ways, far away from our vegetables. The only thing that hasn't thrived is the broccoli. The plants are huge leafy wonders to behold, but...no broccoli. We're baffled. But fresh lettuce, green beans, grape tomatoes and green bell peppers aplenty have graced our dinners. It's making me very happy.

See how our garden grows

This year, we planted a modest garden, but more ambitious than last year wherein we planted 4 tomato plants and wound up with enough tomatoes to feed the neighborhood. This time we cordoned off a small section of our backyard and planted:

1 Beefsteak Tomato
2 Grape Tomato
1 Green Bell Pepper
3 Green Bean
3 Lettuce
3 Broccoli

I was all excited to see how we would do. While we were waiting patiently, I noticed that somebody with a cotton tail and a cute face was nibbling on our plants. Thus, we erected a rabbit fence, and now all is well.

Our tomatoes and peppers are either starting to come in or are at least blossoming. We've already harvested some green beans, and they were delicious. Score on that. We're not entirely sure what's happening with the broccoli, but we're keeping an eye on it. AND, the other day we harvested some lettuce. *stupendous* It is so, so good. We're big salad eaters. Next year we're talking about trying sweet banana peppers (Hank suggested those; he likes those at Nana's house), carrots, and snow peas. Now this is something about summer that I can get behind :)

Gardening with Henry, and much praying going on...

The other day, Hank went to check on the little flower seed he had growing in a pot on our dining room windowsill. Suddenly, we heard the sound parents are so very used to:

*small crash*

"Uh oh..... Sowy."

I knew that he felt bad about it, and he had been so excited about planting that little seed. So, yesterday on my way home, I stopped off at Home Depot's nursery, since I had a gift card. I picked up a kit for a small potted herb garden, and a potted cactus.

Major caveat: Your Catholic Librarian does *not* have a green thumb. I kill things. I don't mean to! I think I kill them with love. "You look like you need more water even though I just watered you 10 minutes ago. Here you go..." This actually also goes for pets, and is part of the reason why we have none. Just ask Mike about the fish. I was forever obsessively cleaning their tank and worrying over them. "Honey, I think Ignatius has fin rot! Do vets see Beta Fish?"

So, I figured with a cactus, much harder to kill. The instructions say to water only very sparingly and only when the soil is completely dry. All they need is some sun (well, that is a bit of a problem around here) and occasional watering. I spotted one sporting an orange flower. Orange is a color that simply isn't appreciated enough. I love orange. "Do you want to go home with me? You *do*? Ok." *beams*

I arrive home, and Hank is all excited about the herbs. Mike looks at my new friend, the cactus, with much suspicion.

"Hank, don't touch it! It'll hurt you. Why did you get a cactus?"

I explained my theory and he wasn't impressed. I popped it on the kitchen windowsill, and it immediately caught it's spiny things on the kitchen curtain and prevented it from billowing out with the open window. This furthered Mike's displeasure with it's existence in our house. Arching a brow, I accused him of being an Anti-Cacti - A cactus hater :) *I* like the cactus. Hopefully, it won't croak.

After dinner, Hank and I glommed onto the herb kit. It came with a stand, 5 pots, 5 "dirt pellets" (kind of creepy) and 5 packets of seeds for cilantro, chives, basil, parsley, and thyme. We had to soak the dirt pellets in water. Hank loved this part. Before I knew it, he had dumped in enough water to flood the kitchen, and scarily enough, the pellets waited a beat, and then slurped the water down as if they were alive. I think this is why I don't garden much.

We mushed up the dirt, popped it into the pots, and arranged the seeds, covering them with a bit more dirt. We have them by our dining room windows. Crossing our fingers that they grow. I love fresh herbs. Cilantro = fresh guacamole. Yum.......

This morning dawned as a beautiful spring day. Before I even got Hank to school, I received a call on my cell from my mom, with grandmother updates. I talked to her on my way in to work, so I wasn't able to pray my usual morning rosary. On my walk from the parking lot into my office, I whipped out my new Our Lady Star of the Sea chaplet and prayed that. It's so, so perfect for a shorter window of opportunity for prayer, and it soothed me greatly. It fits in my hand nicely too; more portable than a full set of rosary beads. I'm planning to visit my grandmother this afternoon at the hospital. After she has her surgery, it's going to be a long haul between her recovery and all of us pitching in to care for my frailer grandfather. One day at a time.

Being a Catholic housewife

My husband has taken to referring to my headcoverings as my "housewife scarves," which he says with a smile and an eyebrow raise, meaning, that he likes them. Because recently, I noticed that I often reach for them to wear on the weekends around the house instead of just twisting my hair up into a bun or a ponytail, like I usually do. And I have to say, I'm enjoying it quite a bit. My hair has gotten longer recently, and I hated feeling I was always wearing it up, just to get it off of my face. The headbands and shorter scarves allow me to wear my hair down, but keep it back out of my way. I adore them.

And I've come to adore acquiring them on etsy a tad too much. I *llooovvveeee* etsy. I mean, it's my new amazon.com. But whereas I was able to replace my amazon book buying habit with a public library card, I'm still spending real money on etsy. I'm a sucker for handmade items, and etsy is a treasure trove. When Mike commented on my newfound crush recently, I made sure to pipe in that he should be grateful I have such wholesome obsessions - you don't normally see support groups popping up dedicated to those who simply cannot help themselves around crafts, books, rosary beads, and head scarves.

Anyway, I'm still awaiting my 2 new additions from Garlands of Grace, but in the meantime...*guilty smile* I found another headcovering vendor on etsy and I tested the waters. They were only $11! And shipping was next to nothing. I barely spent over $20 for 2 coverings. So you see, I'm really still a very good girl :)

The first is this one, which I wore all weekend:



I like, love it. It ties, so it stays put nicely, and it can act as a short scarf or convert to a headband. My precious multi-purpose head covering; I love you so.

The other one is my first experiment with a longer veil:



I wore it to Mass on Sunday. Word to the wise - if you have a covering with both ties *and* snaps (for a taper in the back), do the snaps first. This caused me no end of consternation and muffled swearing for about 10 minutes. Once I figured the snap thing out, my head covering world improved. I like it real well, but I think I now have a definitive preference with these coverings: my absolute favorites are the shorter scarves, and bonus is they can also act as a headband, because I like headbands too. *Tiffany plots future purchases...* You can see where the problem comes in.

Anyway, I happily wore my pink scarf and did some work out in the yard on Saturday. The Catholic Librarian is planning her summer garden, and as you will be unsurprised to learn, she does this with no small amount of overplanning, overstructuring, and overzealousness. I've gotten both front and back weeded pretty well, but you know how weeding is. Two days later, and somehow a weed has not just started to grow back in, but it's a full-fledged young adult weed with wild hair and a bad attitude. How do they do that?! It's infuriating. And I am a ruthless weeder. I go right for the roots.

"Mommy, look at the pretty yellow flower."

"What?! WHERE?!" *spots offending dandelion* *viciously rips its delicate yellow head off*

"Ok, don't worry. We're ok again."

We have fresh dirt, we just need some topsoil, and we're good to go with some annuals and vegetables. I will report back in.

So then, on Sunday, I have yet another installment in what is a continuing saga for parents: Mass With the Children. Not an easy thing.

Henry has suddenly taken to boycotting Children's Liturgy of the Word, and I have no idea why. He says that he's "scared," but he says it with a smirk, so I know that he's up to something. He's declared that he prefers to sit back in the pew with Mommy at church, where he then drives me nuts for a straight hour. Getting into my purse and breaking things. Pulling my hair. Poking me. Whining. You know, all the good stuff.

I will grant, he's not loud and disruptive. For the most part. Nothing like what I will simply call THE INCIDENT from last November, and leave it at that. Now that he's 4, I set high standards for his behavior at Mass, and for the most part he earns at least a B most Sundays. That's pretty good for a boy that age.

I thought about it, and I think my strategy is going to be to just let the children's liturgy thing go. The more I mention it, the more he takes the opportunity to declare that he doesn't want to go and would rather stay with me in church. I think it's newness has worn off and thus it's not so exciting for him anymore. As well, Henry had inherited my shyness. That may have a lot to do with it. He's still at Mass, and that's what's important. We'll get there.

Spring cleaning and gardening, oh joy!

So, I'm back and crazy busy (read: stressed) at work, but I figured, hey. I need a break, right? So here I am, blogging :)

I loved my time off. I really, really needed a breath of fresh air away from work, and I'm so glad that I took those vacation days to be at home, and to be with Henry. I miss my precious button so much today! I loved being with him for 4 straight days :(

Anyway, in terms of my spring cleaning quest, I awoke Thursday morning with a mission: I made a to-do list. *drum roll*...

(1) Straighten basement. *snorts* The basement, as everyone who has one knows, is the repository for all junky items of mysterious origin and things we generally have no idea what to do with. I was actually able to make a dent. I threw some things away and tucked some things that we want to keep into a storage closet down there and it looks much neater. *beams*

(2) Clean out guest room closet. Yeah, didn't get done.

(3) Clean out kitchen junk drawers. Check! We're down to a single junk drawer now. *angels sing*

(4) Go through both my and Hank's closets and drawers to collect items we don't need anymore to donate. Check! This was my big coup for the weekend.

(5) Clean out bathroom vanity things. Check!

(6) Touch up paint where needed. Check!

I was very pleased with how that all went. And all the while, Hank behaved like a dream, playing quietly nearby and being the sweetest boy ever. Because I just wrote that, I'm certain that I'm going to go home from work today and he'll throw an uninterrupted temper tantrum from 5 pm until he goes to bed, but hey. I'm willing to live on the wild side.

Yesterday, the weather was nice enough for us to head out to the yard to start on spring cleanup out there. Inevitably, after the winter, there is assorted crud that needs to be cleaned up from the grass and other shrubbery. I'm all excited, because this year, I'd like to plant a real vegetable garden.

Last year, we planted tomatoes, and had some success with a few minor hiccups. We bought 3 beefsteak tomato plants, and Mike planted them unsupervised, which was a bit of a mistake :) He planted them real.close.together, and they tangled up each other, as well as the bell pepper plants that he also planted by.their.side. We got an overabundance of tomatoes, but the peppers sadly had the life choked right out of them before they ever had a chance. The tomatoes, though wild in their growth, turned out beautiful, we just had way too many of them. I could have opened up a tomato stand on our front lawn and made a tidy extra income.

This year, I'd like less tomatoes overall, but still some of the beefsteak and grape varieties, as well as also peppers (I'll take care of you this year, my peppers; how I love you in my recipes...) of all colors, lettuce, maybe broccoli, perhaps beans. A 'salad garden', really. I'm going to pick up a reference book from the public library this week to help me get started with some seeds, coming to a backyard near me in the coming weeks.

So, yesterday, we headed out armed with rakes to begin our project. Hank and Mike got back from a trip to the hardware store with a rake just Hank's size that was so cute I could hardly stand it. We all raked, and then while Mike cut the grass, Hank and I weeded. He was getting bored, so I got him a little garden shovel to dig for worms while I worked.

Quickly, our adventure turned into an installment of Zee's Garden on Nick Jr.:

"Look Mommy, a WORM!"

"Oh, very nice, Honey. Make sure you leave him in there. He's good for our dirt."

"Oh, he's wiggling. Oh, he's slimy. Want to touch him, Mommy?"

"No, thank you, Sweetie. I see him though, you did a good job of finding him. Why don't you put him back in the dirt; that's his home. We don't want to wave the worm around too much."

"Ok, Mommy. Where is he going, Mommy?"

"Worms like to be real far down in the dirt, Honey. He's just digging deeper."

"Oh yeah, wow. He's going really fast. I help him, Mommy. I'll put some dirt on top of him."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate that, Honey."

We got the back and side areas all weeded, which pleased me greatly. I'd like to plant the garden in the back, since we have a bunch of unused space back there. Unfortunately, that area seems to be near the nest of the resident bunny family, because I always see cottontail rabbits back there. Now, granted, those guys are so cute it makes me want to head out to the backyard and just kiss their little faces. Problem is, well, they'd hate that. Plus, they're an absolute menace to personal gardens. We managed to fend them off the tomatoes last year with some carefully positioned marigolds nearby, but the back of the yard may pose a problem that even marigolds can't solve. The bunnies just run rampant back there. They're so precious, with their little tails just starting to fluff. Yet, they'd eat my vegetables in a heartbeat. And then, I wouldn't feel nearly so motherly towards them. *eyes narrow*

Speaking of mothering, later that day, Hank once again asked me if we would soon have "a baby in our home." Couldn't you just die? Of course, I told him that we're hoping so, should God send one our way. He adds:

"Mommy, could the baby sleep in my room? That way, I could keep an eye on her."

I could have just burst right into tears at how sweet he was being. *hormones rage* If only we could find a way for Hank to lactate, then my job would be so much easier.

You know you're neglecting your yard when...

It's been a tough weekend, but my grandma is still hanging in there. Thank you for all of your prayers and concern :) Henry and I prayed for her at Mass yesterday morning, him with his usual toddler "whisper" so that the entire sanctuary could hear our intentions. I'm certain everyone thought it was cute. At least I hope so.

Anyway, in the midst of all of this family crisis, an unusual event happened in our backyard. Despite my manic painting, I simply have not had time to attend to beautifying our yard. I also don't have a green thumb. Plants fear me. I love them, therefore I stay away with my angel of death powers. I should, however, weed the low maintenance landscaping that we do have, but since I'm focusing on the painting, plus add in working full-time, caring for Henry, and keeping the house clean, I'm fresh out of time and energy. So, our yard is looking a bit bedraggled. Mike keeps the grass mowed, but it's seen better days.

So, the other day I spot an Eastern Cottontail rabbit in our backyard. Boy, these are cute little buggers. Silky ears, absolutely heavenly looking fur, and faces cute enough to beat the band. They are also incredibly destructive to backyard gardens. I've always coveted them in my yard, because I have nothing for them to eat but weeds. People with flowers loathe them. This year, we planted vegetables, so the mean gloves have come out. We went from "OOOOHHHH! Bunny!! Hi Bunny! Aren't you adorable?" to "Hey *you*! Get out of there! SHOO! SHOO!" pretty quickly.

So, over breakfast I spot an offending bunny rabbit. He wasn't near the vegetables; the marigolds seemed to be doing their job. But he was acting strangely. He had honed in on a patch of dead grass that I've tried to replant and revitalize for two years running now. He was ripping up clumps, and with a flash of white tail, disappearing into our heavily weeded landscaping near the back fence. I was starting to get suspicious, but Mike seemed strangely unconcerned, convinced that the rabbit was just hungry. It was leaving the tomato and pepper plants alone, and that's all he cared about.

Well. The next day Mike went to spray some weed killer on the grass, and came rushing back into the house.

"THE BUNNY IS HAVING BABIES IN OUR BACKYARD *RIGHT NOW*!!"

Oh fabulous. Turns out the 'he' was very much a 'she.' I like the cute bunnies, really I do, but I wasn't expecting to have to be quite this accommodating with my property. So, not only do we have to worry about random neighborhood rabbits eating our vegetables, now we have a full fledged family of them out there to fret over.

I rush out there, Mike on my heels with a bag of carrots. Mommy bunny is in the nest that she built with our grass, trembling with fright. Although she normally would have scurried off at top speed with the approach of dreaded humans, she was sort of stuck for the time being. Mike, suddenly converted to a tremendous love of bunnies who are in the family way, lovingly tosses carrots over toward the nest.

"Honey, don't scare her!"

"I just want to make sure she has enough to eat. She needs to keep her strength up."

*snorts* Pretty soon, mommy bunny hops out of the nest and retreats to the back of the yard to bathe and eat more weeds. We creep over to the nest. Inside, are a gaggle of teeny, tiny bunny rabbits. All squirmy furless bodies and kicky limbs. We call reassuring things to the mother, that we wouldn't hurt her babies, though she ignores us pointedly. Mike leaves more carrots for her, and we go inside.

It was all quite fascinating. But, for the love of heaven. My landscaping has so many long weeds that rabbits are nesting in it. This is beyond embarrassing.