My Gardens

During my childhood in Kentucky, I lived on a farm. I was accustomed to growing things. My grandfather grew mostly tobacco. My Dad put in vegetable gardens over the years and I can remember that my favorite thing was to go out, with a salt shaker and pick a ripe tomato and eat it right there. Then I married a Landscape Architect. I learned about growing trees and shrubs and perennials. The home I live in is far away from the farm in Kentucky and the landscape is all the handiwork of my talented husband, but I have discovered that I love gardening. There is not much time for it right now, due to the demands of little ones, but I have added small things here and there. I see myself in the future with a big straw hat, happily planting and pruning and watching it all grow.

Pictured above are some of my favorite things that have grown here in our garden this year.

Sirens.

Brayden was born with an affinity for trucks, racecars, firetrucks, police cars and construction vehicles. I guess a lot of boys are. One thing that I have noticed that is different about my boy is his ability to create the sounds they make and differentiate between them. I know, I hear them all the time.

When my boy buckles himself into his seat, he becomes whatever rescue vehicle he determines that we need, complete with sirens and horns. I have become very accustomed to the sirens coming from the backseat. Everywhere we go, sirens! Sometimes I wonder if I am a distracted driver because of the siren noise. I figure the real fire and rescue vehicles drive around with the noise so I can too. I have asked to turn the volume down on the sirens and Brayden complies with my requests so I let him continue.

Recently, I have noticed other peoples' reactions to the sirens. There is lots of staring and smiling. I am sure they are wondering how those people can deal with all the noise. I had to laugh the other day. We were driving by a man sitting in his lawn chair outside. The windows were down and the boy was in police car mode, sirens wailing. The man looked around and finally found the source of the siren and did a double take. Was that noise really coming from the small boy in the backseat?

I figure, if I can hear him, he is okay. One day he will trade the sirens in for an iPod or a handheld video game and he will become a teenager who keeps to himself. I will miss the siren sounds. So for now, we are to the rescue!

The princess and the pee.

Sophia is potty training. She is doing really well now but we had kind of a rocky start. When we first ditched the diapers, Sophia would have an accident and she would get mad. She would cry and insist on being changed immediately. Sophia will probably not appreciate this story but it is so cute it has to be told.

The first or second day Sophia was wearing her "princess panties" she was having a pretty successful day. I went to work in the evening and Norm took the kids to a local playground. The kids were playing and having a great time. At some point Norm was helping Brayden climb and he heard loud crying. He looked up to see Sophia at the top of one of arched jungle gym ladders and a steady stream of pee coming down from above! At the same time, Brayden yells,"Dad! Sophia's peeing!!!" I am glad there were no kids below her to receive an unwanted dousing! Norm was well prepared. He brought along an extra pair of underwear and was able to console the sobbing princess.

Now, several weeks later...she is very good at telling us when she has to go.

Shopping with Sophia

I have always felt a little jealous of Norm and Brayden and their guy time. Now that Sophia is a little older, I am able to take her places and do the girly things that I want to do. It helps that Sophia is super girly at this stage in her life. She is never without cute shoes and accessories that usually include a tiara. I would expect nothing less. She comes from a long line of fancy, southern gals that would never leave home without getting all dolled up to go out.

This past Friday the boys went on a little overnight camping trip. It gave me the opportunity to take Sophia and go to the mall. She asked to wear a "pretty dress" and she put on her sparkly sandals. Upon arriving at the mall, I took her hand and we headed to Claires. They are known for their jewelry and hair accessories for girls of all ages. My girl has great taste and loves everything that sparkles. There was lots of gasping and "oooh...pretty" from her. Her eyes took in the walls of bow and barrettes. She tried on purses and hats. She compared strands of stretchy beads until we finally settled on a set that came with rings, her newest obsession. After we paid for all of our treasures, we headed to a few more stores. Upon seeing shoes, she pointed to the ones she liked best exclaiming, "Mom, I like this one!" I must admit, she has great taste.

I enjoyed the moment. Me with my purchase in a bag and her in her little dress and new hat, carrying her bag and holding my hand. We looked and we talked and just enjoyed time together. I know that there will be many shopping trips in the future but this one was especially sweet for me because it was one of the first.

Backwards...

I have recently noticed that Brayden has begun to pretend play much more often. Most of the time that includes him fashioning a costume to go with his play. The funny thing is that most of his shirts have some kind of screen print or writing on them. He feels the need to turn them around backwards so that from the front, you can't see the pictures or writing. He has been doing this so often that I don't think anything of it and since he dresses himself, I have decided not to make him turn his shirt around.

So today was Friday and I normally try to run my errands and do grocery shopping. I asked Brayden to go put some clothes on while I got Sophia ready. We got in the car and went on our way. At some point, I noticed that Brayden had his shirt on backwards. I guess I have gotten so used to the backwards shirt that I didn't even notice and when I finally did, it didn't matter to me. Funny, I am normally really a stickler about being put together when we go out but I think Brayden wore his shirt backwards all day. I wonder what all the people that saw us today thought.

My favorite things.

Okay, the rain, day after day is really bumming me out! So I am taking the advice of a good friend and writing about my favorite things in the hopes that it will cheer me up!

1. The Ocean. I was able to enjoy my birthday dinner at the beach. It is so nice to be driving distance. I feel immediately relaxed when I have a chance to walk in the sand and hear the ocean or put my feet in surf and smell the salt in the air. I love boardwalks and little beachside shops. It makes me feel like I am on vacation even if only for a few hours.

2. Ann Taylor Loft. I probably need to branch out but most of my clothes come from there and I feel good in them.

3. Oreo Cakesters. Mmmmmm.

4. Red wine and strong coffee. Especially when enjoyed with a good friend.

5. Taking pictures and scrapbooking them. It is my creative outlet.

6. Kentucky. It is where I grew up and so much a part of making me who I am. I love UK basketball, the Kentucky Derby, and I know the words to My Old Kentucky Home.

7. Exploring Big Cities. I really enjoy experiencing the culture and character of cities. A couple of my favorites are Boston and San Francisco. I really really want to visit New York!

8. The Deadliest Catch. Mostly I am glad that I am not the one crab fishing in 20 below weather.

9. Dancing to 80's music with my kids.

10. 75 degrees and SUNNY!!!

On turning 37...

Today is my 37th birthday. I spent the morning with the kids and then in the afternoon my sweet husband came home early so that I could go treat myself to some shopping and a pedicure. Then he arranged our babysitter so that we could go out for dinner at the ocean in York, Maine.

Birthdays always become a time for me to reflect on where I have come from and where I would like to go. After today, it occurrred to me that I need to take time to be nice to myself more than once a year. I need time to recharge by myself and that is difficult with little ones in the house. I need to make it a priority. I enjoy shopping and getting pedicures. I also enjoy sitting at home with a glass of wine and flipping through a magazine or watching a favorite show. I like scrapbooking too if Ihave a good idea.

I also realized tonight that I need to have regular dates with my husband. I know that should be a given but it is easy to get busy and distracted with all the other stuff going on in our lives but it needs to be part of the normal routine. I start feeling stuck in preschool land and forget that I can have a normal conversation. It is good to have an adult night out.

Now that I am 37, I should start taking really good care of myself. I want to exercise more and eat a little better than I do now. I want to be in good health for my kids and for myself. I want to read and keep my brain sharp and I want to enjoy aging and not just complaining about the wrinkles and aches and pains.

Finally, I want to embrace every day with my kids, my husband and my friends. After all, a year goes by really fast!