Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Black Thumbs Anonymous

I kill plants.  I don't mean to; but I do.  

I began to realize that there was a problem when, feeling domestic in the first year of marriage, I decided to have some potted plants in our home.  There were four of them; and one by one they all died.  As I mourned the loss, my mother explained to me that I had put them in a place where they were probably not getting enough sunlight.  Okay, just some more sunlight; that's all I needed to work on.  I waited a few years to try my hand at it again as I busied myself growing children instead of plants.  Then I gave another shot at raising houseplants... with plenty of sunlight, mind you.  My next couple of attempts were dead within two weeks.  

Discouragement didn't keep me from trying to add a bit of beauty to my outside entry last summer.  The bare cement looked so drab; so I went and got a fool-proof, ready-to-go pot of flowers.  I was confident since this time the plants were outdoors. Of course it would work! Not. I launched myself into cycle of buying and killing potted flowers. It got to the point that I thought I heard little plant voices in the flower nursery calling out, "Not me!  Don't pick me!"

I bought things with names like "Hardy Mums" that my mother told me were impossible to kill. I did the impossible.  By the end of the summer I was put on plant probation by my husband whose wallet was feeling the effects of my black thumb.

Now you must understand, things should not be this way.  My mother and my grandmother have lovely green thumbs.  These ladies have raised everything from corn to strawberries to lettuce to tulips. And yet I am left wondering why, since I didn't get to inherit my parent's slender thighs, I couldn't have at least inherited the green thumb!

As my mother walked into my home one day last fall, she announced that enough was enough. She was going to help me plant a garden in the spring.  And after much coaxing, my husband finally agreed to give me one last chance.  So last week, Mom and I spent all day digging up grass and planting a garden with azalea and hydrangea bushes.  It looks gorgeous, and I'm desperate to keep it alive.  I have been carefully doing everything Mom instructed me.  Only time will tell the end of my sad plant tale.  I'm hoping for a fairytale ending. Maybe potted plants weren't my thing, maybe I was meant to have a flower garden, maybe....

Monday, April 27, 2009

Face Art

Last Tuesday, my kids were only too happy to jump in the van for a trip to Ben & Jerry's; and I was only too happy to take my children out for ice cream at no charge to me.  Hurray for Ben & Jerry's free cone day!  My boys where interested in specific flavors like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough; but when I asked Adriana what flavor she wanted, her one and only answer was "pink". Because who cares what it tastes like as long as it's the right color!
After slurping down yummy cones, we got their faces painted.  Isaiah wanted a tiger; Elijah wanted a spider; and Adriana?  A PINK butterfly of course....




Monday, April 20, 2009

Soccer & Starbucks

This Saturday was the first day of spring soccer.  I cannot tell you how much the boys had been anticipating that day.
That morning before the big event, we swang by our the new Starbucks *drum roll please* DRIVE-THROUGH! I'm not even sure Starbucks understands how much more of my business they will get with a set-up that allows me to get my latte without removing a child from their carseat.  Anyway, I fumbled through the entire coffee order and finished by accidentally wishing the employee a good evening; at which point Isaiah burst into laughter.  As we both giggled over the incident, he tried to make me feel better, "It's okay, Mom.  You're just low on coffee."

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Easter Day

My three cutie-patooties:
The kids with their cousin and great grandparents:

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Hunk

During this year's Michigan Easter trip, we went to the annual Sieb Easter Egg Hunt that are held out in the woods that Steven's great grandparents owned.  Steven's grandmother told me that if her calculations were correct, this year was the 50th Sieb Egg Hunt.  
The kids always get very excited about it and look especially hard for a golden egg which is the ticket to their very own chocolate Easter bunny. Adriana kept referring to the whole affair as the "Egg Hunk" though I informed her that there was only one Egg Hunk who coincidentally happened to be her father.
Here are some photos from the morning:



Friday, April 3, 2009

Interview

I saw a list of questions for kids on Facebook and used it to interview my own three. Here are the questions and answers:

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Isaiah: "Do not disobey."
Elijah: "No hitting our brother and sister."
Adriana: [you sing]"Holy God"

2. What makes mom happy?
Isaiah: "Me obeying you."
Elijah: "Dancing with me."
Adriana: "Kissing Elijah"

3. What makes mom sad?
Isaiah: "When I disobey." (Am I the only one noticing an obedience theme.)
Elijah: "When I do bad stuff"
Adriana: "Me hitting"

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Isaiah: "By making funny faces."
Elijah: "When you tickle me."
Adriana: "Tickles"

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Isaiah: "Very young, and sometimes you disobeyed. Mom, you had to have disobeyed because everyone disobeys."
Elijah: "You were a funny girl."
Adriana: "Um (shrug) nothing"

6. How old is your mom?
Isaiah: "41"
Elijah: "17"
Adriana: "I don't know!"

7. How tall is your mom?
Isaiah: "100 inches"
Elijah: "101 inches"
Adriana: "16-19-head"

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Isaiah: "Cook and make us food and make us happy and lots of other stuff."
Elijah: "Make eggs on Saturday morning."
Adriana: At this point in the interview, Adriana gives up answering questions.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Isaiah: "Goes up stairs and does work while we're sleeping."
Elijah: "Goes shopping."

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Isaiah: "Being an artist."
Elijah: "I don't know."

11. What is your mom really good at?
Isaiah: "Getting crafts ready for us."
Elijah: "You're good at making food."

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Isaiah: "At building lego houses as good as me"
Elijah: "You're not good at making pastas every day." (food theme with this one?)

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Isaiah: "Laundry"
Elijah: "Clean the house."

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Isaiah: "Tons of sweets and stuff." (out of the mouth of babes...)
Elijah: "Salad with tomatoes in it."

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
Isaiah: "You do lots of cooking and laundry and you help us."
Elijah: "Going shopping and getting us cool vitamins."

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Isaiah: "The Queen Ant in 'Bug's Life'."
Elijah: "Belle from 'Beauty and the Beast'." (wondering what this says about Dad?!)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Isaiah: "We build houses with Lincoln Logs."
Elijah: "Make Lego houses."

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Isaiah: "We have the same skin color."
Elijah: "We have lots of hair and sometimes we have matching pants."

19. How are you and your mom different?
Isaiah: "You have long hair and I have short hair."
Elijah: "We don't have the same shirts and sometimes we don't have the same pants."

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Isaiah: "Because you kiss me, and because you tell me that."
Elijah: "Cause you buy me cool things for Christmas. And because you kiss me at night."

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
Isaiah: "That he's your husband."
Elijah: "That he gives you lick kisses."

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Isaiah: "Janie & Jack"
Elijah: "shopping"