Mountain climb

Many people have recommended a trip up Pinnacle Mountain in the fall when the leaves are changing, so we finally got our chance yesterday. What a trip! It was a mile and a half round trip to the top and really steep once you reached closer to the top. Sam led our troop and quickly took a faster pace than me and Zach. Doug held Eli and kept up with Sam. It seemed that Sam's pace got even quicker the closer they got to the top. Yellow splotches of paint marked the path as well as numbered placards from 1 to 10. Zach was a trooper and hardly wanted to stop for a rest ever. He was quick to point out EVERY yellow marker and remind me of my own words that if we stayed by the yellows then that would be the safest way. Zach and I were just minutes behind the other three. Water and Cheezits were welcomed as we took in the view from the top.

The view from behind going down seemed a bit freakish to me, but the boys were steady on their feet. The whole adventure

really was an accomplishment.

I'm not sure that Doug and I would have done it with them if we had known how difficult it was. Isn't that pretty typical of how we make choices in life though? Hmmm. The boys wanted to take pictures with their "numbers" on the way back down the mountain. Perhaps Doug and I should have taken ours with marker 10 since it's our anniversary number. Smile. Lots of correlations between the climb and our ten years together came to mind ... taking in the view at the top reminded me again of the timely beauty of this year in our marriage and ministry together.

To make Dad's mouth water

Glimpses of our garden

flowerbed ... has survived a year!!

cucumber, herbs, eggplant

I can't wait for these to pop!

tomato plant bucket w/marigolds on top

fig tree (for you, Dad)

Most of the plants have seemingly doubled in size since I took these pics last Monday, especially the potted ones. It is indeed a happy spring.

Walk on the levee

I love our neighborhood. It's a collection of older, smaller houses which means either small families or grandparenty types of many different backgrounds make up many of its inhabitants. My favorite part of our neighborhood is how quiet it is ... for the most part. The thing I like the least is that we don't have sidewalks, but that also can be an advantage too. We don't have random strange walkers on our street since they have to walk in the road. But, hands down, the best part about our house's location is that we live near the Mississippi River. Believe it or not, since we're so close to the earthen levee that surrounds it, we technically live in a non-flood zone and don't have to maintain flood insurance. I went for a walk this morning up to the levee. I found a mowed down path up to the top, which will make it easier to take the boys up there. When the grass is high, it reaches their waists sometimes and carrying (now) 3 boys to the top can be too much for this mama to handle.

The reason for my walk this morning was because the River is higher than it has been since we lived here. I've seen fishermen sitting on top of the levee with their poles and couldn't imagine it as high as it is. If you've been to "our" section of the levee, you might be surprised too. Rob, you could definitely fish here. :) In fact, while I was up there, I saw several fish jumping out of the water. For those of you who haven't been here, the water usually reaches the treeline you can see in the foreground in the pictures below. I love the boats. I love the peacefulness. And, this morning, I loved the new sound of the water splashing up against the side of the concrete levee.

Lovin' a Monday

Mondays are my favorite day of the week ... most of the time. It's one of the best perks of having a husband in f/t ministry, in my opinion. Saturdays are usually full because everyone else is not working and Sundays are a blur for most families anyway. Sundays for Doug start at 7:30am and end about 14 hours later with about a 2 hour break for lunch, typically, which means ... I'm on my own to get myself and the kids ready for church in the morning. Then, we're home long enough for lunch and naps before me and the boys return to church for youth and kids' activities. So, Monday is usually my "errands-by-myself" day and "get stuff done around the house" day for both of us. We rarely go anywhere as a family, although Doug and I usually get out of the house alone at some point of the day.

The best parts of today ...

1. I was wide awake and felt rested before I heard the boys rouse!! I love it when they come in our room while I'm reading to say "good morning!" Cuddle time usually follows.
2. I saw my OB and have dilated another inch ... up to 3cm. Next appointment hopefully won't be necessary ... it's for next Wed. Still waiting and trying hard to be patient about it.
3. We sold 4 more used books on half.com, so a trip to the post office by myself is always preferred over having two little boys waiting in line with me. Of course, the line is always short when they're not with me. Smile.
4. A quick stop at Wal-mart to pick up marigolds for my tomato bucket (as suggested by graced). I couldn't resist some cheap potted impatiens to add some color to my front flowerbed, too.
5. Another stop at Sally Beauty Supply to invest in the Peanut so that I can cut the little boys' haircuts, which I did before dinner! Sam was a champ and Zach struggled but I was thankful for Daddy around to help keep him distracted. Just two more rounds of haircuts and we'll be saving money.
6. I planted everything this afternoon ... 3 herbs in one pot, cucumber in one pot, eggplant in another pot, green pepper in the sideyard bed, impatiens in the front, marigolds and tomato in the bucket hanging from the back patio ... we'll see.
7. Dinner was yummy and quick ... broiled tilapia parmesan (awesome recipe that everyone loves!), baked potatoes and steamed carrots. I keep frozen tilapia on-hand to make this when I need something fast ... half the recipe for our four, no leftovers.
8. The boys are transitioning to napping in the same room ... no actual sleeping happened today in spite of their 2-hour "rest" in their room, so they were bathed and in bed on time. Doug is off to pick up a free movie rental (w/coupon). Shower and pajamas are in order for me.

What a wonderful Monday!

Gardening efforts

As a result of the "homemaking" chapters in the Woman's High Calling Bible study I'm a part of, I decided to invest some cash into some vegetable and herb plants to see what I could grow. Having grown up with family gardens, I've always thought that rows and rows of produce was the only way to really have a garden. However, our little family couldn't handle the wealth of harvest such a mass could produce, besides the fact that our yard isn't big enough or sunny enough for such an endeavor. So, at the advice of one of the "older" women in our study, I decided to go with just one plant of some of the basic veggies and herbs I use most frequently. In case it all goes badly, I'm only out about $15. And, if we only get one "fruit" from each plant, then I'll probably have gotten my money's worth. Besides, it will be fun to teach the kids where all those yummy veggies really come from and to watch them grow. When it's so blastin' hot this summer, it will give us an excuse to go outside even for just a very short while to check, water, and weed.

My choice of herbs are sweet basil, curled parsley, and cilantro (may get some mint too to add to tea). The veggies are cucumber, tomato, eggplant, sweet green bell pepper, and zucchini (wouldn't mind adding summer squash to the mix). All the plants I purchased are Bonnie plants from Wal-mart. I've already learned a lot from their website, especially about container gardening. Since our yard is super-shady from mature shady trees, it will be nice to have them in containers to move them in case they need more/less sun than what I intend when I plant them. Plus, our house's previous owner left some great containers that will totally work for my little adventure.

Although I'm hoping for success ... my motto has been, "When you're growing children (young ones at least), don't grow plants." This came about after all my plants on our apartment's patio died within the first year of Sam's life. But now I have two little waterers, so we'll see what happens.

Release of the butterflies

So, literally, while I was posting the last entry, the first butterfly was revealing itself. Here, the boys get a good look at the amazing color of the monarch butterfly. Fun stuff.

In case you didn't know, the butterflies have to hang upside down for awhile in order to get all the blood flowing. The first to leave its chrysalis was the one on the left. The second is in the process. You can even see the translucent chrysalis that it's attempting to hang from.

Since we watched the second emerge from its chrysallis while eating lunch, the boys posed for a picture ... sheesh, do they look like big brothers or what? Smile.

In the early evening, the butterflies had descended from their hanging positions, and we released them from the yard. They flew in opposite directions. The boys weren't interested in holding them. The one pictured above was the second released. He had to stop and rest, stretch his wings back and forth a couple of times before he took off for real. But, it helped me get this great shot ... as opposed to the ones taken by my 4 year old photographer.

Spring growth

I think the lily doubled in size since the last pic.

Our darkened chrysalises ... as of this morning.

13 Notes of Interest

1. Butterflies haven't emerged yet. It looks like the chrysallises have turned a little brown, but it's been 9 days since they "hid".
2. Lilies aren't blooming, but are still growing taller. Hooray.
3. Sleeping at night has become a practice of Lamaze for me ... changing positions seemingly every half-hour and frequent trips to the bathroom. :)
4. Couches were cleaned today ... whew, they look and smell delightful again, instead of just stained. Hopefully, we'll get a couple more years out of them.
5. I got my hair cut yesterday... definitely look like a mom of three boys now. :)
6. A pedicure appt. is set up for tomorrow at a fancy schmancy place on Magazine. I'm finally using a giftcard given to me over a year ago. Yikes.
7. We finished our taxes electronically last night, and they've been "accepted". Joys. Thankfully, we didn't just break even.
8. We're deciding to become even more energy-efficient and plan to spring for a new washer and dryer with the extra Economic $ coming from the our President. Because of our plan for cloth dipes & wipes, it seems crucial. Our current laundry facilities are probably the worst possible in the energy efficient category. Front-loading, here we come!
9. We're talking about the possibility of leasing solar panels too ... evidently, our city is one of a handful chosen in a program to cut energy costs.
10. I saw my OB today ... he says I'm 1-2cm dialated and the process has begun! I guess the irregular contractions I've been half-sleeping through at night have been doing something. Since all this is usually fast for me and once it starts, it doesn't stop -- every morning I wonder if they'll continue. So far, no luck. Perhaps my OB will actually deliver this baby since both boys were born on the weekend, he hasn't been on call. But, he's on call next weekend (DD is 4/5).
11. Friends are coming for dinner tonight ... pesto chicken florentine, caesar salad, garlic bread and pumpkin pie are the menu.
12. "Rocket" has been at the mechanic since last Thursday. A scary knocking sound has caused him to have an extended stay and us with a high "hospital" bill. Ugh.
13. I'm not sure if I'm really nesting, but the boys' clothes are switched to summer, sheets are clean, laundry is done, and the house is straightened. I just don't want to come home to clutter. I'm a little worried that I might just throw something away in the next couple days that I'll really want or need. I keep looking around the house and thinking, "we don't need that -- who can I give it to?" Hmmm. Not sure if I'm in the right state of mind to be purging.

New life

Spring weather has reached us, and I love it. The warm sun and breezy air makes me want to dig in the dirt and get the yard cleaned up. As I was reclaiming our side flowerbed from the overgrown weeds, I was delighted to find these signs of green sprouting (on the right) from last year's Easter lily bulb that I planted on a whim. I'm excited to watch it in the coming weeks. I don't have much faith in my gardening skills so I'm not sure if it will actually bloom but it looks healthy so far to my untrained eye. The azalea bush called, "Autumn Angel" on the left floods me with memories of God's grace in the midst of death ... a sweet gift from family friends in memory of our tiny girl Hannah. Thankfully, it blooms nearly year-around and has survived a year under my care.

Can you guess?

This structure was built in our yard over the weekend. You know what it might be?

3/1/08 -- The answer is .... Eeyore's stick house! Doug was knocking some dead branches down from the biggest tree in our yard, and Sam asked if they could make a house for Eeyore. Doug was skeptical that they could get it to stand up, but it worked. Evidently, Sam kept talking in a gloomy Eeyore voice about his house being moved and how it wasn't where he left it. Both boys are big fans of My Friends Tigger and Pooh, and they often pretend that they are "slooper sleuths" (instead of super sleuths).

Our favorite fun places to visit

The boys and I have enjoyed family memberships (quite reasonable) at these New Orleans "fun for kids" places recently. We usually hit one of them a week. The sea lions are why we visit the Aquarium. We're waiting patiently for the seals to return to the Zoo (since Katrina). The Children's Museum is the best place to take friends, which is why we decided to enjoy it with the Soileaus when they came to visit. I've found that it's so nice to be able to visit just some exhibits for a couple hours usually in the morning at any of these places and not feel like we've wasted our money by not seeing everything in one visit. The last time we were at the Zoo was the Friday before potty training began ... the weather was so nice that the animals were actually playing instead of laying in the shade where you had to hunt to find them. We're still talking about the white tigers playing in the water.

Pumpkin Patch

Timely unexpected gift

It's neat how God blesses our little family. Friends who were moving out of state offered us their play-house/slide/swing set. What a gift!! It's just the right size for the boys and they love to swing! Thankfully, there's one for each of them and I can push them in a rhythm that feels good. As the weather continues to get cooler, I imagine we'll spend lots of time outside enjoying the yard and our new "toy". The boys were used to taking turns on a baby swing that hung on the back patio, but both of them were getting too big for it. It's incredibly perfect timing.