Weekend Roundup

We had a busy weekend and a lot's been happening 'round these parts, so I feel the need to sum up/update/etc.  Saturday was typical gloomy cloudy rainy fickle Seattle weather. Veggie took Punkin to his new soccer class at Magnuson Park, which he LOVES (I wish I had some pictures!) and it's so great to get him running around and learning some hand-foot coordination.  Once upon a time I thought our little dude would never be too into athletics - he's seemed so hesitant about moving his body in new ways even from the get go, taking his time with crawling, then walking. It took many many months before he would do more than just sit on his Skuut bike. And at 18 months he'd never climbed anything till his friend Ellie started teaching him some moves.  Now he's playing soccer, tried skiing, the couch is his favorite tumbling mat, and loooooves his little bike. But I digress....Soccer was followed by a rainy birthday party at the play ground, and we all collapsed into bed, exhausted from so much scheduled activity.

Sunday Seattle's fickle weather produced sunshine and warmth, so guess how we celebrated?? Shopping. Indoors. Ugh.  But it was the last day to get 20% off at REI, so off we went.  Punkin and Auggie had some fun at the little kids indoor playground there, Auggie showing off his new moves: scooting! Not quite crawling, but very close and still quite efficient - hopefully I can put up some video, just as soon as I a) take video and b) teach myself to upload and post it.  Our trip was successful: we bought a new tent and a sleeping bag for Punkin 'cause we're going camping! Ok, technically our only scheduled camping trip so far is in late August. But we're hoping to fill up some weekends between now and then with a few more trips.  Trip #1 will be to a very exotic location...our backyard.  I figure we better test things out all around before we head out to the real world. Besides, it's been 6 years since I last fired up my camping stove, and I'm very intimidated about the prospect of getting both kids to sleep in the tent.

We finished off the weekend trying to take advantage of the wonderful weather and actually managed to accomplish a few things.  The slide is up on our ever expanding swing set (again, pics coming soon), and our poor neglected little raspberry bush is finally in the ground.  Overall, I think the kids had a good but rather exhausting weekend (they're at the age where they thrive on routine, and weekends are anything but).

A

Auggie gets kinda bored when we work in the garden. He livens things up by creeping off his blanket, expanding his palette on grass and sticks (the later don't go down too well).  This pic is from another, colder, day in the backyard.

How does your garden grow?

We've started to take gardening and yard work seriously, and with the help of Seattle's early spring weather we've made some big improvements and started some even bigger projects.  First, we're expanding our little outdoor garden to include 2 raised beds in the front yard and an even bigger stretch of garden in the back.  The backyard plot is a 6ft x 25ft swath between the driveway and fence, and was chock full of dandelions, blackberry vines, grass, and other weeds, so clearing it will be an ongoing project.

Punkin and I clearing the land:

We've already planted a fig tree and blueberry bush, and just added 2 strawberries and a raspberry.  Punkin LOVES helping in the garden and finding worms and stealing mama's garden tools.

 We're hoping to add pumpkins and squash this summer. The front yard raised beds will have lettuces, kale, spinach, and herbs in one, and tomatoes, peppers and beets in the other. Of course, the second bed has yet to be built, and first we need to move a rather large boxwood to make room. It's part of our laundry list of to-do's....does every home owner and parent have a never ending to-do list? I swear ours just gets longer and longer no matter how many projects we actually complete.

To add to all this excitement, Punkin and I are trying to grow plants from seed indoors.  It's a new experience for both of us, and I try hard not to measure it by successes and failures, but rather by fun and learning.  But I'll write more about that in another post...

Whadya mean September's half-way over???!?!?!!!

It's the end of August, isn't it? Summer's still here. Well I swear September 1st was just the other day. I can't possibly be expected to think about Halloween now, can I? Ai yaiy yaiy. Between weddings, home improvement projects, runaway dogs, and toddler preschool, I seem to have lost all track of time. Did I mention it's been taking 1 hour to get Punkin down for a nap that only lasts an hour and a half??? I know I know. No excuses.

Well, instead of regaling you with some witty story about my not-so-exceptional life, I'll tell you about my list of projects. My list has now become a book, which soon may grow to novel length but for now remains in a trusty notebook I bring everywhere with me. To the grocery store, the doctor's office, the pub, the nail salon, the zoo, the playground, the gas station (where I sign away every last penny my husband has ever earned just to fill the piddly tank in our once economical compact car).

The list has many parts, or sub-lists, the most important of which is the list of home improvement projects because that list is the most unrealistic, costly, and time-consuming projects that will most likely never come to fruition while we still own this house. Unless of course we never move. It ranges from the somewhat mandatory (replace cracked and leaking shower tiles and rotten wood we will mostly likely find behind them) to the aesthetic (create a usable front lawn from the existing heap of dying trees, prickly bushes, and colossal rocks) to the possibly unrealistic (make a vegetable garden and grow vegetables). Throw in a complete kitchen remodel, basement finishing, backyard leveling and patio, and new windows and a few doors where windows are now, and we've got approximately 10,000 hrs and $100,000 worth of "home improvements" on our dream list. Oh, did I mention the new fence to keep the renegade dog from having the run of the neighborhood??? Oh yeah, and a few minor changes to the living room - like re-tiling the fireplace, painting the walls, and putting in new trim.

Then there's the minor home improvements list, the ones I actually think I can do in a weekend, but still haven't accomplished since I started the list 3 months ago. Like getting curtains for the windows, hanging pictures on the walls, painting the kitchen chairs, or even bringing up a bedside lamp from the basement.

This past weekend I was on the Kitsap peninsula (a gorgeous area between Seattle and the more-famous Olympic peninsula) and I happened upon an enlightening book, in a chocolate shop of all places. It was a book of suggestions and "rules to live by" for husbands and wives...and it was written in 1913. When I picked it up I expected to find archaic and sexist ideas that would make me laugh at the absurdity or feel indignant at what was expected of my great-grandmothers. Instead, I actually found some of the suggestions helpful. Like the one that said don't spend all your money on a big house and fancy furniture just to impress your neighbors. (If only I cared that much about the neighbors - now I just have to learn to like Ikea and all things particle board and crappy). Ah, but I digress - it truly was helpful. Especially the financial chapter. In the Wives version of the book, it said not rely on money for happiness - I've currently been under a spell that left me believing "if only I could afford to make this house perfect, I would be happy." And the same chapter in the Husband's version of the book said several things to the affect of "don't deny your wife any and all access to money; don't make her constantly ask for funds to improve or simply sustain the household, because it takes a lot to do that and some things may actually make her life more livable." Okay, I paraphrased a bit there, and yes, there's sexism in assuming the Husband is the only bread winner and the wife just keeps house and asks for "an allowance," but it just so happens that right now in our lives that's exactly how things are. SO, either I'm living the repressed life of a 1913-era housewife, or some advice is actually sustainable over the years.

My point (before I forget it) is that I plan on applying some of this archaic wisdom to my Book of Lists. From now on I shall try to make minor changes where I used to think only major construction was possible. I will try to do as much with my own hands and limited budget, rather than spending thousands of dollars (that I don't have) to get some professional to do it. And I will look more closely at the rest of my life, not just my house, my walls, my kitchen, and my yard, to see where improvements could be made in the happiness department.

I'll be sure to tell you all how disastrous this turns out to be...