Bargain and Deer-proof gardening

Do you notice anything different about our house?

How about now? (Hint: it's a red tree.)

S found a STEAL of a deal at the H.D. a few weeks ago on these beautiful Japanese Elms.  Now I'm not an expert or anything, but it seems like these trees are usually pretty expensive because they are so slow growing.  We've always talked about putting one in someday so when S found this beauty for $89 (yup, $89) we jumped on it.

It's funny how something so small can make such a huge difference.

Also, I was at the garden center with my parents and the kiddos to buy plants for my parents garden when Bean found these marigolds and insisted that we get them for our house.  I've always had terrible luck at transplanting marigolds but figured it was only a dollar, so what the heck. 

Not only are they still alive but they are thriving!  And supposedly marigolds are deer resistant.  So I might have to plant some more. 

Tidbits

We went to Thanksgiving Point a few weeks ago with some friends.  The children's gardens there are really neat!  It was the first time I've been, but most definitely not the last.  Though next time I'll remember to bring sunscreen for the kiddos and me.

There was this giant spidery-web looking thing for the kids to climb all over.  I still can't believe that my "terribly-afraid-of-heights-and-falling" daughter monkeyed her way right to the top.

She was even fine coming down until she was ready to jump through a big hole in order to get down.  I had to rescue her a bit, but not because she was kicking and screaming (which is what I had anticipated when she started making her way to the top of the thing.)  The girl is, simply put, unpredictable.

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S got this awesome dutch oven stand for his birthday.  It just so happens to turn into a barbecue grill and campfire pit.  S had sort of forgotten about it until he was cleaning out the garage.  This prompted an immediate trip to Smith's to buy marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate, and charcoal briquettes.

After cleaning her chocolate-and-marshmallow smeared face, we put the Bean to bed, added some wood to the coals until a real fire was going, and stayed up way past our bedtime talking.  It was the perfect evening.

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I have been baking goodies every week to take in to work: both to fatten up my whole diet-obsessed department and to start using up the extensive amount of baked goods pins I've been saving on Pinterest.  Bean was perplexed that all of these goodies leave her house without her being able to eat them.  So I promised her that I would make some chocolate chip cookies--just for her.  As I was taking a tray out of the oven it slipped, I don't know how, out of my hands and ended up on the floor.  My immediate reaction was: crap.  My second reaction was: I have to take a picture of this and put it on Instagram immediately (today's blog post was an afterthought, in case you were wondering.)

I was sort of making fun of myself to S for my Instagram reaction before even attempting to clean it up.  S laughed but said it made sense since I was home alone and had no one to share it with (the kids were home but napping, gratefully--Boy would have crawled right into that hot gooey mess.)  So, in that case. thank goodness for social media.

And thank goodness the batch made 4 more dozen, unharmed cookes.

Another Haircut

I told you the sick week post would be brought up again further along in my blogging adventures.  This is one of those times.

So Bean (again) told me that she needed a haircut, so I scheduled an appointment for her and I with my stylist.  The last few times that we have done this, she gets so excited but today she wanted nothing to do with getting her hair cut.  I even told her that the stylist's daughter (who is a few years older than Bean, but with whom Bean has had fun playing with before) wasn't in school that day and that they could play together if she'd like.  Again, her response was no, I don't want to.  And in a very 3-going-on-13 sort of way. 

Luckily I'm still mom and what I say still goes.

She sulked for the better half of her haircut, but at least she sat still and cooperated.  After she was done, she ended up with a very cute, stylish new 'do.

I wish I had the time and patience to fix Bean's hair like this every day.  Most days, fixing her hair means brushing some detangler through it and calling it good.

Anyway, when we were done I said it was time to go home.  Bean looked at me perplexed and started objecting.  Finally, she told me that she wanted to play with her friend.  I made sure it was okay and, just like that: afternoon to myself.  Awesome!  Yes I spied from my parents' house.  Yes I'm sure they did the same thing when I was a kid.  (By the way we get our hair done at the house next to my parents'.)

Well, awesome until I realized a few days later that she was sick and probably contagious (hence the attitude--if you remember she gets ornery when she's getting sick.  You'd think I'd learn...)  I can't bring myself to ask my stylist if our illness made it's way through her family, too.

I received a few (okay several) sympathetic smiles as I was sustained during sacrament meeting in my new calling: nursery leader.

Technically our ward just divided.  Again.  So technically it's not like I was called back into the position.  But still, I've been back and forth on it since then.  My first reaction was: (1) either I'm just really good at it or (2) Heavenly Father still thinks I need to learn a lesson in there.  My later reaction was that I'm just not qualified to do anything that involves anyone over the age of 3.  But my reaction today was that it is a calling that fits like a glove and I know what I'm doing so maybe they just need someone in there while this new ward gets grounded.  Plus, I will be bringing Boy with me in a few months and I found that having Bean in there with me was a huge advantage in getting to know her peer group, so hopefully this will be the same.  I still find myself saying 'hi' to all of Bean's buddies. 

But yes, it's true: I did initially think "Wow, I'm just not good enough to be in any sort of important calling."  Which is too bad because I've been reminded all too much lately how damaging it is for us, especially women (especially SAHMs--which I do consider myself one, half of the time) to compare ourselves to other people. 

Which takes me to my next point...

I found this article and shared it on facebook not too long ago.  It is so spot on with everything I've felt for, oh, the last 4 years or so.  I hope you will take time to read it (I linked up again for convenience.)

Now if I might add on my own two cents:

It's true that I am, like, physically tired ALL of the time.  But I am also Tired of being compared, usually passively--and usually on facebook--to a perfect mom.  (Who, by the way, doesn't exist.  Everyone has their skeletons...)  The obvious choice would be to quit blogging, quit facebook, and quit pinterest.  But these days that is honestly becoming impractical too.  After all, blogging is the only form of record keeping that I do, and the only way that I remotely know what's going on in others' lives (especially if they live far away.)  And the positives of having a facebook account definately outweight the negatives (though I am still probably a little crazy for giving S full access of mine--he having deleted his.)  And don't even suggest that I delete my Pinterest account because that's just crazy.

So maybe the only practical thing I can do is share an article like this and say that, I too, find raising young kids incredibly challenging.  Like, give me a 10 hour long antibody workup because at least at the end of a work day, I can pass that along to somebody else.  Child-rearing is 24/7.  Even if you aren't physically around your children, you are still dealing with logistics and concern over their welfare.  

And to the 'holier than thou's out there: guess what?  I, too, try to fit some type of fruit or vegetable into my kids' diets most times.  But you know what?  There are some days that the closest thing to a vegetable that Bean eats are curly fries from Arby's.  And you know what?  I'm not a terrible parent, either.  (I have actually found myself chanting that in my head as if it is sort of a mantra.  Now if you hear me saying it outloud, I am probably close to reaching my breaking point and you might want to watch my kids for 20 minutes so I can go have a power nap.)

I belive we are in the middle of some sort of social-media epidemic where perfection is the standard and anything below that means failure.  I'm sure that everyone has always had their agendas but social media makes it so much more easy to shove those agendas and ideals down others' throats.  (I sincerly hope I don't do this.  If I have, it isn't my intention: sometime I get a little passionate.  In case you couldn't tell.)  Anyway, I am so grateful when I find articles like this because it makes me want to shout from the rooftops: Oh thank goodness, there are some normal people left in this world!!  And immediately share it through every avenue I know of.