6 cubic yards

Knowing I would be putting in a few more garden beds this year, I ordered a whopping 6 cubic yards of hardwood mulch. It arrived Wednesday. In the past, the most mulch or compost I've ever attempted to move on my own was only 4 cubic yards. It took every last bit of energy I had, too. So, imagine my terrific surprise, when I dispatched with this 6 cubic yards with relative ease in a matter of 3 days!!

At first, I thought maybe it was because I had been working out regularly and therefore built up more strength and endurance.

Then I realized that I've either been first-trimester pregnant or caring for a 6-month-old infant (who nurses 8 times a day and doesn't sleep through the night yet) for the last four springs.

Yup, that'll suck the energy right out of ya'!

Like a parasite.

I say that out of love, y'know, since this motherhood thing is kinda my favorite job ever.

Nice to know it wasn't a permanent change, though :)

Robert and Alice expending a little of their own boundless supply of energy.

Strawberries!

I may never get to eat more than a handful of strawberries from my own garden any year until the kids move away.

So dang cute. Sheesh. Matthew won't let me pick berries for him anymore unless they're beyond his reach.

The berries are especially good this year. Better than I've ever had from my garden. Even the yellowish ones that are big and just barely starting to get a little reddish have this bright, sweet, berry flavor. Unbelieveable. It's been perfect spring weather for growing fat, juicy, sweet strawberries...and berry-loving kiddos.

Stitches

It's funny. I always thought Robert would be the first of my kids to need stitches. Well, James beat him to it today. He was helping me in the garden and took a nasty spill right on the metal border that keeps the grass at bay. Split his knee right open. Didn't bleed much. He didn't cry all that much, either, but one look and I knew a band-aid wouldn't quite do the job this time:

BEFORE

AFTER

The folks at the ER were freakishly accommodating and professional. They went to GREAT lengths to minimize James' pain and make him more comfortable. They asked if we would like a child specialist to help us. That was a real plus. This woman was a nurse who also had games, toys, and coloring pages. She immediately won James' trust (which is really, really hard for strangers to do!). She had accurate and honest and clear answers to his questions that expertly avoided specific trigger words (shot, hurt, pain, needle, stitches...she called them band-aid strings). Anyway, he did have to get several shots to numb the area for stitches, but I won't be surprised if all he remembers from the experience is watching PBS cartoons and playing puzzles on this nurse's iPad.

We weren't home more than 10 minutes before he was playing on the floor as usual and bleeding all over everything. See? He's not in much pain. I had to wrap his knee with an ACE bandage just to remind him to give the knee a break. We go to the pediatrician in a week or so to have the stitches--er, uh, band-aid strings--removed.

Tile tile tile!

This is Day 2 of the tile installation job. Tomorrow they will grout and finish. I thought I'd illustrate the flooring process in photos :)

Here's the kitchen floor after they took out the cabinets and table.

This is the floor after 5 layers of vinyl and underlayment were removed, leaving only a stained subfloor. Apparently, the first installers had used roofing tar paper as a moisture barrier?!?!

This is what it looked like at the end of Tiling Day 1: carpet cut away from the sliding glass door, cement board laid, and the first few rows of tile.

With only a little bit of tile in place, I started to wonder if I/we had made the best choice. It appeared the exact same color as our dirty beige carpet. Gasp!

Now that I see it on a larger scale, it looks better...more neutral...more orderly...warmer hues...than I had perceived with only a few tiles on the floor. Whew!

 

James watching the guys work. He's so interested in the process that he actually stops moving and talking for 10 minutes at a time.

Loving Spring

Asbestos folks are coming out tomorrow. They say it's a 1-day job.

I just got off the phone with the flooring folks who will be putting tile into our new kitchen. They will install next week! Next week! Then there's a rush to get the cabinets, lighting, and plumbing set up and another loooooooong wait for the counter tops to be made and installed (3 weeks). Then we're pretty much, almost kinda, 90% done. Wow.

With that news, and a solid workout done this morning, and both kids unconscious in their beds for quiet time, I'm in a stinking good mood.

So, I thought I'd share some other things that make me happy :)

Being outside in the green

I said, "Hey James, let me get a picture of you in the grass." He falls to the ground and pulls this "tricky move."

He sees me pointing the camera at him. He pauses, furrows his brow, and *click* it's all over.

Popsicle mouths

Blue eyes, blue lips.

Sandals and riding bikes

Delicate rock collections

Robert probably made this while he was supposed to be getting dressed or something. Absolutely beautiful. Too bad James swiped it all off just a few minutes later :( Sharing a room can be such a drag sometimes.

Baby peaches in my own backyard

I love seeing the baby peach burst through the spent flower. There's something so metaphysical about it...the flower has its moment, then withers away just as the fruit is born...different phases in my life...growth can mean change.

Bubble forts

Bobby helped the kids with this one. They still don't quite understand how it works, but it's a lot of fun.