Sunday, June 16, 2013
Bobby's Sunday Summary
Sorry I have not done this in a while. Life has felt very busy lately, but today I have a bit of a breather. I don't have a lot to report. James is teething again, which is making for some long nights.
Thursday and Friday nights we had 8 young men from Matton, Charleston and Effingham. They were here for a Church youth conference. They were amazingly well behaved, but wow those boys wear a lot of colone. Our house still has a bit of the smell in it.
Friday night we had a barbecue with some friends. It was Alice's idea to have it. So that makes two out of the last three "parties" that we have had that have been initiated by Alice (not counting Birthday and other family events). I think Alice is going to fill our social calendar a lot faster than anything else.
Thursday and Friday nights we had 8 young men from Matton, Charleston and Effingham. They were here for a Church youth conference. They were amazingly well behaved, but wow those boys wear a lot of colone. Our house still has a bit of the smell in it.
Friday night we had a barbecue with some friends. It was Alice's idea to have it. So that makes two out of the last three "parties" that we have had that have been initiated by Alice (not counting Birthday and other family events). I think Alice is going to fill our social calendar a lot faster than anything else.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
First, firsts, and more firsts
What a summer for Alice! So many "firsts" happening right on top of each other. I just want to list them here for my own memory (and so I can revisit this the summer after Robert and James turn 6 years old...mwah ha ha haaaaa!).
Robert recognizes many numbers in the 0 to 10 range. Some "firsts" for him this summer include writing a few letters from his name and being able to trace letters and numbers with a pencil. He has mature days and less-mature days. On the mature days, I forget that he's only three. On the less-mature days, I wonder why my 2-year-old is SO freakishly big.
He finds James a bit frustrating. And Robert tends to get awfully bossy with younger kids. I'm still trying to understand what motivates him. He loves positive adult attention, like Alice does, but he also finds the giggles of peers irresistible. He lets Alice lead many of the games. He adores her. He lashes out when he feels slighted or rebuffed by her. Perhaps it is his peers that affect him most. Maybe that motivates him more than adult attention does. I'll have to see.
James. He's doing everything for the first time...solid foods, mobility, slobbery blowfish kisses. Yesterday, he perfected his motor boat noise. Now he scoots around the house going, "B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b!"
And a first for me this week was making my own swim suit. It's a similar design to Alice and Robert's rash guard suits. Finally, I can swim in public without feeling naked or way overdressed. Woo hoo!
Bobby used a Saws-All to cut apart a basketball hoop pole and base. Awesome!
- First piano lesson. I can't get her to stop practicing. She composed her own melody this morning and named it "The Garden." She had me write it down for her.
- First loose tooth. She's not sure she wants to wiggle it herself, but she's eating more apples to move it along.
- First summer reading program where she actually reads her own books. We count everything from picture books to chapter books.
- First time going completely underwater in the pool on purpose (the dreaded "bob"). She did it four times, but only at her new swim teacher's request. Alice is not one to say "no" to a teacher. Ever. Alice says she's afraid of the next lesson, but I'm trying to help her see bobs as an act of maturity, courage, and advanced skill. She likes the idea of being ahead of the curve ;)
Robert recognizes many numbers in the 0 to 10 range. Some "firsts" for him this summer include writing a few letters from his name and being able to trace letters and numbers with a pencil. He has mature days and less-mature days. On the mature days, I forget that he's only three. On the less-mature days, I wonder why my 2-year-old is SO freakishly big.
He finds James a bit frustrating. And Robert tends to get awfully bossy with younger kids. I'm still trying to understand what motivates him. He loves positive adult attention, like Alice does, but he also finds the giggles of peers irresistible. He lets Alice lead many of the games. He adores her. He lashes out when he feels slighted or rebuffed by her. Perhaps it is his peers that affect him most. Maybe that motivates him more than adult attention does. I'll have to see.
James. He's doing everything for the first time...solid foods, mobility, slobbery blowfish kisses. Yesterday, he perfected his motor boat noise. Now he scoots around the house going, "B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b!"
And a first for me this week was making my own swim suit. It's a similar design to Alice and Robert's rash guard suits. Finally, I can swim in public without feeling naked or way overdressed. Woo hoo!
Bobby used a Saws-All to cut apart a basketball hoop pole and base. Awesome!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
First Firefly
I saw my first firefly tonight.
I love, love, love gardening in June. It's been cool, warm, wet, and dry at all the right times. Wahoo! Weeds haven't settled in, strawberry plants are producing like crazy (5 pints of freezer jam packed away today!), and pretty much everything I plan to grow this year is already in the garden beds. Ta da! Lots of time to sit back and enjoy.
Just a few issues, though:
Cedar Apple Rust: a mold afflicting my apple tree leaves again this year. Last year, I plucked the leaves with early signs of infection and the rest of the tree never caught it. I'm doing the same this year.
Green Aphids: again, the apple trees. Green aphids are sucking plant juices out of several leaves and causing them to curl up all wrinkly. There's a healthy host of ants "farming" these aphids for their butt sap. I'm still looking for non-toxic and organic methods for dealing with this situation.
Bunnies: I've kept them out of the garden beds this year with my tent contraption setup (pictures to come), but one bunny has taken a liking to eating fruit tree bark...again, poor apple tree.
That whole tent contraption setup ("squirrel exclosure") has been an interesting series of experiments and trials. I'm still not completely satisfied, but it's doing its job in a semi-pretty way and I'm grateful for that. I'll have to post some pictures for you.
Neighbor's new fence: *sigh* Remember when I was all tied up in knots about the neighbor's plans to put a new fence up? We talked about it, and I told them what I would prefer, and they ended up replacing PART of the fence with another split rail cedar fence *sigh*. That's NOT what I preferred. The overgrown grapevine and 6-foot high honeysuckle plants are still alive and kicking on the original, wobbly, carpenter-bee-infested fence. I'm so bothered by that decision that I've decided to mow over any grapevines the trail onto my grass this year. A burly, overgrown grapevine will only be helped by a little peripheral pruning. I've got to figure out my own grape plan...but that's for another year.
Bramble patch in the works: sort of. There's a buried gas line I need to be wary of. We had the trees removed and now the front yard looks pretty rough with all of my gardening/building junk exposed. Gotta make a trip to the dump.
Broken eggs: I've had a rash of broken eggs in the coop over the last couple weeks. It's hard to tell if the eggs are just getting roughed up accidentally or if some hen is actively pecking on them. This is something I'll be watching more closely in the near future. I have finally figured out which hen lays which colored eggs, though. Penny and Spot lay the pale brown eggs, Roo and Toe lay the darker brown eggs. It's interesting that each hen is "best friends" with the hen that lays eggs like her own. Coincidence? Hmmmmm.
I love, love, love gardening in June. It's been cool, warm, wet, and dry at all the right times. Wahoo! Weeds haven't settled in, strawberry plants are producing like crazy (5 pints of freezer jam packed away today!), and pretty much everything I plan to grow this year is already in the garden beds. Ta da! Lots of time to sit back and enjoy.
Just a few issues, though:
Cedar Apple Rust: a mold afflicting my apple tree leaves again this year. Last year, I plucked the leaves with early signs of infection and the rest of the tree never caught it. I'm doing the same this year.
Green Aphids: again, the apple trees. Green aphids are sucking plant juices out of several leaves and causing them to curl up all wrinkly. There's a healthy host of ants "farming" these aphids for their butt sap. I'm still looking for non-toxic and organic methods for dealing with this situation.
Bunnies: I've kept them out of the garden beds this year with my tent contraption setup (pictures to come), but one bunny has taken a liking to eating fruit tree bark...again, poor apple tree.
That whole tent contraption setup ("squirrel exclosure") has been an interesting series of experiments and trials. I'm still not completely satisfied, but it's doing its job in a semi-pretty way and I'm grateful for that. I'll have to post some pictures for you.
Neighbor's new fence: *sigh* Remember when I was all tied up in knots about the neighbor's plans to put a new fence up? We talked about it, and I told them what I would prefer, and they ended up replacing PART of the fence with another split rail cedar fence *sigh*. That's NOT what I preferred. The overgrown grapevine and 6-foot high honeysuckle plants are still alive and kicking on the original, wobbly, carpenter-bee-infested fence. I'm so bothered by that decision that I've decided to mow over any grapevines the trail onto my grass this year. A burly, overgrown grapevine will only be helped by a little peripheral pruning. I've got to figure out my own grape plan...but that's for another year.
Bramble patch in the works: sort of. There's a buried gas line I need to be wary of. We had the trees removed and now the front yard looks pretty rough with all of my gardening/building junk exposed. Gotta make a trip to the dump.
Broken eggs: I've had a rash of broken eggs in the coop over the last couple weeks. It's hard to tell if the eggs are just getting roughed up accidentally or if some hen is actively pecking on them. This is something I'll be watching more closely in the near future. I have finally figured out which hen lays which colored eggs, though. Penny and Spot lay the pale brown eggs, Roo and Toe lay the darker brown eggs. It's interesting that each hen is "best friends" with the hen that lays eggs like her own. Coincidence? Hmmmmm.
Bed Bug Update
The motel had an exterminator go over our room with a black light. He found no obvious evidence of bed bugs. Whew. The motel is taking this quite seriously and has politely asked that we keep this incident off the internet. Whoops. Well, since they have taken immediate action to remedy the problem, and been very nice about keeping us posted, and seem intent on keeping this incident an isolated affair, I would say that if I ever spend the night in Nauvoo again, this motel would certainly be my first choice :)
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