Putting in the Garden

Several weeks ago, as January's end approached and warm weather persisted, we visited a local nursery (still mourning the demise of Baker, though!) and bought some seedlings to plant. Jeremy pulled down our seed box and chose some seeds the kids could help poke into the ground, too. So everyone spent a good part of a Saturday digging in dirt and getting the garden in--early for once!

Abby

Lydia helps with the tomato plants

Unfortunately, our initiative in getting the garden in early backfired on us, since we had a week of lower temperatures, frost, and even a freeze . . . so all our original cucumber seedlings and some of the tomatoes bit the dust. Some of the hard-hit tomatoes are valiantly coming back to life, though, and we bought more cucumbers (some of which are also dying--despite warm weather--so we're not sure what's wrong with them).

Lydia shows off her shovel

The kids really enjoy helping me water the raised beds each day. They compete for the watering can (or take turns, when Mama intervenes) and love to douse every fledgling plant in sight. I limit them to watering the rose bushes or pomegranate tree when they use buckets. Otherwise the deluge would decimate the poor little plants that are already struggling against the elements, garden-digging cats, and the inventive play of three active children.

Josiah pulling apart a dried marigold for seed

Jeremy had the kids plant marigold seeds along the edge of the garden beds. The shoots have just started coming up--I think we'll have an overabundance of marigolds, based on their liberal planting! (Marigolds are supposed to ward off various unwanted pests. They seemed to help last year a little.)

Abby stylin' in her Dubai hat

Our lettuce seedlings have taken off. I've harvested a batch of lettuce leaves for salad already and need to do so again soon. I could probably make a full salad from the garden now! We bought a variety of lettuces from red leaf to butter to romaine to arugula, and they make a very pretty combination. Our radishes are always reliable and will be a nice addition to the salads once they mature. We never had good luck with carrots, so we didn't plant any this year, but I'm hopeful we'll get at least some cucumbers, and our front crop of tomatoes looks especially promising.

The master gardener himself :)

Abby aids Daddy with the arugula

Lydia helps with the lettuce

Josiah with the marigold jar

In harvesting news, the citrus season is just about over. We've plucked most of the Lisbon lemons, and the Meyer are getting squishy and old on the tree. We enjoyed the few navel and golden nugget mandarin oranges we got, as well as several tangelos. (Our neighbors gave us bags of their lovely oranges--maybe Arizona sweets? Jeremy juiced some, and that juice was SO good!) Now all the lemon and orange trees are budding. I caught the kids plucking little lemon flower buds today--"But they're our blueberries!" they protested when I told them to leave the flowers alone.

This year's lemons were not as large as last year's monstrosities--but still good-sized and less thick-skinned

The gardening crew

Third Birthday

I'm a little sad that I no longer have any two-year-olds! How did a year go by so quickly?

Lydia and Abby eagerly anticipated turning three (and then four, and then five, and then--"what comes next, Mama?"). Because of a poop-on-the-floor incident during naptime, Lydia almost missed the chance to turn three with Abby. But we relented and allowed her to stay the oldest. 

Lydia likes to have the blue chair, blue tray, blue bib, and blue bowl

  

I asked them when they woke up what they wanted for their birthday breakfast. "Chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream!" they replied. Shouldn't I have known? That's what they told me they wanted for their birthday many a time in the days preceding!

But I clarified that we needed to eat breakfast food for breakfast. So they chose Dutch baby pancake with whipped cream and berries. These three-year-olds are big eaters! I tremble to think what our grocery bill will be in even a few years.

Josiah was happy with their choice of breakfast food, though he said the spatula tasted like garlic :)

After the birthday breakfast, we had a pretty normal day at home with book reading, outside play, etc. I made a picnic lunch for the kids (they enjoy eating it on a blanket in the yard), and then for dinner we had homemade pizza. Of course, we finished up with chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream.

Jeremy took the older three to Safeway when he got home to get helium balloons. The birthday girls enjoyed the outing and loved the balloons!

 Abby

 She makes a pained face for the camera these days

Lydia

They also loved opening the cards that came in the mail for them. Great-grandma's Minnie Mouse cards were a huge hit! They spent quite a while with the stickers. They also wanted me to re-read the cards from everyone several times. And they constantly needed to check for "A" or "L" on each card to make sure they had theirs and not their sister's!

Even Clara got a balloon! It was commandeered for Lydia when L's got a hole, though

Josiah, of course, chose a green balloon

 Can you tell they were excited about dessert?

After dinner, we gave the girls a couple presents (each got a book, and together they got a big box of chalk). They also opened the little package from Uncle Dave and Aunt Barb, which contained some "bouncing" balloons. We had them wait to play with those till the following day, and they've had lots of fun with them (they've also lasted much longer than the helium balloons!).

Josiah had to be called off a few times . . .

Clara and Daddy

Sorry about the poor-quality pictures, but at least this gives you a glimpse of the girls' birthday. We're planning to celebrate February and March birthdays with everyone in Flagstaff soon, and I'm sure the girls will be thrilled to get a repeat birthday!

Little Bo Peep, Lion-Slayer (and Other Literary Pretend)

We all love books around here, so I'm excited to see my children's love for stories also transfer to their pretend play.

Over a year ago, Josiah was already playing at the Beatrix Potter stories, taking on characters and quoting them. "I have a switch. I'm looking for my son," he told me one day. After a pause, he inquired, "You my son, Mom?"

Lydia came wailing to the back door a few weeks ago. "Mama! 'Siah shot me with his bow! I has an owie!" she said. (Uncle D conveniently gave him a bow and arrows for Christmas.)

I said, "What was going on? Why'd he shoot you?"

Lydia replied, "I was cock robin."

(For context, in case you don't know the nursery rhyme, here it is.)

In recent days they have played lots of Beatrix Potter: Peter Rabbit/Benjamin/Mr. MacGregor, the Flopsey Bunnies, Mr. Tod and Tommy Brock, Squirrel Nutkin, etc. Josiah usually starts a game by declaring himself a particular (coveted) character: "I'm Benjamin Bunny! Who you gonna be, Lydia and Ab?" Sometimes he tries to coerce or cajole them into being particular characters. He usually wants a "bad guy," so someone has to play Mr. MacGregor, for instance. Sometimes they rotate roles and take turns. The girls' grimaces as Mr. MacGregor are a sight to behold.

Lydia

They've also played Ping and Ferdinand (the former which involves spanking, and the latter which involves "butting with horns," so neither usually turns out well).

Lydia

They like to re-enact Richard Scarry characters like Sam and Dudley, Huckle and Lowly and Sally, Lappy and his reindeer, Cucumber and Pickles, Pip-pip, Mr. Fixit, Sergeant Murphy, and others.

J, L, A 

Josiah's interest in Calvin and Hobbes often turns into games, too. He likes to be Hobbes; one of his sisters "gets" to be "Talvin," and the other has to settle for being the mom or Susie. This game also typically ends quickly, as Hobbes nails Calvin or they both bombard Susie with "snowballs."

Abby

They went through a Curious George phase, where they requested George stories every day and listened to them via audio book as well. (I got so sick of them! The first Curious George story is fine, but the rest are kind of silly and contrived and without strong plot, in my opinion.) Then one of the kids would decide to be George. "Please you be the firemen?" she'd ask. Josiah often liked to be the Man in the Yellow Hat.

Abby

I particularly enjoy hearing them sing/recite various nursery rhymes or quote directly from various retellings of nursery tales as they play. (They like the Richard Scarry's Animal Nursery Tales, and we've read a lot of Arnold Lobel's nursery rhymes book, his Gregory Griggs compilation, and A Treasury of Mother Goose by Hilda Offen.)

They've cycled through playing at Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the Wolf and the Kids, Old MacDonald, the Musicians of Bremen, and the Three Little Pigs. Yesterday I overheard Little Bo Peep (Abby) searching for her sheep (Lydia--just one in this re-enactment). Josiah said, "Hey, LIttle Bo Peep, here's your sling and sword! You gotta hit a lion on the head if he tries to get your sheep!"

Lydia and Josiah

Speaking of lion-slaying and slings, Josiah quite enjoys playing David in his fight against wild animals that threaten his flock (sisters). Sometimes he goes up against Goliath, but the girls don't like to pretend to be the giant. Usually Daddy is designated as Goliath, whether he wills it or no.

Abby

Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad is a perennial favorite around here, and Josiah loves being Frog. Some weekends he pretends he's Frog all day long and calls Jeremy "Toad" as they work and play outside. If Jeremy doesn't respond to his designated moniker, Josiah gets insistent: "Hey Toad! TOAD! TOOOAAADD!!" Last week Josiah told me he was "Viking Frog." I guess he decided Frog needed to really up his game and fight some dragons, and in order to do that, he needed to be a viking (since he's seen clips of How to Train Your Dragon). When his sisters play Frog and Toad with him, one gets to be Frog, and the other is usually the Snail who brings Toad a letter from Frog.

Abby

My mom picked up a book with lovely illustrations of the Good King Wenceslas song. We only read it a few times around Christmas, but the kids have acted it out many a time! One is Good King Wenceslas, one the page, one the poor man.

Lydia

Beyond books, the kids also like to act out various movies or shows they've seen (or seen parts of). Their favorite is Robin Hood, Little John, and Prince John or Maid Marian (they've seen most of Disney's Fox Robin Hood). Since Grandma and Pa in Flagstaff let them watch a few episodes of Flipper and Lassie, they love to play those, too! Flipper is funny to watch--one thrashes around on the floor as Flipper, sometimes helping out the boy in some way, sometimes "drinking milk from his Mama" (one of the girls lifts her shirt for the Flipper girl). Less often they're Snoopy, Woodstock, and "Woodchip."

 
What games they come up with--and what fun they have! And what fun we have watching them. :)

Going on Five Years of Love

"I love you more than the honey! I love you more than dough! I love you ten feet up to heaven!" Josiah told me this morning. (And let me tell you, honey and dough are pretty important to him.)

I love you, too, Buddy--to the moon and back.