Baby bean or beefy momma?

Why is it that everything I read says the tiny fella inside of me is the size of a bean.....


When actually I feel (and look) like he/she is more like the size of a....

I can't imagine.

Things are growing...

A few weeks ago we started popping things in the ground.

A few onions....

A handful of peas...
A bit of lettuce, spinach and arugula...

But first I got to break in my Christmas/Birthday present.

I give you....the Mantis.


It was vundabar! And it made short work of combining last year's compost deliciousness with winterized raised beds. Gone are the days of turning the soil with the shovel. (hooray, Mantis!)

And now all risk of frost is gone and we get to do the good stuff.

We traditionally do 4 tomato plants a year: one Early Girl, one Better Boy, one Husky Cherry, and then we pick something different, whatever strikes our fancy! This year? The SUPER FANTASTIC! I know. Whoever named this tomato was really excited and, you know me, I'm all for vegetable enthusiasm.

We chose a new variety of pole bean. Here's hoping it's not nasty and stringy like last year's crop (patooie!)

A row of Straight Eight cucumbers, one jalepeno, one Anaheim, and one Green bell pepper.

A little patch of carrots, due solely to Ethan's pleading, and a patch of beets. I haven't planted beets since I was considered 1/7th of the child labor force back in Payson. We'll see how it goes. Do you have to pickle a beet? Or can you just cook 'em up?

The only thing more riveting than my blow by blow account of planting my garden is the photos of them lying so snuggly in their little dirt beds.


Meggy's herb garden. See?

Riveting!

Easter Eggs

So we eventually did color those eggs. I was so tempted not to. It's a mess and the kids didn't really remember, but then the mom guilt mothership landed and we went ahead.

My kids take this very seriously.



I just want to bite those little fat fingers. rrrr!


It's possible that this apron of mine has become a permanent resident of my everyday wardrobe. But I'm getting fatter everyday. I'm going to need a new apron or tie extensions or something. Help!

And because I just can't resist....

If you chance to see a frown, do not let it stay!


Quickly turn it upside down and smile that frown away!

Love you, babe. Forgive me?

14 weeks...14 weeks...14 weeks...

14 weeks pregnant is the golden glimmering ticket to feeling like I'm not spinning around and around on one of those diabolical playground carousel contraptions.

But, alas. I am a mere 6 weeks and for the foreseeable future I am doomed to view the world through pea green glasses.

My children are condemned to pizza at least three times per week. I'm pretty sure they're devastated by the turn of events. Hear them now? "Ding dong the witch is dead!"

Let's see....that's Dominos, Dominos, Dominos, Wal-Mart Take and Bake and for lunch on Sunday we had (you guessed it!) mini pizzas made from tortillas, spaghetti sauce and mozzarella.

I'm not going to lie to you.

Things are getting bad. We ran out of bowls yesterday.


The kids have assumed control.


Thankfully they are armed with the knowledge to survive:

1. How to nuke a corndog.
2. How to make toaster waffles.
3. How to make jam toast.

I didn't say it was a perfect system.

But the good news is that I do believe I've discovered how to make my own lime slushies in the the food processor. So I think we'll avoid Sonic bankruptcy.


14 weeks....14 weeks....14 weeks.....

5

Mark and I took the opportunity to share a little news with our children during Family Home Evening this week.

Mathew's response: "If it's a boy, can we name him Lightning?"

Me: "How about we save that for a middle name?"


Let the barfing begin.

Memo

To whom it may concern:

You are seriously pushing it today.

Please cease and desist from all efforts to have me committed.

Love,

Your mother.

Spring Break....a party in the car.

Last week was Spring Break and despite the attractiveness of carrying out a weeklong romance with Chuck-e-cheese, we decided to pack up the silver bullet and head for Utah. The trip out took 3 days. We were in good spirits. We had redbox. We had miniature Hersheys (the big bag) and dum dums and I have good aim. The kids and I came to an agreement on the movie/music ratio. They can watch a movie and then I get 4 loud songs, chosen by each of them from my ipod. They have a soft spot for Queen.




All was well until we were about 30 minutes from Salina, KS, our first destination. The snow started coming and then the wind picked up. We slowed WAY down and I started to get nervous. Before you know it we had done a 360 and spun off the freeway and down the side of the bank.

So scary.

We took several deep breaths and I tried to pull myself together. We prayed for help. We inched the car back and forth until we were out of the ruts we had created as we slipped. Long story short...after many attempts, help from a guy in a green camaro and many fervent prayers from the children...we managed to get back on to the freeway. The kids cheered and I cried. I won't pretend that the whole thing didn't scare me. Big time. It took us another hour to creep our way down the freeway the remaining 20 miles to Salina.

Who knew one could love the sight of Salina so much? No offense, Salinites.

The next day brought us to beautiful Grand Junction, Colorado. We especially loved passing though the tunnels coming through the Rockies. We could have done without Laney repeatedly yelling "Nuther tunnel!?" for a solid 15 minutes after passing through each one.

We stayed in an awesome cheap motel with an extremely comfy Lazyboy. It was preferable to being beat to death by either set of crazy legs in the beds.

And Sunday morning brought us to Spanish Fork. As usual we spilled out of the van, wrappers and empty water bottles and socks and coloring books left in our wake. The boys gave Grandma a quick hug and went straight for the video games in her playroom. I'm sure she felt super loved.

And so we commenced a week of spending time with siblings and cousins. I truly loved every minute and it reminded me that living 1242 miles away pretty much sucks (pardonay mwah).

A few of our activities:

We did a great deal of hanging around. The kids made good use of Grandma's many wonders in the closet. Here's Ethan and his Mega Magz horse.


We went up to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. Otherwise known as an expensive way to play in the sandbox with a hose and a bag of plastic dinos available for purchase at your local dollar store. Still....it is cool.



We also took fun trip to SLC. The highlight of which was riding the train:




Jordan and his son, Thayn, and Grandma.

Cheyanne with a new baby on the way!
Amanda and Bri and I believe the top of Thomas' curly head.

We were also very enamored with "waiting for the train". What can I say? Arkansas is completely lacking in Public Transportation. Unless you are of a mind to ride the short blue bus to and from Wal-Mart. If so, my apologies.

Meggy seeking refuge from the wind.

We enjoyed a quick stroll around temple square.


Is it just me or do I look a bit beaten down by life? Like I might fall over at any moment. oh. and weird hair.

And a ride up to the top of the Joseph Smith Building. We lacked reverence.


So we headed over to the teeniest tiniest most insanely delicious waffle shop in all of the known universe. I kid you not. It was freezing and there was only outdoor seating, but these waffles were enough to make you sit your chilly behind in that frosty metal chair until you have licked the last drop of whip cream off your fork. And don't even get me started on the fries. Heaven preserve us. You MUST go! You must!



Afterwards we did our fancy speedwalk back to the train stop and rode it back to the stadium where we did our dance of joy that we had escaped getting a ticket for parking at the UofU stadium. Ha HA!

Back to Bri and Amanda's place for a potty break and we went out to Antelope Island to view a few buffalo. But forget the buffalo! Who needs buffalo when you have....

Of course, these are the oldest known rocks on the planet. I do believe they are 2.7 BILLION years old. The thing I keep thinking is that if these rocks are 2.7 BILLION years old, how old are the rocks underneath them. Right?

Just sayin.

So, the week was a success. We had lots of dinners and long conversations and cousins in and out. And too soon it was time to leave. We opted for the route through Cheyenne and along I-80, mainly because it was snowing in Colorado and I am understandably freaked out by snow at this time. As an extra precaution we sprung for new tires before we hit the road. ouch. Tires are stupid expensive.

The trip home looked like this:

I spy with my little eye:
* a two year old slipping into a sugar coma
* a makeshift tent city in the back seat
* a four year old who has lost the will to live and will only respond to "who wants a sucker?"



* a loaf of Grandma Sycamore's yummy bread (I'll miss you Maceys)
* a bag of m&m cookies
* a sweater
* a purse, hopefully containing all necessary documents, licenses, toll money and credit cards

* a water bottle with a lost lid
*a water bottle that has been chewed on, therefore springing a leak and forcing me to confiscate it and keep it upside down until we stop for a potty break.

Somewhere in Wyoming we pulled over at a rest stop and were surprised to find a pretty great playground. Megan was overcome. She made a rock angel.

The kids climbed.


Laney clung.


We raided the maps and brochures by the bathrooms and we hit the road.

Mark had spaghetti and meatballs on the table when we pulled in.

Because of the love.

Home!

Good thing Easter dye is non-perishable

The road to a half-baked Easter is paved with 2 dozen white hard boiled eggs.