Over the last two days, the girls and I got started on planting the garden. We have a small garden, with two raised beds that are about 12'x4'. We planted corn, carrots, pumpkin, cucumber, and 3 tomato plants.  We still have pole beans to plant as well as zucchini, potatoes and herbs. And we may plant strawberries in one of those cool strawberry pots.

It was two summers ago when we put in three blueberry bushes. Only two of them survived and they have tons of blossoms on them this year.

Before living here, we lived in Newport, WA and our next door neighbor had told us great stories about how wonderful the growing season is here in the Tri Cities (he used to live here).  So when we finally got our garden in last year, I was so excited!  That excitement turned quickly to disappointment, when very few of our plants produced anything worthwhile. I don't have a great background in gardening and I felt a little useless and helpless to these plants.

A couple of months ago I got some books from the library about gardening. Justin and I both read, and then read some more. We added compost to our soil this year and a friend of mine (who, in my opinion grows a very successful garden) told me to get some Alfalfa pellets to add into the soil as well.  So, I did that too.

I don't know about anyone else, but I actually said a rather informal prayer, but a prayer nonetheless, that our garden would be fruitful this year.

Besides getting produce from our garden, I am really looking forward to going to the Farmer's Markets this year. I had never gone to one until last summer, and I fell in love! I am definitely an advocate for buying from and supporting local farmers. And the produce I got from the Market, was the best produce I have ever had. FRESH!

I love summer!!!

1st Race

April 24, 2010 "Clot Trot"

(for Hemophilia awareness)

My friend told me about this fun run just at the last minute today, and I decided, "why not?!" Katelyn was so excited! This was her first official "race", you know.  {...I take that back, when I first told her she was going to get to do a race, she almost started crying and said that she couldn't run fast enough. I had to explain to her that even though it is called a race, it doesn't mean she has to try to win...or something like that. After we cleared that up she was excited again.} She practiced her running out in the front yard before we left and then just before the race began, I looked down and there she was stretching it out. Hilarious! She thought of that all on her own.

I let Alaina wear my bib #, but she got to ride along in the stroller. We did the 1 mile route in about 14:30 minutes or so. It was so FUN to get Katelyn involved. She didn't quite understand that it's not a sprint, and got a little tired here and there, but the only thing that matters to me is that she had fun doing it :)

Pictures: Katelyn stretching, my friend Kim and her girls and Katelyn during the run

Metamorphosis

Remember the other day when I wrote about catching caterpillars? Well, I thought for sure they would probably just die in that jar, but a couple days ago, I looked in the jar and saw a brown cocoon! There was only one at the time, and I could still see the other caterpillar, but it wasn't moving. Yesterday I checked again, and the 2nd caterpillar had also turned into it's pupa. I think my neighbor and I are more fascinated and excited about this whole experiment than our kids are (her son is in Kate's class). I even checked out books from the library about Moths and Butterflies, and looked at several websites to see if I could find out what kind it is. I never did find it. Hopefully, I will be able to catch them when they emerge from their cocoons. That would be awesome!

Rage In The Sage 2012

To quote my friend Emily: "Marriage makes you fat." Add a couple of children to that, staying home all day long, love of food, and inactivity, and this is what I looked like at the same event two years ago.

Two years ago I started to run again. I used to run semi-regularly when I was single, but as I just mentioned I just sort of stopped being active. I was never heavy before. Never! Being overweight was a new thing for me, and it was not pretty.

One thing I love about this area is that there are a lot of sporting events you can participate in all year long. But I suppose it is the same for most cities of any significant size. In 2010, I ran two 5K's and did the Duathlon and then devel0ped some lower back issues and stopped running. With the help of a horrendous year of G.I. problems I dropped 25 lbs. In December of 2010, a friend challenged me to train for a 1/2 marathon. I was really nervous. I had 5 months to get ready and I wasn't sure if I could do it. But I did! So in 2011 I dropped another 21 lbs, ran two 1/2 marathons and a RAGNAR relay. Truthfully, I went through a couple burn out periods with the running, but I didn't want to stop. I knew where I had started from and I did not want to go back. In November I started having foot pain, but was able to run with it for a while. I ran the 2011 Turkey Trot 5K and finally finished under 30 minutes (29:30).

The foot pain got worse and worse, so I finally saw a Podiatrist, got an injection and then went on to PT in February. I've been going for 2 months now and I am finally seeing improvement. It has been a long haul. I got discouraged with the foot issue (Plantar Fasciitis), even felt a little "down" about not being able to run, but I didn't want it to get the best of me. I decided that if I couldn't run anymore, then I would just find something else, like biking. Which is why I decided to do the Rage in the Sage again this year, but just do the bike part.

During the 10 miles, I thought to myself a couple of times that I would rather be running, but in the end I really enjoyed myself. My goals were: to not crash, not get a flat tire and not have to walk my bike up any hills. Goals met!



My friend Jen was my teammate. She is 6 moths pregnant, but really wanted to do it. It was a gorgeous day!

this kid

I put on my running music to listen to while I was cleaning up and Alaina immediately ran down stairs to get her "dancing thing" on (tutu). I thought that was pretty cute, but that's not the point of this post.

During my tidying up, and as I was making her bed I discovered I have one of those kids. The kind of kid that always has her finger up her nose. But what's more, is that she is also one of those kids who apparently likes to wipe her boogers on the wall next to her bed.

Here she is smiling proudly next to her collection. When I told her to please stop wiping her boogers on the wall and come get a Kleenex in the future, and when I told her it was gross, she just laughed and said, "it's not gross, it's yummy!"

Oddly enough, she isn't a booger eater. Let's hope it stays that way.

Oh, this kid makes me laugh, even when she is gross.

Yep, I just blogged about boogers. This is our life.

happy moments

Amidst all the frustrations of parenthood, come those sweet moments that make my heart feel happy. Today, those moments occurred as my husband came home, and took a whining toddler out to swing on the swing. I love watching out the window and seeing the sheer delight on her face.

Another moment is watching your toddler become more independent all the time, including when she decides to change out of her jeans and into pajama bottoms and church shoes to go play outside.

It's when we catch caterpillars and put them in a jar and wait to see if they build cocoons and turn into butterflies...(and hope that they don't die in the meantime)






What's even better is when Katelyn was calling them "callapitters". I loved it, but sadly, she has figured out how to say it correctly. Oh well.

These warm spring days are like medicine to my soul!









Katelyn insisted her hair be in her face for this picture.

What will happen.....?

Easter 2012

We had a nice Easter. The Easter Bunny was EXTREMELY generous with the girls this year. Thank goodness for "him" (wink, wink). My mom and Dale were here for the weekend. We had a pancake breakfast and a Ham dinner. It was all very delicious and I feel very fat today.

We had a beautiful, warm, sunny day. Got to attend great church meetings. The girls were a vision of spring in their Easter skirts. My sister in law, Sarah, showed me a really easy pattern to make these skirts. So easy, even I could make them with no real sewing skills. Katelyn picked out the fabric. Such pretty little girls. After our dinner, we enjoyed a nice evening walk around the neighborhood.

Happy Easter to All!

Meaningful Weekends

Last weekend we took a trip to Federal Way, WA to watch our niece Maddie swim in a big meet. We don't get to see this brother's family very often (Justin's oldest brother) and since they were coming fairly close to us, we thought we'd make the trip over to cheer her on. It made me wish I could swim. I loved the sound of the water and watching all those kids gliding effortlessly through it.

We had a great time! We got to stay in a hotel for 2 nights, which I always think is kind of fun. We got to watch TV! Whenever Justin and I are in a hotel, it seems that we always end up watching the Food Network. We used to love watching that channel back when we had television at home. We especially loved watching Iron Chef America, which is exactly what we watched while at the hotel.

The girls really enjoyed getting to swim in the pool. Katelyn likes to go underwater whenever possible. Alaina loved going back and forth from the pool to the hot tub.

We ate at Red Robin and Olive Garden and Wendy's. We went to the Mall. This Mall has a Target attached to it and the girls (Audrey, Katelyn and Alaina) had fun trying sun hats on.

Corey and Sarah's family came up to watch some of the swimming too, which was a lot of fun. Sarah and I got to go see The Hunger Games.

Katelyn really adores her cousin Maddie and was constantly asking to know where she was and if she could go see her. I suppose it could be a little annoying to have a 5 year old wanting to follow you around for 3 days, but Maddie was really sweet with the girls.

On Sunday, we left to head towards home, but stopped in at Corey & Sarah's on the way. We ended up staying for 2 nights. We have always been really close with them. I am extremely lucky to have gotten one of my really good friends (and former roommates) for a sister in law. And she as become one of my dearest friends over the years.

The kids played and played and played together. We ate delicious homemade food. We went to the Library and to the Roslyn museum. We enjoyed sunshine and fresh air and trees. I went running with Corey and killed my lungs in their high altitude. We talked and read books and I didn't want to leave!

I reflected on some things in my life. I came to some conclusions, made some new resolves (some I am going to have to work really hard at).

Three months ago, I had a really bad day. Really bad! I refer to it as a "break down", and it was...of sorts. Truthfully, I had been leading up to this point for several months, maybe even years. I have been in conflict with myself for about 2 years actually. Struggling with my role in life, as it is right now, especially as a mother. It was a Sunday morning, Justin was working. Sundays are hard for me when he isn't there. Something small, very small happened and I snapped. There was a rage inside of me that scared me to death. So much that I thought I needed to go to the hospital. I was sure I was bipolar or something worse was happening to me. A friend took my girls for the day, Justin came home and he took me to the Crisis Center. I didn't want to go. I felt stupid and embarrassed. It makes me feel sad to think back on it, but the outcome of that day was a referral to a Counselor. And the good news is that it is exactly what needed to happen. I have gone once a week for the past 12 weeks. It is only the beginning, but I can see how it is helping already. Someone posted this on facebook today and it rang very true for me:

"It is easier to build up a child, than to repair an adult,
choose your words wisely."

Which is exactly why it is going to take a lot longer than 12 weeks to get where I want to be. I think that the most profound thing that I have learned so far is that {my moments of weakness/imperfection/struggle, whatever you want to call it, do not define me as a whole.} I still don't' always want to believe that, but right now, it is my lifeline.

Three Rivers Counseling