Earth Day

I thought in honor of it being Earth Day I would write a post documenting our garden thus far.

Now I must be honest in saying that every year in the early spring Jason and I get very ambitious with our garden plans. We make a list of everything we want to plant and I make the promise that I will make sure it gets weeded and watered while Jason is working his long hours. Then some time around the 1st of August when it is hot and humid my enthusiasm weans and the weeds start taking over. I also have visions of me freezing, canning and preserving our “harvest”. I really do have these visions of myself making homemade spaghetti sauce from our tomatoes and having my pantry filled with mason jars of food I have canned from the garden. Now to give myself some credit I did manage to make some pesto sauce and freeze a few jars. I give those women who actually do all of that a ton of credit. I hope one day have a freezer and pantry that would make Ma Ingalls proud.

Anyway this year again I promised Jason the weeding would get done and if he planted snap beans I would learn how to freeze them and I wouldn’t let all of the potatoes rot. So this year we have planted broccoli, which I hope does well this year. The last two years the weather got too warm too quick and ruined all the plants. We also have potatoes, onions, beans, carrots (first year with these…we’ll see), and basil already planted. Jason just started the seeds for the tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. I would love to plant zucchini and squash but they take up a lot of room and we are already extending the garden this year. I am really hoping we get a great harvest this year and I am looking forward to the first garden fresh vegetables because there is really nothing like them!

Lettuce

Potato Plant

Broccoli

Beans

Onions

A blossom from our apple tree.

Really, did I just do that

I had one of those awful Mom moments the other day. After I realized what happened I kept hoping that maybe,just maybe it wasn’t true.

I ran over Gabriel’s IPod with the lawn mower. Yup that’s right I ran his IPod over with the riding mower. If that thing hadn’t exploded into a million pieces I would have collected it and taken a picture.

What happened was, I was getting ready to cut the grass. Gabe and Teresa were at a friends house and Faith and Lauren were taken naps. I thought it would be nice to listen to some music while I mowed since I didn’t have to keep an eye on anyone. Remembering that my iPod wasn’t charged I decided to use Gabe’s. Well I guess in a moment of complete mind loss I placed it in my lap, decided to take my coat off and then I heard it. This big clank that for sure was not a great sound to hear while you are cutting grass. I looked behind me and saw this silver object go a flying and then I looked down and saw the earphone wire hanging out from under the blade cover. I insistently checked my pocket (which is where I thought I had put it) and then remembered OH NO it was on my lap!!! It must have fallen off when I took my coat off and then went right under the mower. UGH!!! I felt horrible! Not only did I feel bad just for the fact that I ran it over but because I had just gotten on him for leaving it around. I told him he better start putting it back where it belongs because if not it was going to get BROKEN. And here I am the one that breaks it.

I thought for sure when I told him what had happen he was going to get upset. When he got home I told him I had something important to tell him. I then broke the news…and this is what he said to me “ Mom that’s okay I don’t use it that much anyway” then he paused and said “well I do but it still is okay”. I said “really you’re not upset, I really am sorry” and he then said “no really Mom it is okay it was just an accident”.

I have to be honest and say I was really proud of him in that moment. He didn’t have to react that way. He could have been upset, demanded that I get him a new one but he didn’t. Just an “it’s okay Mom”. Well and then followed by “did it explode into a million pieces, what did it look like, what did it sound like” :-)

Spring Soccer 2010

We just ended soccer season and I have to say while it was great to see the kids play and they had a ton of fun, I will not miss 4 nights of practice and 2 games on Saturday. This was the first season that we had two kids in sports. Overall it really wasn’t that bad and thankfully due to great friends carpooling worked out great. I’ll tell you it really does take a village!!

This season Gabe played with a new coach and some new players. At first I was concerned because there were a few kids that were on the younger side of the age group and some inexperienced players but I’ll tell you what this was the “little team that could”. It took a game or two for the team to mesh and learn to play together but once it clicked they really had a some great plays. Gabe played great for the most part, he had a few times where it seemed his head just wasn’t in the game, but hey we can’t be “on” all the time. He scored some goals and was one of the players that scored in the final game to earn us our first victory! They may have only won one game but that last game they really played with some heart. I could tell they were all really driven to end the season on a high note and boy did they! I wish I had gotten more pictures of Gabe playing but either the camera battery was dead or I was too busy chasing the girls around.

Goooooo Golden Dragons!

This was Teresa’s first time playing soccer EVER! She has kicked the ball around the backyard and has spent many hours at the field watching Gabe play but never actually played on a team. She was super excited to get to play and thought she was so grown to get to play soccer like Gabe does. She was thrilled on her game days especially if anyone special was coming to watch her play such as my sister or Jason’s parents. Overall she did well . She loved that her friend Abbi played on her team and her team did really well. She had some great games and some games were I think she just enjoyed sitting on the sidelines eating the halftime snack. The funniest story of the season was from the very first game. Teresa was out on the field and the whistle had blown to end the game. Teresa got a hold of the ball and instead of stopping dribbled the ball down field and kicked it in the goal. Of course when she turned around we all cheered for her and she beamed a smile like “wow awesome I just scored a goal!”. And according to her she did…I never told her that the game had ended and it didn’t count.

Goooo Lemonheads!!!

Here are a few pictures of what Faith and Lauren enjoy doing during the games.

Here’s to another great soccer season!! See ya in the fall!

My “baby” turns 2

I can still call her a “baby” right even though she has turned 2. I have to say these past 2 years have flown by incredibly fast. I remember when I was getting close to my due date with Lauren and the “panic” set in about how was I going to manage having 4 kids and 3 of them being 3 and under, I just kept giving myself short term goals. I would tell myself things like”Okay think small…let’s just make it through the summer without any major issues or catastrophes and by that time Lauren would be 4 months things would get easier” or “Made it through summer now lets just make it through the fall and the holidays”. Well before I knew it Lauren’s first birthday came and went and we were all still standing and I have to say thanks to wonderful friends and family the transition wasn’t so bad. Of course I had my days and nights were I thought I had completely lost it and wondered how God thought little ole disorganized me could handle this huge responsibility. Now here we are and sweet Lauren is 2 and as loving, smart, and adorable as any 2 year old can be.

The day she was born was a pretty scary experience. Due to a prolapsed cord we had to have an emergency c-section. I had to be put under general anesthesia because I hadn’t had time to get an epidural and they didn’t even have time to administer one in the OR. I remember being rolled down the hallway with all these nurses, my wonderful doctor Dr. Roberts, Debbie the midwife, and Jason experiencing the most fear I had ever had. It is never a great feeling when your doctor says to your husband “yeah I am a little nervous too” . My last memory before Lauren’s birth was seeing Jason’s face as they closed the doors to the OR and seeing the worry in his eyes. I am so thankful that my dear friend Shannon was there to be such a great support to us. I am truly blessed by her friendship. After I woke up from the anesthesia I was so overjoyed and thankful to hear that everything went well and that Lauren was about as perfect as perfect can be. I often look at her and say a prayer of thanksgiving because I know that if her umbilical cord had been compressed for too long of a time the outcome could have been very different.

This year for her birthday we were thankful that Jason was off work and the weather was beautiful. We took the kids to the Sound Park in Harbinger which was a really fun time. We road bikes, swung on swings, and Gabe got to ride on the skate park. We then went to Jason’s sister house for a cook out and cake. I was especially excited that my sister Meredith made it down from New Jersey to celebrate with us. It is always nice when the cousins all get a chance to get together and play. Here are some pictures from the night:

Jason and all the cousins

Lauren was so excited about the Dora cake I made her for her bday! The look on her face made staying up until 1am finishing it totally worth it!

Lauren you are such a joy and a real blessing to our family. I love how one minute you are trying to keep up with your older sisters and then the next you want to cuddle and snuggle like a baby. You have amazed us with your vocabulary and have no problem letting us know what you want or expressing how you feel. Some of your favorite things to do are: swing on the swings, play with your baby dolls, go for walks, watch Dora, and read books. You absolutely love our dog Casie and can often be found laying next to her playing with her hair. I love when you come up to me and say “I’m hungry” which is probably about half of your waking hours. I would say your favorite food is pineapple and I love how excited you get when we buy one at the store. So much so that you insist on holding it the entire ride home. We love you so very much and look forward to watching you grow into a sweet loving little girl!

Easter Weekend

We had a wonderful Easter weekend this year. The weather was absolutely beautiful and it made celebrating this meaningful holiday even better. We were blessed to have Jason off from work on both Saturday and Sunday so we made sure to do a lot of family activities and plenty of down time also . On Saturday morning we went to an Easter egg hunt at Teresa’s preschool which is also the church that Jason’s parents have started to attend. It was a fun time and Teresa enjoyed seeing many of her classmates.

Once we made it back home and Lauren went down for a nap the rest of us headed outside to enjoy the weather and get some yard work done. Jason and the kids worked in the garden and I cut the grass. I am really excited about the garden this year. So far we have planted potatoes, onions, broccoli, and beans and Jason and Faith started the seeds for the tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. Ahhhh I can not wait for a garden fresh sun ripened tomato…yummy!

After working in the yard for awhile we came back in a dyed some eggs. I actually had to go to the store and buy eggs for the first time since October because I wasn’t sure how the brown and green eggs would turn out. I have to say there is definitely a huge difference in taste…fresh eggs taste so much better!

On Easter Sunday the kids enjoyed their Easter baskets, Lauren probably a little too much because every time I turned around she had a new piece of candy in her mouth. One of my favorite parts of Easter Sunday mass is when we sing during the responsorial psalm “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it” It was even more special this year because I have been singing that song with the girls so Teresa was so excited she knew all the words and could sing along. It was just precious to see her smiling face singing her heart out.

After church we went to Jason’s parents house for dinner and another egg hunt.

Jesus Christ is Risen today…..Alleluia!!!