More Garden Pictures

Kaydee watering our flowers in the front yard. She and CJ both have too much fun experimenting with the settings on the hose!
CJ helping mama plant the veggies. Yes, he actually did dig the hole, plant the veggie, water it in, and cover it up!
One of our boxes. We have three total that we planted this season. We are growing, tomatoes, squash, eggplant, green beans, bell peppers, basil, cilantro, cantaloupe, and strawberries. We are very excited to see what kind of yield we will get! It is really fun to do this as a family, even the kids loved it. They also love to help me water it, and I can't wait to go out there and see their faces when we actually get to pick the veggies!

Another Big helper

I don't know what the exact temp was on Saturday, but I think we were hovering around 100. Because Kaydee was hot and tired, she decided to hitch a ride with dirt and pass the shovel onto brother!

CJ takes over "digging"
He decided he liked smoothing out the dirt in the boxes better!

Also Daddy's big helper! Here, CJ is helping Chris hammer in the nails that hold the twine which creates the grid in the boxes.

A Family Affair

Daddy's big helper! We have been wanting to plant a vegetable garden for as long as I can remember but have never taken the plunge. Well, this year we decided to just go for it and this weekend was the only available weekend we had to do it. Here Kaydee is helping Chris build the boxes as we are doing a square foot garden.

Team work! Kaydee grabbed their wheelbarrow and rake and off to the backyard she went to help with the garden!

Kaydee thought the tiller was a little loud!

Peek- a- boo! Kaydee had a ball with the weed control fabric!

I'm Not Telling!

I think Kaydee has been watching CJ a little too closely lately...when Chris asked her why she had pinched me (ouch!), this is what she did! She then proceeded to say the ever popular "because".

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

Yesterday I was driving down the road, minding my own business, listening to the radio and out of the clear blue CJ said, "Mama, I don't want to die when I get old." My internal mom siren went off and I thought OK, how am I supposed to respond. Dear Lord, please help me know how to handle this delicate conversation. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of internally processing but in actuality was more like a minute, I calmly say, "well, sweetie, you don't have to worry about that right now. When you get older, I think you will be glad about going to Heaven." CJ, says, "I don't want to go to Heaven...I like it right here on Earth!" I told him Heaven is much better...it is prettier than any place he can imagine, and if he was an old man, then mama and daddy would probably already be in Heaven, and we would all be together again! And, we can meet God and ask Him all of the things that we want to know now, but don't really have the answers to. CJ says, "but I don't want to meet God, He is big and scary." I told him that God wasn't scary, that God loved him, God created him, and that he was God's child. Well, that stopped CJ right in his tracks...he stopped talking...let out a big sigh like he was annoyed and quickly rebutted, "No, I'm not...Jesus is!"

I realized then and there that this could be a long conversation...I prepped myself to get "deep" and said, well, that is true...Jesus is God's son but we are God's children as well. He is our Heavenly Father...then CJ said "OK, OK, I get it..." I knew that this opportunity was over for now...that he had resumed being a normal almost 5 year old and that to push any further would be futile. But, next time, I will be on my toes and ready, ready when he is.

Dear God, thank you for this precious little boy, this inquisitive, thoughtful, full of energy, independent, strong willed little boy who constantly keeps me on my toes. Please help me to always know how to relate to him, and when his heart is open, please give me the words that will speak to him and lead him to you.

Scooter Time!

CJ and Kaydee riding their scooters

I'm coming "JJ"I'm done! This would be the look I referenced in the previous post!

More Mimi and Papa pictures

Scooter girl! Kaydee got this scooter for her birthday and she loves it! Now she can be like brother...she had no trouble learning to use it either. She just hopped right on as if she had been riding forever! She is really funny...she and CJ know that they can only ride to our neighbor's mailbox and back on the sidewalk of course. Well, both of them will get all of their gear on, only to have Kaydee get halfway to Miss Barbara's and decide she's done...right there. She will strip all of her pads off and throw them down, and come running back! Thankfully, big brother is always right there willing to pick them up.

Mimi, I think you need a shot!

This picture is significant because of the quilt...this has been in Chris's family for a long time as it was made by his great-grandmother (he thinks...we will be sure to verify this with Mimi tomorrow). Mimi if this is wrong, feel free to chime in on the comments! :-) Anyway, next time Mimi comes, we should have her cuddle under it too as then it would be three generations!

A Visit From Mimi and Papa

As I was going through pictures from the last couple of months, I found some cute ones of Kaydee's birthday celebration with Mimi and Papa.

Mimi, make me look pretty!

How do I look?

Flower Garden Week 2

Here is the finished version of CJ and Kaydee's garden at two weeks growth...Isn't it looking pretty? We also hung a hummingbird feeder that they personally picked out. The bench is just their size!

They love their new bench!

Speaking of Messes...

Last night Chris and I were in the office while we thought Kaydee was in the next room playing. Well, I stayed at the computer for a moment while Chris went into the other room...The next thing I hear is, "Oh my!" Now, at this point I am bracing myself as I know that nothing good ever follows that statement. Then he says, "honey, come here!" Now, I am shaking my head thinking do I really have to? I just don't think I can look...only to hear CJ yelling about a mess...Remember in my previous posts that he is the "neat" one. In fact, earlier in the day yesterday, the kids and I worked on a project for Mother's Day. I won't say what it was until after Mother's Day, but let's just say that it involved paint and I had to coax CJ into doing it because he really didn't want to get his fingers dirty, he wanted to use a brush! I guess Kaydee didn't get enough painting in because as I came around the corner, here is what I found...


Even Kaydee was embarrassed once we found her...I think she thought she would be in trouble because she went into an all out lip pudging, screaming fit!

Chris said, "She made a pretty shade of green, didn't she?" Yes, she had gotten two different shades of green paint and mixed them on a paper plate (she remembered what to do) and then proceeded to paint herself like a frog! Now at times like this what good would it really serve to get upset? We just threw our hands back, laughed, and took a picture. Then Chris extracted her from her high chair, which was also green at this point, and he bathed her while I cleaned up the seat (and table and the floor!) Let's just say that the tub was still recovering this morning! We asked her if she was going to do this again, and she emphatically said , "No!" I am not so sure though, because today as she told Nana about this on the phone, she just giggled and said it was funny! My children have figured out all of my hiding places...I think I need new ones for chocolate, for make-up and for paint!