Caelen cracks me up!!!

Hahahaha!  I've just gotta say, my son's imagination cracks me up!  He lost a tooth last night, so we put it in an envelope to put under his bed (to make it easier for the Tooth Fairy to collect) and out of pure habit I licked and sealed it.  He was cranky at me "because the Tooth Fairy is tiny, how is she supposed to open it mom?!"  Well, we kind of fell asleep working on things last night and missed the switch...so when he came out from checking to see if she came, I apologized and said that daddy and I must have scared here away.  He said, "Nope, she came all right...but I told you she wouldn't be able to get that open!  There is a tiny tear in the corner of the envelope and even a little fairy dust...we just need to open the envelope for her before tonight!"

The other hilarious part: the last two teeth he lost (including the one last night) were his canines.  So after all this about the Tooth Fairy, he came back out sucking in his lip and saying "I get to be the Easter Bunny!  My new name is Bucky!"

Where does this kid get these?!  Hahahahahahaha!

Christmas Traditions 2011

This year has been full of so many changes for me personally, and for our family in many small ways...loudly shouting or whispering softly.  Especially since I started preparing to teach about so many different winter holidays to my elementary school kids (I got a part-time job working at one of the local elementary schools in the mornings as a literacy aide (think, part-time teacher of specific programs) for kids ranging between 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade), I found myself learning more about the sources of so many of the traditions that I personally treasure as well.  It has gotten me to thinking about which ones I would like to add to our own list of things we like to do to help make the holiday a magically memorable event that is felt and experienced far more than just one or two days.  I'll have to post about it later (I'm all out of time for tonight), but I would like to extend a challenge of sorts to those few who may read this: please take a moment to sit down and look through your own traditions and the reasons for continuing them....are they carrying on simply because of enjoyment, or do they actually mean something to you?  Have you shared that with your own little flock of loved ones?

Buppets?

Hahahaha!  I just have to share the cutsey chuckle....today when I walked in the door from work, the first thing I saw or heard wasn't "Momma!", wasn't "Wuv oooo!", wasn't "eat unch?" or any one of the normal phrases ready to great me.  It was "Buppets?" complete with remote controls in hand! :D  Hahahaha, that kid is SERIOUSLY muppet crazy!

Heap Big Mighty Bug Hunter

I just have to share the funniest thing that happened with Damon earlier.

With how cold things have gotten around here (we're talking below zero a couple of times this week), and with how early this is in the year, the bugs have been doing their best to find a warm place to hide.  So we've been finding and killing bugs right and left, though the kids are generally soo freaked out they don't accomplish much except for scaring themselves and yelling for Mom or Dad.  (Can I just say...ugh...)

Along with that, Damon has begun talking more and more (probably picking up anywhere from 3-8 words a day now).  His little baby talk is sooo cute to hear, though hard to understand at times.  And like most other totally "unbiased" parents, we are convinced it is a sign of his future genius, lol.

Having said all that, when he turned around the other day to start his usual gibberish while we were working on getting his shoes taken off after being outside for something or other.  He kept lifting up his foot and saying something insistently....we just couldn't understand what.  But we smiled and encouraged (brilliant translators that we are, we kept saying "Yes, good job..that IS your foot"), and tried to move on.  John laid the little guy down to change his diaper and all of a sudden he (John) flinched and yelped slightly.  When I started to look/watch, all of a sudden I heard (clear as a bell, really) in Damon's little toddler's voice "Bug...kill....ewwwwww, slimy!" at about the same moment John growls about finding a squashed earwig.  lol, Damon was sooo proud of his moment of triumph!  He had killed the thing even daddy thought was too ewww to not flinch at!

Needless to say, ever since then Damon makes us giggle by lifting his foot to show everyone how he squished the nasty little thing....and runs every time someone yells about having found another bug!  My heap big mighty bug hunter...he is so very cute!!! :D

A Day for Giving Thanks

(This is an incredibly long post, something very filled with emotion, so if you do not want to read this please just skip it entirely!)

This year, the title "Thanksgiving" has taken on a whole new meaning for today's holiday...

When my husband and I were married, like most everyone else I married a man with an interesting family full of different dynamics and characteristics....and characters, many of whom I had admired for years (since we both graduated from the same high schools, I had gotten to know them in varying degrees and in different ways as some of them we went to school with as well).  One in particular was his step-mother's mom, who had just enfolded the 2 additional grandchildren that were added to the family when my husband's parents were married.  This was something that pretty much the entire family proceeded to do, following her lead, and then extended to include me.

After our wedding, we have always lived far enough away that our extremely limited budget did not allow for visits to see this amazing woman we have all called Grandma.  In spite of that, she never stopped sending little things during holidays and such to remind us that she was thinking of us as well as messages relayed through the other family members.  I'll be the first one to admit (and you only have to look at how infrequently I post in this blog to know this for a fact) that I am horrible at maintaining long-distance communications, but still the holiday gifts and words of love would come for us and then for our children.  Even more striking to me was the kind of impact that her gestures would have on her family members (even the ones not directly on the receiving end), regardless of circumstances.

A few years ago, this incredible woman was diagnosed with a degenerative disease a great deal like Alzheimer's (the technical name escapes me at the moment), but instead of attacking the brain's memory center this attacks the brain's communication center.  As time has gone by, she has always remained very logical and precise...but her ability to communicate with those around her and to understand what others try to communicate with her has little by little disintegrated.  About a year ago, she reached a point where if she was thinking about you and wanted to convey it she would dial your phone number....and then listen silently to the voices on the other end for a time before simply hanging up.  But she would still do this, even for people like myself who she didn't know very well...because she still loves, regardless of how much communication there was left, and was determined to share that.

I know this is sad to hear about, and terrifying to imagine yourself going through it.  It has been an extraordinarily difficult thing for her family to go through with her...but that has been the kind of love they have shown for her.  At one point, she did move into a kind of nursing home for a time....but then she decided that she wanted to be home when things got worse.  So, loving children that they are, they moved her home to where she wished to be and then made arrangements so that one of her children was there 24/7 to help take care of everything.

Last week, this sweet woman took a turn for the worse.  She developed pneumonia, and hospice was called in.  But she had done her best to try and bring her entire family together for the Thanksgiving holiday, and they have taken it to heart.  We finally managed to find a way to get even my husband down to be with them all (though the kids and I had to stay here), and since yesterday they have been gathering.

Now this family is not exactly a peacefully co-existing family under incredibly good times (all those characters rubbing elbows sometimes slip and elbows are painful when they fly), and they have their own special dynamics.  But the interesting and remarkable thing to me has been watching them cope with each other and the situation....and continuing to be there regardless of bruised feelings or sore elbows.  Even this sweet woman's ex-husband is there with her, intensely holding her hand now that that is the only way of communicating that you are there which is recognized.  And they have continued to gather: children, spouses, grandchildren, boyfriends/girlfriends, step-children (some who barely knew her) and their children, and so on. 

Today is Thanksgiving....and so, we are all in our various places, waiting to hear the sad news that one so overflowing with love has gone while life moves on around us with feasting, family, and fun.  Yet the love of this woman is still reaching out even beyond just the family that has gathered and beyond her now non-existent ability to personally communicate it.  As I have been watching from afar, I have seen words of love for the family and particularly her begin to pour out in waves of encouragement and support, and with a great many memories being shared of funny, sad, frustrating, sweet, or painful moments when she was still reaching out to give that same love to every person who would let her.

So when I say that "this year Thanksgiving has taken on a new meaning for me" I am referring to the kind of love that has suddenly begun to shine and illuminate even some of the darkest corners of my heart (the ones everyone struggles with when they feel discouraged or hopeless).  Because this year, I am seeing the powerful, crashing love that I have been so incredibly blessed with in my life...and in the lives of my husband and children.  And I am giving thanks with a full heart and eyes brimming over, because while we may not have much in eyes of some....we do have an incredibly intense connection with God and family, and what could a person ever truly need more?

Veteran's Day 2011

So, this is a day that has been incredibly full....so much so that I can't come close to listing it as just a line or two, so I'm going to post an entire blog post (no one pass out from shock, you aren't allowed! lol).  But they all boil down to three main points:

1: Today is Veteran's Day, as well as being the 11 day (you know, 11-11-11?).  This is a special day for history's sake as well as being a special remembrance day as Nov 11th is the day the peace treaty was signed after WWI as well as America's (and Britain's too?) Veteran's Day....a day set apart for Americans to give special honor to all of our military service men/women as well as all of our military veterans (and, at least in my opinion, their families as well).  I was so incredibly happy that Hillcrest Elementary (the school that I work at part time as a literacy aide) was having a special assembly....though in truth I had thought this was a normal thing for all schools to do as this was the point of setting the second Tues in Nov. as Veteran's Day to begin with.  In preparing for the assembly, stars on paper were handed out for people to put in the information of who they are, who the military service members are/were, the relationship, the applicable war(s), commendations, etc.  They then included some ribbons to each of them, and posted them along the wall of the lunchroom.  They also asked that if possible the applicable veterans/service members would come to the assembly the school was holding.  During the assembly itself (which started at 11 am...not very surprisingly), the did some pretty basic things to pretty much make it more obvious and meaningful to the children (especially the littlest ones) what we were really doing in honoring those present....and especially those not present.  I still get tears in my eyes when I think of how respectfully the kids treated everything.  After a final applause was given to honor the veterans present (which included a full standing ovation, which took a bit for the kids to understand but surprisingly enough even the adults were hesitant though willing to follow after 5 or so of us stood up), a great surprise came when one of the veterans asked to applaud the kids as being the ones who would eventually take their places.  It really was very emotional all the way around, and something that made me very proud of the amazing men and women who have sacrificed and served either themselves or by supporting their own loved ones who served so actively in my family and life.

2: Imagine my surprise when during dinner after I asked my own children about their day and what happened I found out that their school didn't do anything at all for Veteran's Day.  I was extraordinarily shocked and appalled to learn that my own kids were not even taught openly about such an important thing as honoring the men and women who put their lives, health, and sanity on the line to protect all of us (as well as their own loved ones who are forced to live so far separated from the, always fearing that dreaded knock to tell them of a loss or missing report, and carrying the weight of their family without the aid of child, parent, or sibling).  It was left to the individual teachers who (thankfully) did include activities, but I couldn't believe that a school which I otherwise have been very glad for didn't publicly and openly acknowledge the entire point of Veteran's Day.  How sad is it that these kids didn't get the opportunity to know that this is Their claim of pride and humility, that this is Their opportunity to give that respect and honor to another.  How severely disappointing is it that the kids in one school have such a marvelous, personal experience...and the kids just across the city were only exposed to the details of the holiday...

3: This is the really, truly amazing part of our day.  For months...ok, for years...we have been struggling severely to find good ways to make ends meet.  Several times over the last few years, we have had miracles happen, love and charities given....but today has really started to top it all.  My very last, high stress bill for the month was due today....and I had to find a miracle way to come up with the last miserable dozen to be able to meet it in full.  The reason for this was because this is (of course) Veteran's Day, which means...wait for it...the banks are closed.  Smart of me, I know, but I hadn't thought about the fact that the banks close for federal holidays even though the rest of the country doesn't (including the bills I was required to pay).  So as my friend and I were scrabbling through our bags for change, my miracle occurred...as I opened my wallet to search out the coin purse, I found, to my amazement, a whole series of bills which I still can not find their source.  Enough so that we were not only able to make the required payment, but so that my son's birthday party tomorrow is not as much of a worry since we'll be able to do a few things to help show him how important he is to us as well as meeting other demands on us which have been put off several times over.  My head is still reeling from it, but more than anything else it has brought home to me (especially after looking up all of the accounts) how much we are truly being looked after from on High!

How does that sit for you for a day to remember those who truly give us what we need? :D

Back to School?!

Ok, so here is the realization for today: Only 26 more days until the First Day of School!!!  Yep, you heard me: the end of summer break is now peaking over the horizon, and parents and young children everywhere are starting to plan for their day of celebration...I mean, separation.  (You know you too have been dying for this little bit of peace from each other!)

However, this also means that while we are all, parent and school children alike, anxiously awaiting some gleeful separation to do what we each do best when alone (here it comes) there will also be several tension moments of emotion knowing that for those few hours every day we will not be able to see each other.  (You knew there had to be a sappy moment, right?)  But, dry your tears (they are too early).  There are still 26 whole days before you jump on the roller coaster ride of emotion watching as your children begin to celebrate as much as (ok, probably more than) you as they skip (also known as run) their way to class.  But not to worry...there are only another 9 months to get through before they will once again be there, 24/7, peeking over your shoulder to see what they can "help" with next!  Happy End of Summer, everyone!

Jumbled Family Update

I know, I know...once again I've fallen behind.  Maybe it is time I took a slightly different approach to this: it should be an adventure to see if anyone even checks or reads this anymore since anyone who does will be pleasantly surprised by something I do sometimes?  Maybe? :D

Things have been crazy, as usual.  This summer has been filled mostly with working hard on clearing out as much excess as we can convince ourselves to, as well as re-structuring the business and how I approach getting things done.  The kids have done pretty well for themselves, though they are no doubt convinced that this has been the most boring time of their lives...I mean, we've even neglected to take them to the pool so far, and it is nearly the end of July already! Just kidding...

The boring side of this is that we once again got a double plot at the community garden, which has been even more successfully filled than in previous years...and it looks like we'll get more of a harvest too!  ("And they all cheered...yay...")  The kids have had lots of fun attempting to dig to Tibet in the sand box (not to mention testing how much sand Damon can bring home in his diaper), and Tia is thrilled that she was finally able to get some garden gloves so now she gets to help weed.  Several of the garden plots that surround us have been left empty this year (or allowed to go completely wild), so the kids have fun from time to time in helping clear out the plants that attempt to go to seed.  We are also working on getting all the weeds out of the community strawberry patch...though that made require a slightly buffer army than our little ones, we are going to take a game stab at it!  (Pictures to come, I'm sure...once we get all the weeds cleared! Hahahaha)

John and I have both had new callings given in the last week.  John is now serving as a ward missionary, and I was asked to be part of the Relief Society Enrichment Board.  Neither of us are entirely sure what all is entailed in these callings, but we are looking forward to finding out!  Oh, and two other exciting pieces of news: one: Damon hasn't had any qualms about going to nursery without Mom being there!  and two: Kieran is finally starting to work seriously on getting potty trained!  In truth, I'm most excited about Kieran (considering I've been trying to convince him to take this step for well more than a year now), but both boys are taking such big steps and I'm so excited for them...and us!

Anyway, that is the nutshell as far as my scattered brain can function right now.  I'm sure that the next time I post I'll either be much more coherent...I hope?  Have a lovely holiday weekend!

A Personal Blog for Rachel

So, I just wanted to issue an invitation to everyone who might or might not check in with this blog.  I am basically starting a personal blog connected with my business at www.RachelsFlowerPatch.blogspot.com where I will post all my personal stuff...in other words, this site is where I will post all my family things, but all the things like craft concepts, tips on recipes/food stuffs, gardening things, and personal experiences will be on that site.  I hope you will all forgive me and come check in regularly on the new site as I needed to find a way to keep updating more than one thing at once and this seemed to be the simplest method.  Please click here to be taken directly there, and please send along the info to anyone you might think would be interested...if you think they can stand keeping up with this little scrambled brain of mine, that is. ;}  I will probably try and keep things balanced between the sites as I am able but you all know how infrequently I have maintained this since I keep running out of time so it will probably be more in the nature of some double postings, though not many.  Can't wait to see what you think of what I've come up with so far!

Kalanchoe Adventures

So, last winter I convinced John to let me try and grow a different plant inside: a Kalanchoe.  They are a succulent variety of houseplant which have beautiful little blooms that grow in bunches and bloom usually in the late winter-time.  I thought they would just be a fun, pretty addition to my already rowdy bunch of house greenery.  Little did I know I had just adopted another poinsettia-like beast!

Basically, for the last year this hardy little plant has been soldiering on in spite of a clueless caretaker.  It sits on what I am starting to think of as my "window sill of death" aka the dining room window sill.  Thanks to all of my other experiments, about 1/4 of the plants there are in need of the graveyard...though they are currently waiting for spring to finally hit so the garden soil can be turned over (or until I give up enough to admit my own defeat and through them away).  For those of you who don't know my apartment, the reason I keep using this window sill is because of its positioning.  It gets the most sunlight during the day since it isn't blocked by any other buildings because our apartment is on the end of the building and the complex property.  Unfortunately, that also means it is the one hit most by the winds as they come down and create lovely swirling drafts around my windows.  Yes, I am intelligent...I so unbiasedly proclaim...

Anyway, needless to say, my poor plant is suffering.  It has gone from a vibrant, lush green plant to...well, I'll just say it is rather spindly at the moment.  But the good news is, I finally grew a few more brain cells and looked up some information about how you are supposed to treat your kalanchoe plants.  Apparently, they hate cold temps, love lots of sunlight (the more the better), and (drum roll please)...you are supposed to treat them like poinsettias!  That is right, even to the point where most greenhouses that I looked up were recommending you throw them out at the end of it's flowering season.  Apparently, I actually did better than I thought!  I kept it alive for more than a year!  And you all thought this was nothing but a confession from a plant abuser...

So, this first post of mine is going to describe the process as I attempt to turn my sickly little "pop plant" (this is Kieran's term) back into a gorgeously big leafed and flowering gem.

Step one: I need to actually clean off all the dead "growth" of brown limbs, leaves, old flower stems, etc.

Step two: transplant!  Apparently, this is the right time to transplant these little babies into a new pot about 1 1/2 - 2 inches bigger than the preceding one.  The interesting note about this is they recommend a clay pot.  Who knew?!  It seems that clay pots dry out the roots that much faster than others (I wonder if that is why all my strawberries died brutal deaths a couple years ago...but in my defense, what idiot created clay strawberry pots with no glazing?  Probably someone like this schmuck who actually bought one thinking "what a good idea").  It was also recommended that you put rocks in the bottom of the pot as well as some limestone if you live in the east (limestone helps up the ph balance of soil.  Do not do it if you live around here in the intermountain west, land of adding vinegar and pine needles to soil just to keep blueberries alive).  I have to admit, I've never heard of doing that before...must be the whole "grounded to Utah" thing...

Step three: to fertilize as soon as you see new growth.  That won't be hard.  Something tells me as soon as I tell my kids to check the plant for new growth I will get a running update until after they go on to high school.  "Mom!  Mom!  Mom!  There is a new spot on the plants trunk!"  or "Mom!  The leaves are brown still!"  or "Mom!  The plant touched me!"...

Step four: only water when the soil is already dry.  Wait, isn't that what you are supposed to do with all succulents?!  Oops, my mistake.  I wonder what my other cactus will think when it starts getting watered more often...probably, "Help!  This crazy lady is drowning me!"

Step five: in September I am supposed to cover this plant or put it into a closet for at least 13 hours a day.  One article even suggested I prepare a box to put around it which would be sealed with black plastic...just in case.  Indications are that you need to protect the plant from any accidental sunlight, common house lights, flashing headlights, or probably even blinking alien lights from a passing UFO...apparently it makes the flowers turn green and pale when they do finally bloom.

Step six: step back and enjoy a year of growth hopefully complete with bunches of beautiful blooms...until the flowers all fall off and the process starts over again.

Here is hoping I make it that far!

Just got off the phone with Taun Beddes, the Cache County Extension guy who oversees the local Community Garden.  Good news is, we still have the same plots we did last year, and they didn't raise the rentals costs ($30 per plot, with a $15 cleaning deposit).  The other good part is they aren't going to give away our plots, which is beneficial in two ways: one, we can wait until later in the spring to pay said fees; two, we get to go in and start building things up with our plots asap.  Another great part of that conversation is that I still get to maintain the strawberry patch, as well as getting to harvest whatever I like from it and maintain it however I like!  This is a huge strawberry bed which will not get to harvest this year (I'm deliberately pinching off the blooms to prep for next year), but the starts alone will be incredibly helpful not only in enriching this bed, but also for building my own planters full.  Now to just get some healthy ever-bearing breeds...

Another beautiful part: I got permission to plant flowers!  So I will finally be able to grow my very own iris bed, and a bed of daisies!!!  In case you can't tell, this is thrilling for me since I've never been able to play with it properly before.  But we already have a bed of lavender (if they survived), and some other herbs that are there from last season (chives and sage), plus I'll be planting some others as well with the spring.  Add to that the melon beds, a huge strawberry bed of our own, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, onions, zucchs, corn, and (of course) a huge area of peas...yeah, I'm excited!!!  March 1st is a big day for me, since this is when I get to plan the garden for the year.  On top of that, we might get to actually finish our master gardener certification this year as well!  Yay for us!  We might not be getting a tax return, but at least things are starting to look up.

I know that I keep saying that, but sorry for the...shall we say lull in posting.  The past year has been on of the most insane of my life (and that could be considered as saying something, just ask my parents or high school friends what I was like back in school!).  I will work on getting better, but mostly I just wanted to briefly touch base and make sure my personal blogs are still functioning.  Thanks to the problems I've had with my computers, that is about all I can do right now, but hopefully this will only be a brief first step into a better record of keeping all our family updates running!  And if anyone wants to hear of specifics from me, I apologize but for right now could you email me at handmadeheritage@gmail.com?  I'm having a bit of a spam problem with my personal email so things tend to just get massively dumped.  I hope that everything is going well with all of you!