2 Ounces!

I took Brendan and Sela to the planetarium last week. While we were there, I bought Brendan two posters – one of the international space station and another of our solar system. When we got home he kept bugging me about putting them up. So, when Brian got home, I suggested the boys could put the posters up together.

Apparently the posters were difficult to put up. I had hoped Brian could use some sticky-tacky stuff that doesn’t ruin the walls. It didn’t work so well. While Brian was deciding how best to attach the posters to the walls, Brendan decided he needed to step in.

Brendan came to the kitchen to look through the “junk drawer.” He rummaged around until he found what he was looking for. Said he needed to measure. He took his tool to his room and “measured” the posters – with a level. He moved the level to various parts of the poster that was partly attached and pronounced it to be 2 ounces.

Tears poured from my eyes. Man, I love that kid.

Garden - Part 1

I have decided I want to garden this year. Not because of any great love of gardening, but because I want my kids to know about where their food comes from. I am also hoping maybe they will be more interested in veggies if they have a hand in growing them. We’ll see how it goes.

I really like the idea of doing raised beds as a way to clearly define the edge of the garden as well as making it a bit easier on my back. I was inspired to do this by some dear friends of mine. They also gave the advice to just try it. If something doesn’t work, you do it differently the next year. They make it sound so easy!

This weekend Brian and I finally put together some of our plans and began to actually create this “masterpiece.” We started by cleaning up the yard with a bunch of raking. Then Brian build the boxes, we put down some weed barrier and then added some good top soil and a thing called Bumper Crop – an organic additive suggested by the local garden people. This stuff has all kinds of fun things in it – like chicken and bat poo. YUM!

We only had enough time to get one load of dirt, but that will get us started. We didn’t actually plan anything yet, which turned out to be a good thing. The dog decided she likes playing in the dirt, so we are going to have to find a way to fence it off. Goody, yet another thing to do! Oh, and speaking of things to do, we have to figure out how to water the plants, too. We left our hoses in Colorado, so that’s on the list to get.

I have to admit I really enjoyed the dark, rich looking soil once it was in the garden box. It just looked neat. It was a great feeling of accomplishment when we finished, too. Hopefully, this feeling will last and gardening won’t be too tough. I’ll let you know!

Updating

I have been neglectful of this blog since last August. I have been thinking of trying to get it all caught up, but that just makes me queasy. So, maybe one day soon I will try to put together a few updates and/or a picture montage of our adventures over the last few months. Maybe not. In any case, I am going to start trying to make updates on a more regular basis. Hope to “see” you here, and would love to hear how you, my friends and family, are doing also.

Much love,

Lori

Layka

Yesterday we adopted a dog. Because I need more responsibility and more things to do. Right.

In any case, her name is Layka. She is a 2 ½ year old Australian Shepherd mix (mixed with what, we don’t know). She was actually rescued from a shelter that had been bombed in Beirut. Yes, Lebanon. You aren't surprised we adopted from another country, are you?!? She is house trained, fixed, and microchipped already. And she is beyond the puppy chewing stage. Yippee!! The biggest problem might be keeping her from sleeping on the couch.

Brendan, of course, is in love with her. Sela, not so much. She is getting better already, but is still a little freaked out by this creature that is bigger than she is and has a wicked tail. We’ll get there.

Layka is a very active girl. We are already planning on a class. And aren’t we glad we are already trying to go on daily walks! The park near our house will become frequently used as well.

So begins life with another pet.