A tour of the grounds

This year, I embarked on a new gardening venture. We've had a few plants in the ground each season pretty much every year we've lived here. And before that, I had a patio garden which was pretty successful. . but I was single. :-) Somehow with the intervening years of pregnancy, nursing, napping baby, it always seemed that I couldn't persevere from planting to harvest with equal intensity. After reading a bit about square foot gardening, a few factors made me very excited about this method. One, I could fit a very large variety of plants in a smaller space than I had previously been tending (or not tending). Also, I could rectify my hugely sloped yard with terraced boxes. So, after a bit of a late start, my handy husband built my boxes & I started a few plants from seeds, and some from the greenhouse

First fruits

Next door neighbor to the garden -- our blueberry patch.

The yard has seen some nice additions of color this year.

I have one more surprise in the garden that I can't wait to discover -- I have a volunteer vegetable vine growing under my porch. Can't wait to see what it is!

and if you want to go explore, the number you should have is four!

This last weekend, my family went on a little trip -- our very first camping trip. It was really great, not perfect, but still great! We had initially planned a two day, one night trip, but were pleased with how well things were going and stayed an extra night. In fact, it was Kate's eloquent pleading that tipped the scale for me. I think she really loved the family time -- you know, no distractions for mom or dad. And finally, all of this camping and outdoor gear that Josh has accumulated over the years (some for his Boundary Waters trips & some forward thinking about the family) was used & enjoyed by the family. So, our recipe for fun family camping?

1. Great location -- Lake Conasauga, the highest lake in Georgia. It has a looooooooooong gravel drive up the mountain. Let's say that the drive back was more pleasant for many reasons -- one, we weren't nervous about having to turn around & drive right back the hour long trek over the bumpity road because all of the campsites were full, and two, the camp host gave us a hint about a slightly shorter way (saved us about 20 mins of gravel). 

2. Fishing -- Josh & Kate got to do some fishing and Josh caught quite a few bluegill -- perfect "kid" fishing as he put it. Lots of action, easy to reel in -- this became Kate's job. Kate wasn't quite deemed hook-worthy, and didn't get why she wasn't catching any fish. :-)

first fish caught off the shore

little sis just enjoying splashing around

let me show you how it's done

3. A great tent! We had lots of space in our REI Kingdom6 -- and the girls LOVED it. The jumped on the airmattress, slide down the sleeping bags, and generally wreaked havoc in mom's well-organized tent. But it served us very well. Spacious and comfortable! And w/ room to grow. ;-)

4. A fire. Let's say that we arrived at our campsite the day after a HUGE storm and all of the wood was soaked. Josh should win an Eagle Scout for his fire starting abilities, I am pretty sure. Let's say we ended up using some vegetable oil improvisationally.

roasting marshmallows (I tried not to count how many she had)

5. Trails and paths yet to be discovered. Both Kate & Rachel did a lot of running through the campground. Rachel uttering, "I a Big Person. I running."

6. Games -- Kate played a good game of Pooh Sticks (renamed Pooh Marks because it was played with rocks, not sticks). We might be a few summers away from skipping rocks, but it was pretty fun. She stopped and picked up rocks from the gravel path and then ran up to the lake & dumped them into a "parking lot" for her waiting rocks. Rachel was also a great rock collector on this trip and kept stuffing them into her pockets as though they were gold.

Chief Rock Collector w/ her daddy

 7. The best part was just being together -- so I quote a little bit of Sandra Boynton: "And if you want to go explore, the number you should have is four!"

A Getaway

I'm pretty ashamed to admit that I read Bridget Jones' Dairy (and saw the movies). In the second one she spends all this time obsessing about a holiday, or some British version of a getaway. Well, I don't spend much time obsessing about them, but here in This Suburban Life, they are few and far between. I am not entirely sure that This Suburban Life is the right name for the television show of my life, but you get the picture.

Two weeks ago, Josh and I were able to "get away" and drive up into the mountains, leaving our two beautiful children in the capable hands of their grandma. We only spent one night away, but it was completely lovely. In fact, for this momma, it was just the right amount of time. Long enough to resist calling said Grandma and asking, "How are they?"-- but short enough that I only had to resist once.

Josh spent the morning doing this:

While I curled up with my book on the front porch & looked out on this:

The amazing thing was that we did all of that relaxing before 9:30, at which time we decided we wanted to grab breakfast in town -- so at 9:32 we were in the car and on our way. Now, THAT'S something you can't do with children. :-)

We explored two little mountain towns in North Carolina: Sylva & Highlands. Sylva actually won my heart with the really amazing Annie's Bakery, and a Friend of the Library Bookstore. Highlands looked quite beautiful, but was way too boutique for us.

We also saw a few natural wonders in the mountains, such as the not-so-Dry Falls.

Blue Valley Overlook

and most beautiful of all, Tallulah Gorge. Some of you may remember it from the day after our wedding hike... that we did NOT attend. Consequently, this was the first time either of us had visited it. Hands down, this has to be the most beautiful spot in Georgia. Too bad you reach most of the gorgeous views on a really unromantic trail of a man-made staircase zigging and zagging down into the gorge. We arrived too late to apply for a permit all the into the gorge, so we only hiked down to the suspension bridge. We then walked back up and along some of the rim trail as well.

Josh on the suspension bridge.

We finally meandered our way back home. The girls pretended not to know us. :-) Isn't that how it always is. You wonder how they are doing and if they will survive without you. They say, "Parents, who?"

Josh & I had a great time--it's a good reminder of both the times of yore and hopefully the times ahead. That at the core of our family of four is really a family of two -- a couple -- two people who love to spend time with each other (really). 

A matter of Perspective

A long, long time ago, 

I lived in Texas.

In Texas, it snows um, NEVER.

That is until the Great Blizzard of 2004. 

Well after my days in my hometown were done with. In fact, at the time, my parents had even moved away from the state.

My current hometown has a little bit better track record on snow. It is typical in my area of Georgia to get perhaps one or two snow showers per winter. Most of the time, the accumulation is pretty chinsy -- 1 to 2 inches. And playing in it is comprised mostly of ruining any snow you had by walking through it. In fact, you had better get out of doors while it's falling, because it just might now stick around. Anytime the weather man says SNOW you say I DON'T BELIEVE IT. But, anytime you actually see snow, you run outside and spin around and delight in the 1 or 2 flakes you can see falling from the sky.  It's main function, at least with our younger kids, was a photo op!

2008

2009

2010

You may notice the longevity of a certain brown coat, which she now has passed on to sister. Well, fast forward to the winter of 2011. Not only has it snowed three times, including on early snow ON CHRISTMAS DAY (can it get any better than that, I ask?), but we even had a real blizzard in January. Six inches, icy roads, and four days later, we crazy Georgians knew a little more about snow.  

2011

So, the light sprinkling we got a few days before my birthday? Back to the good old days of 1 inch accumulation. Somehow, though, my perspective had changed. Now, the definition of a SNOWFALL is changed. This beautiful dusting of snow is just that -- a mere dusting, a photo op, not a playground. 

                                                  2010                                                2011

Hmm, should I?

Why  yes, I think I shall.

                                 2011 Snow Monster                                 2011 Snack-size Snowman

A Few Things I Made

Felt flower clip -- presents for the girls at Kate's Tea Party. These were sort of easy to make, and would have been much easier if I had printed out any sort of template for cutting out the petals. Next time I will use hot glue as well as thread to make the piece more secure.

Nightgowns from this pattern. Unfortunately, I made one error -- I sewed the bodices with a 1/2 in. seam instead of 5/8 inches; consequently, they are a bit gappier than they would have been. But hey, I like clothes from The Gap. :-)

And, this cute dress & pinafore. (not the bonnet). Kate and her cousins are, among many other things, really into pretending Laura & Mary & Carrie. That was my inspiration. I chose the simplest little dress pattern I could find because I was really running out of time. Then I found a tutorial (which I can't find again to save my life) for the pinafore & was able to whip that up, too. I am so pleased by the results. Hopefully this will mean I'm one step ahead for next year's Fall Festival, too. 

I had one more sewing project that somehow I don't have a picture of yet. . . I made some a felt cookie set for Rachel. That was definitely the easiest of the projects, and it came out so well!

I did not accomplish my desire to sew a coordinating little nightgown for Kate's doll. I couldn't design the pattern correctly and/or sew the tiny little armholes to save my life. I guess I needed to pull out my hand sewing skills, which I do not actually have. I don't have HomeMadeChristmasOverkill this time, so maybe I'll be able to do some spring and summer projects, too. I have discovered that my little girl LOVES to wear a nightgown & most every evening chooses either her long sleeve nightgown with pants or a long sleeve shirt/pants/with short sleeve nightgown on top. Have I mentioned she has this funny predilection for layering? I've caught her going to bed with at least three or four layers on. (WEIRD!)

Haircuts

I think parenting is like this a lot. . . you let something keep on going simply because you can't imagine the change or you just don't really "see" it because it's the norm. Then, one day, you wake up and all of a sudden it is D-Day and whatever it is MUST change...IMMEDIATELY! Thankfully, this time it wasn't some creeping disobedience or something that might have been a trifle more difficult to correct quickly -- it was my little girl's hair. Thanks to some funny joking (although probably serious) comments from friends and relations about her mullet, I still kept back from cutting off the only part of Rachel's hair that was growing. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Then, I woke up this weekend and finally saw that it must be done! And I'm so pleased with the results. I got my little pixie girl back from the ragamuffin look she's been sporting for awhile. Good thing she looks cute as either the ragamuffin or the pixie. 

This picture could be showing you her hair. . or the fact that Kate put on little sis' tutu on backwards, or the fact that her chubby little legs look really adorable poking out of a tutu--you choose.

This is what I get when I tell I'm taking a picture -- she's starting to pose instead of running away or reaching for the camera.