Fruits, er, veggies of our labors

This is the second summer we planted a garden at this home. Last summer our garden was planted too late, but made for a good family home evening activity none-the-less. Add in a new little baby and the poor garden just didn't stand a chance!

This year we were poised and ready; our garden was going to work, or at least we were going to be ready to work in our garden! Tonight was our first feast! Our oldest was especially excited about being able to eat from our garden--and that made the Big Guy Lowe and I especially excited!

Aren't these little sugar snap peas beautiful?

Our oldest actually ate this entire peapod--first the peas he found inside, and then the edible shell (after some convincing that he could actually eat it).

Not everyone was as interested as our oldest son though. Our youngest chose to play with the non-edibles. First the frisbee.

Next, flowers. He found these flowers especially fascinating and stayed with them for some time. He would reach out and hit the flowers and then watch them move, wait for them to stop moving, and start over again.

Just a bit of an update on this little guy--we had our MRI scheduled for this morning, but had it rescheduled after finding that he had double ear infections this past friday. We're on for the 30th now!

The Littlest Gardener

Just a normal Saturday activity for our family--gettin out to do some yard work. Nothing crazy, most of the time, the ususal activities. I do have to say though, I think 14 months might be a little young, but we believe in learning to work at an early age!


Such cuties! You can't help but feel good after a job well done!

Grammy's (not so) Secret Garden

I love the springtime. I know that there is still a great deal of rain ahead before the summer gets here with those wonderfully sunny, hot days, but it's these springtime days that start that excited anticipation. We had a great time yesterday over in our Grammy's back yard gardens. There is always work to do there, and I love how hard our boys know how to work with their Grammy. I'm also grateful that Grammy is so good at providing opportunities for them to work with her. They love time in the gardens with Grammy, and I love that they love it.
While our oldest has worked hard in years past, this is our middle son's first real time helping out. Grammy always has the right sized tools for whoever is helping, and that made it even more fun as he worked like a pro!

Our youngest did his part holding down the gardening tools. That wheel barrow looked like it was ready to take off until he decided to sit in it!
Our oldest knows how to work on the more difficult jobs. Here he was given instructions and then given the opportunity to finish the project on his own. He's working hard repairing a stone wall.

Now he's working hard carrying out part of a tree that didn't make it through the winter.While there is always work to do, there are always things to investigate. Our oldest is a master bug catcher. He found a great beetle and wanted to put it in a plastic bag with some dirt.
After a conversation regarding how we all breathe, he decided to find a better home for the beetle in another part of the garden--a decision that resulted in everyone's sigh of relief!

Just to show that he could, our oldest climbed to the top of one of Grammy's fruit trees. Our middle son isn't quite there yet, but he wants to be!!

After about two hours of work, with everyone feeling good about what had been accomplished, Grammy brought out fun drinks for the boys and even some money as payment! The day had a poignantly sublime affect on me. My boys can work hard and have fun. My boys can get along with eachother and they love being outside. My boys love and are loved by my mom--someone that I love dearly and am eternally grateful for.

Thank you mom for all you have done for me and all you continue to do. You have given me a wonderful example of how to be a mom and I think you are wonderful.