Sweaty Saturday

It has become our family tradition to work on our vegetable garden every Memorial Day weekend. This year, I'm trying something new. Instead of not-so-organized farmer style in a very small yard, I will try French Intensive Garden style. It's more known as a square-foot-garden. But I'm not a kind of girl who follows direction precisely (ahem, maybe that's my problem...), so, of course I'm making some adjustment. The bottom line is that I want to maximize yields from our small some 12'x14' section of our backyard. I simply want to do the best I could.
Growing up, I watched both of my grandmothers growing vegetable gardens, serious ones. One was on terrace, and other in her small backyard. Both of them had many many kinds of vegetables and flowers. And my mom, who has big fat Green Thumbs (well, not literally, but she has dozens of orchid which I hear is very difficult to take care of), has her own vegetable garden in her small backyard as well. One year, her tomato plants were taller than my mom!
So, I want to have a good variety of vegetables growing in my garden, but yet looks organized and tidy and easy on eyes - something like this.

Image borrowed from http://localfoodsandusky.wordpress.com/

We worked almost all day today digging, tilling, measuring, and cutting, but something about having 3 small children, we ran out of time. So no picture yet. But one raised bed looks pretty good as it is now. I can't wait!

Friday night

It's 9:30 pm on Friday night. Everyone is sleep. EVERYONE. Kids are all in bed. My husband passed out on the couch after a long week of work. And the dog is snoring to make harmony with his master. Hmmm. I thought my hubby wanted to watch a movie or something...but I hate to wake him up as he is catching up on his very much needed sleep. I think I'm going to curl up in bed and read my book under soft breeze. That sounds like a plan.

How can I get mad at this??

I heard kitchen covers and fridge door being slammed shut and kids screaming, while I was putting baby K for a nap. I came down stairs wondering what kind of mess they are creating. And this is what I discovered - J and M sharing a cup of apple juice together, happily with giggles.

Silence, Calmness, and Serenity

The only noise I can hear right now is...I was going to write as "our dog sleeping", but actually, it is "me typing". I don't know when was the last time I had this quiet moment in my home in the middle of the day. Baby is sleep. Dog is sleep. My husband is out with the older kids. Wow. Quiet. Love it. I love my family so much, but it is nice to have alone time sometimes. Well, kind of, since I'm not totally alone here. I am able to clear my head (hopefully it will help me to think more clearly), take deep breath without a little face attached over my head, and actually listen to my music instead of a theme song for Curious George.

Happy Birthday to Me

I feel so loved. So many birthday wishes from my family and friends. Kids kept saying "Happy Birthday, Mama!" all day long. I might have aged 100 years today! And I got a lot of birthday gifts which have been given to me throughout this weekend:
- A truck full of horse manure for my garden
- Cleaning garage and yard by my husband (It's beautiful!!!)
- "Garden" theme cake by my hubby and J, which I wish I had taken some pictures
- A shopping spree to JoAnn (by my husband)
- Yummy baked ziti dinner from my friend (Thank you, Kristin!)
- The best Coconut Cream Pie in town (My husband and kids went out to buy "a secret" dessert for Mommy) for dessert
- A frozen lasagna dinner for later use by another friend
- A gift card to JoAnn from my sister-in-law who knows me very well
- birthday cards and many many birthday wishes via phone, e-mail, and facebook.
I am so loved. My heart is full.
And here a birthday gift for me from myself - a coordinated denim skirts for M and me.
Happy Birthday to Me.

There is "Before" and there is "After"

Ever since I learned that one of my sisters-in-law sews her skirts, I've been wanting to make one. And one of my friends sews hers, too. She even alters to fit better for her figure! Plus, I thought "It would be fun to make matching skirts with M (my 3-year-old daughter)". So, I have been cooking this idea for a while. I even borrowed skirt patterns from my friend. She told me to use elastic waist to make it easy. True. But I wanted to make something nice enough that I can enjoy wearing, if I invest in some time cutting and tracing the pattern, and cut and sew the fabric....not to mention that I haven't mastered sewing a zipper with sewing machine!
As part of "my decluttering my life project", I made my husband clear his part of closet a few weeks ago. My husband, being strong and sturdy (I got this from a children's book author's biography, and I love it), and maybe, just maybe, getting a little stronger and sturdier than when we got married, he got rid of several pairs of nice dress pants. Good quality ones. Good fabric, no wear or tear, too good to just donate. Then, came an idea. Use those pants as material! Being called "resourceful" "frugal" and "thrifty" (oh, no, I'm not cheap.) many times in my life, I decided to live up to the title.

"Before"

And, "After" (not the best pic)

I thought it turned out really cute. I was very very happy about the result. Well, there is one spot. Oops. This is what happens when you don't exactly cut along the pattern, measure as directed, and sew without following instruction. Lesson learned. I'll try to follow the steps a little bit closer next time. But, hey, once you put a cute shirt on the top, nobody notice that, right? I'm happy, so that's all that matters here. Next plan: matching/coordinated skirts with M. We'll see....

Story of my life in the bottom of my feet

Purposefully, I have no picture for this post....
After dinner, I realized that my socks, especially the one on the right, were sticky. Flipped my feet to see what's on: play dough, angel pasta piece from dinner, dog hair, a piece of sticker, cookie crumbs, sands, dirt, etc. I'm pretty sure I put white socks on, and vacuumed this morning. Hmmm.

A day off, well, sort of.

Maybe because of the weather, or maybe something else. Whatever it was, something was causing me being cranky. And I just needed a day off. I needed "me time", a time to take care of myself, by doing things I wanted to do without being interrupted or yelled at "Ma-Ma-!" every 30 seconds. So I took a day off. A day off from work, both inside and outside of home (Wednesday is my only work day). A friend of mine watched the older 2 kids for me, and off I went with baby. Dropping a box full of clothes to donate at Goodwill, dropping another box full of clothes for my friend's little girl, returning things at stores, dropping a form to be signed at Pediatrician's office, etc. Some may say, "That doesn't sound like a day off." But, to me, it was. Having "me time" helped me to clear my head. Clearing out my clutter out of my house cleared my mind. Cheating on dinner by buying a rotisserie chicken and making mashed potatoes out of potato pearls lifted pressure off my shoulder. Kids went to bed before 8 pm and I was able to enjoy a nice quiet time alone.
Oh, my baby is calling me. I think I can take a nice cuddle with my sweet chubby baby.