Garden Tutorial

Here's my take on "how to" have a nice landscape and lawn:

Step 1 - Get yourself a family member with killer garden / landscape skills.  Mine happens to be Ed/G.  He has mad skills when it comes to all things outdoor.  He has an eye for landscape and he is some kind of plant whisperer.  AND - he is incredibly generous with his time and plant materials!    

Step 2 - Marry a man who works his @$$ off around the house.  Derek has developed a pretty amazing eye for landscape too....plus he has just enough obsessive compulsion to work until things get done -
p e r f e c t l y.  

 

 

Step 3 - Be grateful.  Repeatedly offer water/lemonade/alcoholic beverages to your laboring gardeners.  Tell them 'Thank You!'  Feed them well.  Let them know how much you appreciate them.

Thank you guys!

Gone Daddy Gone

Derek went away for a few nights for work last week.  Here's a bit of what the kids and I were up to while he was away...

Slumber parties!

a trip to the Botanical Gardens.


And, anxiously awaiting his return!

Missouri Botanical Gardens

One of my Leave List wishes was a morning at the Botanical Gardens.

We ventured out last Wednesday morning (because of the free admission on Wednesday mornings) and readied ourselves for the fun. 

Let me preface this trip with saying that I had been in a funk...my return to work growing closer...Cole challenging me with sass and 'tude....financial woes of a leave without full pay...and oppressive heat that held us hostage inside the house with the shades drawn...

It was a VERY hot morning.  Temps in the 90s with 1,000,000% humidity - I am only slightly exaggerating.

However, the gardens were lovely.

Really lovely.

We arrived early to try to beat the heat - which meant a rushed morning.

We walked a lot to try to see it all and make it to the Japanese garden for one of my favorite sights, the koi.

Oh, the peaceful Japanese garden...The really hot, steamy Japanese garden.

All was going well enough.

Until...

Cole looked down and saw "boo-boos" (blisters) on his feet from his new shoes. (this happened as we arrived ON the bridge to view the koi)

Oh, the horror.

The screams.

The tears.

The drama.

The improvisation. 

The carseat hanging out of the bottom of the stroller.

The wrap that saved the day.

The hot, hot hike out of the gardens pushing/wearing somewhere around 65 extra pounds of human.

The white knuckles.

The a/c pumping ride home for naps.

We crossed it off of my leave list.

Moving on....

Mondays

this photo was taken after Cole's Monday....notice the clock says 6:15...that is PM....as in, he came home, ate dinner, went back to his room, and passed out.  Poor kid....Monday gets the best of him sometimes. 

A Delicate Flower, She is Not.

 Maxine's Two Month Check-up:

Length: 23.75 inches

Weight: 13 lb, 8 oz

 That would be 98th percentile for height.

 98th percentile for weight.

 because a petite lady would not fit into our family.