Equality

I feel joy and elation for my friends and family who are now able to wed their loved one (in certain states) and be recognized as such in the same manner that I have been for almost a decade now.

Love for all.

Breaking even.

Colin and I gardened yesterday morning. We broke even.

Let me define the actual events of our gardening: We got home from dropping Christopher off at camp and on our way up to the front door, I took 3 minutes to weed the small 4'x4' raised bed that sits in the middle of the front lawn. Carpe momentum or something like that. Colin thought he'd weed, too! (You saw that coming, right?!) He neatly plucked the flower heads off every single purple pansy in my front stoop pots. About 20 of them, I'd say. So... we broke even.

One step forward: weeded bed. One step back: guillotined pansies.

Unrelated: Some of the most memorable mini-conversations between Christopher and myself occur while driving. Today he was talking about his upcoming birthday and how he'd be turning four, etc. etc. And then, "So, Mama? When I'm four I can drive a car, right? Because I think I'd like to drive a Smart car." Nice choice, eh?! He was disappointed to learn that the driving age in Illinois is 16 and that he'll likely be cruising in the Honda Civic. Look out, 2025!!!

Crumble and peonies

 

 

2013 Garden Plans

Things change. Well, actually, plants die or they never grow to begin with. So, this isn't set in stone (though it may be set in dirt for the moment - har har). I'll try to do an update with photos later this summer. I'm hoping for 7' tall tomato plants from my heirloom seeds. And it'll be anyone's guess as to which varietals are where until the plants start fruiting. My planting was a bit hurried this year. Having 2 little boys on the loose will do that...

Click to make the image larger.

3 little words

Today was our first day of summer! And by that, I mean preschool ended last Friday and there are two weeks ahead of us before any travel (Mike) or other organized activities are scheduled to begin.

So, with the sun shining and high 60s greeting us as we headed out this morning, we went up to the Botanic Gardens and visited the Train Garden for the first time this season. Colin just about lost his mind. I should have counted how many times he said "TRAIN!" or "CHOO-CHOO!" I'm guessing each word was excitedly yelped at least 50+ times.

This afternoon Christopher helped me use the power sander on our newly-acquired but not-yet-assembled picnic table. He's such a big helper these days. I love the time that I get to spend with him alone. We also planted a healthy looking tomato start from this past weekend's Farmer's Market. The day was rounded out by a quick trip for sunglasses (me) and frozen yogurt (them). I'm formulating a plan for tomorrow right now. I think it may involve trains again.

Tonight while rocking before bedtime, Colin looked me deep in the eyes and said, "Mama?" I said, "Yes? Colin?" He replied, "App-WAHV-oog." I thought for a second... and another second while he waited for me to process things... and then I asked him, "Are you trying to say 'I love you?'" Well, he smiled so massively and wiggled and giggled like a maniac before repeating it again several times. So, I'm pretty sure that tonight he said "I love you" for the first time. Be still my heart.

By the way - don't think this was his first sentence by any stretch. This kid is a chatterbox and threw out his first sentence (a demand for food, naturally) several months ago. "MO' 'NANA!"