So I've Been Told

After spending all day at the Delaware State Fair one day and a birthday party on the beach the next, I've been told that the best thing you can do is sit on the couch and eat a Haagen Dazs.

So I am.

So You Think You Want Boys

Some recent family news has me thinking about boys.

Growing up with a sister and two cousins, also girls, and all ballerinas (even though the little sisters canned that idea by 5th grade)...I just didn't know anything, and I mean anything, about boys.

Now, I am the mother to two little alien child boys.
And they get away with way more than they should.
They are just so damn cute.

Here are the rules for a regular, ordinary, run-of-the-mill-no-they-don't-sit-and-color day.

Football should always be played in the living room.
Golf should also be played here.
And soccer.
And yes, even baseball.

It is perfectly acceptable to perfect to your football catching moves on the couch.
Obviously, no one wants to get hurt by falling on grass.
Outside.

Transforming yourself into a video game character is an everyday adventure.
The character will always be one who runs fast.
And fast running is always more fun when you do it in the house.

And doesn't stop just because I ask.
A request for "one more cool move" means no less than 35 more cool moves.
And the couch is always the crash pad.

Having fun has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with sitting still. Ever.
Something always gets broken.
Or hurt.
Or mom loses her mind.

But I really don't know a mom who would have it any other way.
Including me.

I'll Take That

While I was doing my daily Pinterest scan yesterday, Roxy (you know, the surf brand) posted some photos with the caption "European Road Trip".

Yeah, I'll take some of that.

I would take a road trip of any sort right now if it meant I could pack only the happy good things in my suitcase and leave the worries behind.

Thank goodness for imagination.

If you need me, I will be driving the Italian coast with a scarf tied around my hair.
I've always wanted to wear a scarf like that.

Snips, Snails, & Puppy Dog Tails

While the oldest is spending three weeks at her first for-real summer ballet program, the boys and I are spending our days doing, you know, boy stuff. 

Like executing a full snail massacre inside a gatorade bottle. 

He is convinced they are soundly sleeping. 

Pictures would be wrong. 

Today I am just plain worn out. 

But that doesn't mean they are. 

I guess my never-ending-smile-please-no-not-like-that!-just-one-more-I-swear is rubbing off.

We should probably leave for the pool before something gets broken.
Have a great weekend!

Toilet

If the toilet bowl was as gaping as the Grand Canyon, I am convinced the little gentlemen I live with would still miss.

Almost

I simply cannot accept that July is nearly half gone.
The days just keep rolling.
The years that used to drag along now seem to pass when I blink.

This sweet little girl is turning nine next month.

She made me a mother. 

And we are growing up together. 

Time feels like a faucet that won't turn off. 

I can't hold on.

She wants it to move faster. 

I want it to freeze. 

I know we are on the edge. 

Toes hanging off. 

Change is coming. 

She is bursting with personality. 

And attitude. 

Total confidence and total apprehension. 

I like her. 

Happy (almost) Birthday to the true love of my life.

Girl vs. Garden

This is my lawnmower. 

It was given to me, by my father, as a gift on Father's Day. 

Yep. 

If you teach a man to fish...

Starting this $20 yard sale gem might be one of the hardest things I have ever done over, and over, and over.
And still failed.
Yes, I cried.
And I might have called it a foul name or two.

Add this to the fact that I only just learned how to mow a lawn in the past year.
I was given the lawn as a chore once when I was 15 and was never allowed to do it again.
My lines weren't straight enough.

Don't worry, I did plenty of other chores well enough to have them permanently assigned.

Anyhow, after several replacement parts, lawnmower and I are becoming friendly.
I even mow lines in my yard.
They're still not perfect.
But that's why I don't live with my parents.

You should know that in addition to my wild 'someday' fantasy of having a second home in the South of France, I also have a fascination with self sufficiency.
Like, gardens and chickens.

I have french linens that I hang on the clothesline because it makes me feel like I am at my 'someday' second home.
You know, in France.
Because that's not pathetic. At all.

And no chickens yet, but I do have my first "real" garden this year.
And by real, I mean more than herbs and tomatoes growing in pots.
Two raised beds full of all my favorites!

I am not delusional.
Obviously I can't possibly live off the grid, or the land, or whatever,
AND have a second home in the South of France.
Obviously.

There is a point to all this.
I swear.

So, in my garden, live some tomatoes.
The tomatoes look a little sad.
I investigate and find said sad tomatoes have BUGS.

I hate bugs.

Especially bugs that are referred to as LICE - plant or otherwise.
300 Google searches later, I determine the tomatoes have aphids, or plant lice.
And apparently, like the hair kind, these lice are hard to get rid of.

I say bring it.
And because Dad says I can't have a garden without using chemicals, and organic is stupid...
I won't be using chemicals.
Because even an adult girl can't listen to her father.

Soooooo....
I learn that aphids also attack roses, and bolt out to the rose bushes to see if they are killing my beloved roses!
I find this:

OH MY GOD, I have an invasion of spiny hairy BUGS!

This is where it gets good.
Why are they spotted?
Thanks to Google and toys for a 4-year-old, I learn that I have Ladybugs!

Okay, ready for the good part?

Ladybugs' favorite food is aphids!

I know, you can't contain your excitement. 

According to the toy, we have some stage 2 larvae and stage 3 pupa.
You learn something every day.

My genius plan was to move some of these ladies over to the tomatoes.
I moved one and watched her devour an aphid, which was strangely exciting.

So far, the kids have had a great time being ladybug runners (we found them in the apple tree too) but sadly, every ladybug has mysteriously disappeared.

I know how nail biting the garden adventure has been thus far, so I will be sure to update you on the success or failure of the great ladybug migration.

Even though I have a bajillion other things that have to get done today and every day, somehow this little garden makes me very very happy.

I highly recommend getting one.