KinderGardens 2011 {week 4.}

Warning:  Gardening Cuteness Overload - If you do not have children, or a garden, there is a good chance you'll want one or both by the end of this post.  I hereby waive all responsibility.

The most exciting thing that happened in the garden this week was most definitely the picking of the first carrot.

Miles asks every day if the carrots are ready.  

Overall, they are not.  But there was this giant stem.  And I was curious.

So I let him pick it.

And it was a GIANT fat little thing!!

Much more giant than the ONE we pulled from the garden last year...

Oh my, how he was pleased...

And I just kept snapping pictures of his cute little face and his cute little carrot when....

Ella popped in, having picked her very own carrot while I wasn't paying attention. 

Hers was really not ready...

So proud little Miles took his prize winning carrot...

...and ran over to show his Dad and our neighbor, who were working on the boat (which is an entirely different post for a different day)...

Guess who followed suit?

I asked Miles if he wanted to take the carrot inside and eat it for dinner.  He said:

"No.  I need a snack right now.  Hey!  I'll just eat this carrot!"

So we took a snack break at our new picnic table, conveniently located right next to the gardens.

We picked E a bit more substantial carrot to enjoy as well.

It was really quiet for a few minutes.

Eating carrots you grew yourself is serious business.

And grow them he did.  I've been thinning carrots every week since we planted them because Miles did the whole process by himself.  

Which means he planted 8x too many carrot seeds.  

But that's part of it.  Gardening with kids isn't always the most efficient method.  It's definitely not the easiest.  But I'm finding that the joy that goes with it, even in small doses, is worth every trying minute.

Participating in the KinderGardens project has been so inspiring.  At the end of last summer we saved several of the stalks from our mammoth sunflowers.  I had seen Cathryn and her kiddos build a teepee from their old sunflower stalks.  So this year we did a miniature version for our peas.  

It's kinda wonky and rustic, but I think it's cute.  Now to see if I can train the stinkin' peas to grow up the string.  

They just want to grow up each other.

And since this post is full of cuteness, I just thought I'd share some more sunflower pics.  I just love when the seed is still attached to the sprout.  

PS - Won't be long before our squash is ready!!  Get thee behind me squash bugs!!!  

pray for Oklahoma.

UPDATE:  My family was spared the devastation many Oklahomans have faced today.  Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.  Please pray now for those who have lost so much.  

Please pray for Oklahoma.  

There are tornados on the ground...headed toward the OKC metro.  Headed toward my house.

I've been to the safety deposit box and dropped off discs with over 12,000 photos. 

I've packed 2 bags including -

:: all our mini DVs (home videos)

:: both my external hard drives with millions of photos

:: some books

:: some games

:: some colors

:: some alcohol (just kidding)

:: my camera

:: diapers and wipes

And I've posted this verse on my front door as I leave to go to the storm cellar.  

Psalm 27:1 - "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?"

And with that I'll direct you to some tornado humor from years gone by...

2009

2010

2010 pt. 2

Please pray for Oklahoma.

KinderGardens 2011 {week 3.}

Behind again.  

Maybe I'll get caught up this week and actually post my KG's linkup on Thursday like a good little participant. 

We've been super busy with life this week and haven't spent much time in the garden.  

We did some weeding in the beds together in small spurts throughout the week.

By the end of the week it had become very necessary to weed-eat around the beds.

This is not a very kid friendly activity.

So the kids went on a quick trip or ten around the yard with dad (on Papa Ed's borrowed 4-wheeler). 

But rest assured it is a very dirty activity.

I was just the only one who got dirty.

Our sunflower seeds (randomly placed by M sometime in the last couple of weeks) are starting to poke out in the funniest places.  He's really excited. 

His tomato plants are starting to take off.

So, all is well in the garden Week 3.  

Go check out the other inspiring gardeners this week at:

THE INADVERTENT FARMER'S blog.

trying to get the shot.

I really wanted a picture of M & E standing under the birthday banner.

One picture.

How hard is that, right?

One of her looking(ish)...

One of him looking(ish)...

One of her walking toward me...

So I coaxed her back over there.

But before I could back up and get set with the camera...

Reset.

Then...

"I know!  Why don't you guys sit on the ice chest!"

"Wait!"

"Miles grab her!"

"Oh forget it."

And for every photo you see in this post there are maybe 10 others just like it.

the 2nd birthday campout.

It may seem strange to you to take a 2 year old girl camping for her birthday.  

But if you would have witnessed the look on her face when her new pink sleep pad and pink/purple sleeping bag arrived on our doorstep you would know it was the right thing to do.  They looked just like her big brother's gear...and she was thrilled.  

"Yay!!!! Seep bag!!!"

We only camped a few miles from our house so I drove over early Friday morning to mark our spot in case the sites began to fill up.  I was so glad I did!  When we came back in the afternoon every spot was taken!

The kids and I got to the site early.  Britton had to work the OBU graduation late Friday afternoon and other friends that joined us couldn't get there until later.  
So we unpacked, had snacks...

...And, after they picked all the M&M's out of the trail mix, were bored in 5 seconds.  

So we were very pleased when Erin showed up with birthday presents for the both of them.  

Before M even opened his gift he said "I hope this is a Thomas present"!

It was. 

Good call, Erin.

Ella was super excited to get some groceries in a pink basket. 

You should know that the pink and the skirt and everything about her is because she wants it that way.

I tend to dress her like me.  

Drabby McDrabberson.

But she screams and wants the froof so I'm beginning to have fun with it.

Oh-well.

She looks super cute.

When Britton arrived, he set up the tent.  I had already tried and failed miserably.

Then Troy, Julie and Jaden (from the crawfish blog) arrived and added to the girl's pink-blingy-froofy-ness.

Which made her very excited.  

{Please note the pink feather boa....this is not the last you'll see of it in this post.}

Now, I don't know about you, but I've never been camping and eaten this...

But Troy happens to be the head honcho over all the food services on campus at OBU.  And since OBU graduation was this particular Friday, and since he had some leftover, he brought SHRIMP!!!  {Made my hot dogs look a little pathetic.  But again I say....Oh-well!}

We did some fishing Saturday morning.  Ella was so excited to use her very own new PINK pole.

Seriously excited.

It must be said that Ella and I were the only team that caught any fish.  

On her foot-and-a-half-long-pink-pole.

The biggest AND the most fish.

We won in both categories.

{And if there's anything my dad ever taught me it's that it MATTERS who catches the most fish AND the biggest fish.}

 We later celebrated with a birthday cupcake.  

There was so much tragedy involved in the making of these cupcakes.

First, after not latching my cupcake carrier all the way (because I was distracted and on the phone), I dumped them out on my disgustingly dirty entry rug where my normal 5 second rule could not and should not ever apply.

I was able to salvage about 5 of the cupcakes that didn't fall completely out of the carrier. 

So the next morning I sat them behind my Jeep, in the shade while we went fishing.

When we returned the lid was off and the frosting was licked off two of them.  There were also fresh chalk drawings on the ground behind my Jeep (I brought the sidewalk chalk for M & E).  I think some fellow camping munchkins may have enjoyed our cupcakes and chalk.  

So I took the only remaining decent-looking cupcake and gave it to Ella.

I have pictures of Miles scraping the icing off Ella's birthday cake from last year too.

She enjoyed her cupcake thoroughly and has no idea what a champion that little guy was amidst the Cupcake Catastrophe of 2011.

By the time we left on Saturday it looked like a pink chicken had thrown up all over our campsite...

 And it was the perfect thing to do for my girl on her 2nd birthday.

(Except for the part where she woke up every 2 hours all night long and ran laps around the tent.  But we won't go into all that.  Wouldn't want to spoil the story.)