Super idea

Last Wednesday, I had a super idea. You know, one of those that saves the day allowing mommy to get something done and boys to have fun? Yeah, it was one of those kinds of ideas.

I had picked up a few more plants (tomatoes and peppers) the day before in Glasgow, and I wanted to get them in the ground before the next rain. So my idea was ... let the boys run through our new sprinkler close to the garden while I did some work. Perfect!

Here's Cash running through the new sprinkler that aunt Ali gave to Baylen for his birthday. It was definitely a hot enough day to try it out.  They were hesitant at first, but after they got good and wet, they loved it!

Notice the water shoes - they are perfect for running through the water up close to the garden. You never know what you're going to find up there. Thanks, Grammy!

Yay! I finished planting a few more things and then put my garden stakes from Karalee in the ground, too. Looks wonderful, if you ask me!

They did a bit more playing. Baylen started wondering over to the gravel pile. Hmmm... wet boy and a bunch of gravel dust? Not the best combination.

But I hosed them both off and we headed back down the hill towards the house. Yes indeed, it was one of those super wonderful ideas! :)

Muscles and mowing

Cash likes showing off his strong muscles in his "muscle shirt."

While B likes wearing safety glasses while mowing with daddy (who wears safety glasses and a "pollen catcher").

I like watching all my Doggett boys on beautiful Sunday afternoons!

Plantin' time

After getting the garden plowed and tilled earlier in the week, on the 27th, we were ready to plant. We had a big breakfast (as we always do on Saturday mornings) and we all headed up the hill to get busy. Our goal was to get everything that we had planted before lunch time. I had picked up most of the plants that we needed and had some seed for a few things, too. I still had to pick up a few different tomato plants from town later the next week, though.

Heath started out by raking the spot nice and smooth. Notice that he's barefoot. I've looked all over for a similar picture that I took back in 2005 at our old house. We attempted a small garden in our backyard and I thought it was funny then that he gardened without shoes. I still think it's funny.

The boys kept busy using their machines in the fresh soil. We made it very clear that they could play in the garden then, but not after we had planted the seeds and little plants.

The boys helped for awhile, but this was mostly my task. We had brought the red wagon up, so I loaded it with rocks from the garden as Heath raked them up.

They were doing some serious working with their machines, but as soon as I got out the seeds, they changed their direction.

Here we are planting some corn seeds, three in each hole. They did a great job. At the time I thought we might be burying them a bit too deep, but they ended up sprouting just fine.

Baylen started to get real fussy after we had planted the seeds for corn and beans. I picked him up and cuddled him just a bit and this was the end result. Remember that wagon full of rocks? Yes, I sat on it holding a sleeping two year-old while Heath finished planting the garden and Cash played in the gravel.

I tried taking him to the house to lay him in his bed, but he woke up and wanted to go back up to the garden. So much for me helping with the planting. :)

Here's what it looked like when we were finished. We had finished one row of beans, two small rows of corn, two zucchini plants, four tomato plants, four bell pepper plants and a whole flock of seed potatoes. I had also planted lots of harvest sunflowers, giant sunflowers and some zinnias on the edge of the garden, because, of course, a garden should be pretty, too. Right?

Starting seeds and a new friend

On April 24th, the boys and I set off on a mission. We needed to start some seeds for the garden. We usually buy a lot of our plants from an Amish greenhouse in Glasgow, but I love being able to show the boys the seeds, plant some with them, and watch the boys see them grow. They get so excited to see them sprouting and love watering them and talking to them. So on the agenda for today was squash, cucumber and some giant sunflowers.

Heath had used the last of our potting soil for starting his pepper seeds (that never came up), so the boys took the wheelbarrow down the hill towards the woodpile to get some dirt. It was a chilly morning, so we grabbed our jackets. What a big helper!

This one wanted his picture taken, too, and of course, I didn't object.

Look what we found on the way! Cash spotted it first and screamed in delight, but then was scared to death of it. It was seriously the biggest turtle I've ever seen (in the great out-of-doors). It was at least a foot long, and after a lot of FB friend-help, I think we all decided it was a painted turtle. He didn't go all the way inside his shell when he saw us coming, but he definitely didn't take any chances.

We gathered some dirt (yes, I did help).

Said bye to the turtle on the way back up the hill, and started in on our work.

After getting back to the top of the hill, I looked to see our friend making his way pretty quickly back towards the "big tree forest." (Can you spot him?)

The boys filled the seed starters with fresh soil and we took turns planting seeds. Later we watered them and set them in the sun. 

It started to get warm, the boys shed their jackets and then got busy "working" with the rest of the soil. 

Mission completed! (and with a bit of excitement, too!)

More trees for our "wooded lot"

On the same Saturday that Heath and Cash went turkey hunting, B and I attended the Arbor Day celebration in town at one of the parks (I don't name that park mainly because I'm not sure how to spell it). When I say we attended the celebration, what I really mean is that I carried a sleeping B from the parking lot to the pavilion while it was sprinkling, retrieved seven free trees and then walked back to the car (still sprinkling) to head to the farmer's market. I'm not sure why I had such a feeling of need for these trees, but Heath and I like trees, we have some "bare" spots, I needed to keep B's mind off the fact that he didn't get to go hunting, and so we ended up with seven tree seedlings.

They stayed in their bags leaning up against the garage wall for about a week until finally Heath had a slow afternoon. The boys were more than willing to help him out. They grabbed a machine and a shovel and followed him around the yard.

B was pretty sure that a backhoe was needed for this job. (I'm not sure why, but I love this picture. I think it captures this little guy well. Pant leg up, machine in hand, watching daddy.)

Cash immediately went to work "roughing up the ground."

Being the busy PM he is, Heath had to stop mid-digging to take a phone call from one of the office assistants. Notice the boys kept on working.

Baylen thought this was the funniest thing ever. Heath would set up his shovel and then jump on it to really get a deep hole. Every time he went flying into the air, B would start with some uncontrollable laughter. 

Here he is laughing at Heath. It was pretty funny seeing the two of them "working together."

Can you see the two trees? These are the Hemlocks that we planted. I'm thinking that in a few years, a retake of this same picture will be fun. Two growing boys and two growing trees!

For the next two trees, Heath decided he needed his pickaxe (is that what it's called?). Cash was very curious about this tool and his little hands were itching to get ahold of it.

Here he is proving to me that he had "big muscles" to use daddy's pickaxe.

After a bit of digging, Heath was ready to share, and Cash got his wish. Look at these three busy workers!

In the end Heath planted two Hemlocks, two redbuds, one gingko and two black somethings. I don't remember what they were, maybe black walnut, black gum? Are there such things? All I remember is the black part of the name. Oh, well. Yay for seven new trees for our "wooded lot!"

Memories with Grammy

The other day when my mom came to watch Cash while B and I went to Musikgarten, she brought a strange but familiar contraption with her. As soon as she pulled it out of her bag, memories came flooding back to my mind. It was one of those things from your childhood that you could have never remembered by yourself, but if it was brought up in conversation, a vague picture could come to mind. But when mom actually brought her old grater to our house, the memories associated with it were oh, so vivid.

You see, we had gotten into the habit of cooking something or trying a new recipe each Monday afternoon. Usually the boys were napping and mom and I would play in the kitchen making something new. On this day, we were going to make Morning Glory Muffins, a recipe a friend had given me, and I had explained to mom that we would need to grate some carrots and an apple. Being the clever mom she is, she pulled out this old grater of hers to speed the process along.

On this particular day, Cash was still going strong and had been skipping naps here and there, so I let him bypass the nap so he could help Grammy and me in the kitchen. He was pretty curious about this new gadget that Grammy had brought and was very eager to try it out.

He watched as Grammy cut the carrots and put them in the top.

Cash helped to close the lid and immediately took hold of the crank on the top. It was a little hard at first, but once he got it going, grated carrots where coming out the bottom at full speed.

I guess it would have been a good idea to put a plate or paper towel underneath to catch it all, but it worked out well. He loved it!

He used his "big strong muscles." :)

In no time at all, he and Grammy had grated two full cups of carrots for our muffins, and without realizing it, he was making memories with Grammy, too!

Musikgarten

For the past four months, Baylen and I have been enjoying some wonderful Mommy-B time together at Musikgarten. Every Monday morning, my mom comes down from Glasgow and either plays with Cash at the house or takes him on errands with her while B and I go to Hopscotch's Playplace for a thirty-minute class full of bouncing songs, clapping, singing, instruments, dancing and lots of smiles.

Before I go farther, let me explain that Cash attended the same Musikgarten classes with me from the time he was 6 months old until we moved to Glasgow when he was two and a half. I figured it was time for B to have some one-on-one time with Mommy (and me with him) so it's worked out perfectly. (Cash loves getting Grammy time, too!)

On Monday, the 30th, we had our last class of the spring semester. I decided to take my camera along to get some shots of B having some fun. It's something I always wanted to do with Cash, but never remembered to bring my camera to class.

For the last class, Ms. Kari let each of the kids pick their favorite from the semester to sing. "Bow, wow, wow!" was one of the boys' favorites, and so each of them got a turn hitting the instrument with the mallet. B enjoyed it, as you can tell.

Here's Avery and her mom during the same song. They are good friends of ours from Living Hope.

Baylen also loves the shakers, although he doesn't really shake them during the song. He likes to sit and stack them or use one as a hammer and one as a nail. :)

Here he is dancing with scarves (he stole mine while I had my camera). Love that sweet, happy face!

Bella Joy is another friend of ours from Living Hope. Bella and Baylen originally had the same due date, March 24th, but Bella ended up coming a week earlier that B. You can tell she loves some scarf dancing, too!

Big smile for Musikgarten!

At the end of the class, Ms. Kari got out all of her instruments and let the kids practice each of them. Baylen loved the cymbals!

He wasn't so sure about these jingle bells.

Here's his class. It was a great group of kids this time -- see you in the fall!

Baylen and Ms. Kari