Gangsta BB

Shots from Summer

TUMMY TIME

A month ago, you could say that tummy time was not his favorite thing.

( Maybe saying "its not his thing" was an understatement.)

But now, I think he's starting to like it a little.

Yay Boyd! Look at that little neck holding up that huge noggin.

Who wouldn't struggle with those kinds of proportions? 

My favorite thing to do these days is squish these thighs.

And this double chin.

Happy Wednesday to you!

Square foot gardens meet large appetites.

My papa loved to garden. Or so I hear. I don't really remember that about him because he passed away when I was seven years old, but because of this knowledge of him loving to garden, I have secretly always wanted to learn how to garden. So, this year Jaron built us some beautiful square foot gardens.

We each got a box.
Liv planted, potatoes, strawberries, mint, cilantro, and carrots.

I planted, alysums, carrots, strawberries, potatoes, and basil (which never graced us with its presence)


Jaron planted some peas (which were the happiest little plants), tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, and strawberries. Though the one tomato that ended up growing I think got stolen by a squirrel. Darn squirrel.

Jaron's peas won the award for the fastest growing and most fruitful plant.
Liv's box in general wins the award for best growth and best carrots.
My box gets the award for the most obnoxious mint plant. Why the heck did I plant two of those? Those things spread and grow like crazy. And how often does one seriously use mint? Not that often it turns out. Need some mint anyone? Come on over and pick some.

Warner actually didn't get his own box this year. We didn't feel that a two year old was capable of taking care of his own box quite yet. Maybe next year. But he did help with the harvesting. He definitely wins the award for eating the most green strawberries. Poor strawberries, they never had a chance to turn red with Warner's hawk eyes, and big mouth. Chomp chomp.

Here's what we learned through the whole process:
If planting basil, use a starter.
Maybe try planting peas next year that you don't have to de-shell.
Plant more strawberries to keep up with Warner's appetite.
Less mint.
Sprinkle Red Cayenne Pepper all over soil to keep pesky neighbor cats from turning your gorgeous garden into a liter box.
 Potatoes are the funnest plant ever for kids and for the belly. Harvesting potatoes is like digging for gold, except way easier and less economically enhancing. My kids had so much fun sticking their hands in the airy dirt to search and find one big delicious looking potato after the other.

So, gardening friends. What gardening tips do you have to share? 

Love is in the air

Olivia has discovered something wonderful about Buster. He loves piggie noises. She found this out, through trial and error. She was of course performing a miryiad of silly noises, and got held up on her little snort when Buster started to laugh. She then repeated it over and over again, all the while Buster laughed and grinned.


A few days ago Jaron was sitting on our family room couch doting on the babe, when Liv came running by. J asked Olivia if she could go upstairs and brush her teeth to get ready for bed. She replied that she indeed would, "but first", she said, looking at Buster, and taking his hands in hers, "I will give you a piggy noise, because I know you like that. . . .snort".  A wide grin spread across Buster's face, followed immediately by a giggle.


I hope Buster can refer back to this blog one day when they are teenagers and going at it as siblings sometimes do, and remember how much his sister really does love him. After all it takes a lot of love to figure out which noises and silly things make your siblings laugh.

Drew in the House

My older brother Drew had some business to do in the Seattle area, so he swung in for a few hours to visit us yesterday afternoon. It was so great to see him.

Drew showed up two hours earlier than I had planned, which was perfect because the kids were all still sleeping, so we got a few hours just to visit me and him, without any interruptions. He helped me make dinner and we chatted it up. When the kids woke up they were suprised to see him, Liv's first thought was "Where's Meagan?" but she was still happy to see Uncle Drew. We had a great family night and dinner with him. He gave us the lesson, we sang some songs, jammed on the drums with the violins, played some pac man, ate some cookies, watched some funny online videos, and he was on his way. It went all too fast. But it was so good to see him.

Come visit us again Drew!

Playing Catch with the Three Month Old

Have you ever read this book? Its great. Its about an elephant named Gerald and his best friend Piggie. They meet a new friend who wants to play ball with them. They both clearly see the problem immediately, but Piggie has a smirk on his face and they decide to let him play. Piggie has a great time playing ball with the armless worm, who gets knocked over time and time again.

I was reminded of this book today when I cam downstairs and found Buster balling and red in the face. I immediately discovered the source of his tears when I saw Warner smiling and a green ball on the side of Buster. I'm pretty sure by the redness of his face that he was hit directly in the face with the ball. Poor helpless worm.

Worthy is a desire to play ball with one's sibling. So, I taught Warner how to play catch with his little brother. Throw softly, and avoid the face. Buster was still a little hesitant at first, but by the end he was smiling.