Thursday, October 24, 2013

Summer garden recap

 
I want to be a kick-butt gardener y'all.
But I'm not.
 
One summer, when I was little, my mom and I had a garden plot at a local community garden... the only thing that grew was eggplant, which I refused to eat. Then, when I lived in MD as a single person, I grew tomatoes and cucumbers on my little balcony.  I have no idea why I grew cucumbers because I don't like them at all, but it didn't matter because the ants ate each one as it approached maturity.  Since Rob and I have been married, I have always had some type of little herb garden, or patio thing growing... I often refer to it as my 'pot garden' but that tends to cause people to give me funny looks.  Our nomadic lifestyle prevents me from attempting any more serious gardening at this point in my life, which is probably for the best as I practice cultivating on this small scale.
 
This past spring I planted my latest and best garden yet!  Also, I decided to keep a garden journal.  Which made one friend ask, "soooo, you write about your plants, huh?"  Yes, yes I do.  I am trying very hard to learn from my mistakes and green up this black thumb of mine!  Last night we had our first frost and I chopped up the tomato and eggplants ( I eat eggplant now) and tallied up my garden totals for the summer.  (I really need to get a kitchen scale so I can keep track in weight next year.) 
 
The photo you see above is what is left growning out back. The winter garden contains peas, carrots (yes, I am growing carrots in a pot- they are a dwarf variety that will only grow 5 inches, the pot is 12 inches deep,) various mesclun, spinach, and salad greens, and I left the basil and pepper plants out until they die off.
 
2013 Summer Garden totals:
 
lettuce and spinach: 13 cups (spring, early summer)
 green beans: 7  (yup, seven. not as many of those grow on one plant as I imagined.)
zucchini: 3 (these started out strong, but it got too hot and I couldn't keep them hydrated enough in their pots.)
peas: 7 pods (see green beans; I am trying this one again for fall/winter.)
cherry tomatoes: 157
roma tomatoes: 127 (I didn't buy a single tomato this summer!)
bell peppers: 24
jalepeno peppers: 48!
eggplant: 3 (these also didn't fruit when the weather got very hot, I should have planted them sooner.)
 
Anyway, it doesn't sound like much, but it is the best garden I've grown so far!  And that was with a move mid-summer, and battling grasshoppers, lizards, and my first run-in with tobacco hornworms (Not tomato hornworms, we checked carefully.  Thankfully, Rob is willing to pull those off and squish them for me, because they are LARGE and gross looking.)
 
 
So... what should I grow next? !?!?  :) 
Also, here are my two favorite gardening quotes right now:
 
"To forget how to tend the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves." - Gandhi
 


"Waiting for the quality experience seems to be the constitutional article that has slipped from American food custom... restraint equals indulgence." - Barabara Kingsolver

Sunday, October 20, 2013

In other news...

Shocking as it may seem, staring at Amelie is actually not the only thing we have been doing for the past month! She is quite unhappy about that fact- and lets us know by screaming every time we set her down.

 
Toby finished up his fourth soccer season!  This time he played for the Hurricanes, and he did make a few good goals, but he really has no aggressive instinct on the field, so I'm not sure offense is where his future in sports lies.

 
We had the novel experience of having our friends Sam and Jack on Charlotte's team this season and it was fun to hang out with friends on the sidelines for once.  (We've never known any of the other parents before, and of course there has been friendly small talk always, but it was so much more fun to visit with friends.)  Charlotte's coach was the most soft-spoken guy, who described himself to me as the "team mom" (in red) who drafted a friend into really coaching the team (in white.)  They were a great pair of coaches I think.

 
 
Then we were lucky enough to have Rob's mom come stay with us for more than a week.  She was so much help!  She made dinner, washed dishes, held the baby, helped me with shopping, and even read "Trucks A to Z" to Jake many times.  Rob and I were totally burned out on that one so Jake was desperate for a new reader... but I can now identify a knuckle-boom truck on construction sites, so it was educational for everyone, I suppose.

 
There has been plenty of baby holding as well, despite what Amelie might tell you.

 
And Miss Pinkness does love a relaxing soak in the tub.

 
Oh yeah, and we bought a truck. 
Three days before the governement shutdown and Rob being furloughed- we have awesome timing like that.  It is a Ford F-150 and seats six.  Really, it does.  The carseats do actually fit in there.  Jake thinks that this is the best thing Rob has ever, ever done and asks to ride in the truck all the time now.  And the furlough thing has ended, for now, so all is well.

 
Rob's sister Allyson came to visit with her four kiddos the weekend of Amelie's baby blessing.  We blackened some hot dogs and marshmallows around our backyard firepit.  These kids LOVE playing together so much.

 
And finally Rob, Jane, and Ally took most of the kids to Steed's Dairy for an afternoon.  (Baby Nathan and Ally just got cut out of this photo, dang it.)  Amelie and I stayed home to sleep.  But the other kiddos enjoyed the hayride, and corn maze, and jumping on one of those inflatable things, and they ate boiled peanuts and had a great time.  I'm glad they made some fun memories.

This is a busy time in our lives! 

We are feeling pretty maxed out on energy, and patience, and time... we even celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary a few weeks ago by looking at each other and saying, "happy anniversary, honey!" being too tired to attempt dinner out or shopping for gifts.  But we do recognize that we are also abundantly blessed with love, and family, and friends, and are trying to enjoy these exhausting days because we know that they truly will not last much longer.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Amelie's baby blessing

On Sunday, Rob gave Amelie a special baby blessing.  In our church it is a tradition to give new babies a name (for the official records) and a blessing in front of the congregation.  It is not the same as a baptism, (which we don't do until at least 8 years old,) or a christening, but it is a special occasion.  We chose to do it this weekend because Rob's mom was here to visit.  His sister Allyson also drove out from Atlanta with her 4 kids- so we had quite a houseful for a few days, but more on that later.  :)  Rob said the blessing and was joined by Bishop Adams, John Lente, Jason Jones, and Jason Bowman.  Amelie cried through the whole thing!  John Lente joked afterwards that she was "feeling the Spirit."

 
Amelie wore the same dress that Charlotte wore for her baby blessing.

 
I love how it looks with her dark hair!

 
Here is Amelie with her daddy, all ready to go to church, and here is the blessing that Rob gave her:
 
Our Father in Heaven, by the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood and authority of Jesus Christ, we present this child to give her a name and a blessing.  The name by which she shall be known is Amelie Marie Anderson. 
 
Amelie, we bless you at this time with a desire to learn the Gospel and seek for the things of most worth in this life.  We bless you with a desire to come to know your Savior, Jesus Christ.  We bless you with a desire to help others and to be a missionary; that you may share the Gospel and be a good example to all your family and friends, that they may also follow the path toward eternal life.  We bless you with a desire to learn about the temple- to learn of the Gospel, and when the time comes, to seek among the righteous for a companion, that you may be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity.
 
We say these things, and bless you with all other blessings that Heavenly Father sees fit to bestow upon you, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Getting to know Amelie

Well, time flies when you're having babies!  I have been trying to update blogger for a week.

 
Amelie is now 3 weeks old! 
And we are enjoying getting to know her personality a little more all the time.  Jake is soooo happy to be a big brother.  He clearly did not want to be the "baby" in this family and is very confident in his new big kid role.

 
We have had loads of time to love on our new baby sister.
Rob took off the first week after Amelie was born, and then went to work for a few days before being furloughed by our lovely government.  He is back to work now, but Grandma Anderson arrived for the week on Saturday, AND we have been overwhelmed with delicious food from our friends and church community.  I have been seriously spoiled. Things are gonna fall apart next week when everyone leaves me! 

 
Girl time. 
 I'm glad these two have each other.  Sisters are such special people, wouldn't you agree?

 
Check it out- Amelie's eyes are still blue.  They are like dark blue-gray. They may darken yet, but they might also stay blue.  The other kiddos' eyes were all brown by the end of the first week.  We'll have to wait and see.

 
At Amelie's 2 week old check-up she already weighed 9 lbs. 4 oz. (85th%)  I am sure she is over 10 lbs. by now and is beginning to get little ankle rolls and double chins.  I love fat babies.  :) 
 
Amelie is NOT sleeping well.  Maybe she is on Paris time?  I cannot stress this point enough.  I am tired.  Rob is tired.  With three other kids in the house, it isn't like we can just sleep whenever... though I confess I have been with Rob's mom here.  That is why I am dreading next week and the start of my REAL solo time.  But, we'll cope somehow.  Just look at this little face!  It is more than worth a few (hundred) sleepless nights, right?