Fall Fun

First things first... Samuel entered his school's pumpkin decorating contest, and took home the 3rd place ribbon for his pirate pumpkin! Woop Woop!!! Yea!!! I personally think he should have won 1st place, but it was some pretty stiff competition. Michael Jackson took 1st...

I love this time of year. The glorious smells, the vibrant colors, the cooler weather. I love it all. We've been busy around here, having tons of fall fun. I will keep my words brief, since the pictures are plentiful!

Last weekend, we took the kids to a local pumpkin patch. We ate cookies and hot dogs. We fed goats and sheep. We went on a hay ride. It was big family fall fun!And tomorrow is Halloween! Can you believe it's already here? I won't give away just yet what all 3 kids are dressing up as. But I will give you this sneak peek! Happy Halloween, everyone!

Beauty is...

A poem by Samuel

Beauty is...
Bold
Elegant
Artistic
Unicycle
Television
Youth

I sense the poem started taking a different direction in Samuel's mind somewhere around the word "Unicycle." :-)

For school, Samuel wanted to enter a poetry contest, the theme being "Beauty is..." First of all, I will move past my complete shock that Samuel actually wanted to enter a poetry contest. Don't get me wrong. I was THRILLED when he asked if he could enter. Just a little shocked because it doesn't seem to be the type of activity that would be of interest to him. But with his teacher's help, he decided to write an Acrostic poem. When he came home and showed me the poem, as I read it to myself, I kept going back to that word... unicycle... Hmmmm, should I ask him about this word, or should I skip it and simply marvel at his ambition, creativity, and desire to write poetry? I mentioned the word!

Well, first I told Samuel that he should be really proud of his poem. And I told him that it showed great creativity on his part. I told him about his Aunt Becky who loves to write poetry. And I told him that we should go to the local library and check out some books of poetry. And then I asked him why he picked the word unicycle over something perhaps like unity or universe. He told me that he didn't like those words, and he asked me if I'd ever seen someone riding a unicycle. Then he said, "The way they sit up on top real tall and balance and ride the unicycle around is beautiful." I told him that he had a very good point and that I LOVED the fact that he used the word unicycle. I would have gone with unity or universe. And that's why I don't write poetry. :-) But to him, unicycle was the best choice... really the only choice. Unicycles are beautiful! I REALLY truly hope the judges can look past the more obvious/typical words that he could have used, like unity or universe, and see the beauty that is behind the word unicycle!

What is beauty to you? Yesterday for me, it was being given the opportunity to see something in a whole new light, through the eyes of my child.

My Daughter

My second born, middle child, only daughter... clever, witty, creative, inquisitive, detail-oriented, amazing memory, curious, tenacious, beautiful, loving, spirited, and truly empathetic to all living creatures. Oh, how I love her! But oh, how she challenges me! Avery can't simply be told to do something and then do it, without asking first why, when, where, what and who will be involved. She can not simply be told to go get ready for bed, without first asking why our body's need sleep, why is it time to go to bed, why do daddy and mommy get to sleep in the same bed together but she has to sleep in her own bed by herself, what can she do once she gets into bed (read a book, write her own book, etc.), who established this exact time as a good bed time anyway, and do we need to rethink her bedtime since she is, after all, getting older. I love it, but it exhausts me! :-) I now know why parents started saying, "Because I said so! That's why!"

Last night, Avery was acting inappropriately. I won't go into the full details here. But needless to say, Hector and I decided it was time to pull out "the big guns" and start punishing Avery for this specific behavior she's been exhibiting for several days now. After several warnings from Hector and I went unnoticed by Avery, we decided to tell her that the next time she did it, she would have to give away one of her toys. Not even 3 minutes later, she did it again! Agh! So, I sent her to her room to get a toy. She came back with this:

Me: "Nice try, Avery. But that's Samuel's toy... it goes to his view finder. You were supposed to get one of your toys."

Avery: "All you told me to do was to go get a toy from my room, and that toy was in my room. You didn't say it had to be one of my toys."

Do you all understand now a little better, when I said that it exhausts me, what I was truly talking about? Clever! Witty! But exhausting too!!! So, I sent her back to her room with more detailed, specific instructions, and she came back with this:

Me: "Again, Avery, while I realize that this sock does belong to you, I told you to get a toy and not an article of clothing."

Avery: "But I don't wear that sock. I use it as a dress-up toy for my baby dolls."

AGH!!! This was supposed to be a punishment for Avery. But somehow, I was the only one feeling punished... I sent her back to her room, with the understanding that if she did not come back with a REAL toy, that I was going to pick the toy out myself. I watched her shoulders slump as she walked down the long hallway to her bedroom. I could hear her crying in her room. Even though I try to act tough, because ultimately she really needs to learn this lesson, my heart was breaking for her. I don't like punishing my children, but I understand that it's something I have to do. Finally, with tears flooding her eyes and me trying to not let tears flood my own eyes, Avery handed me this:

I must admit, I was shocked to see her holding out this toy because she just got it, and she loves it. She sleeps with it at night, and during the day she puts in on a top shelf in her room so that it won't get lost or damaged by Isaac. I know, it's a silly tater tot from Sonic. But Avery loves this little guy! She handed it over, and asked me who I was going to give it to, was it someone she knows or doesn't know, if there was any way I'd reconsider not giving it away, and if there was anything specific that she could do to get it back. I told her that she needed to stop asking questions...

A few minutes later, I could hear her talking to Isaac. I peeked around the corner, and saw her sitting on the floor, holding Isaac, crying. And then she whispered to Isaac that she was sorry for what she'd done, and said, "If I try my best to never do that again, will you forgive me, Bubba?"

My already-soft heart got a bit softer. My daughter is just like me. If someone says no, she wants to know why not. If someone tells her to stop doing something, she wants to keep doing it until she's 100% sure they mean business. If someone tries to "control" her, she fights back. Exhausting? Yes! But clever and witty and tenacious and spirited and empathetic too! I know in my heart that these things will serve her well later in life. And so it's my challenge to teach her right from wrong, while trying to not squash these characteristics that are inherently a big part of who she is. My daughter... Oh, how she challenges me! But oh, how I love her!!!

National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day

I know this is my second post in a day. And while I usually try to avoid doing this, the fact is that I need to blog about this. October is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. And today, October 15, is the day in which we are asked to remember all of those who have loved and lost a pregnancy or an infant, by lighting a candle at 7:00 p.m. This is something very personal to me for many reasons. You see, I have loved and lost. Over 9 years ago, after trying for over 5 years to get pregnant, I lost my first pregnancy in my 11th week. And even though the pain and loss I felt at the time was very real, and even though I still hurt inside when I think about what happened to me and my husband.... agh... I can not even type the words here. It hurts me, still, after all these years to think about it. And yet, I simply can not get 2 truly amazing friends off my heart today. I have 2 friends who have lost their infants. I simply can't imagine. In my heart, I know that I am a mom of 4 children, but I never got to hold one of my children. I never gave him or her a name. I never really knew that child. But my 2 friends did. And so tonight, in remembrance of Ziggy, Zane, and my little peanut, I will light a candle and say a prayer. And I will remember all of those who have loved and lost.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Well actually, my summer garden has struggled this year. It did good, just not great. And since last summer's garden did great, I think I got kind-of spoiled and was a bit disappointed by this year's harvest. Last summer, I harvested around 300 tomatoes. This summer, only around 30. But, with all the rain we've been getting here lately, my tomato plants have come back to life and are now producing a few more tomatoes. I picked these in the picture above last weekend. I planted 6 tomato plants this summer, 1 of which is a tomatillo plant that has made for some really tasty fried green tomatoes and salsa verde. Yummy!

Last summer, I planted 3 pepper plants and harvested around 10,000 peppers. Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit, but it felt like 10,000. So this summer I decided to plant only 2 pepper plants, and guess what? I've harvested around 100,000 peppers! :-) My pepper plants out-did everything else in the garden, by far. And they are still growing like gang-busters. This picture below is of my Tabasco pepper plant. There's got to be close to 500 peppers growing on it right now. And the next picture is of my jalapeno pepper plant, which also did really good this year. A couple of night's ago I made stuffed jalapenos. I made about a dozen of them. Muy delicioso!

Now then, we like our fresh peppers around here. But with so many peppers, I've been pickling them, and I'm running out of space to store all of them. Hector and the kids do not like it when I pickle things. They're not the biggest fans of the boiled vinegar smell that seems to over-take our house. Go figure! :-) Perhaps I should sell some of my pickled peppers. Say that 3 times really fast!!! But seriously... I will almost assuredly give some away, but should I try to sell the rest at my local farmer's market? And if so, how much should I charge per jar? Suggestions, comments, etc. are all greatly appreciated.My cucumbers this summer were a BIG disappointment. Last summer, I made enough pickles to last all year long. This summer, I pickled only 10 jars of cucumbers, and I've only got 2 jars left. My okra plant has done good. But some of you might remember that last summer, the plant grew to be taller than the fence. Here it is this summer.But perhaps the biggest disappointment has been my pumpkins. It's so heart-breaking, really... You see, we have no pumpkins this year. Boo... Sniff... Sniff... Last summer, I planted the pumpkin seeds according to The Farmer's Almanac. I planted the seeds in May, which seemed very early to me, but The Almanac had never done me wrong before. So, I went with it. Sure enough, the pumpkins started growing way too early. We got a few good ones. And even though I knew I should have picked them, I kept them on the vine in an attempt to have them get a little bigger and actually have them not rot out before Halloween. Unfortunately, the slugs found them, and all our pumpkins were killed. I told you it was heart-breaking. So this year, I decided to wait a month later than The Almanac suggested. I planted the seeds and was thrilled to see the plants sprouting. Unfortunately, that's all I've gotten... just the plants... no pumpkins... I honestly do not know how these pumpkin farmers do it. Looks like we'll be heading out to the pumpkin farm again this year...So, I know I always ask, but it's only because I'd really like to know... How does YOUR garden grow? What have been some of your successes? What have been some of your not-so-successful ventures in gardening? And it doesn't have to be just fruits and veggies. Have you planted something non-edible in your garden that you'd like to share with everyone? If so, let us all read about it in the comments section. Happy Gardening!

I left my heart in...

Hector and I were recently able to take a vacation to San Francisco in celebration of our 15th wedding anniversary. Without the kids... For 5 whole days... I won't lie to you, it was awesome! Love my kids... Missed them dearly... Was thrilled to see them again after the trip... But it was awesome!

I won't bore you with all the details from the trip, but I will share with you a few of the things I learned while on vacation.

While in San Francisco, I learned that...

Palm trees can be beautiful.

But California Redwoods are even more beautiful!

"Everybody needs beautiful places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul." ~John Muir

The food really is as good as it's cracked up to be.

Pancakes really can melt in your mouth.

The Golden Gate Bridge is as awesome as you can imagine it could be.

I never want to live on Lombard Street.

The streets in China Town really are narrow. And the deals really are superb!

Not all objects actually are what they appear to be.

Or better still, not all statues are really statues...


Riding a cable car is both fun and scary.

I'm SO glad that I took the advise from Frommer's Travel Guide to not be afraid to venture into the Mission District and tour Mission Delores. I literally gasped at the beauty surrounding me upon entering into the Basilica.
The "Painted Ladies" are on so many postcards of San Francisco for a reason... they're really neat!
Not everything is bigger in Texas.
California Seagulls = Bigger!
California Avocados = Bigger!
California Grapes = Bigger!

Something seriously needs to be done about the over-crowding problem on Pier 39.

All "at risk" boys should be required to tour Alcatraz. It changed my life.

I loved San Francisco, but I didn't leave my heart there... Home is where my heart is!