First-ling of our Flock

I have a green thumb. I know that most of you haven't ever seen it but ...... obviously it is there.


I planted my very first garden this year and look at it. There is nothing more exciting than checking on my "babies" every morning to see what kind of progress they are making.
I planted green beans, cucumber, and sunflowers from seed, green peppers, squash, zucchini, watermelon, a pumpkin plant (Gabe actually planted it on his last day of pre-school) and a tomato plant all from starts (I cheated a little because I got it in so late).


Here is the first-ling of our flock.

It was so exciting to cut it free from it's nurturing mother plant and into my hands. I carried it lovingly inside and washed it and took pictures of it (one would almost think that I cherished it as much as I would one of my own children....except that I cooked it up and ate it for dinner. I would NEVER do that to one of my own kids).

It was sooooo yummy. We can't wait for the rest of our garden to start producing (we have about 10 squash in various stages of growth.....Anyone want some squash?). Mom, I may just have to get Leslie's recipe for that super tasty veggie casserole she brought to the picnic on the 4th. Give her a heads up!

A girl named "Hot Chocolate"

As stressful as life has been lately, we have still found a few, yes...actually a few minutes, of pure joy and laughter. Today dawned cloudy and cool, which was such a nice break from the hot weather we have been having. I don't know about y'all but in our house cool weather means one thing.......break out the HOT CHOCOLATE!
As we prepared for FHE tonight (we are having it tonight because we missed it yesterday) we started talking about our FHE treat (grape popsicles....which actually would have been perfect yesterday because it was nice and HOT....oh well). The conversation went as follows:

Me: "Maybe we should have hot chocolate instead. It is too cold for popsicles."

Gabe: "MMMMmmmmmm. I LOVE HOT CHOCOLATE."

Rob: "Then why don't you marry it?" (really mature of Rob.....I know......he is SO mature)

Gabe: "NO!......We can't marry hot chocolate, Dad. You are just being silly."

Rob (under his breath directed to me): "Watch....he's is going to find some girl named "HOT CHOCOLATE and marry her."

For a second I laughed at his joke but then it hit me.......and it seemed to hit Rob at the same time because he looked up at me with a slightly alarmed look just as I said,

"Man, if Gabe brings home a girl named "HOT CHOCOLATE" we are likely to have a huge problem on our hands."

We had a good long laugh about that.

Cael......sigh......If you know him, that says enough!

So......this is how we found Cael in his bed last night, hours after we put him to bed. It takes him quite a while each night to wind down (Gabe is asleep long before him usually) and he always gets into one thing or another. He is a little naughty thing, he is.

Speaking of naughty, tonight I was downstairs on the computer, kind of like I am now, and Cael kept saying "poo poo," "Mommy, poo poo," at his door (which is not an unusual thing for him). I ignored him (which is not an unusual thing for me). A few minutes later he came down the stairs without his diaper on and claimed he wanted to sit on the potty. Frustrated as I was, I do not want to discourage him from using the potty (only having one child in diapers would sure be nice), so I followed him upstairs and put him on the potty. At that point, I could smell poo poo and figured he really was about to go. So I waited and waited.....nothing happened. He said he was all done. I went in search of his diaper so I could put it back on him. I went into his room and was full fledged hit in the face by the most rank smell ever. I frantically began searching for the source, fearing the worst. I tried to question Gabe to no avail. He had been reading a book and had not noticed a thing (which is not unusual for him....wow I use that phrase a lot). After a few minutes of searching (okay, probably only seconds but the unknown was killing me), I finally found it. Indeed, he had left a treasure in his diaper and had taken it off. It was sitting on the floor in his closet. So.....at that point, I yelled and screamed and pulled him off the toilet, laid him on the floor and continued my "no, no, no, no, no-we-never-do-that-Cael-broken-record-thing until I was satisfied that I had sufficiently drilled it into his head, put on a clean diaper and banished him to his bed. So.........how's that for preparing him for potty training!?! I guess it could have been a lot worse. He could have smeared it on the floor or the walls or his hands and I could have gotten a lot more angry (You never know what I might do when the sanitation of my home is compromised). I will tell you what, though, if any of my kids are going to do that, it's going to be Cael. Cael..........sigh...........deeper sigh......what am I going to do with him?

Another Cael funny.......or not so funny..............well actually quite funny if it wasn't me he said it to.

So yesterday we were sitting down to lunch and Cael, who was sitting next to me, kept poking my chest. Now, trying not to make a big deal out of it I ignore him at first. But....... Cael persisted until I couldn't take it any more. I said, "Cael, please stop that." He just smiled up at me and said, "Mommy.....dee dee (Cael's way of saying baby) in tummy?" To which I replied, "Well Cael, first of all, that is not Mommy's tummy." Pointing to my stomach I said, "This is Mommy's tummy and no....there is not a baby in it (What, does he think I fat or something?)." He smiled again and continued, alternating between poking my chest and stomach, "Mommy....dee dee in tummy?" Again I said, "No Cael...mommy does not have a baby in her tummy. Isaac is our baby and he is sitting right there (pointing at Isaac in his high chair)," to which Cael says, "No mom, dee dee in tummy!"
At this point I look at Rob a little panicked and think to myself............Does Cael know something I don't know?......but that's impossible......how?, how?, how? (Now don't think I am stupid....I do know how babies get into mommy's tummies). ATTENTION: THIS IS NOT AN ANNOUNCEMENT

My next thought was......well if Cael is wrong......and I hope he is.......Rob may just have to sleep on the couch until Isaac is much, much older and Rob is given the all clear to come within 10 feet of me. After all, we can't take any chances here people and abstinence is the only method that is 100% effective.
(Okay....so this is a little more personal then I tend to get in my blog. It is true that our personal life is just that.......personal...... and so I inform the reader that the end of this post was just a joke and that our "family planning" methods are kept between the two of us and certainly no one else's business. I was merely trying to be funny.....gosh....I do that sometimes).

So....in case you are wondering, I do not think Cael has any special insightful powers. If he proves me wrong, AGAIN....THIS IS NOT AN ANNOUNCEMENT.....but if he does prove me wrong.....I'm sure y'all will hear about it soon enough. It does have a bit of a Saturday's Warrior feel to it, does it not? Scary......I get nauseous just thinking about it (get it, morning sickness......he, he.....I am so funny). :)

Gabe is 5......that's right....I said 5

Rob and I can hardly believe that Gabe, our little Robert Gabriel, is 5. What a strange thing that is. The night before his birthday (Tuesday) we were reminiscing about the night before he was born and how surreal of an experience it was. He was a scheduled c-section and we knew that before 8:00AM the following morning we would be parents and there would be no turning back. We we so anxious and excited at the same time. My mom sent us to dinner at Carrabas (an expensive Italian restaurant) and then we went to a dollar movie. When we finally got home we were exhausted but scared to go to sleep because this was our very last night alone.....FOR ETERNITY. So.... we stayed up until 11:30PM playing tetris together on our GAME BOY's even though we had to be AT the hospital by 5:30AM. When all was said and done....there was our little Gabe. What a sweet baby he was. We loved him then and we love him even more now. Ahhhh.....a walk through memory lane............. Sigh............... Anyhow....

Gabe had a fun day. We went to Chuck E Cheese (super cheap because we didn't eat there), went for a bike ride, Gabe on his new one, and enjoyed cake and ice cream after a German Pancake dinner (even I was sugar overloaded and that says a lot).

Today was Gabe's b-day party with his friends from pre-school, friends from our old ward, and cousins. We had such a good time. I was stressed out but tried to pretend to be relaxed (yeah, I know...what a joke). When it was all said and done, there was a huge mess to clean up (including dirt all over the white carpet), but the kids had a good time and Gabe was happy (did I mention he got a ton of presents?....Why did we even bother with ours? I should have just set up a gift registry for his bike and all of his guests could have bought it for us......just kidding, really!)

All-in-all it was an enlightening experience for me. I realized something. I don't dislike kids as much as I thought I did. In fact, being in Utah with all of my nieces and nephews and then throwing this b-day party (both of which I was surrounded by A LOT of kids), taught me that I actually enjoy being around them. Don't get me wrong.....I still can't stand some of them, including my own sometimes, but.......yeah......amazing.....who would have ever thought. Enlightening.....simply enlightening.

Back to Gabe......he will start Kindergarten in about a month and a half and after that....who knows........maybe he will conquer the world.

M.I.A. for far too long!

I have to apologize to all you out there who live and die by my blog. I have been vacationing and have not had the time (or taken the time) to blog. We got home from Utah last Saturday (after two weeks) and have had a busy week, what with Gabe's b-day and b-day party. Busy, busy, busy. But....a lot of fun (When I say fun, I mean stressful...... but fun now that it's over).

Our trip was great. Rob drove down with the kids and I on June 20th and stayed for my friend Katie's wedding on the 24th, which was also my b-day. She looked....well, for lack of a FAR BETTER word.....FABULOUS which gave me a new resolve to never eat again and work out like crazy (as if I could stop eating.....believe me, I have tried.....anorexia doesn't work for me. The longest I have made it is 5 hours. I don't think that going to make a significant dent in my pant size). Anyway..........moving on......... Rob flew home one the 25th and was scheduled to rejoin us on July 3rd. Finding himself with A LOT of time off of work.....Rob ended up flying back on the 1st instead and we were able to enjoy all that much more of him. We then drove back on the 5th and made it in less than 12 hours with three kids. I know.......how? Don't ask me. I'm not complaining though. Well....enough of my blabbering.....look at some pictures.

We did get to visit a few friends while we were in Utah. Not nearly enough though. True to form....the kids got sick as soon as we arrived and it took a good week to get over it. Oh well, next time all y'all we missed(to name a few....Celeste, Lacy and Karli).

Cael, Isaac and their cousin Meggie. Cael and Meggie have so much fun together and get into so much trouble together. If only they could get past the hitting, pinching, slapping and crying.

Cooling down in the summer heat. Utah is FAR warmer than Spokane in the summer. We had a bit of an adjustment when we first got there. But alas, we survived.

Rob and I just chillen'. Don't we look like were chillen'? Sometimes we forget the meaning of the word. This picture was taken just after we practiced our ice skating lifts....questions? You will have to contact me later. Anyway..........

Who's son is this? If it is not obvious to you then you must not know Rob well? Here is an example.

Rob, when we were dating and driving past some random mountain range that obviously I didn't know enough about even though I had lived near it my whole life:

"Melanie, what is the elevation of that mountain range?"

Melanie, wondering why the heck it mattered to him: "Rob, I have no idea."

Rob: "I will have to find out."

TWO WEEKS LATER, driving past the same mountain range

Rob: "The elevation is __________." (I cant remember now because I don't retain information that doesn't have ANY meaning in my every day life).

Melanie: WOW!

Now you may have a better understanding of Gabe and why he is fascinated with maps. Moving on..........

The Hogle Zoo. We love the zoo. We did have a bit of a rough start......but only those who were there are privileged to that information and sworn never to reveal it. Let's just say that Rob and I were under a lot of stress at the moment......and.......were are still together. The end.

Independence day fun!!!

Rob and the kids at the balloon launch. No, I was not there. I was running the 5K. The kids got to see the balloons they love and I, not only got in a short workout on a holiday but I got a really cool t-shirt as well. Wa hoo...........hello, family circus.

Misha, Isaac and Meggie playing BUDDHA-MAN with Grandma Harding. What fun.

Tug-o-war fun. Thanks Stacy and Chad for all the thought you put into your get togethers. There is never a dull moment. (I am barely visible; you can see my back, white shirt and black pants and Rob is in th green shirt and backwards hat)

At last........the finale.......fireworks............ and a long drive home in the morning.

Thanks for hanging in there. I know it was a LOOOOOONG post but we did a lot of fun stuff. It was so good to see my family and spend a lot of time with them. I miss you and love you. Do you want to all migrate to Spokane? It's nice here.