Kim 365
I stumbled upon the Ten on Ten photo project a few months ago. The idea is simple: on the tenth day of the month, you take a photo every hour for ten consecutive hours. There’s beauty in the simple, everyday things of life. I’ve been meaning to give it a try for months, but always forget about it until the tenth has already passed me by. So today, I begin! Here’s what we were up to today.
This little man took his first real steps yesterday. Look out world! Nevermind the world, look out Mommy! He is very full of life, and at one year old, that means he is trouble. Cute trouble.
Markus loves to be in charge of the water hose. He aspires to be a personal trainer when he grows up, but I wonder if that might get trumped by fireman. It’s not on his radar, but every time he gets a garden hose in his hands I default to calling him Fireman Fred.
Summer means hot dogs. I know they have nitrites, which I know are not good for me but I don’t know why. I figure all the fresh fruit we eat during the summer balances things out. I will continue believing this because I really do like hot dogs.
I’m working on memorizing more scripture lately, and my method is to do it with my kids. They soak it up so easily, so together we are hiding the perfect word of God in our hearts.
Bailey insisted on painting today. It was too dreadfully hot to send them outside to do it, so I set them up on the kitchen table. My table suffered some damage, but it gained me some time to get some supper prep done.
Latte o’clock.
Kids live here. Sometimes that obvious fact escapes me. I work so hard to keep the house looking somewhat presentable. I like to have a tidy living room at the end of the day – it helps me breathe better. And yet…as I was reminded today, I have 4 children under the age of 7. My husband and I are outnumbered 2:1. Our house is expected to look ‘lived in’. So live in it we shall.
Pizzas for supper. I buy these Greek pitas from Costco because they make awesome pizza crusts. It was a little ridiculous to turn the oven today, given the high temperatures outside, but I since it seems I am hell-bent on burning a hole in the ozone layer and single-handedly destroying the world through global warming, I let my air conditioning chug away and turned the oven on.
Our community group came over tonight. I love these days. I love being part of a Jesus-loving church that is on mission to share the good news of Jesus with others.
I hung out in the backyard with the kids this evening and supervised the water play. The big boys had a blast throwing water at each other, and Deacon was delighted to watch. He threw in a lot of splashing to join in the fun.
There you have it! My first instalment of Ten on Ten.
Behold, summer’s first harvest!
My little square foot garden is humming along, relatively unscathed by the immense rainfall we’ve had in the last few weeks. Yay for raised beds and soil with good drainage! The only thing not growing are my herbs. What is the deal with herbs? Every year I try, and every year I am disappointed. All I can say to all the stupid things I have pinned on Pinterest about how easy it is to grow herbs is… “get lost”. That is all.
Okay I’m done ranting. Back to my beautiful radishes. These guys taste amazing! Probably the spiciest radishes I have ever eaten – store bought ones don’t hold a candle to them! I will probably plant another round of them soon, because they produce so quickly. I think they were 5 weeks from seed to being ready.
We have enjoyed a few strawberries already too. Each time one ripens, I cut it into pieces so that all the kids get a bite. Then they all exclaim, “Mmmmm! It is so healthy! This is the best strawberry I have ever eaten in my whole life! I LOVE healthy food!” I love their zest for life. Keep it up kiddos. And remember how much you love healthy food next time you think about sinking your teeth into a sprinkle donut.
My peas need something to climb soon. My tomatoes need to be staked. Okay, so my negligence in the garden is starting to show a little. I call myself an accidental gardener. Whatever grows in my garden wants to live, because I don’t do any coaxing. Live or die, it’s your choice. But please live…it makes me look good.
Someone had a birthday!
Sweetest little Deacon turned one today. The past year has been such a blessing. What a joy to have this sweet babe in my arms. Words cannot express how much I love being his Mama. I can’t believe it has been a year since his birth. I purposed to savour his babyhood, and I do feel that by the grace of God I am doing so. Thankfully there’s a lot of baby left in him yet. Stay small, Little, stay small!
Family came to celebrate with us, and this is about half of the crowd. Some couldn’t make it, and you were all missed! (I really like the photo shoot going on to the left…nice pose, Cody!)
Check Clay’s blog for an adorable photo of Deacon digging into his cupcake.
Wyatt was very happy to show Deacon how his new toy worked.
Laughing and playing with his Gramma.
An attempt at a family picture…
There we go, that’s better. It only took us about 40 photos to get one this good!
This family of six sure is a lot of fun! Thanks, Deacon, for adding to the joy!
So I sort of fell off the virtual map for a few days. 20 to be exact. I offer no apologies, but thanks to those who checked in to make sure I was alright. Everything is fine, I just needed a break. I needed to sleep more. I needed a little time to refocus. Time to dream. Time to savour some days down to the last drop without getting on my computer to share the last drop with anyone else.
There were also days that I wrestled with a head cold, days I battled migraine headaches. On those days, I was so happy to just go to bed.
I’m back, abbreviated. I don’t plan to be here every day, but I do plan to be here more regularly than I have been for the last 20.
So…hi!
My raised garden bed in the backyard has been replaced by something far better. I’m doing Square Foot Gardening. The basic premise is that you can grow more in less space. My pal, Mel Bartholomew, explains how you can throw out nearly everything you know about traditional row gardening because square foot gardening (hereby known as SFG) is far simpler. Eliminate rows. Eliminate walking paths. Eliminate soil testing and compensating for soil deficiencies. With SFG, you build a raised bed, fill it with “Mel’s Mix” soil (1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite), build a grid for the top, plant, and feast your eyes on your garden growing while all the row gardeners break their backs pulling weeds. It’s a bit of a time investment the first year, which I can attest to, but once the beds are built and soil is in, it’s nearly no work at all.
Clay and I built the boxes a few weeks ago. It was our first building project without any help from either of our dads, and are we ever proud of our accomplishment! They are first class garden boxes, if I do say so myself.
We picked up all the needed soil components last weekend. Big shout out to Peavey Mart – the only place I could track down big bags of vermiculite!
My father-in-law helped me mix the soil on Friday, he built the grid with Clay on Saturday, and today the boys helped me plant! We have one more box to plant tomorrow, and then we’ll finally be done the beginning of this venture!
I know a lot of people are curious to see how it’s going to take shape, so I hope everything goes according to plan and grows like crazy…so I don’t look crazy for doing this hair-brained idea. But it will work. Come on, look at the cover of the book. Mel wouldn’t lead me astray. Who wouldn’t want to garden like him? He looks so happy! And nice!
Big shout out to Wyatt too, who took these photos!
Sleep. It is something I certainly do not get enough of. I feel like every part of my life needs to be reorganized, and I don’t know where to start. Perhaps I should start with getting more sleep.
Our sweet Bailey turned 3 today! From her wispy ponytail, to her dirty face, her love for pretty dresses, and her pudgy arms and hands, I love everything about this girl! I do wish she would scream less, but I do love that she is a determined little woman. I am so blessed to be her mama. In teaching and guiding her, I learn so much about myself. In loving her, I realize so much more about the love God has given me. It is such a high and noble calling to raise this little girl up to be a woman and I pray for grace overflowing as I teach my Bailey to be a fierce and tender lover of Jesus.
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I was saying to Clay that in light of all our photography efforts in the last few years, we sure took some mediocre photos today. But I’m okay with that. I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t need perfect photos. I would rather simply enjoy the day with my kids than spend my time ensuring that I get everything captured perfectly. I want to enjoy the fact that my house is overflowing with loved ones, appreciate all the delightful moments with two eyes, and not spend my day behind a camera trying to remember it all in frame-worthy detail. The most important details are sometimes the ones you can’t capture in a photograph because they’re deep in your heart.
“Didn’t have a camera by my side this time. Hoping I would see the world through both my eyes…
Today I finally overcame trying to fit the world inside a picture frame…”
Thanks, John Mayer.
A very special girl is turning 3 tomorrow!
I spent the afternoon baking cake, and cupcakes, and frosting said cake and cupcakes. After the kids went to bed, I got busy decorating. I’m really not a crazy creative mom, but I do like to delight my kids. They are so thrilled and feel so loved when there are surprises waiting for them in the morning, so the myriad of pink and white ribbons and balloons in the dining room should stir up some excitement.
Does anyone remember the scene from the old Batman movie, when all the world leaders are dehydrated and contained in test tubes, sitting around a boardroom table? Batman and Robin have an elaborate set-up to bring everyone back to life.
“Ready to rehydrate.”
No, hey? It’s just me? I guess I sound a little crazy then.
(Crickets chirp)
Anyway, coconut water is supposed to be incredibly good for you. It’s chock full of minerals and is supposed to be great for rehydrating naturally, like a gatorade without the sugar and weird colours. I tried a different brand and didn’t like it at all, but this stuff is actually really enjoyable!