Austin the Farmer

When I became interested in planting, Austin did too. His understanding is that you can grow anything with a seed and a little dirt (if only it was that easy). On Mother's Day, we went to dinner with our parents at Lucille's BBQ.  Austin had watermelon with his meal, and he decided that he would like to grow watermelons of his own. He picked the black seeds out of the watermelon and stuck them in his pocket to plant later.  We all laughed because we knew he'd just stick them on the ground and cover them with a little dirt.  Sometime later, he planted his seeds in his nana and papa's patio garden.  What do you know, my parents were surprised to discover that two of the seeds have sprouted and are growing quite well! We have a green thumb in the family after all!  Austin of course gets first dibs on any watermelon they produce.

So now my kid thinks he can grow anything. He's planted apricot seeds in the front yard, and who knows what else in the backyard. If we see a random tree or thing growing in the lawn someday at least we'll know where it came from. Now if we can only get him to realize that not all seeds work the same way. Chris had the following conversation with Austin a few days ago: 

Austin: Dad, what are these? (pointing to the seeds on his hamburger bun)

Dad: Those are sesame seeds.

Austin: Cool! I'm going to plant them in the ground and grow bread!

I think we might have a true farmer in the family. 

My Do-It-Himselfer

I'm married to a hard-working guy who prefers to tackle home improvement projects on his own.  I'm usually ok with this (we'll get to the "usually" part in a second) and for the most part, I'm thankful that I'm married to a really handy guy. If I need a floor put in (even if it's for the second time),  a sprinkler system installed or a wall built, he's right there, boots on,  power tool in hand. It seems that he knows how to do just about anything, and if he doesn't, he'll figure it out. The only thing he's absolutely refused to do at home is deliver any of our children, even though he's quite capable of doing so. My guess is because it didn't require a power tool. 

The thing is, it's not like he enjoys every project that comes along. Painting is probably one of the easiest, no-brainer jobs there is, but Chris absolutely hates it. If he so much as sees paint chips on the counter and me staring at a wall, he goes into silent mode, his eyes glaze over,  and he promptly checks Telestaff to see if any overtime is available. Despite how much it pains him, he still refuses to allow anyone else to do it - not even me. So he'll begrudgingly get out the tools and his radio, crank Jimmy Buffett up as loud as he can (because if he's going to suffer, I am too) and get the job done. Money saved, another job crossed off the list. He's the man!

The best part about Chris's handiness is that it has saved us thousands of dollars over the past few years. The downside is that often times a project can drag on for weeks, months, and even years. Our backyard, AKA "the yard that shall not be named",  has been an ongoing project that was started shortly after we moved in almost four years ago. In his defense, it's a huge yard and turned out be a much bigger labor of love then he anticipated, but he hasn't let it defeat him. He has pressed on and after months of moving and hauling away dirt, building the Great Wall of Bowden, and laying the underground work, it's all finally starting to come together.  Today, after renting the tractor for what must be the 50th time, he leveled and moved the last piles of rock, and now we're just a couple of weeks away from an RV pad and about 6 weeks away from grass.  Yahoo!

Chris and I have had so many disagreements about the yard that shall not be named, but I know that when it's all done, it's going to be so worth the wait. He's going to feel good about all the money we saved as a result of his hard work, and I'm going to be so grateful to have a a green yard that I'll forget how long it took. We'll let the kids run through the sprinklers that their amazing dad put in, I'll relax with a good book under the shade of the patio cover he built, and Chris will stand back, beer in hand and quietly admire all that he accomplished.

Then he'll lace up his boots and ask me what's next on the list. 

Love for a Cool Mom

Austin's class invited all the moms to school this morning for Muffins for Moms day, so I got to hang out with my littlest dude while enjoying muffins, juice and presents made with love! He made me the sweetest card and little wood block with a picture of the two us. I appreciated that he drew me with long hair since it is a dream of mine, and just for fun he drew himself with long hair too, in the style of Willy Wonka. This boy of mine, I love him so.

Austin wrote: My mom is cool and fun. 

I wonder if he'll feel the same a few years from now? I hope so. But just in case, I'm keeping this sweet card forever, so when the day comes that he wants me to drop him off for school a block away, I'll be able to remind him of how much he liked hanging out with me!

Here are a few pics. They aren't the greatest, but blame the lens - it's an old kit lens and it's horrible! I'm hoping to buy myself a more decent one for Mothers Day. After all, a cool mom must have cool glass for her camera!

Singing us a song. I got there just after they started singing, and he was standing there looking bored and forlorn. When he finally saw me, he perked up and got his groove on!

My goodies. See? I'm cool AND fun!

A hand drawn picture of us.

The "hurry up and take the picture all my friends are looking" smile.

His good buddy Keean. Love the powdered donut smile!