I Never Promised You a Rose Garden...

Things are blooming around here again!

 

I've said before that one of the things I enjoy about living here is that the changing of the seasons is so apparent. When I grew up in the Bay Area of California, there wasn't so much of a difference between seasons. Spring-Summer-Fall-Winter kind of all blended into one. But here.....

 

 

It's pretty obvious!!

 

And I am a sucker for flowers.

That white one is an azalea ... it has kind of a trailing habit, as it grows underneath a rhododendron. This year, it put on its best springtime show ever. I'm loving it!

 

I had not even finished planting the annual flowers I'd bought, when Grandpa showed up in our driveway with his pickup bed full of petunias:

 

Talk about a "flower bed"!!

 

Did I mention the truck was FULL??

 

Some of these, we sent back home with Grandpa. But the majority of them -- we've planted.

Yes.

That is a lot of flowers.

 

A couple of pots wasn't going to do it....

 

 

I love the purple-and-gold combination that we put in the backyard pots this year. I suppose I'm gearing up a little early for an upcoming graduation open house -- school colors, you know. ;-)

 

Emma likes them because we put snapdragons in them. It's not a flower I usually put in pots, but I knew that she's familiar with them, and would enjoy them. Grandma taught her how to open the "dragon's" mouth and let it snap shut --- so Emma's hooked!!

 

 

But all those flowers meant I would need help. I planted some myself (about 60 or so), but I enlisted some younger flower-planters to assist with the majority of them.

 

It was sometime in the last year --- the date escapes me now -- that Todd had a tree service come in and remove the big walnut tree that grew outside our kitchen deck. (I think he was tired of waging an un-ending war against walnuts on the ground, and baby walnut trees volunteering themselves extensively.) So, the big tree is gone, and the stump was ground up and also removed.

 

Now we have a fair-sized area where it had been, that needs a landscape plan. Still working on the permanent version of that. But for now, a whole bunch of little annual flowers will fill it up rather nicely!

 

I never promised you a rose garden..... but petunias work wonders!!

 

This is the view from the kitchen deck. The bench is our own trash-to-treasure addition from a couple years back. The stumps came from another tree we had removed, and the slab is an old fireplace hearth that came from one of the store's fireplace-replacement jobs. Voila! Garden bench!

 

So, along with the flowers, we also added in some patio pavers for the walk-up, and the round stepping stones are ones that we've had for several years, just waiting for the right home. Emma thinks it's great fun to go leaping through the planting bed, from stone to stone.

 

Since taking this picture, the girls have added a few more flowers, including some yellow marigolds that really set off the pinks and purples that are there. And I think we'll put out some mulch (we've got some ready to go), as well.  And ... to set my mind at ease about losing a fantastic shade tree, Todd has replaced it with a new one: a red oak, which is just to the left of the camera frame. He's just a little guy now, but in time, he'll grow up and be better situated than the walnut tree was, for sitting under it on hot afternoons. (And maybe we're trading walnuts for acorns?? Ha!!)

 

Sure loving the way the yard at the Haven is shaping up these days. It's looking better than it ever has since we've been here!! Now, if we can get past these on-and-off rainy days, and settle into some gorgeous summer weather, we'll be set!!



 



P.S. Maybe gardening isn't really your thing. It's kind of a big deal to me, because I don't remember my childhood home as ever having flowers blooming outdoors. Sure, some of the shrubs and trees in our tiny suburban yard would get little blooms on them, but there were never beds of pretty flowers around. In fact, that yard would've had to be classified as more of an untouched, "naturalized zone." Which made it ideal for forts and treehouses and tiny plastic farm animals & army guys in the dirt -- but not so much of a restful, tended garden spot ... something I kind of wished for as I got old enough to outgrow the tree-fort stage.

Screamin' Busy Days -- May 2013

 

I am loving the fact that this is a 3-day weekend. Because I can sure use the break!!

 

Here's some updates on what's been happening around here during the last 3 weeks or so. Well, it's mostly just pictures.

 

Ok, and some commentary. Because apparently, I can't let a photo go without saying something about it. 

Here we go......

 

 

So, the high school softball season finished for good when we played at Districts. Alyssa pitched well, although not a lot, just one of the three games we played. Her game was against the more difficult opponent.

 

 

It was the last time I would see the two girls doing their high-five routine:

 

 

Alyssa played 1st Base for the other two games. You can't see it, but during the final game, she didn't even get to wear her own jersey number --- a button had popped off the shirt, so she ended up wearing a spare one.

 

 

And Darcie was at catcher, as usual. In fact, rounding out the season, Darcie caught for every game of the season, except one. That one game was when she and Alys had to leave early to go perform in the band concert. A girl can only do so much. Darcie has really owned that position on the team; the only alternate catcher is a senior, so next year they'll have to find someone who can step up and back up Darcie.

 

 

We ended up losing out at Districts, which ended the season for our school. And even though both of our girls are "in it to win it" and play all-out in softball, ... when it ended, they were not among those that were crying over it.

 

So --- we'll just move on to summer ball. Which will start in June. It will be kind of a relief.

Here's to moving on!!

 

Mother's Day:

 

And then the final Band Concert. Boy, you can sure tell that it's the end of the school year! Everything seems to happen "for the last time".

 

This concert was outdoors at the local college.

They recognize the seniors -- so we got "the wave" when her name was called:

 

 

... and a moment of singing:

 

As a tradition, the band director asks each senior what they will be doing after high school. A few said, "work", some are going to the local state college, several going away to school, and a few of the young men will be serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

 

I think it's great that these young men are forthright and excited about their mission plans. Alyssa's plans are to work as a CNA, and then start her track at BYU-Idaho in January.

 

 

 Last time my girls will sit side by side:

 

 

 The band director is also leaving his teaching position, so it was a sad moment when these girls got up to wish him well and thank him for his tireless work heading up our music department. He will be missed!

 

 Sometime in all of this, there were a few really hot days. I don't remember which days -- they all run together in my head!!  So, Emma got to run through the sprinklers....

 

 

 

... and we got the garden planted...

 

 

The only old boots Emma has are snow boots. So yes.... that's what she was wearing them in the garden!

 

(Darcie got creative with depth-of-field on the camera)

 

 

And before we turned in the softball uniforms, I had to grab a few more photos of the girls. You may have seen some on Facebook. These are some others. And it was a good opportunity to practice my camera skills, as well as editing.

 

Oh, how I love these girls!!

 

 

 

 

 

Prom. 2013 Edition

 

Catching up where I've fallen behind on postings, brings us to....

 

Prom.

 

Darcie & Alyssa both were prom-goers this year, and as the mother, I probably should have anticipated that happening. However, their dates kind of delayed the "asking" moments, and since these two went on a trip to Disneyland (did I mention that??) two weeks before The Dance, we found ourselves scrambling for dresses for them.

 

I am so glad that we have modesty standards through our Church, that help me as a parent to guide my girls through these wild teenage years. What that means for prom dresses, is that our girls don't wear sleeveless, spaghetti-strap, strapless, halter, or one-shoulder gowns. And though they might have chosen a short dress instead of a long one, the short dresses are not mini-dresses, either, and long dresses don't have slits up the thigh.

 

So yes, their prom dresses have sleeves on them, and they're beautiful. You don't have to look like you're selling your body to have a gorgeous dress and a fun time at a high school prom. Personally, I do have one other little hangup -- which is that I prefer dresses that have the sleeves integrated into the design of the dress. Sure, you can "add sleeves" onto a strapless gown, but they can look like they were glued on as an afterthought. I like the dresses that have sleeves from the start. That's a personal preference, and my girls have kind of followed in my lead on this one.

 

Todd and I both feel strongly that people do judge you based on how you look -- no matter how much someone might say that they don't care what people think, or that's not the message that they're sending. What you wear tells a strong story about who you are, and we want to make sure our girls are telling the right story.

 

So, with shopping opportunities in our town being, ahh..... less than desirable, we had to go elsewhere. For us this year, that meant ordering dresses from the Internet. It feels a bit scary to be *that* close to our event date, and be waiting for dresses to arrive and praying that they will fit, AND....... in our particular case: that they will be long enough.

 

I have to hand it to our Internet sources: they came through with flying colors. Darcie's turquoise dress came from Totallymodest.com. The dress was in stock, they shipped from southern Utah, to us in northern Idaho, and the dress left on a Friday and arrived the following Monday. I was impressed!

 

Alyssa chose a black dress that was not in stock at Margene's Bridal in Boise, Idaho. (It wasn't at their other location either.) But, they were amazing to have it shipped from supplier in southern California to the Boise store, and they turned it on the same day to ship it to us..... and it was ordered on Monday and arrived here on Friday. The heart-pumping catch to all of this, was that the dance was on Saturday: so the dress arrived the day before Prom. It was a huge blessing that it FIT!!!

 

Both of these stores did fantastic for us, and I would recommend them to anyone. Please visit them, because their customer service is outstanding!

 

Ok. You want to see pictures, don't you.

But, of course!!

 

Here we go!.....

(Plus a few different ones, for those of you who've already seen some of these on Facebook.)

 

 

That's the whole group that they went with. I had to laugh at what one of the girls said as they were getting ready at our house. (This was before they met up with the couple in red.) She said, "We're a bruise. We're all in black and blue!" Good thing the red couple arrived to break things up a bit!

 

Pretty girls!!

 

 

Love my beautiful girls!!

 

So, Alyssa's date is a terrific young man that she has known since Joy School (preschool). He's also one of the most intelligent people -- of any age -- that I've met. It should have been no surprise that his creative prom-question came in a code, which had to be deciphered through some algebraic equations and a series of hints!!!

 

Yes, really! Alyssa receive his flowers/chocolate and code on the eve of leaving for Disneyland, so she texted me her coded answer to send back to him, while she was on the road. Yes, life is THAT busy. 

 

I am also glad to say that the kids went in a group -- which was one of our parental requirements for the evening. I think they really have a much better time when they have a group around them, and we find it's also safer for them. So here's Darcie, with one of their friends, getting the giggles before the pose:

 

 

Darcie's date was on the Disneyland Trip, so he popped the Prom Question while they were going through, "It's A Small World". (Darcie knew it was coming, too, so it wasn't a big surprise.)

 

The girls asked me to make their corsages again. It's a bloody task, but somehow I managed:

 

They also had a Young Women leader do their nails.... acrylics are a prom first for us. It does make for some interesting softball playing, when you suddenly have long nails with square tips on them. A few days after Prom, Alyssa gave up and trimmed back the acrylic nails so she could pitch. A girl's gotta do what's necessary! Darcie also ended up popping off the nails, but not before she got her fingers jammed in a steal-attempt tagout at home plate. Ahhh, the fun of femininity!

 

So, the day before Prom, Grandpa and Grandma wanted to come over to see the girls in their dresses. We had a few moments of modeling the dresses for them. So glad my girls aren't camera-shy:

 

Fun, fun, fun. I should have included here a picture of Emma -- who also dressed up in her Cinderella dress that evening. Too cute!

Genius Idea: Midnight Breakfast

So, I was talking about Prom at a softball game, with one of the parents, when they leaned over to me and said, "You know, Prom Night is the biggest night ever when girls lose their virginity." I told her I wasn't worried about it. [Internet sources say that it's about 27%. I bet that varies with the part of the country you're in.]

And it's not something I worry about. Firstly, because I know my daughters. I know where they stand on things, and what they stand for, and what they won't stand for. (Somebody right now is thinking, "Yeah, you *think*  you know, but you don't really know." Well, actually, yes. Yes I do.) I also know their dates -- I know one better than the other, but I know them. But above all, I also knew exactly what my daughters would be doing AFTER the Prom. Which is what really counts.

In the past, I've told Alyssa (the only one who could date before this school year) that she could/should invite her friends her to our house after the dance to play games/watch a movie/have snacks. And she's taken me up on that offer.

This time I told the girls to invite their friends over, and we'd do a full-on BREAKFAST at midnight or 1am-- whatever time it was. Plus games. There is an underlying strategy here.  For one thing, I like knowing where my kids are, and if they're here, then I know. I also would like them to feel comfortable having a group of friends over -- a feeling that I did not have as a teenager. I want their friends to think of our home as a fun place to be. I don't know if that's really what they think, but I like to delude myself.

I also FIRMLY believe that kids want to do stuff with their friends, AND...... if we as adults or parents or church leaders or communities do not provide something fun for them, then they will go out and find something on their own. And what that is may not necessarily be either good, or safe.  I think that it's is especially true on times like: Prom Night, Halloween, New Years, Last Day of School, Spring Breaks, etc.

Besides. Who could turn down the lure of BACON, right???

We gave the kids their choice on menus, offering stuffed French toast, loaded Belgian waffles (ice cream, strawberries, syrups, whipping cream), or a Train Wreck  -- which is adopted from camping and scouting days. You mix hash browns, eggs, sausage, onion, peppers, bacon, cheese -- everything you've got -- all together. It's pretty good. (The kids dump ketchup all over it.... whatever.)

They actually didn't have a big preference, but any options had to include bacon. Alyssa's date rarely eats bacon because his mom won't cook bacon indoors, .... so it was kind of a treat for him! And everybody wanted it. We ended up cooking the Train Wreck and Belgian waffles, and ....... Bacon!

And yes -- we were up pretty late that night. But it was totally worth it. I wish I'd grabbed pictures, but I think they were already at their photo limit. They changed out of their formal clothes, ate, played games, and wound down their evening. Some had to leave early because of curfews, which is fine. I was glad to do it (with PLENTY of help from Todd. He's the Waffle-Making Master)..... and I would do it again in a heartbeat. NO question!!