Stuck
Not About Lent
Conversations with Josiah
This morning, Josiah asked me if he could please have his cup of orange juice. I answered, “Yes'” and began getting a sippy cup ready for his drink.
Upon seeing the sippy cup, Josiah (whom, I should add, was decked out in a fedora, shoulder pouch, and brandishing a 6 foot long whip) protested loudly, “NO!! I don’t want a sippy cup! Indiana Jones does NOT drink from a sippy cup! He’s a grown-up! He uses a big boy cup!”
Just in case you weren’t aware…
Harry Potter-isms
Spoken quite adamantly by the six year old today because he was feeling exasperated at his three year old brother who had said one thing, and then turned around and did the complete opposite…
“Josiah!! You’re nothing but a hippogriff!!”
Because every scurvy pirate needs a backpack…
to store his pirate booty in.
Aaarrrrrrr, Matey!!
Listening to…
…beautiful music: my 9 year old playing the piano, my 6 year old accompanying her with the guitar, and the both of them plus my two year old all singing “Nothing But the Blood”. Priceless!
Mommy’s Little Helper + Deck Spruce-Up
Just so’s you all know: Josiah has a pretty sweet side to him too. When he’s not making messes and being ornery!! This morning I walked outside and found him doing this:
He was watering all the new little plants I put in last week! No one told him to; but he’s seen me go turn on the garden hose and sprinkle all these tender plants each day, so I guess he figured he’d take care of that chore for me today. What a helpful boy!!
For a bit of history, when we bought the house, this was the place the previous owners let their dogs sleep. It was a real mess, full of dirty hay (for dog bedding??) and looked like this:
Early this year after the deck redo was complete, I finally got down to the business of cleaning out the hay and other debris.
We pulled brick after brick after brick out from underneath the hay.
I had lots of good help.
And some folks who just wanted to play in the dirt, but hey that’s cool too.
After our hard work, it was at least free of junk, and tidy-looking. But since January, it has sat feeling rather lonely and empty.
Until last week: I visited a local nursery and got some advice on what to plant here in hopes that we could keep it alive despite mostly shade and no sprinkler system feeding this area. I wanted as many evergreen perennials as would work so as to minimize effort/expense in the future. Among other things I planted a jasmine vine which I am hoping will happily climb and bloom all over this cute little birdy trellis I painted black (I love my trellis!):
And a Japanese Holly Fern, a Gardenia, Curly Red Coral Bells, and some Purple Shamrock.
I have yet to choose a plant for the corner, where I’d like something that will grow somewhat tall, yet narrow enough that it does not cover the kitchen window and block light from coming in. I definitely want to put something evergreen here. If any of my wonderful, green-thumbed readers have suggestions, please speak up! I need all the gardening help I can get.
Looks like Josiah knows that, and it’s a good thing he’s jumped in to help with the efforts to keep my little plants alive and thriving. Let’s hear it for Mommy’s Little Gardening Helper!
A Picture is Worth….
…so much in this case that I don’t even know that this one needs a caption. But hey, captions are fun. So come on, everyone, give it your best shot.
Brothers
Our neighbors who live behind us bequeathed to us this lovely little rocker that is perfect for our deck. Since it was just their size, the little boys had to try it out right away, and they looked so cute that I grabbed my camera and quickly snapped a couple of pics. Rarely do I take two out of two great shots, especially when wiggly little boys are the subjects, but here they are.
Watchful Puppy
Today Josiah awoke with a bad stomach virus, and spent the day on an air mattress in the living room, alternately getting sick, crying because he felt so miserable, and falling asleep with the exhaustion of it all. We have had several sick wards in the living room already this year, but this was one was a little different, because today, in the middle of it all, was Dixie the pup, who lay near Josiah’s side through much of the day. And who even several times attempted to lie almost on top of Josiah on his air mattress, perhaps in an effort to help him know she really, really wanted to be as close to him as possible, and comfort him in his distress. Sweet doggie.
