Tuesday, May 17, 2022

We Did a Thing

Spring colors

 We aren't celebrating Mother's Day until this Sunday. The thought is that this allows all our Gherkin mom's to have their private day with their kiddos, and allows our lovely in law children to be able to celebrate with their Moms.  However, I did give Bre and Arielle a gift certificate for a pedicure for Mother's Day. It took a couple of weeks but we scheduled the outing for this afternoon. I dropped the girls off at BreZaak's and picked up Bre and Jojo. Arielle lives next door and Cory was home from work.  We stopped for drinks and headed to the salon. 

Ah, the relaxation. Time to connect...and OH...those massage chairs! LOL   This was good.  I've not gone for a pedicure with friends, or daughters, since Misawa, Japan. I left Japan 9 1/2 years ago. I plan to work this into the budget and schedule more often. 


Jojo was not sure at all about this lady messing with Mommies feet. 

 In the end he decided it was o.k. and enjoyed chilling out with Mom. 

My earliest memories of pedicures are from Bislig, Philippines with Gracie Potes. It was a big deal in Japan and Korea as well. I can't seem to recreate the Japanese Onsen (bath house) quite yet, but this I can do. It is a really nice shop and we had a good time. They only have 4 chairs so I am going to HAVE to go again when Carrie and Krista book their outing. After 9 years my feet can use the extra pampering. 

Spring = Bike Rides, Picnic, Chicken Coop and Seeds

 Shew! A  multi-post day! 

Back at home the girls asked if they could go for a bike ride. We agreed. They packed a picnic lunch while we got the bikes down from the garage ceiling. Michael also checked tires. This was the first ride of the season.  I'm proud of them for taking photos! Yes, of course, Allie has, and wears, a helmet. She must have whipped it off before the photo. 

Stacia and Allie📷by Stacia

The river is beautiful. I laughed when I saw where they'd ended up. Michael and I walked, sat and talked in the same spot during our respite hours yesterday. 

📷by Allie

📷by Allie

May I just say a ukulele on a picnic after a bike ride is brilliant! 
📷by Stacia

📷by Stacia

Grandpa has been sleeping a lot the past few days. We saw his doctor yesterday and they are checking his iron levels. They suspect we'll go in for iron infusions. Today he began complaining of nausea too and slept 90% of the day. 

While he slept, Michael worked in the chicken yard and coop. I love a clean coop.  The hens responded with five eggs. LOL 

I took advantage of the hours to plant seeds. This is an inside job  - so Michael could be outside. I planted 535 new seeds. I filled the grow cart and moved a couple of trays out to the greenhouse. I'm hoping they'll be warm enough to germinate. If not, I'll move them inside????

I covered them with plastic domes

The starts I'd moved to the greenhouse are thriving. It's time to up-plant quite a few of them. That will be the job for the next couple of days.  I mentioned while I drove the girls over to BreZaak's that I hate gardening. WHAT? 

Allie said she was sure I loved it. I told her I like a bit of food stability. I don't really like gardening.  I spent most of the afternoon and this evening (while planting  another 100 seeds) asking myself if I really dislike gardening? What DO I enjoy about gardening? I LOVE watching things grow. I love sitting in a garden with a drink. I love watching sprinklers water a garden. I love an excuse to be outside for long hours in the summer, rather than doing housework.  I do not like weeding, planting for hours at a time, weeding, hauling manure....but maybe I do love a lot of aspects of gardening. It sounds like I love to watch a garden more than I love all the hard work...but then the hard work is therapy. Many a prayer has been spoken in my garden. Many an idea has been wrestled through and situation surrendered in the garden. I think I may love gardening after all.  I'm still thinking. 
The melons are finally germinating. 

Kabocha squash

Beans are looking good

Delicata squash

I have not planted even one zucchini! Stacia informed me today she LIKES zucchini. Maybe I'll plant ONE...just one. I do not need to supply our church, the Russian church and the neighbors with zucchini. I do know it will grow well here and I'm not sure about the Delicata and Kabocha. 

Michael and I spent some time discussing the merits of leveling vs. terracing the wildly sloping garden spot. I think we're going with terracing as he told me we'd have to start all over to level the area...and it would result in bringing a bunch of hard packed dirt to the surface as well....

Maybe I like gardening because it is a never-ending source of conversation and it's always changing....always something new to discover. 

(Maybe this should have been two posts). 

Boy Baachan (You know - like Boy Mom)

Tuesday mornings mean.....picking up a "surprise" for Arielle and dropping by to play with the boys while she goes to work at her church.  Benny had EXCITING NEWS today....he has a new bicycle helmet and Cory took the training wheels off his bike. Of COURSE we had to finish breakfast and go for a walk/bike ride. 


This boy can RIDE. He managed gravel, pavement and grass. As we walked I remembered a little neighborhood "park" with pavement, a basketball hoop and grass. We headed over there so Benny could ride to his heart's content and I didn't have to worry about traffic. 

This park is down an alley way and is bordered by backyards of houses. 

I loved watching the boys play ball together....Benny and I played HORSE...hopefully the first of many fun outings. 

Benny made quite a few baskets. I quit counting at 5. 

Danny was NOT going to be outdone and figured out a way to make his own baskets. 

Bubbles! Simple delights. 
Check out their expressions

We continued our walk down a new to me road when we left the playground. We walked/rode up a big hill and found ourselves at the "Hippo park." I THOUGHT we were going to stop and play but it became quickly apparent Benny had a different plan. 

"Watch, Baachan, I can ride down this hill." 

"Benny, I don't think that's a good idea." 

"I can do it..." and he was off. 

I gave chase...trying to catch him before he reached the steep decline....and then Danny began crying. I thought he was upset by how fast the stroller was going. He wasn't. He'd slid out of the stroller. I picked him up, strapped him back in, and took off running with the stroller down the decline. 

"Benny, pedal backwards." 

"Benny, stop before you reach the street." 

We don't say, "Be careful," we give helpful instructions.  I must admit, parenting 5 boys, "be careful" became a fall back. We have learned to think of the steps we want them to take rather than telling them to be careful - which gives them a sense of danger but no clear-cut idea of how to deal with it.  Later, talking the event over with Arielle she said it is ok to yell, "Stop." 

Um...yeah that was the word I was looking for. 

Benny was excited about his accomplishment and thought he'd do it again. 

"No, Benny. Baachan doesn't want to do that again." 

"I didn't hurt my privates!" 

This Baachan was perplexed.  I told him we were going to play at THIS park and we were not going to go back to the hippo park or ride down the hill again. He agreed. 

Danny appreciated the tamer pace of THIS park over the mad dash down the hill. 


Back at home we decided to cuddle on the couch and watch some cavorting pirates on Disney. I had hoped Danny would fall asleep. Arielle got home before he could fall asleep. 

I knew Arielle would be fine with the boys and I going for a ride/ walk. I think we'll keep doing that now that the weather is nice. We all loved it. I shared about the mad dash down the hill, losing Danny, and Benny's perplexing comment.  I knew she'd laugh - and she did. Arielle shared he'd had a bad wreck a couple of days ago and HAD hurt his privates. Evidently, all activity is now to be judged by weather it hurts and if it doesn't, it's safe.  ::snort:: 

I do miss having a houseful of little boys...these two haven't started throwing bricks into trees yet...