Growing, Growing, Growing...Hopefully

 For Mother's Day, Stephen and Will gave me some Topsy Turvys, you know those things you grow tomatoes upside-down in? I've wanted some for ages and they finally got me some. This past Saturday we went to a nursery to hunt down some plant sprouts and hopefully we came home with some super hearty plants.

Now I am a horrible gardener, I have killed everything I previously tried to grow. I'm not sure where this black thumb tendency came from, my dad is an exceptional gardener. He can grow anything, I think that gene may have skipped me :). It is something I want to change, however. We've had our plants for almost a week and none of them are dead!

The boys got me two Topsy Turvys that also grow herbs, each planter has two tomato plants growing out the bottom and a few on the lowest "portals." 

We are also growing thyme, basil, peppermint, and rosemary in the Topsy Turvy planters. I'm hoping to get some strawberry plants for some of the empty "ports".

In two other hanging planters, we decided to grow dill and cilantro.

  I hear cilantro grows like crazy and I'm excited to see how far it has already grown since we planted them on Saturday. You see that little gnome friend? His name is Jack, he keeps water in his head in case I forget to water my cilantro plant. 

 I have only used dried dill thus far but I hear fresh dill is SO much better so I thought I try to grow some. They seem to be growing quickly too. This little gnome friend is named Jill, she also protects my plants against neglect.

I want to take pictures every week so that I can see the differences

So here it is, week one of my plants' lives. Here's to hoping that they are all alive next week!

Alice

 Today was the funeral of a friend of mine in our ward in Wymount.  Alice was a wife, a mother, and an amazing woman. She passed away last week due to complications from childbirth. She gave birth to her third child, her first girl, on two Wednesdays ago and by the next Tuesday, she had passed away. It hit our little community hard, especially us mothers. You see one of the perks of living with the cinder-block is an amazing quad in the middle of all our apartments with a grassy area and a playground.  Everyday of good weather brings all the mothers out of their too small apartments, into the quad to watch their children play. Our little community of mothers sits outside watching our kids play and we chat, complain, swap cooking and cleaning tips and laugh. Many of these days saw Alice out with her two boys, Charlie and Edward. She often brought a book with her but would end up not reading much because the rest of us would bug her too much. I loved to watch her play with her boys and the joy I would see on her face as they brought things to show her and to ask her questions. She was also an amazing pianist. I loved to listen to her play. She studied in Europe and was revered as one of the best pianist in the world, and she was only 33.

Her death has hit me rather hard, partially because she was friend, so full of life, and so young, but also because of those she left behind. I cannot fathom being a single parent and the grief her husband and children are feeling. I was so amazed at her husband’s composure when he spoke about his sweet wife at her funeral. I knew he was so sad but I think he wanted to be strong for their boys.

Her death has also reminded me how grateful I am for the Savior and eternal families. You see, in our church, we believe that when husbands and wives are sealed together, they are together forever, not just for this earthly life. I know that Alice and Kirt, her husband, will be together again and their family will be reunited in the spirit world. I also know that the Savior not only suffered for our sins in Gethsemane but also all our pain and suffering as well. I may not truly understand what sadness Kirt is feeling but I know that the Savior does. I also know that no matter how frustrated or sad or depressed or sick I am, the Savior knows how I feel and I truly take comfort in that.

I hope I can make the impact in peoples’ lives the way Alice did. I know that Alice’s spirit will continue to make an impact on people as well. I know that she has made an impact in my life.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today has been an amazing, low-key day. My boys made me breakfast, blackberry-blueberry bread pudding with blackberry-blueberry syrup and turkey bacon. It was so tasty, definitely a keeper!

 Then came the best part, I got to take a nap! Stephen took Will outside and I slept and slept and then slept some more! It was GLORIOUS!

We ended that day by going to my uncle Glen's for dinner with my older brother, Ammon, who is in town on work for the weekend. It was great to spend time with family and I didn't have to cook or do any dishes :). Tomorrow night, Stephen is going to make steak and potatoes for my Mother's Day dinner, that way Mother's Day will last longer.

I am so grateful for for my boys!

I am also so grateful for my mommy who taught me how to be a mom and made me the person that I am. I love you so so much Mommy!

Will's Room Makeover

3 weeks ago I had hernia surgery. The doctor told me that I couldn't lift anything more then 20 pounds for two weeks to a month after the surgery and since Will is currently 30 lbs we thought it would be a good time to change him from a crib to a toddler bed. We also took down the changing table and moved all my craft supplies to our storage closet so Will would have a closet of his own.

 I made these curtains out of a shower curtain. All I did was cut the shower curtain down the middle and sew the seams. Funnily enough, it's hanging on a shower curtain rod with shower curtain hooks. Because of our cinder-block walls, I have to get creative.

 View from the door. Doesn't his teeny weeny toddler bed look so cute!

 We put Will's book shelf in his closet and put his rocking chair next to the closet because we love to sit and read stories.

 Will got a work bench with some fun "tools" for Christmas. It used to live in our living room and I am glad to say it now resides in Will's room along with all his other toys.

Will first night in his "big boy bed"! He's such a crazy sleeper!