Smelling the Roses and Other Small Adventures

I know that I don't blog as regularly as I used to - before we had the baby. Sometimes life (and dark chocolate) call your name and you have to answer that call. Lately that's what's been happening here at the 'beehive'. We've been "smelling the flowers"... quite literally.

I have this amazing pink rosebush. The gnats are after it - and the flowers aren't perfect - but the smell is enough to intoxicate me. It sets the world right. Just one sniff.



Blogging is hard to do when your non-sleeping baby (13 year old big brother calls him the "undead" because he sometimes stays up until past 11pm and refuses to go to sleep) is learning to WALK (he's so proud of himself).

That means said baby is MOBILE. And said 'Pacman' baby eats every microscopic (and not so microscopic) thing he sees. I caught him shoving a plastic coke bottle cap down his throat the other day - thankfully. That could have turned ugly. Praise the Lord that he hasn't eaten anything seriously hazardous to his health so far. He's got some real busy guardian angels, that one.



When he started walking he did this leg hike thing. He would crawl across the room with one leg up. It was so cute. I wish I had gotten a video of it. We were thinking the stage would last longer than it did - and POOF, he's a biped all of the sudden.



When we aren't busy chasing the baby, we have been spending quite a lot of time outside. The weather is wonderful in Texas in spring. Once the heat of summer gets here, we'll spend more time indoors. But right now, we've been tending our little above bed gardens and enjoying the flocks of birds that come to our feeders.

Do you know the name of the yellow and black bird up there? I'd venture to guess that it is a "yellow-headed blackbird"... but I'm really not certain. We have red-wing blackbirds, but this is a first for the handsome dude in the photo.

Another wonderful thing we have discovered outdoors are ladybug eggs... and this pretty pastel fellow:



We love bugs.



We love trees, too.

So we planted ANOTHER one. This one is a mulberry tree that Nana and Pawpaw grew for us from a mulberry that fell off of their tree. It sprung up in their yard where their old mulberry tree was that Nana cut down. It grew so fast and so big that it broke her fence and made her neighbor mad... so she cut it down. We were all really sad because it was the biggest and prettiest tree she had... but we're really happy to have this tiny piece of it to grow in our own yard.



And what's neat? We planted it on ARBOR DAY.

That makes me sound really organized, doesn't it? Planting a tree on a tree-planting holiday? I did do it on purpose, but I am not usually that punctual. Nor planned. Even though I desperately try.

We're behind with school this year because of losing our groove so miserably after having the baby last March. Yes, it took us almost a year to find our groove. Isn't that crazy? So our 2009-2010 school year that started in JULY of 2009 is ending in SEPTEMBER of 2010. That's YEAR-ROUND+ school for you. By necessity, not choice.



You do what you gotta do.

Lately we've been catching up with all the assignments we missed while taking time to play outdoors and do co-op with friends. OK, we also took a day off last week to go grocery shopping.

I wait until we have nothing to eat before going grocery shopping. Because I hate to shop. I called my husband from the store to ask if he needed anything and he almost fainted (even though we had been foodless for days and eating strange canned foods and cereal). "YOU went grocery shopping?" He said in an incredulous voice. He knew I was desperate.



So not only are we well fed now (the above photo was taco soup), but we have lots of school messes to clean up.



Which means the school lists are getting checked off. And that makes mama happy.



And so does my clean refrigerator. Which means that MY list is getting checked off as well.

My 13 year old doesn't get happy about school lists getting checked off or grocery shopping. He doesn't even like Taco Soup (he's my spice wimp). He does, however, love his cat.



Which has nothing to do with this post.

The end.