...and then there were 12.

so i have been feeling a sense of triumph lately with my plants. i have never had much of a green thumb, as a matter of fact i could kill about any plant you put in front of me. but at the end of my pregnancy we bought a tiny tiny aloe plant. it was about 3" tall. it was more of a cute joke than a serious gardening endeavor. but over the past two years, my has that thing grown. it's now about 2 feet tall and recently blossomed. (i am not going to lie, i didn't actually know that aloe blossomed until this happened.)

so with the internal gloat of this aloe success, paired with the other small success of not killing any other plants recently i decided it was about time to venture into edible gardening. deep down inside i would love to have this huge lush garden of fruits and veggies to fest on. so i bought a tomato plant. i decided on one that was already a full grown plant and had a few tomatoes on it, just to see if i could keep it alive. starting from a seed seemed a little too advanced just yet. so for the past few weeks i have meticulously cared for this plant. i didn't realize just how hard it was to keep a healthy tomato plant. there are so many factors that i didn't expect. but despite all the challenges i would say that i am doing pretty good. the plant started with three tomatoes, then i had 16. one morning i went out to check on the plant, and low and behold after counting and recounting and recounting again, there were only 15. my plant must have fallen prey to that damn possum that lives in our back yard. i grieved for a moment for the fallen tomato, but quickly recovered. and everything was looking great until yesterday.

after a beautiful afternoon of tending to my "garden" and playing outside with the family, we had a 3 tomato tragedy. and this time it was my own clumsy fault. that's right i accidentally broke 3 tomatoes right off the plant. i almost cried. i am keeping them in the kitchen window sill to see if they will ripen anymore so that they don't go to waste. if not i guess we will be having some fried green tomatoes soon.

but for now, we are down to 12.

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. irish fest! still can't believe that i got to see paddy noonan and he remembers my great grandmother! paddy is an irish entertainer who also does guided summer bus tours of ireland. my great grandmother went summer after summer for longer than i can remember, and her last tour she brought me with her. it was so nostalgic seeing him again, and just being at the festival. grandma would have loved it. what a great F.F.D.

2. fining out angela & james got engaged. wish they lived closer so we could do an engagement shoot.

3. the arrival of baby kaleb.

4. the 90 minute shirt. even though it took me a whole lot longer my first try making them.

5. making clothes without patterns.

6. my recent obsession with grooveshark. if you don't know what it is, check it out.

7. chocolate chip cookie dough pop tarts. they are evil and delicious.

8. harvesting veggies at the pioneer garden. i applied for their volunteer program so hopefully this will become a regular event for me and the boy.

9. tonights cold salmon and raw veggie pizza.

10. this weeks trip to the "apple store" (that's what the boy calls it....it's just the produce stand though). ash had so much fun there this last visit. he asks every day if we can go there. he likes to help me carry the basket and pick out what he wants to eat. i also think that he's really into the mariachi music that is always playing there. oh that reminds me that i want to check out the band mariachi el bronx on grooveshark.

am i sylvia plath?

my grandmother recently commented that a picture of me resembled sylvia plath. at first i thought it was rude. then after reading a little about her, i am kinda obsessed. i think it's weird that she died on my birthday.

"Even amidst fierce flames the golden lotus can be planted."

erin trumble photography: hogrebe maternity

chris and kelly have been close friends of me and the hubs for quite some time now. i was so delighted to have the honor of capturing this baby bump. can't wait for kaleb to get here!

erin trumble photography: sr portraits

just finished up some recent shots with my kid sister, paige. well i guess not such a kid anymore considering that these are her senior portraits. haha

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. the new computer! woo hoo! we have finally made the old mac switch. after months of trying to convince the hubs that mac was the way to go. we have both been what we are calling "mac book pro-ed". we've gotta the perma-jones on for this computer.

2. my new diana mini. i got this cutie pie little 35 mm for my birthday from the ever so thoughtful mary.

3. endless bike rides. really the theme of the past month. the family bike rides have been awesome with this perfect sfl beach weather.

4. the bald speedo wearing podiatrist that saved me on the beach. i got a mega splinter the other day at the beach right in the ball of my foot. after many painful and failed attempts at trying to remove it ourselves, i hobbled to the lifeguard station. they just rolled their eyes at me when i asked if they could help. then that old man on the beach called me over and yoinked that thing right out....like it was his job.

5. kale chips. these things really are good. got this recipe from my friend angela. her man has a soy allergy so she's forever whipping up delicious alternatives for them to enjoy. she has countless amazing recipes. she should share more. maybe a quest spot here?????

6.tuesdayswithjohnny. just participated in my first tuesday with johnny. this clever blogger adds captions to readers submitted pictures. his wit along with the random photos make for some pretty good reading! check it out!

7. words with friends.

8. imovie. my new favorite toy.

9. family fun time at the palm beach zoo.

10. finding the drive and motivation to push myself into blogging more regularly.

joys of parenting: poop mittens

this morning my sweet little boy let us sleep in until 8 o'clock, which was greatly appreciated since he usually is ready to start his day at 6:30. Well technically he was awake before 8, but he was playing so quietly in his room that the hubs and i decided to just let him be and enjoy just a few more minutes of snuggle time.

after a few minutes of snuggling, starting the coffee, and letting the dog out i decided it was time to get that little monkey and start our day.

upon opening ash's bedroom door i was first taken aback by the giant mess that he made. there were toys, books, diapers, and wipes strewn about his room.

as i made my way into the giant mess it hit me like a brick in the face, a really stinky brick in the face. POOP!

now i am not talking about a little dirty diaper here. i am talking about the overwhelming smell of poop.

as i got further into his room he jumped out of bed to show me the cause of stink. let's start with his hands. my son was wearing poop mittens. there was poop under his nails, in between his fingers, and clear up to his wrists. in sheer panic i raced ash to the bathroom and quickly de-pooped his hands. i scrubbed them and then covered them in hand sanitizer. let me just interject here that i am not usually the squeamish one in the family when in comes to bodily excrement. but i was totally freaked out by this whole situation.

after sanitizing the child, he pointed out to me that there was a pile of poop hiding out next to his book shelf. now i don't pride myself of my detective skills, but i just can't wrap my head around how all of this happened!

i figured the pile of poop wasn't going anywhere, so i decided to tackle the source of the issue. ash's butt was next on the cleaning list.

by this point the dog and the hubs had joined us in the poop cave. all the commotion was drawing a crowd. but it was a much needed extra pair of hands. plus the hubs super sensitive gag reflex provided an extra source of entertainment. as if all the inappropriate poop jokes were not enough. as we started discussing the literal "shit everywhere", we found more. poop smears on the door, on the drum set, oh and check out the pile over there......where did it go?

yeah that's right the poop pile was gone. and so was the dog.

moral of the story. shit happens. and sometimes the dog looks guilty. gross.

needless to say, i spent the following hours avoiding the dog.