Thoughts on Gardening

Lately I've been thinking really hard about putting in a shade garden on the north side of the house. I went to Lowes this evening to see if they had any rhododendrons, but all they had were azealas and mountain laurel (same family, but not exactly what I want). I want to put rhododendrons along the back and put hostas, coleus and other shade plants in front. I'm just tired of looking at ugly empty space over there. Plus with the rhododendrons being evergreens, it will look okay in the winter time too.

I've also been thinking about what I want to do in the back yard now that Brandon has installed a fence to keep the dogs off the patio. A serious container garden would look good and be easy to install, but if I actually plant things in the ground maybe they'll last longer? I don't know...and I guess that's the beautiful thing about gardening - if you try something and you don't like it, then try something different!

Close to Paradise

So, I've been having a good time lately. I've been able to spend a lot of time with Brandon and Colby. I feel like Brandon and I are at a really good place in our marriage and honestly I wouldn't change a thing between us. I've been enjoying Colby - I love his facial expressions, I love the comments he makes sometimes and I love the way he says I love you. His comment of the day yesterday was "That's the deal!" Is it always paradise...definately not...especially when he threw himself on the floor in a full out tantrum this afternoon as soon as we walked through the door, but it's been pretty close.

Carter seems to be growing like crazy lately. He's been moving around a lot more lately which has been making me a tad uncomfortable. I didn't use to have any issues at school, but lately I'll stand up and whince because it doesn't feel great when your child is pushing down or out.

In other news I'm really happy with the way our front flower beds and planters are coming along. The pansies look great with the tulips blooming. The wildflowers are coming up and the butterfly bush looks like it's going to fabulous this year. I planted some lettuce, spinach and peas in three of the planters on the front porch and we started some other veggies inside. I can't wait for Brandon to get the big garden tilled so something other than dandilions can grow in it.

Life is good right now. I'm not sure what's going to happen with foster care in the future. We spoke with our case worker's boss yesterday and we talked a little bit about the future. We're definately open to doing foster care again, but we made it clear we wanted to have Carter and get to know our new family for a while before we do this again. We'll have to be a lot more careful about who we allow into our home and we will never be able to do three kids again. While we were reflecting on our experience, I realized that we had a great time with the two younger girls and not as much fun with Noah...maybe if we do it again it will be ONE baby - that would be ideal :-) But for now, I'm living in the moment and the moment is pretty good :-)

I want spring!

Today I planted some hanging baskets with pansies. I want spring to be here so bad! I don't want any more cold, wind and snow - I want flowers! I want sunshine! I want to go outside wearing my flip-flops!! And I want my skin to not be so dry! I'm kind of antsy to get my vegetables started too, but I'm trying to wait until the beginning of April because I can't plant anything outside until May anyway. In the meantime I hope we'll get some horse manure from Blacksburg to work into the garden and I also hope we'll be putting a picket fence around the patio to keep the dogs off and make a really nice place to entertain.

Brandon has been working on getting the truck running again. He replaced the battery, but now it needs new tires to pass inspection. We had an offer for someone to buy it, but we're hanging on to it for now...how else are we getting manure from Blacksburg? It's not costing us anything except for insurance and upkeep, plus it's a little blast from my past :-) I put many miles on that truck from Blacksburg to Hampton :-)

I wonder...

You know, not having foster kids has it's perks. The house has been cleaner for longer, I get to spend a lot more time with Colby and Brandon, we don't have to run around as much taking them to various appointments and I don't wake up in the mornings to the sound of Ariyana screaming. I can drive out to Walmart at almost any time since Colby is pretty good to go shopping with and I don't have to fight any small children into bedtime or naptime. I can spend time planning our gardents and which vegetables to plant where and when. But sometimes when Colby's engrossed in X-men and I am just sitting around avoiding housecleaning (like now) I miss the Rose kids. I wonder what they're doing, I wonder if Sahara is smiling, I wonder if Ariyana is using her words and if Noah is playing with his Barbies. I wonder what they're future holds and I wish God would just grant me one glimpse of their grown-up-selves so I'll know that everything turns out okay.

In other news, the English teachers pre-ordered their Hunger Games tickets. I'm going to find someone to watch Colby (March 23 if you're interested in watching Colby!) and go out and enjoy myself :-) I heard that it will be in imax so maybe Brandon and I will catch it in Hampton when we go visit my parents for Easter - a trip I'm really looking forward to! I think this movie will be really good and if it's not then it will still be fun to hang with the teachers outside of school!

Randomness...

My parents came for a visit yesterday. I haven't seen them since New Years, so it was good to see them. And of course my mom can't just sit still, she helped me clean up a bit. We focused on the dining room so now the chairs are less grimy and the table is now clean enough to actually use. It has me having thougths of actually inviting people over for dinner.

We're also flirting with the idea of fencing off the patio to make a really nice, usable space. I'll be keeping an eye on the Lowes sales papers to see if I can get some nice fencing and lumber for a good price. It's bound to go on sale with the advent of spring and spring landscaping. Speaking of spring, it's supposed to snow again tomorrow...what's up with this weather. It's almost 70 degrees one day and snowing a week later, grrr.

I get a little bit stronger...

The weather has been really good lately. Colby and I went outside today so that Colby could ride his bike and I could pull weeds in the flower bed. Truth be told, I can't really remember what we used to do before foster kids, but I do know that I'm enjoying talking to Colby and watching his facial expressions. He is quite adorable...not that I didn't know that, but I haven't been able to pay attention as closely to him as I should have lately. Colby's been asking about baby Carter lately. I think he's impatient to have Carter come out into the world. It's pretty hard to explain to a almost four year old that babies have to grow a little more before they come out...Carter has to cook for 11 more weeks!

One thing I've come to realize lately is that I have a lot of people that care about my family and me. It's really helped me get through this week...that and staying busy and enjoying the small things. Maybe this weekend I can clean the house...and have it actually stay clean for a little while! There's a concept :-)