Gardening Failure

Yes, I am sad to say my so called gardening attempt failed! With prices going up on all the produce we like to buy I thought "why not just plant our own?" I planted chocolate peppers (it produced one and was sooo yummy), banana peppers and tomatoes. I fertilized, I watered, I made sure they had sun. We were so excited as we thought we would have homemade salsa all summer long. Sigh, it did not happen. I would take a picture of the plants now but it is just too sad! They are shriveled up and very brown. I don't know if I planted too late in the season and it was too much sun (June was great here but July has had record breaking temps - 114, etc).
My in laws have a garden and their garden has overproduced. We luckily have been fortunate enough to pick from theirs (yellow squash cooked in olive oil - yummy!) Little tired of the zucchini but I should not complain as it is free.
I am going to have to do some research on how to garden better. I have friends that do box gardening and it seems to work well. I have a perfect spot picked out for the next time I try. It is right next to our citrus trees (which thankfully I have not killed off!) We just have to clear out lots of rocks and make the soil better. However, I think that is going to wait until we are not having record breaking temps and we can actually clear it out without everyone passing out in the process!!! Hmm, that would make for an interesting story - LOL:) Another side note, the amazing tomato planters that hang and your tomatoes grow upside down - did not work!!! I believe those will either be headed for the trash or donated (probably cannot find anyone who would want them). Wish me luck for a better garden in the fall - the beauty of Arizona is that we have a growing season in the fall and winter here:)

Not wanting to poop

Ok, the title is NOT about me. Just wanted to clear that up!

My 4 year old has been potty trained for 2 years now. She has suddenly decided that she does not want to poop. She said it hurts too much and is not going to do it. I have tried reasoning with her that since we eat food, that we all have to poop. Well, that totally backfired! For 4 days she would not eat food, only drink fluids. She told me "now I won't have to poop anymore".

My next step was to limit her milk intake and try apple juice. We kept telling her now it would be ok. Can I just say that my laundry has increased and she is still having problems! We have resorted to making her sit on the potty and try and try. She either waits too long and has an accident or screams the whole time she is on the toilet. I am at the point of wanting to pull my hair out and scream (which I know will not make it any better).

What do I do? She starts back to preschool in a few weeks. I have told her she will have to wear a diaper and she does not want that. She tells me she is a big girl. I will have to say I find it interesting (and at times exhausting) the different trials that my children put me through. Who would have thought this would be the trial for now:)

Kit Allen

Just in case you were wondering what the new thing I added to the side of my blog, it is an artwork store (hope I am getting this right!) created by an old friend Kit Allen. We grew up together during our teen years and his parents were my seminary teachers throughout all of my early morning seminary. Awesome teachers!!
Kit is an art teacher and has created a line called Kit's Kids. From what he has said, some of them were made into greeting cards that were in certain Target test stores. He also writes children's books and you can find him at Amazon.com and type in his name to bring up the books.
It is so fun to reconnect with old friends (via facebook) and see what fun things they have been up to. So give his site a look and see what wonderful creations he has drawn and books he has written.

I have a 14 year old?!

I cannot believe I have a 14 year old! He was born July 9, 1995 and was our first baby. In my mind I still think of him as the baby even though he is taller than me, wears bigger shoes than me (and I have big feet!), sounds like a man with his deep voice that has magically changed, and is now officially a teacher at church. It just seems like yesterday we were at the hospital and excitedly waiting the birth. My water broke with him and no contractions! I was induced and 10 hours later (with a lovely epidural) he was born. He had peach fuzz on his head and 2 dimples:) My heart just melted when I finally was able to see him. He was born at 9:30 pm and I stayed up all night at the hospital playing with him.

He has been a great big brother and a great example to his siblings. There are times they fight and times he can drive me nutty (oh the teenage years) but he is such fun too. He took photography this past year at junior high and loved it. The eggs and goggles was an assignment he had (not too sure what it was). We also have other really cool pictures that he took and developed in the darkroom. One of my favorites that is hanging on the wall is a candid shot of the younger kids jumping on the trampoline. He caught them mid jump and with huge smiles on their faces. He is my go to person for any picture that needs to be taken as his turn out better than mine. He is on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout (in about a year) and faithfully attends his scout meetings. The best part about having a 14 year old is no more babysitters! Now Rich and I can go out on a date without coordinating a babysitter. I am sure this will change as he becomes older and has more of a social life, but for now we are taking advantage of the babysitting.
I can't wait to see what the future holds for him. Someone told me that 14 is a hard year for teens and I am hoping that is not true:) He also is officially a freshman at school even though they still attend the jr high here. This is also the year that he can start seminary. I had early morning back in VA so I am a little jealous that he gets to sleep in and have it as a part of his school day.
Happy 14th birthday, Brandon!!!

July 4th

As soon as I put the pictures into the computer, I will post them. We had a great 4th of July. I had to work so we kept it pretty low key. We usually have all of Rich's family over, swim, bbq, etc. Since I had to work we decided to keep it just our family. I finally made it home about 2 pm and went out and watched the family swim. Took lots of pictures, just need to put them in the computer:)
We decided it was to darn hot outside to grill (it was 108 degrees) so we went to In and Out Burger. They have the best burgers and homemade french fries!! It was actually pretty crowded - I was surprised. We then came home and turned on the tv to our local pbs station. I grew up in Virginia and was lucky enough to see the fireworks at our nation's capitol a few times. I found out a few years ago that pbs broadcasts the fireworks and the concerts before. We sat in our air conditioned house and enjoyed Barry Manilow, Aretha Franklin, Sesame Street characters (they are celebrating 40 years of being on tv!) and various bands from the military. We then got to watch the most fantastic fireworks - my kids loved it and did not miss being outside at all. The way they filmed it made you feel like you were sitting right underneath the fireworks.
Brandon was invited to go Swing dancing with one of his friends and older sister. He did not know what it was but decided to give it a try. He came home and said it was lots of fun and they gave lessons that night too. How was your 4th of July?