The Fruits (and Vegetables) of Our Labor

Last year Maddy desperately wanted to grow a garden - vegetable or flower, she didn't care - and we never got around to it. This year we actually did it! We picked a sunny spot in our weed patch (well, all of our weed patches are sunny), my dad built two boxes, Khoi filled them with soil, and Maddy and I sowed the seeds and plants.



We planted snow peas, carrots, cucumbers, pumpkins, watermelons, green and red bell peppers, jalapenos and three kinds of tomatoes. The first thing to grow (and die) were our snow peas. Maddy was absolutely thrilled when she saw the tiny little sprouts. Soon thereafter we were pulling those pods off and dipping them in ranch dressing. I wish I had a picture of her face when she tried them. She wanted so badly to like them, but I think fresh raw veggies for a girl like Maddy, a girl who thus far had subsisted on not much more than "chicken" nuggets and Easy Mac, are just a bit much. She tried twice to eat the tomatoes, but they're also too much for her. I think I'll be the only one actually eating from the garden. The tomatoes are really starting to come in now. The pumpkin plant is taking over our back yard and it has only one tiny, quarter-sized pumpkin just starting to turn a little bit orange, a pea-sized watermelon or two, adorable miniature bell peppers, the hint of a jalapeno or two, yellow pear tomatoes and red cherry tomatoes, and one perfect zucchini. Behold, the harvest!



Modest, isn't it? Maddy and I turned that zucchini into a delicious chocolate "bread." It was better than any chocolate cake!

I didn't expect much if anything to come of this garden. We didn't do our homework, we just jumped in head first. But since we've had such luck this year, next year we're going big!

First Day of First Grade

I thought that on Maddy's first day of school I would run right home from dropping my baby girl off to her first official day of ALL DAY school and blog about it, but here I am more than two weeks later and just barely getting around to it. On a side note, I'd like to say that if time continues to kick my arse like this, I'll be retired before I know it and I'll finally get around to doing all the things I need to do (like mailing my grandma the pictures and dried peaches I was supposed to mail her back in June...).

We started Maddy's first day of first grade the same way we started her first day of preschool and kindergarten - with a made-from-scratch breakfast of her choice. This year it was French toast. (I know it looks like she doesn't like it, but she did - bad timing on the picture.)

Then the traditional photograph of her standing on the stairs with her cute little backpack (wait, that thing is HUGE!).





Then, the moment I'd been dreading daily since the last day of kindergarten: the drop off. I mustered up my courage, put on my aren't-we-totally-excited-to-start-first-grade! face, and off we went. We didn't know what the protocol was and I had intended to get there early to find out, but in true Kim fashion I had the start time wrong and when I thought I was heading out 10 minutes early, I was really headed out just on time.



We got to school with no clue of where to go, but found the class lists posted on the front doors of the school. And then we found Mr. Tuckett's classroom without any trouble. And I did fine, at least until she walked into the classroom. I saw her walk in somewhat hesitantly and look at the big desks, but then she saw someone she knew and ran around to the other side of the room. She didn't even look back at me! I got out of there fast, before I had a complete meltdown. It was strangely difficult to go home to a house without her. I don't think I've ever taken a day off of work and not spent it with her. I tried to be a big girl, but I just watched the clock all day, waiting for it to be pick-up time. She did great. Of course she did. Her favorite part of the day was lunch. She had friends from kindergarten in her class. She came home in one piece, and with homework, and she was still excited about first grade. What was I even worried about? Now I think I'll be okay until I pick her up from the last day of sixth grade, and then I'll cry and start worrying all over again!

10 years late...

It only took about a thousand funny things that Maddy has said or done that I thought would be totally blogworthy to get me to finally start a blog. For those of you who may choose to follow it, it won't require much of a commitment since I'll likely only post anything once a month. Maybe even only quarterly. If you know me, you know how unorganized I am, and you know what a circus my family life is. Welcome to it!