Squash are something that I've never grown in the yard before, although we eat lots of them through the fall and winter. Last summer, I tried growing some at my parents' house, but the deer got to them approximately the day after I looked at them and said, "I think I'll pick these the next time we visit."We have about a bazillion teeny-tiny squash on the way (the largest one so far is about the size of my fist) and I couldn't be more excited. Phillip loves how fuzzy the leaves and blossoms are, and so do I.
This is usually the scene around here: Phillip is a blur, and Thomas just quietly looks at him with fascination.I spent most of a day at home with the boys today, while Adam is doing a portrait session with a couple. I am not used to this, and every time it happens, my respect for moms who look after children primarily or entirely by themselves grows exponentially. It's the little things, like being able to pass a baby to someone while you pee, or pause to drink a glass of water that I take for granted much of the time. This certainly isn't to say that that's all that Adam does - holy smokes, quite the contrary. He is an amazing dad to our boys and is ridiculously patient and gentle with them all of the time and he does so much stuff to make things go smoothly, it's amazing. We've settled into our two-parent routines for meals, bath and bedtimes, and without having a new one-person routine in place, things feel a bit chaotic when I'm on my own.
So, at the end of the day I'm feeling two things:
1) I can't help but feel guilty for letting Phillip watch a video (we don't have a TV, so he is occasionally allowed to watch videos on the computer) while Thomas is sleeping, just so I can have a few minutes to whip the kitchen into enough order to get supper ready. I feel as though I should be having him 'help' me, or have designed a beautiful and clever activity for him to do, to keep him occupied. Maybe this would be a more reasonable aspiration when he's a bit older - right now, I know that no one would get anything accomplished, and I would end up frustrated. So I think I'm over it.
2) Triumphant! Both boys were sound asleep by 8:00, which is a little bit late, but fantastic. At 7:30 I didn't think that there was any chance whatsoever of that happening, so the day was a success.
I hope that you've had a lovely weekend. Yikes! It's August! Well, happy August.
I think you are amazing! We have issues with TV daily, esp now that I am expecting #4. I moved our tiny tv from our bedroom back into the livingroom and it is a constant fight to the point where I have thought many times about making it go away again. But there is a season for everything and right now, the extra babysitter that only gets library videos (cuz we don't have cable) seems the least of the evils that the olders can do while I bake the younger and attempt to make food that doesn't make me want to vomit. ;)
ReplyDeleteYour squash look amazing! They are about the same stage as mine. Zucchini are coming along faster, but not by much. It will still be weeks before we can harvest. Hopefully the summer-like weather will hold out that long. In this climate, who knows?
I caught up on your blog yesterday. Sat here for an hour, and read everything back to T's birth story. Beautiful BTW. And congratulations! You were having a baby right when I discovered we were getting another. Crazy things... these baby making days we are in.
Be gentle with yourself. You are amazing, and your children are beautiful and lucky to have you. Hours of Thomas the Train or not. ;)
Blessings,
Val
Vine borers get many of our squashes...I hope yours will continue to do well!
ReplyDeleteThe boys are too cute! It is wonderful that Adam is such a great, hands-on dad; I know that it really helps because dh is that kind of dad too. When the boys were baby/little, one set of our parents were on the east coast, and the other on the west, so we never had babysitters or help, and if my hubby wasn't a helpful sort, I would never have agreed to have kids. :}
As for some tv, we've all done that. Sometimes it is the most necessary thing and a little bit in moderation never harmed anyone.
I love squash! Now you have me excited for Fall and all of the great Fall veggies! And I have to agree with the comments above- Your boys are absolutely adorable!
ReplyDeleteVal - thank you so much! It's nice to hear from you. :) And a huge congratulations on your impending little one. I hope that everything goes beautifully for you.
ReplyDeleteTeresa - Vine borers, eh? I didn't know exactly what those are, so I googled them- they don't look familiar at all, so I'm going to live in the hope that we don't have them here. :)
Anne-Marie - thank you! If I would be sure that they would survive, I would send you one. They are definitely one of my favourite fall veggies, and I love watching them grow all summer. :)