as martha stewart as i get

I learned how to decorate these cookies at a R.S. Super Saturday a few years ago, and I was asked to teach a class on it this month for our ward's R.S. How-To group. (I don't have many skills I can teach a How-to group how to; this is probably the only one.) Anyway, I had to take a picture to email with the invite, so I thought I'd share. This is another one of those skills that I've acquired that takes lots of time/work/energy but isn't always appreciated by its recipients (most of whom have been kids). But it's so darn fun!

10 green thumbs (we hope)

This week we finished a monumental project - a backyard garden. I have been bugging DH for several springs to help me put one in, and this year, he gave in. No really, we decided TOGETHER that it would be a good family project.

Daddy and the kids worked hard on digging out the grass for three 4' x 4' boxes and we all helped to build the boxes with landscaping timbers. Dad, being the carpenter at heart that he is, insisted on very square corners and level sides (Mom even leveled one of the boxes!), and as you can see, they look great! The boys were good workers. They did their jobs - carrying sod, digging Texas clay out of the boxes, hammering stakes, handing Dad tools/screws/rebar/lumber, squirting Liquid Nails - without (much) complaining, and handled themselves reasonably well in Home Depot while Mom shopped for seeds and plants. Even Miss Bee helped with the digging and also filled in the space around each box with soil when the boxes were finished. I am pretty proud of those kids.

We planted (and hopefully will harvest) watermelon, cantaloupe, butternut squash, tomatoes (cherry and Roma), rosemary, Italian parsley, basil, cilantro, sweet red peppers, green beans and sweet corn. Check back periodically to see if our thumbs are still green!

(I know one of the pictures is sideways; I'm still figuring out how to rotate it.)

contents of my head, vol. 3

I just drove back from the pharmacy. Something horrible has happened. I was listening to the radio, and I heard Huey Lewis & the News' "Power of Love"...on the oldies station. I can't be that old.

april fool

Yesterday, we had a little April Fool's Day celebration. Normally I don't really go to much trouble for holidays - even Christmas is a little low-key around here, compared to other Texas-sized celebrations. But this was too cute to resist. Yes, it involves food - however did you guess???

I know I have both sung praises to and cursed the name of Family Fun magazine; this is a praise. They have several ideas for April Fool's Day pranks each year, and this year we tried "Chicken Not-Pie." The recipe is here. Basically, it's a "pie" made with vanilla pudding and various candies cut or shaped to look like carrots, peas, bits of chicken, etc. Not hard at all to make, but sort of frustrating to have to buy a whole bag of a particular kind of candy just to use a few pieces. Buying from the bulk candy aisle is cheaper (money- and calorie-wise, since if you buy the whole bag of candy, *someone* has to eat all the pieces that don't go into the pie). This gave me an excuse to visit a vintage candy store in our city's historic downtown area, which has dozens of jars of all kinds of candy sold by the quarter pound. I used green apple Now & Laters for the peas, orange and lemon Starbursts for the carrots and corn, and Squirrel Nut Zippers for the chicken. And I only had to buy a few pieces! I made enough pies for the kids (the results were just too sickening-sweet for their parents' palates) and Flip was pretty much the only one who ate some, but this really didn't bother me. Maybe it was because I got to have my fun trying it out, and I wasn't out that much money. It was enough of a celebration for our family, and just like Christmas, the ratio of the time spent in preparation to the time the kids spent enjoying the results was typically out of proportion, but it wasn't the end of the world. What'll we tackle next April 1st? Maybe a larger-scale prank, food-involved or not! Thanks for reading!

sticks and . . . sticks

What is the deal with kids - namely boys - and sticks?

The other day, I happened past Stuntman's room and caught this scene: my 10-year-old boy, with an armful of sticks (yes, in the house!), reaching under his bed for - amazingly - more sticks. He then proceeded to hand the sticks through his open window (which I noticed had been freed of its screen) to a friend standing outside in the flowerbeds. "Why," I asked as calmly as possible, "do you have sticks under your bed?" Well, he was only keeping them there because when the pile of sticks was outside, the kid down the street had taken some of the sticks and put them in his own pile, and apparently, this just cannot happen. I pondered the concept of "stick police" for a moment before telling him to return the sticks to the outdoors - through the door, please. He did, but since then, I have seen that pile of sticks in various neighbor kids' front yards. I guess they're saving them for something. Or maybe, by changing their storage place, any stick thieves' plans will be thwarted.

This morning, as I was returning from a run, I noticed another array of sticks littering the yard: one walking stick, made at cub scout camp two summers ago from a broom handle, a few more sticks from the traveling stick pile, and three rulers. Upon closer examination, I realized that the rulers used to be our yardstick, but due to some unfortunate accident, have been reduced to rulers, none of which even measures 12 inches. (They had to be disposed of.) What is this fascination with sticks? Is it a boy thing? Any ideas? Any other stick-hoarders (or parents of them) out there?

pianogal trivia (in response to a tag)

10 Years Ago...

• Had a 4-month-old (2-month adjusted age) preemie at home
• Said preemie was attached to a heart rate/breathing monitor that sent me into panic mode whenever it beeped
• Lived in a 2B/2BA apartment kitty-cornered from the site of multiple drive-by shootings

5 Things on my To-Do list today...

• Volunteer library duty at boys' school
• Easter party at Miss Bee's school
• Guitar lesson
• Get through homework time without whining (me or the kids)
• Stake R.S. Auxiliary training meeting

Snacks I enjoy

• Guacamole and tortilla chips
• Bowl of cereal
• Spoonful of PB dipped in chocolate chips
• Almonds

Things I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire

• Pay off house/student loans
• Give husband money to start up a business (probably a bike shop)
• College fund for kids
• Donate to Make-A-Wish/St. Jude's/Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation
• Go on a cruise to Alaska

3 of my bad habits

• Procrastination
• Showing frustration a little too easily
• Eating bowlfuls of guacamole with tortilla chips

Jobs I've had

• Medical records help in family practice
• Piano/flute teacher
• Mystery shopper
• Waitress
• Office manager at chiropractor's office

5 Things people don't know about me

• I once vowed never to use the word "y'all" but have found it sneaking into my vocabulary
• I mentally edit everything I see for grammar and content (NERD!! you say)
• I know *everything* (according to my 8-year-old)
• I secretly dream of sitting around campfires and playing songs on my guitar (with people present)
• I thought "MMMBop" was kind of catchy

more humble pie, please; thank you

Okay, I just launched the previous tirade and had a "whoops" moment within an hour after clicking "publish." Yesterday, Flip and I miscommunicated about how he was supposed to get home. Both boys rode with a friend to school so I could be on time to a dentist appointment, and I thought they understood that I'd still pick them up. Well, Stuntman did. I got a call while waiting in the carpool line from the school office, asking if Flip was supposed to walk home with the aforementioned friend, because he seemed to think so. He was in a foul mood when I picked him up from carpool, thinking he'd missed out on playing with a friend. No big deal, but DH kindly reminded me that he is only 8, and I can't expect an 8-year-old to automatically understand everything I say. So, reader, I apologize for ranting about teachers not understanding their audiences, because I apparently am the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. Okay, I feel a little better.

Grrrrrr.....