TreasuresInTerraCotta

One of the unexpected delights of mommy-hood is discovering Favorites I never knew I had. I love books that say "The End."

I sometimes have unusual ways to select children's books. I often just sit in front of an alphabetical section at the library and pick books until our bag is full. Recently we had books by Stuart J. Murphy, Linda Newbery, Jean Marzollo, Nicholas Oldland, Dean Morrissey and Patrick McDonnell. Today at the library I wandered around a bit more chasing my 17 month so my selection was a bit more varied. But Spring must have been filling my mind because when I got home I realized I picked books with bindings in the same color family. Isn't that fresh and pretty: How do you choose books?

Our garden is still surviving. We water it every day. The dogs have stopped digging. We have baby tomatoes and peppers. We haven't harvested anything yet, but the cilantro looks beautiful! Maybe we should make salsa!

We celebrated Pi Day yesterday (3.14). My dad's a math teacher and my husband's an engineer, I couldn't help myself. We ended up having an new combination of folks at our house which made it all fun and crazy. I guess that's what you get with a politician and a heavy equipment operator and a bartender, a couple golfers and a couple stay-at-home moms and five kids under 5. A group who, with their different experiences, could pound out a crossword pretty quickly. Which is exactly what we did! Isn't it fun when you add new people to your normal mix and it's a good fit. People who help themselves to drinks and help with any-and-every kid and tease like brothers. We had chicken and beans and caulaflower with cheese sauce. And we had pie! Three, to be exact. A sweet and fresh strawberry pie, beautiful to look at and to eat. A chocolate pie that was so rich and yummy that you know it's home made. And an apple pie that could have come from a bakery, but d...

Calvin has played three seasons of soccer. We enjoy this inexpensive, non-competitive league for his age and he seems to enjoy it overall. Who can complain when an active boy gets an extra 1-2 hours of running a week? What I would rather complain about is all the "extra" stuff. The first two seasons we purchased pictures and trophies. One set of pictures turned out ok, but honestly, I have better pictures of him and his team mates from my own camera. And here are our trophies. The first one is like a paperweight. He loved it. He called it (and still sometimes calls it) a Champion! The second seasons trophy is much cooler! It has a pose-able action figure on top. What 4 year old wouldn't love that! But don't look too closely or you might see a type-o. Oh, it's not an obscure little type-o, like misspelling our last name or getting the team name wrong. The year is incorrect! REALLY incorrect! Can you tell me who wouldn't have noticed that error? ...

I am trying to say, "Yes!" more often. Like when Calvin wants to go real bowling or ride his bike on our street or stir the brownies or wants me to play Wii with him or go to the gymnastics gym or play in the snow. But nothing about saying Yes is easy for me. I hesitate because of the mess or the effort. I get bogged down by the details or logistics. I fret about making lunches and getting water bottles. I dread getting somewhere and not having what we need...the right clothes or a snack or, heaven forbid, a diaper. So, with great triumph I say: I took my kids to play in the snow today! A Big outing if ever there was one. After much preparation and one turn-around to get the sled we forgot, we left the warm and sunny valley to play in the cool and sunny mountains! Every bit of effort was worth it. Look at the king of the mountain! He loved it and didn't hesitate to slide down the hills, taste the snow, throw a snowball, use a sled, grab fistfulls of snow with his ...

I have been surprisingly unsuccessful at growing a garden. Perhaps it's the soil or my plant selections. Maybe it's the 100+ degree days that start around May and don't end until September. Perhaps it is my frustration over the fact that the ants and birds eat more tomatoes than we do most years. Or, more likely, maybe it's just that I get bored. Never-the-less, around this time of year I have a desire to plant something. In an effort to increase my success I chose two magazine articles describing everything from soil amendment to plant selection. (As you might know, I get blinded and incapacitated when I have too many options, so a single plan with detailed instructions works for me.) I used Better Homes and Gardens April 2009 article "Grow what you really eat." This article highlighted a garden in a 4'x8' raised bed and included three options, an Italian Garden, a Salsa Garden or a Salad Garden. I also used Sunset, March 2008 article "You...