Apologies and lame excuses to my loyal readers... all two or three of you.

So, I really, really, really had good intentions of blogging more regularly.  It seems like my cup of tea, so to speak.  But, there is this whole pesky life thing that keeps getting in the way.  To placate you, my loyal, gentle readers, here is a brief summary in list form of what you  have missed over the past several weeks.

1. We went on a little vacation to Canada.  Planning and packing for a vacation with a toddler is challenging when the goal is to get there quickly, yet keep everyone in the car happy.  I have to say though, Jasper was a trooper - it is only about 6.5 to 7 hour drive normally, but with a toddler, it was 9 hrs of travel time.  He only complained a little and enjoyed pointing out every truck that we passed or that passed us.  While in Canada, we took him to the see the largest salt mine in North America where both lake and ocean ships are loaded.  Did you know that it is on Lake Huron, under which one of the largest salt deposits is located?  Ryan finally got the shots of a train heading to said salt mine after 4 years of trying.  I just wrangled Jasper and enjoyed the downtime.  We enjoyed a nice meal at our favorite pub, with Jasper.  And, we purchased the most expensive hunk of cheese I'd never imagined buying.  But, it is delicious Irish Whiskey Cheddar and is especially good on Bison burgers.

2. The garden is growing both like a weed and lots of weeds.  'Tis the season for me to be outside and become a dirty, sweaty mess on a regular basis.  The rain in the early season put us behind, but my friend Liza and I were able to get most everything planted finally.  There is likely to be more beans and another round of radishes later on, but the tomatoes, carrots, beets, lettuces, cucumbers, zucchini, etc. are all in.  And, Liza and I were also busy getting ready for the farmers' market.  Our mixes have expanded from just beer breads to cookies, drinks, and marinades. So, we were getting things packaged and trying to stock up so we don't have to make up more mixes every single week.  It is a lot of fun, but takes time to prepare.  So far, the market has been going for about a month now and we are staying busy.  I even had radishes and flowers to sell the last two weeks.  But, between weeding, planting, cleaning the way for new beds, and everything else, I'm just usually to sweaty and tired to sit down and write a blog entry.

3. I'm a lame blogger.  You probably already figured this out by now. But, in my defense, if you know me, you know I can be somewhat of a procrastinator.  There just always seems to be something else I could do... another round of Scrabble with the computer, some laundry, weeds to pull, someone else's blog to read, and so on.   Even as I write this I'm thinking about how I should be doing something else... And, did I mention I started writing this post several hours ago?

Alrighty then. I'm going to go out and pull some weeds.  I hope you enjoyed this brief update.

Teenagers

Boy oh boy.  I remember being a teenager.  It sucked.  Even if it occasionally seemed fun at the time, overall, those are some rough years for a multitude of reasons.  And, yesterday confirmed my suspicions that it still sucks and is still rough.

I was minding my own business doing some yard work (Jasper and his papa were in the house napping, lest you think I had left my wee man unattended).  The school bus for the middle/high school stops in front of our house.  I was in the back yard, but we are on a corner, so I could see the kids getting off the bus.  There are normally about 3 or maybe 4 kids that are dropped off here, but today it was about 12.  So, the bus drives off and they are all standing around. There is some shouting, of which I couldn't quite understand, but I was only half paying attention.  I figured they were just some kids hanging out before they headed off to their respective homes... then I hear a thud, some scuffling, and yelling - the kind that involves egging on a fight.  Uh-oh.  I turn around and look up to see two girls on the ground in the middle of the street wrestling with each other while the other kids stand and look - half cheering, half laughing.  Both of which are horrifying to me under the circumstance. 

So, there are, like I said, about 12 teenagers - the majority of which are larger than me - and most of them were boys.  So, I figured if it didn't break up in a moment or it looked like it was getting brutal, I'd call the police and go over to try to ? - what I didn't know.   Well, it broke up moments later, one girl bleeding (I heard the other one tell her she was bleeding - I didn't see any actual blood).  Two of the regular bus-riding kids started walking off toward their house the other way, and then two boys looked over and saw me watching.  They stepped back over to the remaining kids, and then it seemed to break up.  (I guess that makes me an adult after all.)   The one girl who was fighting - who looked to be about 15 (but, I'm a bad judge of those things these days), walked on the far side of the street with a boy, and the rest of the group came down the side I was on, but in the street.  I didn't acknowledge them, nor them me.  I was watching them though... the girl was smiling and laughing, and acting tough and proud - clearly she was the winner.  And then... I saw the police car coming down the street toward them.  I wondered who called, thinking it might have been the neighbor whose side yard the melee took place in.

I realized that one of the girls fighting was the little girl who lives across the street from me.  She is barely 13; she lost.  Ugh.  Can Jasper just never be a teenager, please? Or at least, can he never be a mean, defiant teenager? 

So, after a bit, the police came down and stopped to ask if I saw anything.  I told him and told him where the girl lived who lost the fight - apparently the other girl wouldn't and was given a nice ride home from another officer.  It was the bus driver who called the police. Good for him/her!  The officer who spoke to me stopped by the little girl's house, but didn't stay long. I was actually surprised she answered the door.
I know that little girl that lives across the street has a few problems, which I won't go into here, but it sure did make me think. I hated high school.  I don't really think there is an amount of money great enough to make me relive those days.  I can't imagine it is any easier now to be a teenager - in fact I'm sure it is much harder. 

I guess the toddler years might not be so bad after all.

Krengel's toddler dictionary

In the interest of amusing myself, I thought I would compile a list of my favorite "Jasperisms."  I know, as he gets older and gets more words, he will fill our ears with all kinds of delightful phrases (insert my snickering here as I think about all the hilarious things my friends' children have uttered).  However, for now, we have mostly single words.  And, lots of them.  But, here are just a few of my personal favorites.  Also, note that I have spelled them as he says them.

REEEEEEEAAAAD (read): Clearly, he is his mother's son.
soutsieee (outside): A favorite word that is usually accompanied by him trying to put a hat on or bringing a jacket to me.
cah (car): This was his first word where we knew he understood what he was saying because he was pointing at a passing car.
cah-cah (truck):  This should not be confused with "ka-ka," which is something entirely different.  No matter how many times we say "truck," he says "cah-cah."  Yet, he says "bus."  Mysterious little brains they have...
'boose (caboose):  Okay, I guess he is his father's child too.  He really loves trains, but loves the cabooses the best.  He goes through all of the train magazines his papa has given him looking for the "'boose."  Of course, half the time (or more) he is pointing the the engines enthusiastically declaring "'boose!" but we can let that slide.
bess you (bless you):  Any sneeze, cough, nose blowing, or loud throat clearing will get you a sweet "bess you" from our boy.  It is seriously cute.
gain (again):  Anything he likes or wants more of, he says "gain."  It is usually when you are tickling him or chasing him or doing something he finds silly or funny when he demands this.  However, it may also follow letting him have a drink of your lemonade at lunch.
Jassus (Jasper):  Yes, it does sound a lot like Jesus, which is amusing in and of itself.  But, it is never said alone.  Apparently, it only comes in a set with mama and papa.  So, he points to each of us and recites our titles:  Mama, Papa, (then turning the finger to himself) Jassus."  He rarely will say it without announcing who we are too, which is very endearing.
moogo (milk):  This one is part of a collection of words ending in K, but is one of my favorites of the group because it seems so silly and random, yet it makes sense.  For some reason, he adds an extra syllable to words that end with K.  So, in addition to "moogo," we also hear "sock-uh," "fork-uh," and the recent addition is "book-o."  Cute and curious.

He has a bevvy of animal sounds too, which I couldn't even begin to try to translate here... it just wouldn't do them justice.  In the meantime, we just continue to chuckle and be amazed at how his brain works.

My blog is pretty dull...

If you didn't think it already, your brain is just being polite.  I realize it is not a terribly exciting blog, but alas, my life is actually rather mundane.  That, however, doesn't translate to bad.  I think my life is quite lovely for the most part.

Now that the doldrums are out in the open, I'll move on to my day.  I planted seeds.  This is very big excitement.  I planted about 50 peat pots of Cipollini onion seeds (I recently learned that onions started from seed bolt much less quickly than those started from sets in case this is of interest to you).  I also planted about 20 peat pots of pink Baby's Breath, and another 25 of Globe Amaranth.  I will get to the Poppies, Lemon Bee Balm, and one other flower whose name is escaping me right now later this afternoon.  I actually dreamed about calloused hands last night.  I think it is just because mine seem to have vanished as a result of slathering lotion on little legs, arms, and cheeks all winter long.  That little boy's skin gets dry!

I will impatiently wait for things to sprout and the nearly 10(!) weeks until we pass the last frost date.  On the bright side, I should have some early bloomers and the onions will be ready in July! 

I'm off to bake some Scones while house is quieted by napping.

Can you feel the Spring?

My seeds came, which is very exciting to me.  I am officially tired of Winter, a season that I don't dislike at all, but this one has been long and wearing on everyone here. Toddlers are like wild animals in a cage some days. They just want to be set free. Anyway, as I was saying, the seeds arrived. It is like a little taste of Spring in a box, looking at the beautiful pictures on the packages, promising great things in the Summer. There are onions, beets, tomatoes, flowers, some herbs, lettuce, cucumbers, snap peas, and more. I love it when such joy and promise can be held in such a small box. Clearly, the UPS man didn't understand my enthusiasm.

At any rate, today I wait for the sun to come out so the boy and I can get in a walk before the next round of snow comes.  I finished up the bulk of a work project yesterday, so I can breathe a sigh of relief and do something a little more fun today.  I am sewing, trying to catch up on the projects that have been put aside for too long.  Two quilts that are very long overdue gifts are nearly done.   And, I stare out the kitchen window at my barren garden beds and dream of the day - not too far off - they will once again be green and growing.

Even the snowy iciness of yesterday didn't feel like that biting cold of Winter. It had that damp feeling that comes just before Spring starts creeping in.  I even have a few bulbs that have dared to push their little green tips up, as if testing the wind.  They'd be wise to take a nap for another week yet! 

No more waxing poetic about the coming of Spring... I have projects to finish!

The problem with blogging and other random thoughts

So, I have started blogs before.  And, every time I have the same problem.  I spend too much time thinking about what I should write about.  So, when I should be falling asleep (and, it is always already too late when I get that point in my day), I start thinking about what I'll write about.  I want it to be interesting and clever and relevant and blah, blah, blah.  But, honestly, I'm interesting on occasion and clever in fits and starts.  Consistency is a tough one.  And, now that I have that out of the way, I can get back to the topic of the day... which I thought of in the wee hours and has now totally left my brain.  Feh.

Now I am back to wondering what to write about.  Oh, wait!  Now I remember....

So, we like to refer to Ryan as being "incident prone" - not exactly accidents, but more incidents.  And, unfortunately I am nearly certain that Jasper has inherited that trait from his father.  This poor kid needs to work on his prat fall skills so he can land better during any of the numerous tumbles he takes every day.  On Monday I was I the shower when I heard the crying start... and Jasper doesn't cry often - not like that.  So, a moment later, in he comes in his papa's arms, a blood-covered paper towel at his mouth.  Big tears rolled down his cheeks as he sniveled.  Tripping over his own feet, he did a face plant on the kitchen floor and took a nice chunk out of his top lip.  So, eventually he stopped looking like he would fall apart and went back to playing with trucks, fat lip and all.  The follow-up to that performance was last night at bedtime.  Heading to the stairs, he again tripped over his own feet and went face first into the edge of one of the (thankfully) carpeted stairs.  Lots of crying and tears ensued as did a large welt across his eyebrow. On the plus side, there was no blood.  And, those are just the falls with visible injuries.  (Insert his mama's audible sighing here.)

Today we decided to go for a walk.... and as it has been a good solid 6 weeks since we have been able to get out, I had forgotten how literal kids become as they gain more language skills.  So, taking a walk to Jasper meant to him that he was going to get to walk, so when I put him in the stroller, he wasn't very happy about it and let me know.  I hope no one heard him... you would have thought I was trying to set him on fire, not buckle him into a stroller!  So, now I must remember we are going for a stroll...

In other exciting news, the empty house next door to us seems to finally be sold (the sign is gone, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed it isn't just going to Sheriff sale for the 2nd time).  It has been empty since October of 2009 and I hope whoever has purchased it is A) a good neighbor and B) fixes the darn place up!  I don't want to live next door to "those" neighbors again... we did at our last house and, little did we know when we bought this house, we did here too.  I'd like some nice neighbors, who have a little pride in ownership.  Maybe some folks who understand that neighbors work, have kids, try to respect each other, don't steal produce out of other people's gardens... you know, stuff like that.  Okay, that is all I will say about that until I see some life forms over there that aren't marsupials.

weather and words

Jasper is desperate to go outside.  He runs to the door and points, trying to figure out how to work the doorknob, repeating "soutside."  Eventually he gets distracted (his attention span is rather short at 17 months, after all), but always looks a little sad when I tell him it is too cold or too icy to go out.  Thankfully that trend seems to be breaking for a few days.  I think we might even be able to walk to the post office to today - walking in the street of course, but outside nonetheless.

The birds are singing, the sun is mostly shining, and that is enough incentive for me to go outside.  I can even see the soggy, brown grass in places.  I never thought that would be so exciting, but the winter has been long cooped up with a toddler.

I placed a plant and seed order from the heirloom seed exchange (http://www.seedsavers.com/) the other day... it felt good to be preparing for spring and growing things and the smell of warming earth.  I love just looking at their catalog and reading the descriptions.  Jasper and I read it a few times...   Now I just need to sit down and make a plan on where everything is going to go and where the new beds need to be created.  I have a lot of plans for the yard again this year, including planting two friut trees - pears!

Aside from dreaming of spring, I spend my days amazed at how quickly Jasper's vocabulary seems to be expanding.  Some things he says are very clear, other words make no sense unless you have the advantage of the parental dictionary.  And, for some reason, he puts another sound/syllable after the "K" sound.  So, it is "sock-uh"  (which sounds amusingly like "sucker," and we try not to laugh).  And, "wak-uh" is fork.  On the other hand, he says "bess you" very clearly when someone sneezes, and "bye-bye, see you" when leaving or when someone leaves.  It seems like there are new words he is trying out every day.  And, what he says next is always an exciting surpise.

Well, naptime is over, so I'll be off to see what he says next.