Sunday, July 17, 2011

Garden

















I'll admit it, I was a garden pessimist....some of my most unfond childhood memories are of weeding the garden. Yes, I was a lazy kid..or just uninterested or I didn't see the point. Little did I know that like all of those things you don't appreciate when you're a kid, growing a garden became an important thing for me to do. South Texas with its tropical climate is a little different than Idaho so I had to learn when to grow and how to grow and what to grow. Basically, it is so miserably, blazing hot that not much grows in the middle of summer. You plant end of February or you wait until September. We decided to try container or box gardens (orange fencing is to keep dog out, u can see another box next to it that got planted a couple weeks after that) and planted mostly from seed, except our tomatoes and a few herbs. Well, low and behold, it seems I may have a green thumb after all! I surprised myself by growing quite abundantly: cucumbers, tomatoes, zuchinni, parlsey, oregano, basil, cantaloupe, watermelon, chives, red peppers and I mean abundantly. They grew rampant and beautifully! And they did not stop growing! We had cucumbers and zuchinni for every meal :) We decided to plant pumpkins just recently---not sure if they will grow because it is so hot, but we have an entire box garden full of pumpkin blossoms, so I'll keep you posted. What surprised me the most is how excited and motivated I was to yield something from my semi-hard work and a simple seed---there's some symbolism there, right?



Thursday, July 14, 2011

update on reading list

I decided to do a little update on my summer reading list. It is now mid July and I have offiicially read 11 books on my list, only 3 to go! For some reason, I really gravitate to juvenile fiction award winners....I know, I know I am not 10 years old anymore, but all in all, the books I read from that particular section are by far the best things I read. I think this is why: there is not any graphic language or sex, the writing by and far is simple and beautiful, the subject matters (believe it or not) are deep and profound, and they are quick reads. I also like to read what my kids are reading so I spend quite a bit of time reading juvenile fiction and young adult fiction. From my list, I read 2 beautiful books that are jf: Love, Aubrey and Mockingbird. Love, Aubrey is about a girl who goes to live with her Grandmother after a family tradgedy and learns to sort through her feelings by writing letters to herself. And, Mockingbird is about a young girl who has asperger's and how she deals with her brother's death. Both are beautifully written and poignant. I would recommend either to adults and children 9+. Another on my list I enjoyed was the final book in a trilogy called The Forgotten Locket by Lisa Mangum (incidentally, this book just won an award). True to form (at least in my mind), it was not as good as the other two in the series...but only slightly. There are times it got too descriptive if that makes sense. But great YA fiction, great for mothers and daughters. Same goes for Matched---that I did not know was part of a trilogy! So, a little frustrated to get sucked in and now have to wait for the next.


A few other thoughts about the books I have read thus far:


To Kill A Mockingbird---why hadn't I read this before? Of course groundbreaking and thoughtful, but also hilarious!


Animal Farm---seriously made me think I was back in High School and didn't feel like "analyzing"


The Catcher in the Rye--ugghhh! Kept waiting for this book to do ANYTHING..towards the end I got what it was supposed to be, but sorry folks, not a big fan. Enough bad language to last me a lifetime.


Witch and Wizard--fun read, quick read, kids Chelsea's age would like it and of course, it is a series


Hiding Place--about the holocaust, true story, very insightful and some great thoughts on being happy no matter what your situation


Anthem--aka the Giver, Matched, The City of Ember etc etc...of course it came first.....same genre, same good ideas and thoughts.


And, I shall let you all know how Forever turns out after I read it this weekend. Just released on 7/12 so gotta go pick it up at Sam's. I have high expectations for this one so I hope it doesn't disappoint.


That will leave me with 2 books on the list that I already verified were "in" at my library and then I will have to make a new list!

Monday, June 6, 2011

My Summer Reading List

Oh how I love to read! I cannot tell you how much I love to hold a book in my hand, to feel the pages, to smell them even. I am a traditionalist, no kindle or nook for me, I need to have the book in my hand, I like to use bookmarks. The best thing about the summer is unlimited trips to the library, occasional trips to Barnes and Noble, and uninterrupted time to lounge around on my couch, reading. That is, an attempt at uninterrupted time laying about, reading. I have been writing down titles of books that I have seen at Target or that someone has mentioned to me or that Autumn/Chelsea/Taggart are reading or that I've been waiting ever so patiently for the sequel to be released, or they are classics I just haven't ever read, on little scraps or bits of paper or sticky notes all over my house....and now as I gather them up, (I am sure I will find more) I have an official summer reading list. It is one week into my summer vacation and I have read 3....only 11 to go!

1. Witch and Wizard by James Patterson
2. The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
3. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
4. A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
5. The Middle of Somewhere by JB Cheaney
6. The Forgotten Locket by Lisa Mangum
7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
8. Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
9. Animal Farm by George Orwell
10. Your Handwriting Can Change Your Life by Yimala Rogers
11. Matched by Ally Condie
12. Love, Aubrey by Suzanee Le Fleur
13. Anthem by Ayn Rand
14. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Sunday, May 8, 2011

All We Do...








































All I do is drive Autumn, Chelsea, and Taggart to any and all after school sports practices and games/meets. Our life really does revolve around these activities and most times, they are over-lapping and it takes my own internal franklin planner to organize them....who has what and when and can I be in 2 places at once? But, I can't complain because I love to see my kiddos working hard and enjoying all these sports. I like to see who they are becoming :)










































Friday, March 18, 2011

a little catch-up, holiday style













Check out our December activities:
*Chelsea's first band concert. She is playing flute and loving it!
*Our Ward Christmas Party. Chelsea, as a reluctant Mary. The boy playing Joseph, Angel Claudio, was also not too thrilled. When it came time for them to go to the stable, they sat as far apart as possible :)
*Taggart and our good neighbor friend, Andria were shepherds. They both won the academy awards for their performances, hamming it up the whole time....
*Hidalgo Festival of Lights. Grandma and Grandpa came for the holiday season this year and as you can tell with the jackets, it was actually a little cool (Like maybe in the 50's? haha).
*Gingerbread Houses. I love, love this tradition. It is A LOT of work, but everyone has a great time decorating homemade gingerbread houses with all sorts of delicious, sugary candies.



Sunday, February 13, 2011

Mindless Blogging....

So, I decided to post some of my mindless wanderings.....I am way behind on posts and pictures and as we (the fam and lila mills) were driving home from San Antonio last night, I had a little inner dialog going on. I was lost in my musical ipod world with my eyes closed (no, I was not driving) and I started thinking of all the things I should post on the blog: Chelsea's band concert, Taggart's winter baseball (oops, i didnt take any photos of that), Autumn's basketball pictures, her soccer pictures, Chelsea's basketball pics, Turkey bowl, Christmas....the list goes on and on. So, if you want to see some action shots of Autumn playing basketball or soccer, go to : www.rgvsportsphoto.com and click on mission area, then sharyland north ms (or scroll down to see soccer on home page). As for the other pics, sometime this week, or next, or in the next couple of months, I will possibly post the other pictures. I guess I should hurry or I'll have Taggart and Chelsea's b-days and swimming and Taggart's basketball stacked up with the rest. If you are at all wondering why we were in SA this weekend, it was because we were privileged enough to attend the family sealing of our wonderful friends, Shanna and Brandon Wheeler to their newly adopted children. They adopted a sibling group of 4 children this December and on Sat, they were sealed for time and all eternity. I admit, I was the uncomposed baby, but the tears came freely as they were sealed. What a lucky family all around! One of the great things is their other children were able to be there to witness it also. If you want to see some fantastic pics of this great family, check out my favorite, favorite photographer's blog at www.gerardogarmendia.com/blog. Going to the temple always, always, always makes me feel even greater love for Brice. It is amazing to be sitting there together. He is the best!
As for what I was enjoying on my ipod, I have composed a mini playlist so you can check some of the songs out for yourselves!
When I look to the Sky--Train
Resta Qui---Andrea Bocelli
I Could Not Ask for More--Edwin McCain
Alien--Cary Brothers
Little Wonders--Rob Thomas
The Ballad of You and I--Melee
Marchin On--One Republic
Enough to Let Me Go--Switchfoot
Sort Of--Ingrid Michaelson
Best I Ever Had--Vertical Horizon