How does your garden grow?

We've had pretty mild weather this last week or so. We have really been enjoying it and as it turns out, so has the garden!

Marie has QUITE the little green thumb. She helps pull weeds out of the garden and out of the landscaping. She is actually fairly good at knowing what is a weed and what is not. The other day, she got a big kick out of it when a baby bunny hopped out from under some irises we were working around. It even stayed put long enough for her to take a picture. (I think it was scared to death!)


Almost every day, we go outside to see what we can pick out of the garden to bring in. We've had a couple of instances of vegetables being picked before their prime, but Marie is catching on to the fact that we need to wait until the peas, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, and peppers grow BIG before we pick them. She does seem to be getting a little impatient with the tomatoes that are just not turning red fast enough. It doesn't take long before she gets tired of picking things herself and is then quite happy just holding the bucket.


She also loves to take "her" shovel out to the garden to "check the dirt." She'll dig a little bit (between the rows, thankfully) and let me know if the garden needs to be watered. This is actually pretty helpful. :)

Her FAVORITE outdoor task is helping to water the flowers. I guess I should say she loves filling up her little watering can. Pouring the water out onto the flowers is just a means to empty the can so that she can go get some more water.

Joey just keeps growing. We have been getting a lot of comments lately that he must have hit another growth spurt. His hair is filling in more and more and is perhaps getting a bit darker. He still has those blue eyes and still eats like a champ. He is getting a little more mobile, though he mostly scoots himself backward. He'll prop himself up on his hands and knees and rock is little bottom...so cute. No official crawling yet. It will come soon enough.

He absolutely loves Marie. He doesn't take his eyes off of her any time she's in the room. Any silly face or noise from her will make him giggle. They have also started to play together. They sit on the floor and play with blocks. Marie is busy building cities while Joey sees which ones will fit in his mouth.


In other news, Grandma Meinhart has been visiting for the last week. She has been a HUGE help with the kids and with the garden since I've been somewhat out of commission. About a week ago, I unfortunately had a bit of a sports injury. I tore my left hamstring while playing softball. The whole family ended up in the emergency room after I passed out twice. That's not something that Jon or I want to do again any time soon. The orthopedic doctor estimated that the rehab for the hamstring will be on the order of months. He also thinks that I tore my ACL. I had an MRI taken, but won't get the official word until I see the doctor again at the end of this week. So, things have been a bit different around here, but they're getting better and we are making it. :)

Finally, a couple of days ago, Joey was waking up from his nap and Marie came along to check on him. As Grandma was getting him up, here was the exchange.

Peg: Wow, Joey. You must feel pretty good after that nap. Marie, how long did Joey sleep?
Marie: Oh, about 40 pounds.
Peg: Forty pounds! Wow! That's a long time!
Marie: Yeah...

Just so you know, pounds is also Marie's unit of measurement for length and currency...which would make a little more sense if we were British.