Our {First Ever} Vegetable Garden

For awhile now I have wanted to plant a vegetable garden. We had one when I was a kid and I loved helping my dad with it and eating fresh veggies right out of the garden. So of course I wanted to do the same for my kids. I also think it’s important to teach them that fresh food doesn’t come from a grocery store. Someone has to work hard to grow it.

This weekend, while the weather was warm (crazy Texas weather, it’s been in the 50’s and 60’s this week), we successfully planted our first garden. We have 2 varieties of tomatoes planted at the back, some green beans and bell peppers (also at the back), basil, cilantro, banana peppers and strawberries in the front. Obviously I have more room to plant but this was just to get us started (and all that our Lowe’s had). So I hope to plant some more in the coming weeks.

Originally I thought I was going to plant in another part of the yard, but discovered it didn’t get enough sun. So I moved to plan B and was lucky enough to see this 2-tiered raised planter bed from Lowe’s for only $90. We bought about 5 bags of soil and 5 bags of compost, some plants and we got to work. From start to finish, it only took us about 5 hours.

We started out by marking about a 5’ x 5’ area and dug up all of the sod (ok, weeds).

Once the sod/weeds had been removed, I added one bag of good soil to the ground and tilled the soil (just a little, ‘cuz I was anxious to get to the fun part!). Here’s what it looked like just before we put the planter box down.

The boys put together the planter box (which took about 15 minutes and was super easy!).

While the girls watched and took self-portraits :)

And here’s the box ready to be filled with our soil and compost.

This was everyone’s favorite part (kids + dirt = happy).

Then we planted our veggies and gave them a nice drink of water (note: this image has been strategically cropped because my son was naked at this point, except for his sneakers, of course!)

Then we finished out the day by playing in the water hose (ok, the hole in the water hose that was inadvertently turned into a sprinkler). All in all, a great day!

I do still plan to do some research about keeping the squirrels and birds out of the garden because I certainly don’t want them to eat our veggies! But for now, the use of my son’s realistic looking snake seems to have kept them at bay.

So how many of you have gardens? Are you seasoned gardeners or newbies like us? Any tips to share (especially about keeping the critters out)? Are any of you Texas gardeners?

A Minnie Mouse Birthday Party

As you know, my daughter just turned 2. We had her party this weekend and I chose a Minnie Mouse theme. I let my kids each pick one show to watch in the mornings and she always, I mean always picks Mickey Mouse clubhouse. What's worse is she has one Minnie Mouse shirt that she wants to wear everyday. If I don't immediately put it in the hamper when it's dirty, she will find it and insist on putting it on, dried mac 'n cheese and all! So I figured a Minnie Mouse theme was a safe bet.

For her 1st birthday and also my son's 3rd, I made them both birthday shirts. I just love the idea of having a special shirt for their special day. You can see the shirts I've made for my kids here and here. So of course I had to make her a Minnie Mouse shirt to celebrate her second birthday!

(P.S. If you're looking for a custom birthday shirt for your little one, check out my shop.)

And how about this adorable clip my sister-in-law made for her to wear. Isn't it the cutest thing ever?!?


In addition to some Minnie plates, napkins and balloons, I ordered her a Minnie cupcake cake from Target. They did a beautiful job and for only about $25!

(This is the face of a child who's had waaaay too much sugar!)

So there you have it! We had a great time celebrating with our friends and family. And I am happy to report that we now have several Minnie Mouse shirts and sweatshirts to choose from! Thank goodness because I was tired of doing her laundry every other day!


Sharing here:

New Holiday Traditions

This year has been the first year where my husband and I have consciously started some new holiday traditions with our kids. Our kids are now 3 1/2 and 1 (almost 2) and it seems like the first year where they're both really getting in to the holidays.

So our first new tradition of the year is that we went shopping and let them each buy a new Christmas ornament to hang on the tree. They were so excited to get to pick just the right one and come home to find the perfect spot on the tree for it.

My son picked a race car ornament (of course).


And my daughter picked Winnie the Pooh.



My hope for this new tradition is that by the time they are moving out of the house (sniff, sniff) they will have a collection of ornaments to take with them to decorate their own first Christmas tree (someone please slow down time...please!). Each ornament will carry a special memory with it and whether they're near or far, they will always have a little bit of home with them during the holidays (ok, now I'm really crying!).

So how about you all? Did you start any new traditions this year? Or did you start new ones with your kids that you have loved and would share with us newbies?

Inspiring Creativity Through Literacy

A couple of weekend's ago, I attended the Texas PTA Summer Leadership Seminar. Mostly I was in workshops related to Membership as I somehow got talked in to being the Membership chair of the Early Childhood PTA that I belong to. But I did get to attend a couple of "fun" workshops as well.

My favorite was a workshop by children's author Melissa M. Williams. She is the author of the Iggy the Iguana series. If you ever have the chance to attend a workshop or series with her, you should definitely go!


She talked about the importance of inspiring creativity through literacy. Children are exposed to so many different role models through TV, movies, music. But it seems they are less and less influenced by characters in books.

One way that she encouraged parents and educators to inspire reading and a love for books is to help them "write" their own stories. If your children are old enough to write, you can literally help them write their own story. She has lots of great resources on the Iggy the Iguana website including writing tips for kids, contests, and bios for the author, illustrator and characters.

Since my children are 3 and 18 months, I was trying to figure out a way to incorporate what I learned that was appropriate for their age level. With my 18 month old, I just try to nurture her love for books by reading to her before her nap and bedtime and all times in between.

But for my 3 year old, I decided to try letting him "write" his own story. After we read a couple of books (per our normal nightly routine), he gets to make up his own stories. I start by asking him "who's going to be the character in our story tonight?" Sometimes he names an animal (bunny, dog, dinosaur), sometimes he says himself, and a few times he's wanted the family cat to be the character. Then I ask him the character's name (we've had Buddy, BatBallHat, a snake named dog). Finally, I ask him what the character likes to do (play soccer, spin around getting dizzy, fly). Then I proceed to tell the story about the character that he invented doing whatever it is that character likes to do. And he LOVES it! Sometimes there's a message in the story, sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's neither. But he always seems to enjoy them.

I was afraid it was going to be a little abstract for him, but he really likes the stories and he loves being the one to give the details. It's been such a fun nightly routine for us. I've written several of his stories down so he can read them someday...who knows, he might be a budding author!

So give it a try with your kids. And if you do, let me know how it goes!

My Not-So-Great-Mom Day

Do you ever have those days when you feel like your children are acting crazy, you're constantly saying "no" and the day is just no fun for anyone involved? I had one of those days yesterday.

Here's the really hard part about days like those...it's usually about me, not the kids. If I'm being truly honest with myself, it's usually me that's being impatient and distracted, not them misbehaving. So it's really a Not-So-Great-Mom day, rather than a Not-So-Great-Child day.

One of my goals as a parent is to be PRESENT in my children's lives (hence the title of my blog). But on those Not-So-Great-Mom days, I'm NOT being present and it's sometimes hard to turn those days around. Usually if I just recognize that it's me and not the kids, I can change my attitude and turn the day around. But sometimes it's easier said than done. Yesterday it was not so easy. My funk remained until I left for my biweekly yoga class (thank goodness for yoga!).

But today is a new day and we as mothers are entitled to an off day every now and then (and a day off would be nice, too!).

Here's a question for all of you moms out there; how to you recover from your Not-So-Great-Mom days?

A New Easter Tradition

This is the first year that my son (who just turned 3) has really begun to participate in holiday traditions, such as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. So I decided that now is our opportunity to lay the groundwork for any traditions we hope to begin. For instance, my husband and I decided that Santa Claus brings one special present at Christmas, but the rest are from Mommy and Daddy.

Well when it came time to decide what the Easter Bunny brings, I decided that I didn't want baskets full of candy in the house for weeks (because I don't want my children hopped up on sugar and because I have no will power when there's chocolate in the house!). Besides, they get plenty of candy from other Easter parties, egg hunts, friends, family, etc...

As you may recall, I'm doing a patio redo. My children have both been having fun playing with the dirt in my empty planters and they always want to "help" when I get out the trimmers, gardening gloves, shovel, rake. I decided that Easter represents the start of Spring in a lot of ways, so how about if the Easter Bunny brought Spring-inspired gifts? So instead of a bucket full of candy to eat after Church on Sunday, here's how my children enjoyed their Easter gifts from the Easter Bunny...



Granted, gardening gloves, plastic shovels and cultivators may not be "traditional" Easter gifts, but at our house, they just might become the "tradition."

This Present Day

One of the inspirations for the name of my blog comes from my desire to try to be present with my children. What do I mean by that? I mean that sometimes I notice during the course of the day that I haven't really spent any quality time with my children. Sure, I'm here and they're here, but I've been cleaning the kitchen, checking email, fixing meals, doing laundry, making phone calls, showering, etc., etc., etc... While all of these things are important (some more than others), none are more important than my relationship with my children.

As they get older, they won't remember that I made a nutritious meal for dinner (most of the time), that the laundry was promptly folded and put away (which it rarely is), that I was well-organized (I try to be) or any of the other things that we often consider valuable traits for a "good mother." No. What they will remember is that I got on the floor with them and played cars and danced and sang with them and made a play-doh bird's nest and played peek-a-boo about a hundred times. So that is what I try to do everyday. I try to be present, not just present. Today was a success. We played in the snow without a care in the world. And it was GREAT!



The laundry will still be there tomorrow (and the next day, and the day after that...).