Early Arrival

I got an unexpected call from my dad last Wednesday. My sister had gone into labor...5 weeks before her due date. After sending up a few prayers for my sister's and the baby's health, I got to thinking how much I wanted to be there to support the family, especially my niece who just had her little world turned upside-down. As a first child myself, I guessed that I would identify best with her. It had also been 7 months since I had seen my sister and I was feeling like I had missed sharing most of the joy of this pregnancy. (I was there when she found out she was preggers, but nothing since.) Naturally, my parents were on the first plane out to San Diego that evening. After some searching on Expedia and Travelocity, I broke down and got my own ticket for a weekend trip. It was so great to hold preemie Ethan and play with Rylee in her natural habitat. It was also a wonderful opportunity to visit with Kelly and my brother-in-law, Scott. I got to go to church with Rylee, Scott, and some of his family on Sunday and heard a great (timely and encouraging) message. Only sad thing was that our brother, Corey, wasn't there with us.


P.S. Mom and baby are doing fine and big sis is dealing with having to share mommy with her new brother, who she loves!!!

Guarding Against Garden Gore

Most days I love that my backyard backs up to a small patch of woods...kinda makes me feel like I live farther out of the city than I actually do. However, there are certain aspects of this location that I failed to give adequate attention to...specifically when it comes to protecting the plants in my garden. Now don't think that I was completely oblivious to the fact that I would need to install some sort of barricade around my garden, I just wasn't aware of the level of security it would need. Over the last couple of months I've had to make several improvements on my design (each time after I had a break-in), resulting in the following:


My version of Ft. Knox, includes a four foot tall chicken wire fence, complete with top. The bottom of this fence has been stapled to the railroad ties or wood barriers. I have further secured fence in the back with four inch landscape stakes. The reflective AOL CDs are there in lieu of a scarecrow. I can only hope that all of these measures (which make it quite difficult even for me to get into my own garden) will be sufficient to deter whatever has been eating the leaves off my cucumber,


zucchini,


sunflowers,


and green bean plants.



Below are the mug shots of some of the usual suspects: