Catching up

Derrick was here this weekend. It was so great. He is so kind to the children and always makes connections fast. He was only here two nights, Maeser's best friend immediately and Scout loved him. Summer seems like it was forever ago. I wish we were hiking with everybody this weekend.

We are planting a garden. The first real one we've had since leaving the states. We dug out some grow beds three weeks ago, and two weeks ago we filled them with the tiniest bags of dirt (but the largest ones we could find). We had to buy about 20 little bags just to fill the boxes a couple inches. We found a nursery who grows plants for hotels and resorts and asked them for dirt. They charged us $500 for 6 tomato plants, a load of dirt some herbs and 8 packs of seeds. Oh, and a shovel made of plastic. We came home thrilled! That night we planted our seeds with a lot of hope and a bit of water.

In the last week the children, especially Abe, have run out every day to see the seedlings. Abe seems to have an answer for everything about gardening.

"Grandpa says we should pull out all the snails."

While taking rocks out of the garden, "Grandpa says all rocks come back, you never get rid of them. Why am I taking them out?"

"Grandpa showed me how to put that tomato plant in mom. I can do it."

"Grandpa uses a different kind of shovel."

When our shovel broke, "Grandpa's shovel is stronger than this one."

Last Sunday morning our beans sprouted, and by Tuesday morning some of them were 4 inches tall. Mary said "Mom! It's a miracle." I love the joy of discovery and we have been so blessed in our little efforts. Mary can't wait for you to come and asked, "Do you think grandma will like our garden?"

It all amounts to 4 short rows, about 3 feet, of lettuce. 8 tomato plants, 2 short rows of carrots, I think 8 zucchini, and a bunch of beans. And for me, a small herb garden. It is lovely.

Our anniversary, (12 years!) is this weekend and I thought I'd buy Dan a lawn mower. Yes, very romantic. But after searching online I can only find the old non-motorized push kind. You know, with the rotary or drum blade. I can only imagine how excited he would be about that. Poor guy, I've completely run out of ideas. 

School started yesterday for Mary and tomorrow for Abe. I have no words to describe how much Mary _______ school. She'd rather we enroll her in a boarding school so she'd only have to come home on holidays. Abe's enthusiasm doesn't match hers, but he is willing to go. He lost a tooth today at lunch, we thought he ate it... but it was found on his salad plate, and he has packed it up in a ziplock bag to take tomorrow. 

I made a first attempt at a home improvement project in years, I decided to paint a bookcase, from black to white. We dragged it outside on top of newspaper, scrubbed it down and painted. 2 coats in I realized I had a problem- the paint wasn't adhering. What?! Yes, I've ruined the bookshelf. No worries, I'll just put it out for the garbage man and the boys can put their toys somewhere else. Well, after a few phone calls this afternoon, I think I'll just throw it in the garage. Not only is Singapore an expensive place to buy cheese and peanut butter, but this place also charges exorbitant amounts of money for disposal or furniture recycling. The best quote I got- $120. There is no dump, anything that can't be reduced or decomposed is shipped to Malaysia and Cambodia! At this rate I'm going to need a job just to throw out the diapers.