Jet Lag and Parenthood

You are not allowed to feel jet lag as a mother of a toddler. I think it is some sort of unwritten rule. I am exhausted! It is 7:42 am here, so that makes it 12:42 am in Paris. I would just be getting to bed right now were I still on the trip. But here, well, I have been awake since 5:30, when Gabe so lovingly woke me up from the best sleep I have had in more than a week. Oh well. It is nice to be home, but I wish I were more awake.
My trip to Paris was really excellent. The kids were such fun, for the most part. There was certainly some drama, but nothing that Crystal and I couldn't manage. I loved watching the kids experience so many new things. I especially loved watching them gain independence while we were there. Watching these 8 teenagers grow and mature as they experienced new things, learned about history they haven't even studied in school yet, and grow as individuals was such an amazing experience for me.
I will post a few pictures from Paris now, but I will link to a Picasa album later, as I took 823 images and/or videos while on this trip! Not as many as last time, but... a fair amount considering we were only gone for 6 days. But, as a mom, I have to spend time with Gabe right now.

And We Ate Corn

The garden has been such a blessing this summer. Gabe and I have been eating from it for weeks now, but, a few days ago we ate the first ears of corn from our little patch. And oh my goodness! So good!!!
I thought that I would post a few images from the past week, including some harvested produce, some garden shots, and an image or so of Gabe.
My mom should be here sometime today, so I am really looking forward to that. I called her this morning and she was about 5 hours away at a little before noon, so I imagine she'll be here at dinnertime. Gabe and I ate corn on the cob (again) with lunch, but I think we should have some more with dinner!
That first helping of corn was actually on Friday, right before my final Paris meeting, and, well, Gabe ate his cob and then stole mine from my plate and finished that! And so, after eating all of that corn plus a grilled tuna steak (well, a piece of a steak), he promptly threw up. Overeating will do it, but, if you are to gather any pertinent info from that tale it is this; the corn is delish! Yummy! Yummy! Yummy!!!

Garden Update

Sorry! I realize this is upside-down, but Blogger is not allowing me to edit the images for some reason!




This post is primarily for Mike, as he is in Costa Rica, and hasn't asked much about the garden. I know he is curious and wants an update, so, I took a few pictures today of the garden as well as of a few freshly harvested veggies, including... da da da daaaa! Our first ear of corn!!! I was checking the corn,as I am uncertain of what markers to look for to know how the corn is doing. I was pleasantly surprised by the full pollination of the ear, though the kernals are a bit immature; I am still planning to eat it! Aside from that exciting development, our tomato plants are heavy with fruit, and still, knock on wood, free from worms! I was only able to harvest a few cherry tomatoes, but, I plan to cut back some of the sucker vines on our in-garden plants to help them ripen, as they are getting pretty large and have not changes from their acid green color yet.
What else? Well, I spent all day yesterday in the garden, pulling weeds, with a few friends and the missionaries (for those who do not know, we are LDS... Mormon... and the missionaries are a great asset to the community, providing not only wonderful gospel instruction for non-members, but hard work and sweat in service for members and non-members alike!)So, today I ran to Home Depot and picked up soil and mulch, the latter of which I will need to get more of, and this afternoon I spent burying onions a little deepre, and mulching around plants and between rows. I am trying to prevent repeating yesterday's task as much as I can!! Anyway, what I have finished looks great, and I look forward to completing the task and posting amny pictures.
So, enjoy the photos!!!