Time to bloom

So, remember back in March when I wrote about planting wildflower seeds in our yard? Have you been wondering how our yard looks?

Yeah, our yard looks nothing like this. I scattered those wildflower seeds in fresh organic dirt and then watered them. These are wildflowers, ya'll. They grow by the side of the road, hanging onto small dirt patches, coughing in automobile fumes. But they didn't grow in my flower beds. I suppose I was a little too "survival of the fittest" and didn't even give them extra watering beyond the first week. Obviously, I did not get the fittest seeds.

There were a few pitiful sprouts in the front flowerbeds, but most of those turned out to be weeds. I did get some successful sprouts in the backyard -- two lavender plants now about 2 inches tall, two "St. John's fire" salvia, and two flowering vines that have reached 8 inches tall. I feel so proud.

I plan to spend a lot of green at Lowe's and buy potted wildflowers -- daisies and sages and violets, oh my. Yeah, this time, we're setting up a drip irrigation system and actually watering the darn things.

Meltdowns and Wildflowers

Little Bit has started having a complete meltdown as opposed to snuggling up to me when he gets home from daycare. He smiles and holds out his arms for me as DH brings him inside the house like usual, but between then and the few seconds it takes for DH to remove his shoes, he just runs "out of good". Lil' Bit throws himself down onto the floor and cries and cries. I ask him if he wants various things to try to find out what's wrong, but he just keeps answering, "No!" I guess he's just tired and overstimulated/overwhelmed from his day. I hope that he starts learning to communicate those feelings soon. It's hard sometimes to see him so overwhelmed and feel powerless to help him.

If he's not too overtired, we can manage to distract him from his meltdown. "Where's your left foot?" I'll ask him. He gleefully holds up a leg, sometimes the correct one, sometimes not. We also discovered that pulling up your shirt and playing your belly like a drum elicits laughs; he will copy you by pulling up his shirt and pounding on his belly. Distraction, distraction, distraction.

On Saturday, DH and I got an afternoon "off". Friends came over for a babysitting playdate. DH and I were going to go to a movie, but couldn't agree on one. Instead, we decided to window shop in old town League City. Before we got there though, we made a quick stop at two children's resale shops. Yes, it was our date time, and we still couldn't get completely away from parenting. *laugh*

League City is very much a small Texas town, even though it's right next to NASA and the big city of Houston. There is a strip of fun little shops in Victorian houses in the old part of town. Browsing the old town shops and buying a few things was wonderfully relaxing. The shops were so *not* child-friendly with all the fascinating and breakable items on every surface. We returned home with our prizes (some yummy Almond Cream coffee and lovely lavender soap for me).

I ordered some Texas/Oklahoma wildflower seeds from Native American seeds. The seeds arrived yesterday. When I told DH that I had gotten several specific kinds of seeds, as well as the "Texas-Oklahoma Native Roadside Mix" of wildflower seeds, he said [thick Southern drawl] "Ah-round he-ah, we call dem weeds." [end thick Southern drawl]

This is an awful lot like work!

It looks like this weekend will have mild weather, so I'm looking forward to doing some more planting, pruning, etc in our yard. Last Saturday, DH , Little Bit, and I met some friends at a nursery. It was gorgeous weather to be outside wandering through rows and rows of bright flowers. Our friends kept an eye on Little Bit so I didn't have to worry about where he was while I picked out plants and flowers for our backyard. Little Bit played "chase me" with them around the rows of plants. He found and lost sticks to poke things with. He jumped up and down. He was a tired, happy little boy by the end of the trip. After we all ate, Little Bit fell asleep on the drive home. I love the sound of his soft snoring.

Then, on Sunday, DH and I worked outside planting and doing yard maintenance. Little Bit kept me company in the backyard. He got to run around, stack and re-stack empty flower pots, paw through the bark mulch, and just generally have fun getting his hands dirty. So, he had a great weekend and so did we.

I'm finding great satisfaction in seeing the colorful flowers I picked out in the backyard - purple, yellow, reddish-pink. I've also got some Texas wildflower seeds on the way through mailorder that I'll throw down around the front trees. I have to keep myself from re-doing all the landscaping *right now* because I'm impatient. But, the costs would really add up. So, for now I need to content myself with what plants I've already bought and what I can grow from seeds (much less expensive than buying 3-gallon grown plants).

In reference to my post title, yes, all the turning over of the flower beds, pulling up dead shrubs, and digging, etc was an awful lot like work, but still fun.