Yay, pumpkins!

I am just completely amazed at how the one pumpkin seed that I left in the garden is growing. This picture was taken two days ago. I think it might be just about done growing, or at least it hasn't been growing as prolifically as it was before. I don't know if you can tell, but it goes down the little hill and then comes back up. There are several little pumpkins growing on it, but there's one that is growing as quickly as the plant itself grew. This picture was taken 7 days ago.

And this picture was taken 2 days ago. In a matter of 5 days (5 days!!) is grew from that little thing to this! Since the seed planted itself earlier than it is recommended to plant pumpkins, I am assuming that these guys will be done well before Halloween time.

Once I gave my cucumber plant a little space to breathe (you can see it dwarfed just in front of the pumpkins in the picture at the top, right along the side of the garden) it started producing itty bitty cucumbers, although the few that are there are growing quite quickly as well. I can already taste them soaked in vinegar, just like my grandma did them!

Garden bugs

Well, I am finally posting about the garden bugs that I came across last week. It's time for audience participation time(assuming that there is an audience, of course), because I have only a slight idea of what these bugs are. If anyone out there knows, I would love the insight=) Here is the first big ol' bug. I'm thinking maybe potato beetle?







And here are the other ones. I've heard of June bugs, but have never really seen what they are. Is that what these are? They sure are pretty, but as you can see on the flower leaves, they do some damage. We will assume that the two on the right are fighting to get to the same spot on the leaf.

I also came across several pretty ladybugs, which I learned are good. I have seen quite a few honey bees, too, which is encouraging compared to the last few years. They make me nervous, though, with Libby and me running around barefoot. This has been a big step for me, because I am very squeemish around any type of bug.

Independence Day!!

Happy 4th of July! A day to be so thankful for what men and women have done and still do for our freedom. We spent it fairly lazily. The babies and I are still getting over our yucky colds, so we didn't feel like doing all that much. Plus, it was a rainy day, so we didn't even get out to watch the parade. We spent the afternoon at Mamaw and Papaw's (my mom and step-dad) and that's about it. Here are some pictures.


These are two of the most beloved blankies that ever got drooled and chewed on.

So, how did you celebrate your independence?

More garden thoughts

Here are a few things that I discovered in my garden today. The picture on the top is of my poor cucumbers. This is after I dug up the potatos that were hogging their space, so hopefully with a little room to breathe they will survive. The second picture is of my biggest suprise. I still have carrots! I thought that all but the two that are hiding in my marigolds (right and down)got eaten, but there they were, trying their best to do what they were put in the ground to do. The carrots that somehow got in between the marigolds are doing great. I just hope they don't taste like marigold. Between the marigold carrots and the mysterious potato plant that is growing right in the middle of my garden, I swear I'm not going to plant at sunset again.


More to come, including garden bugs and...wait for it...

I have pumpkins!!

Garden updates

Libby and I went out and did some much needed renovating in the garden this morning. Since we have been sick the last several days (and plus I was out of commission a few days before that because my back started acting up), I haven't been out there in a while. The potatos have just gone everywhere, because I didn't know that I needed to continue to hill them as they got bigger. The cucumber is barely making it because the potatos are suffocating it. Some of the potato plants just look awful because of some kind of disease or something. So, work needed done.


The top picture is the garden before any work was done. The second picture is of the aweful state of some of the potato plants. What I did was dug up a lot of the potatos and actually pulled several of the plants themselves out of the garden to make more room.




This, my friends, is what happens when you don't continue to hill your potato plants as they grow. They just fall all over the place, with not a care in the world about what they cover up. They're just tired of trying to hold their own weight against all of the wind and rain.

Libby had a great time helping me pull weeds and pull potatos out of the ground.

Edited to add: That isn't just a random trash can in the middle of our yard. It's where I keep my compost.

A few comparisons

After I posted my last post, I went back through my pictures of Libby to find the picture of her first boo boo. Then I thought, why don't I post a few comparison pictures of Libby and Hudson? So, the two pictures on the top are of Libby and Hudson both around 5 months old and sitting in the Bumbo (and both, ironically, on the table). Libby is on the top, Hudson on the bottom.






This picture is of Libby's first boo boo, and she was about 8 1/2 months old, compared to Hudson's 5 1/2 months.



I am so anxious to see what Hudson will look like as a toddler and see how similar they end up looking.

Hudson's first boo-boo

Hudson was sitting on my lap at the computer while I checked my email yesterday, and he leaned forward and hit his brow on the front of the desk. I remember Libby doing that a few times, and I suppose it's one of the casualties of sitting on Mama's lap at the computer, but man-oh-man. If anyone remembers Libby's 'hurt' cry, Hudson's is the exact same, if not even more heart-wrenching. After a few doses of arnica (the first of very many, I have a feeling) he was fine and dandy, as you can see in the picture. He is really doing much better now that he can sit up and play with toys. He is much less cranky. It took him a lot less time to get there than it did Libby. I think she was about 8 months old before she stopped crying.