Harris Family Garden: Part 2

This MUST be some kind of record! FOUR posts in one week!! I'll slow down now, I promise!

So, as a family, we have learned some valuable lessons in gardening....

1. When buying vegetables to plant, read the label and find out if it is the right time of year to plant said vegetable. We bought carrots but unfortunately for Gage, you have to plant those in winter. So we went and got strawberries instead.

2. When hacking away at the ground with a shovel while a 2 year old is playing nearby, watch where she's putting her hands and feet. Delly is lucky she still has all her toes! Seriously!

3. It's best to garden in the early morning and evening. Afternoon heat in Arizona...not good.

4. Invest in a pair of gardening gloves. I think the picture speaks for itself.

So our garden is planted. It was stinking hard work..I'm not gonna lie. In our FHE lesson Joey told a story about a little old lady who lived by herself and all her kids wanted her to come and live with them but she refused to leave her garden. Now, after putting in the work I think that story is a bunch of baloney. There's no way a little 85 yr old lady could do this, is there? I'm sore from head to toe. I'm sunburned, blistered, my legs feel like I did 3000 squats (which I probably did.) I don't see how old people garden..I really don't.

The kids did so great with the whole project. No grumbling! I was surprised. The only thing close to a complaint I heard was Drey saying "Why can't we just buy our corn from Bashas?" It's not a perfect garden by any means. The rows are not straight and we may or may not have some cantelope seeds planted with the radish seeds (Delly dumped a whole package of cantelope seeds in the row where we were planting radishes.) But it really does feel good to have a garden planted. It will feel even better this summer when we are eating fresh corn and squash and strawberries!! Can't wait!

What do you think, Dad? Does it meet your high standards of approval?

The Drama is Over!

Avery came home from school with a big grin on her face and said " Mom! Look!" and showed me the big gap in her teeth! Finally!!! There were a lot of tears shed and meals missed because she was too scared to eat with such a wiggly tooth. She was eating lunch and said she heard a CRUNCH and then noticed her tooth was out. She doesn't know what happened to it but I can guess! So all that drama and she doesn't even have a tooth to put under her pillow! A shame! I told her we would email the Tooth Fairy and let her know that she LITERALLY lost her tooth!

The Beecroft Curse Strikes Again.....

Anyone who knows us Beecroft girls, knows that we have a problem. We call it the Beecroft Curse. All the women in the family have it. My Granny was the worst but we all have it to some degree or another. It's bad. Really bad. Even more troubling is that I'm seeing signs of "the Curse" in my boys...mostly Drey...but tonight Gage had a run in with it as well. The "CURSE" as we like to call it...can happen at any time...usually at the most inappropriate times imaginable. Funerals, sacrament meeting, in the temple, talking on the phone with painting clients, listening to the Home Teachers give a spiritual message, any time that you want to conduct yourself with dignity, the Curse will strike. Something will happen, sometimes it's not even FUNNY! But something will happen that will tickle our funny bone and thats it....uncontrollable giggling. Laughter that is so hard that it is painful. You know you are humiliating yourself...you WANT to stop laughing. You WANT to be able to control yourself and quit making a spectacle... but you can't. It can go on for endless minutes, as others around you just stare wondering "What is so funny? I don't get it." Even if you try to explain why you're laughing, they just look at you with a blank look. It's awful. It sounds fun..it's not.




Tonight, Gage had a clarinet concert. I think you can see where this is going. He looked so handsome in his suit. He had a speaking part, which he nailed. The first two songs were played without a hitch. Then during the third song, the clarinets had a solo. There are only three clarinet players, Gage and two girls. They were in the front row of the band. I'm watching Gage, thinking how good he's gotten in the two years he's been playing clarinet when all the sudden, in the middle of the clarinet solo..."SKWEEEEEK!" That awful off key sound. I was watching Gage so I saw his facial expression and I knew it was him that did it! Then he bows his head and I can see his shoulders shaking in laughter. I was like "Oh no! Pull it together Gage!" He was right in the front row! He kept trying to get back to the song but kept giggling! I could feel the giggles bubbling up in me as well. It was all I could do to keep it in. I finally had to put my head down and not look at him or else I knew I would lose it. Finally, when I glanced up I could see that he had gotten himself under control. I have to give him credit. He was able to get it together pretty quickly. If it had been me in my 6th grade band concert, I probably wouldn't have stopped until I had peed my pants. It's a horrible thing. A sickness. I hope my kids don't inherit it to the extent that my sisters and I have it.

This is one freaking handsome kid. Every time he puts on his suit..it melts me!!!

Harris Family Garden...PART:1

So for about a month, I kept having the same feeling...that we needed to start a garden. I mean, here we are, living on an acre of land that just sits there. Not producing anything. I planted an orange tree and a grapefruit tree about 9 years ago but I killed the grapefruit tree within a year (my dad told me to fertilize it but never told me not to use the ENTIRE bag of fertilizer at once! That was a valuable piece of info....I'm not placing any blame, Dad) My orange tree survived the botched fertilizing job but has yet to produce fruit...in 9 years!! So, obviously I didn't inherit my dads green thumb...so I was hesitant to start a garden. It seemed like an overwhelming task to take on. I knew I would need Joeys help and didn't see him being able to do it. Not only does he work full time at Hamilton, he also teaches nights at the college and also works for Dishtech, not to mention his Stake calling and his Ward calling. He's busy and I didn't think he would be supportive of my garden idea. Then, Saturday night, out of the blue, we're on our date eating at Garcia's (good Chicken Avocado Salad by the way) and Joey says to me " I've been having this feeling lately that we should start a garden." I was like "WHAT? I've been having the same feeling!!" I couldn't believe it! Then I thought... uh oh...I hope this doesn't mean hard times are coming our way. But just in case we decided that since we BOTH had the feeling independently that we should act on it. So we thought it would be a good idea to make it a family project. So tonight, for Family Home Evening, phase one of the Harris Family Garden was started. We had a lesson on gardens, and year supply, and provident living and then we loaded into the mini van and headed to Home Depot. The kids were totally on board with the idea and so excited to get started! We let each of them pick out a vegetable to grow. Joey picked jalepenos and chili peppers, I wanted squash and tomatoes and cucumbers, Gage wanted carrots, Delly wanted cantelope and Drey wanted watermelon and corn. Avery just wanted flowers so we're going to plant some sunflowers for shade. Okay, we were totally out of our element trying to buy what we needed. My dad told me what type of soil to buy so we bought some...I have no idea if we bought enough. We wandered around totally lost and confused...we bought some Miracle Grow because it seems like that would be a good idea and I remember seeing some at my Dads. We decided to buy some seeds and some plants that were already started, just in case we couldn't get our seeds to grow. I want to be positive, but I'm also a realist! I hope Heavenly Father blesses our efforts because we really are out of our element! We came home and picked out a spot in our backyard that would have some evening shade. We set about trying to till up the earth and quickly realized that we couldn't do it by hand. Joey went back to Home Depot to rent a machine to till up the ground. That was worth every penny!! So stay tuned for Part 2 of Harris Family Gardening Adventures. We hope to get the plants and seeds planted tomorrow.
I have no idea why I have random odd spaces everywhere on this post. It's a mystery and I'm too tired to figure it out....gardening is tiring!!!

Good times...good times.

I don't really have anything to write about this week. It was just a regular week in the Harris household. So I'm posting some photos that I LOVE! These were taken last September on Dellys birthday...but I think they're so cute! The kids were jumping on the trampoline at my mom and dad's house and having so much fun!!
I LOVE Avery's face in the picture below....I want to have that much FUN!!

Gage's BIG Weekend...

Well, it finally has happened. My baby boy, my firstborn little boy who used to carry a tattered little "bankie" around and suck his thumb, my little Gagey Lou has decided to ignore his mother and continue to grow up. I keep trying to get my kids to slow down on the growing up thing but they just won't. I knew Gage was getting older and more mature but this weekend it really hit me... he's not a boy anymore, he's a young man. He hit the big "12" on Saturday. I feel so OLD that I have a child old enough to pass the Sacrament and go to MUTUAL! What!? This cannot be! It's outrageous! I mean we all know Joey is old...but me?

Gage wanted to have a few of his buddies over to celebrate his new status as "young man". He decided he wanted to have a sleepover...I got in trouble for calling it a "slumber party". Gage said " Mom! It's not a slumber party! It's a sleepover!" Sorry! I didn't know! I asked him if I should get a pinata and he looked at me like I was nuts! He was like " Are you kidding me right now, Mom? You're joking, right?" When did he outgrow pinatas? So some of his buddies came over and Joey took them all out to eat at In-N-Out Burger...Gage's absolute favorite place to eat. Then he took them all to the mall to scope out the chicks I guess! My baby boy!!! It can't be!! I won't allow it! They felt pretty cool being with Joey, who is the king of Hamilton, and can be pretty fun to hang out with. After the mall, they came back and played video games and watched movies all night long. The next day they ran around doing boy stuff, I'm not sure what because I couldn't keep track of them. They were in and out of the house all day until about 2 when Gage had to go to baseball practice. He has great friends.. it was so fun to watch them all together and eavesdrop on what boys talk about. It was a crack up!

Sunday was a big day for Gage. He wanted a suit for his birthday so we got him one. When he put it on, I could barely stand it! He looked so grown up! Thank you to all of our family members who came...you know who you are....to watch Gage receive the Priesthood. He felt so loved and special...so THANK YOU! It was important to him and we appreciate all the support!

Drey took all these pictures and did a surprisingly good job! That's why he's not in them!

Drama Filled Saturday!

Sorry Min...I know I should be editing recipes for the cookbook right now, but I had to take a break and post this picture...it made me laugh!

Saturdays are so busy and hectic...as I'm sure you all know. This Saturday was so full of drama, and at the time it was frustrating to me but today I can look back and laugh.

It started with Avery. First thing in the morning she came running into the kitchen with tears pouring down her face because she had a loose tooth. I just said "Great! Now the tooth fairy can come!" She got a horrified look on her face and yelled "She can't have my tooth! It's mine!" Then she ran and got back in her bed and hid under the covers. I could hear her sobbing when I walked by her room. I was baffled! This is not how the boys handled it at all. They were both so excited to lose teeth and get a dollar! In fact, when Drey gets a tooth that is even the slightest bit loose he will yank it out (way before it's ready) just to get the dough! One time, he got busted on the bus because he had a loose tooth and he wanted some cash so he bit down on his backpack strap and had one of his buddies yank it really hard so it would come out. He came inside after getting off the bus with blood STREAMING down his chin. The bus driver wasn't happy because he bled all over the bus! So I didn't know how to deal with Avery and her hysterics! She literally cried in her bed for over an hour. She cried so much that her cheeks got all chapped. Here's a picture of her poor red cheek. ( As you can see by her smile in the picture, she got over it and is now excited to lose a tooth!)

As I was trying to deal with Avery, Drey was having his own meltdown. During the week, I do all the housework by myself but on Saturdays the kids have "Saturday chores". I love it! Usually, one of Gage's chores is to put the dishes in the dishwasher but he was gone to take baseball pictures. So I gave that chore to Drey. I figured it was time for him to learn. So I explained how to load the dishwasher correctly and went about my business. I could hear him moaning and complaining and yelling about how unfair it all was. He would keep running into my room telling me he was gonna barf if I made him do it because it was so smelly! He was like "Mom, theres wet, nasty food in there!! I'm gonna barf!" So (I'm a mean mom) I said to hurry up and barf and get the dishes done so we can go to Gage's baseball game. After about 30 minutes of trying to fight with me about it, he knew I wasn't gonna let him off the hook so he went in to do it. After awhile, when I didn't hear anything, I went in the kitchen to make sure he was working and he had a dishtowel tied around his face so he couldn't smell it. It was so comical looking so I ran to get my camera. Of course, the camera battery was dead so I had to change it. By the time I got it changed and got back to the kitchen, Drey had taken off the dishtowel and strapped his Easter basket to his face. It was hilarious!! I snapped this picture just as he was taking it off. I guess he couldn't see with it on!

Avery's SIXTH Birthday!!!

I can hardly believe my little Avy Bellybutton is SIX! I remember being pregnant with her like it was last week! Maybe because it was so STRESSFUL!! When I was five months along I was told that there was a good chance that Avery would be born with Downs Syndrome. Of course, I was so disappointed and sad and worried. Joey gave me a blessing and said that everything would be fine and it was. I went in for further testing and found out that she was perfect. Then, a month later I became sick. Sicker than I have ever been in my life and sicker than I ever hope to be again. I felt like I was dying and was so worried for the little baby girl inside me. We went to Desert Sam's ER and waited in a BUSY Emergency Room for hours before they could see me. They ran tests, said I would be fine and sent me home. I KNEW I wasn't fine as I became sicker and sicker and more scared for my babys life. Then out of the blue, we received a call from a random doctor at the hospital. He said that he had opened my chart for some reason ( he wasn't my doctor and really had no reason to read my chart) and he had read my labs and realized that I had been sent home with an extremely dangerous and possibly fatal infection in my bloodstream. He said I should not have been sent home and I needed to get back to the hospital ASAP for treatment. So we jumped in the car and booked it back there. When we arrived, the doctor that called us back told us that he had just been passing by the nurses station and my chart was sitting there, I guess waiting to be filed or something, and for some reason he stopped and read my lab work. I have always felt that he was prompted by the Spirit to take time out of his hectic schedule to read some random patients lab work! I'm SO grateful that we were being watched over and protected! I was so worried that the infection had hurt her(not to mention all the medications I was on for over a month trying to kill the infection) and it was with so much relief that she was born on March 30, 2002!! A perfect, healthy baby girl! Six years have gone by so fast! I keep telling her to PLEASE stop growing up and stay my little girl forever! She says" I can't Mom! Or else I can't grow my own babies!" She always tells me not to worry because when she grows up and gets married to her own boy that I can come and live with them. I'm sure her future husband would LOVE that!!

Avery wanted to have a "Princess Sleepover Party" for her birthday but when she found out she couldn't invite boys she quickly changed her mind and wanted to have a "Princess Party at the Park"! All her cute little friends came and played and ate cupcakes and beat the crap out of the Barbie pinata!

Even Coco came to the celebration!