The doorbell rang, who could it be. The UPS man, how fun, what has he brought me today. "Did I order something from J.Crew, or Pottery Barn....no, not that I remember, maybe its a gift." I walk back inside and ask my husband if he has ordered anything; a package has arrived. He grumbles a non-chalant "Yeah". Oh, I now see its from Amazon, must be books. What did he order this time?...his last books have been on the topics of "Helicopter Parenting" and on slowing down. He is truly an old soul. Soon I realize the contents of the box include a book called "Free Range Kids" and that Randy wants us to read it together. Some new author he heard about on NPR.
So he reads the first chapter, and I am staying engaged to my disbelief and even laughing periodically. Its definetly an easy read, and I am realizing that I agree with what this author is saying. She's right! As we continue reading I am starting to ge ta little disgusted with our over protective society.
Now we find ourselves a week later and on chapter 5. I am fired up enough to post it on my blog, and to challenge you to read it also. Seriously! I especially think that it is beneficial to read it with your spouse so that you can discuss the topics the author brings up. Lenore Skenazy is the author and she has a blog too. http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/ So I Double Dog Dare you to check out her website and then buy or borrow the book and read it. Post your comments, let me know what you think about it.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
A Green Thumb...or Not
So I have not done anything to start a community garden in my neighborhood yet, but I have planted my own backyard garden. We live in a tract community so our yard is on the small side, so My dad built me a
8'x 2' x 2' redwood garden box and Randy then built me another one recently that is 8' x 4' x 2' ( I am hopeflly getting dirt for this one today). I planted three tomato plants in the smaller one, and one broccoli and one cauliflower. There is also a red bell pepper plant that I had in there from last spring. (Bell Pepper plants can be kept in the dirt and will produce again the follwing season) In fact this year I am having more success with the bell peppers....I may actually get to eat one. The bunnies ate them all last year. As cute as they are, they are my biggest garden pest; that and the green tomato worms. Luckily my kids love to pick those ones off the plants which is the best way to get rid of them if you are trying to be organic. I will post a pic soon of the garden. I am still figuring this whole blogging thing out, and I need to play with it a little more. When I post pics, I will let you know how my garden is doing. Gardening is not easy ( not for me anyway). I want to be good at it, but do not have a natural green thumb, hopefully it can be a learned green thumb.
8'x 2' x 2' redwood garden box and Randy then built me another one recently that is 8' x 4' x 2' ( I am hopeflly getting dirt for this one today). I planted three tomato plants in the smaller one, and one broccoli and one cauliflower. There is also a red bell pepper plant that I had in there from last spring. (Bell Pepper plants can be kept in the dirt and will produce again the follwing season) In fact this year I am having more success with the bell peppers....I may actually get to eat one. The bunnies ate them all last year. As cute as they are, they are my biggest garden pest; that and the green tomato worms. Luckily my kids love to pick those ones off the plants which is the best way to get rid of them if you are trying to be organic. I will post a pic soon of the garden. I am still figuring this whole blogging thing out, and I need to play with it a little more. When I post pics, I will let you know how my garden is doing. Gardening is not easy ( not for me anyway). I want to be good at it, but do not have a natural green thumb, hopefully it can be a learned green thumb.
Friday, June 11, 2010
There's no Time Like the Present
This is my first post on my first blog ever! What do I say? Techinically I have started this blog just because I have been following a couple blogs and have been having fun reading their updates. Now I guess its my turn to put myself out there and kind of journal publically. I have been following blogs on decorating and I find it most interesting to see how others that have the same taste as I do, are decorating their homes. Really I have so much other stuff that should be doing since I have three kids. But I need a little me time, and I thought this would be a good way to get all those thoughts and ideas floating around in my head out. So the latest idea that has been bouncing around in this head of mine, apart from home decorating, is community gardening. I have been trying to assess if there is a way that I can start one in my neighborhood. I love the idea of the kids and us BIG kids too, getting together and getting our hands dirty. Work can be fun and rewarding, and gardening is such a great way to get the kids outside away from the tv. I question whether there would be enough interest in my tract community where everyone is so busy, so busy that we rarely stop long enough to say "Hi" to eachother. There are so many neighbors that I don't even know, so many potential friends for my kids that we don't even know about because no one goes out front to play on our somewhat busy street.
I have been researching online to see what kind of info there is out there on community gardening. Here is a link to a site that I have found that has a ton of resources http://www.sandiegoroots.org/comm_gardens.html. I applied for a master gardeners class that I found through this website. They only accept people who they trust will pass the info on that they are teaching. I think that a communtiy garden would be a great way to pass the time honored tradition of gardening. So we will see if they accet me. I will keep you posted. And I am glad I can share this idea with you all. It will help hold me accountable. So i don't just brush this under the carpet with so many others, thinking I will do them later, when the kids are all in school, or when I have more money, or whatever other excuses I come up with. Theres no time like the present, Right?
I have been researching online to see what kind of info there is out there on community gardening. Here is a link to a site that I have found that has a ton of resources http://www.sandiegoroots.org/comm_gardens.html. I applied for a master gardeners class that I found through this website. They only accept people who they trust will pass the info on that they are teaching. I think that a communtiy garden would be a great way to pass the time honored tradition of gardening. So we will see if they accet me. I will keep you posted. And I am glad I can share this idea with you all. It will help hold me accountable. So i don't just brush this under the carpet with so many others, thinking I will do them later, when the kids are all in school, or when I have more money, or whatever other excuses I come up with. Theres no time like the present, Right?
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