Weekend Notes

It was a long weekend here this past week.

 We had rehearsals for Isabel's dance showcase

Which was held near a common area that has ducks, so we had to go visit them

Her showcase was on Saturday. We used a ton of hairspray and bobby pins. 

She did very, very good.

 (And I am not saying that because she's my kid and that I'm partial...Matter of fact, that makes me even more critical of her performance).

No photos or videos allowed during the performance, so will have to wait till the "official" video is released for purchase so we can get ripped off $100 for a copy of it

The rest of the weekend was spent picking weeds flowers...

And picking paint for her bedroom

Found a dim sum restaurant in New Haven that I "bravely" ventured out to -- I may have overdone the ordering bit

We spent a little time in the garden

Hehehehe....yes, I'm a nerd.

I think the gnome is adorable. And there's nothing like a gnome for an English patch. Fits those Enid Blyton stories.

We found a "festibal" in the mall's parking lot.

 

Izzy was excited. And yes, we call it a festival. Because according to Izzy, "A carnival is a festibal, momma." Which I suppose is true, to an extent.

It is scary how quickly $30 goes in a place like this. 

  

She's rocking her new shoes that she got that morning. It has almost all her favorite colors (purple, silver and pink. Green is missing)

And the most important thing to note for this weekend...She has decided that she's not going to suck her fingers anymore because she doesn't want her nail polish to disappear.

 

I've heard her promise numerous times before that she's "not going to suck (her) fingers ever again!" so I didn't think too much about it. But she really hasn't in the past 4 days. Sometimes, I'll get the occasional request of "Momma, can I suck my fingers for three minutes?" and she'll count "1,2 and 3" then stop (so it's really more like 3 seconds) but she's really refrained from it.

The one thing that is consistent with her -- for all her "momentous" achievements, once she decides she's ready to do something, she does it completely without turning back. It was the same when she learned to walk, for potty training, and now this. She goes from 0 to 100 pretty much overnight.(although she did say this morning that she may suck her fingers again once the nail polish has rubbed off)

She's very, VERY stubborn. We've had a one hour showdown with her crying and screaming and no amount of bribing, threatening, scolding or cajoling convinced her to change her mind.

This was over a pair of pants.

I didn't want to back down either (perhaps I was trying to see what her limit was? Or perhaps I'm also very, VERY stubborn) but in the end, she wore something different from what she wanted, but it was also not the pair that I wanted her to put on.

She is absolutely someone who will stick to her guns for something that she thinks is right. This is the girl who will whine when it's time to leave the park, but 10 seconds later will be bounding ahead of me back to the car, picking flowers along the way. So thankfully, her stubbornness works alongside logic. Else I don't think I'll bring her anywhere.

So I think it is definitely true that a person's character is developed when they are really really young, if it wasn't already present when they were born. Either that, or I am a bigger influence that I could ever comprehend.

In Remembrance

My grandmother passed away last year. I was unable to be by her side.

One of her loves is her garden. And I promised myself that I will have a garden in memory of her. 

Remember my white picket fence?

It's time to toss it out and start anew.

After the months of digging through the dirt, I finally have a spot worthy enough for a dedication:

In remembrance of my grandmother and Izzy's great-grandma...

  

It reminds me of a little English garden -- something about the foxgloves and the brick wall behind it

  

Purple Salvia 

Foxglove - this one has a tinge of purple, and the other, yellow tones.

 

And of course, a hydrangea - this is of the original Endless Summer variety that was planted last year as a trial. It came back this year, much bigger, and there's quite a bit of flowers starting to grow - I am excited. It should have blue flowers, assuming the soil is the same -- the flowers change colors according to the pH of the soil.

And a little rock grouping - the ornamental stone with "Grandma's Garden" was brought over from my grandmother's garden when my mom came for her visit last year. I believe that I may have been the one who gave it to her -- it looks very familiar.

 

The brick wall is not complete -- I have one more trip to make this afternoon.

Puff the Magic Dragon

Sleepyhead

 

I think....that her right eye is slightly smaller than the left

   

Happy Mother's Day

My mind has been preoccupied with all things creepy crawly for the past 2-3 weeks. I even dream about them. Sometimes, I hate Mother Nature.

Last night, I finally got so sick of it that I refused to do anything house/yard related this weekend. Instead, Izzy and I had a stress-free day goofing around in our favorite store after our morning snack time at Starbucks

She walked away with sunglasses - I caved.

Sucker.

 

AND she claimed MY $2.50 straw bag (always wanted one of those, for some reason)when we got home after crashing a boyscout festival in a nearby town

 

Her dance showcase is in 2 weeks time

   

She did very well at class today (for a 3 year old)

The weather warmed up very nicely today (it was actually quite hot, especially when one sits in the middle of a field for an hour to watch a magic show)

Spring is starting to give way to summer

   

Other random Izzy photos:

Monthly grocery shopping at Costco 

 

She's really not much of a morning person. So she'll bring her blanket, pillow and babies with her into the bathroom while I get ready. I don't know why she just doesn't stay in bed, where it's infinitely more comfortable than the cold (and cramped) bathroom floor.

 

Happy mother's day to my mom and all the other pseudo mom-aunts. =)

I got a lovely gift of a liter bottle of diet Coke Lime (which I've already drank half of in the past 5 hours  -- I may not be able to sleep tonight) and candy apple pink hydrangeas from "Isabel".

I Lie

I said I wasn't going to get anymore plants...I lied.

How could I resist this?

They look like tiny Chinese red lanterns! 

These are fuchsia. I had no idea that there were fuchsia flowers, I thought it was only a type of color. Found them at a local farm 2 minutes from my house. 

And the owner very kindly showed me her personal garden when I mentioned that I love hydrangeas. She has a gorgeous garden filled with lilac trees, a climbing hydrangea that was making itself up the wall of her house, wisterias hanging down from an alcove...gorgeous!!

Can you tell that I have an obsession with all things garden now?

Ignorance was Bliss

This is a closeup of the flowers that are blooming on the tree outside.

Today, you would have found me trying to get the shade garden landscape done around the base of the tree

Halfway through digging and putting down weed blocking fabric and mulch, I suddenly got really concerned about the possibility of hurting, suffocating, ruining the tree. That's the problem with me...I like to go to point A to point B in the quickest possible manner, but halfway through, will suddenly stop and think of "hmm...perhaps this may not be the best idea..." I've researched the type of plants that do well under shaded areas that only get sunlight in the morning hours, but did not really think about researching the tree itself.

Which led to frantic google-ing. And asking the guy at the home improvement store. And spending hours on the computer. And finally concluding to the fact that I have a flowering pear tree out there. It is most likely a Bradford, and with almost all the information I've read, I might as well chop it down right now. Weak wood that leads to breakage, suckers that will take over the yard (those wooded shoots sticking out from the roots of the tree that I thought were kinda pretty...hah), toppling over...ARRGGHHH!!!!

However, we went through a few major storms last year, and I don't particularly remember too much damage...Isabel's swing was attached to one of the branches, for crying out loud...it successfully swung a 30lb toddler up and down, up and down for how many times?...Although I am probably now jinxing myself......double ARGGHHHH!!

I give up. That's the last of the plants I'll buy this year. If everything survives and thrives successfully through until next year, we'll start again.

I'll continue with the garden beds definition and trying to convert some parts of the yard to patio/stone tiles, and of course, trying to get the durn front lawn growing, but that's it.

To end on a slightly more cheerful note, I did cut some of the tulips that were growing in the wilder side of the yard. This is the first time ever where I've "harvested" a flower that I've actually planted. I kinda liked it (although making the first cut almost scared all courage out of me)

They bloomed beautifully after spending a few hours indoors

But were shut up tight again the next morning (I left the bathroom window open to let the cool air in as that supposedly lets the cut flowers survive longer)

It's like they went back to sleep.

  

 

Garden Again

Because it's her birthday and she asked for flower pictures

My tulips are starting to look a little bedraggled from all the rain we are having...I think it may be time to cut them and bring them into the house before they start to completely fall apart. Or before they get snapped off by some woodland creature, like what happened to the tulips in another garden bed

Note: Daph...ahem...my hostas are fine now...=p 

These are starting to really grow too...I believe they are called hyacinths? These are called Muscari

And my gorgeous, gorgeous flowering tree that was there when we bought the house...I have no idea what type of tree it is, but I love it.

 I want to make a shade garden bed at the area around the tree...just transplanted some of the hostas to the base today. Lets hope I did not/will not hurt the tree when I dig...eek!

All the pretty flowers...that will litter my yard with its petals during fall

Grand plans in my head. Execution and maintenance may be a bit more shaky....We'll see what happens.

Happy birthday, Auntie Yee Yee/Aunt Pe Pe! We love you!

And a random poser Izzy picture to finish off:

 

Time to Bring out the Shovels

My backyard is the bane of my existance. Along with the front yard.

 Looking at it is enough to rile me up, and you can see why...uggghhhh!

This year is the year to start turning it around. My grandmother was very, very passionate about her garden, and when she passed away last year, I really wanted to try and cultivate a garden that she would be proud of. Plus, it would stop me from feeling embarassed of having the trashyard of the neighbourhood.

After a weekend of work, a real flower bed is defined:

Excuse the peeling garage. That's another to-do on this summer's list.

Lets just hope that the plants florish...Isabel was in on the action

Tulips that I planted last fall with mom and brother are coming up! I'm still surprised that it actually took root! There is hope yet for this black thumb!

Bathroom Pretties

After 2 months or so, my upstairs bathroom is in full working order again. Woo hoo!

Still bummed that the matching pedestal sink was too big for my dinky bathroom. =(

Loading up the bathroom with pretties help ease the disappointment.

 

Zoom out a little, and we'll get a more realistic view of life with the bright plastic kid stuff littering the room, the overflowing trashcan and the toilet brush.

I need to get a new light fixture.
And a toilet paper holder.
And a clock, since I'm always underestimating the time I need to look presentable.

But I am just glad that I can move all my stuff back upstairs.

And that I can start using the clear cube organizers that was purchased months ago.



I  have an obsession with lipsticks, if you can't tell. 

Looking at this particular drawer makes me happy =)

Sunday

It's Sunday morning and we just woke up not too long ago, and I can hear quite a ruckus going on in Isabel's room, with lots of grunts and "ouch" exclamations.

Then she came out looking like this and said, "Momma...help"

She's getting dressed all by herself, but typically have a harder time putting on the shirt. She cracks me up so bad sometimes.

There -- all set.

That night, as I was tucking her into bed, she cuddled close to me and said:

Izzy: Momma, I need a sister or brother to play with...

Me: .........I know, dear. I'm sorry.

Izzy: So you need to buy me one so I can play with a sister or a brother. Or I can take Lukey* and he can be my brother 

*Lukey is her best friend (Mandy's) little brother

If only it were that easy, my dear.