Succulents

Remember these that my husband picked up for me in the Cameron Highlands?

Well, the other day at Tesco they had 3 miniature ones for $1US/piece (RM3 for my Malaysians) and in the clearance of their home decor section they had a bright red, square-shaped, shallow bowl.

It was gold flecked on the outside, and the red bowl told me it would be perfect on my counter top through normal days AND holidays.

I agreed.
So we all went home together.
I assembled them all, added a few smooth rocks from our "atrium" and I am quite pleased with how it all turned out.

I have to move this thing a lot because the best place I could find for it was in the kitchen.

It sits on my oven's lid. Yes, American friends, my oven/stove-top has a lid. And seeing as how I use my stovetop for things like cooking and Anthony uses it for coffee, it gets moved off it's perch several times a day.

But so far it's behaved and I think it might be growing. The boys have done remarkably well not pulling the leaves off the "jellybean" one.  At least, I think that light green one is called a Jellybean. Not 100% though as I'm new to succulents.

BUT, I've only watered it once like a good girl and am genuinely looking forward to December 1st to get to water it again.

And there's a little piece of my East-Side-of-the-Mississippi humid heart that has now made peace with the Southwest United States and all its dryness and desert-ness. I've never been fond of cacti, or the 90's "Southwest" color schemes and prints, but this little container garden is working its magic.

Did you know, apparently all cacti are succulents, but not every succulent is a cactus?
Me either. Do with that what you will.

As for me, I'm gonna go do something crafty that has nothing to do with watering or maintaining the succulents as they are touted to be ultra-low-maintenence.

Fingers crossed!

Do what you can...

Let's just start this one off with a recap of the ol' baby belly at weeks 16, 18, 20, & 22. That bottom right one was taken this morning on a self-timer. Gosh. This blog couldn't be more current!

You may notice that the bottom left corner- aka "20 Weeks"- is the most flattering of all them. Not only am I wearing make-up, but that one was taken with the fancy schmancy camera. I'm thinking all a woman needs to see is her skin looking like some strange tomato next to a clear, make-upped face, focused version and she could be convinced that a fancy schmancy camera was what she needed.

And now we've done enough talking about these. The bump is bigger!

Do your summer plans include any pinterest projects? Crafts? Travel? "Fun" to-do lists?

It's usually busy and yet not all at once. I'm usually excited at the start of summer regardless of what's to come...

Will you accomplish your plans? Probably some of you will.
Will they be the source of fond memories for your kids? I bet! Grab that camera, fancy schmancy or otherwise.
Will you instagram the success? Please do! (or get your hubs to do it like I do...)
Should you laugh at the fails? Absolutely (then instagram those too)

Now, what happens if it starts out a success, but then, ever so gradually, turns into a fail over several weeks? What do you do?

I'll tell you.

Remember the photos imma bout to show you.
Then, do what you can to revive that bad boy and revel in being able to teach your kids how to make the most of things. (or if it's bad enough, just toss it. Kids can learn from that too.)

My go-to flower choice in my garden is bougainvillea. It's a tough little bugger and grows well in the full-sun of the equator. Hard to kill. Looks great. Can do.  I also found a variety that's like a double bloom, so the "flowers" look like those tissue paper pom-poms on pinterest party boards. They're fat and it makes me wanna squish them when they bloom. Which I do.

You did NOT need to know that about bougainvillea to follow these pictures. I tend to over-detail. (you noticed?)

We set out to start a bougainvillea arch/canopy. With some leftover pallet wood (cut by the hubs prior to these photos), a drill, chicken wire, staple gun, and some 5 foot pieces of pressed wood recycled from the bedroom ikea mirror that fell off the wall, we were good to go!

We built simple wood boxes using zero proper woodshop skills. They were not square nor level. So? Each of us took a turn documenting the progress on camera. Here's Zay catching Isaac and I building one box...(they have no bottoms and are just for show really) 

 And here Isaac captured Isaiah helping me finish up the 2nd box... then we took a break for a day or so...

 Then Isaiah focused in remarkably well for the "screw the wood plank to the inside of the box" step... (repeat with other wood plank on 2nd box)

 Then I went for the close-up on the "roll out the 15ft of chicken wire over the wood plank and staple gun it to the box and the wood plank" step...

 I think Isaiah went inside because he was "setty" (sweaty) or else we'd have documentation of Isaac and I standing the boxes up. But here they are just before that.

But stand the boxes up we did! Just in time for Isaiah to return from his break. I had no clue no clue Superman could get setty too.

 After placing our potted plants inside the boxes, and securing the bougainvillea to the chicken wire, ensuring it's proper growth trajectory over the archway and WAH-LAH!

 See? Pom-pommy flowers that are hard to kill. They almost look like roses! This was April 29th. Hopes for swoon-y, shady, flowery arches and pinterest pride were riding high.

I think maybe I've mentioned on here a time or two about how "dry season" really just means that the daily rain comes in the form of thunderstorms. I haven't?

 After giving it all of the DIY-strength it could muster, here's where things stood this morning May 30th.
wah-wah-waaaaaaaah

Apparently pressed particle board made for framing indoor mirrors, doesn't really hold up well outside its natural environment.  Noted.

See the bamboo? (be sure not to miss the hangers either) Those bamboo poles held political flags for the national election mid-May. There are gazillions of them on every corner nationwide. Afterwards the political parties have to take down their flags quickly or they get fined.  I have no political connections here. I will pick up free bamboo poles laying on the side of the road no matter which flag they supported.

So I did what I could. De-stapled (un-stapled?), unscrewed, and stuck the bamboo poles into their new home where I hope they'll do much better than their predecessors against afternoon thunderstorms...

 Ta da! Hopes are high again y'all.

Everyone helped and as it was a cool morning and we weren't so setty, Isaiah made the declaration as we finished,
"Mama. Dis is a nice day for a picnic."

And it was...

I knew I made chocolate chip cookies last night for a bigger reason than just stuffing my pregnant face. I knew it.

So y'all get to it. Make your summer rock in whichever way you've set out to do.  Leave me a comment and tell me what you're most excited about this coming June, July, and August. And just do what you can to get it done whether its fantastic or fails or fizzles!

(and yes y'all, that's a Dr. Pepper!)

Spring has Sprung

This year the seasons changing- or, rather, not changing- has affected me more than any other of my 5 years overseas. Last fall, I wanted cool nights and football games and Pumpkin Spice Latte's, and this Spring, I want flowers, and new, and hope, and freshness. By "freshness" I am specifically talking about the scent of orange blossoms hanging heavy in the air on humid Spring nights in South Florida. Heaven I tell ya!

So the longing for some type of Spring is what's on my mind. And I'm from Florida! What's up with this? We don't even really do Springtime in the Sunshine state. Wet cold directly to blazing sun is how we roll come March. Maybe it's just the pregnancy hormones talking? Prolly.

It's made the crafting bug in me want to make felt flowers and picnic blankets for friends.

My parenting and my wife-ing need some soil churning, water and sunshine. (I was gonna say "fertilizer" but I think with #4 on the way...well...)  Hot on my book list is Give them Grace, and This Momentary Marriage.

My bougainvillea plants decided to plan a timely flowering cycle and bright color is dotting my garden wall. 

Oh, garden wall, you poor, greening, chipping, divider of property lines... pressure washing was a must for Springtime activities. More plants and more color are in the works...but these plans, naturally, require chicken wire and at least 13 feet of it. Our car is in the shop and so my weekend of pinteresty projects in the yard has been delayed again. More on that later...

Springtime shots from the equator.

Family Movie Night. 6:30pm and its that bright. By 7pm its nearly dark. Sunsets go quick here!

Isaac: "Mama, can we eat outside for dinner?" Me: (genius! New chairs and table cloth from IKEA!) "Sure Isaac!"

My 3 year old proving he CAN have a good attitude. (I'm well aware this isn't a picture of him being told to make his bed)
Also because I know you care deeply, that wall is AFTER the pressure washing. Lemonade from lemons folks. Lemonade.

Birdie-bye sporting her new adorable bathing suit sent by Grandma. It's amazing how such a big vocabulary can fit into such a small 18 month old body.

No really. She cries.

I know, I KNOW its hard to believe that the mom to such adorable kiddos would be desiring a booster shot for parenting. This is what Immanuelle looked like while Aunt Angie was making us homemade waffles on Easter morning. I have yet to catch the boys arguing and get a picture of it, but it is very very real. And my temper (with added help from the heat and the hormones) well, maybe I should get a picture of that too? No??? Yeah, I don't wanna see that either.

i4 from the inside @ 13 weeks. Skull, spine, hands, 10 fingers, all checked and in tact.  And THAT y'all, is an Anthony Rivers head if I've ever seen one!

i4 from the outside @ 16wks. Finished 1st trimester with ZERO vomiting making this the best 1st trimester for me. Started feeling kicks at 13 weeks.

Ah, Spring. While not marked by temperature changes, I'm hoping it'll be a banner year because of what this season produces. In my craft room, in my garden, in my family, in my marriage, and mostly in my heart. It's all fine the way it is, but I find Spring this year just begging me to make things brighter, to dig deeper, to water a bit more. That's what's so great about this season...the hope of things to come!

I love this passage from the book of Isaiah in the Bible. It does my heart good to hear how strong the Lord is and how willing he is to renew those whose strength is failing. What a great reminder for the hope that Springtime brings!

"Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.

 He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength

 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;

 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:28-31