A Sort of Greenish Brownish Thumb

As promised, I am posting some pictures of my adventures in gardening. Just recently, I decided that I was going to be the wife of my husband's dreams. This includes being Suzy Homemaker. ERGO, I am becoming a gardening, baking, cooking, and canning guru. It's a slow process, but I'm giving it my best shot. SO...I am not quite to the point of having a green thumb, but I suppose the chlorophyll may be seeping into my blood slowly, thus turning this particular phalanx a somewhat murky olive color. Don't ask me how I remember some of my 5th grade science vocabulary and college anatomy words, but can't keep track of my keys. Especially when I didn't exactly do outstanding in either course. Alas, I won't keep you in suspense any longer.

Here are some shots of my gardening escapades and projects!

My hydrangeas. Beautiful. But not my favorite flower. I love poppies. Poppies are my favorite flower. Just a random "about me" fact.


Fresh potted herbs. Cilantro, Italian parsley, and basil.




Shots of my square foot garden. If you are thinking about doing this, DO! I have not had to weed it yet, and it's been about three weeks since we put stuff in the dirt. Or compost, rather. I've got jalapenos, sweet peppers, cooking and canning tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, chives, radishes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, green onions, red onions, and Vidalias. A couple of pumpkin plants and a few watermelon and cantaloupe (the running plants) are all planted up by the house in the flower beds. I like to mix my gardening in with the flowers. The cucumbers are in the flower beds along the other side of the house. The beans and the blackberry bushes are planted along the privacy fence.

These are shots of Emma Claire's planting season. She told me that she wanted to do it by herself, which translates to "go away", only much more polite! So I told her to fill the cups a little with rocks, then pile dirt, poke a finger in the dirt, plant the seed, and water. A lot for a little girl to remember. I just stepped back and watched it all happen. She didn't miss a step. Sure, by a horticulturist's perspective, there may have been too many rocks, the seed been planted too deeply, and then flooded till there should have been doves sent out to look for surviving life, but she did it PERFECTLY in my book.



Time to water!


Success (in her book. Drowned in mine. Hey, whatevs.)

Our cheering section.


Had to sneak in a shot of what Emma does best. Hopscotch. Yes, I know there is no actual hopscotch. What can I say? She is an excellent pretender! I am sure less than 24 hours prior to that, the chalk version was there in reality.



Happy Tending,

AlphaWeekend

My weekend, again, alphabet style.

A is for Ashley. My neighbor. And her husband Mitch. They came over and we chatted on Friday night. I love when we can manage to sneak in an adult conversation!
B is for Bing Cherries. Bought some. One apparently escaped and found its way into...You guessed it. Evelyn's mouth. She ate the entire thing. Pit and all. I just found the evidence on her BRAND NEW, tags taken off that day, outfit. Drat. Shout, do your magic!
C is for cruise control. Wow, if this were Scategories, I would totally have gotten double points for that one. Sorry. Cruise control. I drove about 3 hours total on Saturday. Backseat driver free. Woohoo!
D is for ducks. My little Emma Claire IS A DUCK! She is a swimming fool, and we were in the lake ALL DAY on Saturday. I only got a little burnt.SPF 50 is a pale white girl's bestie!
E is for Evelyn Rose. She turned one last week and has started to walk. A little. Not completely yet. Just a quick leap of faith from a table to the waiting arms of Mama.
F is for frankfurters. No, I don't really call them that, but whatevs! Bummies Spanish Dogs! YUMMMM Has anyone ever noticed my mention of Bummie's in like, every post??? Well, if you ever get to Bluffton, IN (I don't know why you would though), be sure to stop by Bummie's. Best. Dogs. EVER.
G is for garden. My garden is growing! Yay for everything still being semi-alive! Well, for the most part anyway...

(Not in my garden. Eh...)
H is for house. We have been doing repairs to the house. Next up, repairing the back screen door. For an early Father's Day present, I provided the hubs with the necessary materials. 'Cause I'mma sweetheart like that. ;o)
I is for Ice Pops. We are big fans of Ice Pops in the Peterson household. Favorite flavor? Red. No clue what flavor the color red is and it probably has LOTS of Red 40 in it, but dang is it refreshing!
J is for Jump! Because that is the ONLY way to get in the frigid water. Just JUMP!
K is for kindred spirits. Emma has a summertime friend up at the lakes and they are very different looks wise, but kindred spirits on the inside.
L is for LAKE. Because the lake is where we can be found every weekend. All summer long.

M is for Mama. Evelyn still hasn't said it yet. But I'm her favorite person!!!!! Why the heck is it all about the DaDa???!!!
N is for no strike outs. That is my goal for my softball game tonight. I know, I am extending my alphaweekend a bit. But it's my blog. So I can do things like that.
O is for Obama. Cause that is all that comes to mind right now. But shame on you, Mr. President for taking yet another vacation when you should have been honoring the fallen heroes of our country. Oh, and the fact that you haven't mentioned Tennessee's flood situation is ridiculous. Okay. I am going to stop right now. No more politics. I promise.
P is for potatoes. Grilled potato packets on the grill sound good for summer.
Q is for quiet. Emma spent half the weekend with Nana and PawPaw again. Therefore, it was relatively quiet around here. Quiet in a good way. Quiet in a bad way. Both.
R is for rain. Yesterday, all it did was rain.
S is for Stan and Sheila. My in-laws. They came up for a visit from Tennessee. I love when they can come to visit, even if it is a short visit.
T is for Taco Pizza. Went to Pizza Hut last night with The Hubs and the girls. Got our favorite pizza, gulped it down in three minutes since Evelyn was ready for bed, and I left Rob to wait for the bill. Gotta love dining out with the kiddos. No, really, NORMALLY, my kids are VERY well-behaved in public. They know better.
U is for under the weather. Evelyn was running a fever this weekend. Her first ever in the first year. I credit it to breastfeeding, because it makes me feel good. My girls are relatively healthy little girls, and I am so thankful for that.
V is for Veterans. Hand over your heart, ladies and Germs. Honor them all. Thank them all. Every day. Not just Memorial Day.
W is for watch. I watched Dear John on Monday. Anyone else have a serious boy crush on Channing Tatum? Sob. Love that movie. Bonus points for being set in my favorite place on Earth.

X is for eXtremely empty handed. I always come up empty when it comes to X.
Y is for YouTube. So for your viewing pleasure, these are some of my favorite YouTube videos that I viewed recently.


Probably both old news to you all, but new to Always 20 Steps Behind Me.
Z is for zany. Because that is me. Zany. Or something like that...


P.S. I just put snippets of my pictures. Stay tuned this week for more in future posts about my garden and our adventures at the lake.

My Little Hillbilly Girl

My oldest daughter, Emma Claire, reminds me so much of myself when I was a kid. I loved dresses, but loved playin' in the mud and roughhousing with my Daddy too. She's my little Hillbilly Girl.



From the instant it hits 50 degrees outside, shoes are just an option. After all, you can't feel the mud between your toes if they are stuck inside some stuffy pair of tennis shoes!



Sandy haired, blue eyed. Just like her Daddy.


Lover of all God's creatures.



The best helper.


And isn't afraid of a little dirt. (Or to swim in compost for that matter. For those wondering, I do not condone the act of swimming in manure. However...oh, what the heck. It isn't gonna kill her!)

By the way, I realize that by posting this picture, we look like the biggest hicks, BUT that is who we are, so...whatever!

Hey, at least she gets it honest! We are us. I am me. She is her. I wouldn't change any of it for the world.

Embrace your inner hillbilly!

Oh, one more thing. Check out these beauties!

Aren't they fabulous!?!?!