Silly me thought that two packs of bamboo stakes would be enough. I went home on my lunch break today to try to contain these massive tomato plants that are taking over my front yard. Well, it looks like I might need a lot more stakes.

By the way, these are only two of the eight tomatoes in my front yard.

Garden planning at work.
Waiting at brothers practice.
Silly love and lots of eating out.
Ice cream every night.
Mama went red.
Pantages ~ Beauty and the Beast.
Breakfast with my two little monkeys.
Nails.
Summer heirloom seeds, peppers and tomatoes yum.
Black tie dinner with friends.

Dinner at our two favorite sushi spots.
Enjoying pan dolce and Dora while the boy had taekwondo practice.
I made our bed. This doesn’t happen often.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
Mama and Papa took a road trip up to the central coast of California. Beautiful weekend.
A girl and her shoes.
Spring blooms make me smile.
Asada tacos and beer for dinner. Yum.
After dinner scooter bliss.

Max and Riley have been amazing additions to our family. It is so wonderful to know that Landon and Gracie will grow up with these dogs. The kids like to call them ‘best buddies’ as in, “how are you best buddy?” or “I love you best buddy.” It is sweetness that melts my heart. The dogs themselves have grown to love each other as well, although it was not love at first sight.

They were both rescued from owners who could no longer keep them. We are happy that they are here with us, it is great to have a dog so lovingly follow you around and to also make your full bed even fuller by the time morning rolls around.

Nine years ago I could have told you this was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. As the years have passed we have grown with each other and we have gone though so much side by side, and you know I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thank you babe for always being more than enough, for always knowing, for always showing, for always loving, and for always making me laugh. May we always have each other, no matter what else happens.

On a rainy day this week we ventured to the aquarium. There is a calm peace that we all experience here that is a much welcomed break from all the busyness that fills much of our days.

Even though it is not necessarily animals in their true natural habitat it is a great snap shot of what nature holds in depths that we wouldn’t otherwise get to experience. Every time we go we all learn something new. We all go away refreshed with a sense of wonder for our big wide world and mindful of our impact while we are here.

We live in So. Cal. which means that in the Winter gardening is a busy time. Since we bought this tiny casa it has been a bit tricky to figure out where the best sun is. Our backyard gets only a tiny bit of sun, so everything needs to be grown in the front. In turn, it gets more love out front than it ever would have if it had been out back. We did get stuck with an ugly chain link fence, and although we would love to rip it out and replace it, it’s not top priority in the home repair budget. The fence does good job of containing the dogs and children so I can’t give it hard time. I’m hoping that grapes and berries will make it disappear.

It has taken me a while since we moved to actually commit to growing some of our food here. I was debating with myself if it was even worth it, since we only plan on living in the tiny casa for a few years. Then I woke up from my fog and realized that this is our home now, and I can’t tell the future. When I look at the food we are growing I smile. I smile when I realize that we will eventually have fruit. I love this tiny casa, don’t get me wrong, and I now have great plans on making the most of this space while we are here.

We currently are growing: radishes, carrots, onions, spinach, lettuce, rosemary, chives, parsley, cilantro, nasturtiums, black-eyed susans. We also just put in some bare root stock strawberries, grapes and an Anna apple tree. To round out the landscape and give us more fruit we also have some dwarf bananas and a lime tree. I would love a kumquat tree and dwarf tangerine. As a rule of thumb, everything that gets put out front needs to fulfill two purposes because we are so short on growing space. I can only hope that this tiny garden of ours grows wildly out of control and takes over our entire front yard. Ahhh, a girl can dream.

Today Gracie had ear tube surgery and this was the only picture of the whole ordeal that I was able to take with my phone. To say I was worried would be a huge understatement. Over the past year she has had many infections (about 1 per month) and her pediatrician was concerned about scarring on her ear drum from the frequent infections. We had to be at the hospital early in the morning, and the kids were quite excited to be going to the doctors at ‘night’.

My grandmother (Mema) came to the hospital with us, a huge blessing indeed. She kept all of us company and it was great to spend time with her, regardless of the situation. The sister-nurses (as I like to call them) were wonderful in keeping all of us comfortable.

I learned that my children love vending machines and all the junk they contain, ahem. Gracie downed two bags of cheetos as soon as she could. She was up and running quickly; this girl has spunk. They let us leave early because it was obvious that she was well enough to go home. I am glad it was such a minor surgery and she is doing so well with the entire thing. My heart and prayers go out to little ones and their families who are facing more serious hospitalization.

Tonight we discovered a local children’s art studio with some friends. The studio is run by the owner and her toddler son; they spend their days here creating. It is an amazing place with offerings of art classes and unstructured studio time. I know we will be visiting it again soon.