So, remember all my big talk about all my “hard work” getting the soil ready for the garden this year. Well, I made the executive decision to put in raised beds the following week! The soil, I guess, is not a total loss as the beds are still sitting on top of it but it is kind of funny to not plant directly in the dirt that was worked. Hubby and I had chatted about the raised beds for a bit and the talk was getting bigger so I decided that we should just go for it. When I say that I decided we should go for it it just means that I said okay lets do it. Don’t be fooled by that either though because by “lets do it” I mean great, go for it.
While Sis and I headed to a brunch and a birthday party last weekend Hubby and his Dad were hard at work gathering materials moving a TON (literally, no kidding ONE TON) of dirt/manure and building boxes for my happy garden. Amazingly hard workers!!! I really did not know what to imagine in my head I just knew that they would be large and that there would be 5 for the actual vegetable garden and 2 smaller ones for flower gardening. I was kind of excited about the whole project. When I came home and actually saw the boxes sitting there in all their glory I was incredibly excited about it!!! I don’t know what it is about those boxes but they made me SO happy!!! I cannot wait to get out there and get planting in a few weeks.
I am SO thankful to Brad and his Dad for ALL their hard work and super sore bodies!!! Thank you guys so much and I promise to share some veggies and flowers.

Guess what I did yesterday for the first time in a l-o-n-g time (thankful for a cold winter).

Yep, it was time to pull out the ole’ mower and my neighbors are so thankful as I think I was the last one on the street to do so!

Not done yet but here is a peek at the Easter dress and skirt. They are finished except for the hem on the skirt, maybe I will have time to get to that tomorrow. Sis’s dress is a bit to big. When I start messing with patterns I always forget to adjust the original size but at least she will be able to get a lot of wear out of it (when I say a lot I mean years). That is a good thing though…right!? The original pattern had a gathered waist but after I saw Daisyeyes Easter dress I loved the little pleats in front so I started messing around with it. See sometimes it is good to procrastinate…a good idea might come. Sis also is taller so there are not many things that come down to her feet so as a special something I added length and fabric for a Princess Dress feel.

The skirt came together pretty quickly and I am not sure that I love it but it will be fine. It is just very twirly skirty. Great for dancing around with our daughter!!! You can find a review of the skirt here just in case you are interested. I do like that the dress and the skirt both have little pleats that is a fun thing.
You may also notice that I had to change the trim fabric. I had originally gone with this but had to change after I needed a bit more fabric and the original fabric was no longer on sale. Before you ask, no, it was not an excuse just to buy more fabric. Honest, I was trying to save money as a different fabric store was having a sale but not the original fabric store that I went to. No one wants to pay full price. I had to go for the sale!

You know how you can hear a sound and immediately know what it is? You know what it is because you have heard it in everyday life repetitively. It is when you hear the familiar sound mixed with an unfamiliar sound that you pause because in your head you are thinking…oh, no, you did not just do that…
I hear the spindles on our steps turn almost everyday from the kids running their hands past them or from my hand brushing past them as I sit something on the steps to go upstairs. Today I heard the ever so familiar sound of the spindles but then I heard a thud. I knew what had happened before I looked up and I even felt myself, for a brief moment, refusing to look up and refusing to enter into what I thought to be true.
The cry followed the thud and as I slowly brought myself to reality. I saw our child, body on one side of the spindle and head on the other. Are you kidding me? That was the phrase that I was screaming inside my head. We have chatted about this a million times…it is not a wise idea to stick your head through the spindles…it will be stuck there…maybe forever!!!
I never really panicked I was just mad! People stick their heads through spindles on TV, not in real life, come on! I try to push the head through the gap but screaming ensued…it was not coming out that way. Tried to lift the spindle up and out…it went up but not out. Sat there for a little bit contemplating my options. Thought about the butter but it is so pricey. Debated calling hubby just to share about the predicament. While dialing his number I thought about my speech for the worst mother of the year award. Brad suggested Vaseline…it is cheap! Asked the older sibling to come and sit with the stuck one while I went to get the Vaseline. Busy coloring was the response. My response…your sibling is STUCK in the steps…CANNOT MOVE! Please come love on your sibling! Footsteps, I take off running for the Vaseline, I hear, it is okay Buddy! Releave the sibling to return to coloring and I slather the stuck one. Still no go! This stuff works on TV I think to myself! Lots of screaming and really red ears. I give up. Call the hubby again to find the location of the saw! Call reluctant unstuck sibling back to hang out with stuck sibling while I run for the saw. Relieve unstuck sibling and comfort stuck sibling as I move close with the saw. Lift the spindle as high as I can so that there will not be a ton of noticeable damage on the steps. Proceed with sawing at an unnoticeable angle so the other side of the saw is scratching the steps but I have no clue. Lovely! Finally, last cut and FREEDOM! Lots of cuddling and loving and a few shared words of I told you not to do that!