Grandma Pat's Garden (delayed post)

I wrote this over a year ago. 

My mom is an amazing gardener. When I was a child, her garden was HUGE. What I remember most about the garden of my childhood is the raspberries. The raspberry bushes seemed to go on forever and both my older brother and I have similar memories of having to pick them, wearing long sleeve flannel shirts so our arms wouldn't get too scratched up.

Oh, and the homemade raspberry icecream! My mouth is watering just thinking about it! I loved hearing the electric mixer churning the cream and raspberries. I loved helping my parents add the rock salt and ice to the wooden icecream maker. But most of all, I loved the taste of the smooth cream and tart raspberries. YUM!

My mom still gardens. Her garden now isn't as big as the one I remember from my childhood, but she still knows how to put the rest of the neighbors to shame!

Now, I appreciate my mom's garden for different reasons. I am the beneficiary of the literal fruits of her efforts. I get a nice bag (or two, or three) full of tomatoes, beans, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, green beans, peas, corn, beets, and radishes nearly every week. My kids love eating veggies from Grandma Pat's garden!

I also appreciate that my mom takes the time to let my kids help her in the garden. This year, Grayson got to help plant! He has had a lot of fun watching "his" vegetables grow!

Every year, my mom also plants pumpkins for the kids. Today, Grayson got to pick his pumpkin.

Thanks Mom, for planting a garden! It's nice that I get fresh vegetables, but it's even better that my kids get to "help" you and spend time with you doing such a cool thing.

Voice over final product

Grayson's voice over will be aired soon on KUER!  (I had to make it into a QuickTime video to make it work on Blogger.)

He has three lines...

The first kid voice saying, "Mom, you listen to KUER every morning. All I ever hear is Steve Inskeep this and Dan Bammes that."

In the middle, "Have you given to KUER?"

And the last, "Please oh please oh please!"

He handled himself so well during the recording - like a true professional.

So, if you're inclined to follow his prompting and donate to KUER, you can do so from the website: www.kuer.org

Casting Call for Voice Over

Today, Grayson got a taste of radio life. KUER asked for volunteers to voice a radio commercial for their big fundraising efforts that will take place in the next little bit.

Maddie was disappointed they didn't need a teenage girl, Ryan wasn't interested, and Grayson... well, let's just say that Grayson was THRILLED at the chance to be in a commercial.

He did great, but was a little sad that it was a radio commercial and that he wasn't going to be on TV.

Who knows, this may be the beginning of something big...

Back to school

The kids have each been in school for almost two weeks now. It's been a bit of an adjustment because I have one in each level of school now - high school, jr. high, and elementary. That's a lot of start/end times, early out/late start days, lunch money, and no student days to remember (oh how I LOVE Google Calendar!).

So far, so good. The kids haven't complained too much and we're settling into a routine of getting homework done and dinner finished before 9:00 pm.

It's been a while!

I was sending a couple of friends an email update and thought "Holy cow! I can use this for my blog! Woohoo!  Kill two birds with one stone!" So here it is...I've added a bit more to the original email.

Life is good.

Maddie is registered to go to Hillcrest (10th grade!)  and will be taking the test to get her driving permit this Friday.  She didn't pass last week, so keep your fingers crossed that she passes the test tomorrow.  She is getting super involved with Red Cross Youth Council. She's on the RCYC Executive Committee and will soon be a Twitter and Facebook Ninja because she was just appointed as the Youth Council Communications Director (or some title like that).  I'm not sure how this will effect my data plan since she already sends/receives about 14,000 text messages a month. Yes, you read that right, fourteen thousand!

Ryan is registered to go to Indian Hills (7th grade). He's having fun being in Scouts and YM.  He still only sends about 15 texts a month, but I suspect as he starts to collect girls' phone numbers this school year that number may increase by a few.

Grayson is registered to go to Sprucewood (3rd grade).  He's working on his own invention right now - web shooters to go with his Spiderman costume.  This will be the third time he's been Spiderman for Halloween.  I don't have the heart to tell him that you can't just go catch a spider and put it in a little pouch on your wrist and make it shoot out webs that will hold you.  I hope he figures it out when he tests everything jumping off the retaining wall in the back yard before he tries jumping off the roof.  

(Total side note here... I love this picture of Jeff and me.  Mostly, I love it because Grayson totally photo bombed us.  Can you see his little face?)

I think a lot has changed for me since the last time I blogged... I just re-read all of my other posts and realize how much has changed!

I now work for the Utah Education Network as a Technology Integration Instructor. I have the coolest job in the world. I get to teach other teachers how to use awesome technology

Jeff has too many jobs to name.  He is still a Crisis Counselor in the ER for IHC, and he has a small private practice going.  We also started a consulting company and are working on some drop-out prevention curriculum for the Utah State Office of Education.

We're busy.

Sammy, the dog, is doing very well.  She has stopped peeing on people when they come to the house. She just rolls over at their feet now.



Like I said, life is good.