The Magical Minivan of Wonders and Unusual Odors

Shortly after Iraq was born, I traded in my shiny, red Toyota Celica for a 2000 Toyota Sienna. Although I never saw myself as a minivan person prior to the purchase, I was quickly sold on the spaciousness and features of the cute little behemoth. Over the 7 years I drove it, it continued to be reliable no matter how many M&M's were melted into the carpets or drinks of various flavors and colors were spilled in it... but it did have it's own odor.

It was perfect for our needs in Texas, but since moving to Virginia we have found that the mountain pass my husband must travel to work can become more than a little dicey on early snowy winter mornings. Last winter we had a really fun and interesting adventure un-sticking his Toyota Camry from the snowbank in which it had become unwillingly incarcerated after sliding down an icy hill. It was stuck on it's poor belly like a kid over a barrel.

With 2 kids still in car seats and one teenager who simply doesn't fit between them on a bench seat, we needed a minivan with all-wheel or 4-wheel drive. Toyota makes an AWD Sienna, but there is not a reasonably-priced used one to be had anywhere within a 300 mile radius. SUVs are great, but also gas hogs, and many don't come with 3rd row seating. And then we found the Ford Freestyle - it's kind of somewhere between an SUV and a station wagon, it has AWD and 3rd row seating. Nothing against my Ford-owning friends, but my hubby and I have both had Fords in the past, and we aren't big fans. We're Toyota people. But here's the catch... the Ford Freestyle is build on Volvo technology, not Ford technology (for the most part). Um... Volvo is good!

I have to say, it was tough saying "goodbye" to my Sienna last night. I went out to "clean it out" so no one would see my shed a few tears. It was a GREAT car for a LONG time! But alas - say "goodbye" I did.

And (hopefully) for the next 7+ years, "Skye" will be my ride!

And in other news, Iraq is tasting the sweet rewards of her gardening endeavors.

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New Garden Pictures

Well, the strawberries have officially gone nuts!

They are absolutely sweet and delicious...

BUT...

They are trying to take over the pepper's planter... Can you see that?? The strawberry plant is sending away-teams out of the planter in all directions now.

And from the looks of things, I'll be needing some good tomato recipes soon... we're going to have tons!

These were supposed to be cherry tomatoes... but they apparently cross-pollinated with the regular size plants. They'll definitely be the largest cherry-tomatoes we've ever had :o)

And I don't know how to pickle peppers, but we'll surely have a *peck* of them if Peter Piper comes around.

And the cantaloupe seems to be doing quite well too. I cut back English Ivy to plant them in this area... the ivy doesn't have a chance against this stuff!

And, it looks like we'll soon have a few carnation flowers to enjoy. You simply can't plant a garden with a little girl without planting a few flowers (that don't turn into food).

Summer camp is going well, and Broadway came home from his week in WVA at JROTC camp. He had a GREAT time!!

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It's ALIVE!

That's right... the garden is still alive. Perhaps this makes me a reformed plant serial killer.

Most of the plants were lovingly planted in pots and have been kept on the sunny back deck. They have been upgraded them from cup 1.0...

 to pot 1.0...

and a few of the tomatoes are on pot 3.0 by now.

And we have NEWS! Apparently some of our tomato plants are expecting!

Aren't they cute??

And, the cantaloupes are taking over the world!

By the end of the summer I may have to use a hatchet to clean this area up, judging by the circumference of the stalks on these things. Will that make me a stalker or an axe murderer??

Iraq is thrilled with how beautifully her garden has grown. She has been snacking on fresh peas and strawberries, and is looking forward to some tomatoes, cantaloupe and peppers.

When we came in from watering the garden yesterday, The Skink made it abundantly clear just how she feels about gardening at this time.

Yes - we actually found her asleep like this yesterday. Despite her precarious position, I did run down stairs to get my camera and proceeded to take a number of pictures before my hubby scooped her up and relocated her to her bed.

Kids! Fresh from the garden!

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Thrifty Thursday - PROOFS OF MY CRIME

And how is it thrifty? Because I shamelessly thieved "proof" photos of Iraq's ballet performance off the professional photographer's website! YES I DID! Of course there is no earthly way we could afford to BUY the prints right now - and what would I do with prints, anyway? Scan them? Who prints things any more?? Well... we know professional photographers do.

Only the photographer was allowed to take any pictures during the dress rehearsal, and nobody was allowed to take photos during the actual show. It puts poor folks like us in a tough place. Luckily, I don't mind having the giant word "PROOF" pasted across my children if it means getting to see the photos. Since my hubby and I worked backstage, we didn't get to see the actual ballet :o(

So with no further ado, I proudly (and somewhat sheepishly) present... PROOFS OF MY CRIME:

So - there you have it! Now - I also had to share a few pics I took myself... like this one of my two goofy dogs...

I can assure you my Chihuahua's eyes only glow when she is performing the Chihuahua Mind Meld on the bulldog... and I do mean ON the bulldog. Brandy apparently comes in quite handy as a heater.

And here's The Skink sportin' a new doo.

And another of her sportin' not much of anything. She found a cat toy and proceeded to tickle herself with it.

So - another shirt (a onesie) was in order. The Skink accessorized her outfit with a winter hat, Hawaiian lei, and by pulling her socks all the way up... because that's what Skinks do!

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Skink Update AND... Our Garden Pea'd!!

This morning there were some strange sounds coming through the monitor from The Skink's room. I went up to get her, and found her loose and roaming about, happily playing with her toys.

*Sigh* I'm afraid the crib will no longer contain my sweet Skink. Just to prove my theory, I put her back in it (I don't usually leave the side down for sleep-time - I just did it to get some pics of my little Houdini at work). This is what I witnessed:

Clearly, it's just as easy to climb out when the side is up. Nobody is safe, now...

And speaking of climbing, our peas are climbing and...
pea-ing!

Look! It Pea'd again! Thank goodness it was outside.

And our deck-garden plants are growing like weeds... but amazingly, they AREN'T weeds - they're actual non-weed-type plants, and my daughter and I have kept them alive. Not only that, but...

The tomato plants are giant... and flowering!

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
And the ever-so-famous song (on YouTube) that goes with this infamous classic film... LISTEN NOW

And the sequel... Attack of the Flowering Cantaloupes! For this movie, I can just see the vines wrapping themselves around people  while the melons consume them from the feet up.

At any rate, so far this has been a great experience for Iraq. She has felt very proud that the very seeds she planted in little cups have grown to this point. In the next few days she'll be munching on those peas... and what a great way to get my picky-eater to eat her veggies! LOL! She doesn't want to eat anything green right now, but I have a feeling she won't bat an eye when I serve the things she grew herself. Hmmm... is that a little like eating your pets?? Aaack! Forget I said that!

With that, I must share a story from my own childhood. I must have been 8 or 9 years old, and we were visiting my grandparent's lake house in upstate New York. My uncle grew a lovely garden, and one evening he proudly served broccoli from it. Of course as children we are instructed not to play with our food, but how many of us can say we did as we were instructed? Pppffffttt! Not me!! I dissected that broccoli like a frog in biology class! I was fascinated (and a little repulsed) to find little, green worms on almost every interior branch of my veggies.

Of course I immediately took my discovery over to show my mother. Soon everyone was inspecting their broccoli a little closer, and not one piece was free from the little, boiled garden invaders. Yes - they had all been boiled with the broccoli, so I am sure they were quite clean at least.

To my childlike horror, I noticed that my grandmother was still happily eating her broccoli! I marched right up and demanded to know why she was eating worms! She smiled gently as she swallowed her bite and simply said, "I like meat with my vegetables!"

What a woman! She is currently a very youthful 101 (and a half) years of age. Who would have guessed that the fountain of youth came in the form of garden worms?

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Socially... Antisocial

Iraq had her ballet performance last Saturday. Everything went beautifully... for the most part.

As the mother of a child with an autism spectrum issue (namely Aspergers) it is hard knowing that my high-functioning daughter will always have issues with social interaction. Knowing that she has Aspergers is a huge step in the right direction for me as a parent. It means I can more easily identify her weaknesses and do my part to teach her HOW to interact.

The problem comes in when little Iraq has little interest in learning HOW to interact because she just doesn't care. She doesn't care... until she has been completely alienated by her peers. Then she wonders why they won't play with her, or for that matter, even speak to her.

I have tried to explain social grace to her on occasions too numerous to count, but she doesn't think my reasoning is valid. It's much like trying to parent Spock from Star Trek. "I find your explanations lack reason and logic... "

How do you explain to an almost-7-year-old that her female peers often act based on emotion and not logic? Of course my own little Spock does not lack emotion in any sense... she is far too easily incensed if I do not allow her to act exactly as she pleases. And unfortunately, she often pleases to do some wildly strange and bizarre things (as far as I can see).

So here are some "social interaction" pictures I took backstage during the final dress rehearsal for the ballet...

Initially all is well when nobody is too close... but when the adorable little girl on her right leans in to the shot...

Hey! Too CLOSE!

That's better but you have ruffled my little, blue feathers!

I will now physically distance myself from you, and my prickly vibes will frighten the little girl on my left and she will leave...  quickly...

When I am alone, I can adhere this endearing smile to the frontal quadrant of my cranium...

For today, I am a bluebird...

And I do not require your presence in my territory!

But I will concede to playing with your toys... provided you do not touch me, look at me, or ask me why I like to line them all up in little rows after I have dressed them all in the same color...

And now I will take up as much room as possible so that you may not approach...

And I will use a frightening expression as I lunge outward to vanquish any thoughts you may have had about trespassing into the territory that I have marked...

I will now look unconcerned... so that you will know that I am superior...

I have completed my posturing at this time, and you may take my photograph.

What more can I say? The photographs are posted in the order in which they were taken. The performance went beautifully, but no photos could be taken during the actual show. Iraq played her part to a "T" and loved the applause. She did not suffer any jitters as her little peers did... I suppose it wouldn't have been logical seeing as how she is our superior and all.

AND... She's not afraid of lions or tigers or bears....      Oh, *sigh*

In other news, Iraq was able to pick her first piece of home-grown food - in the form of this delicious strawberry...

And it was superior to any strawberry you may have grown, I'm quite sure!    LOL!

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