How To Build a Backyard Garden Bed

My Mother's Day gift this year was this gorgeous backyard garden bed built and planted by my hubby (with help from little Gem of course!).

So, I decided to do a post with a step-by-step guide of how to build your very own garden bed!
One very important thing you need you need to know before you get started: You need to pick a spot in your yard that gets at least 6-8 hours of sunlight a day. Once you found your sweet spot, get ready to rumble! Here we go:

Step 1: Find an Old Bed Frame
Check your local yard sales, craigslist and freecycle. And just keep your eyes peeled as you drive around town. Rocky picked this up off the curb of a house a few streets over! Score!

Step 2: Outline your garden area (according to the measurements of what size frame) you got with spray paint.
This is so you know what area you'll be digging up. No reason to dig up more than you need to!

Step 3: Digging.
You'll want to dig up about a foot of soil. This aerates and softens up the soil so you can mix it better with your topsoil and fertilizer. This step is also so you can sift out any large rocks and roots you have down there. You definitely don't want any roots down there suffocating the soil and hogging all the water. This is definitely the most gruntworky step of the process :)

Step 4: Place your bed frame in to border your garden area.
During this step, you want to be sure that the frame is even and level. Take the extra time to ensure each side is as even as possible - Rocky even busted out his level to do this! It's important because in order for your garden to thrive, you need the water to distribute and drain evenly. Fill in garden area as well as any gaps surrounding the frame with the soil you removed earlier that has now been sifted. 

Step 5: Add in Topsoil, Humus, and Manure. 
Fill in the whole garden area with manure and humus. (We got our manure and humus already mixed). You want to mix these soils together with the original soil from before until they are all very well-blended. Even it out and then, finally, add your topsoil over the whole area. Again, level the area out nicely.

Step 6: Lay out your plants in your garden.
Take some time to plan this out properly. As for choosing what plants to grow - it all depends! It depends on your geographical location as well as what season you're in. Do lots of research before you get started. Depending on what you've decided to grow, you'll want to research how far apart to place certain plants, which plants thrive near one another, which plants are potentially harmful to others nearby, etc. Set the seeds and/or seedlings in the spots you've decided for them.

Step 7: Planting.
Now it's time to put your baby plants into their new homes. Each plant will require a slightly different depth, so follow the instructions for the individual plants.

Step 8: Give 'em a good watering.
As a welcome home gift, shower your new plants with lots of water! It's important to get a good soak into your soil, but of course, don't drown the little guys!

Step 9: Place protection around your garden.
Depending on what critters you have in your area, you'll want to decide what is the best plan of attack on defending your plants from hungry passers-by. Do some research on what garden predators you have in your area, and defend accordingly. For us, we decided the best plan was to surround our garden with a chicken wire to keep out the ducks, geese and rabbits. We kept it kind of loose and wobbly because it also protects against possums and raccoons - they try to climb up the wire but eventually their weight causes the chicken wire to flop backwards and they can't ever scale over the top.

Step 10: Step back and enjoy! 
Congratulations! You now have a backyard garden bed! Isn't it cute?! Now you have lovely task of simply caring for your garden on a daily basis. Have fun and happy gardening!

 May your garden be blessed and bear much fruit! :)

Positive Parenting

My little toddler is out-of-control adorable. 

I know you feel the same way about your own kids. Sometimes you look at them, and you're just like "WHY ARE YOU SO CUTE!?!?!?!?!" Because they are! And it's so amazing. But then, sometimes in the midst of them being out-of-control adorable, you realize they're acting downright out-of-control, hold the adorable. You know what kind of stuff I mean.

Insisting on ripping clothes off in the middle of Mass. Pulling poop out of her diaper and bringing it to you like it's a present, only to discover it's not chocolate. or peanut butter. Throwing rice all over the carpet. Climbing into the shower with you every. single. time. Pulling every last wipe out of the box and scattering them everywhere. The list goes on. Feel free to add your own in the comment section!

In a world like this, it's easy to slip into an endless reel of "No." "Don't." "Stop." "No." "NO!!" "Do not." "Stop it." "Noooooo!!!" and the ever-famous, machine-gun "N-n-n-n-no-no-no-no!!" These words play on as an endless playlist to your life, and with each new crisis, you're doing you're very best to not end up sounding and looking like this. So what can a mama do?

Something that's been helping me a lot lately is to focus on using "positive" commands with Gemma rather than the negative ones. So rather than just saying "Stop. Stop. STOP. Do NOT do that!" when I find her pulling every article of clothing she owns out of her drawers, I say something like "Gemma, put those clothes back in the drawer." Instead of telling her what NOT to do, I tell her what TO do instead.

Before I give the command, I also simply say her name "Gemma" and wait for her to meet my eyes, that way I know I have her attention. I've been doing this as often as I can and I have to say, it works waaaay better than just yelling "No!" every time she does something psycho. I think we were both getting to a point of being numb to that word!

So that's my advice. When you find find your child in the midst of chaos, try to hold back the negative commands, and offer a positive command instead. Here are some more examples:

"Do NOT pour your water out of that cup!" vs. "DRINK the water from the cup."

"Stop throwing those blocks" vs. "Hey, can you build me a tower with those blocks?"

"No hitting/biting/scratching/pinching/etc!" vs. "Gemma, show me how to do a gentle touch."

"Don't climb on the table" vs. "Sit in your seat like a big girl."

Now, I'm in no way saying this is fool-proof and works every time. HA! Ha. Ha ha to the ha ha ha. Toddlers and children still have a mind and will of their own and sometimes are testing it out on purpose. Of course there are times when the "No"s and "Don't"s are fully necessary. However, I do think it's better to rely on the positive commands for common usage, and rely on the negative commands for more serious matters.

It also helps to just keep your kids constantly distracted by an endless flow of fun things to do ;)

What are some of the crazier antics you've had to stop your kids from doing? Have you tried this type of "positive commands" parenting, and how does it work for your child?

I Am Actually Alive

Contrary to what might be assumed by my extremely long bloggy absence, I wanted to assure you all that I am actually alive! I think my break was a combined result of needing some time to really heal from my miscarriage (emotionally and spiritually) as well as the fact that decreased internet usage is part of my Lenten sacrifice this year, so I've just been popping online long enough to briefly (like 10 minutes max) check my emails and FB. I don't count the hours I spent on TurboTax while I filed my taxes :)

Anywho, just wanted to say hi to everyone!! I'm looking forward to entering into Holy Week and finishing out this Lent with fortitude. God has truly stretched my heart this Lent and our relationship has changed... because I have changed in ways that allow me to open myself and surrender myself more fully to his Unchanging Love for me.

So as the Church prepares for Palm Sunday tomorrow, as we remember the crowds preparing the way for Jesus to enter into Jerusalem, I pray that we might all prepare the way for Jesus to enter into our hearts in a way which changes us, for the better.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!! What does my Valentine's Day look like this year?

There is just something so beautiful about a single red rose :)

Rocky and I are going on our Valentine's Day date later this week since we have a youth group night every Tuesday. So we'll be spending our evening going to Mass, praying a rosary, and hanging out with a bunch of super awesome teens! We don't really take Valentine's Day too seriously so the actual day isn't too important to us. But since we go on a date at least once a month anyway, it's a nice excuse to go out and be romantic :)

My crazy girl never stands still for pictures anymore! haha :)

Gemma joined a preschool co-op group with a few Catholic families in the area which has been really great, even if she's a little young for super structured learning, it's nice for both of us to get out and socialize. I was a little too excited to get to make valentines this year for all her little classmates! Where did I go for ideas? Pinterest! where else?? :)

Here are the valentines I made, which I modified from a few different ideas I saw:

Those are little tubes of bubbles! They read: "Being friends with you makes me BURST with joy!" :)

 I saw an idea on Pinterest for bubbles valentines and I totally loved the idea because I wasn't keen on any kind of candy valentines considering the age group these were going out to. What's so great is that I already had these bubbles! Heart shaped bubble wand and all - they were leftover wedding bubbles from forever ago! (recognize them, Jaime? ha!) In fact, I already had all the materials for these so it cost me nothing to make! So jazzed about a free, cute crafty craft :):)

What about you all? What does your Valentine' Day look like this year?

Benjamin Louis

For awhile now, Rocky and I have known we would name one of our sons Benjamin.

This past Thursday was the day we finished the 33-day long St. Louis de Montfort - Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. Some of you may be familiar with it. Rocky and I had consecrated ourselves individually before we ever met, and then we renewed it together, dedicating our Marriage to Jesus and our Lady, and again, renewed it to dedicate little Gemma when we were pregnant with her. So this most recent renewal was for our most recent addition to our family.

You see, this past Friday was supposed to be the day that I made my announcement here on my blog that we were expecting Baby #2. But the bleeding had started the day before - the exact day we completed our Consecration. And I thought I'd wait it out to see if the bleeding cleared up, as it had when I bled with my pregnancy with Gemma. It didn't this time around.

Last night, we held our tiny, tiny baby in our hands. We wept over him, and we just knew he was a boy. Our first son. To be honest, I'm still so shocked. It's hard to accept that just a few days ago, he was growing in my belly, and now he's gone. I just can't make sense of it.

This morning, we said goodbye to our sweet baby boy, Benjamin Louis. We placed his little body into a box, sang a hymn, and sent him out into the water off the dock in our backyard.

Even in the midst of this pain, I'm so grateful that we have an eternal perspective. That I can find some comfort knowing that he's in Heaven now with Jesus, and that our gentle Mother is holding him in her arms. It doesn't make me miss him any less, but it at least gives me a small token of comfort in knowing he's there. A friend of mine this morning who has known this kind of loss herself said "Just think, as parents, our job is to get our babies to Heaven so ... check. One down." I'm so thankful for my faith. I know I'm not going through this alone.

This morning at Mass, the responsorial psalm was "Praise the Lord, who heals the broken-hearted." I do praise Him, and I pray for healing, because my heart is truly broken today. All I can do is keep praying, cry when I need to, and thank Jesus for the beautiful blessing of my daughter, Gemma, who has already made me smile so many times today. Without her, I don't think I would have smiled for a long, long time.

This Post is About Poo

I just wanted to throw that right out there in case anyone has a weak stomach and can't handle the potty talk.

Anyway, Gemma is not even 18 months old yet, but I'm already considering potty training her. Or at least starting to entertain the idea of it. But, CA, why do you feel such a desire? Surely your child is too young.

Well, I see your point, but I also see Gemma's poop. Let me clarify. I started my day today by cleaning poop off the carpet, yes, carpet. You see, my wild lovely child like to take her diaper off and then do her business. And she has an uncanny knack for then walking through her business once she's finished. It's horrific and happens more often than can possible be acceptable.

So clearly, she is aware of when it's time to go numero dos. I've even picked her up mid-pooping-on-the-floor-antic, and rushed her to the toilet to catch some or (on a good day) most of her crap. Small victories, yes, but I'm looking for a greater glory. You know of what I speak. Diaper free days, a confident and independent pooper, happily using the potty on cue every time... in short, a fully potty-trained toddler.

Maybe I'm a crazy daydreamer! What do you all think? Is she too young to start potty training? My gut says she could probably handle it. In the meantime, any tips on how to handle her poo on the carpet shenanigans?

My Baby is a Toddler

So I've been evading an obvious truth for quite some time now... my baby isn't really a baby anymore. I mean, of course she'll always be my baby but the truth is, she's been a toddler for quite some time now. Supporting evidence for this statement:

Exhibit A: Has developed a love for goldfish, applesauce, string cheese, etc... classic toddler numnums.
Exhibit B: Throws tantrums over tragedies such as: not wanting to put clothing on before leaving the house, me setting her down so I can go do some miscellaneous chore, being told to stop and/or being forcibly removed from the destruction or pain she is causing to some thing or someone, being put into her stroller at the mall/zoo/any public place where she is running around like a crazy lady... usually putting herself into imminent danger. This list goes on and on, but you get the point. 
Exhibit C: Demonstrating a curiosity in and subsequent need to play with literally EVERY THING that crosses her tiny path - animals, knives, grass, garbage, other children's possessions, my ears, pieces of food she found on the floor, paper, flour, etc.

And if all this still isn't enough to convince you, may I present to you...
Exhibit D:

Yep. Red Marker. Allll over the wall.

Little punk could NOT be happier with herself!

 Now it's time to go see just how "washable" crayola washable markers truly are! :)