I got ambitious yesterday and decided to remove asphalt in the back yard. I assume that the previous owners thought it would be a good idea to pave an area to park, but then they didn't maintain it, and so it eventually was covered in dirt. I got a little sun burnt, and I am really sore now, but now I have all this area I can work with and do whatever I want with. well, at least once we haul away the broken up asphalt.

Ethan and I have both been spending a lot of time painting. My painting is coming along. For me painting is made up of a lot of problem solving. I spend a lot of time figuring out what color is best, where to put it, what is wrong or right with the composition, color, value, etc. I bought some new paint, and found some really good colors that are working brilliantly, and I hope this painting will come out pretty good in the end. It is definately a work in progress.

Newly planted flower beds.

I spent the day gardening, and so I'm very worn out. I had to remove a lot of sod to re-define the flower beds. Once I finally got that done I started putting in my plants. I still plan on buying some more plants, such as some clamatis to climb the porch railings. Some of the plants I planted today are new, and some have been in pots for several years. Unfortunately I discovered that my white asiatic lilly, which appeared to be doing quite well and even multiplying in the pot was actually not draining well. I'm not sure they are going to make it, since most of the roots seemed to be rotted. One nice thing about this was that I was able to easily seperate the bulbs so I could plant them im multiple locations. As for the peonies. Two of the plants are looking droopy, and I'm hoping that with watering and sun they will perk up...Then, the lilly of the valley, which had also multiplied in the pots, did not want to be seperated from each other for planting. The smart thing to do, I guess, would be to plant it as it was straight from the pot. But I didn't want to do that, I want to spread it out. So, it might not make it either, but that is my fault for wanting to do things the hard way. And sadly, I'm very concerned about my dogwood tree, it does not appear to be doing well, and I dont' know what I can do about it- the leaves are dying, and it seems to be wanting to go into "fall" mode and change colors for fall. It would seem I was great at gardening until the day I got a yard, and then I lost any luck or whatever I had before. I love gardening, so I will keep at it, I just hope it all starts growing and doesn't die on me.

Painting and progress on the yard.

Today I felt like painting, so I started working again on my current painting. Ethan found me and decided he wanted to help me paint, on my painting, and could not understand why I wouldn't let him. I decided to set my other easle up along with some poster paints and acrylics and give him a couple old paintbrushes and let him paint on one of my ugliest (it was hideous) college paintings. He loved painting, except he doesn't like getting paint on himself or on the floor (which is nice, but slightly inevitable). He ended up with paint all over himself even with the plastic bag on, but that is part of the fun of painting. He liked when I showed him he could mix the colors and get new colors, although he didn't want the colors to mix (he had 4 seperate brushes going by the end of it). I also thought it was cute that he sang while he painted.

The mess that is our yard. Ryan's dad came up and helped him move part of the fence back. It looks so much better now, it's much more open feeling. Ryan rotatilled a small part of the new area for me to have a garden, and I started getting it ready to plant stuff and discovered that there were definately more rocks than dirt. So, I'm thinking I might bring in some dirt and make a raised bed veggie garden. I've started digging up the front flower beds, and expanding them also. That fern planted in the front was over growing it's area so I had to dig out a bunch of it. We also planted our dogwood tree in the front yard (sorry, no picture yet), and i'm hoping it survives... We also are moving that swing some where (it won't fit on the porch, so we might get rid of it), the previous owners left it there.

our lovely backyard. makes for a lot of mud right now.

This is the fence after they moved it back, originally it was almost flush with the hot tub.

this corner is where I am putting my veggie garden. This picture was before I had the large pile of rocks going.

We arent' sure what we are planning with the hot tub. the previous owners let their dog chew up the cover, and those covers are expensive. It also leaks, and Ryan is trying to figure out if it's cost efficient to patch it up, and if it will even work then....we will see.

I love painting!!!!

I've started an oil painting, and I'm so excited about it. I got the first layer painted, with the darkest hues. I've been trying to come up with ideas for paintings, but all of them were lacking and I got bored with them before I had a chance to sketch them out. Last night I had a dream where I saw in clear detail exactly what to paint. I woke up surprised because it was a perfect idea, exactly what I want to paint and I could see it so clearly, everything from composition, to color scheme. I have never been so inspired. It's not necessarily an inspirational painting, but I felt inspired as to what to paint. I'm not telling you what it is yet, only that it will be impressionistic in nature. I'm certain I'll have some pictures of it up soon.

Rain Rain Go Away.

I feel like blogging today hoping maybe it will help me feel better.

Today has been one of the saddest days of my life. I'm not going to explain it all here, that's too personal, and I'm sure it's not something everyone wants to read about. I did want to say some things I've learned from my sadness.

1. I have a testimony in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and in the Book of Mormon. I know it's true in my heart and in my soul.
2. You choose who you will be, and if you don't choose you might find you don't like the person you have become, so choose. (original quote taken from the Iron Giant, and modified by me a little).

3. Teenagers are hard, and I do not look forward to having them. Can I just sleep through that part? j/k. But, I pray and hope that a mighty miracle will happen and my children will not greatly rebel. You want the best for them, you want them to grow up happy and you know which things will bring them the greatest happiness, and which things will bring them only sadness and pain. I don't know everything, but I do know some basic things about what brings happiness and what brings pain, and I hope that if nothing else my children will believe me on the important things. If they want to question the health benefits of broccoli, oh well, but the big choices in life that are most important, I hope they believe me and choose well.


4. I've gotten to the point on certain trials or things that bring me great sorrow where I feel so helpless, I've done all I possibly can. And I realized that the only way out of the problem would be for a miracle from Heavenly Father, for Him to send help. So I believe in God, and miracles, and the power of prayer.


There was a video on MSN a while ago about an LDS mother whose 16 month old son had drowned in the bath tub and he had been pronounced dead at the hospital. They were able to finally get a heartbeat after 40 minutes or so of trying (i'm not sure if that's total or just once they got the hospital), but he was in a coma. the doctors told the parents that the likelihood of him coming out of the coma was slim, and that he probably would have to re learn everything. He did come out of the coma, and was not brain dead and was the same boy they knew. The interviewer was asking the parents questions about them leaving the baby un-attended in the bath tub, and the mother sat there on national television and bore her testimony on the power of prayer. Her testimony moved me so much, to see her say it on national tv. I knew that what she said was true. God made it possible that her son got the right doctors who knew the right methods to use, it was through God that he was saved.


So, back to my original point, I believe that Heavenly Father will help. We don't always know how and when, and we don't always recognize it when it happens, but it will happen.

Toddler drowing article and video, I highly recommend watching the video:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35820985/ns/today-today_people/

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/35833923#35833923

Random

Random thoughts today.

Ethan has been struggling with temper tantrums lately, but with the help of some good advice and comforting from friends, it seems to be abating. We can hope right? Things I've learned so far in parenting (and I'm positive there are those who would disagree, but so be it): Spanking does not work. I don't like to spank, and I don't believe in spanking, but there have been moments where I've chosen to spank, and I've come to the realization it doesn't work, and it just creates more hostility. My goal is to try hard to find alternative methods of "discipline" that are more positive and actually produce results. Positive parenting seems to help a lot (noticing and praising good behaviour, distraction/difusing through humor, etc), as does time out, when done properly. I am amazed at how much parenting changes you and how much I have grown and changed since becoming a parent. It might not seem like much to others, but to me it seems like I've changed a lot. Many more years to go right?

I miss Costco. I went to the store today to buy diapers and found that they don't carry the size Ethan wears (he wears them while he's sleeping, and on really long car rides or for babysitters whom I don't want to overwhelm with potty training my child). So, I headed over to walmart, to find that the huggies were overpriced. I decided to go with the walmart brand, thinking that since they are mostly for sleeping, quality wouldn't matter. I was surprised when I got home and pulled one out of the box. It was extremely thin and flimsy, there wasn't much to it... I'm not too sure how much those things can handle.

I LOVE my new home. It's still very disorganized, but it will eventually all get unpacked and put away. I am waiting for some warm weather to do yard work. I love yard work, but I hate the cold, so it will just have to wait. It gives me time to plan out what I want to do, right?