The hobby I never thought I’d have

I have made mention of our garden in several posts, and it's been the main topic of a few, as well (this one, and this one, and this one).  I don't know that I have ever listed "gardening" amongst my hobbies, though.  When I came to the revelation recently, I tried to figure out why I did not necessarily recognize it as a hobby.  It does not necessarily feel like something I do in my leisure time, because it's just part of our daily rhythm.  And for pleasure...?  The time, sweat, sometimes blood, bug bites, physical exertion - those do not seem pleasurable.  

I was raised by gardeners, and growing up, I was expected to help with the tending, harvesting, and processing (washing/cutting/freezing/canning) of a large variety of produce.  While my memories of all this are not the fondest (by no fault of my parents - it was just not always my first choice of summer activities, but in retrospect and as a parent myself, now, I understand and recognize how beneficial it was), I do have fond memories of enjoying the fruits of our labor.  There's simply nothing like garden cucumbers, fresh green beans, homegrown corn on the cob, peas straight out of the pod, garden-fresh asparagus, and cherry tomatoes still warm from the sun, to name a few.  I was raised on this type of produce, so it is just in my blood to desire this for my own family, I suppose, despite knowing how much effort goes into acquiring it.  I'm so thankful to have married a man who is on board with this and was even excited to research, build, and maintain such a wonderful garden plot for us.

Hard to capture it all in one picture, but I'm always amazed at what grows from seemingly nothing.
(You can see "before" pictures in the links above - it looked the same this year before things started growing.)

I think gardening is fairly universally considered to be hard work. That said, I think it can be as much or as little work as you make it.  If you're ok with weeds between rows, bugs and other pests, and plants that might not be at their happiest, then the simple act of harvesting is fairly straightforward, and the time commitment is only dependent on the size of your garden plot.   If you're like me, however, and want to pull every weed you see, keep the pests at bay (but without chemicals, due to your tiny helpers and the oldest one's enjoyment of eating his harvest straight from the plant), and make sure the plants are well-pruned and watered, it can become a significant amount of work and time commitment.

Chemical-free case in point: he loves to lick/chew the end of rhubarb stalks.

For example, we spent a solid hour last weekend hunting for, picking, and burning squash bug eggs (and bugs, themselves, when we could).  We have had issues with these pests every year, and so far this year, we had been able to keep them at bay long enough to get a good harvest from our plants before the bugs destroyed them.  That Saturday morning, however, I found cluster after cluster of their eggs, and though the plants were nearly done producing anyway, my OCD (and anger with these annoying, relentless creatures) kicked in, and I enlisted help to hunt, find, and kill as many as possible.  I had just had a conversation with my mom (and garden mentor) about the fact that I had seen these bugs as eggs and adults, but nothing in between, and ironically, we saw everything in between that morning; from squishing an adult bug only to have eggs squish out, to actively hatching ones, to teenagers, to adults mating - it was simultaneously fascinating, infuriating, and disgusting.  I felt like a crazy person (and still do as I type it all out to share with the world) in my near-rampage to rid our beautiful plants of these parasites.

The only photo evidence I took time to collect, but do you see those little tiny hatchlings?!  So gross.  (This is also the morning Jacob learned the word "gross." Ha.)

We have also warded off tiny slugs this year, as well as white flies.  The moles have been very active, too, and we're still figuring out how to best get rid of them.  Again, I am thankful for a husband who is such a capable and willing partner in all this, as well as fellow gardeners who are always ready with suggestions and helpful hints.

The newest addition to the garden is our owl, Kawzaz (you can probably guess who named him).
He has seemed to be fairly effective in his job of scaring squirrels and birds away, and Jacob loves him (he asked for this picture to be taken).

If you follow me on social media and/or see our family on a regular basis, you know we have had an abundance of cucumbers and other produce this year...and have probably been offered some.  ☺  While I'm not up to tackling traditional canning, just yet, I did make some refrigerator pickles we enjoyed!  We also put out a cooler of produce in the middle of our neighborhood and had a few takers.

I wish I could've captured Jacob's explanation of this when he was telling a friend about the produce sign; he didn't miss a step when recounting how and why we made it, what it was for, or how others made use of it.

Not everything produced a bumper crop...the spinach got nipped by that late freeze, and this was our entire harvest. 
This picture still makes me laugh out loud.

There were a few weeks, however, that this was our harvest nearly every-other day!

The happiest basil leaves you ever did see (that's my hand!).

I can't remember how much I've mentioned our neighbors here, but we have some really amazing ones.  One of the couples has an awesome garden, and they challenged Jacob to a tomato-growing contest!  They gave him the plant (Beefsteak variety), helped him plant it, and regularly ask him how it's doing.  It was such a sweet gesture and gave him even more motivation to help me tend to the garden this year.  Of course, I made sure to document it:

So many pictures with boots!  Who knew these consignment sale treasures would be such a valuable investment.  We almost always go to the garden during Lydia's morning nap, so the grass is still very wet with dew.  Doesn't hurt that these are also the easiest and quickest for him to put on himself.  :)

It's fun (and crazy and sad) to see how much HE has grown, as well, in these few short months.

"It's almost ripe!"

Jacob asked if he could take some "up close pictures" of his plant.
This is one of sevvvveral.  ;)

This 13.4 oz.-er put him in first place, so far!

The produce we have harvested, enjoyed, and shared is not the only benefit we have experienced as a result of the hard work put into our garden.  

• It has taught Jacob the long-term value of putting forth time and effort to accomplish a goal.  I try very hard not to force or guilt anyone, especially Jacob, into helping.  Some days he'd rather not pull weeds, but others, it's something he is genuinely excited to do.  He has come to learn the more he helps out, the sooner we can move on to other activities.
• There have been numerous nature encounters, and therefore, lessons.  On a few occasions, they have directly correlated with the preschool curriculum we have been working through!
• We have been able to invite others to help and be part of the process, and they have truly enjoyed it.
• Our garden is a common and easy topic of conversation, especially when there are not many "neutral" things to make small talk about, lately.
• Obviously, but significantly, we get ample fresh air and vitamin D while working in the garden, and the calories burned don't hurt, either.

Most importantly, however, the time we spend together in the garden is...something I can't put into words.  Lovely, maybe?  Therapeutic, perhaps?  It is almost always free of conflict, whining and other behavioral issues, and distractions.  My personality type values productivity, so the fact that we are spending such focused, productive quality time together doing something we both enjoy is so good for my soul.  Truly.  Simply put, it's good for all of us.

I know this post is lengthy and the thoughts are vast, but perhaps now you can see how I came to the realization (even if everyone else already had) that gardening is one of my hobbies.  It is constant, un-glamorous, and demanding work, but the benefits far outweigh the costs.  When I am able to focus on those benefits, it really is something I enjoy.  Something that I do for pleasure.  A hobby.

Dirty fingernailedly,

Kensy

Favorites of the day:

chocolate chip cookies

I can't even handle her excitement about her first time in Grandma and Grandpa's sandbox.
(Yes, she ate several handfuls, and yes, we all survived.)

Jacob is including her in play more and more, and it is just so precious to me.
So is her smile...and her tiny sprout of a ponytail. 

Speaking of precious:
We went on our first proper date in who knows how long the other day.  So, of course, we asked our sitter to take a picture.  Jacob assumed he was to be included in this, and stepped right into the shot with the best unsolicited smile we've seen from him (while being photographed) in months.
We did end up getting a shot of just us (which we also haven't done in who knows how long), but there are lots of reasons to love this one, too.  :)

Life-giving/Joy-inducing

Happy mid-(late) February!  

For as excruciatingly long as January seemed, February is flying by - over here, at least.  Anyone else?

In the case that you're sitting at home on yet another snow(y) day, here's a lengthy blog post for ya!  In the case that you were hoping this would be a quick read, I do apologize.  I probably should've split this into two posts, but you'll see how the topics are related and can just read it in pieces, if necessary.  Or just skim.  Or just look at the pictures.  Or stop reading right here.  You do you.

For those still reading...

I recently listened to a podcast interview during which they discussed, among other things, the importance of Sabbath.  I'm not going to get into it all here (for now, at least), but the main idea questioned why we don't seem to place as much weight on this commandment as the others.  I doubt I'm the only one who sometimes forgets this is a true commandment, and though it's not punishable by law, it is right up there with "thou shalt not commit murder."  Not too long ago, I wrote about our fairly-new "margin" practices (here), and I think those relate to Sabbath, or count for something, at least.  But this interview also reminded me of a couple "bigger" life-giving "things" (for lack of a better word) I've been a part of in the recent past.

The first: stamping weekend.  I know I've mentioned this regularly-occurring event in my "favorites" several times, but I don't think I've ever explained it!  So, in a nutshell: stamping weekend is a long weekend dedicated to making cards using rubber stamps and many, many other card-making supplies.  It has also been designated as time to work on scrapbooks, though I've never done so, and many do not use it for this, anymore.  My aunt and uncle host the weekend three to four times a year and guests include a couple close friends, my mom, and whatever corresponding spouses and kids are able to be there, including myself.  (Whenever I attend, guests also include any of my friends who are able to stop by for a visit! ☺)  The ladies take over the kitchen counters, dining room, and extra tables with gobs of stamps, paper, special gadgets and tools, paper cutters, embellishments, etc., etc.  They take turns making meals, so only one person steps away from their progress at a time (though they usually all help each other out, anyway).  Everyone brings snacks and yummy treats to share.  Meanwhile, the men either work on outside projects (including, but not limited to, building a deck, cutting down trees, and mowing), watch sports, or watch movies.

This weekend has always been life-giving to me, because of the amount of quality time we're all able to spend together, the productivity that takes place, the creativity I'm able to unleash, the delicious food, and the lack of other obligations over the course of a few days.  It was especially life-giving this time around, because it served as a brief retreat from motherhood, some important uninterrupted conversation time, and a couple mornings to stay in bed as long as I pleased (I almost wrote "sleep in," but I wasn't that far removed from my "mommy schedule" - haha)!

I have next to no pictures of this most-recent stamping weekend, because we truly had our noses to the grindstone making cards!  Here are a couple, though!

One of my favorite Lincoln restaurants closed a few years ago, but they just reopened in a new location (closer to my aunt and uncle's), so you'd better believe we went for lunch...which included their amazing Brussels sprouts!)!

I made over 60 cards over the course of the weekend! 
Many were fairly simple or just assembling pieces I'd already created, but still - was well worth the trip/time!

Here's one of them - made for a sweet friend's second birthday!
All credit/props/kudos goes to my sis-in-law who designed Elmo and Cookie Monster. 
You know, of course, I just couldn't handle the tiny little cookie!  Haha.  Needless to say, we mass-produced some of these guys, so if you have a little one, you may be seeing them on a future card...

The second life-giving "thing" I was involved in recently was IF:Northside - a livestream of the IF:Gathering at our church!  There are several reasons this was life-giving for me:

-The "duties."  I was the first to say "yes" to helping organize this, so ended up sort-of heading it up.  This meant I was able to dust off some of my previous event-planning experience and administrative skills, and I have to say, it felt really good!  I haven't had (or maybe just haven't taken advantage of) a lot of opportunities to show these "colors" since living in KC, so I think my leadership may have come as a surprise to some, and perhaps a bit of a surprise even to me - haha.  I was really glad to be able to help out in this way and am looking forward to future events!

-The fellowship.  This was the first opportunity we'd had in several months for the women of our congregation to gather and spend quality, intentional time getting to know each other.  You know how I feel about building relationships, so this was absolutely life-giving for that reason.  It was especially sweet to not only build relationships with others, myself, but also to witness others doing so with each other.

-The snack pot-luck. ☺

-The (donated, so FREE) Scooter's coffee!

-The content.  I won't attempt to share everything that was meaningful, interesting, and important, because it ALL was!  There were speakers I'd heard from before (and looked forward to seeing, again!), as well as new faces and fresh messages.

-The worship.  Because I play keys on our worship team most Sunday's, I don't often have the opportunity to partake in corporate worship as a non-performer, if you will (please don't read into this term and think I see leading worship as just a performance, or anything like that - don't need to go down that rabbit hole...simply couldn't think of a better way to describe it in this instance).  It was also extra-wonderful to stop singing, myself, and listen to the other women's beautiful voices lifted together in praise.  ♥

I did a science experiment in the 4th grade that used flowers and colored water. 
Imagine my surprise when I ran across this as a decor idea!
(They didn't change quite as much as I'd expected by the next day, but were still pretty!)

Put my Cricut to good use cutting lots of circles!
(Special thanks to Joann's for having the perfect colors of paper on sale for 70% off at just the right time!)

The theme was celebratory and bright colors, so thanks to Dollar Tree party supplies and a little time, we created a corresponding photo backdrop.

Fun pens and journals for everyone!

We had close to 50 ladies in these seats over the course of the weekend!

♥♥♥

So thankful my mom and BFF (who was mistaken as my sister a couple times just this weekend) were able to attend the whole conference!

Obviously, there are other "things," both bigger and smaller than these two, that give me life and bring me joy, but these are the ones I'm sharing with you, today.  Perhaps you can relate.  What's "life-giving" in your life, right now?  Is there something you'd like to do that you could, but haven't, for some reason?  Do it.  Totally worth it.

Joyfully,
Kensy

P.S. After working on this post for a couple weeks, I'm starting to second-guess using the term "life-giving," but don't want to go back and change it all.  So, just know that by "life-giving" I simply mean these things have brought me great joy...or "sparked joy," if you want to get trendy.  ;)

Favorites of the day:

dark chocolate

"Snow days" that mean no morning library storytime, and instead, watching some of "The Price is Right" with a snack and a kitty lapwarmer.  ☺

♥☺♥☺♥

Our Very Hungry Caterpillar

As of a month ago, we have a one-year-old in the house!  So hard to believe.  I still don't know how to feel about it.  BUT, I thought I’d share some pictures of his Pinterest-inspired (though not Pinterest-worthy) party! ☺

Bryant's mom made the super cute birthday shirt (GreatStitch), and his mom and sister made the awesome quilt!
(These are for sure Pinterest-worthy, for the record.)

Thank you, Amazon, for having the perfect plain, colored, non-glitter b-day hats that happened to match the "Happy Birthday" banner I've had for years!

Hooray for free online printables and bamboo skewers I always knew I was saving for a reason!

These were his monthly "milestone" pictures!

Never did I ever expect to have a "photo booth" at our one-year-old's birthday party, but it just kind-of happened. 
The caterpillar ended up on the empty spot we usually take pictures in front of, and it ended up being a nice way to commemorate the decoration.

More monthly pics (he had almost exactly the same few poses each month, so I couldn't help but print them all out).

The "spread!"

(Cucumbers and mint fresh from the garden!)

My 4-H cake decorating training/materials came in handy!

His very first cake (or treat of any kind) experience!

He commonly eats with just one hand, so this method wasn't out of the ordinary. 
He took bites a little faster than normal, though. ☺

When they take the cake away...

Made a pretty good dent in it!

This party was a little more involved than I'd originally thought it would be, but when you have all the materials to just keep decorating (thanks to my card-making hobby/materials), you just keep decorating!  haha.  I kept telling myself that because I wasn't planning to make all the food the caterpillar eats in the book, and I also wasn't planning to poke little holes in all the food, I wasn't going completely overboard.  I did, however, put up more decorations than I'd thought I would, and just generally did more than serve a meal and some cake.  It was enjoyable, though, and really fun to make it special.

...

I considered leaving this post at that; a fun DIY party that was enjoyable all around.  In the interest of transparency and sharing life lessons learned, however, I’m going to tell another part of this story.

There were tears involved.   Unnecessary-stress induced tears.  Unnecessary stress-induced tears.

There were a few causes for these tears (including, but not limited to, the fact that our baby was turning ONE), but the unnecessary stress I brought upon myself to put on this super-casual, low-key first birthday party caused me to reach a breaking point.

In an effort to try to help my sweet, patient husband understand what was contributing to my inner turmoil and unrest over this gathering (for which we didn’t even send out formal invitations), I did some serious self-reflection (that I've already shared and talked through with him, for the record). Here’s what I figured out:

I felt alone. Felt is the key word, here. I knew then, and I still know now, that I wasn’t, but for some reason, that didn’t stop me from feeling alone and unsupported in the planning process.  We had a lot going on in the time leading up to this milestone, so yes, I may have been the only one making the specific plans (both necessary and unnecessary ones, mind you).  That doesn’t mean, however, that my husband and pretty much everyone who was going to attend the event didn't offer to help.  As it turns out, I’m just terrible at accepting help and even more terrible at asking for it.  This wasn't the first time this has been an issue for me.  I’ve even been know to rescind a request for help because I felt guilty/bad/burdensome for asking in the first place.  Some would probably say it's a matter of control.  At times, it very well may be, but only in part.  More-so, I just really don't want to inconvenience others, especially when I am fully capable of doing what I'm asking them to do...or when I don't think the task I'd be asking them to do is completely necessary in the first place (i.e. hole-punching pieces for a homemade banner that I wasn't even planning to make).

The other, less-prevalent-in-my-life, thing I realized is that I did more decorating than I'd planned because it was really the only thing I could do in advance.  I couldn't make food more than a couple days ahead of time.  My biggest fear was the cake frosting "melting," so I wanted to wait till the night before to do the cupcakes/cake.  I could only clean so far in advance before things would need cleaning again.  So, since all the plans were made, but I felt like I couldn't do anything in the couple weeks leading up to the party, I just kept making decorations.  I don't regret it (esp. since I didn't really spend money on them - I already had all the materials in my stamping stash...and it's something I enjoy doing), but I do regret the time it took away and stress I allowed it to add to everything else life entailed at the time.

As I was writing this (because goodness knows this wasn't written all in one sitting (#allthenaptimes)), I was listening to a podcast during which they discussed the fear of failing in front of others and the need to have emotions/hurts/feelings/"wrestle points"/circumstances known.  It was my desire for this party to go off without a hitch and be enjoyable for all who attended.  It was also my desire to creatively and economically make it special, which meant several DIY projects.  My fear of it all not getting done, the cake melting, the food not being enough, etc., etc. was real.  If I failed in any of these areas, it would be very evident to those attending the party (who would not have cared/judged at ALL, for the record).  I kept all this fear bottled up inside of me until it came spilling out of my eyeballs in the form of ugly-cry-tears.  I (finally) expressed these fears, took a deep breath, and realized how irrational I was being.  This may have all been a silly reason to come to some of these realizations, but I'm so glad to have come to the realizations, period, regardless of the reason.

Something else that was mentioned on the podcast put into words something I've been trying to explain (to myself and others), but hadn't quite been able to figure out how to do so: "Recreation causes disappearance."  When someone can recreate our feelings/situation in a way we feel completely heard, then that can cause our situation to disappear in a way that no longer bears weight on our life.  I've heard the quote before, but had to look up who said it first: Timothy Keller said (wrote?), "To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything."  Bottom line: God is enough.  He's more than enough, in fact.  He both knows AND loves us, and He's all that matters.  Why, oh why, is this simple, simple truth so difficult to remember, sometimes?  I've been writing (in my head, that is) pieces of a whole other blog post about my desire to be known in my still-fairly-new community and stage of life (outside of marriage), but I'm deciding right at this moment that I'm not going to do so.  Writing the post itself would've been a cry out to be known by others besides the Lord, and it's just not necessary.

So, anyway...here I am, writing to you in an effort to put my fears/failures/mistakes/emotions out in the open; not for sympathy, but in an effort to bring some light and solidarity to some issues I'm sure I'm not the only one struggling with (speaking of struggling, I'm struggling to leave that sentence ending with a preposition, but I'm going to, anyway...choosing my battles...or something like that...).  I hope to become better at seeking and accepting help, as well as failing in front of others.  My pride, perfectionism, and own sense of control are not worth the expense of the stress it all can sometimes create in my life and the lives of those with whom I'm closest.

Phew.  Ironically, I wrote far more than I expected to about a party I decorated for far more than I expected to.  Ha!  If you made it this far, thank you.  I appreciate the time and interest you took in my pictures, ideas, and thoughts.  As always, questions and comments are more than welcome.  Happy to chat about any of it in person, too!  ☺

Transparently,
Kensy

P.S.  An added benefit to all the decoration efforts: since there isn't a holiday for a while after the 4th of July, I just left the b-day decorations up for a couple of weeks!  It was kind-of fun to feel like we continued the celebration.

Favorites of the day:

quality time with others

garden-fresh produce

brunch 

more specifically: this pancake "flight"