Violet's Secret Garden

Yesterday was Peter's and my 5th anniversary. Yep, I don't regret marrying this man. He is sweet and loving and stable and sometimes the absent minded professor. I'm less gentle than say Rosemary West to Rev John Meredith, but he does not hold that against me (I hope). 

Due to the extreme generosity of my sister Treloar who babysat the kids, Peter and I got to go have an adult dinner at Blue C Sushi and then we went to the movies together for the first time since Ingrid was about 15 months old. We saw the Hunger Games (my 2nd time) We were joking that we didn't even remember what movie we saw the last time we got to go, though I do know that it was at the Crest theater and that Danielle and Eric watched her. I did look back in my journal and we saw The Dark Knight. We thought it was a Batman movie. 

Apparently the kids were awesome for my sister and went to bed without a hitch. Horray! 

Posted by Karen Backman at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We finally got the queen bed home from my mother in law's house. It only took about 2 months. First it was the rain, then the truck had a dead battery. I fixed the truck battery very easily and then it took until the weekend to do the deed. 

We got to go out to visit with people and have dinner while Megan watched the kids for us. I can't even express how appreciative I am that she can and will watch the kids for us. And they love her. 

We are going to go over with food to my mother in law's house for her birthday tomorrow. Apparently she's been telling Peter that she doesn't want to celebrate her birthday this year, but I think the boys have a different idea. Anyway, I thought if a good gift and need to head out of the house today to get it and run an errand. 

My sister Treloar and my closest in age cousin on my dad's side, Aurora are coming over for dinner tonight. I haven't seen Aurora in far too long. We're having tacos. 

I've been working on Spring cleaning the last couple of days. I got my bedroom cleaned up mostly. I need to put away laundry. While cleaning I found my favorite dress, which I thought got lost in the move and I danced with glee. 

Posted by Karen Backman at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My stomach has been upset a lot lately for no good reason. I've been slightly less tired than I was, but still a bit lathargic. 

I got my sorry butt out of the house today. We were all going to go to Marymoor and fly a kite, but Ingrid had a meltdown and so I took Finn to the mall to play. He fell asleep as soon as we got into the car, so I took the long way and he woke up as we pulled into the parking lot. He had a good time playing with the loads and loads of kids there.

We headed home and since Ingrid was feeling better, Peter took her to the park down the street, and I met them there for the kids to play. It was very sweet. She saw Finn running toward her, and ran to meet him and gave him a hug and a kiss. Alas, Finn took off into the grass and took a faceplant, which resulted in him being COMPLETELY covered in mud. Face, rainjacket, pants, hands, all smushed into him. 

I brought the poor tike home and gave him a bath. 

Then my lovely husband made us a dinner of chicken quesedillas. They were good. 

Posted by Karen Backman at 6:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I must say, there's really no excuse for how complacent I have become on so many subjects. I just took a small step to becoming a better citizen of my community and of the world. I am aware that it is a very small step, but all roads have to start somewhere. 

What did I do, you ask? I started ordering organic produce from a farm. I suppose I'd do one better if I just got on the bus, went to Pike Place and got organic produce from there. I say, maybe one day, but my baby steps make it less convenient for me to pack the kids in the car, try to find parking, and all that hub bub. 

On top of the trying to consume more locally, I am also pondering making other changes. We're almost in a position to pay a premium for humanely made/distributed items and I'd certainly rather have less than know that I was contributing to the horrific conditions I've been reading about in the past few days which is degrading our society. 

I'm not going to be all high and mighty and say that everyone should stop consuming things in the US that aren't made ethically, but I don't want to be part of the problem, so I'm thinking from here on out, whether something is cheaper on Amazon.com or not. I'll try to find it locally from a non-box store before I look there. I just wish there was a simple solution to make our communities take car of the people that support them, instead of exploiting the people that support them. 

Time to start shopping more at the local PCC, and Orange Blossom, and Farmer's Market. As always I'm open to suggestions on how to change for the better. 

Posted by Karen Backman at 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I went to the party store and got some decorations for the boychild's second birthday party on Saturday. I think I'm going to try and make something resembling a Blue's Clues paw print for a cake. I'd have just bought one, but apparently they don't sell those in stores anymore, that I can find. That's okay though. I am the cake master!

We've been sso lucky with the spring-like weather that I feel like I'm going to be all sad if it goes back to being super cold.  It's not predicted to be as warm over the weekend. I was hoping the kids could play outside. 

Posted by Karen Backman at 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)