Tiddilicks

When Super Why! (children's show on PBS) was on the other morning, I was startled by obscenities coming from the TV. I'm not going to type out what I heard because I don't want that kind of google traffic. The diaper fetish people are enough for me. Let's just say the frog's name was actually Tiddilick; they even spelled it, letter by letter.

I was going to name this post "Tidbits," but I thought Tiddilicks was a much funnier word.

First, a shout-out to my sister Jolene who found out that the bun in her oven is indeed a girl. They've picked out a precious name for her, too, though I haven't received the go-ahead to shout it from the rooftops. I will say that the first two initials are MM. And they aren't naming her Minnie Mouse. How's that for a gorgeous little face? I love her already.

Second, a couple cute kid things.

Anna and Ben spend A LOT of time in the double stroller. Usually, Anna is in the back seat and Ben rides in the front. Anna is not content to sit back and relax. No, she sits up and forward, gnawing on the sides of the stroller. Sometimes, she reaches forward and finds she can reach Ben's head. When she discovers that happy surprise, she starts to play with his hair. Usually, there's a whole lot of giggling going on from both of my children. Sometimes, it pisses Ben right off.

I have to get kind of creative in keeping Ben busy and entertained while I'm hanging out our laundry outside. We don't have a fenced-in yard, and there's a huge temptation to run into the neighbor's yard or *shudder* into the alley or worse, down the driveway and into the busy street. This is why we need playground equipment in our backyard. I'm considering putting our Little Tikes slide back there to keep him occupied.

Anyway. That's not the cute thing. I taught him the small joy of running through wet sheets and towels and feeling it slap against your face. I also showed him how he could run a little obstacle course through the towels, around the pine tree, loop around Anna in her walker, jump over the blanket and back through the towels... all while flapping your arms like a bird and yelling, "Tweet Tweet!" I had to demonstrate a couple times before he caught on. I'll let you sit with that mental image for a while.

So, those pictures of our little projects around the yard I promised you.

I had these miscellaneous decor things I needed to either store, get rid of or use. I thought they looked kind of country-cute on the side of the garage that I can see from the kitchen window when I'm doing dishes. Without measuring the planter hang-y thing first, I bought a pot and some plants for it. Then I planted the pot and placed it gingerly in the wire thing. And of course the pot is too big.

I kept it there for now. I'll be replacing it with a smaller pot (and maybe a whole new set of plants) this week. Luckily, there's a greenhouse just five blocks away.

Isn't this mossy planter the most awesome thing ever? So cute. I love the curly-cues. The bush at the bottom of the picture will be removed this weekend. It's a hugely ugly juniper bush that is not loved by anybody who currently lives at this address. I'm replacing it with lilac bushes. *swoon*

My front porch from the north side. We had the little blue pots left over from last summer, so they got a new batch of annuals. I installed the same bracket/curly basket combo next to this door as appears on the side of the house (you can see the juniper bush peeking out from the right corner). This view will be improved exponentially by the installation of the porch light that has been sitting in our front closet since we moved into the house.

The view from the south side. Now you can get a nice view of the bushes we planted yesterday, also the columbines that look kind of ridiculous right now with such naked flower beds. I want to plant lots of hostas and other leafy green things that can live in the shadows of my beautiful (someday) bushes. We have some peonies that live on the side of the yard, and I'll transplant them to the flower bed in the fall. See the sidewalk? It's kind of unsightly. I want to replace it with red brick, but I'll settle with replacing the concrete. That patch job just isn't doing it for me.

My weigela bushes. It was hard to pick a variety. I wanted a flowering shrub, but I wanted something a little cheaper than hydrangea. I wanted lilacs, but I thought it might be a bit boring to having the house surrounded by them. So we'll have 3 weigelas in the front of the house on the right side of the porch (we couldn't fit a third in the car), and 2 lilacs on the other side of the corner. I hope they are beautiful.