Fourth Time's a Charm

Three years ago we decided to try growing our own food. We planted seeds - tomato, pepper, onion, lettuce, and spinach - in pots and tended to them until they were ready for transplant into the garden bed we built with our own eight hands. Everything grew rapidly at first, but by midway through the summer only our peppers, of which we had enough to feed roughly half of College Station, and a handful of spinach grew to the point of edibility.

Two years ago we tried again, planting three of the same vegetables but relocating our garden bed to a sunnier spot in the yard. This time around the tomatoes survived, thrived, and overtook our lives and the peppers and onions produced respectably. To say we felt good about our gardening skills would have been the understatement of summer 2013.

But then last year….last year Mother Nature humbled us. We followed the exact same step-by-step process as the summer before, and felt so confident in our green thumbs that we branched out and planted blueberries and strawberries alongside our tomatoes, peppers, and onions. To show for our hard work we ended up with fewer than 10 grape tomatoes and absolutely nothing else. Master Gardeners we're clearly not.

Those of you who've successfully grown food are probably thinking that Tom and I would do better at this gardening thing if we actually read something - other than the backs of the seed packages - about cultivating produce. You would be correct. And yet we probably won't change our laissez-faire style. Ridiculous, I know.

After last summer we had no where to go but up, so we spent most of our Valentine's Day (hello, 75 degrees on February 14th!) working in the yard. In the garden bed Will and I planted red romaine and butter leaf lettuce, broccoli, and red and yellow onions. In two oversized pots Hallie and I planted cherry tomatoes. And then, in a corner of the yard that had previously been home to two dying evergreen bushes, Tom, the kids, and I planted the one thing I've always wanted in my backyard (besides a splash pad). We planted a nectarine tree.

Ok, so I really wanted an orange tree, but the nursery's spring shipment of citrus trees had yet to arrive as of Saturday afternoon. None of us wanted to postpone our Valentine's Day tree planting though, so we picked out a nectarine tree to start with and cleared a spot to add an orange tree once the citrus trees have been delivered.

Valentine's Day fell, calender-wise, perfectly this year. School and classroom celebrations took place earlier in the week, which freed up the holiday itself for the activities we love. Tom played disc golf, I went to Zumba, the kids played outside, we ate Spoon's frozen yogurt for lunch, Tux discovered an infatuation with leaves and introduced himself to a lizard, and we spent time together getting dirty, working hard, and loving on the earth.

I've told myself that the extra Valentine's Day affection we put into digging and watering and fertilizing will lead to extraordinary results this year. I'm only just plain ole' crossing my fingers that the fourth time's a charm.

Thank you to everyone who has already visited, "liked", and/or shared the new Chasing Roots Facebook page. If you haven't yet had a chance to check out the page, click here!

I Love You Because...

In honor of Valentine's Day tomorrow, today I want to share the messages of love - the second halves of the sentence, "I love you because…" - I wrote for Will and Hallie throughout the last 14 days.

Will, I love you because…

…you made me a mom.
…you love to learn.
…you can laugh at yourself.
…you try really hard not to make a mess when you pee.
…you think about how what you say and do will make others feel.
…you always put your dishes in the dishwasher.
…you give really good hugs.
…you still let me hold your hand.
…you never feel sorry for yourself.
…you are an amazing cousin.
…you ask fantastic questions.
…you are a humble winner and a gracious loser. Except against Hallie.
…you learn from your mistakes.
…you take good care of Tux.


Hallie, I love you because…

…you never forget to pray before dinner.
…you completed our family.
…you always say you're sorry when you make a mistake.
…you do a really good job brushing your teeth.
…you believe in magic.
…you celebrate the achievements of others.
…you love to create.
…you're such a good reader.
…you always want "just one more" hug and kiss.
…you only sing at the top of your lungs.
…you take after your namesake.
…you are a worthy adversary.
…still call it a "ho-and-tell".
…you are a team player, but also a tremendous leader.


And even though I didn't make Tom a heart for his bedroom door (maybe next year), I did make him a list.

Tom, I love you because…

…you make me laugh.
…you tell me I'm pretty. And strong. And smart.
…you listen graciously when I tell the same stories over and over again.
…you always complement my cooking. Except for that one time.
…you unload the dishwasher on the weekend.
…you try to keep the kids quiet so I can "sleep in" (you know, past 6:30am) on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
…you tolerate my need to constantly organize and declutter, the frequency with which I change out our throw pillows, and my obsessions with young adult novels and movies.
…you support my professional endeavors and personal passions.
…you work hard to provide for our family.
…you trust me to steer our ship through the occasionally rough waters of our life together.

In honor of Valentine's Day, tell someone you love them. And then tell them why.

Thank you to everyone who has already visited, "liked", and/or shared the new Chasing Roots Facebook page. If you haven't yet had a chance to check out the page, click here!

"You're Weird. I Love You."

Last week I wrote a post for MomsEveryday about how, after nearly quitting Valentines Day thanks to an unhealthy relationship with Pinterest, I finally came up with the perfect heartfelt but simple Valentine's Day tradition.

You can read the post in its entirety here, but in case you don't have the time to pop over to MomsEveryday, here's a synopsis:

• Valentine's Day (at least the Pinterest version) has gotten a little out of control.
• At first I felt like a failure because I didn't hand-make all of my VD cards and decorations and/or feed my children exclusively heart-shaped meals.
• Then I moved on and decided to never again tackle any Pinterest projects that might take longer than two hours, cost more than $10, or leave me in tears should failure ensue. (Unless I have my mom's help, of course.)
• This year I came up with a new Valentine's Day tradition called "I Love You Hearts".
• I cut two large hearts out of cardstock, wrote "Will/Hallie, I love you because…" on each one, and hung them on the kids' bedroom doors after they went to sleep on January 31st. Then I completed the sentence - 14 times for Will and 14 times for Hallie - on miniature sticky notes. Every night I've added one new sticky note to their hearts, so that each morning they wake to a new message of love.  
• Thus far this tradition has made our February mornings warm and sweet and oh so worth waking up for, and I highly recommend it.

So there's the background. Moving on to what went down this week.

I wrote in the MomsEveryday post that my secret wish was for Will and Hallie - on their own, as I had no plans to suggest it - to write messages of love to each other.

Imagine my joy, then, when I walked by Hallie's bedroom door on Saturday and saw this:

"weird I Love You (heart) Will"

Granted, it appears that at first Will considered telling Hallie that he loves her because she's weird, but in the end he changed his mind and decided that he loves her because he loves her. Oh, my boy. You're weird. We love you.

And then, imagine my surprise (who am I kidding - I wasn't surprised at all) when I walked by Will's bedroom door on Sunday and saw this:

"I hat you will. I bo not liv wif you."
(I hate you, Will. I do not want to live with you.)

It seems Hallie didn't quite understand the point of the "I Love You Hearts".

I feel it necessary to add that while there's no excuse for her behavior, Hallie had been "wronged" by Will - to the extent that he landed himself in a timeout - immediately prior to the note writing incident. She's been working on addressing her frustrations with Will calmly, without hitting or screaming at him, and to her credit, she did neither in this situation. Shortly after she wrote the note she came to us and "confessed", clearly upset with herself for writing something so mean to her brother. She was also upset with herself for writing in marker, which meant she couldn't fix her spelling errors.

Once both kids apologized, Tom and I retreated to our bedroom, closed the door, and laughed until we cried. The angry faces? The misspelled words? The speech bubble? The Spanish tutorial in the middle of it all? This expression of emotion - fierce and passionate and creative - is just so Hallie. Oh, my girl. You're weird. We love you.

Thank you to everyone who has already visited, "liked", and/or shared the new Chasing Roots Facebook page. If you haven't yet had a chance to check out the page, click here!

When Your State Changes How You Parent

My biggest fear when we moved to Texas was not living hundreds of miles away from our familial support system, nor was it having to catch lizards under Tupperware in my kitchen and kill snakes with a weedwacker in my backyard. My biggest fear was the guns. I knew, of course, that I was unlikely to encounter Texans showing off their weaponry in the grocery store, but I also knew that the probability of Will and Hallie being exposed to guns was considerably higher in Texas than anywhere else we'd ever lived.

So Tom and I taught the kids what to do should they ever find a weapon or are with someone who finds a weapon. We talked to them about how they should never say they have a weapon or pretend to shoot someone. We don't allow them to watch television shows or movies or play video games that glamorize violence, nor do we allow them to play with pretend weapons that look like real weapons. We don't let them play at friends' houses unless we know and trust the parents.

Considering the fact that I had absolutely no intention of ever letting our kids touch or shoot guns in real life, I felt like we'd covered all of our weapon-related bases.

Let me pause to give you a little background. My parents didn't own guns. Tom hunted once or twice as a child, but he and I don't own guns. I have never even touched - let alone fired - a weapon of any kind. Weapons scare me in a way that almost nothing else does and I avoid them like the plague.

But then Katniss Everdeen, wearing her braid and toting her bow and igniting a rebellion, arrived on the scene and suddenly I was interested. When I acknowledged - a difficult and emotional task - that a small part of me wanted to know what it would feel like to hold a bow in my hands and let an arrow fly, I had a realization about my boy.

Like many boys his age, Will's eyes light up at the mention of guns, bows, swords, nunchucks, and throwing stars. We seem to have instilled in him a healthy fear and respect for weapons, but he is undoubtedly intrigued. I realized that if Tom and I don't give just a little, the possibility exists that Will's intrigue will grow and he will find a way to learn more about weapons without our guidance.

Friends of ours received compound bows as Christmas gifts, and a couple of weeks ago they invited Tom and Will to join them at an indoor shooting range to try out their new weapons. After a great deal of soul-searching, I agreed to let Will go with Tom, as long as weapon safety received as much focus as did "shooting stuff". Upon returning home from their outing, Tom assured me that he and his buddy taught the boys everything they needed to know and Will assured me that shooting a bow and arrow was the greatest thing ever. And that I would love it.

This summer, Tom and his dad - who still has the 20-gauge shotgun Tom hunted with as a boy - plan to take Will out for a gun-safety and hunting field trip. I can't help but feel simultaneously excited and terrified for my boy.

The decision to allow Will - and eventually Hallie, if she expresses an interest - to have these experiences was not an easy one to make. I honestly believe that if we hadn't moved to Texas I would have stifled my intrigue and followed through on my declaration to never let our kids go anywhere near weapons. But in more ways than one, Texas has changed the way I parent. I want my kids to respect and fear weapons (in what I would describe as a "healthy" way, rather than in an all-encompasing, semi-paranoid way like me), but I also want to prepare them for what they may be exposed to growing up in this state.

It seems I'm growing (up?) as well…emotionally, mentally, and in the direction of a Texan. Maybe someday I'll have grown enough to find out for myself if shooing a bow and arrow is actually "the greatest thing ever".

I have no interest in starting a debate about gun rights and/or gun control. The possibility of a debate about either developing here on Chasing Roots causes me anxiety and is the primary reason why, throughout the four years I have written Chasing Roots/A Midwestern Girl in Cowboy Country, I have only used the word "gun" - with the exception of in reference to water-shooting toys - once. Once, in four years. (Comparatively, I've written more than 20 posts about lizards and nearly 100 that mention the weather.) I welcome comments of all kinds and questions about just about anything, but please, if you start or join a dialogue, do so with good intentions and take a kind approach.

Thank you to everyone who has already visited, "liked", and/or shared the new Chasing Roots Facebook page. If you haven't yet had a chance to check out the page, click here!

High Five for Friday (2.6.15)

1. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has in one way or another supported Chasing Roots this week. The virtual hugs and high fives have given me a much-needed boost, and as I closed my computer last night I felt better about what I'm doing and where I'm going than I have in quite a while.

2. Tonight Tom and Hallie have a date scheduled to attend our local children's museum's annual Daddy Daughter Dance. Last year their theatrical spins and twirls and dips landed them on the front page of the newspaper, so this year the dancing stakes are high…so high, in fact, that rehearsals have been underway for more than a week.

While Tom and Hallie attempt to impress local media photographers with their legendary "special moves", Will and I have our own date scheduled. Our plans are still hazy at best, but hopefully by this evening we'll have figured out how we want to spend our three hours together, just the two of us.

3. I finally got my act together enough to visit a bathroom remodeling showroom, schedule a consultation, and collect enough pictures of how (I think) I'd like our master bathroom to look to make getting estimates possible. It only took me three years.

I don't actually have the estimate yet, but I'm crossing my fingers for a number that will bring about another high five next week.

4. The University of Iowa Dance Marathon hosts its 21st annual Big Event - an actual dancing marathon, during which students dance (or at least remain standing) for 24 hours straight WITH NO CAFFEINE - starting this evening at 7pm. The goal of Dance Marathon is to "create and sustain special projects to provide emotional and financial support for pediatric oncology and bone marrow transplant patients and their families treated at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital", and since its inaugural year Dance Marathon has raised more than $14 million.

I found this organization, or rather this organization found me, at a time when I desperately needed a reason to stay at the University of Iowa. My crushing homesickness left me lonely and depressed on my best days and barely able to function on my worst days. The perspective and purpose I gained as a member of Dance Marathon helped at first to slow my downward spiral, and eventually gave me the good, swift kick in the pants I needed. I witnessed and began to understand a pain greater than that which I felt, and as a result I could finally redirect my energy and emotions toward something bigger than myself.

Every year on this day I think about the current dancers, families, and volunteers and wish for them the same incredible experience I had. Every year on this day I reminisce about the dancers, families, and volunteers I met and came to know and love throughout my five years with Dance Marathon. And every year on this day I remember Sebastian. There'll be a candle lit for him in my home tonight.

5. Happiness Highlights:

My dad sent me a picture of the "artwork Hallie
made me over Christmas break" display in his office.

Curled up with my kiddos on Saturday
morning. Striped pajama pants, anyone?

Though just the four of us watched the Super Bowl (we 
were bitter about the Pack so we didn't invite friends over),
we still held our annual prediction contest. Everyone scored
terribly, but Tom scored least terribly and therefore won. His
prize was me not waking him up to tell him that he'd won.

I took the kids to a snake birthday party...and I survived!
We left before cake because we had tickets to a basket-
ball game, but I'm not sure I could have eaten this cake
anyway - that snake looks a little too real...

Both kids earned two tickets to a TAMU basketball game by
reading a certain number of books/pages, so we cheered the
Aggies on to victory over Vanderbilt last Saturday afternoon. 

We enjoyed the game from the upper deck, which oddly
enough kept Hallie more engaged in the game. Score!

On Saturday we conducted a controlled and blind study to determine
which kind of pizza - Cici's or Little Caesar's - we prefer. Even though
Hallie had trouble landing on a rating for pizza "B" (she changed her
rating from 5 to 1 to 9), we determined that as a family we like LC
best. Which works out well, because LC is closer and costs less. 

 We also guessed which kind of pizza was which, and everyone
except Hallie aced this one. We are so, so nerdy. I blame Tom. 

The kids baked and decorated a cake, made a card, and wrapped
a gift for their favorite babysitter for her birthday. It was so sweet.

Happy Friday, friends!

Linking up with High Five for Friday!

Thank you to everyone who has already visited, "liked", and/or shared the new Chasing Roots Facebook page. If you haven't yet had a chance to check out the page, click here!

Grumpy Lil' Packer Backers

Thank you to everyone who has already visited, "liked", and/or shared the new Chasing Roots Facebook page! I am truly grateful for your support.

If you haven't yet had a chance to check out the page you can do so by clicking here!

Shortly after we moved to Texas the Green Bay Packers won the 2011 Super Bowl.

Touchdown!

We are the Champions!

Because I fully expected Aaron Rodgers to lead my team back to the big game in 2012, midway through the regular season I purchased matching Packers shirts for the kids and an adorable "cheesehead" hair bow for Hallie. I may or may not have jinxed my boys, but whatever the case, they fell apart during their first round playoff game against the New York Giants. Because our Green Bay attire and accessories had received far less use than anticipated that season, on Super Bowl Sunday I brought everything out for one more wear.

As he pulled his Packer shirt over his head, Will asked excitedly if this meant Green Bay had made it to the Super Bowl. When I explained that no, the Packers weren't playing that day, Will gave me this face:

Sad.

And thus began the tradition of Super Bowl Sunday Protest Pictures.

In 2013 the Packers won their Wild Card game but lost the following week to the San Francisco 49ers. On Super Bowl Sunday the kids and I dressed in our Packer shirts - and Hallie wore her cheesehead bow - so we could once again capture our feelings in a photo. The kids looked a little more frustrated in 2013 than they looked in 2012...

Frustrated.

In 2014 the Packers lost their Wild Card game, once again knocked out of the tournament by the San Francisco 49ers. The tradition continued with the kids donning green and gold for their angriest picture yet.

Angry.

Which brings us to 2015…the year the Packers quite literally gave away to the Seattle Seahawks both the NFC Championship title and a ticket to the Super Bowl. According to tradition, Will and Hallie dressed in their matching tees - which barely fit them now - and growled for the camera.

Super Bowl Sunday marks the end of the NFL season, so as of Monday morning these shirts are neatly folded and tucked away in the kids' drawers…waiting for victory in 2016.

We decided not to replace these shirts - Will's is a size 5 and Hallie's is a 2T - until the Packers make it back to the Super Bowl. I think Will is secretly hoping this doesn't happen for a long time so that someday he can "hulk" out of his current tee.

Making My Move…Four Years Late

I prefer waiting to jump onboard all fashion, entertainment, and social bandwagons until at least 50% of the original trendsetters have moved on to the "next big thing". Twilight? Started reading the books around the time the fifth and final movie came out. Email? Completely refused to use it for the first semester of my freshman year of college because I felt fairly confident it would "never catch on". Hammer pants? Waited so long to try on the pair my mom bought me that when I finally did, I'd outgrown them and I had to pass them on to my sister.

In keeping with this trend and after a great deal of consideration - perhaps too much consideration, given the fact that this course of action isn't exactly life-altering - I decided to create a Facebook page specifically for Chasing Roots. I want to post more frequently about my blog, website, and American Red Cross and MomsEveryday contributions without inundating or frustrating those of my Facebook friends who don't follow Chasing Roots or care for me as a writer. I also want Chasing Roots readers, especially those I haven't had the privilege of meeting in person, to be able to follow Chasing Roots without having to become my Facebook friend and subject themselves to stories about that time an exhausted Ferris child confused the laundry basket with the toilet and accidentally peed where s/he shouldn't have. (Ok, I may have ended up sharing that story on both my personal and the Chasing Roots Facebook pages, but you get the picture. And yes, that happened last week.)

So the time has come, friends. Chasing Roots finally has its own Facebook page. When you have a moment, would you consider stopping by, giving Chasing Roots a "like", and/or sharing the page with your friends? Thank you!