Life with Grandkids

[Hound dog]

Darrin cracks me up. Well, ok, all of pc's boys crack me up. But this evening was Darrin.

Soon as we go outside.

Me: Darrin, you need to help Travis take the trash down to the curb.

Darrin: Do I have to Nana? I wanna play.

Me: Do you remember that dollar you borrowed the other day to help pay for a book?

Darrin: How about if I just pay you the dollar back?

Me: Nope. Doesn't work that way. Now go help Travis take down the trash.

Then soon as he and Travis were done....

Darrin: Nana, would you like me to check and see if anything is ready in the garden?

Me: I already know there are cherry tomatoes and strawberries ready.

Darrin: (huge grin) Can I go pick them, please? I'm big enough.

So he brings me back the cherry tomatoes and a strawberry and 3-4 green beans. I didn't tell him the green beans were ready......and I told him I was certain he missed strawberries. So then he wants me to go check the green beans with him. This, of course, means dragging the two younger ones into the back yard. This would be fine except they tend to be more than a bit too helpful if you get my meaning.

Darrin spots the carrots which are really huge.

Darrin: Nana can we harvest some carrots? Do you think they're ready?

Me: You have to check them first to see, but they might be.

(you'd have thought I said tomorrow was xmas)

Darrin: Can I help you check? Will you show me how?

So, while trying to prevent Connor from digging up green beans and or carrots.......and lord knows what else, I proceed to show Darrin how to check if a carrot is ready. The boy is bouncing around with excitement, literally squeals with delight when I show him how to dig them up. You'd have laughed to see him searching for others we could did up. We actually got a pretty good bunch of them.

Me: Darrin, I know you're excited but you do have to stop stomping all over the onions.

Darrin: What onions? You planted onions too?

Me: No, I didn't plant them, they're wild onions and you're stomping all over them.

I then show him the plants, which are clearly onions.

Darrin: Can you eat a wild onion, Nana?

Me: Of course you can, that's why I'm letting them grow.

Darrin: (thinks a minute) So you mean you're getting them for free?? Wow! That is soooo cool! Can we see if they're ready?

So we dug up some wild onions as well, got quite a few for some salad.

Then when we were done......we cleaned off a few carrots and I told the boys to eat them. (I do this with everything that doesn't need to be cooked) I think they're now hooked on carrots straight from the ground. Tonight they munched on carrots, strawberries and cherry tomatoes. lol I will most likely go through this process again at the end of the week with Aubrey.

I have to say, with as much as the girls and I have enjoyed and learned this summer with the garden........the grandkids have really really enjoyed every step of it and thought it the most wonderful thing in the world, they even got to help with the canning part. It's been so much fun watching them plant seeds and get excited when it sprouted, get excited again when it boar fruit....and downright thrilled when they got to eat it. They've learned so much in the past few months.

Darrin is still painstakingly caring for his pumpkin plants. He has ONE pumpkin the size of a small watermelon. He is soooooo proud he can't stand it. I hope to heaven nothing happens to kill it because he will be devastated.

It has been lots of hard work, but lots of fun too.

[JJJ]

I have one important question.

How do you tell if a carrot is ready?

[Hound dog]

Where the base of the stem and the dirt meet......you gently rub your finger in the dirt until you uncover the top of the carrot is about the size of a quarter or larger it's ready.

[Liahona]

Kids are really fun. They brighten up my day.

[Signorina]

Love this - you are a wonderful grandma