New Year's resolutions, breakfast and curious things in the yard

Happy New Year!
We're two days into 2009 and it is already simply splendid:) Yesterday we went on our holiday hike up the treacherous Tarantula Hill. The weather was beautiful and I think we only heard one child request to be picked up ... I pretended I couldn't hear her. In the afternoon we headed over to the house of some good friends and had a really nice visit. We got there mid-afternoon and suddenly I looked at my watch and it was 7:30. With 5 kids bouncing around a house, that is a sign that things went really well.
Today we picked up cousin Ben and the three kids played, made crafts and ran around to music. There was only one little tiff between the boys and they quickly worked it out themselves. I managed to make a dinner that everyone liked and even found time to bake two loaves of bread -- they are cooling now (yum!).

Okay... on to new year's resolutions. I only have 3 this year and they aren't too tough.
1. Attempt to learn how to sew. I put attempt here because I am about the least crafty person you will ever meet. I could spend an hour trying to wrap a birthday present and it would still come out looking like a 3 year old did it. Anyway, I'd like to be able to sew some little clothes for Amanda's dolls or little purses for her to play with. My mom has a sewing machine that is collecting dust and she said she'll give me a few lessons. So, next week I'm going to attempt to learn the basics.

2. Grow something edible in my garden. We have a large yard compared to some houses around here. It's no ranch or farm, but the house is small, so there is quite a bit of dirt. Along the same lines of the craft business, all previous attempts at trying to grow things have met with disaster. This year, though, I'm going to plan things out and really give it my best shot. I think that is part of my problem. I'm not a planner. I want immediate results and I try the quickest way to do things. I now know that growing things takes time and work and planning. I'm going to get the right tools, the right ingredients and find out the right locations for the plants I want to grow. I won't know if this resolutions pans out until later in the year, but my planning starts now.

3. Purchase a bike and go on weekly rides with Lucas. Luc and I have a blast when we get a chance to spend one-on-one time. He loves to ride his bike, but it's not as much fun by himself with me walking behind. So, I'm going to save up a bit each paycheck and then find a nice used bike. I'd like to set aside special time for him and I to spend together. Amanda and I already have plenty of that because she is out of school before him and also he is involved in sports sometimes and I get to hang just with her.

That's it. I think these are all doable, but not so lame that they won't take any effort.

On to breakfast... I've got two loaves of bread cooling right now and I can barely keep Amanda away from them. I told her to look forward to breakfast tomorrow when she and I will have some nice toast with butter and jam on the bread. It's been a couple of months since I've baked bread because I've been so busy. I don't have a bread machine, so it does take a bit of time. But Amanda and Phil and I love to have the homemade stuff. Luc does not eat bread, so he won't be invited to breakfast tomorrow:)

There are curious things going on in my yard this winter. The apples on our tree did not come in this year and the few that did, never matured. Then, our tree sat there with leaves all fall. In fact, I was just noticing a couple of days ago how all of the leaves were still on the tree and they were mighty green. I went into the yard this morning and the leaves are all now yellow and suddenly half of them are on the ground. Normally this would have occured more than a month ago. Also, my camilias bloomed again about a month ago. They bloom in the spring (I love them) but that is it. They've never bloomed in the late fall or winter before. Very strange. I just cut back all my roses, even though they were still blooming (I had to do it while I have the time). I'll fertilize them this weekend. I know what you are going to say, "I thought you couldn't grow anything." Well, all of these plants and trees were here when we bought the house. All I have to do is water and ferlitize them. For some reason, if I personally put something into the ground, it decides to die.

Hope your 2009 will be happy and healthy!