SLUGS AND SNAILS…AND BULBS IN THE MAIL

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It’s not often that I take “warts and all” photos of the boys when I know they’re heading for a blog post.  Generally there’s a clearing of the planned photo site, and some care is taken over what they’re wearing.  This isn’t one of those posts.  This is a children-running-about-in-pants, bath towels on the washing line, children slopping about in the mud kind of post that resulted in my barking, “SHOWER” and “NOT ON THE SOFA UNTIL YOU’RE CLEAN!” whilst frogmarching two grumpy and resistant boys up the stairs to the bathroom by mid afternoon.
 
Yes, it’s gardening season [also known as snail gambling season].

 

 
This time last year I was waddling about, 8 months pregnant, and growing a human.  This year, that bump has bloomed and blossomed into the third apple of my eye.  He’s just so precious and full of joy.
 
 
He loves escaping to the great outdoors.
 
 
Yes, he’s wearing hand-me-down Christmas leg warmers to protect him whilst crawling. Poor third child.
 
 
Whilst the mister spent over two hours ridding the oak barrels of weeds and changing the compost in them [and rudely awakening the biggest, hairiest mommy spider we’ve seen in quite some time, then sending a HD photo of her to my poor mother], I attempted to entertain the boys by letting them plant their sunflowers in the little pots we got from IKEA.  I even named them this year so there’s no cheating confusion.
 

Jensen managed to find some new residents for his snail house and decided they really, truly needed over half of the new salad we’d been growing in the kitchen.  Everything was going well…too well…

 
…Everyone was playing together peacefully…
 

…and then Yotie [Lyoto] appeared with his watering can.

It all kind of went downhill from there – or rather, the inevitable happened.

 
Mud soup.
 

Everyone loves mud. Everyone except those who have to wash it off places it shouldn’t be [read: mom and dad].

 
In the middle of mud production, the boys took a break to get involved with the actual planting of our garden.  We’ve never grown anything in the ground since we’ve lived here, because Casanova and Excalibur needed the space to run, and as huskies, they were keen landscapers themselves, but in a slightly different manner.  As Excalibur and Casanova both have now both crossed the Rainbow Bridge, the garden [and my heart] feels empty without them.

So that afternoon, in celebration of our furkids’ upcoming 15th birthday on the 22nd, and before we sow our vegetable seedlings outside in the barrels, we planted mystery flowers in the ground sent to us by the Bakker Spalding Bulb Company as they celebrate 70 years of gardening this year.  The boys have only ever grown seeds before, and they were pretty sure they were burying onions in the ground, but they humoured me.  We’ll post when they start to sprout and as we guess what they might be.

It’s going to be a long, muddy, memorable Summer.

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53 Comments

  1. Ahh, kids in their element. Love it! I laughed out loud at the comment about the poor 3rd child. My youngest daughter was looking through her baby book and the only "first" was when she ate her first solid food. That's it. 🙂

  2. Seeing your little ones playing outside like this makes me want to make sure that my toddler gets to enjoy the outside tomorrow. I have some weeds I need to pull up anyway, so I think I'll let her have at it!

  3. Your kids are all so cute and adorable. I like how they looked so game with all that dirt & mud ( something that I didn't do when I was a kid because my nanny hated cleaning me up ). I look forward to your post when all the seeds you and your boys planted start to sprout. I bet they'd be really excited.

  4. I'm just curious, is that mud safe for babies to touch? Our doctor was just explaining last week about how parasites enter the body and it's through our skin. The mud is often the culprit to these things. 🙁

    1. Hello! Yes, I am happy he's safe in our mud. In fact, I feel happier with him playing in the mud as he grows up than anywhere else. Many studies show that there are so many benefits to the immune system – and our children's mental health – in doing so. Both my husband and I grew up playing in the garden on a daily basis and we're very healthy indeed! I do thank you for your concern though, it's so kind of you 🙂

  5. Your kids are just so adorable and it looks like they had a blast planting seeds. Even if it did end in a mess, at least it was a really happy and adorable mess! LOL!

  6. That third apple of your eye is just so adorable! Well, they're all adorable, but I just love babies. 🙂 They surely look like they were having a lot of fun.

  7. Oh this would have been every picture I ever too of Mini, he was a total mud monster. The boys look like they are having a blast in the mud. Gardening is good for the soul

  8. This is such a precious thing to do with them. I love how they all played together and even got the seeds planted. I had done bulbs with my nephew and niece a couple weeks ago. They can't wait to see the flowers. Thanks for sharing.

  9. we are currently doing our garden out too but instead of snails and slugs we found lots of worms for the boys to chase their sisters around the garden with lol x

  10. Your post and most especially your photographs made me smile. The kids are just so adorable and captivating! Love this post! Thanks for sharing!

  11. Oh I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this post! Look how happy they are getting all muddy and messy. I love to see kids getting all dirty in the mud, too many people are scared if their kids getting dirty for one reason or another. Beautiful photos too, enjoy your garden lovely xx

  12. I just loved this post! See the kids get messy is just the best! And I bet they'll enjoy these memories down the road!

  13. Playing in the mud is the best fun kids can have. I remember well making mud pies with my brothers and going out in the rain with no socks and shoes on to let our toes squelch in the mud puddles!

  14. Nothing says spring fun like a mud bath – just tell yourself it's good for their skin! We're doing our planting this weekend, hopefully the stuff we've been growing in pots is ok, we've waited a couple of extra weeks because we are still getting frost.

  15. Oh what brilliant, muddy fun!! Love those Christmas legwarmers and just the free fun of a day spent in the garden enjoying it. I hope the weather picks up so we can get out into ours a bit more!!

  16. a delightful post! i truly enjoyed reading about your boys getting all muddied up + having loads of fun! i would like to have the same with my little boy! 🙂

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