15 days and watch them grow

15 days have gone by and these little sprouts are getting HUGE...actually, it's starting to make me wonder how big they are going to be 85 days from now when we can harvest our pumpkins...It's looking like all those hours spent on Farmville while I was on bedrest is actually paying off... HA HA HA!!!

I like how the seed Andrew planted inside the brick hole is growing strong despite its limited space! Plants could really teach us a lesson...bloom where you are planted... Anyway, I need to pull grass. I haven't had time. I regret to inform you that the next picture posted will probably still show the effects of grass growing through where the pumpkins were planted. I'm just being honest here...but lets hope I get some time between now and the next posting to pull it up. Until then, enjoy these little sprouts!

Day 9

It's been 9 days since Andrew and I planted our pumpkin seeds and guess what? THEY ARE NOT DEAD!!! SUCCESS!!! Ha, no but really...they are doing great! Andrew gets really excited to go check on them.

Day 6

Well it's the morning of day 6 and Andrew and I walked outside to check on our pumpkin sprouts. Yesterday we had 11 healthy sprouts and today we have 13!!! I have been replaced as the primary care giver of the sprouts. In fact, it appears I am only needed for documentation purposes... I love this little boy so much!!!

Day 5

I am beginning to think I have misjudged my ability to grow plants. All these years I have feared planting my own garden. Here we are 5 days after planting the pumpkin seeds and we have very healthy sprouts. Yesterday we had 8 tiny sprouts and today we have 11. I'm feeling over confident...I'm starting to map out an herb garden, a strawberry patch, maybe a grape vine and some tomatoes, oh, and blueberry bush...wait...we already have kin to Peter rabbit sneaking under our fence every night and I am NOT a fan of birds... Maybe I should just be happy our pumpkin seeds are sprouting!!!

Sprouts!!!

So the "All About Pumpkins" website and the actual package of seeds said it would take 7-10 days for the seeds to germinate...well, well, well...maybe I have the magic touch after all... We planted the seeds on the evening of Sunday, August 12, 2012 and here it is 4 days later we have 8 sprouts! Andrew and I have put it as part of our daily routine to check on our pumpkins and water when necessary. Today, I looked out the window and thought I saw green sprouts in the middle of the area for our seeds. I got really excited and said, "Andrew, go get your shoes. We need to go outside to check on our pumpkins." He said, "OUT OUT" and ran down the hall and came back with is famous rain boots. I should have known those would be the shoes of choice...that's a whole different blog post! Anyway, we got all shoed up and went outside to see...

we have sprouts indeed!!! Oh, I was so excited. I mean excited enough to jump up and down pointing at the sprouts cheering "SPROUTS ANDREW, SPROUTS!" Unfortunately for me, I also pointed at said sprouts and Andrew then tried to uproot them! Good news for the sprouts, they are still safely in the ground!!!

However, the little sprouts definitely needed some water so we gave them a nice drink. Well, I stood there with the hose while Andrew ran around, played in the water, chased the dogs, etc. You know, his way of being ACTIVEly involved. He had the ACTIVE part down for sure!!!

Anyway, the photos are thanks to my mom who happened to be visiting so she can watch the little nugget tomorrow for me. This little guy seriously makes my world go round. I can't even imagine what life would be like without him blessing me every single day! Stay posted as we continue to water our pumpkins and watch them grow!!! YAY!!!

Planting the seeds

It's been far too long since I've blogged! I mean, it's not like I haven't sat back and laughed about my life a million times...I just haven't had the time to sit down and write about it. Well friends, I'm making it a goal to try harder...and by harder, I mean actually attempt it!!! HA! Seriously though, if I have time to look at pinterest for an hour or more a day, I have time to blog!!!! Actually, I've stopped looking at pinterest lately...hence my blog update!!! Anyway, the point of this post is not about pinterest. In fact, what I'm about to share with you I didn't even get the idea from pinterest!!!! It came out of my own head...I know scary, right?... As anyone who knows me knows how much I L-O-V-E the fall in general. I love everything that happens in fall, the weather, the food, the colors, the holidays...it's my favorite! So to spread some of that absolute love with my son, I decided we were going to grow some pumpkins. I think now would be a great time to inform everyone my growing ability is well...I don't have any! Zero ability! I'm terrible at gardening. In fact, I knock the leaves off my artificial plants while I dust them...I really can only grow beans in a bag with students and then send them home when they start growing too big and need to be transplanted. I really am not a green thumb AT ALL!!! But, I had this wild idea about how fun it would be to grow a pumpkin with Andrew. Unfortunately, I had this idea a little late in the season so 95 days from now when our pumpkin(s) are ready to harvest it will be the week before Thanksgiving. Talk about cutting it close!!! Here's how it all started. I thought, "Hmmm, we should grow a pumpkin. Wait, I don't know anything about growing pumpkins. Hmmm...let's Google this. Oh, I could grow a little pumpkin like Jack Be Little. Seeds, dirt, full sun, water... I can do this!!!" I called Josh, (he's still out of town) "Hey babe, listen, Andrew and I are going to grow some pumpkins in the backyard." Josh: "Ok, that sounds fun." Yep, I love that man! So we started the adventure. First I Googled where to buy pumpkin seeds. Then Andrew and I went to Walmart. No luck. Then Home Depot. No luck. Then Lowes. No luck. These were on three different days. Finally, I decided this was ridiculous...I needed a pumpkin seed STAT! So I got on amazon and had it shipped to my door for free just a click of the button and $3.95 later pumpkins seeds in route!!! I can't remember how many days passed from clicking to getting them in the mail but it was less than a week for sure. Now, a smart gardener would have used this time to set up the area, buy soil, etc. Not me...I'm no gardener! I got the seeds in the mail and thought, oh, I guess I better buy some dirt tomorrow after church. So we did. I also needed some coffee creamer so there we were...Andrew and I, at Walmart with a 40 lb bag of dirt and International Delight Heath Bar flavored coffee creamer at the checkout stand. It was hot when we got home and we had other things to tend to so it wasn't until I saw storm clouds brewing that I thought, oh, maybe I should plant these pumpkin seeds before it rains. Novel idea if I do say so myself!!! HA! So here I am with a pair of gloves, Andrew's wagon loaded with the 40 lb bag of dirt, a shovel (most ridiculous shovel I've ever seen but the only one I could find in the garage) some bricks, and a small package of seeds.

Hey, what else could I need? Plus, Andrew was so excited he wanted to pull the wagon himself! So we went outside, dogs included, to dig some holes. I Googled "All About Pumpkins" and learned that I needed to only plant them about 2" deep in the soil and make sure the soil is moist and don't get water on the leaves.

Easy enough... So I dug two holes, made a brick boarder around them, filled them with dirt, pushed in a few pumpkin seeds, and then soaked them.

Andrew was a big help. He kept uncovering the seeds I would plant. He also transported dirt from one hole to the other by the handful. He's always so helpful!!!

We took a few pictures and I wished the best and then went inside to give Andrew his bath before bed. It did rain a few sprinkles Sunday night, but I was sure glad I soaked the seeds pretty well prior the "rain." So there you have it...we are growing pumpkins!!! Wish us luck!!!