The Happy Housewife - She hasn’t posted in months, and I am waiting with bated breath (and I’m turning a little blue). Just try a little sample like this or this. Hooked? Me too. If she never posts again, at least we have her archives.

AllRileyedUp - Riley had me with her post on Narnia cooking; now I am helpless before her wit.

Peefer’s Blog - That rare jewel: a daddy blog, a funny daddy blog. And his comments are as funny as his posts. And if you wonder why women tend to hit on him a little in his comments, I think it’s because he writes about his wife like this.

Didn’t Think I’d Turn Out This Way - I read this list and I’ve been coming back ever since, even after I found out what she thought about naming her baby.

My sister asks sneeringly, anytime I mention my garden, “Do you mean those two flower beds?” She would not be impressed by me offering gardening advice to anyone, but for those of you on a tight budget like we are, here’s a few tips that work for us.

1. Plant at the right time of year. You know this already, of course, but I cannot count the number of times I have bought a plant too late into summer for planting because it was on sale, only to see it wither in the hot sun. On sale is not a deal if it dies.

2. Be honest about yourself. The best thing I ever did for my garden was admit that I am terrible about watering regularly. I bought drought tolerant plants instead, and they have thrived.

3. Plant native. Plants native to your area will need less soil ammendment or special care. They will reproduce well. They are a deal all the way around.

4. Plant perennials. They might cost more than annuals, but they come back year after year, which saves you money in the long run. If not perrenials, at least look for something that will reseed itself.

5. Get cuttings or divisions from friends. Nothing is cheaper than free. And if your friend’s plants are healthy enough to be divided, you know they will grow in your climate.

6. Give up on seeds. Maybe growing from seeds works for you, and this is not useful advice. I have been tempted by seeds many times in the past, and they have always been a disapointment. Again, it’s not a deal if everything dies.

I have been cleaning out our storage spaces in preparation for listing the house. In one closet I found a styrofoam cooler that had broken, as they always do, and I set it on the floor to remind myself to take it out with the garbage.

JellyBean found it, and invented a new game. She threw the cooler up in the air and tried to catch it on her head, as if it were a styrofoam helmet. She did this over and over, and if she successfully got it on her head, she celebrated by running through the kitchen, which is how I became aware of her new game.

Yes, I am a good enough mother to stop my child from running blind with a makeshift styrofoam helmet over her head. And yes, I am a bad enough mother to take a picture of this new game first.

JellyBean’s taste in clothes may be seen from the facts that a) she is wearing no pants and b) her shoes do not match and c) her unmatching shoes are on the wrong feet.

I think my creative little girl invented her game based on the library book we were reading. Of course, I may be wrong.

Nope. I’m right.

We took the girls to the park yesterday. It was a cool, humid day, and everything looked lush and green. We went to a local city park that is popular with gardeners, and played on the spiffy new playground equipment.

Az pushed Sweetpea in one of those swings made for babies. I pushed JellyBean in another one. JellyBean has an avid interest in plant names (She really does. Our potty-training reward lately has been, “If you tinkle, Mama will let you hold Daddy’s tree book,” a guide full of colorful illustrations for identifying trees.), so I started naming the trees around us.

“That’s a sycamore tree,” I said.

“Zaccheus!” JellyBean said.

We pushed and swang some more. A family with a little girl came and used the swings next to us. I named a few more trees.

Then JellyBean announced, full voice: “Daddy will throw me into the maple tree and break all my bad bones!”

I think I mustered a nervous chuckle and tried to say something witty, looking at the other family out of the corner of my eye. They moved off toward the slide.

It could have been worse. She could have hollered, “That man is not my daddy!” But as she gets older and more creative, her potential for mortifying us increases.

Here is what I think went into this announcement:

1. VeggieTales Silly Songs - Larry the Cucumber plays with a ball outside his house and accidentally kicks it over the fence into the neighbor’s property. He sings, “Can I have my ball? I kicked it into a tree…”

2. A story I tell her while I comb her hair about Arabella, a little girl with a ponytail, who climbed the maple tree after her mother told her not to, and had to sit in time-out.

3. My warning to my speedy little girl about parking lots: “You do not run away from Mommy in parking lots. You could get hit by a car and it would break all your bones and give you a very big owie and you would die.” She repeats this verbatim as we walk through parking lots. I wish it meant that she never ran from me. That kid is slippery.