She Loves Garden Tomatoes!

Mckenna loves working out in the garden with Daddy. She also loves the fruits of our labor :)

This Weekend: News and Notes

Just a collection of the happenings from this past weekend, the last of such in August 2012....

You probably noticed that there was no Mandi Monday yesterday. Mandi was knee deep in travel and didn't get in until yesterday from her trip to Lancaster, PA. Her grandpa was admitted to the hospital for a pretty gnarly case of pneumonia. The admit was sudden, and grandpa was unprepared. With no family close by, he was alone with his thoughts and a hospital gown. That of course didn't sit well with the family, so Mandi and her brother Josh were able to fly out there on Friday and keep grandpa company. It definitely lifted his spirits and we're so thankful that he is on the up and up!

With Mandi gone, that left me alone on daddy duty this weekend. Fortunately, I did have some helping hands as my step-dad and little brother came up from Tucson. We all had a blast just relaxing together and I was so happy that Mark (step-dad) got to spend some quality time with Mckenna.

We also did some major gardening this weekend. By we, I mean mostly Andrew, Grant and Mark of course. While I was busy with Mckenna, treatments, making meals and working out, they were busy tending to the garden. They turned all of the raised beds and fixed-up some of the square-foot garden portion. After making a run to Lowes on Saturday, we all got up nice and early to "beat the heat" Sunday morning and finish before church.

This fall we're going for - spinach, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bush beans, radishes, carrots, summer squash, tomatoes, green onion and kohlrabi. We'll see how it all turns out :)

Our pastor delivered an excellent message on Sunday. He challenged the men of our church to take it upon ourselves and raise a Christ-centered home. It sounds easy enough, but not so much when you start to look where you're priorities lay. The bottom line is that our family becomes centered around what we spend the most time with, or what takes priority over all else - wether that's work, money, sports, working out, school, etc. I felt really convicted and was so thankful to be reminded about the importance of always working my life around Christ; not Christ around my life.

Welp, I thin that just about does it. Hope you liked the update!!

Thankful Thursday: Kisses & Opinions

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for moms and dads. My mom and dad are back in town and seeing them is awesome. We have so much fun with them and I literally never can get enough. What's more, my mom spent the night at our house on Monday night, and when I woke up, she had folded ALL my laundry. She's so good to me!!

I'm thankful for kisses. Mckenna isn't a big kisser (we'll be thankful for that when she's in high school. Ha!) But she does occasionally give us kisses and when she does they are with an open mouth, and super wet, and I love every second of them.

I'm thankful for texting. I'm not a huge fan of lengthy conversations on the phone. And I'm not a huge fan of having to take for 10 minutes, full of "hi" and "how are ya" to just establish a random meeting time or something of the sort. So texting is perfect!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for my three little cantaloupe that could. In a not so stunning development, the hot Arizona sun has wiped out most of my garden. I still have some acorn and spaghetti squash hanging on as well as melons and tomatoes. I'm mostly interested in the cantaloupe however because just once I would like to walk out there in the morning, cut it off the vine, and then eat it for breakfast. How cool would that be??



I'm thankful for a wife with a different opinion than me on many different topics and issues. Even though I still think I'm always right *wink* it's nice to hear a different side of the story from someone that I respect and trust implicitly. I don't think we'll ever see on to eye on certain political issues, but secretly, deep down, I kinda hope we never do. Keeps things interesting!! 

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I'm thankful for "goodnight" kisses. I put goodnight in quotes as they do not only happen at night, but during the day as well. So I guess they are more like "nappy time" kisses. When I get Mckenna ready for her naps before I hand her off to Mandi to be fed, I always tell her I love her and pucker up for a kiss. In the past, I've had to force the kiss on her. Lately, she's leaning into me for a nappy smooch. Love.

So, what are you thankful for today?

Thankful Thursday: Kidzone & Clouds

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for childcare at the gym. Ronnie and I are able to take Mckenna to the Kidzone and spend some time together pumping iron. I am so thankful that we can spend some time just the two of us, doing what we love to do together, while Mckenna plays happily with her "friends" at the gym.

I'm thankful for family close by. Monday night Ronnie, Mckenna and I popped by Josh and Chrissy's (my bro and sis-in-law) and then we all went for a walk, and Tuesday night Ronnie's bro, Andrew came by for dinner. I really love having family close by, so we can hang out a lot!!

I'm thankful for middle of the night snuggles. Mckenna is a ball of energy. She is always on the go. She rarely will just lay back and let you snuggle her. One of the only times she just lays, totally melted into my arms is during her middle of the night feeding. While getting up to feed her in the night may initially seem awful, the thought of weaning the last remaining night feed makes me really sad. I don't want to give up those snuggles just yet!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for cloudy days...and I cannot believe that just came out of my mouth. So, I'm an Arizona guy born and raised, and so with that, I'm a total sun in the sky without a cloud in sight kind of a guy. But, when it starts to heat up so much, so early in the year, I'm actually thankful for the occasional cloudy day. Cloudy days not only give my garden a little break, but they also give Mandi, Mckenna and I the opportunity to take our walk at any time during the day!

I'm thankful moisture meters. I'm no green thumb. This is my third year gardening, and although I have learned quite a bit, I still have a LONG way to go. Something I read from other gardeners is that they "know their plants". Like I said, I don't think I've been in the game for a long enough time to get the vibe from my plants yet. I mean yeah, I can tell if they're severely under-watered, but I think pretty much anybody walking the streets could too. That's where my handy-dandy moisture meter comes in. I simply stick in it the ground by the root of the plant, and it tells me whether or not I need to be watering. Anything that takes some thought out of gardening is good in my book!!

I'm thankful for daytime workouts. Because of great childcare offered at our gym, Mandi and I have been able to take a break from our workday the last couple of days and hit up the gym. I love working out with my wife and I love getting my workout done and over with. Day workouts are definitely a win all-around in the Sharpe household!!

So, what are you thankful for today?