Earth Day

We try to make everyday Earth Day. Today, however, we are a little more mindful of our impact on our planet. Sometimes we need that little reminder to make sure we turn off a light when we leave a room or that we don't leave the water running while brushing our teeth. Topher is good at that. He is our budding environmentalist. He checks to make sure that everything makes it out to the recycling bin. He is very concerned right now about the plight of the American Eagles - reading everything he can on them. Are they extinct? Who are their predators? What is being done to protect them? He has also declared himself the keeper of the compost bowl. He loves to take it out back and empty it, checking to see how many worms are working their way through the growing pile. And now that he has discovered this group, he insists I photograph the bowl before he carries it off.



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This weekend was spent outside. Digging in the earth and getting dirty. We cleaned up the yard - weeding, trimming and planting. While I generally prefer my shrubs a little more natural, our HOA prefers us to keep them trimmed and shaped. Edmund is now old enough to tackle a few of the more grown up yard care duties and he was happy to jump in. I think the sharp tools were the big draw.



The boys and I also put in some vegetable starts. We currently have a drainage problem in our back yard - the water likes to sit on top of the clay for far too long - so we planted our few vegetables in pots. The boys each picked something for the garden. We have cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. In addition, we also have some pumpkin volunteers that came up in the yard from last year's jack-o-lanterns. We can't wait to see what happens with those.