Planting the garden.

On Monday morning I was heading into work:
"T, we can bring the flowers out back and plant them tonight."
"I already brought 2 of them out back, dad."
I looked over at the plants and he had indeed brought two of them around the house. He was as excited about this project as I was. He spent and hour with me 2 weeks ago weeding the entire area. We also spent time telling bedtime stories about how we were going to plant a garden. I guess he was excited.
"Thanks T! I gave him a huge hug and a kiss."
T smiled: "I will did some holes too dad."
Sure enough, when I got home, T (4 yrs.) had dug two holes with his plastic hand shovel.
Great job T.
L was also very excited about the garden.
I explained to the kids that I needed to put the plants in the back of the garden, because we needed to grind out a stump in the front of the garden.
"Guys, the stump grinding machine will crush our flowers if we plant them near the stump. We need to plant in the back."
No argument from the troops. I brought out some peat moss and while I dug, the kids brought handfuls of peatmoss over and mixed it in with the dirt. M (1.5 yrs) was also part of this assembly line. It was totally adorable. She was head to toe dirt.
The kids watched and got very excited if we hit a rock or a root.
"Get the pick axe, daddy!" Shouted L.
With a couple of swings I would remove the obstruction.
All 3 of the kids worked with a passion. Running up the hill to get more peat and dumping it in the hole. I tried to give as little direction as possible and let their creativity run wild.
After the last mum was in I said: "Time for the water."
L and T sprinted for the hose.
"You hold the hose and I'll turn it on." Suggested L.
"OK." Agreed T.
T watered the flowers for a few mintutes and then began watering, M. M did not mind too much. She may have realized how dirty she was.
Bath time was a little stressful that night because the gardening had made us late. I needed to breathe deeply many times as the kids lost their focus many times during the nighttime routine. We were able to make it through with no yelling, however.
When I put T down he asked for his story.
"T, remember when we read about Rabbit in Winnie the Pooh? We said we were going to make a garden like his someday? Well we did it, man! We weeded the garden, put up fence posts, bought the plants, dug the holes and watered the plants. We did it T! We made a garden! How do you feel?"
"Good." Replied T with a big smile.
I hugged him again and said goodnight. I read L a short story and tucked her in and headed out for a run.
Any activity can be turned into a heavenly adventure with the kids. T has spent several hours of focused time creating his garden. I am really proud of him and L for thier hard work.