Garden Again

We have started up the garden again. I am using our raised bed from last year for my early spring & late summer gardens. In these we have: sugar snap peas, Alaska peas, winter squash, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and spinach.
My dear husband has made 2 more raised beds, which we spent an entire day filling with dirt, that measure 6 feet by 16 feet each. Needless to say, we will have TONS of veggies this year!
We also are experimenting with strawberries, blackberries and grapes this year. I will keep you posted on those!
For those of you wanting to plant this year you still have plenty of time. Feel free to search my site for other postings under the label "garden".

Flashback

Random thoughts from my childhood:

• Camping with my parents - the primitive type, not the camper type
• Getting carsick - a LOT
• My bologna has a first name...
• Riding my bike with the banana seat
• Playing hide and seek with my brother
• Going to Pensacola Beach with my family and friends
• Skiing - snow
• Racing crawfish with my cousins then throwing them in the pot (the crawfish, not my cousins)
• Playing in my treehouse
• Hanging out at our neighborhood pool
• Getting chased and stung by a swarm of bees

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Program

Casey (the angel) & Cody saying her verse

Casey (in the middle)

The girls were in the choir Christmas program again this year, and again, it was spectacular. All of the kids were adorable and there is so much talent in those young people! They sang, danced and acted wonderfully, it was a joy to watch them all!
Cody stepped up to the microphone and said her verse, right on cue. Casey knew her lines, her song and dance number and her solo - she was the "Hipp. She was also beautiful as an angel in the last scene.
We are very proud of our girls and SO blessed to be in such an amazing church that helps them fine tune their talents while teaching them that those talents are God-given and should be used to glorify Him!

New Tradition

This year we have started a new Christmas tradition at our house. We bought a small pre-lit tree and put some very special ornaments on it. All of these ornaments belonged to either my maternal grandmother, my paternal grandmother, or Joe's maternal grandmother. As we hang the ornaments on the tree we tell the girls about our grandparents and other Christmas memories we have from our childhood. It was a lot of fun and it was cool to see that our grandmothers had some very similar ornaments. The girls enjoyed it this year and we hope this is a tradition that they can continue when they have children of their own!

I know, I know

I know it has been a REALLY long since since I update the blog - I do apologize!
When Joe was not working I spent many mornings homeschooling the girls and then heading off to work a part-time job in the afternoons. Plus with soccer, choir, church etc... my computer time was put on the back burner!
It is with great thanksgiving that I announce - Joe got a new job! He is thoroughly enjoying it and although the hours are a bit crazy he gets a lot of days off. I am still working a little bit here and there to make up for the loss of income that we have with the new job. Fortunately, we have great benefits and the income is much better than unemployment!
So, thank you for your prayers during the past year and thanks to God for His amazing provision!
I will update again soon - I promise!!!

New Chapter

Well, we have entered a new phase in our lives. Our oldest daughter now has a cell phone.
We wanted her to have one for emergencies and found that it was cheaper to add a phone to our account than it would be to get a pre-paid phone, which we had originally considered. Now that she is a middle-schooler and is doing more things on her own we felt it was finally time.
We are approaching it as a test for her. As long as she is responsible and follows our rules, (actually we are going to write up a contract) she will continue to earn more responsibilities. She is only allowed to call the people WE have programmed into the phone and is not allowed to send or receive any text messages. We are thinking of it as a rite of passage for her good behavior, good grades, and general helpfulness lately.
We think she is ready and feel comfortable with the boundaries we have set. Still a little nervous about it though!
I will keep you posted!