Sisters Day!

Sisters Day is a day when my mom and sisters get together for food and some kind of activity!  Yesterday, was that day once again and I love these kinds of days!

Jody picked me up soon after the kids went to school and we went to Millwood Nursery.  I've been here numerous times already this spring and it's my favorite for 2022 so far!  It's small and nothing 'outstanding' like some other greenhouses around me but I love it!  It has the best prices, healthy plants and trees and garden vegetables and I'm so happy to give them my buisness this year!  Jody wanted to buy a red bud tree and did!  I was gonna wait to grab my tender garden plants until next week because the weather the next few days are gonna be on the chilly side but I decided to buy them!  I was tickled to find two cactus plants that I knew the Littles would love!  I bought dragon wing begonias that I will plant for my front porch pots!  I grabbed some tomato plants, zucchini, watermelon and peppers.  I can't wait to plant these and harvest the fruits!

Then Jody and I met mom and the other ladies at The Houston Cafe for breakfast!  I love their breakfast food!!!!  It's so delicious and so pretty and just so tasty!

We decided to go to some greenhouses together!  We started at Groffs Nursery.  I wasn't at this one for many years and I couldn't wait to find some plants that my friend Ruthie always buys here!  I've asked around at other greenhouses but apparently its a rare find and only Groffs sell them???  I was happy to buy some of these!

Then we drove to Hilltop Nursery.  This is a gorgeous greenhouse that I found by accident last Spring.  I thought I was going to Hillside Nursery which isn't real far apart but when I followed my GPS, I arrived here.  I was not disappointed and couldn't wait to take my mom and sisters to it!  They have cotton plants and many other really cool plants here!  It's beautiful!  

I bought this basil that smells like black licorice!!!!  I can't wait to taste it and it smells SO GOOD!!!!!

One more greenhouse and then it was time to pick up the school children.  Hillside Nursery is also a really nice place to buy plants!  I love the herbs and all the smells at these places!

Days out like this go way too fast and are fun!  I wish I would remember to grab a group picture because family is special!  Where to next ladies???

Spring is about to burst here!

We have these trees in the front lawn.  Three cherry blooosoms.  They are trees that have been here ever since we bought this property.  Each of the children have climbed all over the beaches and each year they grow a little bit bigger.  They are full of pink blooms right now and look so beautiful!

We ordered 15 yards of bark mulch and it was delivered the other day!  Saturday, was so beautiful and I had the big boys help scoop mulch while the Littles and I spread it out!  We got the front of the house completed and the back will get down later in the week!  

Matthew and Mike were such a big help!

I bought Snowdrift Petunias and Black Cherry Petunia's and planted them!  They look great!

And while the outside is warming up and the weather is going to get warm one of these days, I've been working on some sourdough techniques.  Mim and Hadassah wanted some of starter at the cabin a few weeks ago and both of them have been asking questions.  I don't know much about sourdough and they had me watching some videos on Youtube and it helped boast my starter!  I made this cinnamon sugar loaf on Saturday morning and it was delicious!

Spring is such a fun time to go visit greenhouses, work outside, play outside and begin all those summery activities!  Camp fires, ball games, moped rides and going barefoot!

I love Spring!

Back to the ballpark!

 Austin played his very first baseball game last night and he was so excited to play!  We were excited to go and watch!  We wrapped up in blankets because the weather is still chilly here in our neighborhood!  We are really ready for barefoot weather to come and stay but the chill in the air didn't seem to effect the boys playing baseball!

We signed Austin up in the same league that Matthew played in for many years.  It felt good to go back and sit on the sidelines of a ballgame!  We used to do this SO MUCH every summer when Mike played a few nights a week and then Matthew played and we were busy but going to the park as a family was always fun for our family!  Mike and Matthew now are playing golf and not baseball so it was fun to watch a ballgame again!  Especially with our son playing in it!

Austin plays for the Flames and they had the late game.  As we waited for their game to begin, Austin and I were bundled up to stay warm!

Such a cute dude wearing his number 44 jersey!  Just like his dad!!!!

In this division, the players play in different positions each inning.  Austin played right field and back catcher!!!!!

He had three at bat and three hits!!!!  He did great!

The Flames won 14-13!  Austin was so happy!  We came home tired, dirty and ready for bed!  This is going to be a fun summer watching him play ball!  Mike was the Flames pitcher for their first game.  The dads pitch and the boys hit and run!  The game goes much faster this way but when they advance in the league, the boys become pitchers and the competition gets much tougher!

Let's go Flames!!!!

Garden.

Plants are being planted!  The early plants like lettuce, kale, spinach, carrots, beets and radishes are all popping through the dirt but growing slowly.  The weather here has been so cold and we even had snowflakes dancing through the air earlier this week.  We are SO READY for the warmer tempts to come and the garden is waiting for the sunshine to warm it up too!

Here I planted cabbage and celery.  Cabbage is one of my favorite vegetables to watch grow!  It begins with such a small plant and then grows nice and round and so full in only a few months!  Celery is something I eat every single day and last year I decided to plant some in the fall but it got cold too soon and I didn't harvest any celery.  I'm excited to see it grow this spring! 

Broccoli is a vegetable that Austin eats!  So we plant it!

I've been dreaming of making the garden area more beautiful and adding some trees sounded like a good idea!  Spring time there are many trees with pretty blooms and I think our garden could use some depth and trees!  I asked around to other friends that have fruit trees of their own and asked about the work or spraying and trimming and everyone said, "Go for it!"  Mike wasn't that excited because as a young boy, he had to mow around this parents small orchard and didn't like that job!  He did smile and agreed to a few trees!  Jody and I went together and each bought some trees!  I got a Honeycrisp Apple tree and two peach trees.  One Contender and one Red Haven!  Mike planted them for me the other night and I cannot wait to watch these grow and give us some fruits and pretty blooms!

I also grabbed four red raspberry plants that we planted in the garden area!  The kids are going to love these!

I love my garden area and really like that this hobby is fun for me and not too much work!  Adding these trees and bushes I think are going to be a great thing for us!  I love fences and gates but I don't want to fence in the garden because it feels to me like it can't expand.  I am searching Pinterest for some ideas and thinking maybe some kind of big gate for an entrance would be nice!  Any ideas???

The boys are getting ready for Austin's first baseball game next game and Mike invited Matt and his boys over for some batting practice!

They had ice cream as a treat.

These girls are just the best of friends!  I love to watch them together!  Zayla loves to follow Ashlyn around and feed the neighbors horse!

Sourdough is something I am still figuring out.  I make bread now and then.  I've made quite a few English muffins already with my sourdough starter but at the cabin I noticed it wasn't rising the best for me.  I called my friend Clarita for some tips and watched some Youtube videos to learn how others care and feed their starters.  I came to realize that I'm not feeding my starter properly!  Yesterday, Hadassah and I both baked a loaf that we mixed together the night before and the dough didn't have the best rise but it still turned out OK!  I hope to get my starter in better condition and then try again!  There's much to learn with sourdough!

Hadassah and Jer love the sourdough sandwich bread I make!

The weather has been chilly around here this spring but I still bought some of my favorite white petunias the other day and planted them around the house!  They can handle some cold and we will soon be ready for mulch!  It's being delivered today!  The palms will have to stay in the garage a little bit yet.  It's still too cold for them to thrive outside.

We are waiting for the weather to warm up and begin the baseball season in the park!!!  The weather forecast is saying warmer for this weekend which means we will be outside a lot more!

Let's go Spring!!!  The garden is waiting to thrive!  The trees in the front lawn are ready to burst with pink flowers!  The grass is so green and already growing a lot!  It's been a month of Spring now and we are super ready for weather to prove it and get warmer!

Have a great weekend friends!  The kids are counting down the school days and I think they are in the low 20's now!  It won't be long before school will be out and summer on it's way!  Yeah!!!!!

"For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.  The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land."  Song of Solomon 2:11-12

Easter, 2022

We spent Easter Weekend at the cabin with my family and it was so fun!  It's been a long time since every single person was up at the same time!  The cabin was full of much laughter, chocolate bunnies and we played a lot of games!  Four up and four down was a favorite game!

The cousins had a blast all weekend!  They stayed up late, played games, painted eggs and had an egg hunt outside!

My Mom always gets chocolate bunnies for the kids!

We started and finished a puzzle!  Mommy D was along this time and she loves puzzles.  We had lots of hours hovering around the puzzle looking for pieces to fit!

My mom makes the best shoofly pies!

I never saw a live elk and so we took a drive to see if we could find some!  There were lots out in the woods!

Everyone made a meal and I made a breakfast!  Sourdough English Muffins are so good and I made some the last morning we were there!

Easter is a Christian Holiday celebrating the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus!  Sunday morning, we sat around the cabin table discussing the events of Jesus being crucified.  There's lots that happened on that day!  Jesus did die.  He was carried off to a new tomb and wrapped in grave clothes.  A stone was rolled to close the opening of the door.  The women that cared for Jesus while he was on earth, mixed spices and aloes and took them to the grave as soon as the Sabbath was over.  They wondered who would roll the stone aside for them to enter but when they walked up to the tomb, the stone was rolled away!  Angels were sitting by the grave and told them that Jesus is alive!  He arose from the dead!  They were to go tell the disciples what happened!  (Read about it in the last chapter of Mark!). 

Easter is such a wonderful time to read and think about how Jesus died for ALL SINNERS!  He died so I can live!  I printed out a Easter timeline paper from Pinterest and we read the scriptures each night that lead up to the death of Jesus!  I love doing things like this as a family!  To teach the children the real meanings of Christmas and Easter is such a responsibility!  My parents taught me ... I must teach our children!

Go read about this true story in the Bible!  All four gospels tell the story!

Happy Easter!!!

Spring weather is delaying.

 All last week we had rainy, cold weather.  This kind of weather makes me wonder if Spring, the warm Spring weather that we love so much, will ever come???  It "seems" so long since we had warm days!  

And then ...

Austin was sick all week too and we prayed so much that God would take away his belly ache and that he would stop throwing up and feel well!  Sunday morning, he woke up not well.  He laid on the couch ALL WEEK LONG!  I felt so bad for him.  No school until Friday.  And then he was feeling better but still tired.  He made it through the day but the minute he was home, he curled up on the couch and slept.  The day exhausted him.  He was feeling SO MUCH better on Saturday and he's been eating us out of the house ever since!  Thank you Jesus that Austin is well again!

I loved how each of the children expressed care and concern for Austin when he was sick.  Ashlyn would wake up each morning asking if Austin is going to school today?  Matthew would come home each day after school and go straight to the couch and check up on how Austin was feeling.  Hadassah texted or called each day asking if he's well yet.  Mike and I took turns sitting with Austin and caring for him.  I read him books and we watched some Lion King together.  I tried to make the best of it all week but I was so ready to have our Little Man well!  Thursday, Austin was finally on the mend and Ashlyn started helping him with some school papers.

When I heard him giggle and laughing, it was music to my ears!!!!!

This is some of my home redimedies that we used while Austin was sick.  Jello.  Gatorlyte.  Water. Lots of tea!  Vapor Rub. Oils.  Fishies, crackers and pretzels.  Toast.  Skinners.  Vitratox.  Tried peach juice.  It was a bunch of things that we thought would help him get better!!!!

Thursday, he felt better but still looked not so well out of his eyes.

While he was on the couch, I bagged up boneless chicken thighs and ground beef from Centerville's Meat Sale.  We are excited to start up the grill and make burgers on those warm summer nights and grill up a good dinner of grilled chicken!

We tried blueberries too!  When Austin mentioned muffins, I whipped up a batch of the best blueberry muffins around!  (Food From the Heart Cookbook). They were so delicious!

I was feeling housebound and weary for caring for a sick child all week but I woke up to this on Friday morning and let me just say that God gives me much energy on the sunny days!  Austin woke up happy and well and was off to school and just in time for me to join a "Cousin's Day Event" that I was really hoping I wouldn't have to miss!

The kids were off to school and I was delighted to see the sun finally shining and get out of the house for this fun brunch!  A few weeks ago we gathered in Aunt Ruth's new home and had so much fun together!  I grew up living right next door to the Beiler's and it's always so fun to get together with them!  This time, Jenn invited us to her beautiful home!  We ate good, sat around her dining room table for hours and laughed!  Thanks for having us Jenn!

Such great family!!!!!

I came home and hopped on the mower and cut the grass!  Spring is here and the mowing has begun!  Jody has pretty trees at their house and I added these to the island for a spring flare for the weekend!

Spring is so pretty but it can be still cold and rainy!  I'm so ready for the weather to get warmer, the sun to shine nonstop and let the kids play outdoors more!

We are so blessed to have complete health back to our family, pretty blooms all around and a church to celebrate the Easter Season with!  There's much to read, pray about, think through with the Easter Story and I hope to do all of these with the kids and family all week!

Happy Spring!