Snow in the South

All morning long the sky was white with falling snow.  Although we got less than 1 inch, it was still so much fun for the kids!  Sometimes when the wind would blow the snow, Enoch would say, "Mom, maybe we're going to have a blizzard!"  (We just finished up the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and they had a LOT of blizzards!)  To make the day even more special, we had snowman pancakes for breakfast and hot chocolate to warm up after our time outside.  Here are some pictures of our time outside:

 Alaythia mopped the street (to keep the snow off, of course)

 Karis shoveled the snow for a few minutes.

 And Enoch swept the snow.  

He also managed to escape outside pant-less earlier this morning, and he swept all of the snow off of our picnic table so that he could bring it in and show the girls.  I have no idea how he didn't freeze, but his enthusiasm was certainly not dampened by the cold!

My three big kids posed for a picture right before Karis demanded to go inside because she was cold.  :)

 And little Zoe made it outside after her nap.  She thought the snow was fun to hit!

Isn't she a cute little baby bear?  I just love sweet little babies in snow suits!

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Pumpkin Patch 2015

We went and enjoyed our local pumpkin patch again this year to celebrate Fall. Country Pumpkins is one of our favorite seasonal attractions, as they really out-do themselves every year.  We love going and playing, getting some cute photos, and bringing back a few pumpkins also! 

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Our Family Photos 2015

We recently had a friend (Nikki McKenzie) take some family photos for us, and they turned out great!!  She recommended that we go and do something fun together as a family and let her just tag along and capture it.  I'm so thankful we followed her advice because it took the pressure off the kids and really allowed her to capture this season of our lives.  I'll post a few of my favorites here, but you can check out her blog to see a few more good ones.  (All photos shown here were taken by Nikki.)

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FFF: Our Garden Update, May 2015

Here is a garden update from earlier this week...

I should give a disclaimer that we planted our garden a few weeks earlier than the frost dates suggested, which could've been an absolute failure, but it worked out okay down here because we've had a warmer than average Spring.  So technically our garden has been growing for around 1 month now, and it has already been fertilized once. (We planted most everything the first week and a half of April, and I fertilized 2 weeks ago.  I use the fish emulsion fertilizer, so I need to do it again soon..)

 One of my garden helpers, watering the squash plants.  See those blooms?

Our bachelor buttons are blooming!

We found this little guy today.  Not sure what he is, but he was fun for Enoch to play with, and now he is no longer in my garden.  

Our cucumbers have found the trellis and are putting out blooms!

Our pole beans (Rattlesnake beans) have found their trellis.  The bush beans are in there too on the other side of the bucket and are also growing (Royalty Purple Pod beans)!

Our first little pepper is growing.

And our tomato plants have blooms (the cherry tomatoes).

Onions are growing a little.

A few strawberries are ripening, though critters usually get them before we are able to enjoy them.

Working on another project... he's a hard worker, this one, and he just loves being outside.

Look how tall our cherry tomatoes are!!  (The better boys in the other bed aren't doing as well because they get less sun... that could be a problem!)

My other garden helper... in her jammies... don't judge, you know she's cute.

Alaythia was inside asleep while we watered.  On the mornings when she sleeps in a little, we scramble outside to enjoy some shady time in the front yard until she wakes up.  This happens a few times per week, and I so relish those times of getting my hands dirty and my feet wet with my big kids.  :)

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Spring Garden 2015 (in the beginning)

Here are some photos to document the beginnings of our garden this year.

These carrots were so exciting to harvest (fall crop)!  They really gave me incentive to work hard on getting our summer garden going since it often yields such delicious foods!

Doing our garden prep of cleaning out the beds & readying the soil.

Here is what we got in the ground:

Our front bed is mainly dedicated to some Better Boy tomatoes as well as flowers (these are mainly cool season flowers, to be replaced soon by summer flowers).

Around on the side we have a good stand of Bachelor Buttons that re-seeded themselves.

Further down we planted some cucumbers (they will grow up that trellis).

And on the end we put squash plants in.

On the other side of that walkway is where our buckets are.  This year they have beans in them (bush & pole)!

And last but certainly not least is my 4x8' raised bed, which is mainly dedicated to our favorites: cherry tomatoes (8 of them!).  There are also a few pepper plants and onions tucked in there.  And in the back center are a few bunches of leaf lettuce which are waiting to be harvested (they were our other fall crop).

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Spring is in the Air

The past few days down in the SouthLand have been more than beautiful!  The warm, golden sun has dried up all of the mud from weeks of continual rain, and the Easter lilies are showing off their bright yellow blooms.  On campus, the grass is already lusciously green, and the forsythia is in full swing (wish I had a picture because it is such a lovely Spring plant)! 

We have also happily set aside our long sleeves and dug out our warm weather play clothes because... we've been playing in the warm weather - and even sweating!  Personally, I just love the beginning of warm, sunny days like this after so many weeks of dreary, rainy/snowy, winter.  Now, I certainly haven't begun planting our garden yet because we are supposed to have one or two more cold snaps before it stays warm for good, but that has absolutely not stopped us from enjoying the great outdoors! 

Sweet Karis was pretty happy to be soaking in some sun!

I think she's just too cute in that little flowery outfit with her side pony!!

And Enoch had some fun with his puppy outside too! 

Since there aren't as many rules for the puppy outside, she's much more free to play and romp and explore (which obviously equates to more fun for a certain little rambunctious boy!).

(like how Karis and I snuck our way into that picture?)

And lastly, my chickens are back in full egg-laying production!!! 

This is two days worth of eggs (one from each of my three chickens, from left to right: Blackie's small brown eggs, Gray Girl's large blue eggs, and Rosie's large brown eggs).  Aren't they beautiful in that thick, green clover?

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FFF: Lots of Time Together

Lots of time together has been a theme for this week!  We've had some beautiful weather (thankful to be in the South Land), and lots of fun both inside and out.  Here are some photos that capture our week:

Playing with play doh (and his new worm-making machine)

 Sidewalk chalking a rainbow on a warm afternoon

 Karis and I enjoying some sun and snuggles

 Watching the water running in a neighborhood ditch after a good rain

Sitting side-by-side in the stroller

(I did have to referee quite a bit on that particular morning because Karis wouldn't quit reaching over and grabbing Enoch's hair, and he wouldn't quit trying to bite her hand... oh the love!  Somehow we managed a good walk though, with no casualties.)

Reading some Dr. Seuss together and snuggling just a tad.

This week we also had a few guys come over and cut down some trees (which we missed getting to watch because we were out shopping), and then later in the week we had a guy come and grind out the stumps.  Enoch did get to watch him and his machine work that time, but I don't have any pictures.  :(  It was pretty neat though!  

Next week I'm planning to begin planting some of my cooler-weather veggies (hopefully it's not too late!) and starting a few more crops from seed indoors.  Right now my indoor seedlings are growing strong and healthy... pics coming soon!  

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