Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Garden

I am so excited, for all of my homeschooling peeps out there, to tell about our Garden project this year.  I have been wanting a garden for a while now.  We tried to plant one in our back yard last year and well...it didn't quite work out.  We fed and watered and babied it but it never produced anything.  So, this year I decided to get my daddy involved.  He told me he would help if I made it a project for the kiddos.  I quickly jumped on that.  What an excellent way to end our school year and extend it also.  The garden will grow long past our last official day of school.  It will keep our minds from going to mush with a few weeks officially off. I can not wait to share our project with you guys. 

Here are a few of my ideas for integrating the garden into school curriculum.
1.) The boys are going to keep and illustration journal all along the way. 
2.) The boys have already helped to prepare the ground for planting.
3.) We have all planted tomato, pepper, and herb plants. There is much more planting to be done.
4.) We are going to create an Excel worksheet to document our expenses and earnings.
5.)The boys and I will be blogging about our incredible project.
6.)We plan of selling the fruits of our labors by possibly setting up a produce stand and taking advanced orders as well.
7.)Weed eradication skills will be perfected.
The list just keeps on growing as I type.  The possibilities are limitless.

We are all a little excited about digging in and growing a garden.

I took the boys down to the farm Saturday to help Papa spray and disk a little and I took some pictures while the boys were hard at work.  We also planted the first few things in our garden. 


Here are some pictures from Saturday.

Entering the gate to our garden



Disking the soil getting ready to plant

Coop getting a little driver's ed lesson!





The disk attached to the tractor
Papa and the boys


 Jamie and I lived down at the farm for almost four years before moving to town. I love the farm with a few exceptions.  The snakes are bigger, the mosquitoes are bigger, and the dad-blasted dirt road just about did me in. The serenity of the farm is just amazing and on a clear night the heavens are the most amazing sight. We had a garden way back when.  Of course, the boys were just babies and have no recollection of it.  The boys absolutely love the farm.  They look forward to going to help Papa on Saturdays. Not to mention they are learning to drive, shoot, and Lord knows what else, that might cause my heart to palpitate uncontrollably.  This garden will be a wonderful learning experience for us all.  Of that I am sure!

Much love,


Monday, April 16, 2012

Patience is not my virtue...

...but He is the Potter and I am the clay.  He is still molding me and making me!


Today is Tax Day eve around my house!  Yipee, Yay, Yo!!!

I am not a very patient person when I am tired of something and I.AM.TIRED of Tax season this year.  I had to pray and ask God to forgive me for my attitude these last few days because quite frankly, it has been rotten. I have been on edge with everyone, especially my kiddos.  I am so ready to have my husband back and the father to my children back, my help meet back!  I didn't sign up to be a single parent of four, even if it is for a couple of months a year.  Yep, those were my rotten thoughts yesterday. God was quick to remind me that there are many others out there that didn't sign up to be single parents either and they have to do it year round.  Alright Lord, I get your point! Things can always be worse and I am sufficiently humbled to that fact!

We are going to start spring break around here Wednesday.  The kiddos are excited and bummed that we didn't start today! Spring break plans consist of re-doing our flower beds, working on our vegetable garden that my dad is helping me with, and just spending some time together as a family! I am excited and so thankful that we will get almost an entire week together.  I plan on taking lots of pictures of my little family at work and play this week!  I'll post some later, with a blog post on our homeschool venture of a vegetable garden.  I am thinking of making the entire project part of our school day and even getting my boys to do a couple of guest posts about our experience and the entire process!

I am going to leave you today with a huge prayer request.  I have a BLM friend who needs so many prayers.  My friend Melissa C. lost a son to Potter's in November.  Then she lost her husband unexpectedly in January.  Now my sweet friend is in the fight of her life against an ugly disease eating away at her body.  She has stomach and live cancer that is only treatable through a transplant, not just a liver transplant but several organs in her stomach area would need to be transplanted. If the transplant does not work or for some reason her body will not allow the doctors to perform the transplant, she has been given up to six months by her doctors.  Now, I know that the God we serve is also the Great Physician and He determines her time here on earth, not doctors.  He can rid her body of this ugly disease and make her whole again. I pray that He does!  My friend has two very small daughters that need their mommy right now and she is very sick.  Her situation humbles me to my knees. Please join me in praying for her and asking, no begging God for a miracle! My friend is young and these things just aren't supposed to happen to young people, especially all three at once. We know that our plans are not His plans and while that is sometimes so hard to fathom, my friend is living it.  Please lift her up without ceasing. My heart is heavy for her.

Much Love,

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Just beautiful!

Jamie's grandmother went home to be with the Lord this past week. She was truly a beautiful woman, inside and out! The very first time I met her she made me a part of her family.  She was a true southern belle and she never met a stanger. I have to say, I'm a little jealous that she is now holding my sweet Eli.  I am so happy for her that she has met Jesus and been reunited with those gone on before her. Grandma's mother died giving birth to her in 1932 and never got to hold her baby girl.  I can only imagine that amazing reunion in Heaven.  Imagine a mother putting her arms around a daughter that she carried but never kissed. I am sure there were lots of hugs and kisses exchanged when they first met each other. Heaven is so very sweet tonight and every night for that matter.

Much love,