Rain followed by Sun

Less than 2 weeks ago, the potato patch was spotty, at best.

Then it rained and rained. Finally, the sun shone. And, now you can practically watch it grow. Sadly, the weeds are growing just as fast.



Emma turned 3. She has discovered Barney so Gma got her 2 Barney videos. She also noticed, for the first time, that we have a Barney beach towel (was Dalton's ~ 12 years ago!). It's hers now. She's the most singy of all the kiddos, so we belt out the ole "I love you, You love me" song at the top of our lungs, and we don't care how much eye rolling occurs ~ secretly, we know they are singing too. :D

Inspired by Paul, I begged, pleaded, asked to have one so Jerry built this trellis system for the yellow squash, butternut squash and loofah. He used scrap lumber and also t-posts for anchors. I've got to tie the string on, and it's good to go. I have to decide if I'm going to want more for the cucumbers and tomatoes. How does one stake 75 tomato plants while on a limited budget?! Suggestions, please!



I can not stop taking pictures of the chix. They make it easy by hurtling towards me where ever I am. LOL That never gets old!!

Speaking of chicks, I have been letting the meat birds free range outside in the afternoons. What does this shot look like to you?! A daisy? Yeah, me too. One week to go til butcher date.

I should do updates to the challenges, but I don't feel like it. LOL So much is going on right now in the garden - doubling it has been a bit of a pain. Grass turf is a bugger to get thru. The ground underneath hasn't seen the light of day for 35+ years (back when it was farmland/tilled fields.) So, we are transplanting the turf, double digging, adding compost to holes, mulching between plants and looking forward to this fall when we can plow it all under.

• Blackberry and blueberry bushes arrived, yet to be planted.
• Lettuce is slow coming up, so are radishes.
• Peas are a total loss thanks to the chickens for scratching them up, twice.
• Rhubarb should be harvested.
• We got asparagus in small spurts, never enough all at once, but I planted 10 more.
• Planted another peach tree ~ Elberta.
• Jerry & I shared the first strawberry of the season.
  

Cole, Braden & Dalton

The boys had a Father/Son fishing trip this past weekend. While they were gone, the girls painted nails, went shopping for coloring books & stickers and had a sleep over in mom's bed.

We have an entire week of balmy, breezy spring-time-in-Kansas weather forecasted (which translates to highs of 80, lows of 60, winds 10-25 mph and low humidity.) Paradise on the prairie!

Adopt a Soldier

Do you remember the movie Pay It Forward? The premise was to do a good deed for someone and they will pay it forward, creating a ripple effect and the good deeds would just keep on being done.

I love that idea. I'm always on the lookout for a way to 'pay it forward'.

A website was sent to me recently that has a daily good deed report. Check it out. Every month, they tackle a new project.

Reading their site led me to Wish Upon a Hero. Of course, it's been televised several times, but *ahem* I don't watch much tv so I missed it. Anyway, the premise there is you can be a wish grantor or wishee. So many of the wishes are for card showers ~ for a great grandma celebrating a milestone birthday or a recent graduate who has no family or for a child that needs a pick me up. Yes, this I can do! I signed up and have been having a blast sending out cards. (Although the website is painfully slow ~ not complaining, just saying.)

Of course, that website led to me the best one yet Adopt A Soldier. I signed up a few days ago and today I got an email with my soldier's info. That was FAST!!

My soldier is a 39 year old gal from California. Now, when I think of Soldier, I think of my nephew - young, 20-something, single guy. I don't think of someone who is my age!! I didn't get much info so I don't know if she's a wife or a mom. All her request said is that she'd like some personal care items. She misses being in familiar places (home!) and whatever she gets (cards, letters or packages) she will share with the other soldiers there.

That made me tear up. She's a gal after my own heart!!!

I know that with summer upon us, this will be a fun project for our family to work on together. Gathering little items and making cards, letters and pictures to send to Colette.

So, won't you take a minute and go be a hero?! Let's pay this one forward!!

Someone Special

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day! I did. Above is a lovely card made by Cole. Inside, he shared several sweet sentiments and the back was so cute too.

It shows a chicken eating a worm and it's from his line of "Hungry Chicken" cards. LOL

Every Mother's Day (and Christmas too) someone very special has helped in choosing my gifts. She is a creative, kind and compassionate lady. My children enjoy spending time with her and talk about her almost as if she's a dear auntie. But, she isn't a relative. She's the art teacher at school. Mrs. H has a knack for leading the kids in art that allows them to be creative but the art is useful. I mean, who else could have the kids make a ceramic bird feeder (complete with drainage holes!) for Mom's Day?! Every year, I look forward to receiving more goodies that she had a hand in. My dear hubby isn't much of a shopper and really, doesn't do gift giving. That's a whole 'nother post, but suffice to say, it's taken me a lot of years to be okay with not getting gifts from him. Yes, I know gifts don't equate love, but that's not how I was raised and it took a lot for me to overcome the disappointment of not getting store-bought gifts. The artsy, homemade gifts that I LOVE and CHERISH come about thanks to Mrs. H. So, Mrs. H, when I'm 85 and still admiring these lovely gifts, I will be thinking of you and praising your goodness!!

Aubrey and I attended our first ever Mother ~ Daughter Tea. It was so nice! Muffins with Mom Day complete with songs by the Kindergartners. She painted the darling heart shaped dishes (thanks again Mrs. H). They remind me of friendship charms - one for me and one for her and when we look at our hearts, we think of each other. I have some fun little things planned to use these. Oh, and the tea pot has a poem that slides out and a tea bag ~ so we're going to have a tea party the next boy-free weekend we get. (Thanks to Boy Scouts!)

The gifts just keep coming! Someone else at school had the great idea to sell these little plants in coffee mugs for $1. And, Jerry got me the pink flowers. Plus, he made me a wonderful french toast w/ sausage breakfast to eat in BED with a newspaper and birds chirping outside my window. Who could ask for anything more?!

The afternoon was spent with Phelan and family. Cole got to ride solo and the girls got to ride with Phelan. And hold tiny kittens. And eat delicious, fresh-from-the-oven bread. And play with the not-so-tiny goats. And see Courage up close (she is a beauty!). And talk about plans for beef cows. And hang out with friends. And so much more. A very nice afternoon in deed. Even with the cold, windy day. The bonfire was excellent. I don't think I've ever had a bonfire on Mother's Day before. Seeing my kids so happy is truly a fabulous gift. Spending time with people I admire and appreciate is just the icing on the cake.

On the way home, I saw several Cardinals. They remind me of my Texas Grandma. Whenever I see them, I know it's her way of sending me love. I love you too, Grandma.

Oldest son and about 90 kids from his school, spent Friday night sleeping in boxes & Saturday raising money for a homeless shelter here in town. They got a surprise donation of a $200 check from one gentleman. I have no idea who it was, but Sir, you ROCK! You were the talk of the day! The kids had a good time, learned about a very real need in our community and discovered that 40% of the homeless are under 18. It's events like these that get them to see the world out there is really in their own backyard.

We had a great weekend ~ hope you did too.

Party of Seven

When Jerry & I were engaged, we went shopping for a table and chair set. This was the nicest one we could afford. At the time, with just the two of us, it seemed like such a HUGE table. It has a leaf that folds inside, but the photo above shows the leaf IN, so this is the table we use everyday to seat 7. Yeah, it's a squeeze. 2 people sit on folding chairs and Emma still uses her high chair, just without the tray on it.

We've had a lot of laughs at this table. I grew up in a family that rarely joked around or enjoyed meals together. Not so in MY house. We all laugh, joke, snort and share good times. We are silly and loving and US. I've wanted a bigger table for so long, but it's not in the budget and really, not a huge priority. We've talked a little about getting a bench for one side but we just haven't gotten around to it.

Let me present to you the new-to-us incredible blessing that we've received this week!! This table is amazing! First off, with it fully extended, it can seat 12, TWELVE. That's five more than we need! OH, and it comes with SIX matching chairs, so still using the high chair, we have seating for us all. Divine! Truly divine! It also stores the extra (2) leaves inside, but we opted to have 1 in and 1 stored. It's so much wider than our old table. It's weird to not be able to reach A L L the way across the table anymore. LOL

My dear friend K is moving to a smaller home and this table wouldn't fit. She offered it to us... free. I'm still in shock and just feeling incredibly grateful for her generosity. She could've sold it and made some cash, but instead, she chose to give it to us.

We got it home last night and I just marvel at it's size. There's room enough for all of us plus the meal too. Our old table didn't hold much, so we often prepared the plates in the kitchen and just ate at the table. Now we get to truly know what a family does - Pass the potatoes! Pass the salt and pepper! Oh, the fun times we're going to have at this beauty. I can't wait. Thanks again K ~ you know we love you and appreciate all you do for us!! Come join us for dinner, we've got room.