The Garden of Eden....kind of

Now that we have 5 acres, chickens and a dog it's was time to get our act together and plant a proper garden....so we did.

PS I have not a stick of make-up on and well....

1. Steve, Merl (Grandpa Ward), Candy (Grandma Ward), and a little bit me....worked for 2 days to put up an 8' fence to keep the Olympic Caliber deer (which are way too plentiful) out of our plot.

2. Roto-till the heck out of the ground.....check!

3. Buy lots of seeds & plants....check!

4. Plant, water, weed and watch....which was really not that much work though weeding was intense since our plot is rather large (every weeding day the kids each had to fill up their grocery bag with weeds....I helped them each youngest to oldest....it was fun to tell stories and talk though we had many a complaint along the way) There was always an incentive to it too...swimming, popsicle, a movie...

Right away we knew we had a good thing going when none of our plants died...which has been the fate of way too many in the past...then after just a few days we had little sprouts coming up everywhere!! It was so fun to see and talk about the different things we planted...some of our stakes went missing and it was a kind of game to guess what it was...with the advice and help of our master gardener neighbor Vonnie...we have finally figured out what everything is!

After just a few weeks we had Zuchinni coming out of our ears and their leaves were like elephant ears...huge!! the pictures just don't to it justice...everything has gone so well and we have a real deal garden harvest EVERYDAY...we could run a stand!! Seriously berserk how well everything is thriving...I have never seen/experienced anything like it....Candy attributes it to the fact that our children pray for the garden, and I know that that is probably just what did the trick!

I love being out in the garden...you can literally hear the bees just buzzing around all over but they're so busy doing their work that they want nothing to do with you...they are so adorable pollinating like crazy...look at the little yellow pollen balls sticking to their legs...so cute...so natural?...


Here are some photos of the Garden when we got home from Florida (we planted our first plant/seed the end of June)....and the haul from the last 2 days (I am not exaggerating at all....2 days)


Our Harvest....(we ate some for lunch before this pic was taken...our actual #s are below)

9 cucumbers
12 beets
16 strawberries
10 jalepenos
3 eggplant
10 zuchinni (does not count the 6-7 that were waay too big for us to eat....they went straight to the chickens)
4 crook neck yellow squash (ditto on the others of these that were too big)
3 green peppers
13 carrots
1 hubbard squash
14 ears of corn
too many tomatoes to count
(note: we hadn't picked anything for a few days prior to this....which is why we lost some of the squashes...they grow and ripen SO fast...we also lost quite a few strawberries that got too ripe)

Here's a list of what we have/have to look forward to enjoying...
Cucumbers
Zucchini

Tomatoes
Cantaloupe

this is a tiny tiny new cantaloupe....just to add to our other 7 almost ready to go...we're picking our first one in 3 more days!!

this is the cantaloupe and our crook neck squash
Watermelon
Honeydew

Crook-neck Squash
Beets

Strawberries


Jalepenos
Teardrop Eggplant

Green Bell Peppers
Carrots (we have 2 real rows and tons and tons of spares all around the garden...Oscar was in charge of the carrots and sprinkled them out of a hole in the envelope as he walked around on planting day...in fact the boys prime argument for not filling their bag is because the things growing aren't weeds they're carrots)

Hubbard Squash (it's a winter squash...we have a bunch...this one weighs about 35 lbs)

Butternut Squash
Radishes
Corn (Ruby & White)

Sunflowers
Pie Pumpkins

Jack-o-lantern Pumpkins

Sugar Snap Peas
Ornamental Gourds
Onions


Happy Gardening out there!!

the 4th

I don't know about you, but the fourth of July always leaves me feeling so happy with my life. I love everything about it.....summer time, BBQs, friends, watermelon, red, white & blue, parades, fireworks, and the music!! I am so grateful to live in this great nation that was founded on righteous principles and shepherded by honest men for so many years. I am so glad to have the opportunity to participate in government and know that I need to take my civic duty more seriously. I love this country so much, I love singing the songs seeing the flags and talking to my children about how it is that we came to be as a nation. I am so lucky to have family around me who love this holiday as much as I do, and to have a wonderful husband who knows more about the historical events leading up to the revolution and all the fun facts about it! We had such a great series of talks about it...
So in short.....HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!

I will include the words to the last verse of the National Anthem as a quick tribute... I don't think I have actually made it through without bawling once in my entire life....even as a little girl in church, I remember sobbing through it....here it is...

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

(seriously I am already dripping tears in just writing it)

Saturday July, 3rd we drove over to El Dorado Hills to watch the show they put on....it was actually really descent...perfect for the kids...not too loud!

(Gordon giving his new favorite look...a wink)

setting up shop....

there's nothing like killing time with a camera....our new one has a rotating screen so you can see yourselves while you self-portrait!!

Steve's responses to trying to get one of us where we both look normal...so much for that

I LOVE THESE BOYS....

there's nothing like glow sticks, grasshopper cookies, and twizzlers for fireworks!

Sunday July 4th we went to church, napped, and recovered from the previous late night....then had a delicious BBQ and Apple Pie with Family...it was a perfect day!

Hope your 4th was just as wonderful!!

big baby girl

I am just not sure I can explain how much I LOVE this little chubby girl...she is growing up too fast but I love to watch it happen, every new trick just makes me laugh, cry and love her more!! Look that those irresistible legs! And can you even stand that she was looking at a book before she toppled over to sleep...oh and she has finally learned how to drink a bottle...phew!

I love love love being a mother to such wonderfully adorable children!
I am so so very lucky!!

quick money

Gordon has always been very interested in the acquiring and spending of money and now he is hitting the jack-pot!!

He is seriously excited about losing teeth, for years he has envied those who get money just for teeth and now he can join the club!!

Tooth Fairy, Watch out...we have one motivated kid...since I took these pictures less than a week ago he has already added another tooth to his hit-list. He has 2 more that are starting to be wiggly and is convinced he can get those "out in no-time...I can wiggle them all night"

Ellie's new Best Friend

Ellie has a new BFF.....Lucy!

Lucy is a spicy little red head who loves all the same things Ellie does, it's a match made in heaven!

They're such cute little friends...we're so happy to have them!


Ellie regularly saves "Ucy Fox" a seat at lunch, snack, on the couch, etc just in case her friend wants to come over!