....still here.

It's a beautiful (almost) 50* day today with thoughts of close to 70* tomorrow.......I can't help but start thinking about the PJ Garden this spring :) So far the list looks like:

1. Cucumbers
2. Onions
3. Peppers
4. Tomatoes
5. Cilantro
6. Whatever Berries& Grapes made it from last year!

Spring over here :)

Genesis 1:29
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Beautiful.

Our weather has been absolutely heavenly this past weekend!! We got all of our "crops" planted. Hubby made (an outside) green house for our seedlings. He has become quite the "farmer"...... I am gathering jars for our canning session! WooHoo! Wow he has a lot of plans I hope I can accomplish them all!

Moved in....

......and settled :) Yeah!!! It is so nice to have her back!!!!

Other then that we have been in the garden!! Enjoying the semi nice weather when we can :) We have the dirt in. We are just waiting for the weather to get spring like so we can plant! Our starters are out growing there cups lol!!!!

#4 continue to amaze us almost everyday. She is funny. She loves to have people laugh. Last night her and I chased each other around the table while we were growling at each other :) She seems more and more interested in animals. We have temporary custody of my sister's cat and she enjoys having a "meow meow" at the house. I don't think the cat feels the same way about her though.

Her new love is church. We pass by it occasionally while running errands and she screams "CHURCH CHURCH". So I think she likes it there lol!

Adoption #2.......we are waiting for 2 things to officially start: 1. we need to hit the 6 month mark of #4's Home coming. 2. we need the funds to come in to have the home study updated :)
His Timing. His will.

Pets enjoying Spring pics!

Spring is busy around here!

What we have been up to the past few days:






We have our 10 garden beds done! And they are weed protected :) And ready for the soil being delivered this morning!!! The sandbox is complete and full of sand and new sandbox toys! I thought #4 would enjoy being outside in it........but sadly was wrong. She gets "dirty" and does not like that. She spends more time brushing off then playing LOL!!! We are still trying to talk Daddy into a swing set!

The children and the dogs have thoroughly enjoyed being outside! Boy have they slept soundly after those afternoons outside!!

Come on Spring......

.....we are ready for ya!! We spent this past Saturday getting our garden ready for spring. This year we are trying Square Foot Gardening.....

Hubby made a list last weekend of all of the "stuff" we would need and then we decided how can we make this a cheap adventure and not a $300 one!! SOOOOO we looked around and he decided to take the chicken coop down (it was already down we just moved it lol) So "free" wood. Then we were talking to someone form church and he told us to call tree service businesses and ask for mulch......today he picks up a truck load for FREE. YEAH so the price is going down!!!!

The boys did 300 sq ft worth of boxes for garden and he put up a sand box out there too ;)

Things we will do differently next year!

• The kids will help from day 1
• I need 2 more of these. One for each child over the age of 8 :)
• I will have a friend over to help corral kids and just plain talk to me!
• I will can one thing a day.
• Dinner will be made in the crock pot in the morning before I have time to want to order pizza.
• We will NOT do any school, but will count canning as a semester of Home Ec.
• I need another black canning pot!
• I need more pots for cooking apples.
  

In a weeks time - this is our finished product :)

• 24 Quarts of Applesauce
  



• 7 Quarts of Apple Pie Filling



• 4 Pints of Raspberry Jam
  
  
• 4 Pints of Apple Butter
  
  The apple sauce and raspberry jam came from THIS book. I found it at a garage sale last year for 10 cents YEAH!!
  
  Kelly asked if it was a lot of work. It was BUT sooo worth it. I think with a bit more organization it will be easier and more time efficient hence the list for next year lol :) But I plan to add a few things to can next year green beans and salsa at least!! But there is something rewarding in hearing those pop pop pop (sealing jars) knowing YOU did it!! Oh yea and it doesn't hurt that they are soooooo yummy!!! AND I KNOW what is in them no surprises!!!
  
  Well I need to get off this computer last but certainly not least my kitchen is screaming for a scrubbing :) My floor is so sticky from apples its not even funny!
  
  
  
  

And how I feel today....

Our Thursday.

We did it! This year we finally canned!!! I got some pointers over @ Owlhaven, here, and had my Grandma on speed dial today THANKS GRANDMA!!!! :)

What a fabulous noise to hear them seal!!!! Onto apple butter, and hopefully apple pie filling (hint hint Grandma!!!!)

Gardening Sites

http://wintersown.org/wseo1/How_to_Winter_Sow.html

http://www.heirloomseeds.com/

We are trying it this way this year!!
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/