sugar snap peas

squash

pumpkin

baby pumpkin!

potatoes

onions, garlic, shallots

mixed lettuce

kale

green beans

cucumbers

corn

carrots

bibb lettuce

beets

five squash already starting

I am completely and utterly amazed at the difference good soil makes! Why didn’t I do this three years ago!?

~audrey

We packed up and headed to North Carolina over the weekend to see my brother and sister-in-law.  The live in a sweet old town just over the state line.  Everything was green and blooming (including my allergies).  The main reason they invited us to come visit this particular weekend was an event called The Merry-Go-Round Festival.  Shelby, North Carolina has a fantastic park and last weekend they hosted this festival.  Five dollars at the gate was your ticket to endless fair rides, the carousel, the train, and live music and entertainment.  The food was fabulous as well!  My brother also recently leased some farm land, not far from his house.

Thanks Donald and Laura, for a great weekend!  We love ya’ll!

Jesse, Aunt Laura, and the goats

My brother, Donald

“the girls”

in front of the big red barn

Daddy and Owen

Owen and Old MacDonald

I didn’t think the boys would go through with the ‘bungee jumping’….boy was I wrong!

On the train ride around the park

~audrey

I’ll be honest, I’m barely above water right now.

I am now keeping a third child two days a week.  He’s a young toddler and fits in wonderfully.  But no matter how you slice it, six kids is a full house so it’s pretty busy around here Monday thru Friday.  I’m trying to fill all of my Bows for Life orders in a timely fashion, clean my house once in a while, put dinner on the table more than just a few nights a week, school the boys, prepare for my mom to come tomorrow and for our family to leave Friday to go visit my brother and his wife for the weekend.

Somewhere in there, I have to go to Weight Watchers, cut the boys’ hair, pack, and arrange for someone to take care of the chickens on Saturday while we’re gone….oh, and make two desserts for our co-op’s closing ceremonies tomorrow night.

The bad part is I’ve been staying up so late trying to get these things done, that when I finally get a couple of hours in the afternoon to be productive, all I manage to do is take a nap.

It’ll be over soon.  There’s light at the end of the tunnel.

I lost one pound last week.  But hey, a loss is a loss.

We paid off our van and another credit card this month!  For the first time in nine years, we have no car payment…and never intend to ever again!

God is good.  His mercies are new every morning!

Bless you!

~audrey

The kids and I are very spontaneous.  I love it when friends drop by or we plan last minute play dates.  Today was one of those days.  I checked my email this morning and found a note from a sweet friend I met in co-op this year.  An hour later we were packed up and ready to have a picnic play date at the park.  She has two boys and a girl and a really incredible story of infertility and God’s amazing grace!

The kids played so well together, we had a sweet time of getting to know each other even better, ate lunch, and headed home for naps.  I thank God daily for such incredible friends.  Friends who challenge you, hold you accountable, and encourage you in the Lord.  I am so honored to be a part of such an amazing group of women/wives/moms and I absolutely love when I get the opportunity to have one on one time with them.

Bonus:  There was a local mom’s group at the park, having an Easter egg hunt and a few of them bought some of our Bows for Life!  If you’ve found your way to my site via KQ and the mom’s group, WELCOME!!  Thanks for stopping by!

~audrey

As gas prices continue to soar, we’ve been looking for ways to trim our monthly budget.  Our grocery budget is one of the most obvious.  For our family of five (plus feeding the twins I babysit five days a week), we have a monthly grocery budget of $400.  I’ve been experimenting lately with buying my fruit in bulk at Sam’s club along with our chicken.  The rest is usually from Walmart, which I despise, but often feel like I don’t have much of a choice because of my budget constraints.  However, as I’ve mentioned before, my favorite place to shop sales and coupons is Publix.  They have excellent buy one get one free deals every week and they double all coupons up to $.50, which means a $.50 coupon is worth $1!  The above picture is my bounty from today’s trip.  I absolutely love it when my dishwasher tabs are on sale because I can always find a coupon and get them for under $3.00/box.  Normally, they are $7/box and today I got them for $2.95 each!  Without the sale and coupons, I would’ve paid $14 for two boxes and instead only spent $5.90!  Here is what I got:

3 boxes of cake mix

2 boxes of brownie mix

2 boxes of English muffins

2 boxes of dishwasher detergent tabs

2 boxes of Long Grain and Wild Rice

8 cups of yogurt (these were FREE with coupons!)

1 bag of Fig Newtons

2 packages of instant mashed potatoes

2 boxes of Ritz Munchable crackers

1 box Quaker chewy granola bars

1 box of pasta

1 can of PAM olive oil

My total before coupons and sales:           $60.63

Total out of pocket:                                           $24.36

Today we began OPERATION GET ALONG.  A friend gave me the idea last night and I put it into action first thing this morning.  Yesterday I had a tearful meltdown after a long, stressful day.  I am so drained from my children’s attitudes of ungratefulness and discontent.  I’m exhausted from hearing ‘I’m bored’ and ‘Who’s going to play with me?’.  I grew up with one sibling and he’s three years younger than me.  We had an amazing childhood.  No toy boxes, no video games, just the outdoors, each other, and a wild imagination that took us anywhere we wanted to go.

I’m dissatisfied with how little my children read and the fact that they never choose reading out of a short list of options.  The solution?  First thing this morning, I pulled a large, empty rubbermaid container out of the garage and filled it with all of their toys, LEGOs, balls, blocks, video games, and anything else that wasn’t a writing utensil or a book.  Their room doesn’t contain a single toy any more.  Their canvas toy bins were replaced with good books and suddenly their options are quite simple.  Not surprisingly, they spent almost all day outside playing quite well together.  I’m trying very hard not to intervene at every slight disagreement.  I want them to learn to be peacemakers and to do so without an adult forcing reconciliation.  Of course this takes great heart training while they’re young, but they’re already equipped, they simply need lots of practice.

As I watch my children grow and the reality of how fast time passes by really sinks in, I do everything in my power to slow it down.  With all my might I try to choose my battles wisely.  When sweet Owen wants to play in the tub for an hour every afternoon (instead of napping), I let him.  Just this afternoon he came inside with a bug in his hand and said, “Momma, this is my buddy.  He’s black and orange, and orange is my favorite color.  I’m going to put him in my pocket.” I simply smiled and said okay.  I will undoubtedly find his little buddy in the washing machine in a few days.

My heart longs for another baby so much that I often could swear I feel flutters in my womb, knowing good and well I am not pregnant.  Knowing of the millions of orphans around the world, my heart aches for this long road before me.  I can’t get her into my arms fast enough.  His timing is perfect and His peace will pass my understanding.

I think back to the moment in which I found out I was pregnant with each of the boys.  Especially with Owen, how I’d longed for over a year to be pregnant again.  The ovulation tests, the temperature taking, and the months and months of negative tests and overwhelming sadness.  I simply can’t imagine the anguish some of you have experienced after years and years of infertility; many of whom have still never experienced motherhood.

And so I remove all of the obstacles that I possibly can that cause our lives to move at the speed of light.  I sit and read with my children, I lay down with them at night and run my fingers through their hair as we say prayers and they tell me all about their day and their hopes of what tomorrow might hold.  Each night they pray for baby Zoe, that God would keep her safe and healthy and that she might come home very soon.  They pray for provision so we can go to her as fast as possible.  Joshua will likely be ten years old when she finally comes home.  It’s hard to fathom.

As we slow down and live life right here in the moment, I thank God for my three precious children and I pray for those still to come.  I pray for His timing and I seek His face.

“Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him.  Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.” Psalm 127:3-5

I hope your weekend is aflame with God’s glory.

~audrey

Aaahhhhhh.

Last week flew by and now it’s Monday and I have absolutely nothing planned that would require me to leave the house today.  Jesse came down with a fever Saturday night and it continued yesterday, so I sent Joshua on the field trip to the Bell School with another family.  Today I’ve been busy cleaning, catching up on laundry, and making bread.

I made it to the grocery store on Saturday before I headed to my last night of work.  I was armed with coupons and ended up getting $75 in groceries for a little over $30.  Some of what I got included:  (2) Freschetta Pizzas, (4) cans of tuna, (2) boxes of Mueller pasta, (2) bags of pretzels (a great WW snack!), (2) boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats cereal, (4) bags of Green Giant frozen veggies, (2) boxes of Banana Babies (another great WW treat), a 24-pack of granola bars, and a large bottle of olive oil.  Then I went to Sam’s Club and got lots of chicken, a big container of organic spinach for our smoothies, oranges, a gigantic tub of peanut butter, a 5 lb. container of honey (for our bread recipe), two large packages of yeast (again for bread), two huge cans of fruit, and a huge can of mushrooms.  My total between Publix and Sam’s was $90!  That stuff will last us for quite a while.  Josh picked up another case of mason jars so I could divide the fruit and mushrooms into smaller containers and preserve or freeze them.

I love wearing long dresses and skirts in the summer.  I am not a shorts girl.  I don’t feel comfortable in shorts, so I usually prefer capris, skirts, or dresses.  I can get my skirts and dresses for between $10-$15 at Marshall’s and Ross’ but I thought it would be fun to try and make a long skirt if I could find fabric that was cheap enough to be worth my time and effort.  Indeed I did.  I found two different fabrics at Joann’s for $2.50 and $3.50/yard.  I got two yards of each.  One is cotton and the other is knit.  Once I got home, I realized the pattern on the cotton fabric was a little too busy for a skirt, but would be perfect for place mats and cloth napkins!  Looks like my mom may be getting cloth napkins for Mother’s Day.  🙂  I’m hoping to cut out the knit fabric today and get started.  I don’t have a pattern, so it should be interesting!

Lastly, I went to Weight Watchers to weigh-in on Saturday and was told that they couldn’t officially record my weight because it had only been five days since I joined.  Haha!  I thought if I waited all the way until next Saturday, they would consider me having skipped a week.  I guess I was wrong.  However, she wrote my weight and a big smiley face on a sticky note and stuck it on my chart because I was already down 4.2 lbs!  I’m looking forward to weighing in officially this coming Saturday.

The new system has been wonderful!  The other day I had a plate full of food (six slices of turkey, 24 pretzels, and a handful of grapes) and it was only 4 points!!  I’m allowed 33 points a day!  Today I plan to sit down and make a list of all the convenient foods I normally have available and figure out how many points they are per serving so I don’t have to think too much about it while I’m at home.

Happy Monday!

Garden pics to come later.

~audrey

This week is always crazy in Augusta.  The weather has been absolutely beautiful and I’ve gotten home from work by 9:00pm each night!  I can’t believe there are only two nights left and it will all be over.  I’m definitely looking forward to getting back to normal on Monday.

We have a field trip scheduled for Monday to The Bell School.  It is an old 1912 one room school house and the children visiting are given a one hundred year old experience.  My boys will wear plain white shirts and dark pants along with suspenders.  Their lunches will be transferred into old metal pails when we arrive and they’ll be taught just like the children were one hundred years ago.  There’s even a spelling bee at the end of the day.  I’m looking forward to it.

Tomorrow is my first weigh-in.  Usually, I do really great the first week of any diet.  I lose 4 or 5 pounds and then level off in the coming weeks.  Tomorrow’s weigh in should be interesting.  I know I’ve lost weight, I just don’t know how much.  It’s been very hard this week, working with a personal chef each night and having plenty of food left over to taste and bring home.  I’ve been pretty good though.  I go to work each night with points left over and when I do choose to taste the food, I do it very sparingly.  Last night I had a small bowl of mashed potatoes when I got home; probably less than one cup.  I said no to the fried chicken and pineapple upside down cake!  Today I will be very precise and drink lots of water so I can weigh in tomorrow with confidence.

I’ll let you know the outcome of week one sometime tomorrow.

Happy Friday!!!

~audrey

After only one day working in the garden, I was in excruciating pain in my lower back and legs. I didn’t even go to church yesterday because I didn’t sleep the night before due to my back hurting so badly.

Today I decided, enough is enough. I got online, bought a monthly pass to Weight Watchers for only $19.95 and went up the street to weigh-in. Let’s just say I’m still well over 200 lbs. But not for long. I’m really excited about the new PointsPlus program. I lost 60 lbs. using Weight Watchers seven years ago and a lot has changed since then. For starters, all fruit is free now. Fruit does not use any of your points. And, the new system allows you more points than before so it is easier to recover from a high point meal and still have points left for dinner. For example, today I didn’t eat breakfast so I took the kids to Chickfila after the park. Even after my lunch, I still have 16 points left for dinner.  That is fantastic!  I will probably go to the Saturday morning meetings from now on, so I’ll have to weigh in again in five days.  It’s just more motivation to do really, really well this first week.

Once I reach my first goal, a loss of 5%, I’ll post a before picture with stats and goals.  Today as I saw my weight on paper, I asked myself, why is it I pray about everything else in my life but not about my weight.  I plan on bathing this entire process in prayer.  I pray that I will exercise the fruits of the Spirit and that self-control will keep me on track and down the road to optimal health for myself and my family.  Girlfriends, hold me accountable.  Ask me how much I’ve lost and how I’m doing.  Because apparently it not only takes a village to raise a child, but also to keep a girl on a diet!

~audrey

Today was the day I’d been waiting for since the very first spring-like day weeks ago.  I got all of my sprouted seeds lined up, several trips to the local nursery for more compost, and prepared to get good and dirty.

As I’ve said in previous posts, this will be my first year going Square Foot Garden Method 100%.  I’m really looking forward to a good crop and many, many mornings in the garden, watering, pruning, tending, and eventually harvesting.  I borrowed the Homesteading for Beginners dvds and they have been so much fun to watch with Josh and the boys.  Everything from gardening and preserving to raising and BUTCHERING chickens.

I was surprised at just how much time it took me to get everything just right in my garden beds.  First I had to make sure my Mel’s Mix was properly combined, then I had to take one load at a time from the tarp where I mixed the soil to each bed until they were full.  Then Josh had to put nails in each bed so I could use twine to make my square foot grids.  From there it was a piece of cake, although I was already exhausted at this point.  The sun was beating down on me all day and although I had long sleeves and long pants on, I still managed to get a little sun.  I put all of my plants and seeds in the ground and gave it all a good watering.  I even let the boys get a few pots for their own little herb gardens.  I am so excited to see how this year turns out compared to previous years and different methods.  I will be doing my weekly and monthly pictures as soon as there’s progress from the seeds.

After I put the re-bar in the ground and set up my wagon cover for extra protection.  (I have to go get the plastic cover tomorrow.)

~audrey