365- #114-115 (Shower)

365- #107-113 (Once upon a Garden)

After many years of dreaming of a garden, we finally have one.....

We decided to build a cinder-block garden (raised bed) for a few reasons....
1. b/c of all the roots from surrounding trees, it's very difficult to dig in our yard,
2. we can sit on the side of the bed to weed or harvest, and not kill our backs and knees in the process, and
3. we found a book that told us EXACTLY how to do every detail :)

Here's what we did...

first, we bought the cinder blocks and supplies, and found a location in our yard.

then we bought the dirt, sand and peatmoss,

next we laid the weed-barrier and began stacking the cinder blocks.

we built it 2 blocks high, which is perfect for sitting on comfortably.

The gardeners then got to work, filling it up...

We couldn't wait to start planting.

And here it is....our first garden!

It's filled with cucumber, tomatoe, cantaloupe, strawberries,

green beans, parsley, lemon thyme, and marigolds!!

On the end, in the pots, are mints and rosemary :)

365- #103-106 (butterflies, chicks & roosters)

a few sites from the AgMagic field trip...

and the highlight of the day....

two of those hands are my children's.  They couldn't wait to hold those cute little chickies!

365-#100-103 (just because....)

Because he loves me....

I'm the luckiest girl on the planet!!

365- 99 (Lily)

Look what just bloomed in my yard:

it was a SURPRISE!  Several years ago, my Dad gave me several lilies to plant.  None of them had blooms and we didn't know what would spring up.  In the last few years, this one had never bloomed.

What a wonderful surprise!!

364 - 98 (shovel)

Here's our primary tool of the week....

Garden pics coming soon....

365-97 (Robin)

365 - #91-96 (Flowers)

Over the weekend, I found the most beautiful flowers!  Here's a sampling of the shots I took:

in an English garden downtown...

on the Capitol grounds...

in my yard...Knock-out Roses

in the Rose Gardens near the Capitol....

I had so much fun taking pics of flowers.  They cooperate so nicely when posing for pics :)

365- #85-90 (State Capitol)

After the Farmers' Market, I took the girls and one of their friends to slide down the hills around the State Capitol. 

What a blast!!  The girls each had a cardboard box to sit on and slide down with.  They giggled...a LOT!

We had to go in the capitol to find a water fountain, so I took advantage of the photo shoot opportunity :)

this is one of the light fixtures in the Rotunda (or lobby):

here are the flags hanging in the same room:

Each state and the date it was established is carved on the capitol steps:

It was a great day!

365 - #82-85 (Farmers' Market)

This weekend I went with my Mom and 2 of my girls to the Farmers' Market downtown. 

I love going there.  I always find great deals on fresh produce!  And there's always a treat or two that we come away with.
This weekend, Eaglet 3 had her face painted:

And we bought strawberries:

we also got some herbs to put in our garden (pics are coming soon...)

It was a beautiful day, and a treasure to spend the morning with my Mom.

365 - #81 (gardens)

Last week the girls went to a birthday party and came back with these beautiful pinwheels (is that what they're called?):

We put them in our flower gardens to brighten up our yard.  I love 'em!

Then we got busy on our vegetable garden, which is what we've been working on all week.  Later this week I'll have a pic story of our progress.

365- #79-80 (barn & field)

Beauty all around us...

365- #72- 78 (Easter Traditions Pt. 2)

Eggs are also part of our tradition at Easter.  I know it has nothing to do with Jesus, but it has been a part of my family's traditions all my life so we kept it. 
Each year we visit my family (siblings and parents) for Easter, and we have an Egg Decorating Contest.  Our family spends a whole afternoon, getting our creative juices flowing, and decorating eggs on Good Friday.
Here are the supplies:

Eggs, of course...

dye....

and art supplies....

This year's winners:

from left to right....Ugliest egg, Silliest egg, & Best Character (Cousin It) for the kids' contest

I don't know if these actually won....but they could have:

the three on the left are the ones that I made....

and the three on the right were the winners of:

Most Beautiful, Best Color & Most Creative in the adult contest

It's a ton of fun!  everyone gets to vote on their favorites for each category...and sometimes there are prizes :)

Following the contest, the adults hide the eggs around the yard and the kids get to hunt for them. 
Whichever eggs they find, they can use to "paque" with.

For those of you who have never heard of "paquing" (pronounced "pock") eggs, here's a description: 
2 people take a boiled, decorated egg and gently knock them together (it makes the sound of "pock" although I don't know if that's why it's called that).  The one whose egg is cracked first is the loser. The winner gets to find another egg to paque....hoping that he'll have the strongest egg of all.
 Every family has a different tradition for the winner, but we just keep on paquing until there's one egg left....just for fun.  No prize winners.  And, then we throw all the eggs away....by that time, they've been through a lot and were very useful....but too germy to eat!

I love spending time with my family!  It was hard to say good-bye at the end of the day!  I always feel like we're just started when it's time to go.

365- #70-71 (Easter Traditions Pt.1)

Our Easter traditions are still evolving...we add and tweak them every year.  But there are some things that remain unchanged.
On Good Friday, we have communion as a family and talk about the meaning of Easter....Jesus' death and resurrection.  This year we included the Feasts...and talked about how Jesus has already fulfilled some of them.
When our oldest was a wee little girl, we made this "tomb"...and every year after communion, we place "Jesus" in it and close up the tomb, positioning the guards on the outside.  (The cross has hooks, because we used to hang scripture memory cards on the hooks each time we memorized one....great idea that we no longer do)

On Easter morning, the girls wake up to find that Jesus is no longer in the tomb....and then the hunt begins to find Him!

The clues are all related to Jesus.  One year the clues were the names of Jesus, another year they were related to the parables of the kingdom of God....this year they were related to the events around the Resurrection and the feasts.

At the end of the hunt, there is always a treasure and Jesus is holding it. (sorry no pic of that....I'll have to remember next year)  The treasure is always one gift for each girl....no candy!  (somehow they get their fill of candy other places....hard to get away from!)

365- # 68-69 (Alyssum)

This is Alyssum flowers....they now grow in our front flower bed!