How does your garden grow?

Spring is here in full effect and Im LOVING it!!! Spring in Texas for the most part is just lovely! Minus the occastional storm, the weather is perfect! 70-80's daily and lots of sun! Great for the growing garden.
Our little sprouts have turned into thriving plants and I just can't wait to eat the fruits of our labor;))

Everything is just growing around here!! Especially this one...

Can't believe he will be 6 months old this month! Craziness I tell ya!!

Gardening

So we planted out garden beds over this past weekend. Hoping this last nights cold weather wasn't a bit too cold for the young plants. I know the seedlings will be fine, but the plants with leaves...hmmm I'm kinda worried about those. I don't think it dropped below freezing last night, but there was frost on Big Daddy's windshield this morning.
So here is what we planted:

Tomatoes (love them!!)
eggplant
cucumbers ( hoping to try out pickle makin' this year)
zucchini
strawberries
bush beans
lettuce
potatoes
carrots

And the girls got to pick out and plant a packet of flowers each:) I hope they make, they'll be so excited!

Speaking of growing things....my little fat baby is going to be 5 months old here shortly and I can't believe how big he's getting!!!!

Isn't that blanket cute! Russ' Aunt Sherry made that for John. I just love simple things like that when they're personalized:)

Ok, off to cut some grass! The weather is finally starting to look alot like spring around here!

Randomness

Oh things have been a little hectic around here as of late. But I think its finally slowing down to a easier pace!
The last two weeks we have been dealing with the cleaning and repairing of our rental house in Dallas and that has kept me away from the computer:( I haven't been able to update on things like my pregnancy, our garden, our plans, or participate in the Completing Him Challenge. I'm two posts behind on that and I don't think I have the time to catch up, but I have been reading others posts and really enjoy it! I think its a great challenge though!

Now for a quick update and then its off to make eggs and bacon for breakfast!

Pregnancy is going wonderful! We have decided (and I may have already posted about this) to NOT find out what gender we are having! I think it will be a grand surprise and one of life's more memorable moments:) Although we still would LOVE to have a son, if the Lord has decided on a 3rd daughter for our family then we will gladly accept her and be ever so grateful for her:)

I'm so disappointed in our garden this year:( Between a late freeze (okay maybe we just planted a week too early) and major heat, then some serious rainfall (7 inches in 1 day!) our poor garden just couldn't take it! But every year we plant and every year we learn new things. This year we learned that if you plant wheat you must harvest it when you your suppose to, or else it will rain and your wheat will mold and all your effort will be for not!

Oh yeah, we're not getting a ultrasound done either. Unless something comes up that would indicate we need to further investigate by getting a u/s done. Im so excited to meet this little one this fall!!!

Because I'm an over achiever in the planning department, I'm thinking about things I can do to prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas. See I'm suddenly struck by the thought that I will have a newborn who will be just a few weeks old at Thanksgiving and then maybe 6-8 weeks old at Christmas! Wow that alot to take during the holidays. And because I love that time of year I do still want to to enjoy it and have my family enjoy it despite any sleep deprivation I may be experiencing. So I'm putting together a list of things I can do in the next few months to make it easier. One thing is obvious...freezer cooking and baking. Cookies, fudge, quick breads, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy. If I have these things on hand, I can mange a bird or ham and not feel over whelmed in the kitchen. And we have also decided to opt out of any Christmas gift exchanged, really we won't have the money and I don't know how many of those family gatherings we will be attending. But I know I will be purchasing stocking stuffers ahead of time also.

Lastly some of my favorite newly discovered spots on the internet.
Money Saving Mom
Women Living Well

And one of my newest faves-Raising Homemakers! Which is a subject near and dear to my heart!

Okay well that is all for now. Hhmmm maybe a picture is in order to round this post out?

Oh my sweetheart, how I LOVE him!!!! He's not aiming at anything living;) Just target practicing in our backyard:)

Quick update

This month is already going be so fast!
This weekend the kiddos are going to go to a birthday bowling party for their cousin Jacob who is turning 8. While they are doing that Big Daddy and I are going to take the opportunity to have a early Valentine's lunch together:)

I hope ya'll are doing something nice with your loves this Valentines:) Im still trying to figure out what to have the girls make for Daddy:)

It been cold again this week in North Texas. In the 30's and 40's. We may have some snow tomorrow, fingers crossed!

On the homestead front, we placed our order for hard red spring wheat. We will be planting about an acre worth which should yield about 3/4 of a ton of wheat...no I'm not kidding! So come mid summer we will be harvesting wheat and reaping the rewrds of that!

Well I must go out and take care of the chickens...Im getting a late start this morning!!

The Incredible Edible Egg!

Im so excited! My hens have finally started laying eggs! I went to close the coop door tonight and to my complete surprise there was a perfect light brown egg sitting in the nest! I didn't think I could be so happy over an egg! But I am:)

Husband is in Dallas tonight, so I made homemade Mac & cheese for dinner and we have chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven as I type. Once the girls go to bed Ill be finishing a peasant top that Im sewing for Madi. Its a wonderful cool evening:)

Happy Thursday everyone!

Preparing for the Fall Garden

We are planning our fall garden. So far this is what we are going to be planting this weekend:

Snap Beans
Pinto Beans
Cauliflower
Sweet Corn
Butternut Squash
Pumpkins (maybe, we are a little late)


Then come September we will plant

Carrots
Swiss Chard
Butterhead Lettuce
Romain Lettuce
English Peas
Spinach (but only a little)
Garlic (mid Sept.)

So Im excited I think it will be a lovely fall garden. I would also like to plant some herbs, Im just not sure which (if any) I can plant in fall. Maybe a window herb garden will be in store for me:-)

So anybody planting a fall vegetable garden? I would love to hear about it and if you've got any tips please feel free to share!