We have had a full and wonderful past few weeks!  With visitors and friends, pursuing homeschool, and even beginning BSF leadership here in Savannah, it has been good, but full!

We welcomed our dear friends the Gibbons family: Grant and Lisa, Jadea, Gavin, and Annie to our home for a fast but wonderful Labor Day weekend.  We spent wonderful moments together at the beach, splurged on ice cream and donuts, pizza and southern BBQ, and went downtown for a Shear-guided tour and a splash in the fountains.  It was wonderful to be with them and we were so thrilled to host them!

Just this past weekend we had Greg and Marlene here.  Daniel is away in the field, and they were so kind to drive down and arrive late Friday night, stay all through Saturday, and then hit the road again early Sunday morning to be back for the class that Greg teaches at VMI.  We had a day full of adventures here at home and made the most of our moments catching up.  A wonderful surprise was that Daniel was able to come home early early on Sunday morning so that Greg and Marlene could see their son for a few short moments!

I wanted to share our garden with you here in Georgia... definitely don't get your hopes up for it though!  I am totally disappointed with it.  I thought I was some sort of master gardener after that garden we had at our little homestead!  But now, after being here, I realize I am definitely not that!  When we moved here Daniel quickly erected several raised beds and they are beautiful.  We planted squash and zucchini, tried our hand at corn, did wildflowers, tomatoes, and peppers, and cantaloupe.  Well, from all of that... we have harvested about 7 tomatoes.  Yikes.  We planted late, it's true, but I guess we were thinking: It's Georgia!  We can grow anything here!  It seemed that our squash plants never pollinated... I think our soil is missing nutrients, and we just don't get enough sunlight here in the back.  SO... we will continue our attempt.  Now we have some cucumbers planted and some trellis purple beans for a fall harvest.  We are hoping to do carrots, beets, kale, and maybe some parsnips for the fall as well.  Definitely adding some nutrients to the soil, and maybe even moving the garden over a long weekend to the front of the yard??  Any thoughts?!

And lastly, we have been doing some sweet and simple homeschooling for Tirzah!  We are following the guide: Before Five In a Row, and it is just the sweetest.  It is based on children's literature; so basically we read a book every day for a week and then do simple activities to go along with the book.  This week we are reading Katy No-Pocket, a cute story of a Mama Kangaroo going to great lengths to get a "pocket" with which to carry her son kangaroo.  At the end of the book, the kangaroo goes to the city and finds a man with an apron that has lots of pockets in it.  And the man gives it to Katy!  That way she can carry all the baby animals of the forest!  So today, we made a cute little apron for Tirzah.  I am so hoping that tomorrow I find her with her stuffed animals in those pockets...

The rest of the week we are doing some printable activities I found on this site, we are making a traditional Australian dessert here, and even doing some Aboriginal  Art!

Have a wonderful day!

Here is What I'm Loving this gorgeous day!

LOVING the new life in our garden!  Beauty in abundance from the seeds sown last year. . .

LOVING the growth and new additions to the garden.  4 different types of blueberry plants, said to produce 5 pounds each.  And 4 new raspberry plants!  So hopeful and excited for these guys to produce. . .

my kale that I planted in the fall.  I definitely did not plant it early enough, note taken, so it wasn't large enough to eat from over the winter, but it did survive and I will mark that down as my first kale success!  I just harvested a few stalks this afternoon and chopped them fresh into my salad. . . just going to say that it doesn't get better than that.

And don't judge the abundance of other things growing around the garlic. . . just look at the beauties themselves!  Hoping for 19 heads of garlic here.

LOVING this salad:

kale freshly harvested

ruby swiss chard

apple

raisins

toasted almonds

carrot

green pepper

Tossed lightly with olive oil, dijon mustard, and fresh lemon juice

LOVING this picture of Daniel and Tirzah and our amazing friends Tom and Sean.  Daniel got to spend some great time with them this past weekend in Wheaton.  Although I was teasing him: Saturday was our all day ladies day, leaving the babes with the Daddies. . . and Daniel drops off Tirzah for Renee to babysit so he can go out to lunch with these guys! :)  Isn't he the best?!

LOVING Mumford & Sons

Absolutely LOVING Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall.  Oh. My. Goodness.  We heard of this man through our good friends Sy and Mary, and after visiting them almost two weeks ago, we have spent every moment of our free time that we can watching his TV series River Cottage.  Seriously, it is the best thing ever!  Short story: Hugh decides to leave the hectic life of the city to become a "small-holder", basically a small self-sustaining homestead/farm.  This TV series takes you through his challenges and successes and keeps you laughing all the while.  If ever Daniel and I wanted to have a homestead before?  It's like times ten after watching these.  You will love them!  We purchased them on Amazon Prime. . . just in case you decide to watch too!

LOVING that Tirzah's fever has broken and we were able to go to Bible Study Fellowship this morn.

LOVING MaryJanesFarm and her daily journal over here at http://www.raisingjane.org/journal/

LOVING, well now because she is sleeping, but hearing her little pitter patter of feet upstairs, knowing she was happily playing before her nap.

LOVING fresh cream, scooped from the top of the raw milk we purchased at the Co-Op, added to our home roasted coffee.  Oh.My.

What are you LOVING this day?

Manna Monday

Manna Monday.

Such a day of sweet sweet provisions.

Has your day been full of them as well?

Began the morning with sleeping in and then came down to find Tirzah and her Daddy tucked underneath their fort. . .

Then off to Tolmie State Park: a gorgeous gorgeous place just up the highway a bit.  Oh my.  Our new favorite spot!  Pit Stop at Starbucks on the way and what adventures awaited us there.

Her little bag for all things beach and beautiful

Well, we ended up ditching almost everything and wading across the little channel to get to the beach on the other side.  What laughter!  

And surprise of all surprises!  A tunnel!  Doesn't this picture make you think heaven?  Walking towards the light, hand in hand, the glory enveloping one and all. . .

More provisions of the day:

Sweetest laughter together as a family, especially between Daniel and I

A walk in the sunshine

Family park date this evening, in the sun

Hearing Tirzah talk so sweetly to her baby

A phone chat with Hope!

The provisions continue: the menu for the week and a recipe inspired by the photo on the Trader Joe's box of Israeli Couscous: Couscous with roasted sweet potato, red onion, and wilted greens.  This recipe is so simple, done within 20 minutes.  It is so nutritious, the Soldier loves it and so does the Toddler, so it is a Mama's favorite for sure.

Couscous with Roasted sweet potato, red onion, and wilted greens.

1 C Israeli Couscous

Toast over med high heat for 5 minutes, or until it become golden and fragrant.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 475.

1 large sweet potato, cubed

Drizzle with olive oil, and salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste (I usually don't measure here, but I would guess about 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and 2 teaspoons garlic powder).

Spread out upon a baking sheet and roast for about 10 -15 minutes, or until a dark brown forms on the underside.

1 1/4 C boiling water

Slowly add to the toasted couscous and then bring to a simmer and cover, for 8-10 minutes.  Set aside.

1/4 red onion, chopped

Heat 1 T butter or olive oil over medium high heat and stir in onions.  Cook until slightly browned, 8-10 minutes.

5 large stalks swiss chard or kale, chopped (I always chop up the stems as well to add extra crunch)

Add to the red onion and cook until greens are wilted, an addition 8-10 minutes.

Add extra salt and pepper to the onions and greens if desired.

Stir all ingredients together in a large bowl, adding more seasoning if desired, and serve.  Delicious!

Here is What I'm loving this day!

Loving Bible Study Fellowship this morn and the challenges it brings. The question that has stayed with me through the day: am I avoiding hardships in my life? And in so doing, am I avoiding potential blessings? How would you answer those questions? More to come on that topic as Daniel and I pray and strive to discern what The Lord has for is in the future.

LOVING tea time with my baby girl after BSF. Loving reading and snuggling together while we sip our tea.

LOVING toasted almonds. Oh my. I am addicted! Simply place almonds on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes and you have a delicious treat. I have been putting them in the food processor to grind them so that Little One can enjoy them too. Putting them in baked items and oatmeal and Daniel's smoothies too!

LOVING an afternoon with these 2 little ladies: Tirzah and her sweet friend Jane. Jumping in puddles, running in rain boots, swinging, their curls, finding delight in curtain rods... What could be better?

LOVING these tomatoes. Not quite sure what they would be called, but they are delicious. Made a batch tonight for the Soldier to take for lunch tomorrow: places on top of his spaghetti squash . We had them the other night as a homemade focaccia topper and they were a total hit.

Simply heat olive oil in a large sauté pan, place half an onion and heat until starting to brown. Add a clove or 2 of garlic and continue to brown another 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of grape tomatoes halved and cook another 5 to 8 minutes and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano and basil. Delicious!

Absolutely LOVING Tim McGraw's new song: One of Those Nights


LOVING Watermark station on Pandora


LOVING that the week is almost over!

Manna Monday (well, this week, can it be Tuesday Telling of Manna Monday?!)

Provision through pictures

The morning began with the two of them, Daniel and Tirzah.  Daniel was home; I was sleeping in; they were on the couch curled together watching a movie.  Perfection.

And then?  Homemade bagels.  Oh my.  And the Little One to add the cinnamon sugar topping.

And then?  You will not believe it, but iPhones for Daniel and I.  I can't believe it either.  There we were in the store, Tirzah content on their plush cushions playing with blocks, and we were deciding between old-school phones and iPhones.  How did we decide you might ask?  Rock. Paper. Scissors.  Not even kidding. 

So now, we are both owners of iPhones, but extraordinarily enough, we are paying LESS than we were with the other older phones.  But will you hold me accountable?  We do not want to be so attached to our phones that they are our very life. . .  balances and checks must be put in place!  

First picture had to be him

And second had to be her

Next a walk by myself to celebrate the first signs of Spring!

 Homemade granola bars, with homemade puffed brown rice and date paste

They like it!

Next stop: a newt for a pet.  Yes, not kidding here either.  Daniel was out on a run and so finding one on the trail, he carried it the rest of the way home to surprise Tirzah.  Oh how delightfully surprised she was!  We have named him Newton and created "a whole ecological system for him".

And so it was, Newton became a little friend last night.  When little Jane and her parents came over for dinner last night, Tirzah grabbed Jane's hand and pulled her over to see "my friend Newton!"  

However, I don't know if I am ready to call him friend quite yet.  4:30 this morning Daniel goes to find Newton in his little home: not there.  I knew this was going to happen!  My only hope was that he was in Daniel's work bag instead of in my fruit bowl or something like that.  We found him just before Daniel left for work, (praise the Lord for I don't know if I could have picked him up!) hidden by Tirzah's little kitchen.  And so he walked through the day with us: skyping with Anna and Meredith, watching Dora, eating raisins, and talking with Auntie Renee. . .

And to finish the day yesterday: delight in all things common