Because

I want to update, but I want to share photos and my camera cord is AWOL. Last week we completly ditched school work in favor of outdoor play and gardening. The kids and I have planted 38 strawberries, 12 potato hills, mustard greens, collards, cabbage, bok choy, brussel sprouts and broccoli (in honor of Nathaniel and his father), chives, onions, shallots, garlic, kale, lettuce, spinach, and sweet peas! We have no idea how much we'll get out of this garden, but it's fun to try. I'm determined to use the garden produce first in my menu planning this year, and the garden is sooooo pretty with all the cool weather veggies there. I'm praying that the peas sprout because we all love them ;) Almost every herb from our herb plot last year overwintered, and we may add to it this year. That's exciting for me.

We are trying to still read daily in spite of the beautiful weather. Yesterday, I read a book to the boys about Little Red Riding Hood- their choice. It had a recipe in the back for Grandma's favorite Wheatberry Muffins. We made them for breakfast in the little car and truck pan that Memere gave them. They were soooo YUM! Gabriel says I can make muffins for breakfast every day if I like ;)

Yesterday the kids, my mom, and I went down the mountain to a little fruit stand in our small town. It was our first visit. They truck their produce up from Florida, but it we a lot fresher than the store, and waaaay cheaper than even Walmart and Sams- i.e. 8lbs of pineapple oranges for 3.00, 4 clean, fresh heads of garlic for a 1.00, and about 10lbs of spotty tomatos (on clearance) for 2.00. I spent 18.00 and probably won't have to go shopping this week. I used the tomatos today in soup, and I had to throw away about 2 cups worth of tomato yucks, but I filled my whole stock pot full of soup. I'm soooo excited :)

Tonight, we're all going over to my mom's so that Ian can work on her yard. He'll be tilling up new planters, arating (sp?) her lawn, and building her two raised beds. He won't finish tonight so we'll go back Saturday. Poor Ian, he's got a honeydo list and a sonnydo list.

Well, my beautiful nearly 1 year old daughter is calling for help, so I'll run!