Friday, July 30, 2010

New Addition to the family

It is always a joyous and thankful occasion to welcome a newborn to the family. Just knowing our babies are a gift from God!   Our niece gave birth to a beautiful little boy a few weeks ago.  He weighed the same as both our boys and it is so hard to believe that Trae or Tyler was EVER that small.  My how time flies.  Brings back joyous memories of Trae and Tyler as babies.  Well they still are my babies even if they are 22 a 18 years old!!!!

Baby Cayson...






Until next time....Have a Blessed Day!!!!!

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb  Psalm 139:13


Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Veggies Coming In

I love me some good tomatoes.  Since this was our first garden in several years (you can read about it here)  Our First Garden, one thing we knew we wanted were lots of tomatoes and okra.  Well, the tomatoes and squash have been plentiful, but the okra not so well and we've been patiently waiting for it to become plentiful. 

We have canned 12 qts of tomatoes that I will use in soups or sauces this winter.  A friend of mine had a recipe for canning tomatoes in our local paper recently so I gave it a try and I will never can tomatoes any other way.  Here is how I did them:

Wash, peel, & core tomatoes. Pack in quart jars. Do not add water. Be sure juice covers the tomatoes. Add 1 teaspoon of salt & 1 teaspoon sugar to each jar. Put lids & rings on each jar; put in oven on bottom rack. Remove the top rack. Put in 275 degree oven. Cook 1 hour. (Do not open oven door during process) Either turn off oven & let cool or Remove from oven to cool.


I have already used a jar of the canned tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce and it was so delicious!!!  I have also done a couple of jars of pepper sauce to have to go on turnip greens a little later on.  We have had a sufficient supply of banana peppers out of the garden as well.  They have been so good and we consume several each night for supper!! I wish we could keep them growing and bearing on into the winter! 

Our first crop of Jalapeno peppers were used to make appetizers with a recipe from Pioneer Woman.  (Let me say, if you have never visited this website you are missing out on lots of good recipes and other things.) 
 
 A friend at work brought me blueberries.  I tried for the first time to make Blueberry Jelly.  It did not turn out so well.  Not sure what I did wrong unless it was because I used Splenda instead of sugar.  So now I have 6 Jars of Blueberry syrup.  I guess we will be eating lots of pancakes.  If anyone reads this and has any idea or recipe for sugar free jellies please leave me a comment. 

Until next time.....Have a Blessed Day!



He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful.  Isaiah 30:23

Monday, July 26, 2010

Summer Fun

This has been one HOT summer here in Mississippi and so glad we have a pool.  We built the pool in 1989 when Trae was 17 months old and normally in the summer time our pool water does not get very warm because we have a lot of shade around our house and the shade covers the pool.  The pool gets about 4 hours of sun a day.  The temperature of the water will run about 10 degrees cooler than other pools that gets a lot of sun.  This has always been just a little cool for me.  I usually freeze when I get in the pool.  BUT NOT THIS YEAR!!!!  Shade or no shade the water temperature in our pool has been just right!


We have so many fond and cherished memories when the boys were younger enjoying the pool.  Birthday parties, family gathering and holidays cookouts.  But as the boys have gotten older (Trae 22 and Tyler 18), they don't used the pool as much now as they use to.  They have their own agenda now...LOL.  
  

This is Trae......

This is Tyler.......


But some of our close friends from church have younger children and they have really been enjoying the pool........

Summer memories made with friends!!



Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  1 John 4:7


 
Until next time...Have a Blessed Day!!!!


Thursday, July 22, 2010

Our First Garden

We finally had a garden this year. For several years now we have wanted to plant a garden but have not had the time or took the time to do so. Earlier this year in May, Bill placed 4 cross ties in the edge of the pasture. I was so excited. We hauled 6 loads of dirt in to fill it (not fun). We then planted just enough for us to have fresh veggies to eat on...not an over abundance.


I don't have pictures of the actual building and planting of the garden, but I do have a picture of the garden in its producing stage....on the right end of the garden are the tomatoes. We planted 5 on 2 rows and they were way to close....they all grew together. Next to the tomatoes were the okra then the beans. The beans overpowered the okra on the left and the tomatoes grew into the okra on the right, but the okra is finally beginning to produce and grow taller than both. The cucumbers and squash are on the left end of the garden and the squash completely overpowered the peppers. We planted 4 different kind of peppers. After the squash died down the peppers began to produce to their full potential.



It has been so much fun having a garden and in another post I will show what we have harvested....oh and this is Spencer, our dog, he just watches from a distance and he never bothers the garden.....smart dog!


So as I was writing this post, a thought came to my mind. Are we, as Christians, like this garden sometimes? That we let things overpower us to keep us from growing to our full potential in our walk with the one who takes care of us: our Lord? It's amazing how simple things like this can bring our minds back to Christ!

Until next time.....Have a blessed day!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

It has been a while.....

Well it has been a while since I have blogged. We have had a lot of things going on this summer. Over the next several days I am going to attempt to get caught up and blog about all those things we have done over the summer.

Our 'EMPTY NEST' is about to be here, with both sons at college, and it is a happy and sad feeling.

I will be back soon!