Just a Quick Picture Post

taken on our latest adventure to Zoo Atlanta

I Looked Out My Window

...and what did I see? Red. Red. And more Red. I have absolutely loved having a garden this year. I loved checking on my tomatoes, cucumbers, and pepper plants on a daily basis. I loved eating them. I loved giving them away. I loved watching them grow.

I loved that I helped in the whole process.(the ledge is missing in this picture b/c we were doing some kitchen work......pictures to come sometime).

Abigail loved helping me water----- even if it was only watering cement.

Our basil exploded again this year and our tomato plants did amazingly well (especially given the record heat Georgia experienced). What we didn't eat, I froze or canned for yumminess later this winter.

A small harvest on a summers night.

A wonderful, wonderful sight.

The primary song "The Prophet said to Plant a Garden" has often run through my mind as I've been outside with my garden. President Spencer W. Kimball said, "We encourage you to grow all the food you feasibly can on your own property. Make your garden...neat and attractive as well as productive. If there are children in your home, involve them in the process."

I've thought a lot about our small garden this summer. It hasn't been perfect....we wish a few more cucumbers would have grown and bugs did get to one of some of our tomato plants...but overall, it has been a great success. I have walked back into our house with not only tomatoes to eat, but with such a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. I have felt empowered to do more and thus to become more. I've come to the conclusion that planting a garden has been more than just about the actual produce and end product of our meals. It has been about the process of learning to take care of something and then following through to help it grow. It has been about helping me to learn and to become a better person. If I can help a tomato plant to grow into something strong and delicious, then I can help Abigail to grow into someone strong and capable.

Plans are in the making for a fall garden starting up in a few weeks as well as an even better garden come next summer. I'm hooked.

Three

Three: the number of times Abigail independently decided to change her shorts today without any really need (no spills, no accidents, no nothing), except that she just decided she wanted a different color of shorts.

p.s. after each "change" she did put away her previous pair of shorts back into her drawer:)

A Day of Favorites

Can you tell she's 2? She is. We celebrated by doing some of her favorite things.

No better way to start off your birthday than by eating (or licking) donuts.

Playing Outside

Playing in her new playhouse. "Abigail's House" as it has come to be known.

This girl LOVES to swim. She loves the water and is fearless. She can swim for hours and just paddles around all by herself....thanks to the help of her life jacket. The first thing Abigail asks her daddy to do each night as he walks in the door from work is "high" which means "throw me high again and again." Swimming is no exception--the higher the better.

Opening some presents.

Showing off her new nightgown.

A Good Week

This past week, in a large way, has been a tribute to my mother. I grew up eating her delicious homemade food (who knew you could make pancakes from a box? My mom always made them from scratch) and enjoying her canned peaches, homemade applesauce, tomatoes canned in the summer were enjoyed in the winter. In an effort to become more like mother and provide for my family like she did (and in an effort to accomplish my summer goal of canning tomatoes) I have been canning non-stop. If I haven't actually been in the process of canning, I have been thinking of canning. I have read books, rented and watched dvds, and even attended a class.

Last week, after several conversations with my mom (and several more in the actual canning process), I began. I started with peaches--- Georgia Peaches in fact. My 3 year search of a great Georgia peach has come to a wonderful discovery of a local peach farmer who sells at our local farmers market. Delicious! We've been enjoying peaches non stop the past two weeks.

The canning went well. In the end, I canned 14 quarts.

I moved on from peaches to tomatoes--some from my garden, but mostly from a local farmer I met while at our farmer's market. We drove out to his house and saw his tomatoe garden (if over 1,000 tomatoe plants classifies as a garden) and picked up a half bushel of tomatoes. We have been eating the tomatoes we have grown on BLT's and super good salsa.

I canned 13 quarts of tomatoes.

To celebrate a great week, I made a peach pie for Tyler and I enjoy. Yum.

A happy, non-stop week produced yumminess to come in the months ahead and a boost of confidence for future projects and goals.

This Makes Me Smile

Conversation

Setting: Abigail crawling all over me and my growing belly.

Abigail: (pointing and patting at my belly) baby

Me: yep. our baby is growing inside mommy's tummy.

Abigail: OUT.

Time will tell how she feels about this baby being OUT come November. We're hoping for good things.