Halloween - 2014

As you can see, lots of good memories were made last night at our Halloween Neighborhood Party.  We start out each Halloween getting home from school around 4:15, excitingly donning on all the costumes.  At 5:00 we go outside, take pictures of everyone then leave as a group to walk through our neighborhood to meet up with the rest of the neighborhood for a grand potluck.  Each year is different and the festivities gets bigger each year, as mine (children) also grow so much from year to year.  But age doesn't matter at Halloween.  Young and old alike dress up in the most creative ways.  Everything happens so quickly at the potluck.  With all the excitement, its hard to soak it all up.

When everyone is our clan is full from all the wonderful food brought, we leave the potluck in excitement to go trick or treating.  The night air was perfect, a little chill to the air, enough to awaken the senses of the season's change.  We welcome the season's change, as we get ready for cooler days and cooler nights, shorter days and longer nights. We will spend more time inside, with our family, our routines will change, things seem to slow down yet deepen, oh how I love this time of year.

Five ~

Off and running, that describes Rosemary best.  She loves the out doors, to be free, run, and swing.  She turned 5 on Sunday and had a wonderful birthday.  Five amazing, transforming years.  Happy Birthday love!~

Ten years apart ~

When inspiration strikes, I run with it!  With a busy household that we have, those moments of inspiration are few and far between during the busy summer months.  A couple weeks back in July, we were packing the older three kids for a week long stay at a camp a few states away.  As I tucked each one into bed the last night before their big trip, I came to Jonmichael's room last.  I sat on his bed and asked if there was anything he would like me to do for him while he was away.  He said "Put Nathaniel in my room".  He has had his own room since I put the girls together, about 7 years ago.  I was pleased with his request, and was looking forward to the task of cleaning out his room, rearranging it and getting a crib out of our bedroom that had been there since before Rosemary was born. 

Before:
















After:










The Closet:








The room move went really well.  Both boys were so pleased as we all were with the change.

easy ~

Can you feel the quietness in this picture?

Yesterday was the most perfect day.  If I had to describe it, these would be the words I would use:  breezes, quiet, swings, blanket, knitting, calm.  What sometimes can seem like a day full of stress, can turn out to be a day of much needed respite - a day of ease.





Hanging outside with my two littlest ones turned out to be just that.

this moment ::

Inspired by Soulemama's {This Moment}

{this moment} - a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from my week.  I want to pause and savor this moment.

My Herb Garden

Earlier in the Spring, Daniel encouraged me to clean as much out of the side of the house which had been a make-shift herb garden the past couple of years and redo my herbs.  I had a few herbal plants that were well established so I decided to keep them, prune them back, and work around them.  Those were my lavender, sage, mint, and lemon balm plants.  I decided to make the sage plant a focal point of the garden, and used some various sizes of quartz rock to line the bed.

I made a list of herbs I wanted in the garden and over the course of a few weeks, the seedlings were ready to be transplanted.





A month later, the herb garden is flourishing.  The lemon balm was growing so well, I decided to prune it back the middle of May and make my first herbal tincture.  My intent with this herb garden is to learn to use the herbs medicinally as well as for cullinary uses.  The lavendar blooms were harvested last week for our annual lavendar cookies we all love.













My list of herbs in this garden:

Lavendar
Tarragon
Valerian
Stinging Nettles
Chives
Oregano
Thyme
Comfrey
Sage
Basil
Plantain
Fennel
Cilantro
Chamomile
Mint
Lemon Balm
Dill
Rosemary
Calendula

Growing any kind of garden is an experiment.  I'm very excited about this one, hoping to learn more and more how to use these herbs.  I have hopes of making salves (Calendula, Comfrey), tinctures,  and teas later this season!

Happy growing season everyone!!

This year's garden

Our garden is coming along nicely this year.  I have to give all the credit for this garden to where it's due - my husband.  Each year we rotate our crops to a different location in the garden, there are more sunnier spots than others, but this year is looking very promising for everything we've put in so far.

This is what is currently growing:

Sunflowers
cucumbers
beets
parsnips
carrots
corn
beans
potatoes
onions
garlic
limas
peppers (red, banana, Jalepeno, Cayenne)
tomatoes
brocolli
cauliflower
cabbage
kale
zucchini
yellow squash

I think I'm most excited about the beans this year.  The bamboo tee-pee's are already getting covered with growth.  Last year we didn't have any luck with them, they just wouldn't grow.  New to our garden this year are the onions and garlic, and so far the broccoli, cauliflower and  cabbage are doing well and look healthy.  The squash plants have been blooming for a few weeks and we have our first squash growing this week.  We're looking forward to a bountiful harvest this summer.  I'll keep updating here as our garden evolves this season . . .  a record of this year's garden.