Sun tea & memories

  Today Miss Ella made herbal sun tea using some of the fresh herbs from our garden- chamomile, mint, pineapple mint, & chocolate mint. Not sure how great it will taste but she had so much fun making it who cares. :)

   I love that even at only 5 years old Ella has such a love of plants and gardening. She loves to walk around the yard and identify herbs and flowers in the garden. It reminds me of the time I spent with my Grandmother in her garden as I would follow her around and she would point out various flowers and tell me their names. I am very thankful for that experience and for such a caring, beautiful soul in my life growing up. Every time I smell the sweet scent of lily of the valley or see a happy, little blue bachelor button blooming I am reminded of her and of her love for God and nature. :)

The first cherry from our cherry tree!

  We finally got our first cherry from our dwarf cherry tree that we planted 3 years ago. Usually the squirrels beat us to them. So this year we finally bought some bird netting. I'm hoping this year we may actually get to taste a peach from our peach tree too for the first time. ;)

My "new" kitchen chairs

Before & after photos of our curbside finds last week:

                                                                        BEFORE:
                                                 
                                                                       

                                                                         AFTER:
                                     

  It's amazing what you can do with some sandpaper, some spray paint, some time, & some good ventilation. lol

The baby robins

Our little robin is a Mama :)

Hello Mrs. Robin

A robin has decided to make her nest right outside our living room window in the climbing roses that grow up the side of our front porch. We now have the perfect view of her little nest that she is busy building. It brings me so much joy watching her fly to and fro, carrying little bits of dried grass in her beak to build her nest. Sometimes it's the simple things in life that can bring the most joy.

Our Family Valentine's Day Dinner

With four kids it's not always easy to slip away to a restaurant for a romantic Valentine's Day dinner for two, so we've come up with the next best thing....a family friendly Valentine's Day dinner in with everyone included. :) We set up the kitchen table in the livingroom, decorated, lit candles, turned on relaxing music, made a yummy dinner, and even invited my mother in law and sister in law over to celebrate. The kids loved it and we had so much fun. :)