A Plentiful Harvest!!!

God has grown our garden and given us lots and lots of veggies this year.  The square foot garden system has proven extremely effective for us this year with lots of produce and very little work.  Recently we have enjoyed eating our carrots, beets, beans, zuchini, squash, onions, romaine, cucumbers, and herbs.  We are anxiously awaiting all of our yummy tomatoes and corn.  So far the only thing that has failed has been the eggplant but we blame the bunnies for that one :) The kids have enjoyed being able to pick so many different things this year.  I say that to also say that they are sooooo tired of squash.  We have way too much of it this year.  We share with people but it just keeps coming.  I plan to look up some new recipes tomorrow because I have exhausted my personal favorites.....sauteed squash, fried rice with squash, creamy chicken pasta with squash, squash casserole, fried squash..  Yesterday I gave the kids turkey and cheese sandwiches with cooked squash on their plate as a side....they were not amused but they ate it :)  Besides that we are thankful for all the yummy food!

A Growing Garden

So far so good!  We have picked strawberries, radishes, lettuce, onions, broccoli, and snappeas (plus herbs) from our garden so far.  I try to wait to let the kids pick them since they love picking them the most.....except the stinky onions :)  

Our Garden.....Going BIG this year!!!

So, we went a little bigger this year with our garden ....plus decided to use a new "square foot garden" system that we heard about.  We did lots of research and then went with it.  It was a fun project to do as a whole family.  The kids helped out tons.  Giules basically did the whole fence around the strawberries herself.  And yes, I planted lots too :)  I just was the one taking all the pictures so I never got to be in any.  And our family joke coming out of the project was that we don't think of it as "poop".....its all just "DIRT".  But then Gena got it on her pants and cried "poop on me pants!!" LOL  It was fun to teach the kids about the sowing/reaping principle. 

We also have our favorite strawberries from two years ago but added a fence this year to keep those bunnies away!!!!  So, we shall see how it goes.  We are hoping for tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, lettuce, carrots, peas, corn, beets, and more.  Half of it is planted and the remaining seeds/plants will go in late April/Early May.  The kids and I also have some decorating to do.  We think the garden needs some color!!!  More pictures to come ;)

Christmas Tradition #14-Visiting Boston

"To Grandmothers House We Go" ....The whole week before we go, the kids continue asking over and over "when are we going to grandmom's house?" :)  We love visiting all our family in Boston for Christmas.  We get to have fun doing all sorts of things like play with cousins, eat all the Christmas cookies from all the different kitchens, exchange gifts, and just catch up.  We normally squeeze a celebration for Dawson's birthday in there too.  This year, we had a new family member...."uncle bobby" whom the kids love :)  We get to go to the McRells House lots and the Carters house too.  And we normally get to see lots of snow while we are there.  I have tons more pics but I tried to pick a couple that would represent our whole time there.

Christmas Tradition #13- PJs

We always doing matching PJs for Christmas Eve/ Christmas morning.  The kids don't mind yet :)  And they always look soooo cute.  It is a fun tradition for when they are little.  I don't think I will torture them to do it into the middleschool years like one cousin I know...lol :)  And this year somehow me, Abby, and mom even matched.....too funny.  (I am sure Abby will hate this pic but it was funny anyways)

Christmas Tradition #12- Gift giving

We do celebrate on Christmas morning by giving gifts.  It is lots of fun for us to think through those we love and what we would like to get for them.  And this year you could see Giuliana enjoying the joy of giving.  Maybe Daws will get it better next year :)  He REALLY enjoying "getting" this year.  So we got to work on that some but he will get it, I know.  The kids were blessed with lots of cool things to play with together.  Gena loved her minnie and Giules got an MP3 player (thank to Charissa and Jen who gave it to me.....still not sure where it came from...lol)  And Daws loved everything!  We do our thing as just our family first and then my parents and grandparents join us after for gifts and breakfast.  Sadly Becky and her family came down with the flu this year and missed it all :(  Dave got me a new ring too.....thanks Dave, love it!!!  It is always an exhausting morning but fun for us all. 

Christmas Tradition #11- JESUS

No pictures for this one.  We try extra hard through this season to emphasize Jesus in Christmas.  We have tried many different things like putting different nativity character on certain plates at certain meals to make us talk about it ....to going to dramas about Jesus.....to making sure we wake up on Christmas morning to read the Christmas Story before even going downstairs to see any of the presents.  It is hard when the "gifts" seem sooo exciting and overpowering over the real meaning of the season, but we do our best.  And we pray that the kids will grow up knowing that God's love for us and his pursuit of a relationship through Christ is what really matters and will far outlast any prestent they get under that tree.  God, help us more each year as parents to grow more in this area of leading our children to see You more in Christmas and in LIFE.

Christmas Tradition #10- Fish on the Eve of Christmas

Over to Aunt Barbaras house we go every Christmas Eve and enjoy being with family and eating some fish :)  You always walk away smelling like a big fish....lol.  And this year we missed out on Aunt Barbara's 12 days of Christmas story ....next year.  And mommom always cracks us up :)  This is a fun tradition because there are some years that we do not get to see very much of the family and this is a great time to catch up.....and love to bug Denny when my Eagles are way ahead of his Giants!!!!

Christmas Tradition #9- Friends

So, something that has become a "must" over Christmas is getting together with old youth group friends.  I love, love, love doing this.  I enjoy remembering old memories and making new ones together.  It is great to hear how everyone is doing and how we are each pursuing God and living our lives in different ways.  I love catching up as well as letting our kids get to know each other and play.  I am also thankful that our spouses are all so supportive of our continued friendships and even our annual christmas tradition (even if it means it is the first trip on your way in from NY....Jeanine :)  Thanks for coming friends.  It was a lovely evening!  We even had a visit from Mrs. Russo.  We love when she gets to join us :)