busy as a bee

A busy honeybee on a spring crocus

I’m really too busy to be posting, but I couldn’t not share this with you. I spent the day with my mom yesterday since it was her birthday, on our way into the restaurant for lunch, she pointed out these beautiful little flowers with honeybees buzzing around. I was so stinkin’ excited! This winter has seemed to last forever, even though it’s been relatively mild. I just love spring and summer and I could have just laid down in those flowers all day. It was about 60 degrees and sunny. What a lovely day.

Life is moving along at lightning pace, but I’ve gotten a better grip on a work/home life balance. I’m looking forward to the month of April when (fingers crossed) things should slow down a bit.

Baby Elam (now 7 months old) cut his first tooth on my birthday a couple weeks ago. It made me crazy. Little Ezra (3 years old) is potty trained and says the wildest things. I’m so blessed. My husband is a sweety, too. 😉

Enjoy the weekend, wherever you are and whatever you do!

sonflowers

Yes, I know that it’s spelled “sunflowers”, but I wanted to incorporate my sons into it as well. I have the most beautiful sunflowers starting to bloom in my garden. At the same time, I have the two most wonderful sons a mother could ask for. Little Elam is now 6 days old, which is hard to believe. He’s the best baby – nurses and sleeps like a charm. He’s starting to wake up a little more each day and it’s nice to see his little eyes taking in the world. Here are some recent shots of my first week off from work on maternity leave…

My favorite sunflower shot

Entertaining Ezra before we left the hospital

Our family of four

The boys fell asleep on the way home from the hospital

My big zucchini with my little boy

Our tiny little watermelon that started growing and got stepped on

Father and son taking down the fence

Bright eyed Elam

Ezra holding Elam

My vine ripe tomatoes

My little flower child…

…wears a tough truck shirt

My mom (MeMe) with Elam

praise God flow

I sing a song for my son that I think is referred to as a doxology. I’ve known it since I was a little girl. He loves it and says “Again” each time I sing it.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Amen

My garden is buzzing with bees this morning pollenating all of my vegetables. And the super full moon last night was something to behold when it was coming up. Too bad my camera doesn’t do them justice.

squash blossoms & new recipes to try

My garden is coming along so well! I told my dad I had blooming squash or cucumbers (I didn’t label what I planted like a good gardener would), so he told me a yellow-orange blossom is probably squash. I couldn’t remember which was in that row (yellow or zucchini), but he told me to look behind the blossom and I should see the squash. Isn’t he a smart man? It’s my very first ever zucchini from my very first ever garden!!!

Right now, it’s only about 3 or 4 inches long, but I bet it will be ripe for the picking in no time. I’m kind of excited about having a bunch of zucchini because I like to eat it. Plus, I found a neat Blueberry Zucchini Bread recipe I’d like to try.

Check out the other things I have coming up in my garden…

Sunflowers, butternut squash, and yellow squash

Tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers.

Romaine lettuce

Purple potatoes (I mean, purple through and through!)

Not pictured: watermelon and cantaloupe, but they’re still pretty small.

I have been on a kick trying new recipes and thought I would share a few with you:

• Overnight Blueberry French Toast – made this for my Father’s Day breakfast in addition to the breakfast pizza I’ve made before. It was delicious! I made 1/2 the recipe and we had enough to eat again this morning.
• Lemon Lime Avocado Pie – this was the easiest, coolest recipe! You just put all the stuff in the blender and then pour in a graham cracker pie crust. I thought it was very tasty and I felt less guilty for eating it thanks to the avocado! And it’s GREEN, let me tell you. It would be perfect for St. Patty’s Day. I finished it off today and it wasn’t as bright green, but it wasn’t brown either.
• Quinoa Salad – I made this for my mom today when she came out to visit. She’s somewhat vegan and we both really liked it. This recipe isn’t the exact same as what I used, but I can’t find the one I had online. My version just has quinoa, cherry tomatoes, corn, edamame, lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

I had planned to make up my freezer meals today for when baby arrives, but I’m going to take a little nap first (while the toddler naps). If the feeling hits, I’ll get to it in a little bit. I bought all the stuff Saturday, so I really need to get with it, huh?

Before I go, I must share a beautiful shot of my  husband and son from Father’s Day. The both looked so handsome ready for church and I caught this picture while they were walking through the yard going to the car. My son had picked some weed and was telling his dad all about it. I love these two fellows so much!

My husband and his “mini me”. Cute plaid outfit courtesy of my sister Rachel.