Birds of a feather...

I am not good at "sayings" but since this post is about bird baths, I thought that birds of a feather would be a good title.

I saw a version of this bird bath in the family fun magazine and I thought rather than going a buying the exact stuff, I would use what I already had.

My next goal is to photograph it when birds are actually using it. This morning I was upstairs in my bedroom and I looked out the window and two of the most beautiful birds were perched on the bird bath. I didn't make it down in time to take the picture, better luck next time.

The joys of nature!

It is all in the presentation!

This morning my sweet husband and girls made me breakfast in bed.

He did such a beautiful job and it was so yummy! He had this french toast at one of his stays at the Marriott hotel.

Delicious French Toast:

Mix 2 or 3 eggs with a little milk, vanilla and cinnamon. In a separate bowl crush some frosted flakes. The best bread (in my opinion) to use is Texas Toast that we get from Wal-mart. It is good thick bread. Anyway dip both sides of bread in the egg mix and then dip it in the crushed frosted flakes. Sprinkle with a little powdered sugar and warm syrup. The bananas were delicious or any other fruit would be good. So simple but so yummy

A sweet conversation

(This was a post that I had not published until I was reminded of it while preparing for a talk)

What a beautiful day. I can't believe it is November 1st and the weather is so wonderful. Ashlyn and I decided to go lay on the trampoline and enjoy the sun. This was the conversation we had...

Ashlyn : Mom, I love the world.

Mom: So do I.

Ashlyn: My favorite is the sky.

Mom: Why do you love the sky?

Ashlyn: Because that is where Ruby Doll and Jesus are.

Mom: Yes, Ashlyn I love it to.

Ashlyn: I know Heavenly Father loves me. He loves you too mom.

Mom: He does love me and that makes me happy.

Ashlyn: He loves Lillie (our dog, who was under the trampoline) too, she is funny.

Mom: Ashlyn, I love you.

Ashlyn: I love you too, mom.

And off she went climbing on the side of the trampoline, sucking on her sucker, not having a care in the world that she loves so much.

I am thankful for a beautiful sky from Heavenly Father who presented such a wonderful opportunity for my sweet baby girl to know he loves her.

If there ever was a time...

to be PROUD...today is the day :)

Three months ago I had blood work done as part of a yearly physical. No surprise to me my cholesterol was very high. My bad cholesterol was 202 (should be under 130) Total was 297. ugh!
I went to work - reading, googling, and asking friends advice and these are the changes I came up with.

I added flax seed and Benefiber for children to my diet. Sprinkle it on EVERYTHING.
I have eaten a lot of granola and yogurt.
Bran muffins - yummy - FIBER - FIBER - FIBER
For a great recipe go HERE.

and I love these fiber one bars.
Vegetables -
Beans - more FIBER - FIBER - FIBER
Pastas and breads that have whole grains.
Fruit
Spinach salads - best ever :) don't forget to sprinkle with flax seed.
lots of water
I don't eat a lot of meats (my kids hate the thought that I am really close to be a vegetarian) so I was good in that department.

I now take fish oils, dandelion and milk thistle.
Did I still eat sugar??? Oh yes, but in great moderation! Was I completely faithful?...I would like to say yes, but the real answer is no. But I did great!
After all this...my cholesterol has dropped 30 points YEAH!!

Now I am waiting for my garden to produce great foods for me.
When they gave me the results, the doctor wanted to put me on Zocor right away and guess what I said, "NO WAY, I can do the rest of this on my own". I have 45 more points to drop!

So I will be checked again in 3 months.

My plan...
Continue eating the above things and
add exercise... I really should be these things to good use. They are dirty not because of exercise but because of working in the garden. :)


Happy Day!

This is definitely been a joy in my JOurneY!

Garden Trellis

These are the trellises that my cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, peas and cantaloupe will vine up.

I got all of my information from the square foot garden book and website. You can find all of the information HERE.

It has been really rainy here. Not much sun, but the garden is still doing well.

These pictures were taken May 1st '09.

Lookin' good!

Beautiful

If you know anything about me...I love flowers.

Here is a little taste of heaven.



"I am encircled about eternally in the arms of His love." 2nd Nephi 1:15 in the Book of Mormon. Go to lds.org to find out more.

Its growing

Just wanted to share some pics of the garden and how things are growing. This has been a lot of fun. Can't wait to eat the yummy food.

I planted these tomatoes last week. They are Aussie tomatoes. I did not plant these from seed.
The peppers were also plants not from seed. I added marigolds. They are suppose to help keep bugs away.


Cucumbers


flowers pots with moss rose and a citronella plant. I planted two more tomato plants called sun sugar. They are delicious. Little yellow tomatos. I can eat them like candy.


My peas are doing really well. I planted them in early April.

The best thing is I have not had one single weed. Now that is something to cheer about.

Building Our Firepit

I had this grand idea that I wanted a firepit in my backyard...

so this is what we got...




and WE LOVE IT!

Friday Night camp out - April 17th


We had foil dinners and slept in the tent. It was a chilly night, but we loved seeing the stars (yes that means Brian and I were awake a lot of the night)

cooking a peach cobbler with our dutch oven - the girls roasting their marshmallows??


Enjoying the fire




The girls and I planted the rest of our seeds - cucumbers, squash, green beans, brocolli, carrots, potatoes and cantaloupe. Now all that is left is to plant the tomatoes and peppers.
The up close picture is of the sugar snap peas that I planted a couple weeks prior. Peas have to get in the ground pretty early.

Salad Table

I was watching Martha one morning and saw this salad table. I thought how cool is that, I must try. Go to Martha's site and search "salad table". It has been a lot of fun.

Building the table. It really was an easy project.
Callie was right there with us.
About a week after planting, I had sprouts of lettuce. I planted 3 different lettuces, spinach, dill, and basil.

It is very pretty. Ashlyn said yesterday. "Mom, I can't wait to have this food and we won't even have to pay for it". This is what I am hoping for. Cutting down on food bill and eating healthy in the process.

My garden

I feel like for the first time in my adult married life I have a real garden that appears as if might succeed. I am using this technique this year. Square Foot Gardening

It has been a lot of fun creating this garden and in order to keep a journal of it, I must Blog.

This is STEP 1 - Building of the Boxes - Early April 2009

Everyone in on the Action -
The fence around the garden. I have never seen deer, raccoon etc but I suppose there is always a first on our property. The only pest we have is our dog Lillie. (Crazy dog)
Beautiful!