Happy Birthday....

 

 Happy teenager Caleb!  We now have 4 teenagers!  Caleb's birthday breakfast: Cinnamon twists, eggs and goat milk (thanks Jane)!  It was a good thing I decided to get up at 7 a.m. because I underestimated how long cinnamon twists take from start to finish,  It's about 3 hours! 

 

 

 Brothers!  Caleb is going to be tall!

 Jordan did it again!  She made a really great cake.  This time it is a sword, a flaming sword!

 Love the action shot.  It was completely dark when I took this and wasn't sure what the shot would look like.  It turned nice!

 Brothers and sisters rally around their brother!  Lena, quit looking at daddy!

Legos and some great Douglas Bond books to keep Caleb busy this summer!

Asparagus...

 Yesterday, this is what my asparagus looked like in the garden.   It's hard to see but there are lots of tall shoots of asparagus.  They took awhile to come but there were plenty out there.  It's our best yield yet.

 Here is that same asparagus!  We had roasted asparagus for supper tonight.  I tossed it in olive oil, sprinkled coarse salt on it, some pepper and minced fresh garlic on it.  I put in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.  I really liked it.  Kevin ate quite a bit (not sure he "liked" it cause he eats anything) and everyone else had to try it.  It was hard work for Gideon to take a bite but Rebekah had made oatmeal bars with caramel frosting so the ones that didn't like it choked it down quite quickly when told they wouldn't get a bar without eating it :) 

We had a fresh lettuce salad.  I cut the lettuce tonight.  It's fun to see it keep growing in the tunnel and it's a nice addition to any meal.  Em made some home made French dressing and Jordan made some buttermilk ranch dressing and it was well received.  We also made meatballs tonight with two avocados mashed in it and a big spoon of squash.  I forgot to add eggs to it but they turned out well.  I added some coarse salt and garlic powder in them and they were so moist and delicious.  You can't tell there are avocados or squash in them.  If you want to add nutrition to your food without your family knowing it, here is a great way to do it.  We do the same thing with meatloaf, when we have avocados on hand.  I imagine it would help out a hamburger too.  My hamburgers tend to be dry inside and need lots of condiments!! :) 

Recital...

 Emily played a waltz "Faust".

 Caleb's first recital and he was wonderful!!!  He played "French Folk Song".

 Jordan played "Feelin' Good" on the piano.

 Emily played "The Swan".

Jordan played "Sonata" (Allegro) on violin this year accompanied by her teacher. 

There were 41 selections played.  That's a lot of lessons given and hours played in practice!  It was a very enjoyable recital!

Trying out something new....

 I found this picture Emily took of the chickens, geese, ducks and the goats grazing in the background.  She's trying to capture a good shot to enter a photography contest for a goat calendar.

 Here is one of our babies.

Isaac is tilling the "new" garden with a tractor we are trying out.

 By the end of the garden Isaac had figured it all out.  It would be so great to secure this little beauty of a tractor with tiller and loader!!!!  I sure hope the price is right!!

Babies, ducks, and reflexology...

 Jane had twins.  The girl is named Ada but the boy has no name as of yet!  So cute and fun!  Waiting for Lizzie, Georgiana and Clover to have their babies!   Jane always gives us twins, a boy and a girl!

 Doesn't this duck look like it is smiling?

 Caleb put the duck in a barrel of water and she was happy about that!

 Emily's book on reflexology came in the mail and she's been practicing on all of us.  She knows where to rub on  your feet or hands to stimulate your colon, stomach, knee or any other place on your body.  It is pretty neat!

Lena's enjoying her foot rub, reminds me of the duck, huh?!?

Salad for supper...

 Here is a zucchini plant growing out in the high tunnel!

 I planted strawberries in there about 2 weeks ago or a little more and they are doing really well.

Moriah is helping me cut lettuce for supper tonight!  It is tall and so clean because the rain doesn't fall in here splashing dirt on the lettuce!  Dirt on the lettuce is a pet peave of mine.  It's going to be wonderful!

Lena...

Lena has spoken a lot of quirky things lately.  Today, she was telling me that when she has a baby I can come over to her house and my little ones can play with her toys!  If I'm still having babies when Lena has one it'll be a miracle. Maybe it will be an adopted baby?!?  At lunch, she was telling the kids that she didn't have the baby in her tummy yet.  She's very preoccupied with the idea of having a baby someday.  She said that when she has a husband and baby in her tummy she will come visit me with her other kids.  I told her I can't wait to meet her husband and play with her kids!!!  She loved that!    Meanwhile she a future mommy who still pees her pants and takes a nap!  :)  Oh, and sucks her thumb!  One step at a time.  We don't need to grow up too fast!

One done, five to go...

Moriah finished 3 subjects in school yesterday!!!!  She had finished her math book a couple months ago and shortly after that her Explode the Code (reading/phonics program), and yesterday she finished spelling, grammar and handwriting!  It is exciting!  Gideon and Rebekah only have math left and only about 9 lessons each so they are next.  This time of the year is always exciting.  The end is near!  Spring is here!  It's been too cold and windy to work out in the garden but very soon we'll be working out there and free from school so we can get an early start! 

October Baby - In Theaters Now

 Jordan, Emily and I went to this movie last night.  We wanted to support our dollars toward a movie with some real meaning and be entertained and send a message that this is what people want in a movie.  It was a powerful pro-life message.  It was rated PG-13 and because of that the previews were not to be viewed by your teenage daughters but my girls didn't have to be told to turn away.   We enjoyed it and hope it does well in the box office.

October Baby - In Theaters Now

Happy Easter...

 Laners can walk all over now.  It was really fun to watch him!

 We were trying to get him to smile for us.  He looked so serious!

 The children under the blossoming apricot tree!  Lena can't leave the kitty alone!

Kevin and I.  My camera takes in too much light.  I can't figure out how to change that! 

Another market day...

 New Vendor at the Market!  Natural Crossroads Farms!  They had yummy looking caramel rolls and other good things for sale.  Emmy made some home made lefse! 

 The girls and I were working on the appearance of our table.  Jordan helped me come up with some labels and ways to display the jams and jellies.  We made a lot of bread and we took home a bit too much but the family is enjoying trying out some of the new ones I made this time, like, cinnamon twists, sweet potato bread, glazed poppy seed bread and a new cranberry nut.  I made a Swiss Cheese with minced garlic that sold out (all 3 loaves :)  The favorite this time was the Canadian Brown (an oatmeal molasses bread made with 100% whole wheat).  I made so many other new bread that I only made 3 of this kind and it was asked for time and again.  I know what to do next market.  The next market if the first Thursday of May.  4-7 p.m. in the Town Center Square.

 Emmy and Penny were in orange.  It looked like a picture moment to capture them!

Jessica makes different treats for the market!  She made cupcakes, cookies and some of those  bird nests with jelly beans in them.  Rebekah bought a bag and has been enjoying eating them. 

 My neighbors Jim and Darlene were there selling embroidered goods.  I'm sure she takes orders!  Beautiful work with her embroidery machine.  We had a good visit. 

 Signs of Spring!  Asparagus popping up in the garden! 

I wanted to try some strawberries in the high tunnel so I picked out Seascape, a day neutral variety.  If the information holds true, I can pick the blossoms off until July and we will have a good Fall crop of strawberries.  I'm interested in finding out how early they will  produce next year with some of the warm weather I have in the tunnel in March in April.  It's an experiment of sorts until we know what grows well in our area in the high tunnel.

Right now, lettuce is doing very well.  We need to get out and do some weeding.  A  hard part of the tunnel is working in it.  I don't have that much ambition to start gardening earlier than usual and all the stuff that comes with it; weeding, watering, pests, wind damage, etc.  We had to cover the tomato plants last night in the tunnel because they look like they got touched by the cold nights.  It looks like we are in for some colder weather next week so I have to be vigilant to get out there and check. 

Planting time?...

 

Gideon coming in with a bunch of eggs.  When we got home from the convention, the chickens were really laying.  We got 27 eggs the Monday after!!!  Since then we get from 19-24 each day! They get used up!

 Feeding time!  If the coop door gets left open at night we wake up to chickens everywhere.  Walk toward the coop and they will follow you.  They know it's feeding time! 

 I got tomatoes in the mail last week.  Here we are about to plant them.

 Beans came up in the tunnel while we were gone.

 Lettuce.  I wonder how long until we can eat it?

 Here is a nice looking zucchini plant!

 The girls were great help getting the tomatoes and peppers in the ground yesterday.

 We planted a string in the ground with the tomato plant.  Kevin is going to put posts in there and we will tie the strings up to conduit on top of the posts and keep tying the tomatoes up.

I have 9 pepper plants.  Seed Savers.org have beautiful plants and they came in such nice shape.  They let you pick the ship date so we could get them earlier than usual since we could plant them inside now!