Surprise Birthday Presents

So begins my birthday week!  My friend Jennifer stops by at 6pm last night with a present for me.  At first I'm thinking....Great a bottle of wine!  

Then I look in the bag and it's a McD's Coke!!!  Just as great as a bottle of wine...not at 6pm cause it would keep me awake ALL night...so I put it in the freezer for tomorrow.  :)  

Once I pull the Coke out I realize there is ANOTHER gift!  The small farmer's basket from Anthropologie.  Love it!!!  I wanted one so bad when I saw them for the first time while in New Orleans but I couldn't figure out how to pack it in my already FULL suitcase.   

Thanks Jennifer!!  You're the best!

Yummy Popsicles!

Back in March I posted about my love of fruit and veggie smoothies.  Don't tell the kids but I started making them into popsicles.  

Check out my handmade yellow bowl from my sister.  It was a Christmas gift.  Who doesn't love handmade for a gift??  Well...I'm sure there are some but not me!  Keep the pretty bowls coming!

Don't tell the kids but these popsicles are packed full of blueberries, strawberries, apples, carrots, spinach, mangos, banana, protein powder, egg whites & Ruby Reds.  

They think they are pudding pops.  Don't tell Bill Cosby but my kids have never had a real pudding pop.  Boy...doesn't a pudding pop sound good right now???

I've been making lists for the kids every morning of simple things they can do for me around the house.  Bubby's was pretty simple yesterday so he added a task.  For those of you who don't read 6 year old it says 'Eat Popsicles'.  This made me VERY happy!

The Sounds of Summer Have Begun!

Summer vacation has arrived!!  School is out almost a month early and the kids are lovin' it!  Today  I'm sitting on my deck at my freshly painted patio set enjoying my kids playing in the yard.

So begins the summer festivities....the slip 'n slide!  What's a childhood without a slip 'n slide??

What's a summer day without the smell of sunscreen?

Squeals of laughter.....

and nothing left at the end of the day but the bare muddy spot in the yard.

.....and lets be honest....the bickering...the fighting....the screams of STOP! MOM!!  MAKE HER STOP!  MAKE HIM DO THAT!....

Sigh....sounds of summer.  Nothing better.

Check out this free summer download!!

Free Download

The Beginnings of a Simple Man

Sitting on the deck eating a popsicle.  

Wonder what he's thinking about?

He looks pretty serious and didn't look like he wanted to be disturbed.

I would bet money he is thinking about making a trap or a bow and arrow.  He might be considering how to take the swingset apart.  Or maybe how to build a club house at the top of the swingset.  Maybe he's thinking about alligators or why he doesn't have a new puppy.

I asked him what he was thinking about.  He said, "Can I have a purple popsicle now?"  So simple....

Strawberry Time!

Yah it's Strawberry time at Backwood Berry Farm!!  I was down to my LAST half a bag of frozen berries.  Good thing the season was early this year.  

I was able to get almost 40 pounds picked.  This years berries are SO much prettier, bigger and better tasting that last years.

I stemmed them all and froze them whole.  I add them to all my smoothies.  I don't need any jam right now but if I do in the coming months I can always thaw some out and make jam.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!!

Spring Turkey Hunting

The Hunter got a turkey this past weekend!  

Nothing says 'great family moment' like everyone gathered around a dead bird smiling.  Everyone has made fun of the picture next to the roses but I swear this was The Hunter's idea.  Every dead bird picture needs a pop of color.  Nobody but the turkey thinks this is awkward I swear!  (The bow laying on the turkey was made by Bubby so he can 'hunt like daddy. )  

My sisters friend, Bekah, wanted to experience turkey hunting so The Hunter took her with him.  Was I jealous of them going off in the woods together?  Well...let's think about this....they left at 4am.  They sat in the tick-infested woods.  He kills a turkey and they drag is back to the house....all before I got up.  Nope...not jealous at all!

They seemed to have ball though.....and that's all that matters.  THEY being the hunters NOT the turkey.

Humid Spring Evening

My favorite time of evening....when the humidity creeps into the fields.  

Trying to focus on the beauty of this situation and not thinking of The Things We Do Not Speak Of creeping OUT of the mist.

I KNEW He Was Reading My Blog!

Source

Have you seen these Hey Girl pics?  They are hilarious!!   My favorites are the ones about crafting.

Front Yard Fishing

Fishing in our own front yard.   

Lake Front Property

We have had a bit a rain in the past 2 days.  Sunday morning about 9am, after 3 inches of rain, I noticed a little water in the field behind the house.  

By 10am the water was flowing VERY fast out of the creek bottoms and filling up the field.  I couldn't believe how fast it was moving!  

Within the hour I was living on a lake and the road behind the house was completely under water.  Nobody was going in or out.  

After the plane ride, the tour of the pig farm and now a FLOOD the kids were having a GREAT weekend.  (I was a tiny bit nervous of how just exactly how high it was going to get.)

In a couple of hours everything was back to normal but it made for a lot of excitement around here.

6 Little Chickies

Our 6 little babies are doing just fine. 

They follow their mamma around all day long.  

 I pray they are all girls.

Proud Papa is still around...he hasn't made it into the Stewpot yet.