I can't believe...

I missed this huge zucchini in the garden!! This is the second oversized one I have found this spring! Maybe it is the variety of zucchini I planted? I'm not sure but I was shocked to find this mammoth one. This single squash is more than enough for a meal, even for a family as big as mine!! I had to use Parker to show the size comparison.


He is amazed as well. I wonder what he is thinking? LOL Probably hoping he doesn't have to eat this ;-)

I have a very handsome model, don't you agree?

This zucchini is so big I think it deserves a name! Come on now, we have a cucumber with a name-you know who I mean.....LarryBoy!!

We have all been very busy in our garden. The Lord has blessed us with a bounty already this spring. We have had rain for 9 consecutive days and our chances for rain are 50% and higher for the remainder of the week. It has been nice to not have to water the garden and everything is growing like crazy! We have harvested green beans, cucumbers, black-eyed peas, okra, squash, carrots, potatoes and rattlesnake beans. There are several watermelons coming along and my tomatoes have some babies coming along as well. The pepper plants, all varieties, are growing very slowly for some reason. It has been hard to keep up but I am loving it! Our grocery bill has been reduced drastically and I am happy knowing exactly what we are eating, well most of the time!

Graduation Day for Bradley

Congratulations goes out to our third born, Brad! He graduated last night from our home school association.
I posted a few pictures of our evening. We had a great time with friends and family.

My guys!

Long time friends, Chelsea and Caleb!!

Wonderful church family that came out to support Brad and a few other graduates as well.

My "soul sister", Ginger with her hubby, who happens to be our pastor, and their grandson, Landen. Brooke and Ricky are in the background.

Here comes our graduate.

Our home school organization puts on a very unique, memorable graduation. The head of our school works very hard to make this night perfect for the graduating class. Parts of the evening are similar to traditional school graduations with the salutatorian and valedictorian speeches. However, one thing that makes this graduation different is a slide show of all the students (57 this year) at several different ages of their lives that is shown on the big screens. There are many cheers and sometimes laughter from friends and family as we recognize our loved one. Another difference is that the diploma is given to the student by the parents. A previously recorded message from the parent to the student is played as the student walks up on stage to greet his/her parents and receives the diploma. I apologize for the picture below being so far away but I wanted to give an idea how this all happens. It is a very emotional moment.

After graduation, Brad got to choose the restaurant to continue our celebration. He chose Smokey Bones and it was delicious! The company was great too!!

Well, another child in our family is "getting his wings". This is a bittersweet event for me. Oh, and don't worry, if my little chickadee doesn't fly straight this momma knows how to clip those wings ;-) But in all seriousness, we are definitely covering Brad with our prayers as he steps out into a new area of his life!

Welcome Jack

We have a new face on our farm!! Our Nubian goat, Isannah, finally had her kid on Thursday. We were hoping for twins but we are happy for a healthy new baby and a birth with no complications. Whew! This is our first experience with goats and I was praying for an easy birth. We named him Jack.

Here is the proud momma and Jack looking for his first meal. We are enjoying little Jack so much. He is very soft and cuddly. Mom and baby haven't ventured out of their stall yet. It must take a few days for the kid to get enough strength to go out to pasture. We are learning.

Isannah has become an extremely protective mother. She is always on the look out for danger and becomes very aggressive if she feels her little one is in harm's way which is so out of character for her. Kinda reminds me of human moms!

We are looking forward to some goat milk soon. My boys have milk allergies so they can finally have dairy products in their foods again. I was fortunate to find a yogurt maker at a yard sale recently and I can't wait to try it out. Hopefully I can get the hang of milking. Brandon is excited to give it a try. He will think it is fun for a few days then I am sure it will become just another chore. Oh well, such is farm life!

Blueberry Picking

The younger two boys and I finally got to go blueberry picking! We have been patiently waiting for the blueberries to be ready and wouldn't you know it, when we got the call to come picking we were so busy at home that we were afraid we might miss our opportunity!!

Aren't they beautiful berries? They were so sweet and delicious. I couldn't believe how good they were!

The picking was very easy as you can see in the pictures and the morning was perfect. We finished just as it was beginning to get hot. The berries are grown in the barrels because of drainage problems on the farm -just in case you might be wondering-I was and had to ask :-)

We also bought some "bakers" frozen berries from here for only $5.00 per pound! What a deal for organic blueberries! They are very ripe which makes them perfect for jams, syrups and even pies!

I had more pictures to share but I am having trouble with placing pictures on my blog for some reason. All in all it was a great day. My younger guys had never been blueberry picking before and they had a blast. Can't you tell by Bryce's (black shirt) face? This IS his happy face...really. He is just a serious guy.

We will definitely be going back to this farm to get more berries.

Brent's Basket of Love and Prayers

This past week has been Finals Week at the college where Brent attends. The school sent out order forms for Stress Baskets and Energy Baskets that parents could purchase and the school would put them together and deliver them to the students during Finals Week. Well, I decided to make my own and make a family project out of it, I like to think of it as brotherly love. Hey, this needs to be encouraged whenever and wherever possible!!

The brothers and I went shopping for Brent's favorite goodies. There was bubble gum, Boston Baked Beans (candy), lollipops, vitaminwaters, apples, bananas, sunflower seeds and lots more. We also included his "special someone," Natalie, when making up this basket. Half of the basket was for Brent and half of the basket was for Natalie. The boys even added a stress ball and a water worm for fun.

Of course the gift wouldn't be complete without some homemade snacks! We made banana nut muffins and a special caramel-coated cereal that I normally only make at Christmas time.

I think the project was a success. Bradley and Brandon delivered the basket to Brent at the school on Monday. He was surprised to see them and even more surprised that they had a special delivery for him. Now if there were only someway I could bake up something to get all those correct answers to the tests into his brain!! Best Wishes to you Brent and Natalie!