How does your garden grow?

If you know Jay at all, then you know he LOVES to be outside, and he especially loves to work in the yard. This year he decided to plant a small garden in our backyard. This has been a labor of love and A has especially enjoyed being a part of it. She was involved in picking the veggies we would plant, helping to plant them, watering, and now harvesting them. Running out to the garden is one of the first things she does each day to see what God has grown over night. Last night we picked our first "fruits," cucumbers. This morning we went out to check and found some big green zucchini! Maybe growing these veggies will encourage her to try more things and expand her vegetable horizons...

in front of the roma tomato bush- still in her pj's!
the garden

zucchini!
cucumbers- Jacob's FAVORITE!!

Ten

I can just barely remember what our family was like before you became a part of it. Those big eyes and sweet smiles... You are growing so quickly and I wish sometimes I could hit a pause button and keep you at this stage a while longer. You have changed so much in just the past month. For so long, you only had eyes for mommy, but now you simply adore your daddy. When he walks in you begin calling his name in that sweet sing-song voice and you pop those little arms up for him to hold you. The two of you love to give each other fives and play your "coughing" game. You are standing up on anything that stands still and you are crawling almost fast enough to keep up with A and J. You still only weigh 16lbs 3 ounces but what you lack in weight you have made up for in opinion!! You don't eat anything from a spoon, you love it as long as you feed it to yourself. Two weeks ago you threw your paci down and haven't picked it up since! You hate the vacuum cleaner, having your diaper changed, and being on your back (b/c you still can't roll onto your tummy from your back!) We love you and thank the Lord for the past 10 months... what a sweet gift you are.so proud- standing in your crib!

The first time you sat in the grass- not so sure about that!!
you love to be outside

looking for birds!

Love to Read

One thing that I deeply desire for all of my kids is that they will love books and love to read. I am thankful to say that so far, 2 of my 3 LOVE books. In fact, A loves them so much she would just about rather read than do anything else. It has gotten more difficult as the number of children in our house increases to get quality reading time and I have worried that little bit may not get as much one on one reading time. Thanks to my friend, Becky, for sharing this idea with me. I signed N up to be a part of Dolly Parton's imagination library. Basically what that means is that he gets a free book every month until he turns 5. You can sign up one child out of your family and they will begin sending age appropriate books for them (I just chose to sign him up since he is our youngest!) http://www.dollysimaginationlibrary.com/ will get you there! Happy reading!

More Zoo

So bear with me... I'm new at this and trying to figure it all out! Here are a couple more from our trip to the zoo. When I asked her what her favorite part of the day was, this baby camel was her answer!
N and Mamma taking it easy on the bench!

Knoxville Zoo

The zoo tram- thing # 1 they loved about the zoo!

riding a camel w/ daddy- highlight of the day!

She's not so sure about touching the baby at first, but she warms up quickly!

We went to Knoxville last weekend to visit my grandparents. I love it that my children know and enjoy their great grandparents- what a gift! While we were there we visited the Knoxville Zoo (it is a reciprocal zoo w/ b'ham zoo membership so we got in free!) If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend a trip. They have some very exciting animals- black bears, penguins, elephants, etc and some amazing exhibits. We could have spent the entire day in the childrens' area. However, my crew enjoyed riding and feeding the camels the best!