A Trip to the Lilac Gardens

 Once upon a time I took the oldest kids here. It's only 15 miles from our house but it's the first time we've been there in about 10 years.

I am a fan of the traditinal lilac. I like the color and the scent, but these white ones were just gorgouws. They were so startling against the green foilage.

The boys had a great time playing games in between the rows. Preston wants to move out there. I can imagine how fun it would be to play there all summer long.

 This bush was a very delicate pink color. Beautiful!

 Had to throw in the windmill. They are the skyscrapers of the planes. When I was a kid we had one right by the garden. I would climb up to the platform and sit and enjoy the breeze. Now I'm scared to death to climb up there.

 Look at how big those blossoms are!

It was just such a pleasant morning, walking among the rows and rows of lilacs. This is a family farm that has been raising lilacs just for beauty for several generations. It was a real treat for us.

It's That Time of Year Again!

Time to get the garden ready, that is. Hubby has been hard at work, adding a new raised bed and getting the soil all ready to plant. A local church was selling compost as a fundraiser and we bought a pickup load or two to fill everything in. We have some rich, dark soil now so I am hoping for bumper crops this year. (As a side note: what a great idea for a fundraiser, little cost and little work! Those guys were thinking!)
This year hubby has done most of the planning and I have to admit that it has been really nice to not have to worry about it. He has a much more analytical mind and planning, drawing graphs, making it all work is right up his alley. As of today he has most of our early seeds growing in the garage under a light. The tomatoes are really taking off. The seed potatoes are starting to pop up too. We did lose many of our strawberry plants over the winter. But we had such a moderate, dry winter that I think they may have just dried up and died. The dog lying in the strawberry bed sure didn't help either. We finally had to build a fence to keep him off the berries.

We do still need to order some of these tomato towers:

We have used them for a couple of years and they work really well for us.

 

 This is what the tomato tower looks like.

My poor strawberries....

That's pretty much the garden except for a couple of small beds in the alley.

Sticky Orange Chicken

Recipe Name: Sticky Orange Chicken -
Categories: Main Dish, Meat, Poultry
Serves:
Ingredients:
1 tsp black pepper, ground
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp paprika
1 1/3 tbsp salt
1  large roasting chicken
1  orange
Instructions:
Place rinsed and prepared chicken in ziploc bag and sprinkle spice  mix over the chicken. Rub bag to make it even..Put chicken in fridge over night.
Next day 12-24 hours later, remove chicken from fridge and fill cavity with whole orange cut into chunks, put in large roaster with deep sides. Roast chicken at 250 for 5 hours, after juices have formed, approx after 1.5 hours, begin basting every 30 minutes or so.
Kris's note: I have used a whole onion instead of the orange and it's good too. But we prefer the orange. I roast this in my pampered chef stoneware bowl. It's really juicy and very good!!

This recipe exported by PDACookbook Plus - www.wakefieldsoft.com

Three Years Old

I can't believe that this young lady is three years old today. Of course since she lives so far away, we didn't get to help her celebrate, but it looks like she had plenty of fun without us. Happy Birthday Lexi! We love you!

Being a Mom is Hard

I love my kids! I just want to say that up front. But I have also learned that being a mom is hard work. And it can suck the life out of you. Sometimes they make choices that just make you want to beat your head on the wall and scream. And your children can hurt you, more than anyone else in the world.

I should write a book. Really I should. But I don't like books without happy endings and so far I can't envision a happy ending. I take consolation in the fact that I worship a God who can. Until then I'm buying stock in Band Aids.

Birth Day!

This young man is 8 years old today! I can't believe how the time has flown. I can't believe he still has such big, blue eyes! And today it hit me that he really isn't a little boy any longer, he is a young man. Happy Birthday Preston, I love you very much.

Books I read in 2011

I told my husband that my goal for 2011 was to read 52 books. Then I told him that my goal for 2012 was to take 365 naps. He gave me that "you've got to be kidding" look. Ah well, it seemed like a good idea.
Here are the books I read in 2011. A rather eclectic list I admit, but I tend to read in sporadic bursts of interests. My goal this year is to spend more time on quality, rather than quantity.

 .   52. Health for Godly Generations- Renee DeGroot

51. Gods and Kings- Lynn Austin

50. Remembering Christmas- Dan Walsh

49. The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook- Neal Barnard

48. A Skillet, A Spatula and a Dream- Barbara Breton

47. Mrs. Miracle- Debbie Macomber

46. Trading Christmas- Debbie Macomber

45. For the Children's Sake- Susan Schaeffer McCauley

44. Untangling Christmas- Karen Ehman and LeAnn Rice

43. O Little Town- Don Reid

42. Christmas At Herringtons- Melody Carlson

41. Someone Like Me- Dee Taft

40. The Oak Leaves- Maureen Lang

39. Cornstalked-Patricia Bremmer

38. The Scarlet Thread- Francine Rivers

37. While We're Far Apart- Lynn Austin

36. The Christmas Wedding- James Patterson

35. The Urban Homestead- Coyne and Knutzen

34. Ready, Set, Read!- Barbara Curtis

33. Dancing With Max- Emily Colson

32. Thereby Hangs a Tale- Jeffrey Archer

31. Stars Collide- Janice Thompson

30. Of Thee I Zing- Laura Ingraham

29. Reinventing Leona- Lynne Gentry

28. Books Children Love- Elizabeth Wilson

27. The Ministry of Motherhood- Sally Clarkson

26. The Help- Kathryn Stockett

25. Her Daughter's Dream- Francine Rivers

24. Night Road- Kristin Hannah

23. Sixteen Brides- Stephanie Grace Whitson

22. The Twelfth Imam- Joel Rosenberg

21. Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day

20. Her Mother's Hope- Francine Rivers

19. The Memory Keeper's Daughter- Kim Edwards

18. Blink- Ted Dekker

17. Jacob's List- Stephanie Grace Whitson

16. Real Estate Finance

15. Known and Unknown- Donald Rumsfeld

14. On Mystic Lake- Kristin Hannah

13. Gardenias For Breakfast- Robin Jones Gunn

12. One Second After- William Forstchner

11. Patriots- James Wesley, Rawles

10. One Thousand Gifts- Ann Voskamp

9. Simple Government- Mike Huckabee

8. The Gifted- Teri Blackstock

7, The High School Reunion Diet; How to lose twenty years in 30 days- David Colbert M.D

6. Knit the Season- Kate Jacobs

5. Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas- James Patterson

4. The Bride Collector- Ted Dekker

3. Knit Two- Kate Jacobs

2. Magic Hour- Kristin Hannah

1.Fatally Flaky- Diane Mott Davidson

I found this list of 100 novels that everyone should read. I've read quite a few of them but am making a list of 12 that I want to read this year. If I read more, all the better! I'll try to get my prospective list posted this week.