Squirrels' in the Garden

"Hey Lisa" my neighbor called "did you know you got beans growin' down there?"
"Oh, really?" says I " we just checked the other day! I'll go down and pick them later." Well....in mama years - "later" turned out to be TWO DAYS later. It was hot....it was so very humid...but I couldn't stand the thought of our neighbors thinking we were irresponsible young folk that would just let good food go to waste. Ha ha! So, I grabbed a small wood bowl, put Tristan on my hip...grabbed Trin by the hand...yelled "come on" to Brady (there just aren't enough hands ,folks) and we made our way down to the garden.

I dropped Tristan off in some clover to play....i didn't think he'd be any good at picking beans quite yet...

Squirrel ran over to the lettuce right away and started picking feverishly. I had to slow her down a bit since she was shredding the lettuce.

"And wherever Trin and Brady went the cat was sure to go...."

And behold...there were beans. Lots and lots of beans. Seven inch long beans. I don't even to begin to pretend that I have a "green" thumb...mostly it's black and blue. BUT....if you want to feel like you're really good at gardening...just dump a pack of green beans in the dirt and watch them grow! Trin was extremely intense during her whole picking experience....she barely talked...just picked and picked until her little wooden bowl was full. I had to actually run up to the house to get another bowl since our little one was overflowing with vitamin packed goodness.

I forgot how quickly Tristan can move. I left him, what i thought, a safe distance from the soft brown dirt. He crawled so quickly though that when I looked up I saw his hands full of mud...going directly for the mouth. Needless to say, he got his microorganism count for the day. Tomorrow I'm taking him to a friends to see if we can catch the chicken pox...keep your fingers crossed for us!

Back to the house with our treasure. Trini picked half a row all by herself and cleaned and cleaned all of the beans (with a little help from the mama.)

I love how she washed each of them...one by one...her little eyes shining with the new love of 'gardening.' So sweet and felt truly happy watching her experience this - one of my dreams came true in a hours time....

It was a sweet day all together...a nice bonding time with the kids after a long week away from them at VBS. Brady did so good at the church all week but I knew that he was ready for some solitude. It's sweet to find your children taking pleasure in their surroundings and being content in their own little spaces. I want to remember this for the rest of the week....to look at my home with a renewed sense of gratitude and love....thanking God for the blessing of just being with my littles and with Zac....loving our home and all the little quirks about it and the place where we live.

Summer is such a special time of year. Being able to eat from the garden, long days and pretty sunsets (which I haven't seen yet but know they are out there - sunsets I mean)....flowers and flowers...birds and more birds - a time to rest from a busy soccer coaching schedule...it's a good life. I leave with my favorite quote...not because it really ties into this post very well (I guess it sort of does) but because I want to remember this week what life and love are all about. Perhaps this week when I look at my growing sunflowers, or a fresh strawberry growing in our teeny patch....I'll remember to be kind...to speak with gentleness.

If we would have a true home, we must guard well our thoughts and actions. A single bitter word may disquiet the home for a whole day; but, like unexpected flowers which spring up along our path full of freshness, fragrance and beauty, so do kind words and gentle acts and sweet disposition make glad the home where peace and blessing dwell. No matter how humble the abode, if it be thus garnished with grace and sweetened by kindness and smiles, the heart will turn lovingly towards it from all the tumults of the world, and home, " be it ever so humble," will be the dearest spot under the sun. -Golden Gems of Life