change is a beautiful thing.

As I returned from the grocery this afternoon, with two sleeping babies in the back seat, I was taken aback by the view of our little home in the woods.  Four and a half years, two babies, countless projects, and finally this little house is feeling so much like a home! There are days when I love this house, and days when I can't wait to get out.  In some ways it's too small, others too big!

I'm not much of a landscaper, but I love that these beautiful zinnias have been so abundant this year, such a beautiful reminder of the beauty we saw in this old dilapidated house we bought just a few years ago!  I mean, just look at the change!

We have no idea how much longer we'll call The Little Blue House our home, but until then we are soaking up all the memories we've made and continue to make within these walls!

Fall family fun.

This season of parenting has really pushed Dan and I to slow down in life.  Lazy days spent at home with our boys are quickly becoming our favorite way to spend the weekend!  These are the moments I want to remember with our little family....the moments we slowed down and really took each other in.

family snow day

We didn't get nearly as much snow as we have in the past, but this was one of the biggest snowfalls yet this season.  

 So we bundled up and went for a family walk.

The snow was a bit deep for Caleb, especially all bundled up in his snow gear!

 {one of my all-time favorite photos of my guys ^^}

One of our first family photos with all FOUR of us!!!  (Though you can't see him, Abel is all bundled up under my coat!)

Even Maggie loved getting some fresh air!

filling our pantry

It's been a busy summer around here as we've worked hard to fill our pantry and freezer with as much produce as possible! The left side is this year's produce, and the right what remains of last year's.

Here's what we've canned so far:

- rhubarb-strawberry jam

- blueberry jam

- pickled hot peppers

- pickled onions

- squash/onion relish

- mustard beans

- dilly beans

- bread and butter pickles

- pickled beets

- beet relish

- green beans

- marinara sauce

- corn salsa

- peaches

- sauerkraut

- grape jelly

And we've frozen:

- strawberries

- blueberries

- raspberries

- blueberry jam

- onions

- zucchini

- fajita packets (peppers & onions)

- corn

- pizza sauce

There's still so much left to do before the season's end, but it feels good to have all this food prepped for the upcoming winter!

This boy loves his corn.

Happiness is...enjoying a cob of corn on our screened in porch!

Saurkraut Party 2014

My parents had an incredible cabbage crop this year.

And by that I mean, 40+ cabbages weighing 2-4 pounds each!

Mom decided to have a party with family to pick, chop, and stomp the cabbage into saurkraut!

Everyone had a job, even the littles.  

Now we wait.  In a few weeks we'll have loads of saurkraut!!!

around here.

It's been a busy summer around here.  Here's a little re-cap... (click on the links for full posts)

Finished our chicken coop.
Our baby turned ONE!
Made a BIG announcement!
Spent the day at the lake with friends.
A video of Caleb's first year.
Celebrated our boy's first birthday with a party!
Got our first egg!!
Lots of growing going on in our garden.
Visited the Children's Museum while my friend Jess was in town.

Also, see our weekly "the 52 project" photos here.

2014 garden // mid July

This has been a slow season for our garden.  It's mid-July and we're getting a few cucumbers every day or two, a couple of peas, and a sparse amount of broccoli.  Raspberries have been pretty consistent for the past few weeks, but they're now dwindling. The weather has been incredibly mild the past two weeks which has basically stalled everything.   Though there is still a lot of green in our garden, we're practicing patience as there are lots and lots of flowers which mean those veggies are coming...we just don't know when! 

turnips

corn

tomatoes

peppers

cucumbers

cabbage

broccoli

green beans

volunteer sunflower & squash in compost

more volunteer squash in compost

golden raspberries

 ever-bearing strawberries

echinacea 

My birthday Gerber daisy has bloomed two times already this summer which has been a wonderful surprise as I've never been able to keep these beauties alive longer than a few weeks!

This has been a bit of a frustrating year for our garden.  We spent a lot of time planning this spring and started many of our plants from seed early in order to spread out our harvest.  Unfortunately, much of our planning has been useless as many of those early seedlings didn't make the transfer, or were eaten by the loads of robins on our property.  Because of this, we ended up direct-sowing much of our garden later than expected.  

I guess the lesson we've learned this year is that no matter how much you plan and prepare your garden, much of it is out of your hands!!

Here's hoping the weather warms up and our veggies start making an appearance on our dinner table!!!