Outside

For some reason I feel compelled to preface this post with just a small word of caution: WARNING! MULTIPLE PHOTOS TO FOLLOW! I'm sorry, but I just can't seem to help myself. However, I will admit that it is a little embarrassing to sit down at the computer with the intention of uploading a few photos only to find, once you are finished, that those "few" are actually sixteen! I should really learn some restraint. Or maybe, as I've been considering lately, I just need to create an entirely separate nature blog. Although, I sort of hesitate to take that leap because it feels as though I would be compartmentalizing my life...and right now, this is our life! We are outside a lot, and we all take such pride in what we have accomplished with our garden. I look at the vegetables, growing more each day, and can only shake my head in wonder. "Wow! We did this!" Truly, I am amazed at the beautiful complexity of it all: that we were able to start with such a simple patch of earth, sow a few seeds, and transform them into food which will sustain us over the summer. Is that anything short of miraculous?

Here is some of the mint Dylan was so excited about last Friday. It really does smell lovely; he wants to try using it to brew some tea! And his sunflowers make me so very happy. Their cheerful faces really brighten the garden. I am so glad he suggested their inclusion!

Darren planted a raspberry plant in our flower bed three summers ago to surprise me, and it is always such a treat to find the juicy, sun ripened berries there hiding among the flowers, just waiting to be found and enjoyed.I could never have imagined being so thrilled at the sight of fresh vegetables until we began growing our own this year. Don't get me wrong, I love fresh vegetables, but the sight of these, growing or just picked by our own hands, make me positively swoon. Lettuce, Radishes, Tomatillos, Sugar Snap Peas, Roma tomatoes, Zucchini Squash...oh, my.We haven't really seen any strawberries reach maturity yet, but I wonder if that has anything to do with this particular backyard friend of ours. He's one of the adult turtles we received from my mom, and he loves to eat strawberries. Quite a messy eater, isn't he? But that face! I just love it!And here are two of my three very favorite backyard buddies: my little scientists, studying the butterfly they had just captured in Dylan's bug catcher! Moments like these, getting down on the ground with them and viewing the world through their eyes, remind me of how very blessed I am to be their Mommy.