The Elving Has Begun!

It's almost Christmas time and that means getting to work on handmade gifts around here. 

The Elving Season has begun! 

Pints of apple butter to make.

Batches of Comfrey & Calendula 

Healing Balm grown from my very own garden.

 And sweet little sachets of stove top potpourri are all in the works around here. 

But it's not all work and no play, 

we've taken time out to enjoy all the wonderful things this time of year offers...

Like putting together puzzles from Costco 

about Costco 

while sitting on toilet paper packs from Costco.

P.S. No elves were harmed in the making of this post.

P.P.S.  No extra elves were found at Costco to help me with all of this holiday prep!

Where Has The Time Gone?

I have intended to sit down at this space well over a dozen time over the last few months but could never actually muster the strength to unclutter my mind and share all that's been going on.  Truth is, I cherish my down time, and I'm very selfish with it!

  But to catch you up to speed on the family life....

Our #3 kiddo, John Paul, moved to College Station back in August.  He has the cutest apartment, tons of friends, and most important - TWO JOBS!  Also, he's living his best life as a hippie artist in his down time.  I miss him terribly and his move away was a sucker punch to the gut for me.

And then there's baseball.

Well, at our house there's ALWAYS baseball!

Between practices and games it seems I'm always in the car going.  It's fun though and this is a pretty awesome group of young men.  I've enjoyed watching them grow up on the field over the years.  And speaking of growing up, that's my favorite catcher on the left!

And around here, baseball doesn't end 

with high school.

Kyle has been playing in an adult league for three years now.  His team won league champs last year and are in the play offs this year.  

I don't get to watch him nearly enough...

Doug and I have taken several weekend trips.

It's so nice to get away with just the two of us even though we just have two kids at home now.  

We never had time or money when all five kids were home...now we're making up for lost time!

We've even been known just to jump in the car and drive to the beach for a lunch date!

We've celebrated birthdays.

We've lain precious family members to eternal rest.

We've had lots of ups and downs over the past few months.

I'm so grateful for all these knuckle heads 

gathered around my table and I'm excited for the holiday season to start. 

 May Our Lord shower you with His blessings...

I'm SO THANKFUL for all of mine!

Happy Thanksgiving 

from the Creamers!

My Little Bruiser!

This girl will be the death of me!

She has had more serious injuries and broken bones than all of her brothers COMBINED!

I think it gives her a thrill to give 

her mother a heart attack.

SWOLLEN SHUT

Last week she fell off of a Hover Board. 

I tried to play it cool and not give her the satisfaction of seeing me squirm...

I failed.

She literally had a goose egg on her forehead, a bloody nose, and her orbital socket was swelling and changing colors by the minute.

So her nurse mother and EMT father did something we NEVER do,

we took her to the ER.

One CT scan and several hours later,

she got the "all clear" to come home.

No brain bleed and no skull fracture.

Some would argue that she must have inherited her thick 'noggin from her mama.

She is no longer on concussion/brain rest precautions and today she announced 

she was ready to get back on her skateboard.

So...

We went shopping for helmets today!

Happy Birthday, Doug E. Poo!

I'm so glad you came

into this world...

and I'm even more glad that you

came into MY world.

You make OUR world

complete!

Happy birthday, Doug E.Poo!

We love you so much.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day

to these two!

Doug and his dad.  

They are amazing examples of love, strength, 

and faith to our children 

and we are so blessed to have them.

In a world FULL of absentee fathers,

this guy right here has stayed the course through

the good times and bad.

I could not survive this journey with anyone else.

One day is not enough to honor 

how special of a father you really are.  

You are amazing every day of the year!

I'm so grateful to share this life, 

love, and parenthood

with a wonderful man like you.

Happy Father's Day!

HELLO Summer!

It may not officially be summer until next month, but don't tell that to my garden!  So many lovely things are coming from it and I thought I'd share some of the staples we'll be making in the months ahead.

SALSA VERDE

I'm so excited to say that 100% of this salsa came from my garden!  Now there is no formal recipe, just let your heart tell you what you need...

In a large (I have a 14 inch) sized dry, very hot, cast iron skillet.  To half (or more) of the pan, add ripe and washed tomatillos.  To the other half add peppers, onion, and garlic.  Blister all of your ingredients and then transfer them to a food processor with a handful of cilantro, salt to taste, and ground cumin.  

Process until smooth.

This sauce is great on everything!  I especially love to cook it low and slow with a pork roast for my own spin on Chili Verde.

Next is just my favorite way to eat summer produce from the garden:

PICO DE GALLO

It's seriously just summer time in a bowl for me!

Again, no specific recipe...

Mix together chopped and seeded tomato, chopped peppers and red onion, a handful of chopped cilantro, and season with powdered or fresh garlic and sea salt.

Now with all this lovely food, you're going to need something to drink:

BASIL LEMONADE

This drink is so refreshing and basil has many health benefits!  I just take a quart sized mason jar and add a handful of chopped and muddled basil to the bottom.  Top with ice and then pour over your favorite lemonade.  I use ICE - a bottled sugar free version that's a little fizzy.  In the evenings, I'll add a shot of Tito's Handmade Vodka.  Put the lid on and give it a shake.

So if you're looking for me this summer, I'll be out in the garden...

Or passed out on the couch from one too many basil lemonades!

Where did the time go?

Where did May go?  Like seriously.  

I blinked and here we are almost to summer!  

Life has a way of doing that, I guess.

Let's see, we've celebrated birthdays...

Celebrated Mother's Day

Oh how I love my tribe...

I started a TikTok channel all about gardening

and have almost 20K followers!

And spending a LOT of time in the garden

to support said channel!

Plus, there's that pesky thing called a "job"

but whatever...

There are some big changes coming to our lives soon.  I'm taking a leap of faith and just trusting in God's plan.  He hasn't failed me yet!

If I have learned anything over these past two years is that I am NOT in control of anything,

but I am deeply loved by the ONE who is.

Stay tuned...

Mental Health Day...

Some days you just have to escape to the beach and spend hours watching the sunshine dance through the clouds.

Build drip castles at the shore line, 

and walk hand-in-hand with the ones you love.

It is balm to my soul.

The Stimmy Garden

When the stimulus checks finally went out, 

I knew I wanted to spend some of it on the garden.

**Insert "DUH" with an eyeroll here**

Lumber is hella expensive these days and even though we live in the country, getting quality composted garden soil is next to impossible without spending an arm and a leg!  

So when that stimmy money hit my account...

Behold, the Stimmy Garden!

Four new 8ft X 4ft beds to grown more food and a cut flower garden, because you should always have a little bit of pretty with functionality.

I've been working in the garden every day that I have off work and I'm proud to say that I'm rockin' a pretty awesome farmers tan.

I'm sure my boys would have rather I spent the money on a new PS5, but this small bit of lumber and soil just makes me so very happy.  Being in the sunshine and fresh air is medicine to my soul!

Hopefully I can win them over to my way of thinking with fresh salsa from the garden this summer.

My Little Entrepreneur

I was planting tomato seeds one beautiful January day and Mary Grace asks me, "Why are you planting seeds when you can just go to Walmart and get plants?"  

I told her that these were special varieties of tomato that you can't find in the stores.  Then she asked if people would be interested in buying them.  I told her they probably would because seed starting is a little hard.  

So she asked if she could start some seeds to sell.

She followed my directions and planted around100 tomato and pepper seeds.  When they outgrew the starter trays, she up-potted them to Solo cups.  

She helped me water them and harden them off outside.

They were finally big enough for sale 

and the weather was warm enough for them to go in the ground. 

 

To sell them, I didn't have to go further 

than my FaceBook friend's list!

You all turned out in droves and bought 

EVERY.SINGLE.PLANT. she grew!

And while I can't get her to EAT a tomato,

she has learned to love them from an economic standpoint!

Hey, I'll take what I can get!

Growing these tomatoes for you has taught her:

Responsibility for living things

Understanding of cause and effect

Encouraged her love of nature

Boosted her self confidence

Thank you for your support and encouragement!

It means so much to Mary Grace

but it means so much more to this mama's heart.

You all have been such a blessing.

So happy gardening to all our friends and I'm looking forward to all the FaceBook photos of your giant tomato hauls and delicious tomato sandwiches!

Mary Grace is already planning for next year's seeds!