Things have been so fun around here. We got a greenhouse!

Ok, I’m probably the only one as excited about it as I am, but that’s ok. I’ve wanted one for a long time. When this one went on sale, we bought it pretty quickly – it was a steal! It was VERY hard to figure out the instructions, but we finally got it done.

We’ve also been adding some square foot gardens. They’re not done, but they look good so far.

This is my herb garden. We’re trying some new herbs and I’m excited to see how they do over the summer.

The one in the back is the kids’ garden. It’s not done either, but they’re really excited that they get to have their own box!

This was taken today at our church’s Mother Daughter Banquet. The theme today was Secret Garden of Prayer, and it was such a blessing to be there. I am so thankful for our pastor’s wife, and all that she does to help us grow in Christ.

Today is my last day as the mom of a seven-year-old. How did time go so quickly???

Today was such an adventure. A swarm of honeybees landed in a tree right by our house, not 20 feet outside our door. Since we didn’t have to go anywhere, I was able to take a LOT of pictures.

In the tree (about 10 feet up)

A closer look

Stephen climbing up to cut the branch the swarm is on

Hi Mom!

Finding the queen

The queen (can’t really see her here, but she’s in there)

Marching into the box

There were so many bees!

They were everywhere!

About three hours later, most of the bees were in the hive

A view with the observation window open

While most of the bees went right into the top bar hive, there was still a fairly large clump of bees in the bushes. They fell there when the branch was first cut. From their behavior, we’re not sure if there’s a second queen in there or if they just never joined the first group. We’ve heard of swarms with more than one queen, so we’re hoping that’s the case here. Stephen set a 5 frame nuc there with bait inside to see what they’d do, and by dusk, they were marching right into that hive just like they did the top bar hive. We’ll know more tomorrow when it’s light out again and Stephen can go into the hive.

We have had three traditional Langstroh hives. Stephen has been experimenting with one of them, trying to see if the bees in it will move into a top bar hive. It’s been fascinating to watch, but that’s another post for another day. We also have a full size top bar hive, but haven’t had a chance to use it until now. We were waiting to either buy a package of bees or catch a swarm. . .and here God sent us a swarm.

It was a very interesting afternoon, to say the least. I even suited up and went out to take pictures. I got some neat video too but can’t seem to find the program on my computer I always used to edit video with. . .so until I find something, the videos will have to wait.

We’ve been praying for a swarm call, but this was even better. We didn’t have to go anywhere!

Stephen and I each got an email this morning with our beekeeping test scores. We both passed. I am so excited – parts of the test were really easy, but there were a few parts of it that threw me a little. It was a relief to find out how I did.

This beekeeping is addictive though. . .

It’s definitely spring – wow – is the pollen count through the roof or what?!?

It’s been so beautiful out lately. It makes me just want to stay outside all day, but of course that doesn’t happen. There’s too much to do inside.

Sunday our church is having Homecoming, and then revival with Bro. Alfred Willis all week. I am so excited. Services have been SO good at church lately, and the Holy Spirit has really been working on my heart, showing me where I need to change and grow. I’m definitely looking forward to the services. If you’re in the area and would like to come to services, send me an email for details!

On the home front, Samuel has spring fever and is ready for school to be out. To be honest, this mommy is ready for a break too. :O) We are almost done for the year so break time is coming. My parents are also coming for a visit in the next couple of weeks so we’ll have that week off too.

Our rabbit had babies – 7 of them. They’re about 3 weeks old now and are SO CUTE. They’ve just learned how to jump out of their nest box and it’s so fun to stand there watching them.

Stephen and I also had our practical test for the bee school last Saturday. It’s the first step in the South Carolina Master Beekeeper Certification. I’d love to go farther with it but we’ll see. The last certification involves writing a book, and there’s only one Master Beekeeper in the state. . .It sounds like fun to pursue but honestly, probably not at this stage of life with our little ones. At least not for me, anyway.

Little Miss Esther is teething already. At 5 months, her first two teeth are about to break through any day now. She is one miserable teether. Poor little girl. :O) But it looks like her teeth will be through tomorrow or the next day so hopefully she’ll have some relief then.

We’ve also been making some pretty drastic changes to our diet. We’ve been trying to cut out all white processed food and sugars. One of the children (who shall remain unnamed) is so sensitive to sugar that we notice a dramatic change in behavior after eating it. Our first experiment is to eliminate all but the natural sugars and we’ll go from there. We’re also trying to eat as many whole foods as possible. It’s been a challenge, and here I was thinking we ate pretty well.

Our garden is huge this year and we’re in the process of making it bigger. Lord willing, I’ll be able to put up enough tomatoes/sauce so that we don’t have to buy any over the winter. It’s a huge project but I’m hoping to be able to do it.

Jewelry has been keeping me fairly busy as well. God has grown my little business and I am so thankful for that! I’ve added a Medical Alert Jewelry line and have quite a few other new design ideas as well. I’ve been trying my best to work the business during naptime/Family Quiet Time (more on that later if I can ever find the link again!) and when the kids are in bed. I don’t want my kids to think all I ever do is work on jewelry. But I have to admit it is a struggle sometimes.

This post is plenty long enough now so I’ll quit. . .more later. . .

Yesterday it was 80 here, so Stephen and I decided to go into the hives. I’ve stood next to him before as he’s gone through them, but never actually opened up the boxes myself.

I was terrified. LOL! We have the top part of a bee suit but not the bottom. The last time I was stung by a bee, it was when one flew up my skirt. So yesterday, the only thing I was worried about was that I’d be holding a frame full of bees and that a bee would fly up my skirt and sting me.

It didn’t happen though. I was very relieved.

The bee suit is miles too big for me, but hey, it works. It even fit me last summer when I was 9 months pregnant with Esther. I’m just thankful to have one though.

The beekeeping class we’ve been taking has been fascinating. I really enjoyed going through the hives yesterday. We saw honey already too. . .which is good – we’re already getting requests for our honey this year. At this rate, if we were keeping a waiting list, we’d be sold out before we even harvest honey.

My Samuel is a nut.

Yesterday, he came inside after being outside for a while. My back was to the door when he came in, so I didn’t see what he was carrying. Then I heard, “Can we eat this for dinner?”

I turned around and he had brought a dead squirrel into the house.

Long pause.

“Um. . . . .no.”

“But all we have to do is dump some ketchup on it and throw it in the crockpot.”

At that point it was all I could do to not burst out laughing. The best part of it all was that he was completely serious.

It’s class time here! Stephen and I will be starting “bee school” tonight. I am so excited. When the classes are done, we’ll each have our local and state certification for beekeeping.

Now it looks like I just need to find myself a bee suit. . .

Here’s a picture of Esther that my friend Sara took the other day. Esther is now 3 months old. Crazy. I can’t believe how quickly time goes by.

Today is Caleb’s birthday. He turned four today. . .and I didn’t take a single picture. He was so consumed with his “Happy Birt-day take” and the fact that it was going to be chocolate! There were three little ones at my side the entire time, watching and hoping for licks and tastes of the frosting. Homemade frosting is so good. . .

Ok, so I’m behind on posting like never before. The kids and I took a two-week trip to Michigan to visit my family, and we got home last week. We haven’t stopped going since. Hopefully I’ll get more than a moment to blog soon though – God provided for us in a miraculous way while we were there and I do want to at least blog about that! I keep meaning to come over and post, and then usually end up promptly forgetting.