We’re hoping to do a really big garden this year, but it’ll be limited in size due to what Stephen can till up around his work schedule. I can’t control our tiller – no matter how hard I try, it digs holes instead of rows.

Here’s a list of what we’re planning for this coming year:

strawberries – 49 plants
red raspberries – 3 bushes
blackberries – 3 bushes
broccoli – like to do at least 20 plants
tomatoes – 20 or so of these too. I have 2 red brandywine and 2 yellow already. The rest – a mix of Romas for canning and some Better Boy or similar for eating fresh
green bell peppers – 9 plants
sweet red bell peppers – 2 or 3 plants
yellow squash – not more than 3 hills
zucchini – 2 – 3 hills
pickling cucumbers – lots – maybe 5 or so hills
green beans
corn
pumpkin – 3 hills or so
watermelon

In a separate garden:
chives
cilantro
rosemary
basil
oregano
mint

We may expand it some for extras for the in-laws. They’re in town and don’t have room like we do. We’ll see, it depends on what they decide.

Looking at it all typed out, it sounds like a lot. It is pretty good sized (guessing it’s about 20 feet by 40 feet long right now). But we just love it during summer when we eat tons and tons of produce!

It was the battery in our van. I’m thankful that’s all it was! God provided the money for us right when we needed it to buy the new battery.

It was kind of funny – I glanced at my desk and saw a $10 off coupon to the auto parts store on their flyer. It had almost gotten thrown away – but I’m thankful we had it today. Every little bit helps.

Now my van starts just fine. I’m thankful it’s running again!

We’ve gone to paying cash for nearly everything. I was using regular letter envelopes in my purse for different categories, but got tired of them getting so beat up and ratty-looking so quickly.

Then I saw this envelope system on Etsy. It’s absolutely beautiful! I’d love to have one, but couldn’t justify buying one right now when I have a ton of fabric scraps and zippers in my back closet.

So yesterday I dug out my box of scraps and picked out a few. I didn’t make the bigger outer envelope or wallet like the Etsy listing had; I just made the inner envelopes. These are just a tiny bit bigger than a regular envelope, and they zip all the way across the top. No more lost coins!

These are for groceries, clothing, fun money, and animal feed and garden supplies. I may make more as time goes on, but haven’t decided yet. The only envelopes that actually stay in my purse are the ones I need for each particular outing – which also helps with any temptation to spend.

It took some adjusting to go to spending cash, but it’s really been worth it!

Where has modesty gone? It seems like when you look for modest clothing, it’s either expensive, poorly made, or frumpy. It is so difficult to find clothes that are both beautiful and modest.

I was looking for a post I was working on the other day, and came across this post that I wrote while pregnant with Caleb. Amazing how I still feel the same way!

It absolutely amazes me how hard it is to find modest clothing any more. I’ve found ways to get around the immodest clothes that seem to be everywhere (sewing my own skirts, wearing tank tops or using hankies or silk scarves under low necklines), but it’s still a challenge.

I’ve been shopping online for maternity clothes. Wow. It seems like the skirts that are available are all way too short, and many of the necklines would need something underneath to make them more modest. The problem is – most of the maternity tank tops I’ve seen aren’t high enough to make them worth using as a more modest layer.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t mind sewing my own maternity clothes. I’ve been working on a couple of skirts lately that are drawstring waist so that I’ll be able to wear them as long as possible. Unfortunately, modest maternity patterns aren’t so easy to find. I do like to window shop a bit though to look for a few pieces that could fill out my wardrobe, and then try to find my favorites cheaper (like on ebay or at thrift stores).

Where has modesty gone? I know that it’s a problem with most ready-made clothing today, but I wasn’t expecting to find such immodest maternity clothes.

Now, if we could just get some manufacturers to produce clothing that is modest, flattering, AND reasonably priced!

This morning Stephen and I get to go to his mom’s house to check on our van.

Last night, we stopped there after church for a while. When we got in the van to go home, Stephen put the key in the ignition to start the van and everything went dark. After several attempts to figure out what was going on, Mom eventually drove us all home in her van.

Stephen thinks the battery just needs a jump. I’m wondering if we somehow tripped the anti-theft device in the process too, triggering the van to shut everything down. We’ll see. I’m really hoping it’s as simple as attaching some jumper cables!

Ahh. The adventures of owning a vehicle with more technology than you’re used to!

So far we have 9 chicks and 4 quail that have hatched. Their chirping is so sweet to hear, but they can get really loud. They’re so loud when they first hatch that it sometimes wakes us up at night. We still have some more in the incubator, but here are some pictures and video of the ones that have already hatched.

This little one is my favorite. It’s a very light yellow, and will probably be solid white when its feathers grow in.

Here is a video I took this morning. The tiny little striped chicks are the quail. We’ve heard a lot of this chirping around here lately. If you listen carefully, you can even hear one of our roosters crowing outside.

Caleb is about to outgrow his John Deere pajamas I made him for Christmas. I had to get one more shot of the boys before the pajamas get packed away.

The kimono tops are great, but the next time I make them I’ll definitely be leaving the ties. The buttons are too confusing for Samuel (they’re on the sides, not down the middle), and too restricting for Caleb as he grows. The shirts would get a lot more use with ties.

Yesterday I mentioned that our garden order arrived. We went outside to plant the strawberries today, and discovered that there were only 24 plants instead of the 25 that were supposed to be in the package.

I went through and double-checked each one, just to be sure there weren’t two stuck together when they’d been set in the holes. There weren’t – there were only 24 plants. I finished planting them and came inside.

After a call to customer service, they’re sending me not just the one more, but 25 more plants. I’m not sure how long they’ll take to get here, but I’m anxious to get them. I’m really excited to be able to put twice as many strawberries in our garden than we originally planned.

We ordered from Stark Bros. Their catalog looks absolutely wonderful, and I’m hoping the plants grow as well as their catalog implies!

We have six new peeping critters in our house. :O) Four quail hatched over the weekend, and the chicken chicks started today. One hatched out as I was getting ready to lay down for a nap, and another just hatched. After seeing the tiny little quail, the chicks look huge, but the one that just hatched really is big. They’re so cute! I just love hearing them “beep-beep-beep” from inside the incubator. Except when I’m trying to sleep at night, but that’s a different story, lol!

The UPS man also brought us a box of plants that we ordered. Strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries. It’s a first for us growing any of them so we’re pretty excited. Stephen went out to start tilling the garden today because the strawberries won’t last long in their packaging. It was absolutely beautiful outside today, and I had forgotten what a comforting sound it is to hear the tiller outside.

What seems really crazy is knowing that exactly one week ago I was blogging about all the snow, and today it was 82 out and we’re working on our garden. Weird. On the other hand, last week was unusually cold, and today was a bit warmer than usual.

The Farmer’s Service Center where we buy our plants and feed has had several veggies outside already. The man that runs it said he’s even been leaving them out overnight. That was before we got the snow, but that’s beside the point. It just amazes me that it’s the second week of March and the cold-tolerant plants can already be set out. We’re going to be pretty selective of what we put in the ground this early, but the berries that arrived today are all fine to go out now.

Year before last, we had a really hard frost in April that wiped out most of our garden. As much as we’d love to get started early, we don’t want to chance losing plants.

Oh – and one more thing before I forget. Our pastor’s wife started some veggie plants inside with her girls as a science project (they homeschool too). They had so many seeds sprout that they brought me some. There are a few heirloom tomato plants and some herbs. I’ve been wanting to try some heirloom tomatoes, and the herbs will really fill out the herb garden we started last year. They look so nice in my kitchen window – now if they can just keep growing that well until it’s warm enough for them to go outside!

Sunday – crockpot whole chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy
Monday – hot dogs and sweet potato home fries
Tuesday – tuna patties, mashed yellow squash (was on last week’s and it got changed, and then eaten last week anyway. Not sure what to have in its place yet. Maybe hamburgers.)
Wednesday - crock pot sloppy joes
Thursday – chicken parmesan
Friday – homemade pizza
Saturday – chicken stir fry or chicken fried rice

Breakfasts – oatmeal, eggs, biscuits, etc.

Lunches – sandwiches, soup, leftovers, etc.

We did have a lot of chicken on the menu this week (well, we still do), but I’ve been dealing with a lot of food aversions lately. The worst of it seems to be chicken. It’s not just eating it though – seeing it raw, smelling it cooking, and eating it all have been bothersome for me. I may still go ahead and make it this week, but I may not. We’ll see. It wasn’t a problem when I was pregnant with Caleb, so this is definitely a new adventure for me.

I’m also going to post last week’s menu this week. I forgot to post it last week, and this way I’ll be able to find it when I plan more menus later.

Sunday – leftovers
Monday – taco salad
Tuesday – potato soup
Wednesday – spaghetti, tossed salads
Thursday – black bean soup (this was a real letdown – I’m trying to figure out how to make the leftovers palatable!)
Friday – homemade pizza
Saturday – chicken and artichoke casserole, brown rice, green peas

You can read more menu plans over at Organizing Junkie.