Everyone Gets a Job This Year

We were almost too late!

Our schedule was so crammed with so many things that we were almost too late to enjoy the simple and beautiful pleasure of going to the farm, picking our strawberries and then making our jam for the year!

But, we made it!  The strawberry season was all out of flux this year, like everything else, because of the crazy weather and we were able to squeeze in there when we normally would have been out of luck.

Now, when you take four little girls ages 2,4,4 and 7 to the strawberry patch you don't anticipate much help, just mere accompaniment.  But, this year I was shocked at all the extra berries I acquired with these little monkeys!

The scales were not evenly balanced however.  Lana was the most swift of pickers and came in first wile Skyla was a close second.  Journey was able to actually scrounge up red ones this year instead of whatever ended up in her hand when she grabbed at the plant, so that was a huge step up from last year.  She brought a few to the big box and then there was Trinity who didn't bring in a single one!  She had red fingers and a matching red ring around her mouth, but, mysteriously, NO strawberries ever came back with her!!!

The heat of midday was starting to sting our backs and so we decided we had had enough.  After gathering the ingredients, it was time for the much anticipated "Jam Jamboree"!  This year was different though.  Last year I remember the process taking long, being difficult with monkeys around my ankles and it being a huge mess.  This year, though it was still a big mess, it was so fun and everyone was able to help.

Finding jobs for 10 hands in this operation was a little tricky, but we had quality control "pickers" from the basket, "washers", 2 "stemer's", and a "crusher".  We did a few rounds and so everyone was able to do each job, but I think the crushing was the most coveted.

The girls were able to participate in everything and then put it into the jars.  We made enough to last until next year!  We are going to try raspberry, blueberry and grape as well this year and I have no doubt my girls will be right there with me.

When they participate in their food through activities like these, gardening, farmers markets etc., they appreciate it even more when they eat it. Now they have, "peanut butter and the jelly that WE made".

I am not as much of a cook as I would like to be and when I am it can get a little hairy in the kitchen, but I will always invite a little stool, or a few, next to me to help.

Zucchini Bread Anyone?

We are now 7 weeks into our Tower Garden adventure and our new toy has not ceased to amaze and entertain us.

This week we harvested two beautiful, dark, unblemished zucchini's and made some zucchini bread that was not around long enough for a picture to be taken.  But, I did manage to get one of the zucchinis before we shredded it.

The Romaine and the Spinach are still being harvested daily as I want/need them.  I put them into my shakes now too.  They do not change the taste at all, but add even more nutrients in there.  Why not?  

Our neighbor is a more experienced gardener than us and suggested these two books:

They are packed with useful information about what can/ should/ and should not be planted next to each other.  They give great tips on harvesting and care for the gardens and almost everything is applicable to the tower and soil.  We would recommend these two very much!

This weeks growing has yielded our first cucumbers and tomatoes are starting!!!  I have a feeling we are going to have a BUNCH of them.  Guess who is learning how to can this summer?  

Sneaky cucumbers are growing under all the vegetation!

Yay!  Tomatoes!!

More Zucchini!!  We'll take em! (side note: the soil garden is sprouting it's first zucchini of the season now too)

(If you are interested in a Tower Garden, you can visit this link, or contact me on this site or through Facebook and I would be happy to get you set up with one of your own!  If you are interested in the shakes mentioned above you can visit this link and contact me as well!

Evidence of Good

I just LOVE this picture.  It makes me take a deep breath and just let it ALL out.  All the crazy, the fights, the drama, the toy taking, the barbie hording, the 117th episode of Strawberry Short Cake, the whines and the moans.  I figure if my girls are doing this on their own, without influence, than I must be doing something right along the way.

Gatlinburg Adventure Club for Two; Day Two

Day two started with a morning Jacuzzi soak overlooking the forests and mountains followed by a good ol' pancake breakfast in town.  There was a pancake house around every turn and so we had to try one out.  I can't really say it was spectacular, but the experience was fun. I will take Brian's pancakes any day!

We found ourselves in the car again for a while, but this time we were headed to the Pigeon Forge River for some White Water Rafting!!  I was so excited!!  I have always wanted to do this and it was a beautiful day.  Brian and I, being the people people we are, met many different and amazing people.  People from DC vacationing with their parents, a beautiful family with three college aged sisters, and the group that we shared our boat with.  Nine guys were down in the Smokies enjoying a bachelor party weekend and we were in a boat with 5 of them.  Between them and Colin, our guide who is a Chicago native college student looking for an adventurous summer, I was only only female in our boat and they were a rowdy and crazy bunch.  So needless to say...  we fit RIGHT IN!!!  Brian and I were so fortunate to be put in a boat with such amazing guys and we laughed, splashed, paddled and didn't paddle our whole way down the river.  Come to find out, this group of guys all graduated from Noblesville High School and live around Hamilton County.  I am pretty sure all of Indiana had Gatlinburg on their calendars for the beginning of June!

We had such a great time though and I wish the groom and his bride every happiness and who knows?  Maybe we will see them around town!

The guy right behind me was the groom-to-be

See the guy in front of me glorifying the paddle?  Yeah, he was thrown from the boat a little while after this picture was taken.  No worries, the rescue mission was a success.  On a calm part of the river we jumped out and swam for a while.  Cold!!!!!  But, worth it.  

The rafting took up a large part of the day and when our soaked bodies got back in the car it was nearly 4pm, but there was still one...more...thing...  I wanted to squeeze in before we left the next morning and they closed in one hour (and it was about a 45 minute drive away).  We wavered for a moment and then said why not???  So, off to horseback ride on mountain trails we went!

With moments to spare before they closed down trail rides we arrived and slid in with our guide, Rusty.  You have to say it with as much of a Tennessee accent as possible to get it right.  Young guy who had been a ranch hand for the last four years and sweet as can be.  We mounted and were on our way.

It was a beautiful ride.  Seeing the mountains from this perspective was different and just amazing.  Rusty was asking us how much we had ridden before and how long ago because we "looked great on the horses and looked like we knew what we were doing".  HAHAHAHAHA  I just went with it.  Since it was the end of the day Rusty asked if we would like to go on a little longer route on some "less traveled" trails.  SURE!  I am always up for a little "newness".  So, in single file... because you could only go single file on the 4 foot wide trails... we headed off the well beaten path.  I was just trying to take it all in the breathtaking views.  The green was overwhelming and the water falls and creeks were music in the air.  Solid rock wall on one side of us and solid rock cliff on the other.  I couldn't even tell you how far down it went at most points.  My horse, also named Rusty by the way, was a newer horse to the trail rides and she seemed a little unsure sometimes, but some reassurances and nudges coaxed her back on track usually.  We came to a left curve in the trail and I could tell the ground was loose and the roots and rocks were all over the place, like in much of the trail.  We took it slow around the curve, but in a flash my horse collapsed forward and so did I.  I somersaulted oh so NOT gracefully off the front of this horse.  My thoughts, besides please don't have us go over the cliff, were to make sure my horse didn't have a broken leg out in the middle of no where.  But, by the time I gathered myself and turned around all I saw were two horse legs at my face.  I got up quickly and all was good.  It gave our guide quite a shock, but I got right back up on my horse.  That is what they always say to do right?  We finished the trail ride without any other drama.  I got away with falling off my horse on a mountain pass, feet away from a cliff to oblivion, with just a small abrasion on my leg from the reigns.  Not bad.  There was a lot of thanksgiving in prayers that day.

Another late dinner at Hard Rock, a walk around town, more ice cream and some shopping rounded out our night.  The next morning we were awoken to a bear getting into our trash and we saw the biggest bear of the whole weekend lumbering down a nicely paved driveway to a beautifully manicured cabin on our way down the mountain before we left.  It was a nice send off. We didn't want to, but we had to leave. 

Who couldn't wake up to this every morning?  This was the ceiling in our room.  

We miss our cabin, but we will be back sometime.

Some asides of our trip:

1. Brian forgot his razor and so he went mountain man while we were there and we both discovered that we like it and he has continued it at home.  Just had to get through those first few days I guess.  

2. I learned that you can, and should, let go every once in a while.  It had been 11 years since we were on vacation with just the two of us and it was long overdue and needed.  It strengthens everything at home too.  Lets see if Grandma and Grandpa would agree to it again though.  hmmm...

3. Well, some things I just have to keep to myself.  But, what is most important, and what the trip accomplished and was all about, was this...

Great trip!

Tower Garden Lives Up to Its Name!

I thought last week we had seen close to the "fullness" of the Tower Garden, but I was very wrong.  This week the Garden has grown and grown!

You can hardly see the tower anymore!  This is incredible and so fun to watch.  You remember those tiny zucchini I showed you last week?  Not so tiny anymore...

We will be harvesting them soon and having some much anticipated zucchini bread.  I will probably make some stir fry too.  hmmm...

This week I also harvested a bunch of Romaine and spinach from the tower.

The taste of these greens is so much more full than the taste of the organic romaine I buy from the store.  I did a side by side comparison too and you can see a huge difference.

The color of the Tower produce on the left is so much deeper!  I am so excited to harvest the tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers when they are ready!

(If you are interested in a Tower Garden, you can visit this link, or contact me on this site or through Facebook and I would be happy to get you set up with one of your own!)

Gatlinburg Adventure Club for Two ; Day One

The moment I found out we were spending a couple of days in the Great Smokies I broke out the several brochures left in our cabin and went to work.  I love to try new things, have new experiences, go to new places and challenge myself.  The books were littered with "I have never done...", and I was ready to check them out.

Brian picked the placed and left the "to do's" up to me, which, in hind sight, might have been a crazy idea on his part, because we fit a ridiculous amount of things into just two days.  But, WOW, was it amazing, refreshing and wicked fun for the two of us.  With every new adventure we found ourselves more and more close and we were able to see some old friends and meet some new ones.

Here is the photo tour of our first day.

Friday morning we woke up and went straight to our zip-lining tour! We arrived, signed our, "you won't sue us if you loose a limb or die" waivers, which was the first of many over the weekend, and started getting suited up.  This is when I realized that in my zip-lining group, on this particular day and time, hundreds of miles from home was my hair dresser!  Seriously?  Seriously small world.  Kelly was there with her fiance enjoying some down time for a few days.

We all boarded this extremely old, beaten up and rusted small bus that was somehow going to make it up a mountain.  I would be lying if I said I was praying almost the entire way.  The bus made all sorts of horrid sounds and movements, but it did get us there and we unloaded to start our first adventure.  It was a great experience.

Of course, Brian didn't stay upward the entire time.  He had to show off his quickly acquired advanced skills as a zip-liner and perfected the inverted glide with no hands.  Yep, that is my husband.

Then we were off to the ski lift in town.  It was a beautiful view, but the best part was playing with Brian in the chair lift, who was terrified of falling.  His eyes were scanning and huge the entire time up and down.  It was a steep mountain side and nothing was holding us in except an optional small bar that could be easily removed in transit, but the man was just zip-lining through the tree tops!  He was pondering the fact that only a sliver of metal was holding us to the track and how much it would hurt if one were to fall.  He should know by now that when he shows any weakness it is a trigger for me to mess with him.  A little shake here and a small swing here. But, we reached the top in one piece.

After some lunch we decided that it was time for a little hiking.  There are so many trails to choose from and we wanted to see some BEARS and explore.  I am a sucker for waterfalls and we found a trail that led to one that was only a couple of miles and sounded perfect.

Beautiful!

This, or rocks, was the terrain the whole way.

We made it!

No words...

We are on the trail!  Fresh bear poop!

After our tingling legs climbed back into the car we went straight to another park because we still hadn't seen a Bear!  It was a goal for the day and darn it, I was going to see a bear.  We had heard of lots of people seeing them in Cades Cove.  It was a drive, but so worth it.  Turkey, deer and bear OH MY!  We saw it all.

Deer are very used to people here and didn't mind cars or people at all.  This little one was feasting an arm's length out my car window.  

BEARS!!!  We found them!  This was a mamma bear and three little cubs.  So darn cute.  They were prancing and frolicking just as I imagined.  

Off they go.  We found another one too, but pictures didn't turn out.

Deer were everywhere!!!

Brian caught this beautiful picture  while sitting Dukes of hazard style out of the window up there.   

End of day one.  Time for a 9pm dinner, some relaxing and off to bed to rest up for day two!  It was an unforgettable day.  The unscheduled time and "go and do what you want" attitude was an adjustment, but a welcomed one.

Where Am I Going?

That is how it all started.  Where in the heck are we going???  A mystery trip that Brian planned this year because I couldn't handle planning a trip with everything else going on and he took it right off my plate.  The trip snuck up on me the week after the end of school and all associated drama’s, days after a crazy packed weekend and hours after fitting 7 days worth of stuff into two days. 

But, we made it.  It was Thursday morning and we were in the car and driving, somewhere, with no kids and no responsibilities for four days.  Just Brian and I.  A “just Brian and I” vacation hadn’t happened since Jamaica in June 2001 on our honeymoon and we were over ready for this.  But, it is hard to separate from the kiddos, especially when they are young, and it is hard to hand off four of them at that!  What can you do, but ride the waves of life and hope that you can come up for a breath every so often.  Grandma and Grandpa took the reigns on this one and let us go.  Bless them! 

Well, this was our breath and I thought we needed it, badly.  We needed that reconnection.  That plug back into each other besides just mommy and daddy.  I didn’t even realize how much reconnection we needed until we were reconnecting. 

I didn’t want to know anything, and this man was taunting me with possible flights or driving or trains etc.  Needless to say packing was tough, but I did it and we did end up driving (which is good because I am pretty sure my ambiguous luggage would have cost hundreds of dollars to check onto a flight). 

We started with a beautiful lunch at a vineyard somewhere in Kentucky.  I don’t think we could find this place again if we tried.  The sun was out, the air was teasing us with a slight wind and we ate outside and sampled around nine wines.  It was unfamiliar to be together with quiet and wine.  Uninterrupted sentences and only two people’s worth of food.  We toasted to our trip, our time together and our opportunity to be with one another again. 

The drive took around eight hours and I figured out fairly quickly where we were going.  To be completely honest I wasn’t ecstatic when I found out where it was, but that was only because I had never been and I didn’t know how amazing it was.  I also had BEACH going through my head for weeks after he was egging me on to get a new bathing suit.  It has been 11 years since I saw crystal blue waters after all. 

But, it was very soon after we pulled into Gatlinburg, TN and I saw the beautiful scenes before my eyes, the gorgeous mountain cabin we were staying in and my husband standing there with me that I realized this was going to be an incredible weekend!  I couldn’t have been more right.  I will write another piece about our many adventures.  Like with everything else, when the Harden’s set their mind to something we go all out and this was no exception.  We knocked off every single thing on our “want to do” lists and more!!  Leave it to us to go on vacation and pack every minute with something.  But, we did it all together.

Our home away from home for a few great days!

Miss Skyla

Miss Skyla

Teacher's Assistant

You know, when I was younger it was a huge deal if someone landed an internship in college.High School was an even bigger deal.  Well, Skyla is blowing me out of the water, as usual, and starting MUCH younger than myself. Leave it to my Sky, right?  Love this girl!

She was approached and asked if she would assist a teacher this summer in her Preschool Program.  Sky has been saying for over a year now that she wants to teach very young kids when she gets older and she is very good with her sisters.  She makes them multiple worksheets and has them work through things with patience and great explanation.  

We found out about this a couple of weeks ago and it took her all of a second to answer with an explosive "YES!"

It took Brian and I a little longer and we sat her down and talked about all the responsibilities and patience that comes with this job.  We talked about how she is there to help the teacher and not for herself at all.  Listening and responsibility were key, but she persisted that this was going to be the best thing that ever happened to her in her entire 7 years of life!!

She started last week and like any adult job, the first day was tough.  The kids didn't listen and cooperate as she would like and she had to ask for help, which she does not like to do.  But, there was no hesitation when I asked if she wanted to go back.  The teacher said she was wonderful and helped out a lot and would love to have her come back if she wanted to... and Skyla definitely wanted to.  

The second day was better and she is gaining more and more confidence as a "teacher's assistant" in the classroom.  The picture above was taken the morning of her first day.  Can you tell she is a little proud?  Yeah.

Well, if my second grader has an internship this year who knows what next summer will bring?  Business meetings? Starting a new business? World Travel?

Hold on, this little rocket is taking off!

I Leave You Alone For A Few Days...

...and LOOK what happens!

WEEK 5 GROWTH!!  And a whole lot of it!!!  Wow, the tower went crazy over the few days we were gone and now we are seeing the "first fruits" as well!

Baby Zucchini and Cucumbers are popping up everywhere and Romaine and Spinach have been ready for a while now. Yum!!!  After the tomato plants start popping I will have my lunch everyday from right outside my door!  :)

(If you are interested in a Tower Garden, you can visit this link, or contact me on this site or through Facebook and I would be happy to get you set up with one of your own!)

Daddy's Promise

The day started like this…

It was a beautiful spring morning in May and we were tilling our back raised garden beds.  Brian was going along with the front tine tiller machine that was easy peasy going forward, but a bear to pull backward.

Then… SNAP!

There was a snap and a rocket of pain in his back.  He was down for the count at the picnic table.  Not many things put this guy down, especially when he is outside with heavy machinery!  So, I knew this was bad.

He could hardly move and it seemed like breathing even hurt sometimes.  He could still “walk”, though he did look like someone had misshapen his body and the way his hips swayed was somehow a cross between a cockeyed Betty Boop and Gumby.

Following typical protocol, these things always happen on a Saturday and his chiropractor was not in.  He took the afternoon easy and took some ibuprofen.

The bigger crux here was this girl…

A little princess who was promised a dance with her Daddy that night at the Daddy/Daughter Dance at school!  Brian hobbled to her and told her he wasn’t sure if he would make it, but he would try his best.

That he did…

That night I took the other girls to church with me as Brian strained to put his suit on and take his little girl out to their dance, albeit very slow and crooked.

She danced,

She played "limbo",

She met a princess,

Consumed fancy desserts,

And did this all with her daddy there, as he promised.

He didn’t dance much, or limbo, but he was there and now a beautiful picture sits on her dresser of the two of them from that night.

Daddy’s Promises are always good.