Life's A Garden...

We started these garden boxes over a year ago. It's taken us that long to get them settled and one filled with dirt. "Little by little" we like to say...

Big Beef tomatoes, grape tomatoes and Big Bertha peppers!

Meet Leonard! He's the protector of the garden. Made by two very inventive girls!

I'm glad it's time to get our hands in the dirt and watch our garden grow.

Sleeping Beauties...

Since the great dividing of rooms earlier in the year, this is not a common scene in our house anymore. But on occasion, I will find both my beauties snuggled up together. And it warms my heart. I pray these two always count each other as one of their dearest blessings!

Homemade Strawberry Jam, My First...

Here's my first attempt at homemade strawberry jam! From the farm to the table. Just the way I like it!! This is what I call sweet success :)

Strawberry Pickin' and Grinin'...

We have a lovely strawberry farm a few miles from our house. It's "over the river and through the woods", but not quite to Gramma's house! :) We went for the fun of pickin' them ourselves with the promise of delicious homemade strawberry jam to reward our hard work! There was a festival on the farm that day which meant many, many more people than I had expected. So the plants had been pretty well picked over, but we found enough of those little red gems to make a pretty good batch of preserves. We also may have enjoyed a few while we worked! And that's the beauty of knowing your farmer.

Thank you, Lord, for the sunshine and the berries and my three favorite people on earth!

Glittery Friends...

We had the privilege of going to watch our very good friends dance in the Playroom Dolls ballet recital on Tuesday night. They performed on the local college campus. The performance was beautifully choreographed and the little dancers were SO SWEET!! Autumn's eyes were glued to the stage and all she kept saying was, "They're so glittery, Momma. So, so glittery!" And they were...

There's just something magical about glitter and tutus, no matter how old you are!

Sweetest of friends!

Putting on the Armor...

Autumn helped Pastor Josh demonstrate the Armor of God on Sunday. She was excited and nervous to be "up front" while he was preaching. She did a great job and I think it will be a good way for her to remember the armor. We are in such a rich, sweet season with the girls. They are old enough to be pretty independent, but are still so innocent. And cuddly. I love cuddly! They are very inquisitive about spiritual truths and it's a huge blessing to teach them about our Lord. I'm also very thankful for all of the other people that pour into their lives on a regular basis!!

10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

Out With The Old (AKA: It's Under Construction)

And in with the new...

Mike and I have been posting on our old blog site, The Williams Family Adventure, since 2007. We took an almost two year hiatus. Wow. What were we even doing that kept us that busy?!? Well, life, I guess. (Ironically, the very thing the blog is supposed to record.) Our girls were too young to know what a blog was let alone wonder if we might have one. So, anyway, the other night, the blog came up during dinner between Mike and myself. The girls were curious and so we ended up spending most of our post-dinner, pre-bed time looking through it. We laughed so much and had a pretty great time remembering each of the seasons of life represented in those posts. When we got to the last post, and it was almost two years old, I felt a little sad. I still have those two years. I still lived them. What I don't have is an account of them to remember for years to come. We all agreed that having our little family blog is a ton of fun. Even if no one else ever reads it!!

So here I am. Writing a post almost half way into 2014. I may not write every week, or even every month. But whatever I do capture, our family will be able to enjoy years from now.

So, why, you might ask is there a NEW blog? Why not just stick with the tried and true? Well, apparently over the past two years, computers have become more advanced than my ability to run them!! I can not combine the two blogs, so I will have a link to the old one posted in the side margin if you should ever decide to mosey over there and take a peek. I will also keep a link to this new fangled model on the old blog.

Here's to new seasons, lots of years together and laughing as we remember them...

Old Blog: mikeandcatrina.blogspot.com
New Blog: amikeandcatrinastory.blogspot.com