A City Girl's First Garden

Do you guys remember how I shared with you how I am in a season of sowing?  Although that was pertaining mostly to our home life (parenting, marriage, small business, finances, etc.), we are also doing a bit of sowing and reaping in another area.  We have started our own garden!

Ever since we moved to Knoxville, I have loved the idea of having a garden.  Our first home just didn't have the yard for one, but our new house has a fabulously large and FLAT backyard.  Last year, we tried out a local fruit and vegetable co-op, which we enjoyed a bunch, but we decided to try our hand at our own garden this year.  One of the things that we did not particularly enjoy about the co-op is that we had no control over what fruits and veggies we got week to week.  It was exciting to try new things, but we found there were many types of produce that we didn't love that we still had an abundance of each week.  I hate wasting something, especially fresh, organic produce, so we thought if we had our own garden, we could hand-pick the things we know we love and will use in our cooking. 

When we moved into our house, there was an abandoned sand box built in the backyard.  I loathed the idea of having sandbox---we host Care Group with 20+ kids, and I have visions of sand everywhere--so we have left it as is until just recently.  Jonathan did a bunch of research and decided that a raised garden bed would be a nice option for us to try out since we are pretty new at this.  We decided to turn the sandbox into a raised bed, and then Jonathan recruited his dad to help him build a second raised bed right beside the other. 

A week or so after we got the raised beds built, we went ahead and bought our plants for our Early Spring garden.  We bought broccoli, kale, iceberg lettuce, bib leaf lettuce, spinach, and strawberries.  After we got everything in the ground (which was the PERFECT time to do, according to the Farmer's Almanac), we naturally got some very cold and freezing weather.  For one week, we were out of town during Spring Break visiting our friends in Panama City, Florida, when Knoxville was slammed with several days of SNOW!  SNOW!!!???  I was upset and certain that our garden was done for, but except for the loss of two plants, our little Spring garden is thriving.

Here are some pictures of the boys putting the plants in the ground.  The kids are really enjoying learning about a garden and helping us along the way:

Starting at the bottom of the picture above, there are rows of strawberries, then spinach, then iceberg, then bib leaf, then kale, and finally broccoli.

 

We are finally starting to reap some of our harvest.   Just this weekend, we picked lots of lettuce for some fresh salads, and I pulled a ton of kale.  I made our season's first batch of kale chips which is a family fave.  I'll have to post a recipe because they are super easy and super delicious!

 This is a picture of the garden about two weeks ago.  You can see how much it's grown in this picture from when we first planted, so imagine how it looks now!  I've got to take some more pictures!

Here is our first strawberry starting to grow!

Here is all the kale I picked on Friday!  

 So far, we are really enjoying our gardening experience, and it hasn't been that hard to do.  I know that may change as everything starts growing in more abundance and we have to be diligent to harvest and eat and keep up with everything else.  We are planning to do a summer garden in the newly built bed, but we haven't planted those yet.  I definitely want to do some tomatoes and peppers and squash, but we'll have to see what we end up with.  Jonathan just planted some carrot seeds in a big planter we have on our back porch, so that will be a fun experiment.  And I forgot to mention that I have some fresh herbs in another planter that are growing like crazy!  Anyone need cilantro!? 

.Growing.

You may have wondered why I (once again) have disappeared off the face of the blogging planet?! I've been a little busy growing a baby the past few months.....

That's right!  The Bradshaws are pregnant with baby number four! 
After much prayer and discussion, Jonathan and I felt that our family was not quite complete with three kiddos.  And the Lord has once again blessed us with a new little baby in my belly.  We are really excited. 

I am due October 25th, which makes me almost 13 weeks pregnant at this point.  We found out in mid-February that we were expecting, and we were able to successfully keep it a secret from the kids until I went for my first ultrasound and doctor appointment in March.  Here is a video of us telling them that night:



I was seriously shocked by the reactions of Nora and Liam over the past several weeks.  This is the first time that the kids (any of them) have been old enough to really understand and care about the fact that we have a baby on the way and that there is actually a baby in my tummy.  Nora is so concerned with me all the time and constantly asks how I am feeling and how the baby is doing.  Liam just likes to blow strawberries on my belly.

As my stomach gets bigger-- and believe me, #4 pokes out a lot quicker and a lot more than the other three did--they are constantly drawn to my stomach to hug me, rub my baby bump, and kiss my belly.  It's so sweet to see how they care already for their new baby brother or sister.

I went to the doctor yesterday for another ultrasound and was able to hear baby's heartbeat for the first time.  It was 157 bpm, which seems a bit slower to me, so if the old wives' tales are true, maybe we're having a boy!?  Either way, we will be thrilled.  Next month, I go back for a gender ultrasound so we will know for sure then.  Other than getting to see my little one for several minutes on the ultrasound and taking home several new and more detailed pictures, my appointment was pretty simple.  I have been on Prometrium up until this point because of low progesterone levels, but my uterus has completely taken over providing all of the progesterone the baby will need so I can stop taking that supplement.  I am thankful for a healthy baby and pregnancy so far. 

Although anything can happen and the Lord can move on our hearts at any time to think differently, we are thinking that this will most likely be our "caboose."  I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE being pregnant, so I have been particularly trying to savor each and every second of being pregnant this go 'round.  I want to remember it and cherish it and recognize what a miracle the gift of life is.  I am so thankful for another opportunity to bring a baby, a life, a person, a soul, a creation of my King into this world. 

We are already praying for you, little one.  You are already adored and loved and wanted and cherished.  As our Maker knits you and crochets you in my womb, we anticipate your arrival and look forward to seeing what you will bring into this loud and crazy and fun family.  I love you.

Till next time.

Playing Catch Up

I have not updated about the kids in a really long time.  Our days are so busy and it's hard for me to sit still long enough when the kids are asleep or detained.  In many ways, our weeks are pretty predictable-- we have school Monday, Wednesday and Friday; ballet on Tuesday; homeschooling on Tuesday and Thursday; a few random playdates here and there; Care Group on Friday nights.  But, every single week seems to have it's own rhythm and story to tell which keeps things lively and life flowing by so fast.

It's quite hard for me to believe that Nora will have completed her first year of school in just two and half short months.  Wow!  She LOVES, loves, loves school.  I cannot say enough about her teachers this year, and it seems like every week she blows us away by learning something new.  She is reading up a storm which has been so fun to watch.  I love seeing how her mind unfolds as she is learning math and science and phonics and everything else.  Her teacher is extremely musical, so their days at school are filled with tons of music and dancing and sign language, which is right up Nora's alley.  In fact, it makes me wish I was in Kindergarten again.

As much as we love the school where Nora is now, we have decided to change schools for her next year.  After looking into many options and much prayer and consideration, we have decided to send Nora to a school here in Knoxville called Paideia.  It is a Classical Christian school that goes all the way through high school.  Where Nora is now doesn't go past the fifth grade currently, so it would only be a matter of time before we'd have to switch her over to another school, and we feel like sooner is better than later (for us, anyway).  We are really excited about what next year holds for our girl.  However, we are still trying to soak up every last second at Cedar Springs because it is a fabulous school.  Also, for many reasons that are too long-winded for me to go into in this post, we will be having Nora repeat Kindergarten when she starts this new school.  She is a very young Kindergartener this year (the youngest in her class), and the students at Paideia typically don't enter Kindergarten until they are six (which Nora won't be until AFTER school starts next year).  There are several more reasons, but none of them has anything to do with the fact we think Nora is currently struggling academically.  I feel like anytime I tell people about our plans for next year, they assume that she is struggling with school, and it is truly not the case.  But, we think it's what's best for our family at this point and we are excited about it!

Liam Piper is getting ready to turn FOUR!  He tells everyone that he meets that he is "three and three-quarters."  It is the cutest thing to hear him say.  He has been enjoying school this year, and we have seen much progress with him as he has benefited from being in a more structured environment on school days.  His teachers are wonderful, and he loves them.  We have days where he gets sad at drop-off or he'll just be sad throughout the day, but he is my sweet, sensitive boy that still (occasionally) loves to be held and snuggled.  I know the day is coming when that won't be the case, so I don't mind the extra attention he may need from time to time.  He's growling like a weed too, and seems so much older after his most recent growth spurt.  I think he's going to be taller than Jonathan (more like my dad).

Next year, Liam will go back to Cedar Springs and will be in Pre-K!  Isn't that crazy!? I am really excited about the Pre-K program at school, and I think it will be good preparation for whatever the next year holds for him.  I am hoping we can also get him into a sport or two next year, maybe soccer or gymnastics or something.  He's very athletic and has the skill, but I think he can be shy in a group setting, so we'll have to see how he'll do in that arena.

Stella Marie, mostly known in our house as Stella B, is our sweet angel girl.  She brings so much joy to our house and is almost always in the most joyful mood.  She's finally walking and running everywhere---she beat Nora as our current late-walker record holder at about 20 months.  Once she decided she was ready to walk, it took NO time for her to get on the go.  Now, she runs around like crazy and jumps right in with the other two in anything she can.

On the days that Nora and Liam are in school, Stella and I have the day to spend together.  It has been such a sweet season of getting to have that one-on-one time with her.  We run errands, clean house, do laundry, watch Elmo, eat lunch, and anything else we can find to fill our time.  I have really been able to enjoy her and watch her grow into such a sweet little girl.  Her vocabulary is finally starting to explode.  For the longest time, she didn't say many words but mostly grunted and signed what she wanted to say.  It's amazing how much I can understand!  But, just these past few weeks have shown her trying to articulate words more and more each day.    She is still a really good eater, but she has reached that point in toddler-hood where her appetite has decreased which reveals a pickiness in her that typically isn't there.  She eats most everything we offer her, which is a blessing!  Life at this age with Liam was really hard because he was particularly picky.  Hopefully we can avoid most of that stage with Stella B.

Life with Jonathan and I has been really good.  Jonathan is working really hard these days, and is trying to grow the practice and grow in his knowledge and ability to lead his team better.  He's been going through a dental management process since last summer which has made some really great changes in how the practice is run, but it's still a hard task to be a full-time dentist and a full-time businessman.  He amazes me at his resilience and hard work.  Somehow he finds time to read all of these books on leadership in addition to caring for me and our family.

The past few weeks we have been particularly busy on the weeknights because we are taking a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace class at a local church that is offering the course.  It is AWESOME!  I only wish we had taken this class when we were first married.  We have felt the Lord leading us to analyze our spending and saving habits, and this class has been so enlightening and encouraging--CONVICTING--but it's been really good.  I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to grow in this area.  We are also taking a class at our church called the Bridge Course which is a lot like Alpha (an evangelical dinner/class where it covers basic beliefs and principles of the Christian faith).  We have some friends coming with us, and it's been really neat the past few weeks to have them come with us and just to be reminded of some many things that are foundational to what I believe.  It's really busy while both of these courses are going on, but I really believe that the Lord has given us faith for both of them.  It means a lot of juggling our family here and there and even staying up past bedtime on school nights, but God has been faithful and has led us here.  I'm really excited to see what the rest of these classes hold for us and for all that the Lord is going to teach us.

Whew!  Are you worn out yet!? Anyway, that's the run-down of life with the Bradshaws lately.  Hopefully I can keep up better.  Plus, I have tons of pictures to share of the ever-changing trio of children!  Till then.

Thankfulness.

This past November, in preparation for Thanksgiving, the kids and I put together a Thankfulness Tree.  I cut out a tree from brown butcher paper and then leaves out of fall-colored construction paper.  Every day (or at least, those days we remembered, which were most days), we would write down something that we were thankful for.  We also took this opportunity to teach the children a memory verse on Thanksgiving.  We chose:

"Oh give thanks to the LORD for he is good, and his steadfast love endures forever."  Psalm 107:1

I just recently took the tree down, but there was a part of me that hated to. The kids seemed to really enjoy recounting all of the things they were thankful for, and I do believe I saw fruit from this little exercise. It wouldn't hurt us to have a Thankfulness Tree up all year long! Instead of throwing away all of our leaves, I thought I would record the list of things we were thankful for in November.

-that Daddy has a career that he enjoys.
-for Liam's bunkbed.
-toys
-for food that God has provided for us.
-Jesus.
-that monsters don't get us because God protects us.
-for our Care Group.
-clothes.
-Granna and Geegaw
-playing outside on the playground.
-that God gives us our bodies.
-family
-God's Word, the Bible.
-Date Nights
-the dress-up box in Nora's classroom.
-mornings at home where we don't have to be somewhere.
-beautiful days to play outside.
-our healthy bodies
-the kids' teachers: Mrs. Neal, Mrs. Matthews, Mrs. O'Hern, and Mrs. Anderson
-Nana got to come visit us for a long weekend.
-the Lord.
-a warm, safe and comfortable home.
-Miss Suzanne -our church: Cornerstone Church of Knoxville
-Woody
-friends that God has given us to walk through this life with.
-Finn McMissile
-that Daddy has a job.

 I guess you can probably tell which ones the kids truly came up with all on their own. Such precious thoughts and memories!

Fall Break

No, folks, this isn't college Fall break we are talking about.  This is Kindergarten and Preschool Fall Break!  And man, was it nice.  No last minute research papers to complete, novels to read, or papers to grade.  It was just four glorious days of beautiful weather, family time, and loads of fun.  Since Jonathan had to work on Thursday, we had a little playdate with a few of Nora's classmates at our house.  That evening, we rented "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" and had a movie/popcorn party.  Nora and I had read the book together about a month or so ago, and I told her we could watch the movie after we completed the book.  We loved it!  Nora kept telling me how the book was different from the movie (already like her Momma in that way).

On Friday, Jonathan was off of work, so we wanted to do something outside as a family.  For a while we've heard nothing but wonderful things about Ijam's Nature Center here in Knoxville, so we decided that since it was a beautiful day outside that we would venture out for a family hike.  We loved it and then had a yummy hamburger lunch together at Moo-Yah's afterward. 

The rest of the weekend involved some church activities including our church's annual Corner-copia (Fall Festival) and guest speaker Jerry Bridges (my favorite).  In between all of those things, we were outside playing in the yard, riding bikes, and taking walks.  IT WAS GLORIOUS!  Have I mentioned how much I love living in East Tennessee this time of year!?

Pumpkin Patch 2012

Flying By.

Well, here we are in the first week of October.  How is that possible?  It seems like just yesterday I was running around like a crazy woman with my head cut off as I was trying to get everything ready for the beginning of school.  Now, six or so weeks later, I am still running around like a crazy woman. 

School is going really well.  Nora and Liam are really loving their teachers and classmates and classes.  And I feel like we have adjusted well to the rhythm and regiment of getting up, getting dressed and out of the house, completing the rest of our days and trying to get to bed at a reasonable time to do it all over again the next day.  Our homeschool days are going really well too.  I love having the individual time with Nora and the accountability that I have to making sure that we set that time aside to complete all of her work. 

Our weeks are going smoothly, but I feel like every week has been different and a little bit unpredictable.  We have had field trips, doctor's appointments, sickness, and a few days where I have had to go to work at Jonathan's office.  All exciting and great weeks, but they are not routine, not forseeable, which is something I typically like.  However, I think I am coming to the realization that this season of life is not going to be predictable.  Each day, each week will have it's own rhythm, it's own schedule, and it's own tale.  Honestly, I have enjoyed the differences, and I think that it what is making the time fly by so quickly.

So, while I am here, I am going to pause and reflect on what is happening in this still moment with  my little family.  As we are flying through this short season of our happy life, here is what is happening in the midst of our flock:

My sweet husband is hard at work--at the office, in our home, and at church.  We are both settling into what it means to own a small business.  He handles the stress and pressure so well, and we find ourselves often discussing what it means to trust the Lord with everything. 

As I mentioned, Nora loves school.  She is doing so well with her work and I love seeing her grow and thrive as she learns.  It's so funny to see how much like me she is.  Jonathan says all the time how she is my little twin.  Our homeschool days together consist of flexibility and acclimating to what's going on with the other two kiddos on those days.  Sometimes we do school in the morning, sometimes we start in the morning and finish during afternoon nap time, and some days we don't get to any of it until naptime.  This week as I am working at Jonathan's office, we've had to fit in her homeschool work in the late afternoon and evenings, but she never complains and seems eager to do the work. 

Nora went to her five-year-old check-up last week.  She is so grown up!  She had to get all of her vaccinations plus bloodwork and a flu shot, so she had a rough appointment, but she handles it so well.  I took her for ice cream at TCBY afterward because-let's be honest-ice cream covers a multitude of pains.  The next day, however, she woke up with a high temp so she had to stay home from school and rest for about 24 hours until it went away. 

Nora loves to ride her bike, run around, and play with her brother.  She is the sweetest big sister to Stella (and Liam, if her mood is right).  She is so helpful and patient; I am aware as I watch her what it's like to be the oldest of three.  She is such a gift.

Liam.  Our Liam.  How we love that crazy, silly, loud boy.  He is such a mixture of all-boy and tender heart.  Sometimes he will wreck on his bike and you would think it's the end of the world.  Five minutes later, he'll crash and make no fuss about it at all, claiming "I'm brave."  He is doing so well in school.  A few weeks in we started to get some reports that he was being ugly and rough when he was not getting his way with toys or on the playground, but lately he's been doing better.  We are all so thankful for his teachers and I can tell that he likes them and feels very comfortable there. 

Fruit from months and months of discipline seems more apparent.  I feel that in the past few months we have seen him mature and respond so much better than he had before.  I find that in parenting there are cycles.  You will have a really rough week where there are lots of fits/attitudes/disobedience, which requires lots of discipline/consistency/head and heartaches.  Then, it seems like after that rough week you will see some fruit of all that.  Better obedience, less trantrums, more kindness, etc.  For a while when Liam was younger, I feel like there were more rough weeks than good weeks.  But, it's been wonderful to see the growth in him as he gets bigger and older.  Hmph.  I don't want him to grow up and it's happening way too fast for me.

These days Liam loves to ride his "green bike."  You can always find him with a handful of cars or trucks.  One thing that his prone to do that I want to write down is that he likes to pile up all of his "people" and cars and trucks into this big yellow dump truck.  In the bed of the dump truck he will pile everything and anything he can find and then he pushes it around.  He calls it his "moving truck" like in Toy Story.  He has all of his Toy Story characters, any car and truck around, and then anything of the girls' that will fit.  Those are his prized possessions these days.  He also plays with Legos and Jonathan's Micro Machines from when he was a boy. 

Stella is growing up way too fast.  She was sixteen months on Tuesday!  She's crawling and cruising and gets herself to standing, but she is still not walking.  She says a few words like "What's that?" and "More," but besides her sign language, she mostly just grunts and groans to communicate with us.  We have started entering into the picky eating phase with her.  She typically eats pretty well, but she's forming an opinion and if she doesn't want to eat something, she won't.  I try to tempt her by offering her a fork, and sometimes she will eat whatever it is if she can stick it with a fork and feed herself.  She feels big that way, I guess!

Stella loves to be outside with Nora and Liam.  The poor girl looks filthy all of the time because she insists on crawling and playing outside, but it makes her happy and she loves every second of it.  She's our stealth ninja and can often be found climbing the stairs if I leave her unattended for even a minute.  She loves books and cars and babies, and she is just the sweetest baby girl.  She's a great sleeper and still takes two naps a day, although she can skip a morning nap and handles it pretty well.  It probably won't be too much longer before she drops the morning one altogether. 

Life with me is good.  I am just trying to appreciate this phase of life for all that it is.  I am learning to love my husband and babies better, and I am trusting God for grace each day.  Jonathan and I feel like the Lord is teaching us about perseverance in this busy season of owning a business and raising three young children.  We are doing lots of sowing and are trusting God for the harvest in His perfect timing.  I am so thankful for the friendships that the Lord has placed in my life these days.  I am so aware of how blessed I am.  God is so kind.

Well, that was quite a long post.  Thanks for bearing with me.

First Family Beach Trip

Whew! It's July, people. JULY!!! I apologize for my negligence on the blog, but we have literally not stopped moving this past month. Between playdates, swimming lessons, vacation bible school, and traveling, we are a busy crew! The pinnacle and greatest highlight so far this summer has been our first ever family vacation.

We tried really hard to make it a priority this year that we take a week long family vacation JUST US. We've traveled and vacationed before since Jonathan and I have gotten married, but we have not done an extended trip like this where it was just our little family of five.

 We originally planned to leave on a Friday morning and drive all day down to Fort Walton Beach, FL. However, Jonathan was so excited about our trip that he insisted we go ahead and leave Thursday evening after work. I, of course, couldn't wait either, so we left as soon as the kids finished up their last swim lesson. (CRAZY!) We arrived on Friday afternoon and got to get settled before finding some dinner. The next day, we started our week long routine of waking up, eating breakfast, hitting the beach and the pool, lunch, more playtime, naps, dinner, and evenings by the water.

It was DIVINE. Here are some pictures of our wonderful and treasured family time:

See that shirt? It's because the day before Jonathan wore SPF 15 all day and had a back the color of a lobster!

Time for a nap?

Our condo for a week.

The first day or so, I think Nora and Liam preferred the pool to the beach and ocean.  The waves were pretty rough and Liam got tackled by some waves early on, so it took him a while to re-warm up to it.  But, the more we played with him in and near the water, the better he got.  He loved it and so did Nora.  In fact, even Stella loved the water and seemed fearless.  I think she would have just continued crawling into the abyss had I not continually picked her up to keep her from floating away.  She loved the wet sand, however was not a fan of the dry sand (I guess because the dry sand seemed to stick to her hands and skin more).

We enjoyed some fabulous food while there: fried fresh seafood, steamed crab legs, pancake breakfasts, and special treat cereals.  We also introduced Nora and Liam to a few things while we were there:  (virgin) pina coladas and America's Funniest Home Videos.  The condo we were staying in had Netflix, so one day we turned on AFHV while I was fixing dinner and they were hooked.  Anytime we would be in the condo they'd immediately ask us to turn it on. 

While in Florida, Jonathan and I also got to spend some time with some old friends!  We happened to be in FL at the same time as some of our long-time friends from NOLA, Aaron and Kelly Pourciau.  They were staying in Destin, so we met in the middle for lunch on the water.  It was so wonderful to see them after a few years, and we got to meet their little miracle baby boy, Silas.  He and Stella are the same age, practically.  In fact, they were due on the same day, but Stella was born two weeks early and Silas was born two weeks late. 

We also got to spend some wonderful time with our oldest and dearest friends, Tristan and Shannon Sevdy and their four boys: Zach, Micah, Nathan, and Andrew.  We haven't seen the Sevdys in four years because Tristan is in the Air Force and they spent two years in Turkey.  However, they are back in the states now and live not far from where we were staying.  We spent one evening together when they drove over to see us, and after that, we decided just one evening wasn't enough.  We actually cut our condo stay a night short and drove to Tristan and Shannon's house to spend the evening with them and their family.  That way, we were able to spend even more quality time with them!  Ugh, it was awesome and we just love them so much.  Friendship is such a gift from the Lord!

Jonathan and I just loved our family time in Florida, and I think the kids did too.  They LOVED the beach, so hopefully this trip will be the first of many more in the future.