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.

Well, Hello March!

Blink.

How is it March 3rd already?  I am so ready for warm weather and Spring and playing outside, but man, where did January and February disappear to?

As of today, Nora is 5 1/2, Liam is "three and three-quarters" (as he insists on telling everyone), and my sweet Stella B turned 21 months yesterday.  They are growing like weeds.   I have so much updating to do here on the ole blog about what life is like for each of my three little ones, but those posts will have to be for another day.

Today, I am just checking it to let you know we are alive and well.  We have survived the winter, we are ready for hibernation (and illness) to be over, and we are so excited about what the Lord is doing in our lives.  So far, Jonathan thinks that the theme of 2013 is about Stewardship.  God is teaching us to be faithful stewards of all that He has provided for us---our children, our finances, our home, our gifts, our time.  As always, it's a busy season, but a fun one.  I love how God always gives us faith for what he's calling us to at the moment. 

Finally, you may notice that I posted an article that I wrote called "Season of Sowing."  Occasionally, I write for a blog that I contribute to called WOG: Women of God, edited by my dear friend Trillia Newbell.  I mostly submit recipes, but every now and then by the Lord's prompting and Trillia's encouragement, I will share things that the Lord is teaching me.  I thought I would also post them here on my humble little family blog so that you guys can see what God is teaching me as well.  I hope you are encouraged.

The Season of Sowing

As a wife and mother of three small children, I am in a season of sowing.  This a wonderful time, filled with laughter and adventure and the joy that only a house bustling with little people can bring.  This season requires love and sacrifice as we pour into the lives of the children God has blessed us with.  But this season is one of anticipation.  We do not see many immediate results; in may regards, our harvest may be years away.

In reality, these are very long days.  Most days are full of much joy, but these days are also filled with lots of caring, lots of discipline, lots of schooling, lots of training, little sleep, little reaping of sowing.  There are so many precious moments with my little loves, but this season has also shown me lots of sin in myself, lots of sin in my children, and a very keen awareness of the need that we each have for a Savior.

My children are only 5, 3 and 1. The truth is, I am just at the beginning of this season of life, and it can be easy for me to be discouraged as I consider living out these long days for the next ten to fifteen years or longer.  Discouragement leads to weariness, and weariness leads to discontentment.  Fear finds its way into my heart as I look ahead at the years that are to come, wondering if I can possibly remain faithful to this tremendous task that the Lord has called me to.

Will I possibly have the strength to persevere through these years?
Is this investment worth the sacrifice?
I am not seeing any change in my children.  Am I doing this right? What am I doing wrong?
How do I know that I will one day reap a harvest?
Our heavenly Father desires to encourage us in this season.  He has so many wonderful promises in his Word to help us keep our focus on Him and His purposes during the years of investing in our children.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 says, "The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. [. . .] And God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."

Also, Galatians 6:7-9 reminds us of the Lord's faithfulness:

"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh, will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.  And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."
Let us hold fast to the promises of our God!  Let us sow bountifully in the hearts of our children because our God promises that we will reap what we sow!  And he is faithful to provide all of the grace, all of the energy, all of the wisdom, and all of the strength to pour ourselves out into our most precious little gifts.

Prayers for this Year

The other night Jonathan and I started talking about something simple which led us to a great conversation about our children and this upcoming year.  It seems like life is just flying by and that they are growing so quickly.  It is amazing to watch them grow and mature and transition from really little toddlers to children.  Nora has just blossomed and is such an eager learner, but with that comes the realization that she is not a really little girl any more.  Liam is suddenly getting really into learning his letters and numbers and doing "home school" at the kitchen counter.  He is becoming more aware of things all around him, and it's so fun to watch him learn.

In the midst of our conversation the other night, one of the things that we discussed is something we would like to pray to see growth in our children in this coming year.  What are our specific prayers for them for 2013? Where we would love to see fruit? What are we hoping to train them in this year? What areas are they weak in that we could be intentional to care for?

In asking these questions, I don't want to be overly critical of my little loves.  I don't want to nitpick their personalities or sins, but I do want to make an honest assessment and pray about how we can help them this year.  I'm sure that as the time goes on, the things we "work on" will change as growth takes place and more things are revealed, but for now, these are the things I am specifically praying for my children:

For Stella, it's pretty simple.  She is going to turn 2 in the middle of this year, so it's most important that we teach her what it means to obey, to listen to Momma and Daddy, and try to speak to her the truth that God has put us in authority over her for her good and because he and we love her!  That seems pretty lofty of a task and I pray that she would listen and the Lord would open her heart to receive the love and care of her parents.  I pray that she would trust that we love her and know what's best for her and respond with obedience to the best of her sinful little heart's ability.  Lord, help me to teach her faithfully and patiently!

For Liam, I pray that we continue to see fruit in obedience.  We still have "hard" days where Liam's strong and stubborn will shows forth, but those days are less and I have started to see much fruit of the prayers I prayed for him that are just like those I mentioned above for Stella.  For this year in particular, Jonathan and I want to train him in respecting his parents in how he talks to us, and in being respectful to all adults (grandparents, teachers, etc.).  For the most part, this is not a huge problem, but there are times when my boy gets a bit too big for his britches, so we are working on honoring his parents by speaking kindly and respectfully.  Also, we are going to keep working on not arguing with us when we ask him to do something.  Lord, give us faith and the ability to persevere with love and gentleness!

For Nora, obedience training is not as relevant.  Nora is a very typical firstborn daughter-pleaser personality (much like her Momma was/is).  She can understand the wisdom in what we ask her to do, most of the time, and it's not very often that she deliberately disobeys (although she does at times).  One of my specific prayers for Nora is that the Lord would develop in her a tenderness and kindness and deeper love for her brother.  I like to describe Nora as a cat.  When she wants to play with Liam, when she's in "the mood," they are best friends.  They get along, they create and imagine and giggle and get rowdy.  It's wonderful.  But, if she is NOT in the mood....you better watch out.  She can be rather ugly to him at times and it really breaks our heart to see because Liam absolutely adores her.  Granted, he can be a trouble-maker, typical little brother and has his moments of ugliness as well.  Anyway, we desire for Nora to value her brother all the time.  We understand that they will argue and fight and get on each others nerves, but this is a bit different.  I also pray that she would continue to learn about perseverance and diligence--working hard at difficult things even when it IS hard, and you don't feel like doing it.  Lord, help us to teach Nora that your love for her is not dependent on how she acts or behaves.  Help us to point her to you every day!

For myself, I have LOTS of prayers.  There are so many areas that I can improve in and a list of things I desire to do and change.  However, I don't want to condemn myself for my areas of weakness.  If I sat still long enough, my laundry list of motherhood would bog me down and I'd never get up from this couch.  I feel like the discussion Jonathan and I had, along with a few days of praying and meditating about these things has not caused me to feel condemned or overwhelmed, but has given me an excitement about this year.  I have set a few goals of specific prayers for my children, giving myself some direction of important lessons and values that we desire to see in them.  I know that I am called to teach and train and pray for them, but I am also keenly aware that I do not control their hearts.  Ultimately, I am dependent on the work of the Lord, not myself.  I can fail repeatedly, set poor examples, and sin against them every day --which I am sure I do--but God is faithful and can and will work in spite of me!  PRAISE THE LORD! 

I do desire that I would be more intentional about reading God's word, playing more with my children, and not focusing too much on the trivial things.  I pray that I would speak kindly, hold on to things more loosely, and grow in generosity and hospitality.  I pray that I would be better at speaking thanksgiving to people and encouraging others.  I pray that I would love Jonathan better and that I would model this behavior to my children.  I know I will never master these things and that I may not grow very much in any of them, but I am not called to mastery or perfection.  I am called to trust in a faithful God who is sure to complete the good work He has begun in me.

Philippians 1:6--  And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will ring it completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

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!