5 Little Faces

Such precious gifts
And great responsibilitiesLittle hearts which we cannot save

but we are entrusted to mold

Beautiful lives which we have done nothing to deserve

But the Lord has chosen to place in our arms.

May we honor Him with these gifts! May He grant us the wisdom, patience and perseverance to train them in the way they should go. May they stand upright in His sight one day. To Him be all the glory!

In The Garden

This picture has nothing to do with the garden......I just love it:)

Neither Kenny or I grew up having a big garden or farm animals....but from the day we got married we have talked about wanting our own little "homestead". A couple of years ago when we moved back to Georgia and knew we would be here for awhile.....we set out to find a little piece of land. We found five and a half beautiful acres, complete with 2 creeks and a lovely little, old, tiny, doublewide trailer house. (Have you ever thought you could not get homestudy approved while living in a small doublewide? And raising 5 kiddos in a tiny space? I'll save those posts for another day:)

When we first moved in, the backyard looked like a jungle. It's taken years to clear, weed, and break the ground. Each year our little garden plot grows a little larger. We've made tons of mistakes, and have pretty much learned as we've tried. This year, the garden finally looks about the way we envisioned it. We love going out in the garden as a family each evening after dinner, and working in our "little slice of Eden."

Landis is our chicken boy:) We love these little bantams.

It has gotten too hot in Georgia for lettuce. We enjoyed it over the winter, and are now letting it flower and drop seeds. We are going to gather up the seeds to plant in the fall. We'll see how that works:)

......onions......only a few more weeks and they will be ready!

String beans....these are the bush type and do not need to climb. They are beginning to bud!

We have put out about 100 tomato plants so far. I have a slight obsession with canning.....and hope to put up lots of salsa and sauces this year:)

In case you've ever wondered....this is where lettuce seeds come from. One it gets hot, the lettuce turns bitter, flowers shot out from the top, and seeds fall!

More green beans....these ones are climbing up saplings Kenny cut down from the woods:)

Pickling cucumbers!

Can you see them?!?! Another week or so, and it will be time to start making pickles!

Squash and zucchini.......yum!

Kenny loves to grow fruit trees. The blueberry bushes are looking good so far......if we can keep Samuel from picking them all:)

We have already starting enjoying a few blackberries. These are our favorite thing in the garden!

Not sure if you can tell....but they are really big! Just a few warm days and they will be deep purple and ready!

I love this! I told Kenny I wanted to make a "bean tee-pee" for the kids. You put several tall stakes in the ground like a tee-pee for beans or sunflowers to grow up, and the kids can use it as a fort. Kenny made an awesome long arbor instead. It is so neat! We have green beans growing up one side and sugar snap peas up the other. The sugar snap peas are about finished producing, and I'll soon pull them up and plant more green beans.

Isn't it neat?

More blackberries and raspberries.......

The muskadine vine is growing strong this year......

...and more tomatoes.....

We have also put out all types of peppers, some herbs, cantaloupe and watermelon....but I must have missed taking pictures of those:)

The peanuts have already spent hours in the garden. They are always happy when they are strapped to one of us outside:)

If you have any great gardening tips or fun plants we need to try....I'd love to know!

Better run...the peanuts are calling!

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Have a garden? Link up your post HERE!

Round Here....

We have had a computer virus, (I never will understand what that means!)....so I have been MIA around here. I'll try to cover the past few weeks in pictures:)

The peanuts are 6 months old!

I cannot believe how quickly they are growing and how quickly time is passing by!
We could just eat them up! Eliana is quite the little chatter box, and "talks" constantly. We switched Jordan to soy formula....and he has been a happy boy ever since! That little butterball is a busy baby, and is happy when there is a lot of action. (He's come to the right place for that:)

We are still in awe of the Lord's placing them in our lives.

Eliana's smile just melts me:)

The first thing people say when they see Jordan (after they have asked if they are identical...he-he).....is, "Look at all that hair!" then a gasp and, "Does he have a blue eye?!?!"
Yes, Jordan's right eye is crystal blue, and his left eye is part brown, part blue. Eliana's eyes are both blue on the top half, and the bottom half of each eye is brown. I've never seen anything like it! They are sooo beautiful!

Easter was especially special this year. Celebrating our new life in Christ and His rising from the grave while holding these precious babies who were given life by their birthmom, and then a new life through adoption was amazing.

We spent the afternoon at my parents with my family. I am one of 5 kids, and my older brother and his wife have a 20 month old son and 7 week old baby girl. I loved watching these sweet cousins take an afternoon nap together:) My younger sister and her husband are expecting their first baby in December....which means my parents will have gone from 4 to 8 grandkids in just 11 months! (And they still have 2 kids at home!)

I am so thankful for my wonderful husband and 5 precious blessing!

....sleepy headed kiddos on Easter morning. Evangeline wanted to know why the peanuts got chocolate in their baskets.......that would be for me:)

My favorite.......It's strawberry season on Georgia! We have planted a large garden with: blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, tomatoes, okra, peppers, green beans, cantaloupe, watermelon, squash, onions, lettuce, cucumbers and muskadines....but did not do strawberries this year. Ours just don't compare to the u-pick farm down the road! We have been busy picking and canning jam.....yum!

Ha-ha! If you know me....I'm all about convenient and cheap:) Making an appointment, taking 5 kiddos with me and bouncing 2 babies on my lab while getting a haircut....and then paying for it...um, not too interested! The hubs cut my hair for me last night! I keep telling him if cabinetry and ministry don't work out.....beauty school could be in his future:)

We cracked up the whole time! I think he may be the new barber for the family:)

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That's a quick recap of the past few weeks. Yesterday marked the 4th month since the babies came home! We watched their video again, and cannot believe how much they have grown.
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On a sewing note....I have been posting sale dresses over on the Flitterbugs facebook page. There are a few left, ready to ship!

A few new fabrics are set to arrive today, and I will post them soon. You can choose your fabric and place a custom order anytime. This past week we finished up the paper work to finalize the adoption, and hope to get a court date in the next week or so! Whoo-hoo!

$25 Sunsuit Sale!

This week only .........Tuesday through Saturday...

Sunsuit Sale!

Just $25

Choose your fabric...and make your purchase below. Be sure to email (jubug231@aol.com) me with the size and fabric choice you would like! (The sunsuit comes in size newborn to 3T)

We are just 25 Flitterbugs away the end of our adoption/finalization journey!!Praising the Lord for His provision! Thank you all for being a part!

Burrito Babies

This may be my most favorite picture yet of the babies.

I could just squish them:)

There is something about watching twins sleep. For one, it doesn't happen often. (He-He)

Something about seeing two little ones snuggled up together....and how they scoot and squirm closer to each other even as they sleep.

What a gift the Lord has given these little ones in each other.

What a gift He has entrusted to us!

The Out Takes:)

This week....I attempted to take A picture of all 5 kids. Having a handful of littles is teaching me many wonderful, sanctifying lessons. One such lesson is this:

Lower your standard of perfection in the areas of life that do not matter, and take captive every moment you have with your children to instruct and nurture them in the arenas of life that do matter.

In a nutshell....a perfect cute picture of all 5 kids....with all 5 kids dressed beautifully, and all smiling at looking at the camera.....has no eternal value. ummm.....I tried like a nut to get that perfect picture this week....all good advice and sage lessons aside:) The first few shots...they were pretty happy.

By about shot 15......Jordan was becoming concerned that this is what the rest of his life would look like. A constant attempt for all of them to "look" and "smile"on cue.

Oh....and it was vitally important that all 5 kids clothing be showing.

Because since I am on this, "Don't worry about the things that are trivial in life" kick......

.....I am trying to win a $100 Kelly's Kids gift card. I may need to be reminded of that life lesson again:)

At about this point...I began to promise a piece of gum to anyone who would smile.

.....then I upped it to a piece of gum and a piece of candy....

Nearing shot 50.....

...Samuel was done.

Bribery no longer had any effect on him:)

Four out of 5 kids looking at the camera.....the cute Kelly's Kids outfits my sweet mother in law and sister in law gave the kiddos sort of showing........

This will just have to be it. I'm thinking my new definition of a good picture involved one where no child is crying or picking their nose. How do you with 13 kids do this?!?! :)

I love my little people.....and know that one day I will tear up just looking at these pictures and remembering when life was so wonderfully full. Great is the Lord!

And if you want to help us win that worldly $100.......pop on over to Kelly's Kids and "like" them. Then scroll down to our picture and "like" it. Consider it a little shout out for the peanuts:)