Scratch Ankle

Milton, FL use to be known as Scratch Ankle, because of all the wild black berries that are here.  They still have the Scratch Ankle Festival I believe.  Last weekend we went on the base and scavenged the abundance of wild blackberries.  It was a beautiful morning to be outside.  The berries were so abundant Mike said it was like Mana from heaven.  

 Hosea wasn't known for being a diligent worker. 

 Shiloh spent most of her time looking for perfect ones. My little "type A" girl. 

 All hands in.  Good team work.

20 cups of free fruit.  We made a cobbler, and the rest are in the freezer waiting their turn.

Communication

I don't know if you remember back when we learned about Aggies brain?  The doctor told us the area that was affected controlled gross motor skills and communication.  With the hearing loss,  we didn't really know what to expect in these areas.  I just decided we would take what we got and run with it.  Naturally I pray often that the Lord would allow Aggie the ability to walk and talk, I often plead in tears for such things as they are so close to my heart.  I have been so thrilled this week to realize Aggie is trying to talk.  I knew she had a couple sounds that represented things, but we were kind-of stuck there for awhile.  I sometimes thought, is she really saying what I think she's saying, or am I just fooling myself here.  Then some of her therapists started noticing the correlations as well. Phew, I'm not crazy!  This week she's picked up a few more sounds/words! I made a list for the speech therapist of words I thought Aggie was saying/trying to say, and a list of words I want us to work on, or that I think she would be interested in saying to promote communication.  The therapist breaks down syllables for us so she can learn the easiest sound for a word first and then add to it.  I was pleasantly surprised at all the words she  was trying to say, there are 14 of them.  I'll list them for you in plain english and not give the Aggie version.  Bottle, Eat, MaMa, Dada, Buba, Aggie, Hop, Duck, Bye, All done, night-night, drink, dog, hi, chip.  She understands many sentences and phrases that require a response (ie. give a kiss, give five, dance). Any way...... this morning I woke up to Aggie saying "up, up, up" over the monitor.  Mike got up and got her and I heard her say "eat, eat, eat........ baa baa"  and it hit me, just how kind God has been to her.  He is once again answering our prayers for Aggie.

Additionally a week prior to Friday Aggie was evaluated by the deaf and hard of hearing teacher  and someone who specializes in fitting children with communication devices.  They naturally doted over Aggie and I shared with them the things she was doing in this area. At the end of our time together I asked them what they thought?  And they both agreed that they think Aggie will be verbal!! How very exciting for her!

Garden

As I mentioned briefly in my "march madness" post, my father planted a garden for us. He used more seeds this year, so I needed to transplant some little seedlings after a bit, but all in all I'm impressed with how it is coming along, thanks for all your hard work dad!

This is my strawberry pot from last year. It has a little strawberry plant coming back in the top, but my dad put herbs in the side pockets. I only wish I had more, I may plant some more?

These are our blueberry bushes we planted when we first moved in.

Here's the first half of the garden, this is lettuce, pepper, tomatoes and zucchini.

Here is the other half, it is full of green beans. And then I planted 4 cherry tomato plants in hanging baskets, they are coming out the bottom, I'm told this increases their productivity. We shall see?
This is our front flower bed, we did this all on our own. I was thankful that the bulbs from my lily's came back this year, and the rose bush as well. We threw in a few extra little colorful ones to spice things up a bit.

Spinach, Bacon and Egg Uncrusted Quiche

A friend shared this with me and it was yummy and easy!

8 slices of bacon

2 1/2 cups fresh spinach, chopped

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

6 eggs

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup half and half

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a pie plate with cooking spray and set aside. Chop backon into pieces and cook over medium heat until crispy. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Set aside.

Meanwhile, chop the spinach into bite size pieces.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, heavy cream, half and half and salt. Set aside.

Pour the egg mixture over the layered ingredients and place in oven for 35-40 minutes or until eggs are set in the middle and nicely browned on top..

Around Here

Aggies been working on standing. She still falls over if she moves, so I have to stay very close. But that she has figured out that she needs to use her arms to hold herself up even a little bit is progress.

Hosea was playing with this during school, and I asked him to pick it up.

He's a prodigy!? :/

Then he laughed and said "I picked them up silly".

Our Butterflies hatched. That was a fun science experiment. Thanks Mema and Papa!

Playing with chalk.

Look what she is thinking about doing. Do it Aggie, I dare you!

Cuteness

Strawberries

I love getting to pick fresh strawberries. The big kids love it too! Aggie not so much, poor baby. We did it anyway, I didn't remember the camera. We picked all the ones in the box to the left, and then I bought another box that they had picked. So I could freeze some for smoothies, make freezer jam, have some with shortcake, and have some with lunches. We had the perfect amount and they were yummy!

I did 3 batches of freezer jam this year, that should get us through the year and leave enough to share with friends. Mummm!

By far my favorite fruit, and fresh to boot!

God

Shiloh was doing her worksheet for school today. She has to pick 4 words from her word page, write them and illustrate them. She chose God for #3 and said, " since God is a spirit and doesn't have a body like us does that mean I can draw nothing". I decided that was good application of her catechism.

Papa she picked you for #1.

I love sick days!

My little Aggie Rae picked up the virus "hand, foot and mouth disease" at therapy. She's had symptoms since last Wednesday, little blisters in all the said locations. Thankfully tylenol and ibuprofen keep her comfortable. She's such a trooper.

The reason I'm loving it is b/c it gives me an extra day or two at home as I find sickness to be a legitimate reason to cancel therapy. Soo....... I may just get the laundry done and the bathrooms clean all in the same week :), it's a dream come true. We'll see? Here's to hoping!

March Madness

This has been a very full month. After thinking about it I have decided making a list of all the things that have happend would be amazing to look upon.
So the events will be listed in the order I remember them in.
1. Mike went to OH to check into Air Force job.
2. My parents came to visit.
3. Aggie got braces.
4. I hosted a baby shower.
5. My brother and his family came for a visit.
6. Checking into Haitian Adoption.
7. Aggie started sitting up!
8. Tyler moved in with us.
9. Shiloh's birthday celebration. (this happened 5 times, no joke it's amazing how this happens every year, but she is able to milk it for all it's worth)
10. Shiloh's ears pierced.
11. We planted a garden. (thanks dad!)
12. Gymnastics competition.
Phew! I'm worn out just thinking about it. :)
Obviously God has given us the grace to do all we have been called to, and for this we are thankful!

New Kid on the Block

We've had a recent addition to our family. Though it's been discussed on and off for a year or longer, it has finally come to fruition. One of Mike's younger brothers, the middle of the 3 has come to live with us. He arrived late Wednesday night. We moved Aggie Rae in with Shiloh and gave him Aggies old room. Needless to say, i've been busy rearranging. But I think we are all settled and comfortable now. As you can see the children are thrilled to have him around. I have to remind them that Uncle Tyler is not their slave or their toy, and that he needs breaks. They are constantly wanting him to play this or that with them. And he's been busy looking for employment so he needs those breaks.