We are already into our summer garden, but this is how our winter garden fared:

Romanesco (above photo, top left) – The 6 plants grew slower than we hoped. Started from seed at the very end of November, the buds weren’t evident until a few months after. Unfortunately it appeared to be too late for our warmer temperatures because they bolted. The small heads that were there blew out like a slow motion firework and we never got to enjoy them.

Kalettes (above photo, top right) – This was the most anticipated veggie that’s a kale-Brussels sprout hybrid. And now in June, month 7, the suspense continues to build! They are painfully sllllllllooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwww growers. All the leaves you see there are not the actual kalettes. Rather, the kalettes grow just like Brussels sprouts, attached to the stalk at the “armpit” of where the large leaves you see in the photo connect to the main, vertical stalk. However, instead of looking like mini-cabbages like Brussels sprouts, the finished product is more reminiscent of a shuttlecock. Three different varieties are there and the kalettes just started to form in the last couple weeks. We’re almost there!

Bok Choy (above photo, vacated spot, middle left) – We harvested it just like the ones you see in the store. Oops. Evidently it’s a gift that can keep on giving, so long as you remove some of the leaves (not all at the same time!) We enjoyed it, but could’ve enjoyed it more had we harvested it differently

Fennel (above photo, middle, center) – We all love fennel. Ben doesn’t like licorice but loves fennel (which has a licorice flavor), so it’s possible to like it even if you don’t like licorice. This is one of the veggies the girls get unusually excited about! Unfortunately, it is a one-hit wonder (when it’s harvested once, that’s all), but totally worth it).

Broccoli Raab (above photo, middle right) – This bountiful and bitter vegetable grew so fast; we just weren’t ready for it with all the fruit tree planting back in January and February. It bolted and flowered shortly thereafter. Bummer since it’s one of our favorites. The girls, not so much… their palettes aren’t as accepting to such sharp and spicy flavors.

Mixed greens (above photo, bottom left) – The most generous vegetable by far. Like grass (or hair)… you cut it and it grows right back. Saved a lot on bagged mixed greens over the 3 months it was in ground!

Carrots (above photo, bottom right) – All shapes, sizes, and colors. The girls had a lot of fun popping these with ease out of the ground.

We learn new things every season we have new crops. We’d plant everything again, just making the changes mentioned in the tending approaches. The jury is still out on the kalettes to see if they’ll be worth hogging up nearly an entire bed for over half of a year! Tomatoes are now in the bottom 2 beds, but since the kalettes continue taking the scenic route journeying to their destination, it prevented a 3rd bed for tomatoes that are so dear to our hearts and tummies!

My girls are Star Wars obsessed. Ben and I are both fans, but these girls have taken it to the next level. Every time we have family movie night, they request Star Wars; we’ve watched it a lot. Their faves are Episode 3 (they like to see baby Luke and Leia), and Episode 6 (Anakin becomes good again). They are super excited that there will be an Episode 7, 8, and 9 coming out in the near (and distant) future.

So with their love for Star Wars, the girls and I concocted a little Star Wars themed Father’s Day. Last week, I picked up some fabric to make them little Jedi jackets. I wanted to make them robes too, but there just wasn’t time for that. We also got fabric to make Ben a black cape, and I bought this Darth Vader mask. It is child-size, but since I know it’s really the girls who will be playing with it, it was fine.

Sunday morning, when the girls were ready, I told Ben to hop back in bed so we can give him his surprise. I started playing “Darth Vader’s March” on the iPad, and the little Jedi marched into our bedroom with Ben’s breakfast tray (every morning he eats 1 cup of oatmeal, covered in non-fat milk, 23 almonds, 1 banana, and 1 scoop of protein). Soul carried his gift, and on it True wrote, “You are our father.” (He was in the middle of getting ready for church, so that’s why he’s all dressed up in the photos.) All the girls made a whole bunch of other gifts too, so the rest of them carried that in.

Immediately after opening his gift, he put on the cape and mask and then started “fighting” with the girls. They used their markers as light sabers! Then, they got online and started looking up real light sabers to buy. Of course, he did get to eat his breakfast and open all his handmade gifts; we always get a kick out of the things they make. We had our little celebration in the morning, went off to church gathering, stuffed our selves silly with sushi with my family in the afternoon, then came back home for more family time.

I’m so thankful for a husband that leads and loves our family well by relying on Jesus. I see grace and gospel overflowing in his life, and as uncomfortable as he is to be obedient to what God may be calling him to do, I see him responding with faith. I really love that man of mine so much!

Our first full week off and we are all loving it! We’ve hung out with friends here and there, but basically there’s just been a lot of playing at home. The girls turn our downstairs upside down, but thankfully, they are pretty good at cleaning up too. It definitely helps that things have a specific place, and they know that if things aren’t back in its place, they get moved on out of here. I’m hardcore about this cleaning up business. I’ve gone through one room this week and got rid of stuff, and I organized my shelf in the garage. I’m slowly working my way through the house to organize and purge. I love purging! It’s such a good feeling.

Anyone else have organizing and purging on their to-do list this summer?

We took some basics from Old Navy, these sneakers and this swing dress, and added simple patterns to them. We just used black fabric paint and the girls were quite giddy about painting on some of the clothes! Everyday, they are always asking for projects to work on. So far summer has been all about lots of play and projects and no one has contested that. We have yet to turn to our iPad, though I’m sure there will be plenty of that too. True wanted to draw eyes on her shoes, just like my eye-dress, and then Soul and True wanted to make cacti on Soul’s dress. Brave wanted red sneakers to make her own Spider-Man shoes, but they were out of stock when I ordered the white ones. They are back in stock now, so maybe I will surprise her with them later.

Brave picked the dress with the palm print because she said it looked “vacation-y,” and when True got her maxi dress, she said, “Oh I like this, it looks like a mom dress.” HA! The big girls are getting ready to go to Texas to be with Ben’s mom for part of the summer, so vacation-y and mom dresses it is! They need light and airy for the Texas heat they are about to face.

Our days here have been pretty hot lately, but we don’t have any humidity to contend with. Our way of beating the heat is to indulge in ice cream. Let’s be honest though, I’ll eat ice cream rain or shine. Anyone else with me on that?!

on true: striped maxi dress and sneakers, c/o old navy. on brave: palm print dress and sandals, c/o old navy. on soul: swing dress and sneakers, c/o old navy. on glow: romper and flower jellies, c/o old navy.

This post is sponsored by Old Navy. I really appreciate the time you take here to support this space and the brands I partner with! 

Wonton Soup. I had chicken broth from making chicken enchiladas the week before, so I made soup with it. Since I discovered how easy it is to make wontons, I made those and threw it in, along with some chard and kale we have in our garden.

Week of 6/15 – 6/19
Monday: Pizza
Tuesday: White Bean with Spinach and Sausage
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Grilled Pork and Rice Noodles
Friday: Tilapia Ceviche

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

We survived another year of homeschooling… hooray!

We got more steel I-beams put into the backyard this week and I’m really excited to see all our garden plans come together.

Can’t wait to tackle the next thing on our garden to-do list… put pea gravel in. I want to set up a little area like this on the side where the pea gravel will go.

I ordered these lace-up sandals, but couldn’t decide which color, so I ordered all 3 colors to try on. The problem is I love the sandal and all 3 colors! Now, I’m trying to decide which one to keep.

I’m in the mood to make baked chocolate cake doughnuts.

I want to buy some black linen fabric and make an easy dress like this.

The weekender bag I’ve used since college (and traveled throughout Europe with me), finally bit the dust and now I’m looking for a replacement. I like this one for its price point, but I love this one.

“When Life Doesn’t Go as Planned,” was a post my heart needed to hear.

When our neighbor dropped of these peaches, it reminded me of how much more intentional and grace giving I ought to be, and I can do so because grace was first given to me through the cross of Jesus.

Happy weekend friends!