Springtime at the Burns House

Here's a peek at what we've been up to since spring arrived. I was so ready for it this year, and we have had a blast getting outside everyday, eating outside almost everyday, and watching everything green up and bloom. 

Kate at the peony bush. She calls them "panties" flowers, and it's too cute for me correct.

Nancy likes the soft petals and rubs them on her arms. This bush was one of the first plants we bought after we moved into the house 5 years ago. I had read all about how peonies are finicky and hard to grow, especially here in SC. But this one must really like the spot I put it in, because every year it has more blooms and I get so excited for them to open up. It's my best gardening success story. And I just bought a yellow one to put beside it, hopefully it does as well as this one.

We went puddle jumping after dinner one evening. 

Cort came over one day, and Nancy and he picked dandelion fluff. Cort was teaching Nan how to blow it off the stem, and she was being bashful.

We celebrated our 100th day of school with an M&M one hundred party. Yes, only our one hundredth day of school - I must say, I combine days, so we have done more than 100 lessons, but I was way more relaxed than I ever thought I'd be about how often we did it. And we'll still be done by May 15! (and no, she did not eat 100 m&ms)

Mom and Dad gave us their outdoor table and chairs since they are having some work done in the backyard. It fit well on our deck, and we enjoy eating out there on sunny evenings. And Belle enjoys us eating out there, too! Thanks, Mo & Poppa!

Our butterfly crysallides. Cousin Ben was asking about them, here they are! There were 5, and they all hatched within a few hours of each other. We kept them in the habitat for a few days and just released them yesterday. They are painted lady butterflies.

The release video.

Little wren eggs in my fern on the front porch. They have begun to hatch, so I think I'll just have to let the fern die so the baby birds don't drown!

A Visit With Friends

  At the end of April, we made our way to the Kulp Manor in Charlotte for a visit. I attempted one solo in September with the girls, but it was cut short by a fever. It's hard to believe it's taken us 7 months to reschedule, but it was worth the wait. We stayed all weekend, and Ryan was able to join us. Mary and I went for a run on Saturday morning, we let the girls run around and be giggly and silly, Ryan and Dave made some beer, and we ended up letting the kids run around in the sprinkler. It was a hot weekend! It's so fun to watch the girls love spending time together - there were days not too long ago that Kate and Celia didn't get along very well! And now they claim each other "best friends in the whole world". It was fun to meet Dave and Mary's friends at Uptown, too, and get to see Dave at work and them in context of their community. I love that they live close enough that we get to peek into what their lives are like now, almost 10 years after college and 7 years of marriage and 3 kids! Love you, Kulps!

Kate, Celia, Bennett and Nancy

Bennett and Nancy, partners in crime.

We all, including Bennett and Celia, have a hard time remembering that Nancy is not a baby anymore, she's a big girl. The big girls kept attempting to pick Nancy up....if you've ever picked her up, you know a 5 year old would have a really hard time!

Nancy ready for the road trip.

Part Sun

After Schneider Tree Care came and spent the morning at our house on April 16, I can now buy plants that say "Part Sun to Shade." I was limited to hosta, ivy, monkey grass and impatiens. My hydrangeas wouldn't even bloom because of the lack of sunlight. We decided to use our tax return in a very grown up, and admittedly still somewhat exciting, fashion, and called upon the tree gods of Schnieder to rescue our yard.

In 4 hours they cut down 3 dead trees, raised the canopy of the trees all by 3 or 4 limbs, and cut dead wood out of most of the trees (we have about 2 dozen trees in the yard). It looks really different - to us at least - and was a very exciting morning. Definitely the most grown up thing we've done to the house since buying it and moving in over 5 years ago! 

Why in the world wold I blog about this? For one, it was pretty exciting to the Burns Family. Two, I thought you might want to know that I'm excited because it is a big step in the direction of the vision we have for our yard, and as most of you know, I love to be outside and dig and plant and weed. And most importantly, it reminds me of this book I've been reading, about how beauty invites us to know Jesus more. For me, being in the yard planting things and daydreaming about what it may look like in 2 or 5 or 10 years makes me think of how I am a work in progress in Jesus. As I work out my salvation, am I willing to invest in my relationship with Him today in order to see the mature fullness and fruit of it later? Sometimes the waiting is hard and I want results in my heart instantly, but just like a tiny gardenia my mom gave me 5 years ago that was a rooting from the main shrub, there is much satisfaction now in enjoying the beauty of its fragrance and blooms, especially knowing I took care to nurture it and gave it the best chance possible to succeed. My heart, like our plants and shrubs, may look small today with just a few blooms, but I have hope of a vision of future glory that keeps me going back to Jesus for more of Him. 

Today I'm off to the Piedmont Flower Festival with Mom to buy loads of part-sun loving plants and maybe even a few full sun ones, if I dare!

Nancy watching the big truck pulling up. She was glued to the windows almost the entire time. She had fun watching Carlos jump from tree to tree in the backyard cutting dead wood off the branches.

Before, front of the house. This was taken May of 2008.

After. They took out those two trees on the left, closest to the house. When they did the trimming, the leaves were not all the way in yet. Now they are and it's not quite this sunny, but our house does get much warmer at the end of the day than it used to. I wonder what our air conditioning bill will look like?

Before, side yard. 

After. The pine tree closest to the fence is gone, it was dead. This area gets a ton more afternoon sun! I am excited to add some azaleas for color.

We saved a few hundred dollars by cleaning up the small stuff ourselves. Since Ryan had to work and we had to get the truck back to his parents, I loaded the entire bed with brush all by myself! It was a blast. Really. I'm totally serious.

Food Apologetics: Why I Love Whole Milk

Alright. I have something I'd like to discuss. It's about food, and you are going to think I've gone crazy. I've repeatedly asked My Dear Husband if he thinks I've gone crazy. He says no. Obsessed maybe, but not crazy. Well, the only thing I see fit to be obsessed over is Jesus, so I confess my obsession and admit I am praying for a healthy, balanced approach to changing how we eat in our home. 

I have done the lowfat thing - I wish I had a dollar for every low fat Snackwell's chocolate marshmallow cookie I ate when I was 16. I have done the WeighDown thing, and although it enlightened me to the principle of moderation, I took the liberty of eating whatever I wanted, and did lose weight eating chocolate and pizza. And I have done the Weight Watchers thing, and I lost weight very quickly after I had Nancy, which was great because I didn't have to buy a new "transition" wardrobe, but I was exhausted by the points counting, and couldn't enjoy the foods I really liked (brown rice, eggs, butter and olive oil) without feeling guilty. Although I was thin, I still felt like I was not nourishing my body with good foods, and there was a world of foods out there beyond oatmeal, chicken breasts, and lowfat yogurt.

I was not in search of something new. I just happened on a book, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, at the library, and was fascinated. I wanted to know more about how to shorten my food chain. My mom bought veggies at the farmers market when it wasn't cool yet to shop farmer's markets. And when Ryan and I were newlyweds, I knew the market was a place to get inexpensive produce, and since we lived just a few miles from it, I went every weekend. The price is what lured me, but the benefits of supporting local farms and knowing where my food comes from was what kept me going. In addition, seasonal produce is just that, seasonal, picked at the peak of freshness and contains the maximum amount of nutrients and vitamins. Plus, for me, it is so relaxing, and a very simple indulgence to wander with a cup of coffee and look at what the vendors have available for the week, and I love how each week is different.

On returning In Defense of Food to the library, I found on the shelf nearby Real Food, by Nina Planck. (click on the book at the top of the post to learn more about her and her book) I pulled it off the shelf because the cover was pretty, and after reading the subtitle "what to eat and why", I hoped it was going to tell me I could eat good whole foods, and as much as I wanted, without feeling guilty.  Sort of. Planck, a woman who started the London Farmer's Market when she was just 29 and grew up on a farm in Virginia, explains that not all food is equal. Meaning beef from the supermarket is not the same as beef raised on grass, pastured and free to roam. Eggs from chickens free to roam and scratch and peck at bugs contain more Vitamin E, Omega-3s and beta-carotene than eggs from chickens in cages. (I can see the difference here - I have a friend who keeps chickens, and their egg yolks are bright orange, a sign of the presence of beta-carotene) Milk from cows fed grass is full of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a cancer-fighting Omega-6 fat that also aids in weight loss and builds lean muscle. I think most of you are sick of me talking about our love for all things Happy Cow Creamery.

If I let myself think about it, I get really mad at how difficult it is to find "real food" and super mad when I see how expensive it is! We are trying to find the balance of being wise with what God has given us and be good stewards of our money, but also being wise in how and what we eat and especially what we feed our children. Usually I am an all or nothing kind of person - if I can't do it all the way, right the first time, then it's not worth doing. But I feel like any small changes we can make will be a benefit to our family and the...yes, I'm going to say it...environment around us. Not to mention, it's really fun knowing my friend Jenny collected the eggs she brings us on Sundays with her girls, and Kate gets excited to see our friends Chad and Amy Bishop from Greenbrier Farms and what they have in their big white coolers for the week. I mean, she got excited about radishes and spring onions! And ate them!

So what do you think? Do you like butter? Does the fact that we down 2 gallons of whole milk a week make you shudder? Are you satisfied with the "middle aisles" of corn and soy products in the grocery store? I'll tell you, my husband loves Pop Tarts, and I will continue to buy them, and I don't think we could survive with preschoolers without prepackaged snacks and crackers. I am just learning more about the world beyond Ritz and Coffeemate. I am really excited that it wasn't that hard to find places closeby that offer healthier options of the things we love, that are better for the animals and the environment, that let me get my hands a little muddy in the garden, and that support our friends and neighbors in their livelihoods or hobbies. 

I have some links on the blog to a few things I am interested in, but am planning on adding a few more. This month it's food and gardening. Next month, I'll probably be nose deep in some fiction (it's almost summer, you know), and by August I'll be picking up all those parenting books and learning all I can about school aged children and how to deal with the changes that come with entering the public school world. If you have read all of this, you must be one of my close friends!  So thanks for humoring me, and hopefully posting about my current interest will quell the tendency I would normally have to talk your ear off about it. Consider this post a warning - don't ask me unless you really, really want to know!

Edisto Beach with the Keever Family

The Keevers invited us to join them in Edisto for a few days over spring break. It was much like last October (sans flooding the house prior to our trip): Windy, unseasonably chilly but really fun and relaxing. The kids just don't care about the weather and whether (ha!) it's hot or cold out. They were just pumped to be with each other and be somewhere new. Tuesday was freezing cold outside, and especially windy on the beach. Wednesday had a short shower, and then warmed up a bit, and Thursday was beautiful, so that's the day we left. 

I decided to bring Easter egg dye kits with me and we dyed eggs with the kids, and Nancy totally stressed me out while doing it. She just kept picking up the same egg and throwing it back in the cup, splashing dye all over the place. Kate kept dropping and breaking hers and would have a meltdown every time. That got a little old. Harper and Calahan did great. In theory it was a good idea, but it took longer to set up than it did to actually dye the eggs. We went on several hunts for eggs, too. We had a great time with our friends! It is so fun to get to know each other better while we are all relaxed and out of our hectic life for a few days. Thanks again, Keevers!

Coming back from the beautiful "shell beach", Botany Bay Plantation.

Nancy loved "Tawahayan"; he was the first one she asked about when she woke in the mornings. I hear Calahan thinks Nan is "pretty cool". That's cool.

It was really, really windy.

Daddies giving girls rides back to the car. We were all a bit windblown.

Shell Beach.

The Keevers. This was the coldest day on the beach. Believe me, Harper did need the hat. But everyone had fun!

Did I mention it was windy?

I had to include the video. Being a Keever, Calahan was bent on getting the most eggs and coming out on top, until the bannister ran into his face. He recovered quickly, though, and ended up getting the most eggs (he did help me hide them...).

Santee at Spring Break

For Spring Break, we headed down to Santee to our family lakehouse to spend time with the kids before we met the Keevers at Edisto for a few days. It was very relaxing, and I wish we would have spent more time there. We always seem to choose to go when it's cold, but the kids really don't mind. I did tell Ryan next year I don't want to go on vacation until May, so we can enjoy warm weather. 

The house has been part of the family's for over 40 years, I think. Mom, correct me if I'm wrong. It is a small house, no dishwasher and only 1 shower, but the view is priceless, and the kids think it's a magical place to be, as I did when I was a kid. I hope they will have the same fun memories I do of fishing with mom and dad (my MOM was the one who taught me to bait a hook with a worm), swimming by the pier, going tubing on the lake, walking down to Taw Caw campground bait and tackle to buy some candy, and trying desperately to find a decent restaurant to eat at. 

  

"I cwimbin'!" She did this before we even knew it. She's fast.

 

Jumping off the sofa. Sorry Mom.

At the aquarium in Charleston, on our way to Edisto. Nancy didn't mind at all touching stuff. Kate saw her first shark (to her memory. we saw a young hammerhead on the beach at IOP with the Kulps and Gainors a few years ago!)

Sisters.

Hightower Farm Field Trip

This goat was the size of a mule, he was huge.

One of the puppies loving on Nancy. She was in heaven with all the animals, but the momma pyrenees scared her. She was the size of a regular sized goat!

Kate holding one of the baby goats. I had no idea they were so cute and soft!

At the beginning of the month we went to a friend's farm in Campobello. They have a few goats, a couple of Great Pyrenees dogs, chickens and a peacock that they think wandered over from not-to-distant Hollywild Animal Park. We had so much fun seeing the baby goats and puppies. It was fun to hang out and meet some new friends, too, and see the Hightower's home. We appreciate them opening it up to us to explore and let all the curious kids poke around. 

I was fascinated at how they came about getting the land, choosing to build there and starting a small farm. Ryan and I really, really would love to try that kind of adventure one day. Do you ever feel like someone else is living the life you want? Sometimes I have to force myself to trust that my suburban life can still be one of adventure and it is exactly where God wants me to be. But it does not sound nearly as exciting to me to say "I went out and threw some zinnia seed out on the ground" as it does to say "I milked the goats this morning before breakfast".  Of course, I'd like to think I could hang with the toughest of tough hands and not mind rolling my sleeves up and getting dirty, but I must confess: the most adventurous thing I did while at the farm? Nancy fell in a puddle of mud and poop and I did not cry or stress out (too much. Jill Peterson had to convince me Nancy would not contract Ecoli). I felt pretty proud of myself!