North Porch Sangria

Krystina’s North Porch Sangria

3 lemons

3 oranges

3 limes

Strawberries

2 peaches

1-2 kiwi

1 fresh pineapple

½ cup raw turbinado cane sugar

½ cup water

1 750-milliliter bottle dry red or white wine chilled

1 bottle Sprite

1-2 cups brandy (depending on taste)

Cut one lemon and one orange into wedges. Placed half of the wedges from the lemon and orange in a sauce pan; set aside remaining slices. Cut remaining fruit in wedges, slices or cubes for inclusion in the final mixture.

For syrup, add the sugar and ½ cup water to the saucepan. Add one to two strawberries and slices from a peach.  Bring to boiling. Stirring till sugar dissolves. Remove from heat; cool for 30 minutes (or until fruit is cool enough to handle). Squeeze juice from cooked fruit into the syrup. Discard cooked fruit. Strain syrup mixture to remove seeds if desired. Pulp is okay.

In a pitcher or large jar combine remaining fruit slices, syrup, wine, sprite and brandy. Squeeze some of the citric fruit to release fruit flavor. Chill for at least 2-3 hours. Serve over Sonic ice.

Sweet Potato Farmers

It all started when we had open spots in our square foot garden. I casually mentioned it would be fun to grow sweet potatoes and the next day Steven put a spud in a jar of water. On April 17 we had our first sign of success. We had NO CLUE what we were getting ourselves into...

It took 17 days for that little sprout to produce these slips.

Three days later the slips were broken off and placed into water to sprout their own roots.

Once we realized that we might actually have viable sweet potato slips, we decided to read about growing them. That lead to us having to build a separate box just for potatoes.

Did I say us? I meant Steven. I've started calling him my Potato Farmer.

Slips are in the ground. Now we wait until September to harvest.

Once we harvest they'll have to season for another six weeks. There's no getting in a hurry when it comes to sweet potatoes. Having lived in this old house for over 10 years, we're getting pretty good at patience.

Now to find something else to fill the empty spaces in our square foot garden.

Back Patio

Here is what this area looked like in 2009.

Since then we've had the house painted and a tank less water heater installed, but otherwise it's been pretty ugly. It's also problem area for water running under the house. Steven and his dad have worked to change the fall of the yard, and these concrete pieces were the last of the projects necessary to keep the house dry underneath.

Here are shots of the dirt work and form setting that was done in April.

Steven and his dad poured the concrete on April 23, 2014. The girls had front row seats for the show.

In May we built a flower bed and planted hydrangeas and hostas.

I'm hoping this can be an nice area to set up a gardening table and an outdoor sink.

Easter Tradition - Family Foot Washing

We began a new Easter tradition this year: A Family Foot Washing.

As the girls get older the more I realize the importance of sharing with them the beauty of Easter that lies beyond the eggs and bunnies. I want them to see the beauty of God's love for them in Jesus. What better than the story of Jesus washing his disciples feet the night he was betrayed?

We began the evening by reading "The Servant King" from the Jesus Storybook Bible.

"One by one, Jesus washed everyone's feet. 'I am doing this because I love you.' Jesus explained.

'Do this for each other.'"

So we did.

To help things go smoothly I took two cups. On one I wrote "Dirty Feet" and on the other I wrote "Washer." I placed a piece of paper with each of our names into both cups. Then we drew one name from each cup and each person had the chance to wash and be washed. It was a simple foot tub with warm water and essential oils with a towel nearby for drying.

As we washed each others feet we said these words:

"Like Jesus, we will offer humble, joyful, loving service."

There was such a beautiful and tender intimacy between all of us. I guess it was due to the focused attention to the person being served and the nature of lovingly washing someones' feet.

The girls LOVED it. 

We closed with this prayer:

O Jesus, in this Holy Week you prayed

that we would love one another

as you have loved us.

Tonight we have tried to practice what you have taught us!

Let the love, joy and humility

we have known here with our family

continue to bless us,

and let us share that blessing with world

you love and gave your life for.

May the peace we feel together in this place

Point us toward the hope of Easter.

Plastic Bag Kites - A Windy Day Activity

We've had some SUPER windy days this April with beautiful blue skies and cool weather. The perfect setting for getting outside. While looking for "windy day outdoor activities" for the girls I stumbled upon plastic bag kites. This simple, quick activity provided literally hours of fun for the girls.

All you need is a plastic shopping bag and yarn.

Resurrection Garden

Spring! New life. Fresh beginnings.

We created a Resurrection Garden as a reminder of these gifts.

Waiting for Easter and waiting for this to sprout. 

Reverse Easter Egg Hunting

Today we tried Reverse Easter Egg Hunting. The idea is that instead of searching for treat filled eggs, you send the kids out to search to goodies to fill their eggs with. I chose colors as our theme today and added a slip of paper to each egg with instructions to "Fill with something (insert color name here)." I gave each girl five eggs.

Logistically it was better to have the eggs inside the house in a bowl marked with their initials. They chose one egg at a time and went out to fill it. Once complete, they came in for another egg until they had a bucket filled with eggs containing colorful pieces of nature.

This was a great activity for Marin and Adalyn. Coralee wasn't interested in specific instructions, but had a great time opening and closing her eggs and following her sisters around attempting to fill her eggs with treasures from our yard.

This is something we'll do again. I think I'll try other attributes too! "Fill with something heavy," or "fill with something cold." Even "fill with live bugs" could be fun! Watch out rolly pollies.