Back?!

Yes, I'm here......for a short time anyway!
We will be going camping again soon
I really enjoy camping
This last camping trip
was a lot of fun

the kids loved it
for the most part anyway
about every other day
my little man would ask to go home
girly was loving the water
and did amazing having her cast off

We spent a lot of time at the lake
it was amazing weather
and we had fun

I have a menu plan done
I will post it soon
but here are a few more pictures
of camping to enjoy

Avoidance

It wasn't planned

it wasn't for any reason

but I have been in

Avoidance Mode

The thing with depression

it sneaks up on you

things are going fantastic

then all of a sudden

it's not

it gives no warning

it takes no prisoners

it is crappy

I had a great week last week

Friday came and things changed

no specific reason

various stresses

took their toll

Why do we put such

high expectations on ourselves

it's silly really

no actual job in the outside world

would give you the responsibility

that moms have at home

climbing out of the hole

that's the hard part

everything looks like too much

there are tears

there is anger

there is fear

everything has been hard this week

but things are getting easier

I have an understanding Husband

and an understand family

I have support

It's hard to ask

I'm getting better

I've removed certain expectations

I had to, to survive

I will be back blogging

I do love it

We leave for camping tomorrow

10 days with my sister and her family

my folks are there for some of it too

I'm mostly ready

no big deal if I miss something

it's not to far from my home

I'm learning to let things go

to learn that most things

are not critical

my family needs me

they are my priority

not a clean house

not perfect kids

not a four course meal

if we eat cereal it's fine

we eat it together

I'm still learning

This is where I am

flawed and saved by Grace

God is Good

I'll try to post while camping

I can't promise

I'm not going to commit

I don't need to stress

I need to enjoy

Abundant Acre Family Farm Review

I am SO excited to be able to finally tell you about the Abundant Acre Family Farm.
I have been slowly trying to buy more local produce when I can and shop more local
This is why I love shopping at Neufelds and other local places that support local
It has so many benefits
Don't get me wrong
I'm not hardcore
but I try to do my part
so when I heard about the Abundant Acre Family Farm
I was beyond excited
with two small children
and trying to overcome post partum depression
the thought of gardening was not on my agenda
in fact I made a promise to myself to not even bother with anything like that
I did buy two hanging baskets and they have now found a home at my parents
they were not doing well here
Let me show you what I got today
it's beautiful

you MUST go to their website
and read about what they are doing
and drool over the pictures
of all the amazing veggies
that will make it to my table
YUM

Andy and Cara who are the brains behind
Abundant Acre Family Farm
plan to run garden boxes
for 9 months of the year

the weather here has not been great so far this summer

so the veggies are a bit behind schedule
I can't wait to try my hand at cooking seasonally
to use vegetable I normally wouldn't think to pick up
like the Swiss chard I received today
I can't wait to find a recipe to use it in
my kids loved the veggies
and ate a fair amount
before I could get them ready to go with dinner

I LOVE that they grow
everything organically
and are so hands on
I LOVE knowing that
it's local
and didn't contribute
more pollution to transport
from some far away place
I can't even explain how yummy
the carrots and peas are
maybe this will help

I didn't even peel the carrots
they were so beautiful
I gave them a good scrub
before my little man ate them all
he ate two entire carrots
before I was able to get any on the table for dinner
we had left overs from Monday

but I threw some FRESH parsley
FRESH as in likely picked this morning

into the gravy

we started with the small garden box
but we might have to upgrade soon

I encourage you to check out
in your community things like this
not only do you support your community
but the actually families in it
go to your farmers market
'tis the season
ask around
get to know your local farmers
you just never know what you will discover
and you will get to know people
you live in the same city with

Playing Catch Up

Happy 143rd Birthday Canada
I am Proud to be a Canadian

I've been busy
not blogging
please accept my apologies!
I have been cooking
Sorta
Tuesday
Steak Fajitas
they were...MEH

Wednesday
Dad's Chili
ALWAYS Good

and not just because

I didn't have to cook it

and just pulled it from the freezer

Thursday - CANADA DAY
I was up early
made yummy muffins
with fresh, local blueberries
I'll post the recipe soon

Cast Girl loved them

my little man
makes it look like
he was being tortured
he did eat them
eventually

We've had nice weather
so why not be outside
enjoying it