Strawberry Picking 2020

I'm so excited to be able to share our adventure to the Watts Farm to pick strawberries! We did not think we were going to be able to go this year due to masks being required. While I fully support businesses requiring patrons to wear a mask, our family will not be visiting such establishments unless absolutely necessary. And, well, to be perfectly honest picking strawberries just isn't an essential for our family. Thankfully, the farm did lift their mask requirement and we were able to pick 14 gallons of strawberries!

We actually tried to visit the farm two days prior when our oldest son was in town, but, unfortunately it started to rain the moment we pulled into the parking lot ~ sigh!! Still getting used to him not being around for all our fun family excursions, maybe next time. 

Abby Lou thoroughly enjoyed her first visit to the strawberry patch. I gave her a strawberry to taste and she didn't quite know what to think of it. 

I was really just trying to get a cute picture of Abby Lou holding the strawberry when she decided to lick it, but then she couldn't figure out if she liked it or not, and it was so cute. I honestly think if she had been able to she would have scarfed it down, because goodness gracious, those strawberries were extra sweet this year!

So thankful my husband is always up for my crazy shenanigans! It's not easy wrangling our wild crew to go and do anything, much less an outing to a local farm where there is delicious food at their finger tips. The kiddos were actually pretty well behaved and picked their fair share of berries for our family's needs.

Unfortunately, most of the toys at the farm were stored away due to them being 'contact items'. They did manage to negotiate with the powers that be to leave their Army jeep and tractor out for the children to enjoy. 

We ended up staying for a couple hours, picking our necessary strawberries, visiting with the owner, letting the children run around and play, and of course allowing mama to take a bazillion pictures, lol.

We love supporting small businesses especially when it's local ~ add in that it's a fellow farmer and we're in 'hog heaven'. It's such a blessing to be able to talk 'shop' with someone who is familiar with the ups and downs of growing food. We've also spent many of our visits over the years discussing canning and delicious recipes made with homegrown food. Trust me y'all it's so wonderful to be able to support and encourage the community of local small businesses. I really wish we could get back to those days on a much broader scale.

Look how pretty all those strawberries are. We must have had the perfect weather for growing strawberries this year, because they were HUGE and extra sweet! This isn't even all of our buckets, we picked a total of 14 gallons. Watts farm provides gallon buckets for their customers to use while they are picking and upon payment the buckets are returned. Thankfully, we remembered our big six-gallon buckets to bring home all of our beautiful strawberries! 

We've tried to no avail over the years to grow our own strawberries. Unfortunately, we've never been able to, which is why we are intentional to plan our yearly trip to Watts Farm to pick strawberries. Our family really likes strawberry jam. We typically add in our homegrown figs to make the jam stretch just a little further. I'll be sharing soon all about our strawberry jam making fun!

Once we returned home with all the strawberries, we went straight to coring and filling freezer bags. I have several berry corers which the big kids use to help core the strawberries. We create an assembly line of sorts with the buckets of fresh strawberries, a bowl for the core, and a basin for the cored strawberry. Once we were all done, the strawberries are placed into freezer bags and into the freezer. I kept about a gallon out to make a pie  (I will be sharing that recipe soon) as well as for strawberry syrup to pour over homemade poundcake. You can find my strawberry syrup recipe here.

Watts Farm is not technically an organic farm due to the hoops they'd have to jump through to get the certification. But, they do not spray they're strawberries and they are planted brand new each year. While organic is not a necessity for us, it is a bonus and something we would prefer if at all possible. We  have spent quite a bit of time talking with the owners, learning about their process and how their farm works. I'm so grateful we had the opportunity to visit Watts Farm this year. Not just to pick strawberries, but to support local small farms, and to enjoy quality family time. Plus, y'all know I'm a sucker for traditions. Hopefully it will be a continued tradition for many years to come. 

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

February at the Zoo

We were blessed with a family pass to the Birmingham Zoo from an extended family member this past Christmas. It was really an awesome gift for us because honestly, I'm just too cheap to pay for what it costs for our family to go to the zoo. When weighing out whether or not to purchase a family pass to the zoo, I always envision the dozen of activities I could plan and do with my children for the same price. It doesn't help that the zoo is a solid hour away. That's with no pitstops along the way (and lets face it there's always one who has to go to the bathroom in that *one* hour). 

Due to the size of our family, it's far more economical to purchase a yearly pass than to buy individual tickets. Which is why we were so grateful for the zoo pass. Plus half my kiddos had never even been to the zoo, so trust me when I say they were stoked to receive such a great gift!

Since the pass is good for 12 months, we are hoping to visit the zoo 12 times. Ideally this would be once a month, but that just isn't practical due to inclement weather. We missed visiting during the month of January, mostly because of the weather but also because Abby Lou was just a few weeks old. Since the weather cooperated twice in February we were able to go to the zoo twice. 

The first visit was just me and our nine youngest. (Our oldest lives on his own and is of course working full-time, since he is an adult, lol ~ but I still miss him, especially when we go on family adventures). The first trip to the zoo was an adventure to say the least. My three year old screamed the entire time, my five year old puked all over himself and the van on our way there, and then proceeded to NOT behave very well at all. UGH!! Thankfully, my children remember it as a fabulous time, but for this mama, fun would not be the word I'd use to describe that little zoo excursion.

Our family was able to work in another trip to the zoo with Daddy on Presidents Day. The weather was a little to cool for my comfort zone, but it was perfect for everyone else. We had a fabulous time, and everyone was extremely well behaved. We ended up staying for three hours and then we concluded the trip with a picnic outside the zoo premises. 

It was wonderful to be able to experience the zoo twice in one month. We were able to see different animals each time. We are all looking forward to watching and experiencing the zoo transform throughout the seasons. Hopefully, since March is upon us, it won't be long before we can plan another trip to the zoo.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Family Fun at Old Baker Farm

 About 14 years ago I was sitting in a doctor's office at Children's Hospital waiting on our second sons pulmonary specialist appointment when I came across a magazine with 'things to do in the Birmingham area'. In that magazine was an advertisement for a fall family fun event at a farm. They had all kinds of fun things for the children to do, including picking pumpkins. And so began our family tradition of visiting Old Baker Farm every October.

The farm has grown over the years to include so many fun activities for the children. We always try to attend on their 'cowboy weekend'. On the farm's cowboy weekend they have men and women dressed up in old fashion costumes reenacting cowboy shootouts with real guns, shooting blanks!! It's spectacular to watch and experience!

We've talked about visiting other farms to go pick pumpkins, but we always come back to Old Baker Farm. Not that they ever remember us, but we usually have the privilege of talking with the Bakers, it's like visiting with family ~ they're a family of down-home country folks. Plus the cost of admission includes all the activities. We only have to pay extra for concessions, horse back riding, and  if we purchase something from any of the craft-fair type vendors set up on the farm. 

One of my favorite things about coming to Old Baker Farm is that it's a real working farm. The pumpkins aren't trucked in, you actually pick them off the vine. Although there have been years when the harvest was limited and the Bakers did bring in pumpkins from another farm. 

The farm is set up so that visitors ride on a hay-ride to go pick their pumpkins. They have several tractors and trailers running and ONE trailer hooked up to a pair of mules. This year we were blessed to get to ride on the mule-pulled trailer ~ which is our favorite!!

Lydia loved every part of being on the Farm ~ walked around like she owned the place, lol.

Some of the many activities for the children to do includes giants slides, hay bail climbing, a cotton jump, kiddie train rides, horse swings, petting zoo, corn maze, and hay bail maze. Trust me there is no shortage of things to do on this farm!! We spent over four hours playing this year!

This was the first year our oldest was unable to attend due to work obligations. I must admit this new season of life has not been easy for this sentimental mama. But, I'm proud of him and know our job is to simply raise them, and one day they do set out to live their own lives (and that's a good thing).  No matter how much we want to slow time, it just keeps billowing forward, all we can do is hold on for the ride. Of course there's nothing wrong with savoring every special moment we're gifted with until they do 'fly the coop'.

The Baker's really go all out decorating the farm, especially the few old farm houses on the property. (Which are actually lived in by the family.)

Even though big brother couldn't come enjoy the family fun, he did send money to buy the littles ones a treat. They ended up getting the biggest snow cones I've ever seen!

The last picture of the day. 

Daddy loves carnival/fair food and as y'all can see he's passed that love onto our children as well. Fresh squeezed lemonade and kettle corn for everyone to share concluded our family fun day at Old Baker Farm.

I must admit at 31 weeks pregnant, it took a lot of psyching myself up to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I love our tradition of visiting Old Baker Farm and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. We did all 'the things' and my family was super sweet to take 'all the pictures'. (I'm not even sharing half of them, lol.) Another year of visiting Old Baker Farm and another precious memory stored away. It is kind of crazy prepping and getting our family to functions like this, but watching my children having fun and enjoying the season makes it all worth the effort. 

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Vinyl on Everything

How about a short and sweet crafting post? While I don't consider myself a crafty person, I do like to DIY to save money. A few years ago I was gifted with a Silhouette cutting machine. It can cut a variety of different materials, but my favorite medium to cut is vinyl.

I love the boutique style clothing, unfortunately  I'm way too cheap to pay for it. With owning a  Silhouette I have the privilege of making some of my own, which ultimately cuts down on the costs.

I especially love the holiday shirts! Since our schedule is so full in the coming weeks, I decided to go ahead and create all my shirts for the impending holidays, plus a few more for my oldest daughter and me.

Our family attends several fall events where I like for the little ones to wear coordinating shirts. Yes, I'm a sucker for matching the littles. Last year I pushed the limits with my 6 year old and making him a matching shirt (who is now 7 yrs old). This year he was officially taken of the matching shirt list {{sigh}} I may have just shed a tear ~ they grow up so fast!

I wasn't going to make Thanksgiving shirts, but when I saw this design I just had to make them! 

My oldest daughter is not really a fan of the whole matching shirt thing even though she will do it. But, I saw so many cute girly Alabama football shirt designs that I just had to make her some! What girl doesn't love glitter fan wear?!

Even though we're headed into fall and cooler temps, she rarely wears long sleeves so all the shirts I made her were short sleeved. 

The next three shirts I made for myself. I hardly ever make shirts for myself, but I've had my eye on these cute designs, and I thought why not??

No truer words, lol!

For the past few years my girls and I have attended the Christmas Village in Birmingham.  This is a HUGE craft show and trust me matching shirts are a MUST!

There's no better holiday than Christmas for matching sibling shirts! 

And by Christmas little miss Abigail will be here to enjoy the festivities, even if she will be a teeny tiny peanut. 

Ok, I know it may seem over the top to some; and even a waste of time and money, but I love making these shirts and I'm grateful for the opportunity to make them. Now, I can't wait for all the family fun events to come around, so we can wear our awesome new shirts, lol!!

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Back to School Weenie Roast & Campout

Due to life being super busy lately, I'm just now getting to the final post for our Friday the 13th family fun day. By now most of y'all have probably caught on that I love traditions. Well, one of my many crazy traditions that I implemented many moons ago has been our Back to School, Backyard Weenie Roast and Campout. 

Once we complete our first month of school we have a weenie roast and campout to celebrate all our hard work. As my fellow homeschool mama's know getting back into the swing of homeschooling and knocking out those first few weeks can be a major challenge ~ which is why I feel a celebration is  a must.

I grew up camping ~ in a tent! Sorry y'all I just don't believe it's camping if you're in a travel trailer or motor home. To me, true camping is in a tent. Tents have come a long way over the years and this one we have from CORE is amazing!! Once you get it staked, it's four poles and you're done other than attaching the rain fly. 

Everyone loves helping set up the tent, even the little bitty ones. 

Here's another one of those pictures I've taken for years and years and years. Ugh to watch my babies grow up (and our family grow) brings a mixed of wild emotions!

These two little rascals were the most excited, but they ended up going to bed inside after the weenie roast and roasting s'mores. Since my husband had to work the next day; he slept inside and we opted for the three little ones to sleep inside as well so that the big kids could have some 'big-kid' fun.

It was a very long day with the apple orchard, the covered bridge, and finally the weenie roast and campout, but my oldest daughter was a little energizer bunny helping set up all the food for our homeschool celebration. 

This year I opted to create a serving tray for the s'mores. This worked perfect for quick and easy assembly!

I love this picture!! My father-in-law has this cute little truck for piddling around the property. The kids used it to fill up with sticks for the bonfire. 

Yes, at one point our little bonfire turned into a massive flame, lol. No worries we were all safe and all weenies were salvaged.

Not all my kids love s'mores, but in my opinion no weenie roast is complete without the presence of s'mores! 

I mean what's not to love?? Char broiled gooey marshmallows, melted chocolate and crunchy graham crackers. Yeah I'm a sucker for nostalgia!

Okay y'all here's the nitty gritty of the conclusion of our Friday the 13th family fun adventures: it was ALL drama. and a story for the books! After our weenie roast and s'mores the kids played some after-dark tag while the older folks started cleaning up. Then we put the little bitty ones to bed and the big kids and I headed into the tent to enjoy our sleep outdoors in the backyard. 

Due to it being soooo hot I opted not to put the rain fly on the tent (BIG mistake ~ insert groan). I had checked multiple weather apps as well as t.v stations and radio stations for the overnight forecast and there was ZERO chance of rain!!!!!! When 11:45 pm rolled around, I was awakened to it feeling like someone was spitting in my ear. {{ugh}} Y'all I was literally about to get on to a child for pulling pranks and NOT sleeping. But, nope it was rain!! Insert massive eye roll!

Once I got my bearings, I frantically woke the kiddos up and told them to grab all the sleeping bags and pillows and to RUN! So our little backyard campout was cut half short due to an unexpected torrential downpour complete with straight-line winds. We all slept indoors that night and when we awoke the next morning our tent had about an inch of rain inside of it. {{sigh}} Thankfully, it was another scorcher of a day and the tent quickly dried out once we draped it over the swing set. 

And there y'all have it, another drama-filled fun day in the life of the Williams family. I really do try, and at this point all I can do is laugh about it. Oh, the stories my kids will have to tell their children one day, lol! Even though my grand plans rarely turn out the way I had envisioned, I'm still going to keep on keeping on, pushing through, making the plans and attempting to make special memories with my family.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Exploring the Clarkson Covered Bridge

Well, I told y'all in the last post that I was going to split our Friday the 13th 'family fun' into three separate posts, so today I'm sharing our adventures to the Clarkson Covered Bridge in Cullman, Alabama. 

The last time we went to the Steel Apple Orchard we had the lovely privilege of touring with a preschool class full of amazing mamas who graciously welcomed our family into their close-knit group. They so kindly invited our family to picnic with them at the Clarkson Covered Bridge (which I had never even heard of before). Since we had so much fun picnicking there during that little adventure, I knew we had to visit there again this year. We're big fans of picnicking and rarely eat out when we go on our little road trips. Feeding this crew via dining out could get quite expensive pretty fast; and to me, picnic food just tastes better in nature anyways.

There aren't any trails at the Clarkson Covered Bridge (that I know of), but there is plenty to explore; especially with the creek and large rocks blanketing the area.

I love when the children go searching through nature to see what they can find. One of my boys turned over a rock to discover this little frog. Another one is convinced he saw a snake head! {{YIKES!}}

During our last visit to the Clarkson Covered Bridge, there was plenty of water flowing, turning the giant water wheel. This year we are experiencing a major drought so the water wheel was not moving. My middle boys thought it was a prime opportunity to see if they could make the wheel move. And yes, y'all they could make the wheel move, lol!

So much to touch and feel and discover! Even though it was hot and I had cranky littles, we still had fun exploring the area. I was kind of sad to see that in the two years that have past since our last visit, the park seems to have been neglected. There was quite a bit of trash and debris littering the scenery. But, on a positive note, the bathrooms were maintained and in working order ~ a major bonus when you're in the middle of nowhere, have a bunch of littles, and are pregnant!

The last picture of my kiddos did not go as planned, especially since we had to wait for two other families to finish taking photos on the bridge. The little bitty ones were in dire need of a nap while the rest were just done taking pictures! One of these days I'll learn to take my "must-take" pictures at the start of our adventures and not at the end. (sigh)

I love this picture, even if we were being silly. My three little photo bombers in the background give y'all an idea of how long the bridge really is!

Here's a little clip showcasing the profile of the covered bridge. Quite amazing for something that was built in the early 1900s! Yes, it has been restored, but still, men originally built a similar bridge with very limited tools and resources in the exact same spot ~ I'm totally impressed!

We really didn't stay long at the Clarkson Covered Bridge, just long enough to eat and stretch our legs before we headed back home. I love traditions, and visiting the Steel Apple Orchard and Clarkson Covered Bridge is a perfect back to school tradition for our family (even if the drive is LONG). While the day didn't go exactly as planned and none of us really felt 100% well, it was absolutely worth the effort to stick to our plans and immerse ourselves in nature for a short time. Thankfully the drive home was relatively uneventful. We made it home with just an hour to spare before we kicked off our final family fun event on Friday the 13th of September; which I will share all about in my next post!

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer