better with age

So, yesterday I turned 40. I often joked about how "old" I was turning. But in actuality, I feel really good about it.   I've always felt that it isn't the age you are, but if you are where you thought you would be at "said age" in life that can affect your feelings toward turning another year older. I have had some years where I have experienced some frustration on where life had gone off course from my "plan", but here I am turning forty and it all balanced out.  I am right where I had hoped to be in life.  Funny enough, as a young girl, this is the phase in life I always daydreamed of when I thought of getting older. Being a wife and stay at home mom is what I always envisioned my life being. And while I was daydreaming, I'd be living in the south too. :) Funny how things work out.  Sure, I became a mom far later than I had intended, but I think it's worked out even better this way.

{this picture from the fall pretty much sums up for ya the kind of personalities I'm dealing with}

I never long for my younger years, well maybe my effortless figure of my early twenties, lol. I feel so much more comfortable in my own skin and have such clarity on what I want in life now. I am where I want to be. I am ridiculously in love, have two amazing little boys, and we are settling into our life and home here in Georgia for the long haul. It feels good, really good. There is just a sense of peace about not having to chase those big dreams anymore.
Society seems to be embracing aging gracefully and as they say, 40 is the new 30! When you become more secure in yourself, maybe the physical aging is much more embraced to show a life well lived. Some of the most beautiful women I have met are middle aged and beyond and they just know how to take care of themselves. I feel fortunate to be able to celebrate the years.  I think I have inherited really good genes, but I do take care great care of my skin, always have and maybe that is paying off. For years now, i have tried to limit sun exposure, wear sunscreen and have finally found really good self tanners so I don't blind anyone with those white, white legs!
As with any birthday, this is the time I take to reflect on myself and see what personal goals i want to achieve. I have some things floating around inside my head. This past year was rough. I have never felt so stressed/overwhelmed for so long. Alot of it was circumstances-up and moving while just coming out of a new baby fog and it all kind of downward spiraled from there. The fact that I just haven't had the mental energy to do much decorating tells me something. One, it could be that I have other priorities {which is not a bad thing} and two, I haven't been making any time for me to do things that I wholeheartedly enjoy, even at a slow pace since my family is always my first priority. I find myself very happy when I am creating or working on a project. But, this year, it felt like another to-do added to the overflowing list already. So inadvertently, I did nothing. And it felt good to take a break. It was needed. I have come to realize, that I must make some changes to get me back on track, to lighten my load. Jeff has been encouraging me forever to do so, but I can be so darn stubborn, thinking I can do it all, not spend the $$, etc. I have a zillion reasons to not to, but one really great reason to do it-my sanity. And when mama's happy, everyone's happy. So, with summer vacation right around the corner {only 2 1/2 more weeks here, whoopee} I want to maximize my time with the boys so first goal of turning 40. check.

what's growing in the garden

 This week we have had just gorgeous weather. I almost forget it isn't summer yet. I was at Target yesterday and they had all the Memorial Day "supplies" out and I felt a bit of excitement inside that summer is right around the corner. Aren't you ready for summer, too? I think most of us had a long, hard winter no matter where in the country we seem to be. Even here in Georgia I couldn't escape the cold & snow!
I thought I would share a few things growing in the garden these days. These beautiful purple/blue flowers are one of the many delightful surprises we have had come up this spring. We've already gone through yellow and white daffodils that have naturalized throughout the backyard under the trees. Now we have these gorgeous flowers. Anyone know what they are? I am still learning all the native plants of the south and have not seen these before.

In our actual vegetable garden, we have lettuce seedlings growing plentifully. One of my favorites is buttercrunch. I planted four different varieties of lettuce all along the front of the raised beds. Nothing like a salad of fresh greens just picked from the garden. Hoping these are as bolt-proof as the description says. :)
Our carrots and cilantro have just sprouted and we had two ripe strawberries today! I get such pleasure out of growing our food.

And here is one of the three flats grown from seeds indoors getting acclimated to the outdoors before planting. I just started leaving them out all night, but covered. They will get officially planted this weekend.  Look at the flowers on the cucumbers! Poor things are soooooo ready.

Have a great rest of the week. 

Jeff & I have a date Saturday night to celebrate my upcoming big 4-0 birthday! So excited, about the date, not the birthday, just kidding. I have been feeling actually proud about it when I really stop and think about it.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter, a day late. :)

We had just a lovely day yesterday. The weather couldn't of been more glorious and we couldn't of appreciated it more. Our weather has been so up & down, we never know if spring weather is here to stay.  We started our day with the egg hunt from the Easter bunny at our house and then I got to baking biscuits and dipping donuts in melted chocolate {and then Reed sprinkled them because in his book, donuts should always have sprinkles} to bring to brunch at our friends' home in our neighborhood. How fortunate we are that Reed met two wonderful friends in preschool last year and our families have all become dear friends. And this particular one is even in our neighborhood!
After brunch, the group headed over to the club for a petting zoo and Easter egg hunt, or race rather... I was just so thrilled we were able to be outside to soak up every bit of that sunshine. Not a cloud in the sky.
Later in the day, the boys took a nap and I ended up taking a bit of a impromptu nap on the sofa before I put together a simple Easter dinner I prepped the day before. Ham, scalloped potatoes, roasted carrots chocolate bunny lollipops {for Reed} and a coconut cream pie I picked up.
Regrettably, we have no pictures from Easter.
Last week I did make some homemade bunny peeps for Reed to share with his friends at school. We really don't eat anything with chemicals by choice so I love recreating a homemade version of a typical store bought version. And really, homemade always taste sooooo much better.
I followed this recipe from Martha, but chose to cover the oiled dish with the sanding sugar, poured the marshmallow mixture, and then immediately sprinkled the sanding sugar on the wet marshmallows so I only had to dip the cut sides into sanding sugar. They were crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside. Just perfect!

I am just loving these fabric tags. I found these at Michaels and just outlined a bunny image from the web and glued on a pom pom.
Well, off to the park with the boys. We have another beautiful day so I can't stand not being out in the sunshine while we have it. I hope to have our seedlings transplanted this week to share with you. They are soooo ready to be planted in the garden but our weather has been too iffy. I have become quite protective of these seedlings I grew... :)