There are some beautiful things happening in my backyard:
My
gardenia bush has 2 blossoms and is full of buds. I can't wait until
it is in full bloom. It is in a pot right outside Isaac's window, so
that we can count the blossoms every morning.
Our
pepper plant has blossoms, too. This is either a red bell pepper or
the sweet banana pepper plant. I forgot to look at the label. We
almost lost these to a 2-day storm system. We are very pleased to see
them growing so nicely.
These are the "miracle tomato plants"…well, the two in the 5-gallon buckets are anyways. We
did lose
them to the storm. Their leaves drooped and died, but we left the
plants sitting in the warm sun, and about a week later, new leaves
started to appear. As you can see, they are not as full as their
little brother in the bubble gum bucket, but they are filling out more
every day.
(Only a retired Sunday School bus captain would have enough bubble gum buckets in which to start all of his tomato plants!!!
My dad has always grown tomatoes in buckets, and the little bucket seemed a perfect place to start them.)
I
was hoping that Isaac and I would be back to our normal schedules
today; but we are still dealing with this cold that we both succumbed
to. He had a low-grade fever today, and I am dealing with sinus
troubles. I'm thankful for my NetiPot, and have been using it
regularly.
So, not very "normal" again today with a grumpy boy and a tired achy mama.
Maybe we'll find "normal" tomorrow. I'm sure it's around here somewhere! 
Blessings to you today,
Alesha
P.S. Oh, my split pea soup turned out to be really yummy. We'll be making it again!
Obtaining Mercy 