Grow Alabama

Before I talk about Grow Alabama, here are some cute pictures from this week:

Anna is seven weeks old now.

We play with Anna on the hippo (the play mat she's on) at least twice a day. I wish it could be more, but with everything we have to do during the day it's just not possible right now. I'd love to hold her all the time like I did Mary, but again, not possible. There's a lot of guilt with that, but I'm learning that I can't be Super Mom, and that's okay. Nobody expects me to be Super Mom but myself. As I'm learning to let that expectation go, most of the guilt falls away and I feel better. I've heard this experience is very common, and that knowledge also helps smooth things over in my mind. I just need to be the mama that God has made me to be, nothing more, nothing less. 

Here's Mary with our Grow Alabama box of fresh fruits and vegetables. Okay, you're thinking, "What is Grow Alabama," right? Here's how the website describes itself:

Grow Alabama is your direct connection to the family farms of Alabama. A multi-farm CSA, we work with over 50 farmers around Alabama to bring you a share of fresh, locally-grown produce, eggs, fish, poultry and meats year-round.

Once a week we pick up our "farmer box" (as we've come to call it) from the local drop-off location and enjoy fresh produce. We absolutely love it!

Sorry about the picture being sideways, but this is what was in our first box. It's kale (which we put in our quesadillas yesterday for lunch), lettuce, oranges (soooo juicy), grapefruit, broccoli, and sweet potatoes.

Here's what Mary likes to do with the box. Daddy pushed her around the house in it, which is what they usually do with big boxes. Each week we get to pick and choose what we want in our box (from a prearranged list of items). This week we left off the order of root vegetables (carrots and turnips) and doubled our order of citrus fruits. We're really pleased with the service so far, and we're looking forward to eating healthier and feeling better as a result.

Also, in our quest to be healthier and take care of the bodies God has given us, we're learning more about the health benefits of herbs. We drink herbal tea at night, but in the morning I usually drink hot chocolate in search of a little energy boost (we stay away from caffeine, but the sugar in the hot chocolate is just as bad). We've found a great website/store that has helped give us more information about herbs and will be making a purchase from them later this month. We're going to try their Rise and Shine Tea and Jasmine Green Tea. I'll let you know how it works out!

Have a great weekend!