Picture of the week

Cameron shows off his smile and his new favorite team shirt!

Saturday In the Park

We started our day very nicely with a family breakfast to celebrate Erin's birthday.  It was a great time, good food and a good visit.  Later Jaydon, Sawyer and I headed out to explore a fairly new park.  I don't know how I did this but I left my camera at home so no pictures.

The park was nice and Jaydon enjoyed the playground.  I had to pry him away to go exploring on the little trail.  This trail took us down to the dog park.  I don't know who enjoyed the dog park more, Jaydon or Sawyer!  This was Sawyer's first visit to a dog park and he did great!  I'll put a post on the dog's blog about his visit.  Jaydon and I thought it was neat because they had a little doggie playhouse/fort. 

After a while we went back and Jaydon burned some more energy on the playground.  He had never been on a merry-go-round so I put him on there and gave it a good spin thinking he would want off because he was sick.  Silly me, I forgot he can ride for miles in the backseat of the car doing puzzles so why would spinning around in a circle bother him?

!Sonrie!

Last night I was sitting at a stop light, on my way to handbells.  I've gotten roped into subbing for a few weeks (I gave up my permanent spot but that is a long story) with the handbell group.  I had moaned and groaned all day about having to give up an hour of my precious evening to go stand up there and ring bells.  Wah, wah wah.  I know that God listens patiently to me because I frequently wah, wah, wah.  So there I was, sitting at this stop light moaning and groaning and I noticed the license plate holder on the car in front of me.  It said, "!Sonrie! !Jesus Te Ama!".  And immediately, I had to smile!  If it had been in English I would have thought, "oh, that's nice, Jesus loves me" but something about the joyousness of the Spanish made me smile and brought a feeling of joy to me.  !Sonrie! ! Jesus Te Ama!

I went on to practice thinking that thought over and over, in Spanish.  Handbell practice went quickly and I was on my way home before I knew it.  I know that God put that license plate holder there for a reason...to remind me that he loves me and that I should love him (and ringing handbells for His glory).  So, Smile!  Jesus Loves You, too!

Day Lilies

I've always liked day lilies.  My grandmother had several clumps near the road in front of their house and I would clip them to go in the many bouquets that I cut and arranged when I visited their house.  I remember them being orange or yellow, but I can't remember any details.  I've planted them several times during my gardening career, but without any luck (blame the bad soil in one yard and too much shade in this yard).  But after last Sunday I'm thinking I might try again (next year!).  Sunday afternoon we went to the Botanical Garden and they had quite a display of day lilies:

This picture doesn't do the display justice, it was beautiful!

I had never seen a ruffled edge day lily.  This was enchanting!

Different shapes and different colors, so many varieties.



We were exclaiming, "look at this one, look at that one"



Picture of the Week





I never cease to be amazed at the beauty of flowers.  Why do they immediately bring such joy to my spirit?  Their beauty and delicate features are so enchanting.  God's creation, in all its glory!

Happy Mother's Day

What a great day!  I'm blessed to be a mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother!  And I'm blessed to have family live close so we can spend time together.  Happy Mother's Day to all!

This afternoon it was time for a little dip in the pool!  All four dogs got in, but Sawyer enjoyed it the most.

This is Jaydon's version of a "rain dance".  Hope it works.

Bubbles are always fun!

Okay, this looks weird but it was funny!  Stephanie and Jaydon used the pool as a Frisbee!  I think this is referred to as "creative play".

The boys got out their binoculars (Cameron couldn't resist a peak!).

Cameron, sweet Cameron! 

The Adventure, Part 2

There were four or five hummingbird feeders by the back door of the house.  If you stood still a swarm of hummingbirds would descend on the feeders.  There was so much talking and going in and out that I couldn't catch a picture when they were all around but I did catch these two on final approach!



There was a deer feeder with maize set up in the back yard.  Several times I saw probably 40 or 50 cardinals feeding under it.  They were beautiful!

I also got a few pictures of the rabbits but it is so dry that the rabbits just blended in with their surroundings.  The dryness is really taking a toll on the wildlife, so pitiful!  We need rain so badly, and sadly there are parts of our country that are under so much water.  If we could just get some of the flood water piped over here!

And, I ended the weekend adventure on an itchy, uncomfortable note.  I came home with more red bug (chiggers) bites on me than I've every had in all my life.  As we were walking through the grass Saturday afternoon I had a suspicion that the little devils might be there and sure enough they came riding home with me (UGH!).  Fortunately, Jaydon didn't have any.  Our adventure was fun and we will remember it for a long time.





"The Adventure of a Lifetime"

Yesterday my Sunday School class went out to the ranch that belongs to one of the couples in the class.  It has been in the wife's family for generations, and I've heard many stories about relatives being captured by the Indians and other pioneer adventures that took place on this property.  I took Jaydon along and he had a blast.  To get to the ranch you leave civilization and paved roads far behind.  As we started down the dirt road Jaydon excitedly commented "This is going to be the adventure of a lifetime!"  By the time we got to the ranch I was starting to think the same thing.  We went over two cattle guards, through an electronic gate, crossed two more cattle guards, went up and down and around and over a very rough road for several miles and then we were at the ranch house.

With just a little encouragement Jaydon caught on to the rope swing

There was time for tree climbing

Jaydon spent a lot of time on the tire swing

The black object is a large Angus bull.  I was told it was very gentle, but I wasn't sure about two small boys being that close to such a large animal! There was a light fence between them and the bull, it just doesn't show up in this picture.

The end of the adventure of a lifetime! I made this picture after I had pulled into the garage and opened the car door.  He insists that he was play-sleeping but I assure you he had passed out!  As we discussed it over dinner tonight we all reassured him that a nap in the car on the way home is a good way to end an adventure.

There was also a small "tank" (pond to me) that Jaydon enjoyed exploring around and one of the men wanted to teach him to shoot a .22 rifle.  I had to decline on that offer as I think he needs to be a little bit older and understand the importance of safety with firearms.  His mommy agreed, too!

I also got several pictures of hummingbirds and cardinals but will share them in another post.  I've been experimenting with my camera and switched over to manual mode several times.  Let's just say that I need to experiment a bit more...

Herbs

I don't know when I started growing herbs.  I think my brother gave me a book about herbs for Christmas one year, long long ago.  Maybe I started growing them while I still had a vegetable garden.  At any rate I grow herbs.  I have one side of the yard that gets mostly sun so that is where I planted herbs when I moved into this house (yes, I actually dug up nice green grass to make the beds for the herbs...what was I thinking?).

I like having the herbs to cook with, it is nice to run outside with the scissors and snip whatever I need when I need it.  You can't beat cooking with fresh herbs or vegetables when you can get them.  But I also grow herbs for their scent.  I love to touch them and then smell the fragrance of the herb.  They are so soothing and so peaceful!  Basil, mint, oregano, rosemary...each is distinctive in their fragrance and each so delightful.

Last winter was brutal.  The chives and rosemary survived, the large lavender bush did not.  The parsley didn't make it.  I had mint planted in a nice size pot last year.  I kept it well covered, and even though it was on the north side of the house it managed to survive.  It didn't look like much when I uncovered it, but I trimmed it back and gave it plenty of water and once the freeze danger was over put the pot at the edge of the deck to get lots of light.  Now it is back to being a nice size plant.  Tonight as I watered it I touched the leaves and enjoyed the minty smell.  Mmmmm, how relaxing.  Just one of life's small, simple things!

Easter Blessings

A beautiful worship service on Easter morning!

Jaydon finds an egg!

Cameron is old enough to really be in on the hunting action this year!

The boys share a moment to work on a little project.

Thoughts on Easter Eve

On this Easter Eve, I've been thinking about the fact that Easter really is the holiest day of the year.  It is the pinnacle of the Christian Year, this is the day we celebrate Christ's resurrection and the gift of forgiveness and eternal life.  There just isn't anything more joyous or holy than Easter.

But I think we sometimes gloss over the resurrection story.  We get hung up on new outfits and planning Easter egg hunts or going to the lake or the ranch or fixing food for a special meal or whatever, etc etc.  Just like with Christmas we forget the meaning of the celebration.  And this year Easter is so late that it almost feels like we should have already celebrated this a while back.

So, my prayer is that people all over the world will see Easter in a new light, in the right light of putting the celebration of the resurrection first. 

Prepare our hearts, Lord, to worship you as our risen Saviour.  Amen

Good Friday

Here's what we did today:

1.  We went to the Wildseed Farm and had a picnic lunch
2.  We went to LBJ State Park and explored some old buildings
3.  We came home
4.  We went to the Good Friday service at church

Jaydon sat still long enough for me to get this shot!  He was zooming through the Farm!

The wind was blowing like a hurricane but it didn't stop us from going out in the Meadow!

We were excited to drive up and see the red poppies blooming.  Last year they didn't have any and these are one of our favorites.

I spent many pleasant afternoons in a porch swing at my great aunt's house.  Jaydon and I shared a swing this afternoon at the Living History Farm at the LBJ State Park.

Jaydon had fun on the covered wagon.  I couldn't help but think that the people that rode/drove these across the United States were very hardy folks.  I don't think any of us could travel even a few miles in one of these.



This is the Sauer-Beckman Farm, an actual farm on the LBJ State Park property that is now a living history exhibit.  Reluctantly, Jaydon agreed to explore it.  But then he didn't want to leave!  He got to see some cows up close and step into the working kitchen where a docent was cooking on the wood fired stove.  They had a garden with a headless scarecrow that fascinated Jaydon (it had a hat but he was sure it was headless).  It was like stepping back into time as I opened the screen door to go into the house!