Thankful Thursday

Happy Birthday to You!!!!

Auntie TK loves you!!

Today is my niece's 2nd birthday and she is one doll baby. As petite AND sweet as they come. She is a fighter and has gone through a lot in her 730 days here on this Earth. And cute as a button. She never walks in a room with out blowing a kiss....She melts my heart!!! So here's to Baby B....a little princess!

As you can tell...it's hard for me to get my hands on her....someone is always stealing her from me!!!

Happy Birthday Auntie J

Today is Auntie J's birthday .... (She's over 20 and under 80!) YIPPEE! and she's as vibrant and alive as they come....AND she's getting a bike for her birthday....She and Doc are going to just speed all over town and country....drat...she just took up another hobby....I'll never catch up with that woman!!!

So here's to you !!! God really smiled after he created you!! Thanks for always being there for me!! You are special to a lot of people and the best thing about you is that NO ONE comes close to being you!! I'm glad you're my friend and my sister in law!!! I lucked out getting you as part of the deal with hitching up with "Ron".

A Weak Moment....

Today I started my "I Lost Control This Winter But I'm Going to Get Back on Track" Diet. I have a Mother of the Bride dress to try to wear. I started reading my Sonoma Diet (which my sis in law L introduced to me and I love) book last night and felt mentally geared up to get back in charge today. I had my fiber cereal for breakfast, almonds for snack (my class stared at me as I snarfed them down), and for supper a chicken breast, whole wheat rice and steamed vegetables. (Poor D and R had to suffer through supper on that). I kind of feel like my other sis in law J as she is so faithful and good to post her food intake daily!! You go girl...keep it up! Well, before supper I ran to Wally World to get a few items to survive this "food shock" and a few items on my "grab it and go" list. As I was crusin down the aisles, I came upon the EASTER aisle. I just love Easter/Spring time and all the pretty pastel colors AND the chocolate. BUT I did NOT turn in the aisle as I knew what temptation lay in wait in there. I even said outloud "Not gonna do it!!!" So I continued to the black beans, whole wheat bread, natural peanut butter, steamed veggies, fresh veggies. I'm not sure what took over my cart ... but I did a 180 and found myself BACK IN THAT AISLE, snatching up my FAVORITE candy in the whole world. No candy makes me happier and they only show up on shelves once a year. When L was born in April, I told my momma that the only thing I wanted her to bring to the hospital when she came to visit were "Bags of this candy".

Drum Roll Please.........

I stash these babies all over the house, in drawers at school, and I've even tried stocking up on them and freezing them....That didn't turn out so well. I only bought one bag today and raced out of that aisle as if ANYONE would even care or notice. The good news is they are tucked away in the cabinet. I didn't have the heart to blow my hard work for today. Now tomorrow could be a different story....the package could very well end up empty by sundown. It's probably a good thing these do not permanently live on the shelves in stores 365 days ....Oh it's definitely a good thing they don't.

The First Day of Spring 2010??

Mow green grass one day.....shovel white blanket the next!!

Spring is in the air....NO WAIT...snow is in the air!! What in the world happened overnight? Yesterday everyone is out working in their yards, mowing, enjoying the sun, shucking sweatshirts by afternoon, etc. and then BOOM...we are pulling out the snowboots and gloves and coats and clearing the cars off. Now poor R...he thought it was still spring and/or missed the forecast and left his truck window down ~ therefore had literally a snowdrift in his truck!

Maybe it's all a bad dream?

No, it's not a dream....no grilling out tonight!!

Those cute little green shoots that L , D, and I had worked so hard to find buried beneath the leaves and mess are now froze to death. Good Grief Charlie Brown! Auntie J had posted pictures of her beautiful crocus and now they no longer remain....so sad! D and I felt so sorry for the birds today...they were flying around like they didn't know where to go or what to do....We decided that they were saying "Man, that was the shortest spring/summer EVER! Guess it's time to head south again!"

D and I were remembering last year's first day of Spring.....I don't recall snow!!

I'm not giving up ... I'm going to finish doing the things inside I need to get done. Then hopefully as quick as this whiteness came...it will be gone again to be replaced by that green again.

Merry Spring to all and to all a good night.

Thankful Thursday

Today there was a blue sky and it was simply M A R V E L O U S and I am so thankful for that! It did my heart, body, and soul good. L, D, and I planned to work outside and clean some gardens and spray paint some "stuff" for L's wedding. It was so nice to not wear a coat and gloves! We raked, pulled weeds, bagged leaves, and found lots of cute little green shoots trying to poke up out of that ground. My poor out of shape body has not worked that hard in months...I'm sure I'll feel it later. The sunshine was so nice and I know one thing about myself...I do better with a good dose of Vitamin D from the sun. That vitamin in pill form is not cutting it.

Could it possibly be true that the rains and even snow might come back?


Update:
Do you recall the UGLY? (Read back a few blogs!) Well, I'm happy to say that the UGLY is now the "Less Ugly".

We raked and pulled and raked and pulled and it is better....not great...better! :) Stay tuned...it might get even better!

Auntie J and Johnny Mike were here yesterday to work on L's invites! They are bee u tee ful!! She is such an artist and so creative. When I get the okay, I'll show them. When I grow up, I want to be her....I mean it! I love that woman! She draws, she cooks, she knits, she plays the guitars, she reads, she plays the piano, she decorates, she cans, she gardens....and she does it all with no effort! She is a blast to be around!!

I think we had been in these clothes for 3 days on our Colorado Wilderness Family Camping trip!!

I read a great blog about being an encourager when you can. There are days when things are great and everything is going well. Those are the days we need to remember to help those in need. Then there are those days when putting one foot in front of the other is a chore, or just getting out of bed is an accomplishment, or everytime you turn around bad news or sad news or difficult times emerge.....those are the times when an "encourager" would be a welcome sight or sound. I'm going to work on that....I really needed that cattle prod today. I had a great day...I had a happy day....I had a blessed day......and so what do I need to do? I believe God would want me to be an "encourager" and to remember others. At church the little kids are taught a song "JOY" (Jesus first, Yourself last and Others in between). What a great lesson! My momma has been diagnosed with Alzheimers ... She has a lot of hard days now. She lost her brother to this disease and her sister also has been diagnosed with it.

Mom, H, and Dad

I have to be a better encourager. I'm so grateful for all my encouragers...God is so good.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

I'm a 3rd grade teacher and when my girls were younger (maybe 4, 8, 11), they would walk next door to my school if I was working late or on a Saturday to play in my room. They would call me and say, "We're on our way!" and would come to the door closest to my room, knocking on my window so I'd let them in. As I approached the door, it never failed ...they would be standing there in soldier form with each one covering either eyes, ears, or their mouth.

These are NOT my girls...

These ARE my girls (thankfully)

It became a ritual for them when they would come to visit me! I had looked up where this "thing" came from and had forgotten so I refreshed my memory to find it was from Japan in the 17th century. Then I thought of the verse James 1:19 which I often have to remind myself of. I find that if I abide by it, I tend to have better days.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

Some days I'm like one of those monkeys and I keep my mouth shut at the appropriate times, (for instance today when my daughter was driving :)...other days I'm able to avoid the anger and rage I may feel, and then there are days when I just zip it up and listen to the wisdom of others (now that's a blessing). I can't quite get ALL those going in sync on most days, but I'm a work in progress....those 3 "monkeys" of mine will tell you that. I get a lot of help from them and they don't mince words most of the time. I appreciate them so much...I really do. I think I'll post this verse on my fridge or in my kitchen window and continue to work on it. The chimps don't seem to show up at school in their positions as much anymore. I just have that wonderful memory...but who knows, maybe they'll surprise me!

Spring Break is Here!

It's official...Spring Break has arrived and it feels great....Not having to be up and out the door at a certain time is a big plus...R and I celebrated by going to a quaint little coffee loft for supper. L arrived home with laundry and a cold in tow...thank you very much for both! H will be home in a few days~ We have lots on the agenda for break: RELAXATION~Wedding planning~Yard work~Spring cleaning~RELAXATION~Cleaning out a garden or two that I know is out there~Shopping~Cooking with the girls~and RELAXATION. I've not got to play with my grand-imals...as I just can't enjoy the cold anymore so they basically have just received food and water and not much social time. So I'm hoping to get to run around with Harley outside, and cuddle with Ollie and Roxie. I want to get the bird feeders cleaned and up and running. I also want to do one of my favorite things of early spring....go visit Gpa N's new baby calves. I hear there are new twins. Is there anything much cuter than a new calf? Well maybe...but they're pretty high on my list. I'll try to get their pic and report back.

Thankful Thursday

Thursday has always been my favorite day of the week I do believe. I guess it's because the weekend is right around the corner. I do love Sundays for it being the Lord's Day so maybe Thursdays are 2nd favorite. I'm going to try to remember to post (remember???? well ....) a little somthin' to be grateful for on Thursday. Today is was rainy, dreary, cool, cloudy, etc. etc. etc. .....and today I'm actually thankful for sunshine. It's there just waiting to break wide open and warm our hearts and bodies, but it's just not quite time yet. Patience...patience...patience...I love the John Denver song, "Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy, sunshine in my eyes can make me cry..."( I think that's how it goes!)....... I like that. I'm really missing Mr. Sun. I'm going to appreciate and be thankful when he gets here. I'm going to go out in the yard, raise my face up to him, reach my arms out to him, and smile. ( I really hope my family is NOT around when this happens....they may call the paddy wagon OR they could just look at each other and shake their heads..who knows!) I'm going to really really try to become a morning person this summer when school is out and enjoy the sunrise, the quiet, the peace, the stillness. I want to see that sun in the morning and enjoy it all day and then watch it float away into darkness. Coffee on our front porch with a morning Bible verse has been a tradition R and I have in the summers. We love it and it is a great way to start the day. I think I'll try starting even earlier and get up with Mr. Sun. It's worth a try!! Maybe L will join me!! So here's to SUNSHINE!!

The Ugly

Okay go ahead and say it....U G L Y!!! This my dear people is the site of my Marcia Brady's and my soon to be soninlaw's wedding!!!!!!! ARGHHHHHHHH ... HELP!! Deep breathing....I'm not going to panic...YET! Good ole Daddy spent yesterday evening sowing more seed and fertilizer and tonight the rains have come. That's a plus! My soninlaw to be is a Landscape Designer. That's a bigger plus! and God provides. That is the ultimate plus. Sooooooo everything will be fine. I have gathered some pictures to inspire and give me hope!!

It doesn't hurt to dream...does it????????

The Bad....

How could these two precious looking kitty cats be listed on the "BAD" list? Well they are not on MY bad list...just the list of the two males in our family. The decree went out "NO cats get to visit inside ever again!" Quick story: Olive Boo , the black kitty, was rescued as a newborn from a cornfield by little Miss D and she nursed her back to health from near death.

They became best friends and bonded.

We (Mom and D) couldn't bear the thought of sending her out into the big wide world again where she had lived alone with no mommy, no food, no water, no love. So we procrastinated having to wean her to live outside. It didn't help that the other kitty, Roxie, literally hated her guts, and the only thing that kept Ollie alive with Roxie stalking her was a glass door.

Enter: Next picture:

This is the straw that broke the camel's back. The male third of the family dropped the "GET OUT" bomb when a chair became the scratching post. Not a happy time in the household! So Poor Ollie went to meet the challenge of her life....Roxie and the World. She lived under the deck for weeks..alone and lonely. Roxie made it known that this was her domain and don't mess with her. And so now the two co exist...they don't curl up together and purr but I (The Loving Mother) have insisted they get along. They share a bedroom (the garage), they eat together, and they can be together on the deck and enjoy the sunshine.

She's still not on MY bad list, but it is a little calmer around here!!

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

The Good---

I woke this a.m. early and heard the birds singing! Oh how wonderful! I imagined in my mind a pretty bird such as this sitting on my deck serenading me and trying to say "I'm home..I'm home..I found my way back!" It was so ... so.... well GOOD! What a uplifting way to start the day...ooohhhh that all over warm feeling....don't you just love those? Then reality set in and up on my feet I went and away with the day it was. But for those few precious minutes....a bird and I had a moment together and it was GOOD.

The Bad???? The Ugly???? Those sequels to come!! :)

PS...Lace is amazed at how long I type on this thing but how little shows up on the screen....If she is not careful, she may end up on the Bad AND the UGLY sequel.

Pray Without Ceasing

Pray without ceasing...1 Thess. 5:17....oh how often I try! One of my favorite verses if not my favorite. It has taken me many years to learn that I can accomplish so little alone but with God, my endeavors are limitless. When my stomach is in knots over problems, when I can't solve a dilemma, when I feel helpless, I NOW know that it doesn't have to be that way...I just turn it over to God through prayer and the weight and relief is lifted. My days start and end well with prayers said. If I can start my praying before my feet hit the floor in the morning, the day is off to a good start. If I can end my day with prayer (if I don't fall asleep in the middle ... I think, I hope, God forgives me on those nights) my rest is peaceful. Well, occasionally the snoring from the other side of the bed doesn't make it real peaceful but that's another story! I'm working on doing a better job of "middle of the day" praying. With a classroom full of 19 students calling my name at a constant pace, or pecking on my body, or answering an uncountable number of questions, (My favorite question from 8-9 year olds..."Mrs. M, You know that one thing....?"......No Johnny, I'm going to have to have a few more details please.") anyway, I sometimes find it hard to find the quiet to "PRAY". Well, maybe I don't need the quiet, maybe I should just break right into that much needed prayer time. I'm working on it. I'm getting better at it. Sometimes when that prayer time happens, I get the , "Mrs. M, are you okay?" "Yes Johnny, I was just figuring out a "thing" or two".

Here we go!!!

Hello to anyone who is out there! WOWIE WOW WOW...what a new world is this! This is my first attempt at blogging...and the definition of "attempt" is my 15 year old daughter basically guiding me through this! Bless her little heart for hanging in there with me...I guess laughing at me is her way to get through it. Anywho...I have been FASCINATED reading other peoples blogs. I've made so many new friends (they have no idea I exist :) but fun to see how people tick. I will first credit my sis in law (Aunt J) for introducing me to this world. She has a FABTABULOUS blog you have got to check out. We have had a blast sharing our discoveries. Then my 21 year old daughter had a blog and I didn't even know so she has inspired me as well with her creative side and humor...You'll love it! I'm not really sure what I intend to accomplish with this- a diary? friendships? spiritual support? recipes? gardening tips? a cheap therapy session? We'll just see. I could not even come up with a name for this blog but I was sitting in my bed listening to my headphones and Carole King was just a singing a way (Sweet Seasons) and "ding" I thought....well there it is...I love the changing of seasons (still learning how in the world to totally embrace WINTER) but I do love all the change. Spring is a coming and I'm becoming a new woman mentally!