Old MacDonald had a farm...eiei-ooooooo

Look at these adorable farm animals! And Farmer Lamar, too. Lila was so excited to be the horse. She was talking about it for 2 weeks. The day before the program she came home not so cheery (like she usually is). She told me Alayna didn't want to be the pig so she told her she could be the horse instead and she would be the pig. I asked her why she did that, since she was sooo excited to be the horse? She said Alayna was really sad and she wanted her to be happy. What a selfless heart our little girl has! I told her how proud I am of her that she would put someones feelings before her own. What a wonderful reflection!!

And just about the cutest little piggy I ever did see!!!

We enjoyed the show...Lila's music teacher is over qualified to be at Edison elementary. She studied music in France, is a professional flutist and attended very prestigious colleges...how lucky are these kiddos?!

Comfortable?

So, Tabby the squatter cat is apparently quite happy with the fact I pet it numerous times everyday. So happy in fact, that it is my gardening partner. But, here my friends, I think we have crossed the line!








The upside? Free cat-u-puncture =)

"Blue eyed boy meets a brown eyed girl..."

15 amazing years!

Who are these crazy kids?!?!?

"I think we are being watched!"

This love was meant to be!

March 26,1994--I know this is a day early, but we will be out celebrating tomorrow so I thought I had better do this today!!

Timmy B Loves Jenny Leigh !!

Family

As my Grandma is aging-she finds herself reminiscing of her past, which I love. The farms, the diner her mom owned, the baseball with the boys, the simplicities, but some of the reminiscing isn't so easy to hear-like, loss of siblings in the war, loss of babies due to still birth or diseases, abuse...

I really listen when she speaks of their Great Depression and I kind of guffaw at our generation. Our spoiled give me more, right now generation. We wouldn't last a week, put in her past, today.

Bankers in the Late 1920's early 1930's that were the upper, upper class losing it all and moving into farm houses. Or having to stand in line at the local factory praying that you will get work. Eating what you grow or raise.

Yes, times have changed. Technology has grown with us. But family is and will always be there. Money may be fleeting...homes maybe lost, friends may move on, but family...don't take them for granted.

Happy Gardening-let it begin...

Friday was GORGEOUS! We took advantage and worked hard. Evan pruned the Butterfly Bush-which is a huge job. It was over 8 feet tall and now it's back down to 3 feet. It alone fills our big yard waste container. I pruned the pear tree-yeah, no more hitting my head when I mow the lawn :)

The perennial sun garden is cleaned up and looks like a desert oasis...it's so sad. Except for these little bursts of color. The squirrels have been kind to me this last year and for the most part have left my crocuses alone. There was a very happy bumble bee that accompanied me while I was working.




See it? Right in the middle there.

Here's my happy photographer. He takes great pictures for me! He was such a great helper-cutting up all the big branches doing bucket dumps for me and cleaning up all the tools in the end. But, imagine our surprise when we went into the garage today and a huge tree branch was right in the middle. Sneaky! I thought he was done fast. Lucky for him the bin was full ;)

I'm looking for a sun dial on a pedestal about 3 feet tall. Any ideas where to go? Watson's is over priced...I saw a big concrete place on HW 16 on the way to P.O. is that place any good? It doesn't have to be concrete it can be metal that I would love to rust out.

Enjoy the hail/snow/wind today and I will pray your power stays on!

Kiss me I'm...not Irish!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

That didn't take long

Don't be jealous...of those eyebrows!

I'm gonna marry him

Brett's turned 7! If you're a long time follower of this blog, you will remember Brett as the boy, since Lila was 4, that she is going to marry on December 25th. After she is a "woman" and has gone to school to become a vet. All her words : ) So, going through the pictures, it was hysterical. Picture this...Lila sitting in a chair seeing Brett's pictures, cups her face with her hands and saying, "I'm gonna marry that guy, he's so handsome." Then she lets out a little sigh-like he's so dreamy. Happy Birthday Brett O. Have fun coloring your giant Star Wars Clone Wars pages. We had fun at the party!

Check please

I'm ready to cash out! How can Spring tempt us so, and then run and hide, like a little school girl that ducked behind a tree, snickering at us? Oh, well...it's beautiful.

I love, love, love this tree whenever it snows. It was still a bit dark when I took this picture I wish it was brighter.

Pathetic Spring bulbs, trying so hard to figure out what the heck is going on.

This is my newest addition to the shade garden...it's a Daphne, 'February' is it's name. It blooms before its foliage comes. It's extremely fragrant and I want to get it in the ground so bad!

It is on the front porch for now. The porch that is covered so the shrub is protected from the elements. Yeah, right!

Wii bowling

So, Evan likes the new Wii, duh. He really wanted to beat our friend Spencer's high score on bowling, like 288 or something, and prove him wrong that you can get a 300 game. He ripped off Spencer's "moves" and was on a pretty good streak, strike after strike after strike. Then in the 10th frame 2 strikes...so...close. Last frame...


9 pins! 9 stinkin' pins can you believe it? Poor kid ends up with a score of 299. He was so mad he exited out of the screen and I didn't get to take a picture :(

So, do you wanna prove our friend and Evan wrong? That you can get a 300 game? Come on over play a game or 2. I'll bake something for you to munch on between turns. Give us a call!

Most ridiculous Lilaism

I can't put this in the garbage... I'm allergic! (Every time she needs to throw something away for about the last 2 years)

So tonight I tell her that I am allergic to kids who don't obey.

Her response?

"For real?! That's too bad, I really wish you weren't."

Lilaisms

Mom, you should delete your nails... they scratch when you wash my hair.

Evan, smell my breath...does it smell cold?

Every time I go to the bathroom my eyes get hot.

Slug bug, cute color!

Grace like rain

I love our 1913 house. I love that we have great views of the sky in all directions. Perfect for sunrise and especially sunsets. On the rare occasion you will see the bright sun shining up front and an incredible darkness in the back. The moment this happens it is a mad dash for the camera...because as soon as it appears, it is gone. We caught it this time.


Look right above the power pole on the left. It was a double rainbow.

Pretty magnificent, huh?

Birthday

My mom has been staying with us since Wednesday. She has been working at the sewing and stitchery expo at the fair grounds and she has been car pooling with her boss. So, it works out better for her to be here instead of Lakewood. Well, her birthday was on the 28th...so, since she leaves at 7:30am and isn't back here until 6:45 pm, I planned a surprise shin-dig.

I was able to get 4 of the 6 grandkids here (my sister had to work, bummer). My Aunt and Uncle were also here. Grandma won't drive in the dark so she phoned instead. Anyhoo, my Mom was happy and the kids had so much fun.

Lights out and time to sing.
The girls helping blow out the candles. Cuz, you know, being 56 makes it hard to get a deep breath, lol.

I made a dee-lish Granny Smith applesauce cake with a cooked caramel creme frosting. It looks like a giant maple bar. The kids all had 2 pieces, Grandma too. The little piggies :)

I got my mom a clasp wallet and let everyone know what the plan was. We filled her new wallet with gift cards, coupons and of course cash. It turned out really neat. And the wallet is super cute. It's hot pink with a big bedazzled cross on the front. I got it a Feugo's. F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Violet Purple and Macaroni 'n Cheese

Kyle from next door came to play with Lila after our company left yesterday afternoon. Lila went from playing with her good friend JJ to 10 minutes later begging for Kyle to come over. Even though he's right next door, it seems it's hard for our schedules to match enough to be able to get together. Well, yesterday was her lucky day and Kyle was here for 4 hours. And I don't think for one minute either one of them stopped smiling or laughing.

Here Kyle is literally doubled over with laughter. The kids were blowing up water balloons with air and putting them on the heater vent. They would see whose would go the highest and stay up the longest. Apparently quite amusing.

What a couple of cheese balls. They were also using all sorts of kitchen utensils to smack the balloons around. Wooden spoons, spatulas...Oh, I almost forgot! Violet Purple and Macaroni 'N Cheese-the names of their balloons.

Go Macaroni 'n Cheese-come on you can do it!

Pump it up!

The kids cousins invited them to a Pump It Up! party. They had so much fun.

Evan with the BIG boxing gloves. Apparently, he straight up knocked down Tim. I guess it was the "hit" of the night. Poor Timmy.

Look at him! Like boxing wasn't enough? Now he's ready to belt you via dodge ball style.
Okay, something mellow. That's more Mom's style.

Thank you Cole's for a fun Saturday night.

Primrose prettiness

Color is lacking this time of the year in the garden. Thank goodness for Costco and their flat of Primroses! Watson's normally has a sale, but since their daughter has taken over things have changed a bit.

The gardening season has officially begun. In 2 weeks a truck load of compost will be dropped off and ready for spreading. Ready for some hard core manual labor boys? Mama's gonna need help. ;)

Jumping fun on a sunny day

How can you not love this weather?! All was good until this terrifying beast jumped into the trampoline and Lila screamed and cried like it was

a mountain lion looking for dinner.

Really, we love Tabby, but she/he needs a new home. Interested?

I refuse to take her to the pound-she's so lovey. But Lila won't go out side so... maybe the pound is my sad answer?

The view from my porch

I stepped out to water the primroses last night and this is what I saw.

Scavenger hunt fun

Last year was hard. That is an understatement. Last year was painfully hard; physically, emotionally and financially. It was a humbling year as well. We made it through with God's grace (of course). Our perspective on a lot of things changed and will forever be changed. Okay, enough with the sob story. I'm just setting things up so you understand where I am going with this. Christmas was lean in 2008 for our kids. They didn't mind. They have a wonderful extended family who took a lot of the pressure off for us.

Unfortunately, because of 2008 there will be no traveling vacations for us this year or next probably. So, we wanted to do something special for our family. We found it fitting to do it on Valentine's.

The scavenger hunt begins:

The kids found cards with a note attached to the door telling them the hunt was on.

Evan, having a hard time waking up early on a Saturday.This was so much fun. I had rhyming clues on Post-Its all over the house. They would figure out the clue, go to that area and find their next. I had them upstairs, down, then back up.The final clue led them to the laundry room.You figured it out, you're smart I bet...go to the place we put the clothes that are wet.Evan didn't speak for a while (shocking, I know). He couldn't believe what he found.Now, this might not seem like a big deal to a lot of you out there. But, understand every video game system that is in our house Evan has bought with his own money. He was going to wait until his birthday and get either a 360 or a Wii. This is the one thing that we bought as a family gift and let me tell you what, there are a few people with sore arms around our house.

I'm so happy Tim caught this moment. I cried when I saw this picture. Evan was so genuine and lovingly grateful. Later that night he told us again how thankful he was and this is the best present he has ever got, ever!

To be able to do this after all the heartache is truly a blessing.