Happy Birthday to my Babe

April Showers..

...bring my favorite spring flowers.

My irises have been my faithful friends. I love them because they are so hardy! I didn't start out loving irises but they have grown on me.


This group has been with me for over 10 years. They have lived at 4 different houses with me and made it through 3 moves. I've lost a couple colors along the way but it is always hard to make sure you've got them all when you move.

When we moved to this house, these iris were lucky we even got them in the ground. My priority is always to get the daylilies in the ground first and we just didn't have much energy left when we made it to the irises. We basically just dug an area out, threw some bone meal in and planted them with the rhizomes sticking out.

This year the whites seem to be particularly hardy and are taking over. I've had this happen before when there is one color that is stronger, it will grow over the others and then the next thing you know, you only have white. So, I am labeling all the leaves. This fall I will dig them up and put all the whites in their own group.

I know. There are days when I verge on brilliance.

I've always had a weakness for clematis.

When we moved here, someone at the local nursery advised me not to try to grow clematis down here. She said they just don't do well.

But I love them and thought I'd give it a try anyways.

And look what I've got!

This is their second spring in my yard and they seem to be growing just fine thankyouverymuch!

So what's growing in your spring garden?

It's the little things that make me happy

While we were at the farm, the kids spent most of their time on the 4-wheelers. In fact, in almost every picture I took they are either on a 4-wheeler with their dad, Grandma, Grandpa, or Great-Grandpa.

There are many fields to ride through, ponds to go visit, and a gravel road to drive on down to the river. It's great fun!

During one of the rides we drove through a field where an old farm house used to be years ago. No roads to it. No foundation left. Nothing was left to show that it had ever existed.

Nothing except daffodils.

Lots and lots of daffodils!

There were at least 2 different varieties if not 3, but only one was still blooming. I asked my Grandpa if I could dig up some starts of them (seeing as how they were way back in a cow field and nobody ever saw them anyway) and he said that would be just fine if I thought they would live.

He's not a real big gardener.

And I know it's not the best time of year to dig up daffodils, but I'm just working with what I've got here.
Aren't they beautiful?

So my dad and I hopped on the 4-wheelers and rode back to the pasture and he dug up a couple clumps for me. The clumps have lots of bulbs in them because it has been many many years since they have been divided.

I am so excited!

How fun is that!?! Fancy daffodils from my Grandpa's farm. I can't wait to see what the other ones look like!

And I thought I had trouble

So we took a road trip to my Grandpa's farm last weekend.

10 hours up. 10 hours back.

Loooooong trip.

But it was so beautiful and we had such a great time.


We usually see lots of baby animals around this time of year so when the kids ran in saying they found a nest of babies, I wasn't that surprised.

I was thinking along the lines of, "Big deal, it's probably a nest of baby bunnies and we've already got 3 and counting of those in our own backyard!"

But I was wrong.

They weren't baby bunnies.

They were baby armadillos!


There were 4 in the nest and the mama was a big ole gal who wasn't very happy to see us. After she took off, the kids got adventurous and Grandpa caught them a couple to hold.

We checked all the backpacks twice to make sure we didn't bring any back to Texas with us.

***disclaimer*** no baby armadillos were injured in the making of this blog post

Modesty, it's that thought that counts

So my girl was trying on clothes.

A skirt to be exact.

She came in the room to model it with nothing else on.

I told her it fit just fine but that ladies wear shirts around the house to keep themselves modest.

She smiled at me and said, "Don't worry Mom, I'll keep myself modest on the way back to my room."

And then she took both of her hands and very carefully covered her belly button with them and ran all the way back to her room.


Great. It seems we've got a lot to discuss.

It's all worth it

All the nights of interrupted sleep.

All the shirts that will forever have the faint stain left behind by spit up.

All the exhaustion.

All the outfits ruined by a blowout.

All the endless loads of laundry.

All the diapers and binkis and onesies and socks and burp cloths.

It's all worth it.

Besides my husband heard somewhere that your oldest son

is the one who will pick out your nursing home and your

youngest daughter is the one who

will come see you.

All our hope is in her.

It's so worth it.

Thankful Thursday

So much to be thankful for...

1. Thankful that the second round of antibiotics took care of my strep.

2. Thankful that none of the rest of my family got strep.

3. Thankful for my Thursday night Bible Study. We are doing Beth Moore's 'Living Beyond Yourself". It's a great study!

4. Thankful for my Thursday night Bible Study ladies! It's been so fun getting to know them all!

5. Thankful for the sunshine.

6. Thankful for a sweet violin teacher who is giving me a 10 minute lesson each week after my kids are done with theirs.

7. Thankful for my parents who came down to watch my kids so I could go to a physical therapy continuing education class. I had a great time away and the kids had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa.

8. Thankful for my husband! We've been married for 13 years this week!

9. Thankful for the willow blue KitchenAid Mixer that my husband gave me for an anniversary gift. Love it. Is loving an appliance wrong? Because if it is, I don't wanna be right.

10. Thankful that God is Good. All the time.


Happy Thankful Thursday!

Sad Story, Happy Ending

Well, a couple weeks ago I dropped my camera.

My beloved camera that I adore. My beloved camera that I use just about every day. My beloved camera that my husband bought for me 2 years ago for my birthday.

I tripped, and I dropped it on the concrete and it busted the casing on my lens and messed up my camera body.

I almost cried.

My husband remembered that we had bought a 2 year warranty on it. The only problem was that my birthday was a week ago.

When we checked the warranty we discovered that we bought my camera a week and a day after my birthday.

At that point the clouds parted and a ray of sunshine shone down on me and I'm just sure I heard someone singing "Hallelujah!... Hallelujah!..."

It might have been my husband.

So we took the camera in with one day to spare and they sent it off with me hoping they would indeed repair it.

We picked it up this weekend and it's perfect. Everything is fixed. I'm so happy. And I kept singing a song in my head that I heard when we saw the Blue Man group.

Yes, I paid good money to take my husband to go see 3 guys with blue heads entertain us for his birthday one year. And I have to say, it was quite entertaining. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. No eternal value whatsoever. No intellectual curiously stimulated. Just pure entertainment.

So this is the song I've been singing. About my camera. I know, it's sad. But it's that little things in life that make me happy.

I so want her dress!

And I'm always going to carry my camera in it's case from now on!

And Even More

We woke up Friday morning to 12 inches of snow in the backyard! The kids were singing "We wish you a Merry Christmas" all morning. It was amusing to say the least.
Sweet baby girl got to go out for a couple minutes. Probably the only time she would have an opportunity to wear her cute fuzzy pink snowsuit.

And I was able to get the kids to stop throwing snowballs, making forts and snowmen and snow angels for just a minute so I could take a group photo.

It was a fun treat for us to have that much snow in Texas. The best part was that the streets were not icy for very long and we didn't lose power. Hope everyone has been surviving the snow too!

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snooooow, I want to run my hands my face my hair in Snow....

Actually, I just want to sit inside and drink hot chocolate and watch the pretty snow flakes and sing the song.

But the kids on the other hand..... they could not wait to get out in the snow! They have been watching pictures of snow all around the country and were hoping we would get some in Dallas too. They had their coats and gloves on before breakfast was over.

So I sent them outside and declared today a Snow Day.

Happy Snow Day!

Twas the night

I read this somewhere and thought I would share.

Although I think I would have kept the clone for just a couple days. :)




Twas The Night Before Christmas ... For Moms
by Ruth Carter-Bourdon

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the abode
Only one creature was stirring, and she was cleaning the commode.
The children were finally sleeping all snug in their beds,
While visions of Nintendo and Barbie flipped through their heads.

The dad was snoring in front of the TV,
With a half-constructed bicycle propped on his knee.
So only Mom heard the reindeer hooves clatter,
Which made her sigh, "Now what is the matter?"

With the toilet bowl brush still clutched in her hand,
She descended the stairs and saw the old man.
He was covered with ashes and soot, which fell with a shrug,
"Oh, great," muttered Mom, "now I have to clean the rug."

"Ho Ho Ho!" cried Santa, "I'm glad you're awake,
Your gift was especially difficult to make."
"Thanks, Santa, but all I want is time alone."
"Exactly!" he chuckled, "So, I've made you a clone."

"A clone?" she muttered, "What good is that?"
"Run along, Santa, I've no time for chit chat."
Then out walked the clone — the Mother's twin;
Same hair, same eyes, same double chin.

"She'll cook, she'll dust, she'll mop every mess.
You'll relax, take it easy, watch TV, and work less."
"Fantastic!" the Mom cheered. "My dream has come true!"
"I'll shop, I'll read, I'll sleep a night through!"

From the room above, the youngest did fret.
"Mommy? Come quickly, I'm scared and I'm wet."
The clone replied, "I'm coming, sweetheart."
"Hey," the Mom smiled, "she sure knows her part."

The clone changed the small one and hummed her a tune,
As she bundled the child in a blanket cocoon.
"You're the best mommy ever. I really love you."
The clone smiled and sighed, "And I love you,too."

The Mom frowned and said, "Sorry, Santa, no deal.
That's my child's love she is trying to steal."
Smiling wisely, Santa said, "To me it is clear,
Only one loving Mother is needed here."

The mom kissed her child and tucked her in bed.
"Thank you, Santa, for clearing my head.
I sometimes forget, it won't be very long,
When they'll be too old for my cradle and song."

The clock on the mantle began to chime.
Santa whispered to the clone, "It works every time."
With the clone by his side, Santa said, "Good night.
Merry Christmas, dear Mom, you will be all right."

Gobble Gobble

I saw these at Bakerella and just had to make them.

Could they be any cuter? Okay, so hers are cuter. I had one brief trip to Walmart to gather supplies and the options were limited.

So I had to work with what I had.

And I'm not for sure about the placement of the red dangly thing. I think it's called the wattle. I think. I skipped the class on Turkey anatomy in college.

Since Walmart is not currently carrying the heart candy confetti, I tried to make do. But it's close enough. And it was late last night when I finished these and it seemed right at the time.

And my kids don't care.

They have been counting and recounting and dividing up the turkeys all day.
And I don't have the black edible pen (yet) so I had to make do with the blue.

But that's okay, because they fit right in with all the other blue-eyed turkeys around here!

Gobble, Gobble!

Upwards

Well, we have finished another season of Upwards Basketball.

It's been busy, but fun.

The worst part had to do with the fact that we had a brand new baby and that 5 of the games started at 8:00am Saturday morning. Which meant that we had to be there by 7:45 am on a Saturday morning. Which meant that between the baby being up at night and then having to get up early enough to get all the kids ready, that I didn't get much sleep.

This is his 3rd year of playing basketball and he is really starting to do well.

His dribbling has gotten a lot better and he made most of his shots. He really enjoyed himself.

This one really doesn't have a love for the game. But he played to humor me.

His favorite part of the game is playing defense. And he is really good at defense. So I was tickled to actually get a picture of him dribbling the ball.

Okay, so maybe he's just holding it. But he's touching the ball.

And this girl had all the benefits of having 2 older brothers. Even though this was her first year to play, she knew exactly what she was doing.

We put her on the same team as her brother and they had a great time together. Plus, that meant they had the same practice time and game time every week. Which is priceless!

If the ball was loose, it was going to be hers.

She has some sort of innate drive to possess the ball.

And she seemed to have inherited the abitility to dribble a basketball from someone other than me. They wouldn't let me dribble. I just stood in the designated spot and shot baskets. But she, on the other had, wanted to take the ball down every time. And she's a pretty good shot too.

The funniest part was that even if someone else was dribbling the ball down to the basket, she would run behind them yelling,"I'm open, I'm open!". She wanted that ball. She would also be frequently seen telling other players on her team to guard their person.

We had a great time, but I'm a little thankful the season is over. It's amazing how fast one can get booked up every evening doing great things and end up not having any time at home for family time.

I think I'm ready for some family time.

Or maybe I'm just ready to sleep later than 6:00am on Saturday.

♪ ♫ Sisters ♫ Sisters ♪ There were never such devoted sisters♫ ♪

Our girl has been praying for several years for a baby sister. When we told the kids we were expecting, she was just sure it was going to be a baby girl. When we found out we were having a baby girl, no one was more excited than she.

Before the baby was born, she would sit beside me and sing to her sister, walk beside me and talk to her sister, and even lie down beside me whilst I tried to nap and read books to her baby sister.

She said the other day,"Mom, when she turns 2, can I have her?" She has helped change wet diapers and holds her baby sister any time she gets a chance. She loves to pick out outfits for her to wear and help me dress her.

A couple days ago she realized that her baby sister had a tiny white pettiskirt just like the one she frequently wears around the house with her black leotard. She was estatic. And then she discovered a black onsie and decided that baby girl needed to dress up just like her and they must have pictures taken together.


So we set up a photoshoot on location.



Our livingroom.



I think they turned out pretty cute. My girl would have posed all day long. She was so proud and excited to be dressed just the same as her baby sister.


I think this one is my favorite. You can see in her face how much she loves her sister.

Hairbow placement get tricky when one's hair is the consistency and texture of a baby chick's.

Well, that's 2 posts in 2 days from me! Sleep really does help! I'm off to get our homeschool done for the day.

Have a great Wednesday!

Six Hours

So baby girl is now 6 weeks old and for the last 4 or 5 nights, she has slept for six consecutive hours.

It is a-mazing what a difference that makes.

I actually feel like I might just make it.

I was sharing this fact with someone the other day and they more or less expressed that with that much sleep, I should probably be almost back to normal operating speed.

I had to point out that even though baby girl is sleeping 6 consecutive hours, I'm still just getting about 5 hours myself. And that I am still up every morning from 3am -4am feeding her. And that after that she was back to her 3 hour schedule.

And that person said, "But can you imagine what it would be like if she was up every 3 hours at night?"




Hmm.





Yes.





I think I could very well imagine that.




SEEING AS HOW THAT WAS HER SCHEDULE RIGHT UP UNTIL FIVE DAYS AGO!!!



I guess the perplexing part was that person actually sleeps in the same room that baby girl and I sleep in.




Curious.




Anyways, I am very grateful she has started sleeping well and I really do feel like I am able to accomplish so much more when I'm not walking around in a sleepy fog.


Maybe I'll even post more often than every 6 weeks!


Maybe.