#229

I am grateful for being able to go barefoot again! The grass feels so soft on my feet. I've also noticed that my littlest guy takes after me in this way...he is always kicking off his socks and shoes! :-) Love little footprints!

#228

I'm grateful my son has good, fun friends. A little crazy, yes, but they have fun. Today was Trevin's 8th birthday party with his school friends and they had a good time doing Lunar Golf, pizza, ice cream cake and fun presents!

Wow, my little guy is 8!!! (Technically, he's 7 for 3 more days.)

Not sure why Trevin is the only one NOT smiling here. He really was having a good time! :-)

#227

I'm sorry, I don't have anything positive to say about wind today. I know it blows down dead limbs out of trees and such and helps you fly a kite, but wind is NOT my friend today.

Ok, but I am grateful to have my butterfly cage cleaned. I sprayed it with 10% bleach solution and washed it off with the hose. (See why I don't like the wind today?) The butterfly season has officially begun! :-)

#226

I was determined today to find something positive to say about clouds. It has been very cloudy and cool here recently and it's been dragging me down because I'm so ready for a warm Spring!!!!! Ready to plant, ready to dig in the dirt, ready to see FLOWERS and BUTTERFLIES!!! But since I haven't been able to do that, I have been able to work on our basement painting project, so that's one good thing. Another good thing about clouds is that they are often very beautiful! And very varied. No two clouds look alike and even the same cloud doesn't look the same for very long. I think I need to spend more time lying on the grass and staring at the clouds and imagining what's up there...a wooly lamb, a turtle, an elephant head. That was so fun when I was a kid! :-) Clouds also make great pictures. Especially during a sunset or a thunderstorm. Oh my, they showcase God's power. Nothing like a lightning bolt lighting up a tall thundercloud to make you feel how small you are. Cloud pictures also make great backgrounds for photos of your Super-Son flying to save the world! :-)

#225

I am grateful today for kind, helpful people. I had 2 things go wrong today that really, in the grand scheme of things were not that bad, and in working to get them figured out (because even though they weren't that bad, they still needed fixing), I got to work with some VERY helpful people who really made my day! I'm glad that I didn't let the situations upset me but stayed calm and thus it was easy for people to help me.
The 2nd challenge of the day involved an especially neat experience. I was on the phone with the alarm company (because I thought the smoke alarm had gone haywire) and my call was cut off the first time I called in. When I called back in, the gentleman (he really was a gentleman!) tried to get the first lady back on the line, but couldn't, so he said, "But I'm here and I can help you." :-) Excellent customer service! It was like he was trying to comfort me...and he did. I felt confident he could help me and it was okay that I didn't finish up with the first lady. I can imagine that they train them for that...I'm sure the alarm company has to talk to some pretty worked up people from time to time. And I'm pretty sure it's harder to help worried people and upset people. I don't won't to be that kind of person when I'm asking for help.

#224

Well, I've got a string of picture-less posts going here. Sorry about that!
Never-the-less, I am grateful today for a great trip to the library! The boys were very helpful in picking out books and movies and they even had time to do some activities on the computer. It's so fun to get to take so many wonderful books home...for free! I love the first few hours in the van or at home after we've made a trip to the library...they're just engrossed in the books, paging through all of them to see what we picked out!

:-)

#223

I am grateful today that God has created a beautiful earth for us to live on and spend our days. And not only that, but he has made provision for our soul...Jesus.

#222

I am grateful today for prayer. It is powerful and I never want to forget it.

#221

I am very grateful for a husband who will stay up till midnight painting trim with me so we can paint the walls tomorrow...all in an effort to get this painting project done in time for my mom to come! :-) (Mom, you reading this? We'll be ready for ya! :-) )

#220

I am grateful for a good preschool year for Logan. Yesterday was a field trip to the zoo and we had a good time. He has learned a lot in this past year and is always surprising us with what he knows. Kindergarten, here we come!

Logan is in the orange coat...

The giraffes were very curious!

Feeding the goats...

In the gift shop...

At the park where we had a picnic at the end of the zoo tour.

#219

I am grateful my ajuga plant is really taking off this year! Near the base of the plant to the right and left you can see runners growing. Hope it spreads well and that it doesn't get drowned out. It sits at probably the lowest spot in the garden and until we get our drainage fixed, always sits in a big puddle for a long time after a big rain. But so far it's still alive at least! :-)

#218

I am grateful for a delicious Rhubarb Crisp tonight...1st rhubarb of the season. Sadly, it's not my own b/c mine didn't come up this spring, but the grocery store had some great stuff!

#217

I am grateful that my plans are falling together to frame my print for the KS-150 Art Show. When you're on a budget, you have to hunt down the best deals! I'm getting the print, the frame and the glass all from different places!
My image was one of 150 pieces to be selected for an exhibition in June-July 2011 to help celebrate Kansas' 150th birthday. All of the images will also be published in a book. The image below is the one I submitted and is called "Kansas Rest Stop." We are on the Monarch's migration route and there is a lot of research done here on the Monarchs. I am turning my framed image in on May 2nd, so that's not too far away!

#216

I am grateful today for a lovely lunch with friends and a boat ride for my boys! Even the dog went on the boat with them and they caught a fish! Fun times!

#215

I am grateful today to have witnessed the life of a man who loved God, loved others and was "made perfect through suffering." We moved here right after Roland Faber began having heart problems so we never knew him as the big, strong man he once was. But we did know his gentle, loving spirit, and for that he was also a big, strong man. He never completely regained his physical strength in the past 5 years and this week he passed away, his body not able to carry his soul in this world any longer. He will be missed, but he will also be remembered. He went through a lot and it made him a better person.

#214

I am grateful that we didn't get the bad thunderstorm last night they were predicting. I am also grateful for the gentle rain we're getting today to help my seeds grow! I hope we don't get any gushers this spring to wash out my seeds.

#213

I am grateful for some great progress on our basement painting project. We've started on the big open area and it's all primer-white now! This is what it looked like yesterday right before Corey started rolling. Kind of made you felt like you were behind bars... :-) This project is holding me captive, but I do sneak outside every once in a while to work in the garden for a bit. :-)

#212

I am grateful for a gorgeous day at Tulip Time today! The flowers were beautiful and the weather wonderful!

#211

I am grateful today to share a very special event with my littlest guy...Kindergarten Round-Up! It is so fun to see them grow up and develop and do all kinds of smart things, but it also tugs at the heart strings a little bit! I am really going to miss my little daytime buddy next year when he heads off to school with his big brother. But in the meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy him and help him be excited for school. :-)

The theme for Round-Up was the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See," and Logan was in the group with duck nametags! Cute! It was so nice he already knew some of the kids in his group, too...soccer friends and preschool friends.



Logan and his buddy...Their older brothers are also buddies. Double fun! :-)

Lining up after their bus ride to go do some Kindergarten activities with the Kindergarten teachers. Wish I could've been a mouse in the room! :-)

#210

I am very grateful for sweet little guy who helped his big brother out today when he wasn't feeling well. He got him crackers, ice and let mom know when it was time for medicine! :-) Fighting a fever, but hope it's over soon!

#209

I am grateful for an early morning photo shoot (rhododendron) and a chance to catch some shots at our friends' home with some flowers (snowdrops...love those cute little flowers!) that we don't have at our place (yet, anyway!).

#208

I am grateful for our beautiful pink crabapple trees that burst into bloom today! They are just loaded with blossoms! Several years ago we had a problem with a fungus on the leaves and all 9 of our crabapples lost all their leaves in the middle of summer! It looked awful! And we were afraid they would die because of it. They didn't die, but we did cut down 7 of them because we didn't want to deal with that every year. Spraying them would help, but required 4 applications times 9 trees times a lot of money...well, you get the idea! But I'm sure glad we kept two! (I begged Corey to keep them until we could get some new ones started!) We had a less severe problem the next year and they have regained their blooming strength so we once again have our splendid crabapples that were the star of the show when we first bought this place. (Even though we bought the place in Feb., we found pictures tucked in a kitchen drawer of what they looked like in the Spring. We decided to buy the place before we saw the pictures, but once we saw them, I was extra happy!)

Had to hold this branch in place...it was so windy! Hope I get some good shots in the next couple of days before the wind batters them all!

#207

I am very grateful for our first dinner of the season out on our deck!

We also had our first bonfire which lent itself very nicely to strawberry s'mores! (made with strawberry marshmallows, that is!)

Noticed the little grape hyacinths were out on the creek bank. Evening light was just right on them. (Though it doesn't show up much in this pic.)

#206

I am grateful that I have my own personal Ask-A-Nurse! My mother is always getting calls from me when I have little aches and pains or when the boys are running a fever. It's so nice! Today I had some back pain from a little too vigorous hoeing in the garden and sanding in the basement. It's much better tonight, thankfully! I feel normal again.

Thanks, Mom! :-)

#205

I am grateful for a lovely friend with a boy just Logan's age who asked him to play at the park today. I had a bit extra time to myself today and had the great opportunity to run over to the lake and snap some shots of a row of blooming pear trees just in the height of their glory. Several of them are already getting their green leaves, so they won't be all white much longer. Spring is so quick...it's my favorite season, yet flies by so fast. Or perhaps it's because I see the spring flowers as defining Spring and they each last for just a little while. But there IS always one or another in bloom...I just need to savor each one. We've had crocuses, daffodils, forsythia, pear trees...Tulips come next...and the Tulip Festival starts this weekend! :-) Ahhhh...I love Spring!

#204

I am grateful for a lovely little garden spot and the first seeds sown today! I planted spinach and lettuce. Grow, grow, grow! :-)

#203

With a very bad storm having gone through our neighborhood last night, I am very grateful we had no damage and we are okay. A few homes were not so lucky and the school was without power today, so Trevin had a bonus day off! We had a friend over for the morning and overall had a great day!

House a couple blocks north of us had part of their roof "blown" off. They called it a "gustnado". :-)


Across the street, a tree fell down on the neighbor's truck. I believe this is where the power was out.



photos courtesy of cjonline.com (Topeka Courier Journal)

#202

I am grateful for a wonderful game of baseball at the school this afternoon with my 3 favorite guys! :-) BTW, it's not a good idea to run in slip-on sandals!

#201

What an awesome day! I am grateful for...

...daffodils


...hammocks




...trout lilies


...soccer games


(Which way are we going, boys? ...That way!)


...being outside all day

and

...sunburns (No picture...thankfully!) :-)

#200

I am grateful for another First Friday Artwalk where I made a sale!

I sold a box of butterfly cards...made my day!

Come see me in May!