frogs

When I laid my eyes on this....

I fell in love with frogs.

It was that easy...

Darn them...

Around every Easter time we volunteer to help fill some plastic eggs for a big community Egg Hunt sponsored by our church. At church we are given bags of plastic eggs and even the candy to stuff inside. How hard is that? A piece of cake!! We could do hundreds without breaking a sweat, but there are many volunteers at church...so we just get a few bags. Thank goodness for that this year!!

Why???

Well, let me share a little story with you....

This is the usual kind of candies that come home with us. The variety changes year to year...but it's usually along these lines. No problem. I can live without this kind of candy and it does nothing to tempt me. It doesn't even know my name.

These are the eggs for this year. Just 84 eggs to fill. We were given a bag of the above candy for one bag of plastic eggs. For the other bag of plastic eggs we were given......

Uh oh...we have a problem!! It not only knows my name, it knows my husband's name and my daughter's name. It began calling within mere minutes of entering our home.




Hellooo, sweetie! Isn't it pretty? Don't you just feel your spit glands going into overdrive? Can you hear it calling you, too?

Told you we had a problem! We are weak against this darn things!

It cost me $5 today to go out and buy a couple of these....

They are now all safely nestled inside plastic eggs and taped for good measure! Next year...I will have to preview the goods coming home with us. Depending on my mood....I might only bring the chocolate home. ;o)

a spot of tea...

When K was born she changed my identity. I was a mom of boys. After three of them, I just figured that I was always going to be a mom of boys. I understood boys. It felt right. Now suddenly...I was a mom of a girl. Gulp! What in the heck do you do with girls? Sure, I was one myself....but I never understood me! How could I raise a .... girl?

Well, one of the first things I did was go shopping for a tea set. Mike went with me and then later my mom joined me in picking out a tea set. We found a cute little store close by that was run by two elderly sisters. They had tea sets galore. However one in particular spoke to me. I brought it home and put it in the china cabinet waiting for the day that we could have tea time. In my mind it was going to be the time to just chill and talk. We could learn a little about manners, have a few little treats...but mainly I wanted it to be a time to connect with her. I hoped that it would be something that K would love and that she would treasure that time we spent together. I started early with her and didn't worry about using my new china set. (we bought extra cups and saucers just in case!) It was for a special time and time spent with her is always special. My plan is to give her the tea set when she gets married and I do hope she has some little girls in her future.

Yesterday was tea time. For the treat, we decided to make some cucumber sandwiches without crusts of course!!

Don't they look yummy? Isn't that tea set cute?

We have ice cubes in our tea cups instead of sugar lumps! We both prefer ice tea on most days. The tea for the day was Mango Black Tea.

Yep, she enjoys our special times.

The treats don't hurt, either. ;o)

Sometimes tea time lasts even longer then the treats though. Isn't that they way it should be?

Looking forward to spring....

I know it's coming soon. The calendar tells me that in a mere 4 days it will be spring. I'm not sure the weather is on board with that....but there are little signs all around that says it's true. We have had robins galore in our yard and cute little spring flowers poking up here and there.

Of course, I can always go in K's room and feel that summer is already here....

Makes me glad that she loves butterflies!!

Snow day fun....

We have a special sledding spot that has been a tradition since the boys were younger. Of course...it isn't a secret, but it isn't as crowded as you would think, either.


K was excited that we finally had enough snow to warrant a car ride out to our special spot. Our area is pretty good about getting roads clean around here. So, we set out Monday morning. My job was to take pictures. :) I can handle that! Click on the pictures to see them full size....they are so pretty.

OK...maybe I got a little carried away with the scenery. It is just so peaceful walking in woods after a snowfall. Can't blame me for being taken in by the beauty!!

Ready, Set, Go....

And they're off...

The downside to sledding is having to come back up the hill...

Over and over again.

When we arrived we were very surprised to find ourselves alone!! There was evidence that people had been there earlier in the morning, but there wasn't a soul in sight. Of course...that didn't last very long.

Slowly they came and it looked like the hill I remembered.

One last trip down the slippery slope.

Care for a seat?

A neat hiding place I discovered on the way out. Of course, I imagine it is a much better hiding place when it is full of green leaves.

K in my hiding place.

Don't you just love cheeks that are all rosy from some time spent outside?

(she didn't lose that tooth while sledding...it came out the night before)

(oh...and here is what not to wear in the snow...)

Wouldn't you know.....

A little bit ago I posted that it was time to move on and pack away my snowman dishes. Read about it here.

Yes, it was time to go from this....

...to this.

I had officially given up on snow. Every year I hope for a good snow storm and the past few years have been disappointing. So, I tried the snowman dishes tactic. Surely that would produce results. It failed! Packing up those dishes was actually refreshing. I felt better, almost free. I released my longing for snow and turned towards the thoughts of spring. Yes, time to think of planting veggie gardens and what to read by the poolside. Ah, I didn't realize just how much those dishes were holding me back. A few days ago, it was 70 degrees outside and I quickly ran inside to ditch my coat and change my shirt. I was embracing the new season coming upon us and not looking back.

Yes....we all know what comes after spring. A hot sweltering summer and I have decided I am going to enjoy that this year. No more snow lusting for me... (you all know where this is going, don't you?)

The view out my front window today!!

SNOW DAY!!!

Time for a change?

Back at the end of November I eagerly unpacked my snowman dishes and set them up in the kitchen. My heart soared and I wore a smile for hours!! I was so full of hope and expectation. A wintry, snowy season was no doubt ahead. Heck, I decorated for it...so it was sure to come. You want snow, you put out snowman dishes! Right??

I think this weekend we will pack these babies away. They just depress me.... sigh....I think they are broken or something.

Just get up and do it....

I like to think that I am a "normal" woman just like the rest of you. So, I think I will be able to speak to everyone here today. There are little things all around us that just need to be done. They don't need to be thought about, discussed, put on a list, brought up in a family meeting or handed over to a professional. NOPE, they just need to be done. You, yes, YOU, just need to get up and do it. I am betting there is at least one thing....although there are probably many....that fits this category in your life. Something that just bugs you because it is undone. Yet, you have not made an attempt to fix it. Want to see an example? I'm exposing myself here people....be sensitive!!

As I sit at our school table, which happens to be where my computer is, I often find myself looking to my left. Why? Well, to check the date. This calendar is just a few feet from me and I probably look at it a dozen times a day and it frustrates me.

Let's look a little closer to see why it frustrates me! hehe Yep, it's February 9th in my world, too.

So, today I just got up and did it. It took me less than one minute to go grab the 2009 calendar from the kitchen drawer and hang it up in place of the 2008 calendar. Seriously...what was I waiting for? Now, I will no longer feel like such a lazy slug a dozen times a day... instead, I might just find myself hungrier.

So, tell me....am I "normal"? Do YOU have a few of these little undone things staring you in your face? Well...just get up and do it!! :) You will feel better.

Oh, and don't forget to tell me about it...it makes me feel "NORMAL"!!!

Just one question....

Some days are all neat and orderly.....

and others are...

Yeah......she's always neat and orderly. Where did she come from???

A little bit of old with the new....

Last week a local salon held a cut-a-thon to help raise money for our new church building. Hair stylists donated their time on a Sunday! We had 180 people from our church show up for hair cuts. It was actually kind of fun to show up at the salon and hang out with friends while you waited for your turn. Some of the stylists even donated their tips for the day. This cut-a-thon raised over $4500!!!

Ms. K showing off her new hair style.

Here she is ready to head out to church. I like this shot, because if you double click it and blow it up, you can see the color of her eyes. I usually have a hard time getting her real eye color to show up in a picture.

Notice her necklace? It's where the old in the title comes in to play. The necklace that she chose for her outfit came from her Great Grandmother's collection. K never got a chance to meet her Great Grandmother, but I have no doubt they would have had a special bond.

Can I Keep It??

The other day I was minding my own business (read sitting in the back of the house playing on the computer), when I heard Mike calling from the kitchen. He said something about the dog. The dog and a big bone. I listened a little longer and heard "a bone the size of the dog." Finally, it all came together. "Did you give the dog a rawhide bone that's almost as big as he is?" I had to check it out.

We just had to laugh as Dodger walked in the house carrying this bone. He looked like he was quite proud of himself for snagging such a catch. We suspected that somehow the dog next door...that fits this size of this rawhide...had shared his bone.

Dodger was pleading here. He said he got it fair and square and he wanted to keep it. Finders Keepers and all that. Forget the fact that Dodger becomes a paranoid wreck when he has a rawhide. He paces all over looking for a hiding spot, only to hide it and then watch it, pick it back up and start all over. He obsesses, loses sleep, and becomes a candidate for doggie drugs. It's that bad!! So, I let him carry it around the house for about 30 minutes and it wore him out. Then K picked it up and ran over to our neighbors. It did indeed belong to their dog and they said sometimes their dog likes to put his paws on the top of the fence and he must have been holding his bone and it fell out of his mouth. I still like my version that he was sharing!! ;) We saw him sniffing around the fence....probably where he last saw his bone. He was happy to get it back and quickly tore it up like only a big dog can. (it would have taken Dodger years to put damage on this bone!)

Here is the rightful owner....notice the damage on his bone. (probably trying to get the Dodger smell off it!!LOL)

Ahhh, this is more Dodger's size.