Friday, March 30, 2012

My Favorite Season of the Year

Nothing says Spring in Texas like our beloved Blue Bonnets! They are in full bloom and after our severe drought God graciously poured out His rain on our thirsty landscape over the winter providing us with a bumper crop of wildflowers! I love the wildflowers even the ones that are weeds! They are all beautiful! Just seeing all the color covering the ground makes me smile from ear to ear and I can't keep from taking pictures! As many sunset pictures as I have, I probably have that many wildflower shots! This year I had an extra treat as I got to photograph not only these beautiful plants but my adorable granddaughters! They just made the pictures "perfect" for me! I wanted to be sure to get pictures of both girls together while Remi was visiting. She went home today.  I discovered it is a real challenge to photograph this age by yourself! You have to be quick and be happy with what you get!



 Aren't they just the cutest thing?!  I had the hardest time getting Remi to smile. She wasn't too thrilled about walking through the grass to sit in the Blue Bonnets. I provided them with my camera bag to sit on which seemed to help.







 They also wanted me to take a picture with them. My battery had died in my remote to trigger the camera so had to set it on self-timer. Oh, well at least we have a picture of us all!
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 I took the girls to another location I had spotted with my other favorite wildflower, the "Indian Paintbrush". We had to walk a little farther to get to these. Bless their hearts...they both had sandals and shorts on while I had on boots and jeans. I'm sure the grass and weeds were scratchy and itchy. At one point I was trying to carry both of them, my camera and tripod! What a sight we must have been! It was worth it though!
 I finally get a smile out of Remi. We said "Ice Cream"!
 I think Kennedy is going to be my little "tomboy". It doesn't bother her in the least bit to get dirty or go exploring. Her girliness does come through every once in a while...especially if bugs are involved!

We had fun. Hope you enjoyed it too!

I was on my way to a card class the other night. That field of yellow flowers I wrote about last blog had these to young steers in it. They seemed hungry for attention as they came right up to me when I walked to the fence mooing at me! I thought they made a nice addition to the photo!

Have a good one!


Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Time for a Change

I have been wrestling for months maybe even a couple of years now about my blogging. I love to blog but now that I help with the care of my granddaughter (who is 2) I find that I can't sit at the computer for long...usually not at all when she's here. I have another blog site which is where I originally started but this one seems so much more "user friendly" and I know many people who already blog here. Just makes sense that it might be time to move. I am following several blogs and realized I really need to update mine. I did finally put up a more current profile pic but its time to change that again too!

 My daughter is getting married in 17 days! Egads! She had a bridal shoot last Friday that required my help as she wanted to use our horse. It rained 2.5 inches last Monday and everything was still soggy. I was hoping I didn't have any trouble getting the trailer out of the pasture. I got the trailer out of the pasture but got stuck trying to put it back! Had to unhook it where it was and go back a few days later to park it properly.  I waited until Friday to bath the horse because if I didn't he would promptly roll in the mud!

Before and after bathing.
 I had been trying to groom him every day as he is shedding his winter coat so there is lots of loose hair to brush out. I used clippers on the long scraggly hairs on his face. He's a good looking horse for 22! He's the last of the original three we bought 17 years ago. He stands 15H and weighs probably about 1500 pounds! He's stout!

Went shopping Tuesday for an outfit for the wedding. I DID NOT want to wear a dress. I thought I was going to have to until I finally found something I thought would work at Dillards.

Made a card the other night for a friend having a birthday. I used sketch#66  from Operation Write Home and some scrap Basic Grey papers from their Valentine collection last year. Turned out cute I think.

Finishing up a Beth Moore study at church "James - Mercy Triumphs". This study is on the book of James and Beth's newest. It is very good and I highly recommend it. Just a word of caution. If you're not ready to be confronted to change don't take it.

Another lady from my church and I have been asked by our pastor to consider leading a "single" women's group on Wednesday night after this class. This would include unmarried, divorced, widowed or women whose husbands are not spiritually active what I am terming "spiritually single". There seems to be a great need for ministry to this group. We will hold an informational meeting on April 18th to see how to best minister to them. I am looking at some possible studies to do with this group that are not DVD driven. I will know more once we meet with these ladies how best to proceed.


My other granddaughter Remington lives in Arkansas. She is here this week for a visit. Keannon and Vanessa had a meeting with our pastor Sunday evening and they asked if I would like to keep the girls. Of course I said "YES!". This is the first time I had both of them for any length of time. We had so much fun. We played with big rubber balls that I had bought them, blew bubbles, played with pinwheels and when it got too dark to be outside we colored and put stickers on paper. Needless to say, I was one pooped gal by the time they went home but I wouldn't have traded it for anything!

Went riding with my future SIL. He expressed an interest in riding with me every time he comes home from the job. He is working 2 weeks at a time away from home then is home a week. When he is home, he picks up Remington (Remi). I am excited to have someone to ride with me! I enjoy riding alone but its nice for a change.
 The wildflowers are sprouting up everywhere! Bluebonnets are my favorite and our State's flower. Indian paintbrushes are my next favorite. Lots of weeds have beautiful blooms too! Such beautiful colors scattered across grassy land makes me smile. God is such an amazing artist!
 I was on my way to shop for a wedding outfit when I saw these beauties! Bluebonnets (above)...if you look close you can see the edge of the field where the yellow flowers are. This field was just beautiful and covered in these yellow flowers.

 I think these are blooms to some weeds and not really flowers but I don't know that for sure.
 Bluebonnets with some albino mixed in. Not sure how common that is. I've not seen them very often.
 A little Indian Paintbrush (orange/red flower) mixed in this batch by the side of the road.
 A close up of the albino Bluebonnet
 Bees love the Bluebonnet's nectar
 Found a patch of Indian Paintbrushes. I set my camera up on a tripod for this one. I am hoping to get pics of my granddaughters out here soon.


 Aren't they beautiful?! I am such a sucker for wildflowers! I can't seem to quit taking pictures of them!




 That about wraps it up. Have a good one!




Saturday, January 7, 2012

January 7, 2012

January 7, 2012

Christmas was a blur and New Year's passed me by while I watched helplessly unable to do anything to stop it. 

Maybe it's just the age I am or the circumstances I find myself in. I don't really know. I did enjoy the holidays but it just didn't seem to last long enough for me. 

One of my friends from church who was praying for me the other day shared a picture that God gave her for me. 

She said there were certain individuals in my life (whose identities will remain anonymous - although if you are really close to me you will figure out who they are.)

They were riding horses and I was being drug behind by a rope and these individuals were totally oblivious to what was happening to me nor could I do anything about what was happening. I was one beat up bloody mess! She went on to say that's what my emotions were like right now. Wow! I didn't realize I was that bad off! 

I was encouraged to keep pressing into Abba. I still after all these years of pursuing God deal with performance issues and resting in the knowledge that I am loved by Him. I know it intellectually but I want to experience it tangibly. I have in some ways over the years but it only seems like "snippets" and not much consistency. It is so hard for me not to compare myself or my experiences to others. I also feel as though there are some who have passed me by spiritually. Of course, I am smart enough to know that feelings are just that...feelings and are not the truth but it's still hard to not let feelings reign sometimes. 

I was going to start off the year with journaling everyday. Hmmm...It's already 7 days into the New Year and I've journaled once. Well, its still early. Some is better than none right?!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Incredible Weekend 09-04-2010



What an incredible weekend I had! My friend (Teresa) and I left on Thursday to go to a scrapbook retreat. This isn't just any ole' scrapbook retreat. This is a small group (6 women) all who know and love the Lord who have the same hobby! 


 






All but 2 of us converged on Ragle's retreat Thursday evening. We went into town (Canton) and ate at Ochoa's an awesome Mexican food place. This is this groups tradition. We finish the evening staying up late scrapbooking.
































This is Vickie & Marshall Ragle, owners of the retreat location. Some of the sweetest people you will ever meet!










By the time I packed up my stuff to come home I counted 29 12x12 pages I had completed! I was amazed. Of course that wasn't without a cost of "minimal sleep". I was up late every night. I am usually up maybe 2 nights at the most. I was rumdum by the time we got home! The sad thing is I have only scrapbooked up through March for Lil' Peanut! I need another retreat! LOL!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Lil' Peanut Update

Lil' Peanut is doing well. Today was Vanessa's doctor appointment and the doctor had ordered a sonogram to make sure Peanut was growing properly. Because Vanessa has such a long torso she's carrying Peanut almost sideways. Vanessa kept saying she was getting broader!

Lil Peanut weighs around 3 to 3 1/2 lbs. Dr. Gardner says she is right on target and everything looks good.
It was a little easier to actually see a baby this time but features are still difficult to make out. We did get a glimpse of some hair on her head!
We are going Saturday for a 4D sonogram. Dr. Gardner said it is a wonderful experience if we could do it. Vanessa had done some research of places and the one she had picked the Dr. gave approval. It's called Stork Vision. They are not a medical facility but just a place that conducts the sonogram having rooms large enough to accommodate families who would like to see "baby" before arrival. The price includes a dvd and pics (I think). Vanessa is far enough along that after today her appointments will be every two weeks.









Ok, looks like we already have a drama queen. This is a side view of her head and she has the back of her hand on her forehead like "oh, dear me"! She had it there through the entire sonogram! It cracked us all up including the technician! Even the doctor had a good laugh!





After the appointment we did some shopping. Vanessa wanted to try to find some more jeans. One of the stores we went to had an adorable little onesie and bib I just HAD to buy!On the left sleve it says "here a neigh" the right sleeve says "there a neigh" and around the neck "everywhere a neigh neigh".








Here's the back! There is a tail under the neigh! How cute is that! Any grand daughter of mine should be a horse lover! We'll see! I'll give it a good college try!









Vanessa at 7 months. You can probably tell her poor little belly button has turned into an "outy".












Vanessa found this t-shrit today and wore it home from the store she liked it so well. Pretty much says it all don't you think?!





I took the dogs to my friends west of town yesterday. I hadn't been out there in a couple of months. The trees are beginning to change colors although we don't have the brilliant colors you folks north and east of us have. There is still a lot of green with the recent rains we've received and more rain is on the way! Thank You Lord! Of course with the dogs no adventure is complete without a romp in the water and yesterday was not exception!








Kajen and Kaidence playing.










Mercy getting a drink. This is as far in the water as she will get!












While the other three dogs love to get wet all over. Here is Zorro and Kaidence.










These beautiful brilliant yellow flowers have popped up EVERYWHERE since we have finally gotten some rain. They are gorgeous! These are intertwined with some briers and barbed wire fence.

















Also saw some dragonflies.





















There were tons of these!












Can't get enough of these flowers. Neither can this little bee.










This guy was really hard to shoot. His wings would glisten when the sun hit them just right. You can sort of see that in the blue coloring in his wing.














More dragonflies!

















Walking in the woods we came across a delightful surprise......




















yes! Butterflies! Gorgeous butterfiles!
















I just happen to catch these two as they fluttered by.















One of them did land long enough for me to take his picture.















Isn't the coloring just beautiful?!














No these pumpkins were not where I was. I took these recently as a "photo challenge" on Facebook. Nothing says fall more than a load of pumpkins!

Happy fall ya'll!

Have a good one!