03/31/08

All of today's pictures are daffodils, if you didn't already figure that out! The first one is a double type of daffodil that Steve planted by our dogwood. As I have stated before, these macros outside have been a bit of a challenge with the wind. I thought these turned out quite well, considering. I want to get pics of some of those beautiful tulips popping up everywhere but I haven't had the chance yet. Will work on that this week.

Back to school again today. It was still busy but overall not a bad day.

It has rained ALL day today! I didn't realize it was supposed to do that but it has been glorious. It has been one of those slow-soaking rains that the Lord knew we have been needing. Apparently, the rain is supposed to hang around a majority of the week. Even though it is grey outside I thought the pictures of the bright daffodils would be spring cheery. :)

I have to go get two silly kids in bed so this will be short tonight. Hope the pictures were day brighteners!

03/30/08

Thought I'd post "Life of a Dandelion" today. lol I took these with my new lens. I was actually amazed at how pretty dandelions could be. Now, I realize most people hate these things... and I must say their roots go down to China and can be quite hateful, but they are still a part of God's Creation. lol I had a bit of a challenge in photographing the ones where they go to seed. The wind has been blowing non-stop it seems lately and that makes it hard to get a really sharp picture. lol Anyway, I was out in the middle of the yard the other day and I know the neighbors wondered what in the world I was doing! I think it is rather interesting to see how a dandelion is yellow with the flower and then turns into that puff of whiteness with the seeds. Those seeds blow so easily into the wind and are carried all around. That, my friends, is why we will never fully get rid of them! lol I still think they are kind of pretty. :)

We've decided to let Wesley play baseball this spring. I must say, I am not that excited only because I already know how busy and crazy life is right now. Adding one more thing to it is not my idea of fun. This will be a "Steve" thing, except for the games. I guess I am feeling so reserved about it because I know how wearisome I feel after school each day and to have to run somewhere else is not my idea of fun. The kids feel it, too, because they also have to get up early each morning. We'll see how it goes. I'll support my son...

Today at church our Youth Pastor preached because our Pastor is away on a vacation the church had planned for him and his wife. He preached on taking the Lord's name in vain and it was quite thought provoking. When we casually say "Oh my God!" or even "gosh", "golly", etc... those are taking the Lord's name in vain. Empty words. Our God is not empty, yet each day many times we say things that cause His name to be used empty. I have always been taught not to use "Oh my God" but "gosh" sometimes comes out as well as saying "Lord have mercy"... He looked many of these "safer" phrases up in the dictionary and read them to us that they are just a "safer" form of "Oh my God" and are still taking the Lord's name in vain. He is right... that is an empty use for my Lord and Saviors name. We must guard our hearts and tongues and make sure when we speak our Lord's name it is with full reverence and not a hasty side phrase. I'm still chewing on that message...

I have things to do to get ready for tomorrow... going back to school.. so I guess I should get off of here. Have a blessed day and enjoy what the Lord is showing us in spring!

03/29/08

Sorry for not posting yesterday. By the time we got home from our adventure, it was later than I thought and I had a few other things to do.

See that smile on Wesley's face... it was there for a reason...



Yesterday Daddy and I took the kids to a real working dairy farm. It is on the border of Wake and Durham counties and it opened up in 2004, I believe Daddy told me. It was something I kept from Wesley and Mikayla to let them be totally surprised... especially Wesley.

The farm looked totally different from ours, of course. It didn't look like the "family farms" from when I grew up, but it still had the same basic way of doing things. We went into their "holding" area for all of the milk cows first. Apparently, after they are milked in the morning they go to this area and stay until they are milked again in the afternoon. Our cows used to go out after the milkings so they could eat in the pasture. (I believe I remember that correctly... I'll have to remember to ask Daddy!) Anyway, we were there too early in the afternoon to get to watch them milk, but it was wonderful to walk around. The cows were quite tame and Daddy said you could tell they had been "broken" so they wouldn't jump or be scared around people. Lots of school children come out there for field trips like they used to do at our farm. This was where they ate and relaxed. We enjoyed watching them eat the hay, too. lol Wesley and Mikayla fed some of them and they loved it. They also had music playing constantly around them. Daddy said that is to get the cows used to all different kinds of voices and noises. Helps keep them calmer. I remember Daddy having his radio on all of the time in the barn, but I thought it was just to have music on as he worked. See, I am still learning.

Wesley experienced big cows in a big way. lol They sniffed us and checked us out wondering who in the world we were. The setup of this farm is really nice. It is amazing how much even dairy farming has changed in the last 20+ years!!!

Wesley also loved seeing the tractors, of course. We found that instead of a feed auger with feed coming out of a silo, there is a man who mixes the grain into this wagon type of equipment and actually pours it out of this wagon. It was the neatest thing to watch! I must say, I missed seeing silos, though.

We enjoyed seeing the cows do their thing. Wesley was not understanding why the teats on the cows were green. Daddy explained that was the liquid they put on the teats before they could milk them because it would act as a sanitizer. I remember how Daddy used to do that with our cows. I had forgotten just how big Holstein cows are! They are the biggest milking cow and it is proof as to why they are the number one cow for dairy farmers. This farm had some BEAUTIFUL Holsteins. One cow tried to get really up close to me. lol She stuck out her tongue to check me out right when I had my lens at her nose! Thankfully, she didn't lick my lens or that would have been funny but a sticky mess. Instead, I got this shot of her nose. lol (I actually took a few because she kept on coming at me to "check me out.")

When we went into the milking parlor, boy, that brought back a flood of memories and a flood of unexpected emotions for me! The milking parlor looked different from ours, but a great deal the same. I was not expecting that, actually. When we walked down into the "pit" I began to have memories flood my mind of being the kids' age and running around the farm. I remember having to help change the teat cups that go in the milkers (the plastic parts..I hated that job lol), watching Daddy put the milkers in place, and all that went with the milking. I was shocked at myself when I began to tear up just looking at the milkers! They looked SO MUCH like the milkers we had and even the lines and everything connected with them looked like ours used to look. I touched them just to see if they even "felt" the same and they did. I just cannot describe to you the feelings that welled up inside of me. I wonder if Daddy felt the same. I know this may not mean very much to those of you reading, but it was wonderful for me.

We left the milking parlor area and walked to where the tank held the milk. The tank they had was a bit bigger than the one we had. The kids got to go up the ladder and look in to see the milk! They were so excited to look down onto all of that milk!! (It is a good thing they like milk... makes Daddy proud because Kevin and I never cared for milk that much growing up and we were Dairy Farmer's kids!! LOL) I got up there, too, and took a picture of the milk. It was dark in there so it didn't come out very crisp, but you get the point. lol

We had to leave all too soon. I was really hoping to be able to watch them milk, but they weren't going to start that for another hour and a half and we needed to get going to a farm call Daddy had to do. Daddy said we would go back soon to see them milk and to see the other parts of the farm we didn't get to see. I'll be excited for that! Wesley soaked all of that in and was so excited when he realized what he really saw. I think it would have "clicked" even more if he could have watched them milk the cows yesterday, but he was in awe. Daddy was actually in awe as well. He said in order to start a new dairy farm today it would probably take around 5 million dollars. That is a chunk of change....

After we left there, we went to Zebulon, NC to help Daddy with a sick beef cow. She had been sick, then that caused her to lose her calf and now she was doing really poorly. It was AWESOME to watch my Daddy "in action" in that way again. I remember him going out into the fields or to take care of cows in the barns like he did yesterday. He may not have gone to Vet school but my Daddy knows how to take care of animals. He learned through EXPERIENCE. Many of the doctors at the Vet hospital ask Daddy what to do! He tells them often that all of the books in the world can't teach you what experience can! I helped Daddy the best I knew how. I was shocked at some of the things I did. lol I couldn't take pictures of what I helped with because I needed to put my camera back in the truck! These couple of pictures show Daddy getting the medicine ready and some of the equipment he had to use. I helped fill a couple of more syringes with medicine and also helped pour some type of medication/bacteria helping "stuff" down the cows throat. Now, I poured it into a funnel which Daddy had connected to piping that was inserted in another tube to get it immediately into the cows stomach. Basically, it was a cow form of "tubing." LOL Daddy told me he was proud of me and asked me why I didn't do that when I was younger! lol I told him maturity and age helps in those matters. :)

Let's just say that it was an awesome day. I don't think I could type out all we experienced or what all I felt, but it was wonderful. It was also wonderful just spending the afternoon with Daddy again. A perfect way to end our break. (I hate I just had to type that last line....)

Well, I have been on here entirely too long, but these memories were worth it. Hope you enjoyed a walk down my memory lane. Simple pleasures of life...

03/27/08

Isn't this peach tree beautiful? It was planted, I think, by our former youth pastor YEARS ago when he and his wife lived on a small piece of our farmland. Now that land belongs to someone else but that tree was just beautiful this year. I believe because the Lord has sent us rain at this crucial time when everything is blooming that we are seeing a prettier spring. The Lord never fails!

Today I finished getting caught up in the scrapbooks. Tomorrow I will clean up the dining room area where I have made a royal mess and start journaling like a mad woman! I feel like I accomplished much this week, though. Another "check" in my box. :)

We are going to do some serious cleaning of this house tomorrow morning. It is not as bad as I have seen it before, but let's just say we want it sparkling before I have to go back to... well, we just won't talk about that right now, will we????

This afternoon we went over to the parent's house of one of my student's parents. OK... did that make any sense? The parent and I were actually in school together at WCA, she was a year under me, and now I teach her daughter! Her parents have miniature horses and I figured Mikayla would love getting to see them. I didn't tell them exactly where we were going at the first part of the day, but when they found out they were excited.

Wesley loved them, but not like Mikayla. lol When Wesley got in the fenced area with them he was a bit skiddish with them, which I understand, but I told him a farmer has to get used to animals. He said "But, these aren't cows!!" LOL I reminded him that a farmer deals with ALL kinds of animals. :) Can you tell by his picture that he is feeling a bit "clueless" around them. That cracked me up!

Mikayla was in love with these horses. I LOVE that photo of her and the horse. (There were actually three horses but the mother was not one to hang around with her two daughters. She enjoyed having moments all by herself. lol) They had not been "broken" to ride so we just had to enjoy them as they were. It was fun to be around them. They are really sweet horses. I tried to take some interesting shots of them and I have included a few. I am still working with moving animals, though. They are not my strong point. The one where the horse looks like she is looking down her nose at my camera is one I had to just take my camera and hope for the best. I love shots like that, but they kept sniffing and butting me so I had to do a little "freestyle" photography. lol I thought it turned out great, though, for what I was wanting.

All in all it was a wonderful afternoon. The kids played with my student and her sister and ate I don't know how many cookies that the grandmother kept putting in the oven for them. I enjoyed watching them have fun, though. It was also nice to have a different sort of afternoon.

Tomorrow I am planning an adventure for the kids and I, but I won't tell what it is. You'll have to wait and see on tomorrow's post. :)

Tonight Steve had to work late (and as of 11:00 he is still not home!). I had to ask Mom to watch the kids because my brother and I had a play to attend. We found out the play was, well, it was OK... it was "The Wedding Singer"... it is definitely not a play I would care to see again, though. It seems Broadway is not turning out awesome plays like we have seen in the past. That is a shame that they are going so strongly the way of the world, but what isn't these days? It just makes me want to guard my heart, eyes and ears even more so.

Have a blessed evening... what seems to be left of it! I am going to go read and wait up for Steve with a cat beside me. lol

03/26/08

My pictures for today are all forsythia (or 'yellow bells' as we call them here in the south!). Ours seems to bloom a couple of weeks after everyone else's. As I drove around today I saw that many forsythia bushes are turning over to leaves now. Ours are still really pretty and yellow. These used to be twigs dug up from Steve's Mom's next door neighbors house a few years ago. (That was a mouthful!) They have grown and look much prettier this year than they ever have. I took these last Saturday with my new 90mm lens. It was VERY challenging to photograph these, especially the up close ones, because of the wind and these were all taken handheld with no tripod. Some may not be as sharp as I wanted but it couldn't be helped that day. You can click on them to see the detail larger. I experimented with different aperatures again.

Today was another wonderful spring day. The kids played outside a lot again today. We met Steve for lunch and then ran an errand before coming back home and enjoying the day. I also scrapbooked some more. I am now officially working on Mikayla's school scrapbook. I have a couple of more spreads to do in hers before starting Wesley's. I became a bit wearied with it this afternoon and the kids and I watched a movie.

It seems I am either still dealing with sinus stuff or allergies now. I have literally dealt with this now for a month. I feel better than I did when I first began it all, but I would really like it to leave. lol Steve is also dealing with it, which makes me think allergies. The thing is... I have never dealt with allergies in my life so this is just another chapter of growing older. lol

Not as much to say today. I think I have said it all so much in my last few posts!! Anyway, we have AWANA tonight at church so I need to go get supper on the table.

Have a great evening...

03/25/08

We had frost last night. Steve was concerned about it frosting and was bummed when he saw it. He thought it was pretty heavy, but I don't think it was.

I decided to venture out this morning and try to get some pictures of frost on things. I actually didn't have as much success! I did manage to get these pictures of weeds with frost on them. lol You can click on the pics to view the ice hanging on the leaves a bit bigger. I played around with my aperature again on these so that is why the last two are basically the same picture but more is in focus in one of them. Since I am in the middle of teaching weather to my students this was quite exciting for me to see frost more up close. lol Sad, I know....

I ventured around the yard for about thirty minutes. It was actually quite cold!! I must say, my body is telling me it is ready for a bit warmer weather. I love ALL seasons and appreciate them when they come. I do not like to speed through them or wish for the next one, but I know these changes are when I find myself excited about the next "chapter" of our climate.

I took more photos of things... even captured a small fly, but it isn't that great because there was enough of a breeze to move everything, but I'll show it later. :)

The kids played outside ALL day long. They were so happy and loved every minute of it. It was so much fun watching them through the windows and such. I cherish the moments like that. They said they found an earthworm and they brought in a caterpillar for me to see. They ate lunch inside their little play house area on their swingset and pretended and used their imagination ALL day. They were also quite filthy when they came in!! It was straight to the bathtub for them. lol

I was thinking today about how I could have been cleaning out closets or getting this house spotless, but then I knew that wasn't what my break was for... lol I began to look around this office and the kids rooms and see old drawings and things the kids made in Kindergarten. They are taped to our doors in the office here and some are on the kiddos closet doors, too. It made me stop and think about our life and home. I know it isn't perfect and everything isn't always in its place but those little reminders mean a great deal more than everything perfect. I just can't live my life like that, it seems. One day, all of those things will be gone and the kids will be grown before I can blink. I guess some of what I was doing today with pictures caused me to see how fast the kids have grown and in no time at all they will be gone. I will miss all of the "stuff" and wish for it back.

I haven't worn make up or done much to my hair in two days. It has actually been glorious. (ha!!) If you saw what I looked like at the moment you would understand why my husband HAS to love me. Bless his heart to what greeted him when he came home today.... lol

I scrapbooked a majority of the day and it was GREAT! I still have a ways to go but I am finished with 2007 in our family book and am working on 2008. The kids books still have work in them from their school stuff and all but that won't take too long. I still have BUNCHES of journaling to do, but that will come as well.

I finished the book I have been reading last night (called The Sixth Covenant by Brock and Bode Thoene) and it caused me more tears. It seems I have had lots of those lately. These books have been so awesome. I am beginning the seventh one tonight but they all deal with the life of Christ on earth. The last two or three have dealt with Jesus' coming birth, then the actual birth with the angels proclaiming His birth to the shepherds and the events right after with the Wise Men coming to worship Him. Last night, the book ended with Herod sending out the decree that all boy babies two and under were to be killed so he could "get rid" of the "King of the Jews." Little did he know that he killed all those innocent babies for nothing. He didn't care, though. God protected His Son and led Him away to Egypt.

Last night's reading broke the Mother's Heart in me. I can only imagine the heartache those mother's felt as their babies were ripped from their arms and murdered right in front of them. I kept wondering how I would have reacted or what I would have done if I had been in that situation. Again, it makes me realize how blessed I am.

I cooked supper again tonight. Steve told me earlier today that he is liking me staying home! lol We enjoyed a great supper and it felt good to provide that for my family.

If only that were reality every day... Some days I really do wonder what it would be like just to be a "Stay at home Mom." I know life would still be busy, but I know my stress level would decrease tremendously!! I might as well stop dwelling on it, though, because the Lord has me where He wants me and I need to be content.

Off to read to the kiddos. They want a "sleepover" tonight in one of their bedrooms with sleeping bags. I think they will get it. :)

Make a memory and have a blessed evening....

03/24/08

This is grape hyacinth. It is actually pretty tiny so this is using my 90mm. I took this at Mom and Dad's yesterday. It was a bit comical the way I had to get down close to some of the stuff. You can click on this to see it larger. I love these when they pop up in the spring. Mom has always had them pop up somewhere in their yard since I can remember.

Today was a good one and much was accomplished... just not what I had intended. lol It was nice not to get up at 5:00 and to get to putter around the house without HAVING to go somewhere or DO something.

We continued to work on our "trash treasure" projects for school. I knew last night would be too much to get out all of the paints so I decided we'd start on them first thing this morning. Wesley was so cute as he was trying to tell me ideas he wanted for his tractor. I was actually in my element and had a lot of fun with helping them.

Remember you can click on any of the pictures to see them better and larger! I had to post them small to fit them all in the post.







Mikayla's was not as "intense" because Steve did a lot of hers last night with the wire hangers and tissue paper. I felt like I didn't take as much time with her, but her butterfly just didn't require the cutting and painting like Wesley's tractor. She was pleased, so that is all that matters. She worked on painting her paper towel roll that turned into the head, thorax, abdomen of her butterfuly. After that dried she painted a face on it. She also painted her "designs" on the wings. I let her do whatever she wanted because I knew she wanted her own thing. Her painting turned out really pretty, I thought. We had to go up to my Mom's and get a couple of pipe cleaners. I thought I had some but found I didn't!! I then let her twist the pipe cleaners around a pencil to get them curly at the end. She helped me press down the "head" with antennae in there and hold it while the hot glue dried in place.

It took us a few hours to get Wesley's painted, dried and assembled with the hot glue gun. It wasn't hard work, I just needed to sit with him and help him understand HOW to paint neatly (lol) and how to cut a circle without it turning into a square typed shape. I had to cut out the wheels and a few other things because they were made out of the thick cardboard and it would be too hard for him. I did help Wesley paint the tissue box because the paint was not wanting to absorb at first. We had to keep painting over it till it dried and the other paint had something to hold onto. I also did "touch up" painting. My motto is: "Be the labor, great or small, do it well or not at all... and you know you've got to do it, so do it right!" I heard that all of my growing up years by my dad and I teach it to my students and to the kiddos. I know it was just a "trash" project, but I still desired for it to look great.

I realize I have a ton more views on Wesley's tractor, but that can't be helped. There were so many "parts" that he wanted to put on it and a few that Steve or I suggested and the views are all around. Mikayla's was more one-sided. These additions are all Wesley's thoughts, though. I had thought of another way to do the tractor but he wanted it done this way. It is a good thing I think like him because our first tissue box was "destroyed" by Steve's "thoughts" on it. lol I knew what he wanted but wanted to give Steve an opportunity to work with him, too. I was so glad when Wesley said he had another empty tissue box. lol I am so visual, so that helps. I know that is how Wesley learns as well so we could picture it together. It came out even better than I imagined... and Wesley was SO stinking tickled.

You can see in the many pictures what Wesley thought of in the details. He wanted a place to show the engine so we used another thin piece of cardboard, painted it and then he drew the "engine" onto it. The John Deere signs came from one of his John Deere tractor boxes he recently got. We cut them out before we threw it away. Then, he wanted the headlights. He had to cut out lots of circles to get them to look like CIRCLES before we glued them. (I had to help with all gluing because I used the hot glue gun.) The back of it shows the sign that is on the back of all tractors... the orange and yellow one. (Is it a caution sign!??) I just can't think of the name of it right now!! Steve also suggested the red "back lights." Wesley came up with the smoke stack and steering wheel idea. I hadn't a clue as to how to do the steering wheel before he suggested it. We used toothpicks and he cut out a black piece of cardboard for the steering wheel itself.

I told Mikayla we could hang up her butterfly from her ceiling when we get it back from school. I think that would be precious for her to have always. Wesley's tractor WILL be a keepsake. I don't plan on doing this for every project we have, but it goes with his room theme and we worked quite hard on it! lol

Last night we did watch "The Passion of the Christ" and it was beyond words... I can't believe it has taken me 4 years to watch it. I must admit that it was overwhelming at times. I just wanted them to STOP beating Christ! But, then, I thought about how He took all of that for ME. There are just no words for me to describe what that did to me last night. I was humbled, yet again, at the sacrifice that was made. Tears flowed freely and I began to visually realize how my troubles here on earth PALE in comparison to what He went through those hours. I have NO right to complain. I pray the Lord will continue to teach me to be a humble servant and one that continues to accept things as they come. I am quite strong willed so I know the Lord isn't finished with me yet, but I am thankful for how He has allowed me to grow in Him.

I didn't get any scrapbooking done today... I had planned on this being my "power scrapbook" day but figured the weather was cold today so it would be good for the kids to finish their projects. Tomorrow I will plan on scrapbooking. I think I will journal on my already finished pages tonight, though, so that will help me feel a bit more caught up.

I actually cooked supper tonight. I hope you didn't pass out when you read that. In fact, I need to go check on it now!! I think since it is cold tonight I'll also fix some coffee for Steve and I after the kids go to bed. There won't be many more fires and coffee nights till fall. I know the air will be changing soon. (I just heard on the weather that it is supposed to be in the 80's by the weekend!)

Have a blessed evening. Enjoy a moment to make a memory....