First Trophy

Aron's T-ball Team party was at Chuck E Cheese's last week. Well, it might as well have been Christmas for this kid. He LOVES that place. I think this was only his 3rd time there, but everytime we are within a block of that place he asks: "Can we go to Chuck E Cheese?" I normally say, "Not today, bud." He was tickled pink as you can see.

After all the fun and games (and blown money from Mom's wallet) my little man was handed his first trophy ever. Look at him holding it like it's made of gold.

He was mesmorized for the longest time. It really is a cool trophy for T-ball! Rudy and I joked that it's setting him up with high expectations, cause they may not all be that nice in the future. It even had his name on it! It's now proudly displayed on the bookshelf in his room. Let the dusting begin!

Quacka Barrow

My Mom had been here for a week and we took her to the airport today. I figured a breakfast at Cracker Barrell would be the perfect send-off.

Apparently the words CRACKER and BARRELL are both hard to pronounce at the age of 3. But, that doesn't stop these two from trying! They are both pancake conisieurs and LOVE this place. As soon as the could see the sign from the road, the boys went nuts! "Quacka Barrow!" "Quacka Barrow!" You'd have thought we were pulling into Disneyworld! If they'd only stay this easy to please....

Aron and Jackson playing checkers on the porch at CB

Hello, Sillies!

Aron and Mammaw. I try to get a picture of Aron with my mom everytime we are together. I am pretty sentimental and sappy like that. As you can see, Aron is not. He wants to show you his belly!

Front Door-Back Door July

Wow, July. When did that happen? This Summer is zooming by! Here's our view as of yesterday:

The lawn is starting to show the effects of the heat, even though we have had some good rain.

Here's a closer look at our Crepe Myrtles along the driveway. They need a serious haircut, but we had so many other lawn projects this Spring, I didn't get around to them.

The back yard. These trees are something else. They didn't fill out like this last year. (We had a late freeze in April followed by a near-draught summer) Which is why I thought my garden would get more sun than it actually does....

It is growing, but I am not sure if I'll ever see fruit. The tomatoes have plenty of blooms, and the sqash and eggplant do as well. My jalapeno was apparently irresistible to some sort of but, and only has one leaf left on it. Sad, sad, sad. I'll let you know when the "harvest" takes place. Should be comical to see how much I actually reap from all this effort!

FBF 9

It has been a while since I have done a Flashback Friday. With vacations and Tball and everything else that has demanded our time, I haven't been able to blog much at all for that matter.

But, I found this picture and was just amazed. Amazed at how much my baby has grown in 3 years and 8 months. He looks so different, and yet the same. It is just bittersweet to watch him grow.

He was just a few weeks old in this picture. What a sweet, sweet baby he was. I just remember not ever wanting to put him down. Can you blame me?

There are angels watching over us.

I tend to forget that He sees everything. All of us. All at once. But, today, I was reminded that God is in control and that he is watching out for us.

Just a about 2 hours ago, I was on my way to the pool to swim with Aron when I heard a loud pop. It sounded almost like gunfire! I was only driving 20 MPH and slowed down to 2 in an instant. I asked Aron if he was OK and looked around to see what could have made that sound. Then I saw it in my rear-view-"mommy mirror".

Someone was weed-eating their yard a few houses back and had kicked up a rock. That rock hit and shattered my back driver's side window. This window was right behind where Aron was sitting. My heart stopped. I immediately rolled down my window and flagged down the van behind me to see if the driver behind me saw what happened. She had already started to pull around me, unaware of the reason I had pulled over. ( I must have looked insane!)She waved and almost kept going, until we recognized eachother. The driver of that van was a former neighbor of mine.

I won't bore you with the details of an insurance claim, but I will tell you this: Had God not been watching, that rock could have hit my baby. And had that friendly, sweet, former-neighbor of mine not stopped I would probably still be sitting there on the side of the road with my heart in my throat.

"..I will be with you, and I will protect you wherever you go." Genesis 28:15

Summer Confessions

Ever since our trip to the beach, I have been in total lazy-summer-beach-bum-care-free mode. I hang out in my PJ's a lot longer than I care to admit, getting dressed often involves going straight from PJ's to bathing suit and I haven't worn make-up since Sunday. I love it! It makes me think of the summers of my past. Back when Summers was my last name!

Maybe it's all the vitamin D flowing through my veins thanks to all of the time in the sun. Maybe it's the longer day-light hours or even the smell of cut grass in the air. Or maybe it's because I had this for breakfast this morning:

Hey! You need to re-visit your childhood once in a while. There's only so much Kashi and yogurt a girl can eat, you know. I still had my coffee, so I felt like a grown up. A little.

OK, time to ditch the robe and put on my bathing suit. Gonna fill up the blow-up pool and let Jackson and Aron splash around in the pool.

Maybe I'll read a magazine or paint my nails.

After I fold the laundry and wash the coffee pot and empty the dishwasher. Sigh. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Vacation- all I ever wanted!

Ahh.....vacation. It was great! We were only gone for 6 days, but a touch and go internet connection and issues with blogspot have delayed my posting these! But, better late than never, right?

Here are my boys on the beach. Aron loved "jumping" the waves with Daddy!

Here's a shot of the 3 of us playing in the surf. The water was wonderful and I could have stayed out there all day long!

Here's Lisa and I having fun at an outdoor concert. We had a great time catching up and it was good to be with her again, nearly 8 years after our roommate days!

Our kiddos seem to have a real connection, too. Here they are on the porch swing just being cute.

Here is one of my favorite moments from the whole week. Aren't they just adorable together? Lisa and I joke that they should grow up and get married so we can spend holidays together! (so maybe we're half-joking)

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer and making equally wonderful memories with your loved ones!

What's IN a song?

Isn't it funny how a song can transport you somewhere or to some time(s) in your life?
I grew up listening to James Taylor. I guess because my dad was a fan, not me. I mean, Carolina in My Mind was released the year I was born. But I distinctly remember sneaking his Greatest Hits tape from my dad's music collection when I was in High School and listening to it for hours in my room. And I didn't really know a thing about this music or who James Taylor was, but like so many other people I naturally gravitated to two songs: Sweet Baby James and Carolina in my Mind.
Anyway, my point...what was it....oh, yeah! That song takes me to so many places. Back to my childhood, my HS years. Then in college, when I lived with my friend Lisa. We went on a girls weekend trip to NOLA and she up and met a boy there. Guess where he was from? That was in March and by October, Lisa was moving up to North Carolina to be closer to him and Rudy and I were getting ready to start our life in Las Vegas. That last week while we packed, I heard this song over and over and over and over from under the door of my roomate's bedroom. Now it makes me laugh to think of it. Back then, I am ashamed to say, I rolled my eyes and thought it was a little too obvious.
A year or so later, Lisa married her North Carolina boy. He's a great guy and now an awesome husband and father. They came out to visit us while we lived in Vegas once. We took them to dinner, saw a bunch of the sights. And then we all went to a James Taylor Concert at the Mandalay Bay.
Tomorrow morning, we'll be boarding a plane that will land us in Wilimington, North Carolina to visit our sweet friends whom we have kept our ties with and share life with across miles and miles. And I think I'll listen to this while I pack all day.

Maybe I'll teach Aron to sing it! (Car-o-WY-nuh)

http://the14all.com/music/Carolina.mp3

busybusybusybusybusy

Well, between watching our little guy play t-ball and running around to 4 different birthday parties in 2 weeks time, and preparing for our trip to the beach I am just about spent!

But, I don't want to sound like I am complaining. On the contrary! I like to be busy to an extent. I get a little stir crazy if I sit still for too long. Unless I am at the beach. Then, I could sit all day long.

Here's a look at what we've been up to:

Aron didn't want to bat during the first "inning". He got a little shy and decided to stay in the dugout. But, by the second go-round he had had a change of heart.

It was so funny watching the little ones line up to do the ol' "good game" routine. At first they had no idea what it was all about, but they eventually got the hang of it.

I decided to put on my creative hat and make birthday gifts for all of our little friends. It actually became a great creative outlet for me. I am even working on a couple for baby gifts. I'm no Van Gogh (unless you think he drew his art with pencil and then painted it in), but I really had a lot of fun doing these.

This one was for the little guy I keep 2 days/week. He turned 3.

This one was for my friend Kathy's boy who turned 4.

And this one was for another 4-yr-old. He really likes dinosaurs right now.

Help My Garden

Well, here it is. My humble little garden. My hubby helped me build it inbetweeen spiratic rainstorms on Sunday and I have been doing my best to keep it going. This is my first garden, so I am starting small. Hopefully we'll have a bumper crop and next year I can have two or 3 more of these boxes! Thanks to my new friend, Tara, I have 5 types of tomatoes and a sechwan pepper growing. When I went back to the store for more soil (since I am apparently not skilled at gardening OR math) I picked up a jalapeno, a squash and an eggplant. Hmmm...anyone have a recipe for that combo?
I do have a problem, though. See that spot in the center where the soil has been moved? That is where I raked over a little hole someone dug overnight! I am thinking it was a cat. None of the foliage was nibbled on. Knowing that the neighborhood cats (there are countless!) would find this new loose soil irresistable, I have already scattered "critter ridder" in my flower beds as well as the garden! Now what? Chicken wire would keep the bunnies out, but cats? They'd elbow oneanother, laugh at me and jump in anyway.

When I was outside pondering the situation this morning, this little lady showed up. I asked her for advice but she didn't have any. Do you?

Another FBF (#8)

This FBF is brought to you by the encouragement of my dear cousin, Georgia. I think if I let another Friday pass without posting photos from my past, she might stop reading my blog. Apparently, she thrives on my embarassment. (Just joking, G!)

Since we're going to head out and go swimming with some friends today, this shot of me in the pool around 1977 just spoke to me. We lived in AZ at the time and my grandparents had come for a visit. No, I don't actually remember this experience but that's my Grandaddy sitting there behind me in his kickin' red jumpsuit and black socks.

So, to thank Georgia for her encouragement and inspiration, I wanted to share with you all this shot:

See, I have always looked up to her and she's always been there for me.

(She is giving me a bottle) Apparently since July of 1976 according to the back of the photo:

Thanks, G. You're the greatest!

And you were cute, too! (still are.)

Wildlife

Warmer weather has brought out all kind of creatures out in our area. Lots of birds, bunnies and even snakes. (the small, harmless garden variety) And look what I spotted down by the creek today, hiding in the vincas:

Here's a closer look. Isn't he handsome? It is hard to tell from this shot, but his eyes were the most amazing shade of orange!
Hey, look what we have here in the tree! MONKEYS! We have to be careful with these guys around. They are wild! No juicebox is safe around here.

Strawberries!

We picked strawberries yesterday!

Aron found one!

Our sweet friends Araella and Tara joined us. They found some, too!

Gotta go!

A word

Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you at a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1Cor 6:19-20

God has brought this verse to my attention twice today, in separate formats. I am not entirely sure why, but I am going to pray on it and trust that he will reveal to me what he wants me to learn.
I wanted to share it with you because sometimes we think, "Hey, I read that in my bible study this morning, and now I heard that same verse on the radio. Huh. What a funny coincidence." I have done that exact thing myself. I really believe God reveals his Word to us and if we aren't open to it, we'll miss it!
Let me know if this happens to you, too!

A little road trip

The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory and the 120ft steel bat...COOL!

I love that we can just hop in the car and tag along with Rudy on his trips to Louisville. He loves it, too. Really! Mostly because I drive and he works on his laptop for 3 hours. It makes his day easier and I love driving, so it doesn't bother me one bit.


Aron is such a good traveler, too. He slept half of the drive and watched 101 Dalmatians and we were here. It is fun to play in another town and Louisville has lots to do. Since Aron started T-ball this month, he is all about baseball. (We even sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame at bedtime!) So, I thought this trip was the perfect time to visit the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum. I love any place that offers free admission for kids under 5! HELLO! Finally, somebody 'get's it'! We toured the actual factory where the commercial and MLB bats are made and at the end of the tour we received our very own souvenir mini bat! In the museum, they have one of Babe Ruth's bats displayed and you can see the actual notches he carved for each homerun he it with the bat (21) until it cracked. Very Americana. I loved it and so did Aron. I didn't bring the USB cable so I can't post the pics I took, but those will be up soon.


Hope your Friday has been just as happy!

The Grass is Greener...along with everything else!

Just a few weeks ago I posted this. I thought it would be fun to see the changes as springtime unfolded. What a difference 24 days has made! Check this out:

Look at the diffence in the trees! You can barely see the house across the street anymore. The groundcover (Vincas) and lillies down by the creek have exploded!

Back view: Hey, what happened to our shed?

Ahhhh....all this green. I just love it!

Little Boys (and Girls) of Summer

Oh my goodness. I really can't think of anything cuter than watching a gaggle of 3 and 4 year olds playing T-ball! Last night was Aron's first practice with his first T-ball team and it was too adorable! Those little-bitty kids in those big-ol' batting helments were just as cute as it gets; like real-live little bobble head dolls!

There are two little girls on the team and they are so darling. One has a pink glove and the other one purple! One of the girls is the daughter of the coach, hence the pink bat Aron is gripping.

So what if Aron spent half of the practice clinging to me and in tears because he didn't quite grasp the concept of taking turns running after the ball. I know he'll come out of his shell and "get it" as time goes on. He LOVED batting and running the bases and trading hi-fives with his teammates. This is going to be a great summer!

Things I admire....

I couldn't think of anything to blog about today that sounded interesting. Then I saw these ladies blooming just off of my front porch. Aren't they pretty? I admire them. They are just so cheerful and bright and doing just what they were made to do.

I also admire my husband. He ran the Music City Half Marathon this past Saturday. That's 13.1 miles for you non-runners. (non-runners like me!) He finished in 2 hours 27 seconds. I admire how hard he worked. He hadn't planned on doing this one, but the deli had an opening on their team. I think he only trained for 4 weeks. I admire that drive. Probably because I don't have it. I am more the creative, spontaneous type. Not too driven, though.

So, my goal is to be more cheerful like these Azalea's outside and more driven like my hubby.

So on that note, and while little people nap, I am going to get in a workout and try to smile while I do it!

FBF7: Okinawa, Japan

This Flashback Friday stuff is humbling. And fun. And dangerous. I am not sure if my sister looks at these, but she just might disown me for showing all of our goofy childhood photos here!

Here we are back in 1986. I was 10, my sister 8. Like those cheesy peace signs? For some reason that is the thing to do in Japan when you get your picture taken. At least it was in 1986. And yes, that is a Member's Only jacket I have on. Not sure what club we were members of....

We lived in Okinawa, Japan in the mid-80's as our father was in the USAF. It was a great experience and we were old enough to enjoy it, I think. This photo was taken at Hedo Point. My grandparents had flown out from the US to visit and we were sight-seeing. Okinawa is a tiny island, but beautiful and has a climate similar to Hawaii. I remember Christmas being around 70 degrees every year. I would really love to go back one day and take Aron and Rudy with me. How cool would it be to take them to the beaches where I swam as a kid and go snorkeling with my family... guess I better start saving my pennies!

God's GREEN Earth

This post was inspired by two things: Earth Day, which makes a lot more sense to me than so many other holidays on our calendar, and my friend Rachael's SPT (self portrait Thursday) post.
I hope you'll bear with me through my recycleable soap-boxing, cause this is a passionate subject for me.
Recycling is one of those things that just makes sense to do. You know? NO, it is not always convenient. I should know. We do not have curb-side recycling in my neighborhood. Instead we have this:

AH, my lovely home-made recycling center. She ain't beautiful, but she get's the job done. See, I am even recycling old laundry baskets by using them to recycle! I keep my cans in the big one, plastics in the middle, then the green one is for glass. I also have newspapers, magazine and cardboard boxes inside the house. I take it all down to the recycling center in our little town about 2 miles down the road.
On to my next favorite thing to recycle: those evil plastic shopping bags! Please, please, please do not throw these away! If I find out that you do, our friendship might be at stake. I am only half-kidding. I have started to purchase one or two of the reusable bags every time I go to the store. Then, when I am done un-loading the groceries, I just stick them in the back of the car for next time. Like any good habit, it just takes practice! Here, I'll break it down for you:

Bad Bag vs. Good Bag


How are we doing so far? Anyone still reading this? OK, for the two of you I will keep going.
My next big mission is to get rid of bottled water! Well, not get rid of it, but really reduce in this area. What a bunch of waste for WATER! There are so many reusable containers out there and they come in every shape and size. I no longer buy bottled water unless it is for a camping trip or something similar. If you don't like the way your water tastes, please look into a filtration system. It'll be cheaper in the long run anyway! Here are some examples of what we use:

Now, I don't write all of this to boast and tell you what a difference I make. I do it to encourage. Kinda like a GREEN cheer-leader. (Sniff, I was never a cheer-leader in school...well, you know that from this) Some people think recycling is a waste of time, that the Earth wasn't meant to last forever. To that I say that I am not meant to live forever, but I am still going to take care of my body. What a gift our world is to us. Let us all take good care of it while we are here. So this little guy's kids can have the same thing we had!