Small Everyday Joys...

"Creativity is a natural extension of our enthusiasm"

~Earl Nightingale

One of the best parts of being a Mom is watching who my children are becoming.  This little guy is fun to watch.  His creativity and personality are a true joy to me.  Writing and drawing are one of his favorite things to do and he takes great care in deciding what he wants to say on paper whether it's a note or a drawing.

I'm glad it's Friday...for a short work week it's been kind of a long one.  We have a full weekend planned with visits from my cousin Denise and her family and other activities as well.  

On the menu tonight...

Meatball Sandwiches and Seasoned Potato Wedges

I hope your Friday is a great day.  See you on Sunday for a scripture I've been working on this week.

Jackie

What Is The Hurry?

This whole summer I have been running at a hectic pace.  I haven't taken the time to enjoy much.  As a result, I have burned out, have had some depression and I can't even really tell you anything we did this summer.  Sad. How I've lived the past few months is opposite of the title of this Blog.  I haven't Embraced much...except work..at home and at the office.

Recently the question was asked, "What have you been hurrying through?"  My answers sounded something like..."work days...crazy evenings at home...weeks...months...pay periods...hot summer days".  Life.  

The next questions stopped me cold.  "What have you been hurrying to get to?"  Silence.  The only word I had was..."Nothing". I have been rushing through my days, weeks, and months to get to....what?  Nothing. 

God intended for that question to be asked of me.  I have to live these hard questions sometimes so that I step back and take a look at how I'm living my life.  I won't get those summer days back.  I can do better.  I can resolve to not miss things in my life anymore.  Rushing through my life and not taking the time to enjoy every moment is not God's plan for me.  I can choose to spend my time in a way that is pleasing to Him and blesses my family. 

What is the hurry anyway?

Awakened,


Jackie

Dining Alfresco...

Doesn't that sound glamorous? Dining Alfresco. Yesterday we just did that very thing. We ate lunch outside on our deck...in the sun. The Sun! It finally decided to make an appearance and when it did it was even warm enough to enjoy our meal out in it.

We're alfresco diners at our house. We eat out there every chance we get from the time it's warm enough in the spring until it is just too chilly in the fall. Our house faces the west, so summer evenings are nice on our deck(which faces the east)...at least until the humidity and heat set in by mid-summer and even then you will usually find us eating dinner out there in the evening.

With windows thrown open and the warm sun we had a little hint of spring yesterday. It was a much-needed breath of fresh air for me and improved my outlook tremendously.

Gracie was enjoying the warmth of the deck yesterday too.

But, when she came in Kyler thought that she might be cold so he wrapped her up in one of his blankets. He is like a little mother hen...always taking care of her...
Then he thought she needed a hug...

See Mom...she is getting warm now...
Big brother needs to get in on the puppy love too. I'm pretty sure that if Gracie could talk she would be saying, "Okay, boys...I'm all warmed up and I'm DONE with all this love. Let me out of here"! She is very patient with all the attention she gets and, personally, I think she adores it.
Hmmm...what's this? Tune in next time...for more on our little experiment.

Jackie

Joys...Big and Small

Life is mostly about the little things but sometimes there are BIG things too....


Like...

A sweet baby girl cousin born on a sad day for the U.S. - September 11, 2009 will now be known as little miss Marlie Jo's birthday and it's indeed a happy day now for this family!

A Grandma thrilled to finally have a grand-daughter...

Four cousins who really like hanging out together...

An eight-year old who now wants another baby in our family...well...no...don't think so...

Then there are the small joys in life...


Like...

Getting the Fall Tree Decorated...

Slurping Spaghetti...

Cute fall tree decorations and a cute decorating assistant...

And...The first pumpkin of the season...

Easter 2009 and what we've been up to...

I haven't posted much lately because we've been so busy. I've missed being in blogland and haven't kept up with reading other blogs much either...I'm making up for lost time and didn't get to bed as early as I should have last night.

Easter has come and gone but I'm posting a few pictures of our Easter celebrating now. On Easter weekend our friends Joy, Josh, Brandon and Benjamin moved to the west coast for their new Army adventure. We'll miss them stopping by and hanging out. Joy, if you're reading this you'd better call me when you get settled. (:

I've also been working in the yard and gardens a lot clearing out the leaves to give the plants that are coming up some sunlight. I don't have any pictures yet because it's just not that pretty right now. What else...hmmm...I've been shopping at my favorite resale shop and I've posted a picture of my latest treasures here. I spent a whopping $19.00 total on the items in the picture. That's really about it. We're getting ready for Kyler's 3rd birthday this weekend, baseball season has started for Kobe and gardening is beginning...it will be a very busy spring and summer.

Hope you have a great day!

Dad getting in on the Easter egg coloring fun

They boys dunking their eggs. This was Kyler's first time (I think)

Ahhh...they love each other!

Joy and Baby Benjamin

The $1.88 "T" that I got from Wally-World and painted and the 2nd french memo board I've made (postcards were printed from the Vintage Moth blog)

Kobe and Brandon surveying their eggs...Kobe silly as always

Kyler cracking open his eggs to get to the Gwok-what (chocolate)

Egg Hunting in our "woods"

My resale shop finds...very cool!

My Easter centerpiece that I copied out of a magazine. Can you see the peeps in there? The centerpiece lasted..maybe...24 hours...jelly beans and peeps stolen by some grubby little hands..I think Dad stole some too. Okay, I'm guilty too.