Grape Soda ~ Purple Taffeta Dress ~Pot of Gold

 

Iris survive in my garden year after year neglected, forgotten, cut down to the ground…what an amazing lesson they can teach me…………. How reassuring to recall that even when all feels lost, there is still the possibility of possibilities waiting to emerge.moved and divided and they seem to flourish quite well wherever they are put……..bloom where you are planted

Taffeta Ruffle unfurled……….. Vivid colors of sophistication…………..perfect for any occasion!

Stop every now and then. Just stop and enjoy. Take a deep breath. Relax and take in the abundance of life.

Sportsmanship Matters By JASON THOMPSON

I’m a huge proponent of kids play sports. Growing up, I was constantly involved in one sport or another, baseball, basketball, or tennis, through high school. More important than wins or losses or how good I got at a specific sport, was the life lessons that I learned in the process.

The greatest lesson I ever learned was the importance of sportsmanship. With time, I could no longer go 5 sets on the tennis court and gone were the days I could pull up for a transition 3 but what I learned about how to treat others has never left and it is a skill that has prepared me well for a successful business career.

I was thinking about this a lot yesterday, seeing two contrasting styles of leadership. First, at my son’s soccer game, one of his teammates went down with an injury, I saw the opposing coach gather his team to explain the importance of the moment. I witnessed the opposing team following the coach’s lead in taking a knee and bowing their heads. At that moment, I knew these kids were fortunate for being taught these important life lessons now. They would be better, more successful, people for it.

In contrast, during my daughter’s soccer game, I watched player after player being injured, by the same opposing player, finishing with my daughter in the emergency room being treated for a concussion. Never once did the opposing team express concern. Never once did I see a hand extended to help up a fallen competitor. Never once did I see the opposing coach use this as a teaching opportunity. After the game, when most players leave the game on the field and become friends again, I witnessed the offending player refuse to shake her opponents hands. At that moment, I knew these kids were unfortunate for being taught how to be great soccer players but not being taught how to be great women.

Sportsmanship matters and the most important lessons you learn on the field are life lessons. What lessons do you want your kids to learn?

Backyard Lilac

Fragrance triggers are like lightening bolts in our brain.

A memory so vivid it can take one’s breath away.

Brilliant - shining
Purple and white
Can there be
A more magnificent sight?

 Lilacs have an heirloom quality to them.

You can see them blooming in abandoned lots, having survived long after the homes they were planted next to have vanished. I remember them growing across the street from my childhood home on the corner of a lot no one cared for.My father planted many in the backyard of our home….The lilacs now blooming in my backyard all trace their ancestry back to him.

You remind me, of years past, of happy times, of neighborhood friends, and Spring Festivals.

Little clenched fists of purple, waiting to burst forth
Tiny leaves of green unfold, proud to show their growth.Your smell so fresh and clean, so light…so free. Blessed with blossoms to numerous to count Love flows best when it blooms…………

It’s amazing to see how much beauty God puts into a single lilac with its breathtaking beauty and aroma.

Sinkers

When I was a child I spent many Sunday afternoons at my cousins’ home with my grandmother.    My Aunt Phyllis was an amazing cook, in fact she was the head cook for several schools in the Nebo School District.  I always asked her to make me a bowl full of “Sinkers”  and she willingly  went to the kitchen and began the laborious task of making the dough.   I love dumplings in all forms – big, little, stuffed, doughy, whatever – but there is a special place in my heart for the humble spaetzle/sinkers, the quick-cooking, wee dumpling from Germany. because of my dear Aunt. I remember the big pot of boiling water, the huge mixing bowl, and her standing over the pot carefully slicing off bits of dough with a knife into the boiling water.    When they floated to the top I knew they were just about ready to be put in front of me!  

I will never be able to duplicate my Auntie’s sinkers… practice and practice is all I can do.   My dear cousin, Susan, told me about this fancy gadget that has helped …since I could never master the bowl and knife technique.   I love to nourish people and see them enjoy what I make and today King Kendry really took to my sinkers  at lunchtime.  

  As I said a little prayer asking for help with the task…..I know my Aunt Phyllis was with me in the kitchen coaching me along!  

Sunday in the Kiddie Pool with Kendry

The weather was gorgeous Sunday so we got the dino pool out of the shed, it was cousin Brevin’s when he turned 1…and it still can …..bring on the fun! Filling it  up with hose water and two buckets full of very warm kitchen tap water did the trick to make it the perfect temperature.

Soaking in the sun, listening to Kendry squeal with delight with the spray of “Freezing” water from the hose…reminds me just how blessed we really are.

Hey – Hooray – It’s A Potty Day

We are very happy to report that King Kendry went potty all by himself.   While watching Caillou he started taking off his diaper and ran towards the bathroom….sat down on his Baby Bjorn and tinkled!   Then because he had all his clothes off he figured it was time to bath….he loves bath time!  

Chatting about the whole Potty Training to the world seems a little weird….definitely something we should keep in house….but we were to proud, so excited, and just so thrilled that we just couldn’t keep it to ourselves!  (Shhh…I left out the gorse part of him putting his hands in the potty!)

Potty Training, we have read, over and over again…… that it’s really important that you mustn’t start too early for the child and that ‘the right time’ is really dependant on the child…. So we really didn’t consider starting the whole process at all at 22 months.  But today when he started showing us signs….the classic signs you hear about…we think we are on the way to a successful journey! 

Updates to follow!

Hymn of Praise to Spring

With a sweet breath of fresh clean air from the morning rain shower a new season begins full of faith, hope, and charity

Behold the small tiny moments when Parsley

Rosemary

Thyme

Oregano

and chives

nod their heads with new growth that

survived the winter’s cold………….

Spring, she is prayed for, and called out of winter’s deep slumber, dressed in her very finest new greens.  

She is welcomed into my yard…

fresh, full of life and blessed beyond words!

Sleeping Beauty Has Been Kissed

Real beauty is never forced…..on a beautiful April day it just appears.  Their very delicacy breathes into our essence a hinted reality of something greater than all of us, something better than the surrounding hum-drum world.

 

The tree’s form is the same in summer and winter but in spring it expresses a vibrancy that enhances its form to something spectacular! Sleeping Beauty is finally awake…

May You

May your weekend be filled with blooming Magnolia trees…….

budding daffodils…

rain to make our grass green and vibrant.

 

May you always know love and find a way to love the life you live, after all it is what God planned for you!

May you have friends to share a day of backyard barbequing.

 

May we all allow the worries of today fade fast because of our faith in God! Who loves us more than we can ever imagine!

 

May you find a good reason to eat Wild Orange & White Chocolate popcorn while relax the night away watching your favorite movie with your favorite people!

 

May you just simply enjoy your weekend with family and friends! ……..on dang it’s April….Have a great April Fools Day!