Friday, June 30, 2017

Wrapping up the week...tornado sirens, never ending miscarriages, pink skies and a new song for you.

Sometimes I just watch..and they don't even know I'm there.
....lurking with my camera. snapping moments I find adorable.

It's amazing how big the love is that we have for our children, isn't it?


I will one day soon write about miscarriages that go on forever and ever and ever...
...and ever and ever....and EVER!!! and feel like they are never going to end.
But they do....that's what they say. I'll let you know.

I have learned a lot about the human body these past few weeks. Still learning.
...and seriously! Why aren't there more websites for women out there?

Who are we supposed to turn to at 2am when we don't want to wake the doctor
from her sweet slumber to ask a question that may be silly? ....or not?
You could be dying! or not? or you could be! or not!

How are we to know???  How? How? How did people live before the internet? {wink}

I found many answers in the comment section of articles I read from other countries...
...like New Zealand! New Zealand women, they speak frank.
.....and the comments marked TMI with obvious grammatical and spelling errors
seemed to be the most helpful. Ha!




Capturing the heavy rains and crazy storm clouds while tornado sirens blared
and his wife continued her pleading for him to move into the basement.
....after she took a photo of course. 


The storms this past week left gorgeous pink skies.


Yes! Yes! These are my colorful hydrangeas that decided to bloom again after two years of rest.
Thank you darlings. ...and look at that little lightning bug. Frankie is now caring for him.



Finally....here is our friend Andrew Belle's new single.
....my kids love when this song is stuck in my head and I sing down, down over and over again.

Have a fabulous weekend.
XxOo

Thursday, June 29, 2017

That "Aha" moment pointed out by my dear husband....Duh! I can do this myself.


For the past couple of years, I have been drinking this fabulous black lavender tea
packaged in the cutest. little. skinny. glass. bottles.

There was only one grocery store on planet earth that carried it...
...and it was a tad bit expensive, but oh so good!

I didn't buy it often...it was one of those "treat yo self " kind of purchases.
Sometimes Jeff would surprise me with a bottle...if they were on sale I'd buy two! or three!
It was an eight ounce liquid delicacy.

Then one day...I went to buy a bottle and....the store stopped selling it!
Nooooo!!!!! .....I ran to my car sobbing uncontrollably.



Three things.

One.
I grow many herbs in my garden...including...Lavender.

Two.
I make my own flavored teas...I have for many years.
Strawberry Tea. Mint Tea. Lemon Balm Tea. Chamomile Tea.

{..are you putting two and two together here?}


Three.
Liz: I wish I could find that lavender tea again.
Jeff: You grow lavender. Why don't you make your own?

I married a genius!!!
Why did it take me so long to realize I could make my own lavender black tea?
That is a very good question to which I have no answer.




Bring to a boil five black tea bags.
Toss in two or three fresh lavender flowers.
Let steep for five minutes.

Strain and store in your own cute little glass bottle.
{I added some Stevia for a little sweetness}

Store in refrigerator and serve over ice.



XxOo

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Finding the quality in quiet and mastering the word no while not buying back to school supplies quite yet.

I was watching the early morning news on this sunny June day....
...Office Depot ran a back to school advertisement.

NOOOO!!!
Why can't we enjoy summer and not think about going back to school quite yet?
Didn't our kids just finish up the last school year?

...and I get it.
Some people like to be prepared and I too am a sucker for that new pencil smell. ahhhh...
...but there is something fun about buying supplies closer to the start of the school year.
It's like buying a Christmas tree in August...it's not time yet!
Why do we ALWAYS have to be celebrating ahead of time?

One of the things I have learned while being forced to sit
around this spring/summer due to a never ending miscarriage..Grrrr..

We, {people} don't break between our moments. I don't think we really know how.
We're not encouraged to in this day and age. The age of "planned activities".

Our culture is always on the go. We are a country of the "Yes" people.

We say yes, yes to everything and we run, run, run to the next, to the next, to the next
and never stop to catch up to our own lives.
We're busy. We're stressed. We overdo it.
We never say... NO.

We fill every square on our calendar.
We don't have a minute to spare.....and we do it to ourselves.
{pointing finger are MYself}

I was sitting on the porch steps late one morning...
I watched as my kids and the neighbor kids ran to the mailbox across the street.
They said hello to the mail man and grabbed envelopes and sale papers.

Yes! That! That is what I want. That is how I want my kids to spend their summer.
At a slower pace...saying hello to the mailman. long summer evenings.
pancakes for breakfast while they plan out their backyard adventure.
riding bikes around town. picking flowers along the ditch. lemonade stands.
...all the things that feel like they are from another era.
I want that to be my kids era.

I want them to learn to find happiness in small moments.
I want them to see the quality in stillness and quiet.

It's where we think and pray and grow.
I don't want to take that gift from them by setting an example of busy.

We circulate articles like this and articles like this around our Facebook pages.
{love this woman's blog ^^^btw}

We share them, we love them and want our lives to be like that..yet we never put on the brakes.

We live at a constant high speed and I've been wondering...
How are we going to feel when we look backwards in years to come?
Did we enjoy people?
Did we have time to relax in the beautiful homes we worked so hard for?
Did we talk around the dinner table?
Read books before bed?





{What fidget spinners do to droopy peonies on the breakfast table..mom rolls eyes}


I'm practicing and mastering the word no.
Don't be surprised if you see me wearing this shirt with tape over my mouth.

Now go enjoy an iced coffee in your backyard while listening to the birds chirp.
XxOo

Friday, June 23, 2017

Wrapping up the week....Monday thru Friday.


MONDAY
WARNING : picking up an extra sock that does not belong to you could potentially kill you!
It was just "one of those days."

By the end of "one of those days"....I realized how blessed I am to be home all day with my kids!
Thankful I have a husband who prefers me home. and thankful for my current job position.

TUESDAY
One girl baked lemon pound cake.
I picked lilies from the garden...they're on the kitchen table.

WEDNESDAY
We made Cheeseburgers for dinner and stayed out until after
sunset catching lightning bugs....because....First Day of Summer!!!

THURSDAY
I found the piano of my dreams...and it's marked down to $20,999!
Instead of buying the piano we had a banjo restrung...sort of the same thing.

FRIDAY
I ate waaaaay to many chocolate donuts...
...but it's the end of the week. So it's okay.










Have a wonderful weekend.
XxOo

Friday, June 16, 2017

Wrapping up the week...


I love little boys with no shirts and tan lines playing with tractors.
They are so cute!

What are you up to this weekend?

I'll be home resting for 7-10 more days recovering from the never ending miscarriage.
I'm happy to see an end in sight though...can't wait! I want to feel back to my normal self.

If you love satire and sarcasm...
This has been cracking me up!

Going to try this little arm workout once I can lift again.
{In 7-10 Days!!!}

Have a great weekend.
XxOo

Thursday, June 15, 2017

The first 90.Swim.Flowers.Projects Finished and 8 Girls Visiting.












We had our first hot spell of the summer..{technically late spring...summer next week}
90 degrees everyday. I love it.

The kids went in our pool for the first time this week...we're a little behind over here.

I love the time of year when I can find flowers for my table right outside my door.

The sun is perfect when it rises and when it sets!
It's been so gorgeous to see.

We finished our big house project...I'll show you soon!

This past weekend I hosted eight incredible ladies at my house.
Friends I met years ago through blogging! of all things.
It's been fun to get to know each other in "real life" over the years.
....and I enjoy our time when we get together.


For some reason, it feels like Monday to me...
...which is really crazy since it's already Thursday.

Glad it's close to the weekend.
XxOo

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Wrapping up the week....


Captain hook says "Have a great weekend Mateys!"

Love that it's unofficially, yet officially Summer!
Ice cream cones are pretty much inevitable this weekend.

We'll be working on our family room..{we as in Jeff}...a project started in November.
Gotta love those monkey wrenches. {and maybe a little procrastination.. Ha!}

Have a lovely weekend.
XxOo

Thursday, June 1, 2017

I am literally watching muscle turn to fat as I still sit here and sulk! ...but Joy will be coming.

{Why don't you go ahead and use that sleeve for a napkin.}
They wanted to eat their breakfast of bagels on the front porch.

The past couple of days have been dreamy. It's nice to have windows open and sun shining.





A short, unexpected afternoon downpour...

....brought a rainbow.

He cried when it disappeared.
"I don't want da wainbow to go aaaaway"

Ugh...I am still recovering from miscarrying and having a D&C.
This turned out to be worse than I expected {physically}...and I am tired of "taking it easy".

I am not a take it easy person..I'm not.
Yes, God is {trying} to teach me patience.endurance.to be joyful.grateful.

I'm just not being a very good learner this week!
In this class, I'm getting BIG FAT F!!!

I let myself be immersed in sulky-ness.
I am acting very first world..really, if you heard me..oh boy.
I can hardly stand myself to be honest.

I thought I would be feeling a bit better by now..and I sort of am, but I'm also not.
Nights are bad. That's when everything from the day....
{even though I don't do anything major in the day!}...seems to catch up with me.
..and then ouch.

For the first time in my LIFE! I filled and took prescription pain medication.
I am a take-a-Tylenol-once-every-18 months kind of person...I hardly ever take anything.
This ordeal has not been fun. and I've even doubled up on doses.

I've been reading Erin Harrison's ..Living Virtuously ...my sister gave it to me a while back.
Incredible book!

I read. I feel convicted. I close the book with a new attitude...for about 5 minutes. Ha!
....and then like a dog...like the proverb says, I return to my vomit.
Gross I know, but I just keep returning.

All this to say....I am working on having true Joy.
I know that sounds about as convincing as Kathy Griffin's apology...
...but I really am working at it.


I'm thankful for fresh starts and forgiveness and chocolate mint iced tea.
{See what being thankful does to your soul?
...I already sound like a nicer person and it hasn't even been a paragraph.}

..and truly, it is a choice.
We make the choice to find contentment. Sometimes it's easy..sometimes it's not.
...but it's a whole lot easier when we let God work in our hearts!

XxOo