Honeysuckle

This is my favorite time of the year because the honeysuckle is in full bloom.  It grows wild in my back yard and I can step out on my deck and be greeted with the sweet smell.  It is the closest thing to my love of those sweet lilac bushes I remember from my yard in Colorado (we do not have lilac bushes here in Georgia).

The end of the drought has done wonderful things to all the vegetation.  A rose bush that I thought was long gone is blooming like crazy and is surrounded by honeysuckle.

 

Davis spent some time this evening getting the drop of sweet nectar from the honeysuckle.

I tried to get a picture of the drop that comes out but I just couldn’t get it.  It is a small drop of pure sweetness.

Davis' First Communion

On May 1st, my sweet boy got dressed in a suit and put on his dress shoes....

Spent some time with his Mommy who walked each step with him to prepare for this day which included retreats, books and even a Seder Meal.


Made it to the church at 11:30 to get a professional picture taken and to reserve a row for his family. He decided that "He didn't want any more pictures taken".


At 1pm this special mass began. He sang the songs while sitting with the rest of his class. He carried wine cups up to the alter while his Mommy shed tears of gratitude and pride.


When it was his time, Davis shoved the host into his mouth, made a very ugly face when he drank the wine and then tried to go back to his seat going the wrong way. Again, his Mommy shed more silent tears.


Thankfully he decided we could take pictures after of him with his family and on the alter.

Davis with his Godparents, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jason.

After the service, we had a celebration at our house. Everyone seemed to have a good time. He was thrilled to get so much money (which is burning a hole in his pocket).


Davis, I know you don't realize the gift you have been given, but your Mommy does and is so proud of you for sticking with it. I am enjoying having you join us each Sunday for our Church meal.

Crazy Days

I have finally downloaded the pictures from Davis' first communion this weekend, but I haven't edited them.

It was a wonderful day and hopefully I can share it with you all by this weekend!

The weather is really heating up and am super glad we were able to get the upstairs air fixed yesterday.

We got a new gazebo for the back porch and I am slowly trying to get the back porch a haven for the summer!!!

I am going to hit the hay since I need to get up early tomorrow for work. Hannah has an outside concert tomorrow night for Chorus.

I will try to get the pictures edited and make a post for what was a very special day!!

Purpose

"The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;

your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.

Do not forsake the work of your hands."

Psalm 138:8

Saw this today and thought it fit where I am right now.

Trusting that God will fulfill HIS purpose for me.

I am also accepting that He won't be giving me a teleprompter so I can see what is next for me.

Strange week so far with lots of ups and downs, but overall I feel I am on the plus side.

Trusting in His purpose and timing.

Back to Reality

After a wonderful week off of school for the kids, everyone headed back to the grind today.   Surprisingly everyone got up great this morning and seemed to have a good day.  Davis and Hannah start the CRCT (standardized testing for the state) tomorrow, so they are willing to get to bed early tonight.  I don’t really sweat these tests and none of the kids “have” to pass this year to advance. 

I had a lot of fun with the kids at the zoo on Friday.  It was crazy busy and we had to park pretty far from the zoo.  We had a lovely walk through the park and the weather was beautiful.

I couldn’t get Noah to look, but this was at the entrance with some very excited kids!!!

They made their own train…. 

We had a picnic…

We saw pandas, lions, Jason’s Dad orangutans, gorillas, zebras, monkeys and giraffes.  We saw a strange “yelling fight” with the lemurs that happened right in front of us.

The girls bonded…..

 

And somewhere along the line, my little girl grew up…..

 

Spring Break

This week is Spring Break for the kids and we are having perfect weather so far!!

The only problem is the pollen count is now almost 3000 and my contacts don’t appreciate that nasty yellow pine pollen (if you look at the wings of the butterfly you can see the pollen…and it just started).

I want to give a big shout out to my parents who have all the kids until tomorrow!!! Mom is still recovering from foot surgery and Dad is loving his retirement (he looks so wonderful and relaxed).

Pete is off on Thursday and I am working 10 hour days so I can be off on Friday. I am taking the kids to the zoo and meeting my sister and her family there!!

Pete and I are off to get something to eat….all by ourselves!!! I will update about our trip to the zoo when I can!!

Easter

Happy Easter….I hope you are enjoying some time with family and friends and remembering that we are celebrating God’s promise fulfilled!

Yesterday we colored eggs.

Even Hannah managed to color eggs even though she has strep again ( the medicine seems to be working better than the stuff she took a couple weeks ago – she feels so much better today already)

Our finished product

The Easter Bunny was good to the kids and brought bathing suits, sidewalk chalk, itunes card and lots of candy. Hunter even got some bowls that Hannah painted for him. That bunny did a good job of hiding the eggs, good thing because we waited until Daddy came home from work to hunt them!!

Hunter has the hardest time leaving those plastic eggs alone. This is him trying to get one of the eggs he broke open.

These are some sugar induced happy kids!!

This is my favorite picture of the day. Matt wanted to hold Hunter’s ears back….