More fun with the new lens....baby cheeks are so cute!

Our nephew is adorable. Seriously, what's not to love about that face?

How does your garden grow?

So, here's the deal.  I grew up with a garden in my backyard.  My grandmother always had a garden....black eyed peas were always a favorite for picking.  And then of course my PawPaw (my favorite guy ever) had a big garden and always let me help "thump" the watermelons....(as if I knew what I was listening for when the sound arrived).

Gardening is a lost art if you ask me. 

Anyway, I decided this year I wanted to try my hand at growing my very own garden (something about getting close to 40 that makes you think long and hard about life).  I had dropped several hints about it for weeks.  Kept insisting that if gas prices was going to continue to rise and the economy was going to continue to fall....well, might as well grow us some food to feed my kids. 

Sure, everyone giggled and made snarky comments about this big idea. And just when I thought my words had fallen on deaf ears, that no one had been paying any attention to me and my plans.....I heard the familiar rumblings of a tractor outside.

My Daddy had been listening.  

So, he came and "broke" up the ground for my garden.  Then my sweet husband took me to buy seed packets and plants.  Now, I only have 6 rows in my garden but I was so excited when I made it to that seed display it was all I could do not to buy one of every packet imaginable! 

We all came home and planted my entire garden in a day. All the kids and their cousins were helping, Dad helped, T-5 helped.....it was fun. Sure it was work, but it was fun work. Good ol' get your hands dirty, sweat a little, feel like you might make a difference kind of fun work.

Again, I was so excited.  I actually had a garden.  I actually put seed in the ground (following my Daddy's careful instructions) and was hopeful it would show signs of life soon.  

And as usual, the skeptics gave their smirky smiles every time we talk about it. And the negative comments like....your garden is in a rocky patch of soil....you needed to cut those trees down, they're gonna give too much shade....you're on the one of the highest points in the county, sure your ground is gonna dry up faster.....they'll never survive, the deer will eat them....they'll never survive, the crow will eat it....they'll never survive, looks like rabbits will get them.....etc.etc.etc.  

But the jokes on them. Just look and see. 


I have zucchini.

I have butternut squash.

I have carrots.

And as my father pointed out today, I have cracks.  What?  Cracks?  That's right, I have cracks which are a sign that something else, like my okra or eggplant is about to burst through the ground any day now!!

And I have jumped for joy and already emailed several folks just this morning bragging about my rising stars from the garden.....corn and tomatoes.....there's no denying it.....I have a garden.

Now we just need to all come together and pray it survives.  You know from the heat and shade and dry rocky ground and forest critters and most importantly due to the ineptness of it's farmer. 

Because I need my garden to grow.

So I can laugh in the face of my nay-sayers when I offer them a basket of veggies from my freshly picked crop. :)

Presidential Wit

Harry Truman:

According to his stories, as a boy he couldn't play baseball because he had poor vision.  So he said, "Since I couldn't see the ball, they gave me a special job."

"What was that, Mr. President?', someone asked, "Cheerleader?"

"No," said Truman, "Umpire!"


**Believe me, I've seen a few blind umpires in my days....or at least they seemed to be blind.  :)

itty bitty teeny weeny.....

What? Are you kidding? You thought you'd find me in a pic of a yellow polka dot bikini?  Never. Ever.

But I did get a new itty bitty baby lens for my camera.  T-5 surprised me with it last week (thanks to a friend's advice) and I immediatelyhad to try it out....on whatever was available at the time.  So enjoy, a photo of my vacuum and Sadie girl's eyeball.  

That last one makes me kinda sad....seeing all the darker hairs on Sadie's snout and eye area bring the realization that she's not a spring chicken anymore.

Neither am I. Remind me not to take a picture of my eyeball.

Celebration.

Recently, Nana had a birthday, that means it's time to celebrate.  What's more fun than having all  5 of your grandkids surrounding you on your birthday?....Except, EEK.....would you look at that, your firstborn grand is now TALLER than you.  Oh, my, how time does fly.

AK is enamored with all of her cousins....but I think she has a little crush on Elder Son...she loves to give him kisses. And he loves that she reaches for him to hold her. :)

And what about the latest addition....that sweet little newcomer....the cutest baby boy with his plump cheeks and amazing disposition.  He never fusses. Stick around these other kids and he'll grow out of it, I'm sure! :)

Donuts with Dad....a springtime school tradition.

We had a little problem this year....Dad was out of town.

Never fear, PawPaw filled in for him.  He likes coffee and donuts and just like Baby Girl's Dad, he doesn't mind catering to her every whim.  Because we wouldn't want to upset Baby Girl's apple cart, now would we.

This one is what I like to call an "oldie but a goodie"....

Because with those kind, the oldies but goodies, well, you can never go wrong.  You know you have your favorite pair of shoes or sweater, your time honored recipe for chicken casserole, your go to movie or book selection that may be a couple of decades (or more) behind the times, the "works for every occasion" little black dress, and let us not forget the music of our era...I think they refer to it as a classic nowadays...etc. etc..... you know the reliable pieces of our life.

Well that's what this month's H3 verse is.....an oldie but a goodie.  And one I had thought I might never use because I figured everyone already knew it by heart, already had it memorized and sealed upon their foreheads. 

It was fear really.  Fear that you would be bored when you read the selected verse.  Fear you would think I wasn't trying hard to find a scripture with a good meaty, heart wrenching, or uplifting or life changing revelation type moment involved.  

I figured you would read this months verse and think, "really, that's all she could come up with from ALL the verses in the bible, all those out there that we need to really be sinking our teeth into, and she gives us this?  I know this. I've known this since I was a kid. Why in the world would I need to write this on a 3 x 5 index card and paste it to my bathroom mirror this month as a reminder? I know this. I can say it in my sleep. " 

Basically, just add this to all my other insecurities in life, I was scared I would disappoint you.  And so for months I have left it out of the H3 possibilities. But no more.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. "

~John 3:16

Yes. I know. I know. You already know it. You've known it since you were a kid. You can say it in your sleep.

But so what. You don't think it's worth celebrating every day you wake up and the Lord has given you the gift of life. Oh, I do.  Maybe you have children who don't know this verse yet. Teach it to them. My eyes were opened to how easy this verse is for us, for everyone, during a recent Sunday service.  In his sermon, the pastor walked near my kids (Elder Son sitting on the 2nd pew, Baby Girl and Middle Child one row behind him) and said -- "John 3:16"  then looked at them saying "you all know it"....and proceeded to listen, as in unison, my 3 blessings from the Lord recited it back to him. 

I don't recall sitting down and teaching it to them, I just know they've heard many people (Sunday school teachers, pastors, VBS workers, missionaries, family members, etc) refer to it hundreds of times over the span of their short lives. They know it because it is "an oldie but a goodie". 

It's Easter month. We'll all be hunting eggs and eating chocolate bunnies soon. We'll eat ham and deviled eggs, and maybe a pineapple casserole. At church we'll spend some time focusing on the death of Jesus & his crucifixion, as well as celebrate His rising on the third day. But do we really stop and think about what happened, what really happened for us. For me. For you. For our children. For our children's children.

God gave up his son.  I can't do that. It would be physically, emotionally and mentally impossible for me to allow that same fate to fall on one of my kiddos. As hard as these teen years are forecasted to be, and the mood swings that already arise at times, I could never watch people beat or spit on Elder Son.  I would never allow Middle Child to hang on a cross by nails while others stood by laughing and mocking. And assuming I had the power, you can rest assured Baby Girl would never breathe her last breath....not on my time. And I certainly wouldn't do it for all the vile people of the world, or even just for you. I'm sorry, but I'm just being real.

But God allowed that all and more to happen to his child.  And for us. A bunch of filthy sinners. The vile people we hate. Me. You.

He gave up his Son. He gave us Jesus. He gave us life. He gave us life in Him.

Go back up to the first paragraph of this post....see those words/phrases I highlighted?  They stand out for a reason.  Because every single one of them describes this verse and it's meaning for us.

God gave us Jesus.  An oldie but a goodie.

• He is a favorite.  (I'd pick him in any horse race, to win out in my bracket, to knock out the competition in the first round, to be the hands down....favorite.  Anyone would be dumb to not choose Him.)
• He is time honored. (remember that little thing about Him being the Alpha and the Omega?  yep, that clinches the epitome of time honored.)
• He is the go to. (period. need advice? ask Him. )
• He works for every occassion. (love, mercy, grace, the good times, the bad times, the depression, the deaths, the nasty, ugly moments where he brings about peace and comfort, somehow.)
• He is a classic. (like a good Hemmingway or Dickens novel, oh, you'll read about Him for years to come. Sure, his "claim to fame" happened over 2000 years ago, but He's still got it after all this time.)
• He is reliable. (when all others fail us, He's still right there.In a section all His own. By far, whether we want to hang our hat on worldly "things" or not, in the end, HE is THE MOST RELIABLE PIECE of our life.)

I know. You already know it. You can say it in your sleep.

Now live it.

Presidential Wit

I love reading. I love going to the library and just scouring over all sorts of books. I also love quotes. Weird, humorous, interesting or thought provoking...I love them all. On a recent trip to the library, I found a book entitled Presidential Wit --a collection of quotes from our Presidents.  And of course there were many I had to jot down in my journals to keep. So, I thought I'd share a favorite every now and then in hopes you enjoy them as I do.

Abraham Lincoln:

A Springfield neighbor looked out the window one day and saw Lincoln carrying his two sons, Willie and Tad.  The boys were shouting at each other and punching the air.

"What's wrong?" said Lincoln's neighbor.

"Just what's the matter with the whole world," replied Lincoln. "I've got three walnuts and each wants two."


**I dare say if ol' Abe was still around today, over a hundred years later, he wouldn't think much has changed in this area.