Daylilies by Night

My Daylilies just out did themselves this year
Year 2 for these
2 years ago I didn't have a thing in this bed

Happy Father's Day - 2006

DH & "the other one" -Mohawk Trail-Florida, Mass. 2003

Happy Father's Day, sweetie!

Father's Day was a great day around here! We went to church in the morning and dear husband and I spent the afternoon doing some errands around town. In the evening we (the children and I) treated him to dinner at 'Chez Mommy'. The menu consisted of Ultimate Grilled Steak, Zesty Grilled Veggies, grilled corn on the cob, some cloverleaf rolls and for dessert, dh's recent new favorite dessert....Mango Pie. Unfortunately Dh had to be called in to run the grills as I am not a "griller". The last time I actually tried to grill something (hotdogs on a night when dh was out of town) I burned the hair off my fore-arms. Oh well....I think he enjoyed his grill time. LOL It was cool enough to eat on our newly redone deck so that was nice. After the kiddos were tucked in their beds we took the dog for a walk and then spent an hour or so, snuggling on the front porch in the cool of the evening.
Yesterday wasn't just Father's Day for Dh. He actually had one of those "grown up" moments, as he had to get his 1st eye exam and found out --- not surprisingly--- that he needed some glasses for close up stuff. I have heard this happens in the 40th year! I think he is struggling with the concept a bit but he does look nice in the pair he picked out.
My dear, sweet husband is an amazing Father. He is engaged, involved and shows sacrifical love to our 3 wonderful children. They wouldn't be who they are without him and his guiding hands. He is the kind of Father that I think all children should have. I am such a lucky woman.

Boys and Physics

My boys are home for the summer and the noise level is definately up. Did you know that little brothers make excellent ramps for HotWheels Cars?

Playing cars on stairs...always a good idea...must be the testosterone.

I like to imagine in my best, "Alfa-Mommy" Attitude, that they are learning about physics when they decide to do these things by watching the way the cars fly through the air and land or biology/medical science from the blood gushing from their noses after their faces hit the floor. I truly understand why so many men have less than straight noses...it has NOTHING to do with bone structure.

This is for Stephanie (http://mamatsmusings.blogspot.com)...I took your challenge missy!

1- wallet

1 - calendar

1 - coupon

1 - mini-photo album

1 - mini bottle of bubbles

1 - hairbrush

1- bottle of hand lotion

various reciepts

3 tubes of lipstick

Chuck-E-Cheese tickets

4 legos

4 ink pens

1 pack of emergency salt (ya never know!)

1 red paper clip

VBS and dry weather

On Saturday evening my dear husband and I ended up with a rare evening without children. We had a nice drive up into the mountains and stopped at a BBQ place that we had heard lots about....Oinkers in Clayton, GA. It was great. DH actually said it was probably the best BBQ he had ever had. The sauce was a cross between the traditional GA BBQ sauce, which is tomato based and the vinegar BBQ sauce often found in the Carolinas and it was wonderful. It will definately get a repeat visit from us. We also took the scenic route home and cruised around Lake Burton and took in the beautiful sites. If you ever get the chance to spend any time in the Lake Burton area, definately do it. I am hoping for a dear, long lost, rich Uncle to leave me a huge inheritance so that I can have a "cabin" on Lake Burton. Hey, I can dream, can't I???

I also couldn't pass up this gorgeous rock/flower creation as we were riding around (click on it to see how gorgeous the flowers are up close!). It has been soooooooooo dry here I was amazed at how good these flowers look. I love this design and think I might need a rock pile of my own.

This week is VBS at our church. I have volunteered, but not for one of the special positions that require constant involvement with the children. I am not that good! As a child, I never attended VBS but my children always have and they love it. So, if you don't hear much from me it is because this is a busy week...not to mention it is the last week of my [horrid] Economics class!

Meet the "other one"

No, I am not being cruel to my youngest child...he is, the “other one”.

This whole other one business started on New Years Day. My dear husband and I decided we were not happy with the amount of sibling discord we were having in our home and decided to address it formally. We took our cues from some of the most well respected family therapist and experts and decided to have a “family meeting”. The children were called into the dining room and took their seats. My youngest child sat between his older siblings. The older two had a look of knowing dread. I think they assumed we were going to announce something hideous like I was having another baby!

Dear husband and I were trying to impart the “think of others first” type of mentality to these three little ones. I gave several examples of what that might look like: “let the other one wash their hands first”, “let the other one sit in the prized seat on the sofa”, “let the other one get the ball first”, etc. I really felt I was doing and extraordinary job imparting such wisdom and the world would be a better place because of it.

Then it happened...my dear, sweet, adorable youngest child interrupts. He literally raises both hands, palms down, out towards his brother and sister and very solemnly looks them straight in the eyes and says, “Now you know, I AM the other one.”

In case there was any doubt!
Meet the “other one”.

Beauty among the weeds...

"Then God saw everything that He made,

and indeed it was very good."

Genesis 1:31 (NKJV)

I was driving down a road this week and saw this amazing "field" of thistles. Aren't they just beautiful? God is so amazing...to create such beauty...when all we often see is weeds.