Simple Joys

*Blogging! Today is my blogs one year anniversary. I simply do this because I enjoy it.

* Watching home videos with my family.

* Sleeping in on my husbands day off and then waking up to have the dog and all the kids pounce us on our bed.

* Listening to my children sing Jesus Love Me as they sit together on the couch.

* Going out to dinner with a dear friend and enjoying good conversation.

* Celebrating my mom's 75th birthday!

* Watching my husband trimming out my kitchen windows with new molding.

* Watching my son help my husband fix the brakes on his truck.....and knowing that he is learning skills that will serve him well the rest of his life. Not only how to fix brakes but how to think through problems and gaining the confidence to tackle other problems that will arise. Not to mention how much he enjoys spending time with his dad.

* Looking out my kitchen windows and watching the birds coming to our feeders that my two youngest children keep filled with seeds. (Watching them fill the feeders is a wonderful sight, too!)

* Counting down to the end of our school year (6 more weeks!) and making summer plans.

* Listening to my children quote movies to each other. "Where's my super suit?"

* Talking to my sister on the phone late into the night. I enjoy it even more knowing the long distance is free!

* Gathering with 6 other ladies to discuss books, laugh, nibble on snacks, laugh, talk and laugh some more! Book clubs are great!

* Listening to the silly phone messages!

* Trading coffee tables with a friend. Isn't that fun?

* Looking forward to Easter Sunday....and all the joyful preparations that go into it!

Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars. ~Henry Van Dyke

Once Upon a Time: Because of Winn Dixie

One of the fun things about having children who are older is that we can eat cookies before dinner and they will still eat all their dinner. So we have been nibbling on chocolate chip almond cookies while we wait on the meat loaf to bake and they are so yummy! Desserts often taste better when eaten first!

Last night we finished a read aloud called Because of Winn Dixie. It was a fun, quick read. We enjoyed all the funny parts about the dog, Winn Dixie, but we didn't really understand how or why a candy could taste sad. The book has several sad parts and a couple of us cried. It is not easy to read out loud when your throat is all choked up. The book has "thematic elements" (don't you love that vague phrase?) that I don't think would be appropriate for young children.

Another big event in our home is that we have taken the doggie gate down and our Little Doggie is free to roam into the living area. So far he has been good but we do have to remember to keep all doors shut or he will get into mischief. He is feeling quite independent and frisky and has enjoyed his new freedom. For me, it is much like having a toddler around the house.

C is for cookie, it's good enough for me; oh cookie cookie cookie starts with C. ~Cookie Monster

What's Happening

* Not reading very much. I don't know why but when I do pick up a book my eyelids get really heavy and I fall into a deep, deep sleep. Even while it is still daylight. I know enough to be thankful for deep sleep despite the fact that I am falling way behind in my reading.

* Being outside and obsessively watching over all of the little signs of spring in my yard sprouting into bigger signs of spring. I have also been moving mint from one spot to another. Dirt under the fingernails is a wonderful thing! And the thrill of seeing an old planter used in a new way is very exciting to me.

* Bird watching out of all of my windows. This would also include the windows of my mini-van. I apologize if you have been behind me as I drive. I slow down to look at birds and I brake for butterflies.

* Spotting the occasional squirrel, bunny or "bear" outside of my kitchen windows. Bear? Well, not really. There is a cat that sits across our creek and looks our way that is big, fuzzy and gray, and at a distance he looks very much like a bear cub. He does! Really.

* A little shopping. I found a few of these beautiful Spode plates and plan on hanging them on my newly textured and painted kitchen walls. That is if I don't break them all! I broke one....but let's not talk about it. Boo hoo!


* Walking. This is the sky under which I walked today. Isn't it beautiful? The adorable children flying by me on their bicycles was a pretty wonderful sight, too!

* Sneezing to the point of possibly needing a chiropractor. I heard on the radio that allergies will be worse this spring because of all the rain we have had. Aaa-aaa-chooo!

Oh, how great Thy loving kindness,
Vaster, broader than the sea!
Oh, how marvelous Thy goodness,
Lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved,
Know what wealth of grace is Thine,
Know Thy certainty of promise,
And have made it mine.
~Jean S. Pigott

Our Mistletoe Tree

During our science lesson this week we were discussing deciduous trees. I asked my children if they could name the trees in our yard that are deciduous. My 9 year old son correctly said our bradford pear trees. I asked him if he could think of any others and he said, yes, our mistletoe tree!

The tree he is referring to is really a native hackberry tree but right now it does look like it should be called a mistletoe tree. My oldest son has been trying to cut the parasite out of our poor hackberry but it has not been an easy task.

Apparently all that has to happen is for the mistletoe berry to come in contact with the bark of the tree. It sends out a root and begins getting its nourishment from the tree.

Did you know that the mistletoe is the state flower of Oklahoma?

"From the centre of the ceiling of this kitchen, old Wardle had just suspended with his own hands huge branch of mistletoe, and this same branch of mistletoe instantaneously gave rise to a scene of general and most delightful struggling and confusion; in the midst of which, Mr. Pickwick, with a gallantry that would have done honour to a descendant of Lady Tollimglower herself, took the old lady by the hand, led her beneath the mystic branch, and saluted her in all courtesy and decorum." ~from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens