Luminous

Over at The Pioneer Woman Photography she has set the assignment of "Green". I took the bait and submitted this photo I named, "Luminous":



It was cropped from this pic I took when our family went camping last summer:



I also started a new blog all about backyard farming and garden "stuff" and wrote a post. You can find it here if you are interested in that sort of thing. ;)

Today was filled with visiting with Josh and Karen and snuggling with Baby Aiden and visiting with some ladies from my church. It was busy, but a wonderful day.

Happy Birthday to All!

Oh my! I have been TERRIBLE about spotlighting my kids and hubby on their birthdays this year!! How could I get so behind?!

Okay, so to redeem the situation, let's start with the December Birthdays:

Josh


and Matt.


February Birthdays:

Steve


and Karen.


And now that I'm caught up, tonight we celebrated Jared's.


Happy Birthday to all of my Dearies! So sorry I'm so slow! I love you all so much!

Good News!

Saxon Holt, this month's judge at GardeningGoneWild.com's photo contest, liked my picture. :) It didn't win, but it did get showcased (and shows up right above the "fold" (the "read more") line of the main content page!), and that is good enough!

Steve and I went for a ride today. Here are some of the sights I saw:


















And a closer up of that one:



So I am a very content me for today, amidst all of the flu germs still living at my home, and I'm hoping that all is going well for you. Have a great rest-of-your-weekend!

Hey there

Okay, so I'm sick with the Flu, like the real flu, like maybe swine flu (think of the Nyquil commercial . . . those are my symptoms - Sniffling, Sneezing, Coughing, Aching, Stuffy-head, Fever, So-You-Can-Rest medicine ).

I've had a fever of over 100.4* for the past 5 days. Steve & Michael just came down with a fever tonight. And Karen just told me Aiden has an ear infection after being sick for 2 weeks with a runny nose and cough (sounds like me minus the fever).

So do you think if I say "uncle" it will stop?

I hope that you are all doing way better than we are and I'll see you in a few days. BTW, if you are eating Girl Scout cookies, especially thin mints, think of me! They are my fav! :)

(I know that this post isn't really interesting . . . but did you see my header? That's really why I wanted you to stop by. :) )

Happy Spring!

These are a few of my favorite things:













What says "Spring" to you?

Here Kitty Kitty!

My favorite cat, Tilly, lay asleep in the bathroom curled up on the bathmat. So sweet! So I had to take a picture (or twenty!).

Then I cropped his pic.



Doesn't he look snuggly?



He is. :)

What about you? Which do you like better: cats or dogs?

Thankful Thursday: March 18

I haven't done a Thankful Thursday for a long, long while, so I figure it is about time! :)

I'm thankful for:

Springtime weather.



Nature's Beauty.

Contests that make me stretch (especially in learning to be more sportsmanlike! ;) )

My husband, Steve.



All of my children and grandchild.

For Michael. That he makes me laugh with his antics. And that we are figuring out how to work with some of his challenges.



That my mom was alive to see Aiden and to take a 4 generation pic with us.



For change. That problems aren't here to stay. That the seasons, years, and cycles of our lives change.

What about you? What things are you thankful for today?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!: Signs of Spring

I was inspired to take this pic after seeing Stephanie's March Sixteen on OLM. I loved all of her pics, but especially the ones taken way down low, showing the view from angles we don't usually see. (On my pic, the "wall" you see is the sidewalk.)

I hope you have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day!!

Cute Family

I cropped some pics in hopes of printing some out for Josh and Karen. Take a look:





How cute are those people?!

Awww! and an Update

(Amber and Aiden)

Update:

I took Michael to the neurologist on Friday. Here is my report from facebook:

We met with the neurologist today (about Michael's seizure on Monday) and found out that he is 90% sure that they are real seizures called partial seizures (they only affect a portion of the brain). As we got out of the car to go *into* the neurologists office, though, we found that Michael had a rash.

(He had red splotches all over his face, arms, and trunk. Could *not* believe it! We made him wear a mask at the neurologist in case he was contagious.)

So after the neurologist came the pediatrician. He has a virus with a fever of 100.7*. What a day!!

and later in the comments:

So for the seizures, the doc is having us give him valium at the start of his next one and see if it stops it. (they have been lasting 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours) If it does, then that's what we'll continue, if not, the dr will have to go back to the drawing board.

The good news is that partial seizures are less dangerous than a seizure that affects the entire brain. Another positive is that they did the EEG while he was having the after-effects of the seizure and it caught the irregularites. When we have had the EEG done in the past (when everything was fine that day), nothing has shown up, but the seizures have continued.

As for the rash, the dr checked him for strep, since that is one of the few bacterial infections that give a rash. The rapid test came back negative, but he sent in the culture for a reg. strep test. For now we are assuming it is viral, so we are just making him comfortable.

Ahhhh! The joys of parenthood! ;)

Awakening

I have decided to go with #6 for the Photo Contest over at Gardening Gone Wild.



Gladiolus - barely 1 inch tall - just emerging from the soil, while sprouts encircle, watching in delight.

I'll enter it now so I don't fret about it anymore. :)

Have a great weekend! ♥

Signs of Spring Pics

Today is my Friday, really. Tomorrow Steve & I will take Michael into the Neurologist. Hopefully the EEG will have been read and he'll have the results.

So, since I really won't get a Friday to finish up the last of the week's jobs around the house, today is *the* day. (insert the sound of a snapping whip)

And, since I won't be blogging tomorrow, I'm going to wrap up the past few days Signs of Spring pics into one post.

Remember my goal of taking pics that suit my fancy, and then out of those, post up one of them to the Gardening Gone Wild Photo Contest? I wanted to have that done and out of the way by the 15th, since the final day for the contest is the 21st. I found that last month when I left it 'til the last day and stewed too much about which one to put up it ruined my month, so I'll have no more repeats of that!

(And, I *need* to console myself with lots of Signs of Spring, seeing as how Mother Nature still believes it is too early for Spring here.)

So leave me a note in the comments letting me know
1) Your favorite of all the pics and
2) The one that you feel best symbolizes "Awakening", would you?
Here they are, and I've added a few that you haven't seen yet:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

Have a great, great weekend!