happy surprises - a rainbow and a fern...........

while watering i made a rainbow...........can you see it?

it was so hard to capture just how beautiful it was

i love ferns - ever since hiking in olympic national park about 15 years ago.....

we have maidenhair fern everywhere here - but they get lost in the brush in our woods

i wanted something different in my garden

this one is a japanese painted fern - and it is taking forever to grow

every year i patiently wait

i thought i killed all three of these ferns last year

actually i thought the sun killed them

i had them under a tree - but not a shady enough one

they are giant ferns - and of course their name escapes me now!

i was so excited when i saw this one alive and well the other day

and today - i found the other 2

every day i find a new surprise in the garden

spring is such a magical time

three

  

A person has three choices in life. You can swim against the tide and get exhausted, or you can tread water and let the tide sweep you away, or you can swim with the tide, and let it take you where it wants you to go.

Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, Northern Exposure, Northern Lights, 1993

When you point your finger at someone, three fingers are pointing back at you.

Anonymous

When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it: admit it, learn from it, and don't repeat it.

Paul "Bear" Bryant, I Ain't Never Been Nothing but a Winner

 

 

 

To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks.

Pooh's Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

G is for................

got a son home from school today.  he woke up - casually walked into our room...and threw up - quite matter of factly.  

he is fine really - could have gone to school but what the heck

i loved staying home from school when i was a kid

so no post or pics today either! 

N is for.......

nothing

no pictures to post

no thoughtful words of wisdom to post

no sun outside to make the day brighter....

actually its not a horrible day - its a nice rainy day

which we need for our newly sown seeds and newly planted shrubs

perfect day to putz around the house - cleaning a bit here and organizing a bit there..

but unfortunately i'm at a birthday party

instead of at home

on my son's mini - which is kinda cool - except that i look like one of "those" moms.....

the ones attached to their computer - tuned into the web instead of to their kid

which i admit - i am at times...but not in public - for all to witness! LOL

but as i look around - there are others reading,

or talking on the phone

or talking to others...

something i find i don't feel like doing as i get older - the making small talk with other moms at parties kinda thing....i mean i did all that with my first child - i talked - i organized playgroups - i wanted to make new mom friends...but i'm kinda burnt out on the 2nd group of moms - the ones of my youngest's friends - not needing a whole new group to hang with.  don't get me wrong - i've met new moms - and even like a bunch of them - but i dont feel like making the effort as much as i did before...b/c quite frankly it takes effort to be a friend...and while i really enjoy smiling and being friendly - and i am sincere in my smiles and my friendliness - i am perfectly content at stopping right there. 

so for now

i sit at the party

looking like a recluse

on my computer

ignoring everyone

and i'm okay with that......

(edited to add that here it is - 3 hours after the party - and i ended up talking with other parents...well a dad - someone i went to highschool with - and a mom...who i thought was ANOTHER mom - and told her my son WAS going to her son's party next weekend.............only to find that her son is not having a party next weekend - b/c she is not the mom i thought she was.........

see - maybe its a good thing i don't feel like talking at these things.......

I is for.............

individual

investigate

indecisive

imagine the possibilities

in the zone

inspired to do more crazy quilting

R is for.........

rabbits

rock climbing

round

ready to take a big step

P is for...........

a princess in a family of boys

(my niece)

(hanging) planter scored at goodwill

pink blossoms

posing for the camera

prentending to be crazy tattoo girl for murder mystery party

(and pretty impressed with my "quickly drawn on the inside of my arm by ME" tattoo!)

ODE to spring............S is for

shrubs with new growth that's red

sheep of all colors - and their babies

smoothies - esp green ones

(green smoothie challange #3)

sunshine

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

that is if you made a treasure map this weekend!  i will admit i haven't started yet.  the aries new moon started wednesday the 14th...the day before my trip.  i did manage to sneak out and get my magazines but i did not get a chance to open them until thursday while flying on a plane to arizona.  i had every intention of focusing on pictures and writing affirmations and planning my map.....but turns out i don't have a huge attention span during pockets of moderate turbulence.  in fact - the only thing i could concentrate on while being bounced around the sky was lady gaga and beyonce blaring in my head through my ipod! once we landed went straight to the hotel - grabbed a bite to eat and hit the bed b/c it was now past midnight my time.  next day we were picked up early - spent the whole day in meetings - then back to the hotel to get ready to leave the next morning at 7am.......crazy exciting times! 

the optimal time to have finished my map would have been saturday nite.  that is when the energy is the strongest (during the new moon) - but it just wasn't happening.  luckily - you can take 10 more days to finish it (until the 28th)......so i am doing just that. (so if you are toying with the idea of making one you still have time!)

i can't wait to see how it turns out!  i have some very specific wishes for this year!!

wordless wednesday

one of my favorite local houses.

"i'm so proud of myself"

yesterday i had to stop to fill my car up with gas.  that particular gas station has a dunkin' donuts inside the station.  the boys immediately started asking for donuts and hot chocolate.  instead of my usual "not today" - i took out a $20 and said "ok - go inside and get 4 donuts (for my niece and nephew too) and your hot chocolate"  the boys went inside while i pumped gas.  i was dying to go inside with them - just to see how cute they must have looked - but i restrained myself and hung back.  after a little bit - they came out with their bags filled to the brim.  now i'm not sure what exactly happened inside but i'm assuming the owners were tickled by the big brother/little brother combo ordering food that he added a whole bunch of extra goodies....

my oldest came out with a huge grin and proclaimed "i am so proud of myself for going inside and buying food without you nearby!" he gave me back the bills - told me he left the $.86 in the tip jar - and said i could give the cinnamon stick to the "guys in the office".  it was such a great moment. 

this isn't the first time he's gotten in a line to purchase something - but for whatever reason this is one that stood out the most.  maybe it was b/c he was in charge of his little brother - maybe it was b/c he was in a line of adults.......who knows - but whatever it was it was good.

late sunday night my oldest tells me he needs a costume for school.  he is doing a presentation on russia and wants to dress as a WWII russian soldier.  the costume needs to be ready to bring into school this morning.  i work mondays then we have dinner at my parents house.  we usually get home late and then homework starts.  so at 9 i walk into my craft room and try and figure out how to make a russian soldier costume.  thankfully we have some army jackets that he can use.  but now we need a hat.  i google some images for ideas - find one he likes - and off i go.

now the jacket was easy enough b/c all i had to do was make a star large enough to cover the US Army emblem.  its the hat that i'm most proud of.  i happened to have a tiny bit of faux fur in my stash.  he wanted a red top and i had that felt lying around too....and in less than an hour i had a costume all ready to go.

. 

now this wasn't the first time i had made a costume under pressure.  it wasn't even the first time i made a cool looking hat...but for whatever reason i couldn't stop patting myself on the back for a job well done.  like my son - this was the one that stood out the most.  maybe it was b/c i actually had faux fur ready to use - or maybe it was b/c i didn't have any type of pattern...but whatever it was - it was all good.

better late than never

i am quite behind in posting pics of everything going on recently.  here is brief recap of what i was able to upload today!

easter egg hunt

with some new hunters old enough to join in this year! 

guess how many tries it took to get this shot?

garden surprises

the little flowers that could - they come up every year with fewer and fewer blooms

science fair projects - oldest son made a solar oven

while youngest talked about how to take care of our dog

and finally after weeks of sleeping in separate rooms - oldest discovered that his little brother has a much more comfortable mattress - and hasn't left since.....

its obvious little brother doesn't mind

wordless wednesday

what to do today..........

hopefully more of this

maybe some of this

practicing more of these

inhaling lots of this

i heart beautiful warm spring days.........

Easter Blessings

April Fool's Day!!

the set up

what? why can't i eat my cereal???

b/c its frozen silly!

April Fools!!!!!