WW- Bird Watching

I'm back to my summertime obsession:

 A Goldfinch, a Pine Siskin, and a House Finch walk into a bar...

An immature Red-wing Blackbird

 A Common Grackle

 White Crowned Sparrow

 Three Pine Siskins

 A Pine Siskin

 A female Goldfinch watches the Pine Siskins eat

 An Oriole

What? 

 You talkin' to me?

 Coming closer

Checking it out

Getting comfy

For more birdy pics check this out:

Happy Mother's Day!

Such amazing mothers we are blessed with.  We are forever grateful for all you've done and all you've taught us.  We love you!

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) 

i want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

e e cummings

Sending out a special prayer for all those who struggle to be mothers.  Those who struggle with infertility and long to be mothers.  For those who have felt the joy of pregnancy and then suffered through miscarriage.  For those that have lost children and are missing their angel child.  I pray for comfort for all those who ache on this day.

Lovely

This is going to be a busy weekend. Lovely, but busy. We have so much we want to get done around the house and the yard in between a bunch of big events going on as well.

Not only do I have a major concert (Brahms, baby! And it is gonna be GOOD) to sing for tomorrow night (and dress rehearsal tonight) but it is also Mother's Day on Sunday (obviously) and also Todd and my 12th anniversary.  Twelve years on the twelfth.  That makes it a golden anniversary or something, doesn't it?  Not that we have anything really special planned since we are kinda busy already, but that's okay.

It reminds me of a conversation Todd had with his father many years back.  Todd's parent's anniversary was approaching and Todd asked his dad if they were going to renew their vows to celebrate.  Todd's dad looked at him and said, "Son, I renew my vows to your mother every morning when I get out of bed.  Each day I renew my vows.  I don't need a special ceremony to do that."

That stuck with me.  And I think Todd and I both try to live that way too.

So, while I could be posting a lovely anniversary story on Sunday (maybe like this one or this one), or telling you again about how wonderful my husband is (like I did here), or even letting you in on The Story of Us, I will instead be celebrating the wonderful mothers we are fortunate to have.  And I feel blessed to be able to do so.

If you want to get a jump start on Mother's Day weekend please go to Elaine's blog and read her beautiful post.  It is such a gorgeous tribute to mothers and I am honored she allowed me to be a part of it.  Thanks, Elaine!  And well done!

Good music, celebrating mothers, celebrating love.  It is going to be a lovely weekend.  I hope you all have a perfectly lovely Mother's Day weekend as well!




Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Down

I haven't been feeling myself lately.  The last few weeks have taken a toll on me.  I am in a funk.  Just feeling down in the dumps and I can't seem to shake myself out of it.

This past weekend should have helped.  It was a nice weekend.  Sunny and warm. Gracie and I had the place to ourselves with the menfolk up at the cabin.  We had a lovely ladies weekend with trips to the library, a greenhouse, the pet store, lots of treats, and lots of time outside.  It was so nice just me and my girl.

I even bought myself a bottle of wine and stayed up way too late both Friday and Saturday night watching home movies and our wedding video.

All in all, it was the kind of weekend I love and it should have cheered me right up and gotten me back to my old self again.  But, Monday rolls around and I'm still feeling that now familiar feeling.  Just down.

I know I'll get out of this.  This funk won't stay forever.  But it is really starting to get annoying.  Spring is here.  The flowers are coming up.   The grass is getting green.  Temperatures are rising.  Days are getting longer.  School will soon be out. There is much to be celebrated.  But I just can't seem to make myself celebrate right now.  I'm just not feeling it.

Hopefully I'll get into the swing of things again soon.

WW-Getting Back In The Swing Of Things

Holy, Holy, Holy

A holy weekend.  A holy First Communion.  A holy funeral.  Holy moly.

We spent the majority of our weekend in church.  With Tommy's rehearsals for First Communion,  the wake, the funeral, First Communion, just about all of our time was church related.  The kids were in nice dress clothes most of the time too.  They spent a good amount of time like this:

(I came downstairs from getting dressed and found the kiddos like this.  Too cute not to snap a pic.)

The kids were to get dressed in their nice clothes and then forced to try and sit, and not rough house, while they waited for us to go from one event to the next.  Don't feel too badly for them, though.  They lived on sweets and sugar this weekend so, in their book, it was a good weekend.  Lots of cake and ice cream and cookies and snacks at every event and I just wasn't in the mood to be the blow hard so they really had at it. Besides, the kids really were extremely well behaved and I think they deserved a bit of sugar.

Tommy's First Communion went swimmingly.  He was so excited and happy and it was easy to catch his enthusiasm.  My holy little guy.  Very proud of him.

That same night we had Todd's father's wake.  There were tons of people.  Jerry touched a lot of lives.  And the general consensus was that if you didn't get along with Jerry then you couldn't get along with anyone.  The man had no enemies.  He was a wonderful man.  

The funeral the next day was moving and special.  I know Jerry was very proud watching his wife, his children, his grandchildren, and the rest of his family and friends paying tribute to him.  Each of the grandkids read a petition (Grace got a bit of stage fright and decided she'd rather come back by mom), Cassie (grandchild- 12 years old) read a very moving tribute to grandpa, and Todd had everyone laughing and crying as he spoke about his dad.  It was wonderful.  

We honored Jerry's generous nature by having an open bar at the luncheon and enjoyed the wonderful meal.  The luncheon was on at a golf course restaurant and the sun shone warmly on the rolling hills and the sparkling pond. It was a beautiful day.    

It has been a very long, emotional, draining week.  With the rush of activity over the reality of it all sets in.  The void.

Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts and birthday wishes.  I appreciate it all very much.  

Bittersweet

Todd's dad passed away yesterday morning.  We are all so happy for him.  He is finally at peace.  

However, you always think it is going to be a relief but it isn't really.  There is such sadness, of course.  A big void.  And you can feel it immediately.  

Today was Grandparent's Day at the kids' school.  I went in place of Todd's mom and as I sat in church with my mom it was all I could do to keep the tears in.  Beautiful prayers were said in thanksgiving for wonderful grandparents.  Songs were sung back at school thanking the grandparents for their guidance, love, support, fun, wisdom, spoiling, and laughter. Grandparents make such a difference in kids' lives and it made me so grateful for the wonderful grandparents my children have, and have lost.

This weekend will be full of emotion.  The wake is on Sunday, which also happens to be Tommy's 1st Communion.  The funeral is on Monday, which is also my birthday. Happy and sad.  Bitter and sweet.  We remind ourselves that at least we know Jerry will now be able to be at these events celebrating with us, and he'll have the best seat in the house.  

I guess if I could say anything I would just want to say "thank you" to Jerry.  Thank you for being such a faithful, Godly man.  Thank you for your warmth, kindness, and gentleness.  Thank you for always having a welcoming smile and a hug to give. Thank you for sharing your love of the outdoors, animals, and the cabin with us. Thank you for your commitment to your family and to God.  Thank you for modeling what a true man is.  Thank you for being the kind of man and father that made Todd want to emulate you.  Thank you for laughs.  Thank you for your stories.  Thank you for all you are and all you gave.  You are loved.  And you will be missed.  But we will see you again.  

God bless you, Jerry!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli