1985 - Fast Forward - 2016

 Dana was 6,  in 1985, when she started T-Ball. 

Jerry, her daddy, was one of her coaches. 

I handmade the banner out of felt.

 It had little white pom poms for the baseballs and mini wooden bats.

Each bear had a players name on the hat.

Jerry and Dana

This year Camden is once again playing T-ball. 

He is on the same team as his Mommy was. 

I wonder if Camden would be willing to let me snap a picture of him in his uniform,

 with pearls on, 

just like his mom ?

GO CUBS!! 

Almost Spring

I love this time of year. Winter is almost over, Southern California doesn't really have winter, and spring is here. We've been lucky to have a few days of rain. With the severe drought we are in, any amount is precious. The plants are loving the rain. 

I love the shades of green from new growth. 

I'm waiting for the sweet smell of Jasmine

Beautiful shades of green

This Gardenia will soon be loaded with fragrant white flowers

The beginning of a snowball

Very soon this plant will be a giant mass of green
with white snowballs covering theses brown stems.

I love this Cecil Brunner rose paired with pink Jasmine



I love working in the yards.
It calms me.
 I do some of my best thinking, troubleshooting, and problem solving, in the outdoors.
I love my space.
I have planted a variety of seeds,
 I am anxious for those signs of tiny growth promising
 a riot of color in a few weeks.

Today I Read My Blog, Again

It's been quite some time since I have posted. Today a memory came up on my Facebook page that referred to an old blog post. I came back to visit. I was skipping around, read several old posts, and realized that I had forgotten some on the things I posted. I enjoyed reading my posts! Perhaps it's time for me to document things going on in my life again. We'll see how this goes!

Big Dreams

In the quiet times ....

I think. 

A lot!

 Random thoughts, 

troubleshooting life's dilemmas, 

planning,

reminiscing, 

 and contemplating how fortunate I am. 

Recently, in doing all of the above, I was remembering back to my young self. 

A young girl 

that loved kids and babies

too young, in others minds, to be considered a baby sitter. 

 My friends were already babysitting. 

They were the older siblings of large families. 

Perhaps that fact made them more desirable. 

 I would dream of all the tools I needed.

high chairs

pack n plays

walkers

toys

trucks

dolls 

 I would use the sun room in our home to make a fun place to babysit.

And....then

 it came to me

 My young girl dreams came true! 

 I lived this dream. 

Not so much as a young girl.

 In fact,

 long after my own babies were grown.

Sparked by the need for someone to watch a new sweet baby boy.

More were added until I had a house full, 

of sweet babies!

With a yard full of toys and rooms packed with toys, 

pack n plays, 

cribs, 

high chairs

and some of the sweetest kids ever, 

I spent my days doing just what I had wanted many years ago.

Braeden, Mackenzi, Nathan, Toria, Alison, Tori, Hannah, Jaina, Niko, Izel, Avery, Anthony and Michael. 

Dreams do come true. 

I have been blessed!

A Beautiful Sunday

Being able to hang things on the line

 almost makes up for the pool being gone.
I love the sweet smell of sun-kissed laundry!

Time for a New Look

Late last year it seems that I had used up all my storage space on Blogger.

 I thought I was done blogging. 

So,  I deleted a few blogs that I really wasn't updating. 

I guess it was enough to free up some space!

 So here I am....for however long it lasts!

 This is my newest project.

 In December we bought a new piece of furniture, 

the couch/futon/guest bed on the left. 

Previously we were using the hide a bed love seat on the right...yeah the one ready to go out the door.

This year one of my goals is to repaint/freshen up all the rooms in our home. 

This room is the first to be checked off the list.

Before

After

 I have a few things to add to this room, however, the hard part is complete!

 

 I love the soft blues and greens. It feels so calming to me.

I'm undecided on the wall treatment the for the wall behind the couch. 

I'll let you know when I decide!

Looking Ahead aka Preparing for Spring Planting

This past Sunday I decided it was time to do that heavy yard cleaning I have been planning. The weather was perfect for working in the yard. In fact it was so perfect I did hard manual labor for 6 1/2 straight hours with only two water breaks. I filled all three of our 90 gallon barrels to the top!

Here are a few before and after pictures.

screeeeeeeeching halt!.........

 It seems that I have come to the end of my Google/Picasa limit on photo storage. 

I will not be purchasing a monthly plan just to post photos.

 Any blogging I may or may not do in the future will be words only.

Thanks Google for taking the pressure off  and possibly bringing my blogging to an end.

...Or maybe I will look into Word Press or one of the other blogging forums?

Thanksgiving 2012

One of  the many perks to to not hosting Thanksgiving in your home? 

Getting a jump start on decorating!

                                                   

Condolances

We have a tenant that recently lost her daughter in a tragic accident. I was searching the internet for something to say in my card to her.

 I can't imagine the pain she must be feeling, and I am at a loss for words

I can't imagine having to say goodbye to your firstborn...or third, or tenth!

The poem I found does not apply to her, because I never did meet her daughter. 

However,

THIS FITS ME TO A 

T !

After Glow

I’d like the memory of me
to be a happy one.
I’d like to leave an after glow
of smiles when life is done,
I’d like to leave an echo
whispering softly down the ways,
Of happy times and laughing
times and bright and
summer days.
I’d like the tears of those who
grieve, to dry before the sun,
Of happy memories that I leave
When life is done.

~Helen Lowrie Marshall

More Than Changing Seasons

I am the kind of person that likes to switch things up occasionally. 

I like things to have a new fresh look.

 I also like things to be easy. 

On me. 

So....

after much thought we decided it was time to pass our above ground pool on to a family that would use it more than 2 or 3 times each summer.

This was anything but easy. 

They worked their tails off to accomplish all they did in one day.

Here are pictures from the beginning...

Friday

.

Saturday

They worked really hard all day long. 

It took them 3 trips to move everything to their house.

They even took one of my potted trees that needed to be planted.

Sunday

I went out this morning to start MY work. 

Boy oh boy am I in for some hard work. 

There is several scoops of sand and rock to get rid of 

before I can plant anything in this area.

We also have to dig up 8 cement posts that anchored the deck, 

and three that anchored the fence.

I started with mowing the lawn, 

 and 

trimming a bush to the ground that was covering the hose and hose hanger.

On this side of the garage is a Morning Glory vine that is out of control.

I cut as much as I could fit into our green barrel.

The rest of the planter will be torn out as soon as the trash has been picked up.

This planter is in jeopardy as well. 

I think some serious trimming and thinning is needed here too.

As for this area....

Let me tell you, 

it's going to be beautiful.

But until then I will be chipping away at it slowly but surely. 

Our trash cans will only hold so much weight at a time.

This is not what I call easy. 

It just might take me all winter to finish. 

But I do love to work in the yard!

AND

 I might have to buy a

little

pool to cool off in during next summer's heat .

Halloween!

I have to say this is the best Halloween I have had in a long time.

 I don't like to drive anywhere, 

there are just too many kids darting around for my comfort. 

So, 

I stay home ...sometimes handing out candy, 

sometimes hiding in my nest, too lazy to pass out treats to the little darlings.

 However, 

as the darkness drew near, our new neighbors across the street turned up their scary sounds CD. 

Our other neighbor that has had her festive orange lights up all month, 

and the sound of excited kids

DREW ME IN!

I quickly grabbed some twine,

 flame-less candles, 

my bowl of candy, 

an old chain,  

my best witch laugh,

 and headed outside.

I tied the twine to the back of the chair.

Then I fed it through the fence, and tied the scissors to it for some weight.

 This gave me something to hold onto so I could make the chair rock 

....empty.

 Then I sat on the back side of the fence just waiting for my first victim. 

In the dark

I rattled the chain, banged it against the fence to draw attention to where I was, 

THEN 

swatted candy under the fence while either saying I'll get you my pretty, 

or making the scariest witch cackle ever.

The candy wrapper scraping on the driveway sounded just like scurrying mice.

I have to say I think I scared the parents more than the kids!

 BEST. NIGHT. EVER!