Just Seven Years Ago....

Jonathan turned 12.

Last Saturday he entered his last year
as a teenager. What a very cool time
in his life.

I wrote his bio for graduation, based on the
formula that we were given, and of
course I thought it sums him up perfectly.

Jonathan, son of Warren and Rebecca, has been homeschooled for ten years. Jonathan attends Sonrise Christian Fellowship. He has attended CV Homeschoolers for the past nine years where he has met some great friends. Jonathan is interested in Airsoft, art, music and writing. He recently began a music review blog and is writing his first novel. Jonathan intends to get a job to support his writing habit. His ultimate dream would be to live in the mountains of Potter County… fly fishing, writing and listening to his music.

He is an artistic and sensitive young man.

We are having a party for Jonathan tomorrow evening
and I was looking for some pictures of him over
the years. How about these from his 12th birthday
party...







Every birthday that Jonathan celebrates
is a reminder of how close we came to
losing him. A major birth defect nearly
snatched him away in his first hours.
But that is another story.

This, however, is one of the
"best" theme cakes I have made.



In case it is not self explanatory
these are Hobbit Houses.
Oh, Jonathan was deep into Hobbits
at this stage of his life.


Of course we never dreamed that only
a few years later we would be
longing for the Grandfathers to be
able to join us on these special
days. Tomorrow also happens to
be the third year anniversary of
Gene's Passing.



Georgia and I sometimes just
shake our heads and chuckle at
the irony of Gene taking his
final breath on April Fools Day.

Man, if only it was a joke.

But, it was not.
My Dad and Gene would be so
very proud of Jonathan.
They both loved him so much
and delighted in his thoughtful
nature. They spent time investing
in his interests.

Thus we have the opportunity
to celebrate a really wonderful
and caring young man...entering
his 19th year of life.



So, my Jonathan, know that you are
loved. You are special.
You are about to begin another
chapter of your life.
Your Daddy and I are so proud of
you and can't wait to see how you
use those special gifts of yours!

An Interesting/Stressful/Snowy/Rainy Day

So this was the day I was
to take Bandit for her spay.

The veterinarian's office that works
with our rescue organization is,
according to Mapquest, one hour and
eighteen minutes from our home.

It was just about a half an hour
before I planned to leave.
I was pondering what I might have
for lunch while I waited for my
puppy to have her surgery.
A bacon cheeseburger sounded good
to me. Then the thought crossed my
mind. Would I eat a bacon cheeseburger
if I took Georgia with me?
She is so nutritionally healthy.
I often feel guilty when around her
for my less than stellar diet.

As soon as the bacon cheeseburger thought
flew through my brain I felt compelled to
call her and see if she wanted to go along.
What? You don't see the logic in that?
I don't either. I just knew I needed to
call her and ask.

When Georgia picked up the phone and heard my
invitation to go along for an adventure she
began laughing. Oh, did she laugh.
She then proceeded to tell me that she had
just told the Lord that she needed something
to fill the long hours of this day.
Something more than the couple of items that
awaited her iron. Since it was pouring rain
outside her options were pretty limited.
No working in the yard or at the horse rescue
today...

No sooner were the words of her prayer out
of her mouth when the phone rang.
It was me!

Needless to say, we felt that it must be
the Lord's Will that she accompany me.

We started out.
Bandit on her lap.

Two miles later we found ourselves behind a
slow funeral procession which we followed for
about fifteen miles.

About ten miles in I noticed Bandit breathing
funny and licking her lips. I mentioned calmly
to Georgia that she might want to set her on
the floor of the car. I was seeing into the
future and knew that Georgia wouldn't want to
wear what was coming.

I was right.

So...Georgia dug some tissues out of her purse
and cleaned up that mess.

Bandit returned to Georgia's lap.

About another 10 miles down the road I warned
Georgia again.

Good thing!
This one was worse.

Now we had nothing to clean it up with.
Yuck!

So at my first opportunity I pulled up
to a grocery store where Georgia ran
in for a roll of paper towels while I
comforted the miserable dog.

I saw Georgia come out of the store. She
seemed fine. It did take her longer
than I expected to reach the car but I didn't
think much of it until she nearly fell into
the car, soaking wet...especially in the knees.
Lo and behold her legs had gone out from under
her and she had fallen in the parking lot.

Good Grief!

This was shaping up to be
an interesting trip.

Well, I always warn her that it
will never be boring to go somewhere
with me. It is just the way it is.

So, anyway, we decided to have Bandit
ride in her crate the rest of the way.

Poor thing.
She threw up three more times before
we found the vet's office.

And we did have to search.
There was a huge sign outside
that said it was a greenhouse.
Under that was a small sign that
said Grays and Strays.

We passed it by a few miles the
first time by.

By now it had been
more than two hours after
we had left home.
We were late and wondered
if they would even be willing
to do the procedure.

Today was rainy and windy.
Then it was rainy and snowy.
We were amazed to watch the rain
turn to something of substance.

Georgia and I searched the local
area for a place to eat lunch.
It took us about 35 minutes to find
a diner that had several cars outside.
That seemed like a good sign.

It turned out to be a wonderful place to
eat. Are you wondering what I had?
Did you have to ask?

A bacon cheeseburger, of course!

Poor Bandit.
She is in pretty rough shape.
They sent her home with pain meds
and a warning that she seems to have
a very low pain threshold.

I could have told them that!

Poor, Poor Baby.

I'll be so happy when she is all recuperated.

Thanks for your kind words and
well wishes. Deanna, you are right,
Bandit will be fine. The rest of us
cringe when we look at her though.

Oh, and I would just plan to avoid me
for the rest of the day, if I were you.
We had an appointment tonight with a salesman
to discuss replacement windows....
he called to say he had to reschedule.
He had just rear ended another car and
they were waiting for the police to come.

I don't think I want to be
around me tonight.
Might be early to bed!

This Morning....

One pup is hungry
and thirsty.
She may not eat
or drink.



This morning....
They will say
goodbye to each other
as one leaves for a
procedure.



This morning...
we follow through
on our agreement to spay
our little Bandit.



This Afternoon...
Chloe will watch for
her sister to return!



Aren't you glad your name
isn't Bandit today?

Prayers Appreciated - Updated

For the past few months my
Mom has been getting sicker.

She has pain when she eats
or drinks anything and quit
eating almost a month ago.

She takes just enough Ensure,
yogurt or Jel-lo to survive.

Today she will have some tests that
should tell us what is going on.

Please pray for Mom, the medical
staff and me as we go this morning.

I know many of you can relate to the
concerns we have and that you'll
know how to pray for us.




Thank You!
I appreciate having readers
who care and will lift us up
in prayer.

Update: You guys are the BEST!
Thanks so much.

Mom's tests are done.
We will wait for some results
but the overall report is GOOD!

We are going to try some things
that the Doctor suggested and see
if she can start eating again.
There is a new medication being added
and I think we should try the enzymes
that Paula recommended.
I know I take them and they work well.

But, anyway, this was probably more than
you wanted to know.
Keep those prayers coming for her to be
able to tolerate food and regain strength.
She is so very weak.

((Hugs!))

For the Beauty of the Earth

For the glory of the skies....
For the Love which from our birth
over and around us lies.



Lord of all,
To Thee
we raise...
This our Hymn of
Grateful Praise.

Amen.

Smart Dogs!

We don't know this dog
but were glad it was in
a parking lot.



Chloe, however, will be learning how to use
the dishwasher next week!
((Grin))

Sunshine on a Rainy Day

It has gone from warm and sunny
to gray and cold here today.

So I need to remember my trip
to Longwood Gardens on Wednesday.

Hope you don't mind.

True story...

There have been some stressful
circumstances and events happening
here lately. So I found myself
with a tight and painful neck on
Wednesday.

The kids wanted to go to the gardens
and I couldn't find any reason not to
go...so off we went.

Now, my neck was hurting so badly that
I was wishing I had taken some Tylenol
before I left.

But after I saw this....











and this.....





and all of this....

















I realized that my neck felt
perfectly fine!

So....note to my family...
should I be difficult to find
sometime in the
days and weeks to come look in
the gardens... this one, or ours.
It's better than medicine.

The perennials are coming up in my
flower beds and it is time to get
some work done
out there.

I'll do it when the rain stops!

A Blog Story

The story I am about to share is very
humbling. One that I wouldn't share but
I think it is a very good reminder.

To be honest I was feeling pretty good
about things here at the blog. I have
made so many remarkable friends.
This week I made a couple of purchases
from blogs I love. This was a first.
One item arrived and exceeded my
expectations.
I'll be sharing it soon.

It has been a desire of mine to
surprise someone with a candle (or
candles) on a regular basis until the
weather gets hot and I can't ship them.

This week it was Vee, who has been in
pain with her back and just generally not
feeling too perky. I was in the zone of
happiness that giving gives
when I received an email.

It was from a blog friend that I
accidentally hurt.

My last two comments to her had been
written in a hurry. I had not expressed
myself well. She was hurt because the meaning
she took was not at all what I intended.

I'll tell you friends,
my heart sunk!

However, I am so very grateful that this friend
took the time and risk to send an email
asking about these comments.
I respect her so much for not just
"clicking" me out of her life.
That would have been so easy.

This beautiful lady and I are fine and
all is understood now, but I will be
more cautious in the future. I will
think through my comments more carefully.

Know this.

If I leave you a comment that seems negative
I did not intend it that way. I believe
that it is better to say something positive
or say nothing at all. At the same time,
if you see that I have been to your blog
and have not left a comment...please do not
assume that I don't like what I have seen or
read. Most likely I am just too much on the
run to leave a comment that day.

Blog relationships are tricky.
We know just enough about each other
to be dangerous.
That is what we used to say about new
co-workers in the financial field.
Oyyy! When possible here go for
experience....I am sure I will hear
about this!

But, what I mean is that we don't know
each others joke style or what triggers
memories or pain for each other.

I promise to be more careful in the future.

Thank You for every comment that you leave.
For me, blogging is worth the work and the
time invested getting to know each other.
There is so much encouragement, inspiration
and joy to be found in this community.

I appreciate each of you.
Those who comment and those who don't.
You are a huge part of my day.

By the way...all of the bunny photos you
have seen this week, including the one above,
were taken last year at Longwood Garden's Gift
Shop....

On another note: I will resume the living
room series when something else changes.
We are in the crush of ending the school year,
Jonathan's Birthday, Graduation and more.
Time and money to invest in this project are
scarce. However, I am not giving up on it.
There is more to be done. I'll share it on
Thursdays as I do it!

While I don't always understand the
way God works...

I am ever thankful that He does.

Worms

Last evening four of us went to
a Graduation Planning Meeting.
We got Caps and Gowns!!!
For the grads...not all of us!
Thankfully.

One of us went to Kennett
Square for a class at
Longwood Gardens.

If you have read here for a while
you know that Mikey is the one who
took the class.

The subject?

Vermi-composting.

Do you know what that is?

Mikey didn't!

It was so funny when we got home.
He said, "Did you know that vermi
means worm?"
To be honest, I didn't.
Hadn't even thought about it.

So, guess what we are going to
be getting...

A pound of worms.
About a hundred, so he says.
They are included in the
tuition price. It would be
a real shame not to get his
money's worth.

Warren suggested that Mikey
head on outside last night and
gather up the night crawlers that
were everywhere on that rainy evening.
Turns out night crawlers are generally
useless for this purpose.
I remember many an evening when my
Grandfather would go out flashlight in
hand to gather up night crawlers for a
fishing expedition the next day.
I guess when you don't have a television
this seems like a great adventure...
Oh for those simple days.
But that is a whole other subject!

Back to Mikey,
he came home with a worm
environment that is just waiting
for the little critters.

We are going to be getting excited
when we get worm castings!
Did you know how valuable these are??
Our soil will be getting enriched
while Mikey learns a valuable new
skill that can be put to use in his
landscaping business one day.

Last evening we were thrilled when
Bandit left a "casting" outside.
Don't think hers are worth much...
bummer!

New project.
New vocabulary.

Interesting stuff.
I like it when the kids
learn good things and bring the
information home!

Orange Tulips

All of these photos were taken within a
half an hour of each other as night gave
way to the daylight.









I found these at our local grocery
store and took them to sit on the
piano at church yesterday.

I just had to bring them on home
rather than have them sit and be
lonely this week.

Aren't they just the most perfect shade
of orange? I love them against that
special shade of blue that you can only
find at sunrise or sunset.

Timing can matter in photography.
Linking up to Mary's Mosaic Monday
and Sally's Smiling Blog for Blue Monday.


A treat for you...
Stop by this blog to see some
of my favorite young people
enjoying Spring. Lindsay is so
very good with the camera!