Wedding day

Yes, I was up at 5:00 am to watch the Royal Wedding.


I wasn't sure if I was going to get up. I wanted to, but that is really early! 


When Sofibug said she wanted to get up to watch the wedding coverage too and asked me to please wake her up in time, my mind was made up and I set the alarm.


The Royal couple was lovely!

The ceremony was beautiful! It was very fun to feel a part of the whole wonderful affair.


I was so engrossed in fact that I totally forgot, until I was half way through my corn Chex, that yesterday the husband had come home with some farm fresh eggs a coworker brought in, from her dad's chickens, to share with everyone. The eggs are gorgeous! I was planning to have an omelet for breakfast. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

Tonight we are going to continue to celebrate the royal wedding with the first cocktails-on-the-porch, of the season with the neighbors.


Actually cocktails on the porch have nothing to do with the Royal wedding. It's just been a long, long time since we were able to sit outside with the neighbors for drinks and it just so happens that the weather has finally cooperated and we are taking advantage. 


I do plan to wear my new hat though!

Not that anyone cares. I'm sure everyone is still watching the Royal wedding footage.


I could probably make this whole blog...blah blah blah and no one would notice.


That's OK. It's their day and I hope they have many years of wedded bliss!


Christine

Perfect timing

My favorite scented candles were pumpkin spice candles that smelled like fall and pumpkin pie and warm sunshine and all of the things that are pleasant about fall. I really liked those candles. Sadly I can no longer get them. The company stopped making them. I know...bummer! I kinda took it personally.


Oh well, there are other candles I like and I can still enjoy the way a lit candle makes a room feel warm and cozy without the delicious pumpkin pie aroma. 


You do have to keep and eye on a lit candle though or they do this.

Yeah that's a line of wax that dripped down the side of the candlestick, and it's not coming off. Unless there's something I don't know about. Please feel free to share if you know how to remove candle wax, because all I've got right now is the turn-the-drip-side-to-the-wall trick. It's not a perfect solution, but it works.


As much as I like candles, I have found something better. That's right...better!


It's flameless candles!

Have you seen them? 


They're one of my favorite things!

For spring I placed this one in a glass hurricane, surrounded it with moss and little decorative mushrooms, and had no worries that the candle was too hot for the moss. How great is that?


I thought it was a very clever decorating idea...thank you Pottery Barn!


And these flameless candles have a lovely vanilla scent. My new favorite!


The thing I like most about these flameless candles is that I can turn them on and off whenever I want or they can, by the flip of a switch, be set on a timer. With the timer set they will automatically turn on at the same time every day and turn off four hours later. Cool!

I like entering a room in the evening that is already aglow with warm candle light. And when it is time to turn in for the night, the candle light automatically goes out. It's fabulous!

Can you tell it makes me giddy? Oh and I almost forgot...You can buy these at Target! One of my favorite stores! Woohoo!



Or, if you have a friend, who is hosting a party for her friend, who sells flameless candles, you can buy them from her while enjoying and evening with some wonderful ladies and wine. This weekend...I can't wait!


The only downside to flameless candles with a timer is that I didn't think to explain to the girls that the candles are set on a timer and that turning the candles off and back on again really quickly in the middle of the timer cycle does not keep the candles on the originally set timer.


It's great that I don't have to worry that the girls might get burned by these candles, but they are not a toy! When the girls play with them they throw off my flameless candle timer groove! It takes me weeks to remember to turn the timers back on at the right time again.


I highly recommend getting some flameless scented candles! Just be sure to tell everyone...hands off the timer! 


Christine

Irked

I will just start with apologizing. I'm sorry if you came to the blog today to read something uplifting or chipper, you may want to stop right now.


It's not that I'm angry or terribly sad, it's just a crabby, grumbly kinda day.


It rained most of yesterday and began to snow this morning. Really I think it's the snow! I don't mind a rainy day. In fact I tend to like rainy days. But it is the end of April and we are still seeing snow. It IRKS me!


That and the big mess the Maple tree dropped on the driveway that gets tracked into the house.

And the big gouge the plow made in the grass over the winter that we will need to repair.

And the fact that my very beautiful William Baffin climbing rose does not seem to be doing well this spring.

I am afraid that the beetles may have done more damage to it last year than I realized. It should definitely have more leaf buds on it than it does.


It's likely we will have to cut out a lot of dead branches this year and wait a couple of years for it to return to it's usual lovely self.

And how did I end up with a sink full of dishes this morning when we ordered in pizza last night?

Let me just say that I am all too aware that these are trivial little complaints! There are real problems going on in the world and these little annoyances are nothing in comparison. 


So again...I apologize! I really think the snow this morning is to blame!


Perhaps though, you understand...and I am not the only one feeling it.

I'm definitely blaming the snow!


Christine

Outgrown

The girls used to spend hours playing with this Playmobil castle when they were younger.

It's a great toy! 


It has a king and a queen...

...knights in shining armor, a prince and several princesses.

And no fairy tale castle would be complete without a beautiful fairy and... a UNICORN!

I bet you're thinking the girls must have had some fantastical imaginary playtime with this amazing castle. 


The reality is that they spent most of their time switching around the people's hair and crowns, swapping the princess' skirts, and hiding the knight's armor. Basically making a mess of the castle. 


It was wonderful!


Once the girls had made a huge jumble of all of the castle pieces, I would spend hours, well maybe a half hour or so, putting everything back in order.


I would rearrange the furniture.

I would create new scenes.

I would take my turn playing with the castle. I would have so much fun!


The girls have informed me that they have outgrown the castle and they would be open to selling it.


The problem is that I am not ready to sell the castle! I still want to play with it! I still need someone to mess it up!


Does anyone want to play castle with me? Anyone...anyone? Please?


Christine

The hunt

Grandma lures them in with a false sense of ease by placing a few eggs where they are easily found.

But the hunt is not for the faint of heart! 


There are only a few eggs so easily discovered. Most of them are well hidden.

The effort of the hunt makes every hidden treasure or treat that much sweeter!

Yep, Grandma even hides eggs for us big kids too. Woohoo!


Everyone has to be sure to keep a good count of the eggs they have found (14 eggs each) so no one ends up continuing to look in vain.

And no one wastes any time, once they have all of their eggs, opening them and eating all of the chocolate they can before Mom asks "How much of that candy have you eaten!?"

Spring left a few treasures for us to find as well.

When all of the eggs have been found, and all of the candy that will be allowed is consumed, it is time to play!

It was a great day! 


If only I could still get the girls to wear cute dresses! sigh

Christine

Leap of faith

About 10 years ago my parents put in a pool. It has meant hours of fun as my parents welcome family to come and enjoy it all summer. Can you tell I'm ready for pool season to begin?


When the girls were little, the husband would encourage them to jump off the side of the pool into his arms, assuring them that he would catch them and all would be well. It took some time to convince them to jump, but eventually their trust in their father won out and they would jump into the safety of his arms, laughing with joy and relief.


Of course now they are grown beyond the age of needing to be caught and spend fearless hours jumping into the pool on their own.

  
It never occurred to me then how much trust the girls needed to have in their father to be willing to jump. They had to put complete faith in him, that he was strong and trustworthy and that even if their heads went under water, he would lift them up to safety. 


On this Good Friday, I have begun to think about the trust Jesus had to have in His Heavenly Father. Before He was crucified Jesus prayed " Father, if it is Your will, take this cup from me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."(Matthew 22:42) Jesus knew the plan was that He would die on the cross...one who never sinned, to take on the sin of the world, (For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21) that by believing in Jesus we could be forgiven of sin and have eternal life. (For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16)


I think the fact that Jesus asked that the cup be taken from Him was a clear indication that what He was about to do was an overwhelming task. A task that He would have gladly passed. But Jesus faith was absolute. He trusted in His Heavenly Father's plan. He had faith that if He jumped, His Heavenly Father would catch Him and lift His head out of the water. He loved us so completely that He was willing to die that we might be saved, because that was His Father's will...to save us.


I think everyone of us understands the willingness to give our own lives to save the life of someone we love. I imagine I would go to the utmost lengths to save my children.

I will admit, it is not easy to imagine that I could love someone I have never met, or someone who cried out for my own death, enough to think I would die for them. Yet, that is what Jesus did.


Sometimes it is easy for me to think...well, He knew what the outcome would be, that He would, on the third day, rise from death and maybe that made it easier for Him. Then again maybe I am looking for ways to make it easier for me to comprehend a love so deep and complete it would suffer so greatly for me. But even if Jesus knew the outcome of His Heavenly Father's plan, He had to have great trust that God would raise Him up again. (For to this end Christ (Jesus) died and rose and lived again. Romans 14:9a) 


It frustrates me that I know that God has done something this awesome, that I have seen so many answers to my own prayers and that I have witnessed the incredible things my Heavenly Father has done in terrible situations and I still struggle to have complete trust. 


It makes me that much more grateful for the unfailing trust Jesus had and the gift of salvation I can accept because of it.


The girls took a leap of faith into their father's arms because it gave them a feeling of exhilaration and freedom. They knew their father would lift them to safety. 


Jesus took a leap of faith to offer us salvation and freedom through Him, in God. He rose to life, conquering death, lifted by the mighty arms of God...Happy Easter!

Now it's my turn to take that exhilarating a leap of faith, trusting in Jesus death and resurrection and the mighty arms of my Heavenly Father to lift me out of any water He calls me to jump into.




Christine

New hat

I got a new hat. I think it's fun. It will help keep the sun off my face while I garden. Most importantly the husband likes it!


I took this photo of myself in my hat to show you. But because I took the photo myself, I didn't get very much of the hat in the frame so you can't get a good look at it.

So I decided to use the camera on the computer to get the photo, that way I could see if the hat was in the frame when I took the picture.


The problem with taking my photo with the computer is that it becomes a game. Here are some of the photos I took.


You can see the hat has some nice beading on it.

I like the charm that hangs from the band on the front of the hat.

The open weave in the crown should keep my head nice and cool on hot summer days.

Yeah, those pictures aren't much better. Hopefully you get an idea of what the hat looks like. 


I did have a good laugh taking the photos though.


It really is a cute hat. 


I better quick playing and go get some work done. 


Have a good laugh today!


Christine

Twenty

Twenty years ago today, the husband and I said "I do."


Our wedding was like most; the dress, the tux, the flowers, all the fussiness that comes with a traditional wedding.

To be honest, I wanted to skip all of it but the "I do." Not everyone agreed with me. Hence the fussy wedding photos.


Funny thing is...if you asked the husband today...he too would say "skip the Grand wedding and keep it simple." You see twenty years later we both know that the wedding day is but a moment. 

Save Grand for the rest of your lives. It's in the next ten, twenty, forty and more years that Grand really matters. 


In good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, till death do us part. 

The loving, patient, forgiving, humble and encouraging kind of Grand! That's what blesses a marriage.


Thank you husband for twenty Grand years!


Christine

What a treat

Yesterday afternoon, the sun was shining and I could not resist the urge to start cleaning up the flower beds. I left them a bit of a mess last fall...shame on me! 


I was thrilled at what I found as I worked.


The bleeding heart is growing. This one is white, but I also have a pink one. They're both beautiful!

The lilies are coming up. I can't wait to smell their incredible fragrance again!

I have to cage the lilies every year with chicken wire or the darn rabbits will bite off their stems. 


You'd think they would learn. Every year it's the same story. The rabbits will bite the stem of a lily off at the ground, decide it doesn't taste good, and proceed to bite off the next lily stem. 


Umm...if the first one wasn't to their liking, what makes them think the next one will be better? After a couple years of finding every lily discarded on the ground, I learned! And now they are caged. And I am happy!


Much to my surprise, I also found this little delight in the flower bed. I don't know where it came from or what it is. Maybe a squirrel deposited a bulb in hopes of returning to munch on it later. Apparently the squirrel forgot about it because it grew and now I get to enjoy it.

With some gardening done, it was time to bake the cookies.


I have a little business baking cookies. It's mostly just friends and family that order from me. 


Last night I had two orders for chocolate chip cookies to make.


I love the way the house smells when cookies are baking. 


It can be a little hard on the family when I have a cookie order. Occasionally there is a cookie or two extra that they can sample, but when there isn't anything extra, they think it's cruel that they have to smell cookies baking that they won't get to eat.


I do let them sample the cookie dough sometimes. That is the best part after all.

But with two cookie orders to bake last night, no one had reason to complain.

I made enough cookies to fill the orders, allow the husband to have a taste, the girls could take a couple in their lunches today, and there were still enough cookies so I could have one of these.

Now that's how you eat chocolate chip cookies my friend! 

Yep, yesterday was a treat!

Christine

Done

It may take us awhile, but we do eventually get the job done.


Several weeks ago the Husband and I purchased this.

For several weeks...several weeks, it has sat in a corner waiting for us to hang it. It isn't that we didn't know where we wanted to hang it, we just...umm...well...


We were busy.


We were playing Donkey Kong on the Wii and munching Angie's Kettle Corn.

We were distracted by sparkle.


I could give you many more reasons, but they were really just for me and I feel sufficiently justified in my procrastination with those three. I'm sure it doesn't matter to you why we didn't get around to hanging it...you probably didn't even notice it was sitting in the corner.


Anyway, the husband finally got the job done yesterday. I watched supervised!


Have you figured out what it is yet? 


Yes, it does look like a cool sculpture.


Each of these loops serves a purpose.

  
Figured it out now? 


These loops hold photos, cards, drawings, really anything like that we find interesting and want to display.

How cool is that?


I can change out the photos anytime I want. It's a perfect way to display Christmas and birthday cards, poems the girls like to write and the occasional postcard we receive when someone we know takes a fun vacation. I think it's fabulous!


The only downside is that it draws attention to our very outdated, painted white railing. UGH! My hope is that one day we'll replace it with a lovely wood railing...like this one.

That would be lovely wouldn't it? 


One day!


For now I'm just excited that we have our display of photos up.

By the way, those photos in the middle are of me. One as a baby and one all growed up. 


The husband and I, in our delight to have accomplished the task of hanging and filling the photo holder,(to be honest I don't know what else to call it) called the girls to come and see. 


We were hoping for some oooos and aaaahhhs. A little "nice job folks."


But noooo. The kids were too busy with the ipods. 


Their friend Miss Em just got one for her 13th birthday. Happy birthday Miss Em!

But still, they could have gotten up for just a minute to look instead of putting us off until later!


I wonder where they get that?


Christine