Visit to the Temple Site

You all know about my daughter and my five grandchildren.

YES!  I do look good for my age.  LOL

Sometimes families are formed differently than popping a baby out.

Yikes!  That would have been painful giving birth to a 13 year old.  lol

The painful part was the bonding process.  It was hard with her.

But, I will say that it was worth it.  I would do it all over again just to be her mother.

She has made me very proud of the woman and mother she has become.

Kansas City Temple
It happened to be a very hot, windy day.

My oldest grand daughter.

This one was taken by my daughter.
She knows how to photo shop way better than me.  

I wish our temple was ready to be visited already, but at least it gives us something great to look forward to.  Until then, we will watch it's progress and be grateful that we are being blessed with one much closer to us.

It's that time of year

Every year I await the blooms on my magnolia tree.  The anticipation is almost too much and then when I have convinced myself that it is too early, I awake and look out the kitchen window to this.

And my heart skips a beat.

I have to run outside and breath in deeply the sweet aroma that only this bloom can produce.

A little bit of heaven.

So that is what I give gratitude for today.

This is one of the things that gives me great joy and it is a blessing.

Mad Love

I love when my children use words or a phrase they are unsure of.  I was watching this new sitcom called "Mad Love" when Miss Boo came in.  She wanted to know why they would call it mad love when love isn't supposed to be mean.

I told her it was another word for crazy.  She wasn't sure about love being crazy either.  I explained that it was when someone loves another so much it is kind of crazy.

I now get, "I have mad love for you Mommy!" every time she sees me.  I have to admit that it makes me giggle and she then has to give me "mad" hugs to go with it.

Miss Boo lost her glasses while we were visiting Daddy in that really cold state last month.
She informed me that she would be wearing these ones now.  Hee hee

I must have "mad" love for my kids too because I want to crawl in that picture and squeeze them.

I must admit that I am a little leery of that notebook of hers.  She is always taking notes and won't let anyone read it.  Hmmmm!  I just know a day is coming when I am going to have to answer for her writings.

I totally sound paranoid.

Maybe this means she will be a writer some day.  I wouldn't doubt it.  She has no less than 12 notebooks in her room and they are all for something different.  She has them marked for certain things.  Things we are not to know about.

Maybe this means she will be a spy.

What does it all mean?

I wonder what she will be someday and it is fun sometimes to just wonder.

Renewal

For those that wonder where we go when there is a tornado warning.
This is it!  Luxury quarters decorated by the Finn kids.
Did I mention that I can barely walk after sleeping on those mats?  Getting old kind of bites.

Every year I grow tomatoes on our back deck.  This year I added fresh herbs.  Thank you Rachel Ray for turning me on to herbs and pasta.  I am in heaven.  And... much happier now that they don't cost me a fortune.

I would like to introduce you to Slim.  We have a serious love/hate relationship.  Basically, he doesn't grow when he is in the house and I am there.  His leaves turn brown at the sound of my voice.  You can see how this relationship is going to end.
The only thing that saves his complete death is Summer.  He loves it outside.  Who knew?

Lucky him!

I inherited this fern from a woman I visiting taught for many years.  It was a big, beautiful thing!  Notice the haircut?
Shouldn't have poked me with its needles!
Will these plants every learn?
I am the master of their domain.
Sheesh!

The Dude brought this pumpkin seed into our home.
Poor... poor plant.
I wish it the best.
Really, I do!
I just don't have much hope.

I love this time of year when everything is draped in rich earthiness.  Even I can't ruin this view.  I love sitting in front of these windows just staring into the trees.

I feel renewed this time of the year.  Not necessarily energized, but I have a sense of renewal and it gives me peace to see things grow.

In spite of me.

False Doom

Hope you didn't put off what needed to get done!

Ha ha!

Teacher Appreciation

I forgot to take pictures while I was doing them and before I wrapped them in ribbon, but you get the end version.  I think they turned out pretty cute.  The black frame I had was from a yard sale and kind of dinged up, so I continued along those lines and roughed it up more.

This bigger one (8x10) was for Miss Boo's teacher.  The original frame was silverish so I spray painted it black during a rainstorm.  I was worried it was never going to dry, but that's what you get for waiting till the last minute to start.

I found these cute little tags online and printed them on a thick paper.

The truth be known that I am not one to do things for my children's teachers.  I am very grateful for what they do for my children and how much they have grown over the years.

This year I decided I "could" do something.  Without the help of these very creative bloggers, I don't think I would have known where to start, so here's a shout out to all of them.

Here!  Here!

A look to the past

Who knew Mr. Finn started out this way?

This picture is so sweet it makes my heart skip a beat.

It has always makes me laugh that Mr. Finn didn't think the Dude looked like him.  He now says he can where he is starting to look like him.

Really?

Teachers...

Miss Boo has a wonderful teacher.  For that matter, all her teachers have been great and the Dude's are the ones she has had, so you can imagine how good he has it.  We have been very blessed with our children's educators.  Never enough said about them!

I found this divine little saying on Positively Splendid. (her website is here.)  I love what she did, but I lack the Cricut, so I improvised and created this in Print Explosion.  If I could figure out Photo Shop, I would have tried there first, but this works fairly well.  I am going to paint a frame I bought at a yard sale for .50 in a splendid shade of black.  Maybe rough it up a bit and put this little dandy in the middle.

This isn't the final draft.  I changed the font a little and lined up the words better.  If you want a PDF of it, just give me a holler and I'll get it to you lickety split.

I love how it turned out and am going to make a couple for The Dude's teacher and his favorite assistant, Mrs. Hall.  He totally adores her and I can tell she has a soft spot for him.  After all, she finally got him to be classroom helper.  He would do most anything for her.

I have a lot of things to do and not a very good attitude.  I am feeling a little down on humanity today.  It never ceases to amaze me how sad it makes me feel when someone is unkind to another.

Maybe finishing this will pick my spirits up.  Miss Boo is sick and the Dude is getting over whatever he gave her.

I believe we will be sleeping in tomorrow.  Ahhhhh!

Sounds like a good plan.

Pictures of the finished product tomorrow.

Who needs sleep?

I'm tired. These kids are wearing me down in my sleep.

Seriously!

Last night it was both kids in bed with me and I didn't sleep. Much.

It felt like I had the Dude's new shoes on me all night long. From the kicking to the throwing off of covers, to the mauling me...

I am tired.

Two nights of the little man. I don't know what's going on, but he has started coming in every night.

I can't survive without sleep. It turns me into that green person from the Wizard of Oz. I admit. I am not much fun. Short tempered. Moody. Just plain awful.

The worst part is that Miss Boo feeds off of that and well... you can imagine.

I am ready to see more of this sweet little girl that listens to her mother.

Oh, and more sleep.

Mothers Day recap

 This is a day that makes a Mothers Year.  I love having these kids that make me so happy.  They, with the help of Dad, got up early Sunday and made me breakfast in bed.

 Apparently this little guy helped?!

 The best part was the pictures they took of the process.  I know I am loved when they do something that is so important to me.  I love documenting the great things in life.

Not sure how this picture is part of it, but I bet the Dude would be able to explain it.

It was very tasty and filling.  Thanks to my kids and hubby for a great day.

That ended at 5:31.

Hmmmmm.

Mr. Finn announced that Mothers Day officially ends at that time.

Something to remember...  hmmmm.

I got 2 singing cards.  I'm not sure who enjoys them more.  Well, actually I am pretty sure it is the Dude, but my enjoyment comes from watching him.

There was a time in my life when I didn't think I would ever have babies and am so grateful for the ones I have.  Even my grown one.

I am very blessed.

Oh, and one more thing.  Is white chocolate really chocolate?  I am taking a poll.

Hersheys Cookies and Cream Bar.

That is what our ward handed out on Sunday.

A lot of Moms were like... "Where's the chocolate?"

Didn't stop me from eating it during R.S.  Shhhhh!  Don't tell anyone.

Not so black and white

Mr. Finn arrived home on Friday afternoon after 3 long weeks in the frozen tundra.  We needed some family time.

We had a great weekend with friends and then just by ourselves.  I loved spending time seeing new things and that is something that Mr. Finn and I have in common.

You know those signs you see on the side of the road for "interesting" sights.  We try to make a point of stopping at one of those every so often.  Or sometimes, we backtrack when we have time to one of those places we have seen while passing by to enjoy what it has to offer.

This time it was The Russell Stover Factory.  Yummm!  No need to say more.  That is a pretty black and white statement, I am quite sure.

Then we hit Fort  Riley.

I love architecture and the richness in which things were built in the past.  I think that most things are built for efficiency now and have lost their warmth.

I wanted to remember everything.

Especially the buildings.

It makes me giddy.

Can you feel it?

I want to wake up and see this everyday.

You lucky military folks that live in the housing in front of all this.

And of course,  Chief.  He is buried in front of this statue.
Lucky Horse.

It was one of the most relaxing days we have had in a long time.

Maybe it was the beauty.

But for the Dude...

It was all about the Tanks.