It's a long road home.

What we thought would be an 8 hour trip home turned into a 12 hour trip. As we were coming right through Oklahoma city a tire shreaded on us. It was our right rear tire; it didn't go flat, but the rubber just shreaded all over it. It was banging and knocking something awful and we couldn't pull off for about a mile. We thought it was flat and ruining the rim, but we finally pulled off and it wasn't flat but it had torn up the back fender and bumper. Don's passenger door wouldn't open because the panel was coming off the door; I guess that was from all the shaking? Some guy walked up and said he could fix the door for us, which he did and then he asked us for some change. Gladly! We were so grateful for the door to be working! AAA came and put the spare on for us and we went to Wal-Mart and bought a tire. When Don went to get gas he noticed the gas tank is all shaken out of place, too. No telling how thick this plot may get. He will take it tomorrow to see how bad the damage is. All we know is that it sure could have been a lot worse and we're grateful.

The kids were GREAT through all this. They thought it was an adventure, not a catastrophe; they're right! They didn't complain ONE time about having to wait. They were awesome!

We came straight to Hobart and ate at the Pizza Hut. We came on home and they are happily playing in the basement. Tomorrow we'll go to the part; they wanted to go tonight, but it was nearly dark by the time we pulled into the garage.

At the Pizza Hut we had just ordered when our friends, David and Dorothy came in! What a fun surprise! We asked them to join us, but they had another couple coming to join them, so we just visited a bit. It was sure good to see them; it made us really feel like we were home.

I haven't found the cord to download pictures, yet, so no pictures tonight. Bear with me and keep counting the blessings with me. PTL!

Reunion day and coming home with 3!

I don’t have the vocabulary to tell you how much a family reunion means to us. After we got through, Don said, “Four hours with the family; was it worth all that driving.” My reply was, “Absolutely!” Every one of our cousins was there, and someone is usually missing; often it’s ME. Two years ago our youngest daughter, Gretta, impressed on me, “Mom, there will always be baseball, but there won’t always be reunions with all of these people.” She’s so right. Each year we lose someone, so we’re committed to make every one that we possibly can. It’s a wonderful time. We have a heritage and family to treasure, so this is treasured time for us. I was really pleased to have 4 of our grandkids with us. We got to bring 3 of them home with us; Gretta wouldn’t let us take Elena.

So, we have Gabe, Garrett and Sadie. Gabe is 12 and Garrett and Sadie are 10, so they are low maintenance. All we have to do is feed them and remind them to settle down every now and then. Sadie and I played cards all the way from the reunion to here, which was about a 5-hour drive. The boys played until they fell asleep in the very back of the van. We all got up at 6:40 this morning, so we’re ready to crash. They swam at the pool after we got here tonight. We’ll head for home early in the morning.

I’m putting pictures on the blog tonight of Garrett headed to the pool at his house this week; one of Gabe holding Elena; and one of Sadie with Elena. I think I left my camera cord at Gretta’s house. UGH. I can’t find it to download the pictures from the camera that I took today. As soon as I can download them you’ll see the great haircut that Gretta gave to Gabe. These are some of the many blessings we are counting! PTL

Oh, my! Today has been full and wonderful. Gina came with her 3 kids to spend the day with us, so that saved us the drive up there. It’s not that far (about 45 minutes), but with all the driving we’ve been doing, it was a big deal to us, so we really appreciate it. The kids played in the pool and we had a great day of visiting.

We’re pretty much packed and ready to head to the reunion and then toward home tomorrow. If I don’t get to make a blog entry tomorrow, don’t worry about us. I’ll catch up when we get home.

Pictures on the blog tonight are: Sadie holding Elena; and Elise and Kyle on their way to the pool.

I may not get this stuff onto the net tonight because I’m having trouble connecting. It might be morning before I get it done. I’m going to bed, counting the blessings!

safe in Louisville

I’ve barely got connectivity here, so I’m just going to say we had a safe trip and got here in good time. We missed Peggy and Mike in Louisville, so we missed that connection. We got here in time to enjoy some afternoon and dinner. It’s been wonderful. No time for pictures today. I’ll catch up.

All is good and, man, are we counting the blessings!

Branson has been fun.

Today was our last day in Branson, and we had lots of fun. We had lunch with Bob and Diana Clark at Ruby Tuesdays and it was delicious and fun. Pictures on the blog today are the four of us at lunch.

We went to the condo and stayed with the kids while Trish and Rob went out tonight. While we were there I did our laundry, so we have clean clothes for the rest of the trip. I played cards with Nate and Gabe, too. They are all too fun.

Nate may decide to go home instead of with us on the rest of the trip. It’s a lot of riding in the next 4 days and he’s got yards to mow at home. He’ll decide before morning. We’re leaving at 7, so I’ve got to get off here and get to bed.

I thank God for keeping us safe as we travel and for blessing us with such marvelous family and friends. Counting . . .

Elena has her Derby hat ready.

Life is all joy, when you have a pretty dress. Here's Elena to prove it.
But, life is very serious when you're talking about a Derby hat. I think this one is perfect, but she's got to be sure she's got the right dress to go with it. Gretta must have a new camera; she's showering us with pictures and teasing us to death; we can hardly wait to get there to see them! We'll leave as early as possible Thursday morning.

I had to show you this swan that was on our bed when we checked into this hotel. I've never seen such a thing; I tried to see how they did it, but the best I could do was take a picture.















The weather is smiling on us, here. We're all having a great time. We did our owner's update today and managed to say 'no' to buying anymore time, so we feel really good. We have plenty to enjoy and then some!

We're feeling good. God is taking good care of us. Counting and praising . . .

Fun day in Branson

Today went by, flying like a bird! Time flies when you’re having fun, you know. We were staying in one hotel last night and we checked out this morning and moved to this one this afternoon. This one is better. Last night was fine, but this is nicer. We’re staying here for 3 nights, so we can kind of settle a bit. We went over this morning and stayed at the condo with Sadie, Mason and Grace while Trish and Rob and the big boys (Nate and Gabe) went and did big people things. The little kids played at the playground and then had lunch. After lunch and a rest we went to the pool. Grace wanted me to take pictures of all the kids at the pool; they were all her friends. She is such a hoot. Any new person came to the pool and she was their friend within 90 seconds, that is, however long it took her to get to them. It was really a fun day. Then at 3:30 we met Bob and Diana and we all went over to the Branson Theater Review that the Surrey throws for owners and guests. We had a buffet dinner and then watched about 3 hours of bits of shows from all over Branson. We really enjoy these evenings and see a lot of talent.

On the blog tonight will be a picture of Gabe and Sadie in the pool and another of Grace with Mason’s goggles on upside down. She was saying ‘Cheese.” As soon as Trish and Rob and the boys came home, Gabe came immediately to the pool to join us. He swims like a fish. They all do. Rob’s Mom has a pool at her house, so they’ve always spent lots of time in the water. They were all born in the bathtub, so I wonder if that has anything to do with their no fear of water?

Gretta sent precious pictures of Garrett reading to Elena, too. I’ll put one of those on the blog tonight, too. We can hardly wait to get there to see them!

I’m ready to jiggle and hit the bed. God is so good to us; it’s a joy to spend time with the kids. Counting . . .

In Branson

We made it to Branson, and so did Trish and Rob and the kids. I'm at the computer at the condo, so I just wanted to report that we all made it fine.

It was pouring rain when we left this morning, but we drove out of the rain before we got to OKC and it was beautiful the rest of the way. Poor wheat farmers did NOT need rain today, so I know they are hating it. This is how it is every spring for them; I'm surprised we have any bread at all. Farmers have got to be tough!

Bob Clark made it safely back from Russia and he and Diana are on their way here. They have a unit close to Trish and Robs. We'll see them sometime this week. We haven't seen Bob since November, so it'll be like a reunion. I had lunch with Diana last Friday, but we love every moment together. Bob has been gone for 3 months, so we're going to leave them to themselves to get to spend some time together.

It's nice to relax and not have a ceiling to fix or weeds to pull! God takes care of us and we give thanks!

Tournament cancelled; the sky is falling!

We were about an hour away from home when Davy called to tell us the tournament had been cancelled due to rain. We went on to Wichita Falls and enjoyed breakfast with him for about 3 hours. It was a great visit, and then we came on home. We walked and got some Vitamin D, then cleaned up and went to the Mexican Restaurant for dinner with David and Dorothy.

We came home and I was doing some research on the internet as Don was watching TV when we heard a click in the hallway as if someone had dropped a clothes pin or some such. I went over and looked and a bit of the ceiling had fallen! It wasn't wet or anything. It was just more of 'the sky is falling.' That piece of ceiling was tired of being there. I had two cans of repair stuff from years ago when we did some repairs and painting. One didn't work. The other one did all over the ceiling, me and the floor. Good thing I had followed the directions and spread a sheet out over the nearby chair in the living room and put on a pair of safety glasses. I haven't checked my hair for ceiling repair. I have the sheet and my shirt in the washer. It's always something, but I'm so glad to be able to climb on a ladder. How lucky that I had TWO cans and one worked! So the ceiling is fixed and the mess cleaned. I'm headed for a session with the jiggler to repair me and then to bed. Whew!

We got home in time to get pictures of Elena in her baby seat. She's a big girl now; probably weighs over 9 pounds, and she can sit in her seat by herself. Gretta used to have to stuff her in there with a half dozen blankets, I think. One picture she's napping at her brother's baseball game. Another picture she is the bikini babe and another she's taking a nap with her big brother, Garrett.

Tomorrow we'll see Trish and Rob and all their kids in Branson. Then in less than a week we'll get to see Elena and Garrett again, as well as Kyle, Elise and Ethan. It'll be a big week. We're excited and counting the blessings God gives so abundantly! PTL

Heading out of town.

Okay, I’m really rushing to get everything loaded for the trip in the morning. We’re leaving at 6, so we have to get up at 5 and be ready to roll.

Tonight I’m putting onto the blog a couple of pictures of flowers from the yard. The clump of lavender is one. I have two other clumps, but this one is the best so far. I hope the others don’t finish before I get home and can harvest it. So much to do; so little time!

The other picture is a close-up of my purple and white larkspur. They grow easily and spice up the yard with brightness, so I love them.

Tomorrow we head for Mesquite for the baseball tournament. I think I’ll be able to connect to keep up with the blog tomorrow night, but Sunday night is questionable. We’ll stay as long as the boys are in the tournament and then head for Branson. We’ll go as far as we can and spend the night and then go on to Branson on Monday. If you don’t see a new post on the blog, don’t worry. I’ll catch up as soon as possible. I’m not sure what kind of connections I’ll have in Branson; so take no news as good news.

Oh! We got a call today from Karen in Hawaii. She is the lady who painted Bob’s house while we were there this winter, and she wants us to house sits for her for 5 weeks in August and September! Woohoo!!! We’ll aim to firm up those plans as soon as we get home from this trip. I got all tangled up in frequent flyer miles this evening, so I’m rushing, now. Ugh!

God blesses; I give thanks!

Birds flew the "coup."

The last baby bird flew the ‘coup!’ I’m so glad I got his picture! I was standing at the window and saw him up on the edge of the nest, so I went out the back door and snuck around to get his picture. I got it and then he FLEW away! I kept watching for him to come back all day, but never saw him again. I just went out and looked and nobody is home. Maybe they’ll come back, but I doubt it. I think I have my door and porch back. I’m going to leave it just like it is while we’re gone. Maybe they’ll use it while we’re gone. If they still aren’t there when we get back, then I’ll clean it up and paint the door. Maybe they’ll come back next year; I hope so!

His picture is on the blog today. The other pictures are the guys trimming the tree out back. They left it still looking good from our angle, but it is absolutely flat on the side by the wires. They did one side yesterday and were back this morning to finish the other side. We can see through it to the park beyond it, so we like it better.

We’re just about ready to go on our trip. I have all the clothes packed and the rest of everything is last minute stuff; herbs, vitamins, etc. We are really traveling light so that we’ll have room for all the kids’ stuff. Traveling light is a whole new concept for me. I like to take EVERYTHING. That’s really dumb, so traveling light will be good for us.

Yesterday I made my appointment for my follow up thermogram on June 19th. It’ll be done in Oklahoma City. I’m looking forward to that and I’ll let you all know how it goes as soon as I know any details. After we get the results from it we will know more about the direction of our lives from that point. I don’t expect much to change. I will spend the rest of my life in aggressive defense mode. The best offense is a good defense, right? God is in charge, so we’ll see how He leads. He blesses and I count and give thanks. PTL!

Purple Finch family pictures!

Time is so flying! I’m getting ready, though and we’ll be ready to go Saturday morning.

Today was such an awesome day! I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the Purple finch babies today. They were sticking their heads up so big and one even gets up on the side of the nest! They’re nearly as big as the mother. I figure they’ll be gone by the time we get home, so I just had to snap their picture. They are so cute! There appears to be only 3 in there. I got one of the eggs that was out on the porch; I wonder what happened to the other one??? God knows all the secrets and one day He will tell us if we need to know.

Anyway, the first picture on the blog today is the 3 of them hiding down low in the nest. Remember, you can click on the pictures and see them really big if you want to see details. Isn't that cute, how they pile up like a pile of kittens?

The second picture is of Mr. And Mrs. Purple finch sitting on the rim of the basketball goal keeping their eyes on me as I snapped the picture of the babies. I’m surprised they didn’t dive bomb me. I think when I open the door, the birds and nest are actually inside the house, so they are afraid to come in and get me. They were sure watching me, though! Then later I looked out the window and a baby was up on the edge of the nest, so I went out the back door and snuck around the house. He stayed there, so I got his picture up on the edge. That’s the third picture.

I’m so proud of this family. I’ll be glad when they’re gone, though; I can have my porch back. Looks like I’ll have to paint the door, but that’s okay. It’s been worth it to watch them.

Besides the birds we had action going in the alley behind the house. The big tree trimmers were here trimming a tree right behind our house that was interfering with the electric lines. We were like a couple of kids watching firemen; it was pretty cool to us. Of course I got pictures. I’ll put those on the blog some day, but today is full of purple finches.

I’m washing and packing, so I’m out of here. Remember that God is right with us every moment; what a comfort and yet another blessing to count!

oops! Forgot!

You know that life is too busy when I forget to do the blog. We went to bed and Don said, "You've had a big day." I was getting ready to say I don't even remember what I did and it reminded me that I hadn't done the blog! I jumped out of bed and ran in here to make an entry.


I didn't do anything big today, just our regular exercising, etc. Oh, I did cut a couple of heads of hair and cut toe nails and finger nails for our friend Floyd who can't see to do it. Otherwise, just regular stuff. Well, I did Don's hair and toe nails. I guess that adds up to a bunch? Anyway, no pictures because I just jumped out of bed to come in here and write this. We're fine, here; don't worry about us. I'm just busy getting ready to go on our trip this weekend. Don is a sweetheart; he took me out to the Mexican Restaurant for dinner.

I'll write more and better tomorrow. God bless us all!!!

Humbled today.

Don took me ‘kicking and screaming into today.’ AGAIN, he was right and I was wrong. It turned out to be a great day! On the way there, he suggested maybe I should just go home because it was pretty obvious I didn’t feel good. I felt fine. I just had an attitude because I wasn’t expecting to enjoy today. I couldn’t seem to figure out how I was going to get all my meds taken, etc. It became a big logistics and mathematical problem to me, and I was ‘suffering’ it just so I could go to the square and go to an art show when my goal is to down size and not buy anything and watch a parade when I can never see a parade because the world is taller than me and standing in front of me.

My number one goal in life is to please God, but I thought I could do that just as well from home. My next goal is to please Don, so I wanted to go wherever he wanted to go; but, then there was the parade and I hate parades. UGH. When he suggested I go home, I figured I’d better ditch the attitude because if he’d rather go by himself I must be flunking at the pleasing him goal. So, we went to the square and had a great time! It was not our regular Arts on the Square that we have every year, but it was the town’s Centennial celebration. There was a dead tree on the square and they had a guy here a couple of weeks ago that carved that tree into a statue of the Indian Chief Lonewolf with chain saws! There is a picture of it on the blog today; it’s AWESOME. We saw LOTS of people who we don’t see often, so that was fun, too. There was beautiful art displayed and some great art from kids. I was marveling at some by a kid named Shea Furgeson; the name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t figure why. Then a lean guy says, “I drew that,” which I was admiring. He was such a nice kid, and we struck up a conversation with him. Turns out he is 16 and plays football, basketball and baseball, which we’ve watched, but I just didn’t recognize him out of uniform. It was very refreshing to meet such a nice kid with a great talent, even though he’s not one of my grandkids. I’m certainly a fan of his and will enjoy watching his progress in all the sports, as well as enjoy his art next year on the square.

It turned out that I found a position for the parade where I could SEE for the first time in my life. I really prayed that God would make it rain today or make some way for me to miss the parade. Instead He made a way for me to see the parade. There were lots of people in the parade that I knew and it was way fun to see them! God is so amazing; I thank Him for being in control so that I don’t mess up everything!

We kept finding David and Dorothy, our good friends, and ended up having lunch with them at the Mexican restaurant. Then we met up with them again this evening for the entertainment with awesome local talent at the football stadium. General Tommy Franks spoke twice today. Once was at the dedication of the mosaic on the square which is really awesome. I didn’t take a picture because there were lots of people on it. Maybe I’ll get one soon and put it on the blog. He spoke again tonight, and I love that guy, so I would have missed his speeches if I’d wormed out of today. God knew I needed to hear him. How lucky are we to have a 4 star general retire and move to the Hobart area? He built a house on his wife’s family ranch a few miles out from town; the street where our house is was named after his mother-in-law (Gaynelle), because this land all used to belong to her father. He is such a down to earth guy and I sure like the way he thinks, so it was refreshing to me to get to hear him twice. I took pictures of him speaking on the square and included them on the blog today.

I’m thanking God for taking care of me even when I’m fighting; and for giving me a wonderful husband who loves me anyway; and for people in my life who love me enough to read my ups and downs and love me anyway.

Have a great holiday weekend and remember the folks who have gone on before us: treasured memories!

We’ve had a great day and got all our exercise done; I still need to jiggle, so I’ll do that as soon as I finish the blog. There isn’t much news for the blog. The pictures today are a couple I took from right near the falls when we climbed down into the 40-foot hole on our Reserve adventure. (Just to prove we climbed down there. Ha!)

The update on the baby birds is that they are certainly growing. They don’t make any noise, but they are so funny. They sit there with their mouths wide open in case food comes by and falls into their mouths. Sometimes they stretch their wings and it looks like they might fall out of the nest; I sure hope they don’t because they are so not ready! They still look very awkward and unable to walk, let alone fly! The mother and father both feed them, but leave them alone in the nest rather often. I’m so anxious to take another picture, but I’m too afraid the parents will abandon them if I do. I could stick the camera up there and one of them could jump up and bump it and then they’d have my scent on them. Maybe I can get a picture this week from the driveway of them standing up above the nest; I hope so!

God blesses us so richly; I thank Him.

It’s been a great Saturday. We were able to get in our walk and it was really great weather for it; cloudy, so not too hot and the wind wasn’t blowing us so that we couldn’t stand! It was foggy this morning, so we didn’t go to the ‘fly in’ that was scheduled at the airport. We had planned to go and on my list of things I wanted to do it was somewhere around 3 million, so I was thrilled to miss it. I only appreciate flying when there is someplace to GO; flying to burn up fuel and do wild stuff makes as much sense as Russian roulette to me. I did my Power Plate routine and like it better and better each time I do it.

Tonight we had 12 people here playing Hand and Foot Canasta, so we played two tables of 6. It was the same group that played last night out at David and Dorothy’s. We had so much fun and decided the girls will all go Thursday to have lunch out to celebrate school out and Diana’s birthday. The guys will probably go do barbecue or some guy thing while we go to the Pantry which is pretty much a tearoom. We made plans for lunch tomorrow at the Mexican place after church.

The pictures on the blog today are more shots of the 40-foot hole that we hiked to see at the reserve last week. That is really something special for this part of the country. The mountains and the hole; it’s really flat land out here, except for the Reserve. We love it!

It’s past bedtime. I came in here to check the weather and found that we have thunderstorms predicted for tonight, so I’ve got to shut down the computers and unplug the Power Plate. Jo Ann and Frank had their house struck by lightening this week and lost lots of electrical things; no major appliances, but smaller things like the answering machine, a phone, the computer modem, etc. I don’t want to have issues like that, so I’ll go unplug a bunch of stuff. I remembered the blog just in time!

Love you all; count the blessings and enjoy all God has entrusted to us, but don’t forget to thank Him!

Carpet cleaning day.

Whew! It’s been another busy day. I can’t remember all we did, but I’m tired. I’ve got tot jiggle before I go to bed. We got the walking done and the Power Plate. Then I got all involved doing the laundry and cleaned the carpet in our bathroom. Don vacuumed the house for me. God love him! We played cards at Dorothy and David’s tonight; what fun! Tomorrow night we’re playing here.

I’ve got to go jiggle before I go to bed or my back will gripe at me all night. The pictures on the blog are from our Reserve adventure last week. One is the wild turkey; one is the 40-foot ‘hole’ that we hiked to see; and the other is a bunch of prairie dogs. What a great day it was and the pictures bring back great memories.

Have a great weekend; smell the roses and count the blessings! Our God is great!

Shaping up!

I should be so shaping up! Today we did our full walk; I got my full hour of jiggling done; and it was my work out day on the Power Plate. I do feel really good, so all that must be good for me.

Ebay had a listing sale today, so I listed a bunch of ‘stuff’ this morning. It sounds easy, but it took me all morning. If I just get rid of the ‘stuff’ that’ll be good! It’ll motivate me to get ready for our trip next week, too, because the auctions are all ending next Thursday, so I have to be ready to go so I can get everything shipped out on Thursday and Friday.

We’re going to Roy’s Backyard Barbeque for dinner out with Dorothy and David. That’ll be fun. We can sit and visit with them forever and never get tired of it. The food at Roy’s is good, too.

On the blog today are pictures of collared lizards we caught on camera last week when we had our breathtaking adventure to the reserve. Notice how they are able to fit right into God’s décor. It was a great day for lizard watching!

The little birds must be growing, but we don’t see any more activity than before. The mother leaves them more than she did; I guess she’s getting food to bring back because when she comes back she’s very busy. They don’t stick their heads up much, but enough to let us know they’re still there.

Count the blessings and plan a safe holiday weekend. Remember the Veterans are blessings to count, too. All of us have Vets in our families; some very close. I’m proud to be the daughter and sister and sister-in-law to great Veterans in my eyes.

Dive bombed!

Today on our walk we were dive bombed by a couple of mocking birds. We used to have a cat that the mockingbirds tormented and bombed her whenever they were around, but they’ve never bothered us before. Don said, “There must be a baby out of the nest or something like that.” So we looked all around, and sure enough over in the grass was a baby bird. I got up as close as I could and got the picture that’s on the blog today. One of the big birds was watching from the wire above, so I got him, too. They didn’t ever touch us, but they were threatening. It was kind of wild. Once we weren’t near the baby, they left us alone.

On our walk is a big puddle that a wouldn’t be there if the city would put in a culvert. We don’t have the culvert, so when it rains we have a puddle for a while. Since the water is there, so are tadpoles. Cool, huh? Yeah, that excites me, so I got a picture of the tadpoles, too. I keep watching for them to grow feet. If the puddle lasts, I’ll get a picture when they grow feet. You don’t know how tempted I am to go gather up some water and tadpoles; if Gabe was here, I know we’d do that! I sent him a picture because I doubt if he looks at the blog. Gabe is our 12-year-old grandson who has the snake; he loves everything, especially if it’s wild.

I FINISHED all the herb and vitamin packaging for the next 30 days. Whew! It feels good to be done. Now I have to start getting ready to do the next batch! I’ll open up the packages that we order and have them ready to add our additions the next time I ‘throw.’ I’ll open packages as we watch TV a few at a time, here and there. I don’t watch that much TV, so it takes me weeks to get ready for the next batch. It’s pretty much an ongoing process.

I made a batch of Essiac Tea today, too. That is certainly an ongoing thing. I’m sort of used to the taste, but it’s not good. The gritty part is the worst. I feel like I’m drinking tadpole water. That’s okay if it keeps cancer away.

I’m feeling like I did with the last round of oral meds: really sleepy at times and sort of icky at times. It’s not horrible; it’s just that I notice it. I only mention it to keep you posted, not to complain. Again, my biggest problem is the scheduling and remembering to take everything. I keep the phone nearby and use it to remind me.

The baby birds seem to be about the same; nothing new that I can tell.

God bless us all! I’m counting blessings and I’m up higher than I can really count!

Good news; bad news, regarding the birds.

So, today, regarding the bird saga, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that I got a picture of a couple of little heads as they stick up above the nest. The bad news is that a broken egg appeared on the porch, so I guess the mother threw it out when she found that it was a defunct egg. Of course, I picked it up and brought it in to get pictures. (Eyes rolled.) I have pictures on the blog of the little heads sticking up and the broken egg, so you can believe it with me. Remember, you can see more details if you click on the picture. We know that there are 3 little birds in there. We’ve seen three stick up their heads and open their mouths wide enough to gobble down a whole egg. They do that when she is there feeding them. When she is not there, they just sit with their mouths closed. There might be more than 3 in there, or there might be another bad egg in the nest. The mother is pecking at something on the end where the babies are not. We only saw one whole egg when we got that first fuzzy picture, but I guess there could have been an egg underneath. Maybe if the eggs don’t hatch in due time the mother pecks on it to help it out if it’s good or to determine for sure that it’s not good? It’s been so interesting to watch!










Today also, there were baby purple finches on the front porch with another mother purple finch feeding them. They are more developed than the ones on the door. They can fly, but they just fly onto the porch and then jump around peeping until the mother who is just a tad bigger than them feeds them the seed we have out there. It’s almost comical to watch; they are so impatient!

The rest of the good news is that I did the beginner exercises on the Power Plate today. I think it’s got to be a great thing. We’re only supposed to do it 3 days a week and not consecutively because it’s so strong. It’s hard to describe, but it is called vibration exercise. I was afraid the vibrations would make me sick, but it doesn’t. It’s another very interesting thing. Many high profile athletes use this type of exercise to build bone and muscle strength, improve circulation, etc.

I am nearly done with the herb and vitamin throwing. I just have to package them; I should finish tomorrow. At least they are thrown and I won’t have to do it again for a month.

Count the blessings; they are EVERYWHERE. God is so good!

Power Plate and Jiggler.

We have busy day after busy day. It’s hard to travel and catch up. Today was catch up day and there were extra things like throwing herbs and setting up the Power Plate. Ugh. I’m running late. I’ll have to finish the herbs and vitamins tomorrow. Thankfully, I have enough for tomorrow already done. Tomorrow I will use the Power Plate for the first time, too. There just isn’t time tonight. I did get on it for a few seconds and my mother is somewhere smiling because I have been ‘shook ‘til my teeth rattled.’ I hope I can stand it!

Lady Bird is sitting faithfully with the babies, but she does leave them for longer periods. They aren’t making any noise, yet, but we can see a head stick up above the nest every now and then. Soon maybe I can get another picture. They’ll get bigger and their heads will stick up, I hope; then I can get a picture from the driveway, I hope.

The pictures on the blog today are the Power Plate and my in home chiropractor, the Jigglin George. I have NO problem with George; he keeps me mobile!

I’m off to get a bath and get to bed, counting blessings as I go. God bless us all!

Winning is SWEET!

Wow! Our guys WON their tournament! They scored 8 every game today. I don’t remember what the others scored, but it was always less than that. Our guys were hitting and they were defending. They did everything right, and how exciting it was for all of us! The weather was PERFECT, so we weren’t drained from heat or wind and we didn’t get rained out; it was just PERFECT! Nobody got hurt. It was just PERFECT!

The only picture on the blog today is the winning team! Our son, David, is the dad coach on the right in the back and our grandson, Bruce, is in the middle of the back row of kids. I didn’t realize he is actually the tallest on our team, but I should have known that. They all seem to have grown like weeds since last year, so I’m so amazed at all of them. Their height might be their least asset, though. They are all wonderful kids, bright, big hearted, and talented and skilled players. Just ask any of us grandmas at the field!

Don and I had a safe trip and enjoyed more wildflowers along the way as well as our usual reading and discussions. It was dark when we got home, but I turned the light on the front porch to check on Lady Bird. She appears to be sitting on the nest, so I guess all is well out there.

Tomorrow is a big day for us. I’ve got the throw herbs and vitamins for the next 30 days; I’ll get started on it, at least. The main thing is that our Power Plate is coming. That’s a piece of exercise equipment that we’ve ordered and are very excited to be getting. I’ll tell you more about it after it gets here.

I’m headed to bed, thanking God until I fall asleep.

Baseball update.

We tied the first game, 2-2. The second game we won 8-1. It sure felt good to win. The guys were playing great. We play next at noon tomorrow. We're whipped and headed to bed. PTL and count the blessings. Thanks for keeping up with us.

Baseballing . . .

I'm thinking it's going to be late tonight when we get done with the baseball games since we're starting late, so I thought I'd do a blog entry right quick before we leave for Wichita Falls. If I get a chance tonight I'll write, but the last game is scheduled for 8 and they are usually late, so I'm thinking I'll just fall into bed after my bath tonight.

We had breakfast at church this morning. They had a fellowship breakfast and the men were fixing breakfast! How cool was that? Let me tell you the best part. I didn't want to go because I can't eat biscuits and gravy and don't want the rest. I just take all my pills with a piece of rye bread and that's a good breakfast for me. (So, I did that before we went.) I wanted to participate, though, and I wanted Don to have a breakfast he really enjoys, so we went. The part that was so cool, was this. When we got there everyone was just around talking and the guys were cooking. Don went over and checked to be sure all was going well in the kitchen and then came back and told me they didn't have anyone who could make gravy, so would I do it? That's my calling! Gravy I can do! I was so pleased to be able to go in there with the guys and do my gravy thing. It feels good to be needed and appreciated, especially from Don but from the other folks, too. It was cool!

The pictures on the blog today are from our trip to the reserve the other day. I usually take all the pictures, but Don wanted to get one of me with the 3 waterfalls in the background. I was scared to get out there on the edge, but pleased that he wanted to help with the pictures. We hiked down to the waterfalls, too. It was so much fun!

My sister called a while ago to tell us about the death of a good friend's son in a car accident last night. What a shock and loss. God tells us to give thanks in all things, and sometimes it's hard to do that. There are lots of blessings in every situation, even shock and loss. I'll be counting the blessings of Greg's life; I pray that they can, too. When my mom died I was so at a loss! The greatest help in her death and in every one since then has been this quote from an unknown author: "How long does a man live? It is as long as you can touch him or as long as he touches you? . . . " That tells me that we never have to give up our loved ones; we only give up their bodies. God lets us keep them in our minds, so we have them as long as we have our minds. We learned from Don's dad that when we lose our minds, it doesn't matter or hurt. God blesses and I give Him praise and thanks.