Cousins

Oh from time to time I lose my mind and surround myself with miniature bosses! I let them overtake my home and tell me what to do. But they sometimes disobey and I must regain control . .

Locked up! Can you see their fear, lol.

My evil plan has taken hold! They can't reach me!

We (my two youngest and my two nieces, Hadley and Kenzie) spent a couple of hours at the park and that cage is just a super great slide. (Completely ruined my control image, huh) I remember playing on it with my cousins as a child and remember it being great fun. I also remember it being home to bees and getting stung by a few. Lucky for these cousins there were no bees!

Fast forward a couple of months . . .

My nieces Hadley, Kenzie and Ainsley with my kiddos! Sleepover!!!

This is how they truly act!

Poor Harley is always outnumbered! He takes it well though and is doing a fine job of 'protecting' all those girls. He is a great brother and cousin. He is awesome with babies, heart of gold people! So the girls played dress up, horses, and house. Harley spent most of his night entertaining Ainsley, she thinks he is super funny. Emmy helped corral them all! And Tom and I just did whatever they told us too. 

That night I dreamt about that slide and all these kids locking us in. They were smarter than us, they figured out how to keep us there. Whew! Waking up was a relief, no shackles.



Kenzie telling me that her dad makes a better bowl of cereal than I do. She says, "My dad is an awesome cook!" I say, "Awesome, what does he cook?" She replies in a matter of fact tone, "Well, he makes better cereal than you!" bwahahahahaha

I love having my nieces and nephews over! I am lucky enough to get to see these three at least once every couple of weeks, if not more. When I was growing up my cousins and I all lived in the same town, and we spent almost all our time together. I have great memories with my cousins and I hope my kiddos will have the same!

Here's to cousins who are friends and not just family and the memories they share!!!

God's Love is Always There

Our lonely tree.

Today we woke up to snow, a lot of snow! I think they forecasted five inches but we got between ten and fourteen inches. And it was white, and bright. Beyond our lonely tree in our backyard there was nothing but tons of snow. That tree reminded me of a dear friend. Alone. And that forecast reminded me that what we believe we may get may be entirely different than what we receive.

Now she isn't alone, alone. She has plenty of people who love her and care for her and she loves the Lord. But she is devasted and struggling with the loss of her son. I looked out the window and seeing that dark tree against all that white snow, with tracks everywhere, I couldn't help but think of her and her loneliness.

She is that tree. Dark, dormant, just waiting for awakening, for peace, for a spring, a fresh start. That snow is the good Lord, always there, always surrounding her, also waiting, being patient, giving her moisture (life), preparing her for her spring. Those tracks are the people who love her, walking toward her and away when needed, all through God's love. It is a dance, a beautiful yet tragic dance.

I sat there looking at that tree for quite sometime, before I decided to take a picture and share it with you.

You see I don't care for the snow. It usually means it is cold, something I am not fond of. But I failed to appreciate it's need. The moisture it gives to that tree right now, while it is cold and seemingly lifeless, will be that tree's saving grace. That tree will blossom, it will provide needed shade, and will be surrounded by life anew. That doesn't mean that the tree forgets its old life. It carries it's past. Some of those memories you can't see, like the rings inside a tree (always there, but invisible from the outside), but they are there. Some you can see. It bears scars of wind and hail, of animals and children. The tree loves those scars, they have made the tree stronger and who doesn't need to feel the wind blowing through them, or need a good knock on the head from time to time. Oh and what would life be like without the memories of animals and children, helping us appreciate love. A love that doesn't even compare to God's love for us all. Something so hard to imagine.

I will never look at the snow or that lonely tree the same again. Sometimes it is hard to see the light when you are asleep, but it is there, always present, always providing for us, always loving us and always, always, always working through the life around us.

Rejoice in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.      Romans 5:3-5

Meanie Houdini, Grrrrr, Blah, blah, blah, blah

Whiny hiney, fathom the thought of someone calling ME a whiny hiney. Stinking meanie houdini! I was just standing there minding my own business, when out of the blue, I blurt out "Smelly cat!!" I didn't yell it to a person, I was talking to my dog! He stunk! Pretty sure he ate a skunk, nasty troll! That is when I heard it, "Meanie Houdini." At first I thought the dog was talking to me. And no I haven't been drinking any funny juice or taken any goofy pills. There was no one else around!! Just me and the smelly cat/dog! I looked around and sure enough my mind wasn't playing tricks on me . . . No ONE IS THERE! So I chance my life and call the monster mutt a smelly cat again, and again I hear it "Meanie Houdini." I walk across the deck, lay down in the middle and look over the side, you know like you did as a kid checking under the bed. Nothing there! I am freaking out!! This dog has some sort of mind powers. I crawl over to the picnic table and there is our "stalker" dog/ peeping tom. She looks in the windows of the house all the time, creepy! And like usual she is just wagging her tail so hard it is about to knock her smooth off the deck. I am wondering how in the world she can stand up . . . so I try it. I don't have a tail so I just shake my head and sure enough I fall off the deck, taking the smelly cat/dog with me. He's lucky, he has four legs and lands on them. I am not so lucky, I land on my bum. By now all the forest animals are watching me and pointing their feathery wings and furry paws rolling around laughing. Whose the meanie houdini now?

This was all made up, has no point and I was bored. Coffee at 10pm isn't a great idea!