Spring

Spring time is my favorite time of year. The flowers are starting to bloom, the birds are going crazy at the feeders. The goldfinch are about to turn bright yellow! I can't wait to get my hands in the soil and start planting.
I am going to try onions this year. And I have my usual strawberries, basil, lavender, cilantro and peppers so far.
I have it on good authority, Ron, that I cannot plant tomatoes until after Good Friday.I haven't grown a good tomato for several years, but hope springs eternal that someday I will grow a delicious tomato.

Photography Class

I have some great subjects for my new camera! I am so excited to get to learn more about it how to take great pictures though. The class will not be until May.

Happy Anniversary

Here we are again, another anniversary.
I thank the Lord for another year of life, another year of being with my family and another year with my husband!
Today, about 2:00 pm, Ron turned to me and kissed me and said, "33 years ago right now we were getting married"!
That was very unusual for him to turn and kiss me in public. And it was really funny because we did not get married at 2:00 pm. I think our wedding was at 7:00 or something. When we get home, I will be looking in our wedding book to see what time we were married.
But it was still sweet! And of course I had to correct him! Why after 33 years do I feel the need to correct him?
Why indeed! Some things never change. I remember telling him, within minutes of being declared Mr and Mrs Ron Dowler, well I told him something that I don't remember, but I do remember the tone of my voice. It was not the loving voice that a new bride should speak with.
We had been discussing, kind of mocking the "Duggars" for kissing all the time on national TV, maybe that's where that kiss came from. Anyway, I liked it.
So this year, number 33, I declare I am going to speak with a loving voice(most of the time), and I am going to turn and kiss my husband, in public!
I hope our kids are not too embrassed!

Everglades

Ron and I are in Miami for a business trip. We visited the Everglades today. I always thought that it would be really pretty, but this is the dry season. There were so many alligators! The are not considered dangerous if you leave them alone. They didn't have to tell me twice. At one stopping place there were 11 alligators. We saw baby gators, big gators, little gators, a humpback gator, gator beds, gator trails, .....

There were some really pretty birds too. I took probably 70 shots, the white bird is my favorite picture.

Funny thing is, Ron and I have traveled to some interesting places. We floated the Colorado river. But I thought that the Buffalo River was prettier. After seeing the Everglades, I think my backyard birds are prettier. I will always love to visit places, see wildlife, see plants, gardens, water, but it is comforting to know, that close to home is some of the most beautiful people, waters, plants, birds and wildlife.

My House

My Facebook/Blogger buddy started a "Show Others Where You Live" FB page. I have been posting pictures of my house on FB.

It's been fun posting pictures of my house and visiting others houses, a virtual visit, without having to travel.

More Pictures

I love my new camera! I just wish I knew more about it. The picturea of Violet and Evie, swinging, are not in focus, they are just cute. And Andrea's picture, the flash did not come on, so I edited it, still not as good as a flash. Evie jumped on that three wheeler with Veronika and hung on!!! It was so funny to watch.

Bucket List Update

One of the items on my "Bucket List" was to take some frame quality photos. Saturday, Ron and I went shopping and bought a new camera. I am scheduled for my first class in May. It is actually just a basic class, but it's a start.

I will have to say, I have some beautiful subjects to practice on.

Happy Birthday Kay

Kay's birthday is February 28th! To surprise Kay, Amber cooked dinner for Kay, Jim, Ron and I.

Even though we live only about 15 miles apart, Kay and I never seem to find or make the time to visit each other.

Of my 3 sisters, Kay and I are closest in age. We went to school together, at one time we worked in the same shopping center. Kay worked at Krogers, I worked next door at TG&Y(pre-WalMart) Our future husbands were roommates at one time. And, we had a double wedding!

FYI We did not have a double honeymoon!

We had our kids 11 months apart.(Kay did not cooperate and have that 3rd)

When our kids were little, we got together for play dates for the kids. Then, when our kids were older, we were going to activities for them. Next, we worked while while our kids were starting their own families.

Now when we see each other, we are usually having a family event and playing with our grandchildren. I know Kay wouldn't change a thing, and I sure wouldn't, but we have not spent time together.

My sisters are my best friends! I have decided as an addition to my "Bucket List", I will be spending some one on one time with my sisters!

I was so excited when Amber asked if we could come to dinner. That was just what I had been wanting.

So, Amber prepared a delicious meal of chicken enchiladas, mex rice, bean dip and a yummy chocalate cake. And she hosted at her house, with fresh flowers, no less, welcomed us, then her, Randy and Ethan went out. I felt like we were at a 5 star restaurant.

Thank you Amber, Randy and Ethan!

Attention Sisters! I want some more time with each one of you!

We Have Sound!

Ron and I bought a big TV when we did our house remodel. I love the picture on this TV. We have seen details that we had basically never seen in our old TV. But we never have been happy with the sound. Ron wears hearing aids and even he couldn't hear half of what was said on TV. We were constantly, well, I was constantly replaying shows to try to determine what was said. Sometimes we never did know what was supposed to be so funny or so sad.

I had the Geek Squad set up our sound bar, it was supposed to give us sounds. It didn't help.

Well, I ordered these Sony headphones! It took us weeks to determine how to hook them up, I tried, Paula tried. Ron finally, in desperation, started plugging and unplugging cords and finally!

WE HAVE SOUND!

Now I am hearing things I have never heard before. I can hear background noise that I could not hear when I took the headphones off.

Now, we don't have to worry that the neighbors will be able to hear our TV because it was so loud before.

Temple Grandin and Parenting

I watched the most amazing show on HBO, the biography of Temple Grandin. She is an animal science professor and an autism advocate. And she is autistic. If you know someone or love someone with autism, you probably know her name. She has written books and done studies about animal care and how it relates to her autism.
As she describes herself, "I'm not like other people. I think in pictures. And I connect them."
You can google "Temple Grandin" and get a review of the HBO bio or read about her. Claire Danes plays Temple in the bio. It's a very interesting biography.
I have a great niece with autism. I knew her before diagnosis and after. It is such a hard to understand diagnosis. The bio shed some light on how people with autism think and feel.
I had actually read one of her books about the animal studies and found it to be interesting, but didn't really understand her lack of emotion. The book was full of information and her views, but her lack of feeling about the animals was strange to me. She developed a way for cattle to be slaughtered in a more humane manner. Even if you love to eat beef, you don't really want to know about the hoof to table details.
I don't know if the bio was true to her life, I assume it was, but it opened my eyes a little.
The interesting thing was that learning about her life made me think about raising a child. You find out early in the bio that in the 1960's, children with autism were not thought to improve. But Temple's mother refused to believe that her daughter could not learn, she taught her at home, pushing, yet accepting who Temple was. Like she only ate jello and pudding! Now what mother would let her child get away with only eating jello and pudding. And Temple went to college. What mother would make a child go to college and live in a dorm, when that was obviously so painful for her.
I don't see myself letting my kids only eat jello and pudding. But then again, they loved food, so it was never an issue. But could I have really made them do something that they didn't want to do.
Well, NO!
I had a kid that was not autistic, but who was different that I was, actually, all three of my kids were different from me. And I couldn't force my way of doing things on them.
And I am glad I couldn't.
I could encourage them, but ultimately they had to make a choice.
Now, they did have to go to school, brush their teeth, go to bed, do their homework, go to church and behave in a socially acceptable manner. But in the end, they had to decide what to do in life and how they did it.
So, we encouraged, we provided the means, we made them try almost everything; music, dance, sports, reading, writing, art. We had a piano, flute, baseball, softball, batting tee, batting cage.....
I took them to lessons. I played baseball and softball, when it was obvious that I did not know how to throw a ball. Or run or even understand the game. We went to pro ball games, the opera and even the ballet. Brad doesn't believe me when I say he watched the ballet, turned to me and told me he wanted to do that. We took them to church, prayed with them, prayed for them.
All those activities took so much of our time! And money and energy! But I can't imagine how overwhelming it was for Temple's mother got her just to talk! The simple skills most kids learn without effort, walking, talking, enjoying activities, was a major ordeal for Temple and her mother. And she didn't just learn how to talk, she excelled in her field!
Somehow we parents have to learn to encourage our children to learn skills, grow, achieve and become functioning adults at whatever level they are capable of. Even when they are grown, they have gone to school, played sports, sang, danced or whatever their passion became, as parents, we still question, "Did we do it right? Did we push just enough? Did we praise enough? Are they happy? Did they reach their potential?"
I am so proud of my children for the adults they have become! I think they experienced life in positive manner. They are happy, pretty well adjusted adults, so I guess we didn't fail them.
But through all this, maybe the most important is "Did they learn to love the Lord? Do they serve God?" From the bio of Temple, you don't really know if she knew about God, when an animal died, then later her teacher, she said, "where did they go"? Good question.
Our reward for the investment in our children is to observe them parent their children, and work and have relationships! And what a glorious reward it it! And see if they can answer, "Where did they go?'

Bucket List

Andrea forwarded an email about a "Bucket List", you were to check off what you had done and forward it to your friends. I thought it was very interesting. I was pleased to see that I had done many of the things on the bucket list, and very sad about some of them also. Seeing a person die was not really on my list of things I wanted to do, but sadly, I did experience that. Some of my bucket list things were not on the list. So I thought I would come up with my own "Bucket List".
These are not in order of importance.

1. travel to Hawaii
2. travel to Alaska
3. travel travel travel in the continental US!!! too many places to list
4. write a childrens book
5. learn to play the piano
6. learn to take awesome pictures worthy of framing
7. learn to watercolor, mostly flower and bird pictures
8. celebrate 50 years of marriage
9.get healthy, lose weight, blah blah blah
10.live long enough to see great grandchild
11. semi retire, so that we can travel more
12. wittnessing my grandchilden accepting the Lord as savior
13. snow ski


Hummm, so how to achieve those items on my bucket list.

1. work harder to make more money so we can travel
2. work at getting healthy so we can live long enough to travel and see great grandchildren
3.get busy taking some lessons!!! watercolor, photography, something
4. teach children Bible lessons
5.get Ron busy getting healthy too

Ok, so my goals are not that unattainable. I feel really blessed to know that so many things on that original "Bucket List" I have already done.
I have seen grandchildren.
I am able to see those grandchildren several times a week
I have seen the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico
I have been to Canada, Mexico and Turkey
I have flown
I have a double oven and big kitchen for family dinners
I actually have the life of my dreams!
Thank you Lord!

Simple Pleasures

Paula and Andrea added a "Simple Pleasures" Post, so I thought I would come up with some of my own.


reading a book to one of the grandchildren that they requested by title

seeing a child smile

having a grandchild reach their little hands up for me to pick them up

finding a cute outfit for one of the grandchildren

seeing a childsize handprint on the window, even when the kids have gone home

just about anything related to my grandchildren

teaching Bible lessons, and hearing a parent tell me their child told them what the lesson was

hearing a child say their Bible verse

coffee, especially the first cup of the day

grinding coffee beans at night in the anticipation of morning coffee

birds at the feeder

the first flowers of spring

flower buds on trees in anticipation of spring

planting a tree

waking to the singing of birds

sharing a laugh with my husband

sharing a really good dessert with my husband

clean sheets

smelling dial bath soap, especially on my husband

Christmas cards, sending and receiving

decorating for Christmas

buying new ornaments

shopping

reading blogs

playing scrabble on my iphone

Happy Birthday Poppa!

For Ron's 60th Birthday, we took the whole family to Disney World! All 14 1/2 of us, 8 adults, 6 kids and baby yet to be born! I just realized that you can't see Phoenix in that picture!

I have been saving up for this for quite a while. I am very proud of the fact that half of the trip was paid for with reward dollars, meaning it was free! I bought some new Christmas ornaments with my reward dollars and they were free!

We had the deluxe dinning plan, if you ever go to Disney, this a really a good bargin, you have three meals a day and a snack, and it doesn't matter if you order a cheeseburger or a prime rib dinner! We all loved that.

Seeing the characters and the rides through the eyes of our grandchildren was so exciting! I like the rides and think the characters are fun, but seeing the kids enjoy that was priceless!

The fireworks, parades, shows, I don't know what was best. We watched Beauty and The Beast, The Lion King, Nemo, a Bird Show! I loved the playgrounds, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Pooh's playground and Minnies House. At Epcot we saw Talk Time with Crush!, had German food, sang a poolka! I bought German Christmas ornaments!

It was fun despite the crying, the blisters, the sprained ankle, the stomach virus, getting up early, the aching joints of the old people! We spent too much money, they babies were too young, but when I look at the pictures, it was all worth it!

I have already starting saving for the next trip!

Violet

Violet pretty much did not like those Disney characters! We watched the Animal Kingdom parade and she finally slapped the hand of one of the craziest scariest characters of all!

We don't have a picture, but Veronika is afraid of dark places and dark rides, speed is OK, but not dark and loud, like Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Usula was pretty scary. By the last night, she road Pirates of the Carribean! and wasn't afraid!

Jackson, Tucker and the Brazillian Beauties

Ron and I took Jackson and Tucker on the Toy Story Mania ride, while Tucker was shopping for his Baby Woody, this woman asked me if her girls could have their picture taken with Woody and Buzz, they thought they were SO CUTE!
Well, I thought about making sure that was OK with Brad and Paula, but decided they would love it, and they did, Brad was so PROUD!
The woman said they were cheerleaders from Brazil! The picture doesn't do justice to how cute they were, the girls and the boys.

Evie and Pluto

Evie kissing Pluto!

Buzz and Woody Meeting Buzz and Woody

Jackson and Tucker were in full costume for meeting Buzz and Woody, I think the workers really enjoyed setting up their meeting, especially since Tucker had his baby Woody. Jackson decided on the baby Buzz later in the trip! The girls bringing the kids into the room made a big production of Jackson an Tucker surprising Buzz and Woody with their costumes.

Grumpy

Ron and I have very few "good" photos together! Why does he say he loves to go to Disney World and then have a grumpy smile?

Just for the record, he had a great time, he rocked babies to sleep, fed babies and toddlers, carried them, rode the rides with them and pushed the strollers too!

Babes in Toyland "DisneyWorld"

Phoenix aka "Little Steve"

Evie aka "Little Josh"

Three babies in Disney World is crazy, there was a lot of crying, diapers and napping. But the trip was still wonderful.

Disney 2010

Tucker and Slinky

Mickey kissing Phoenix

Violet on the Bug at the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground!

Josh, Amanda and Evie at Hollywood

Jackson taking care of Evie at the airport at the beginning of the trip.

New Year

A new year brings so many possibilities! A new beginning for so many goals, whatever our goals may be. And so many possibilities for new experiences.

I am so excited about the New Year! Like celebrating Ron's 60th birthday. We will be taking a family trip to celebrate!

I plan to have a portrait taken of us. This age is it, we will record this age for the future. Like the driver's license photo, I always think it's such a bad picture, until I have to get a new photo 4 years later! Uhgg. So I think it is time to record this age before we get any older.

I am excited about new gardening opportunities. I love gardening so much that I included the garden picture! And it is not even mine, I borrowed the picture from Ann's picture file. Thanks Sister! I really enjoy my gardening and bird watching. What can I say, it was the first day of the year and rather than put up my Christmas decorations, I worked on my bird feeders.

I am exited about the opportunities to share the love of Jesus with children. I was showing Jackson the kids Nativitiy scene and he started asking questions about what I was telling him. That reminded me of how important my responbilities as a Christian, a teacher at church and as a grandmother are. What a blessing to be able to share the love of Jesus!

After Christmas Fun

After opening presents and eating breakfast we went outside to play for a little while. The tire swing is the same tire swing we hung up when Brad was little.

Trimming the Tree

I didn't actually have the kids help me decorate the tree, I just staged these pictures. But I do think next year I want to get a better camera and actually let the grandkids help me decorate the tree. It makes for some pretty pictures!

Ron's Christmas Gift

I bought Ron a train set for Christmas. Ron doesn't get excited about much, but he went right to work putting the train together to have it ready for the grandkids! He says we have Brad's train set up in the attic, but I don't remember seeing it for years! I hope we don't pack this one away and forget about it.

Merry Christmas 2009

For the last few years I have bought the grandkids Christmas pajamas and taken a picture of them all together. It is really hard to get 6 kids smiling all at the same time. Next year we get to try to get 7 kids smiling all at the same time.

I did realize it doesn't matter if they all smile or look at the camera, the beauty of it all is just that they are so CUTE!

Thanksgiving in Baton Rouge

Movie night for the kids and grandmothers! And Radio Flyers from Wal Mart!

Thanksgiving in Baton Rouge

Ann and family hosted my family for a Thanksgiving weekend in Baton Rouge. We enjoyed the best food and the best company. Fried turkey, pumpkin bread, corn casserole, shrimp boil, boudan, and more! After feasting for three days, most of the young adults went to the LA/AR football game. I know they had a great time. Ann and I, with the help of Ron, Daniel, Chad and Stacy took care of 7 children, my 6 grandchildren and 1 of Ann's.

We played games, visited, did some crafts, mostly just had a great time.

Thank you Ann and Daniel for hosting our Thanksgiving!

Getting Old and Pickles

Ron is going to turn 60 in 2010! I have been making arrangements for his celebrations, we are going to celebrate all year in fact.

Sometimes I worry about getting old!

I love the Pickles Cartoon. The old couple have been married for 50 years. They are so funny and so real!

Getting old sometimes seems really bad. I can' see very well. I have so many aches and pains. I don't know where all these wrinkles came from! And the grey hair...!

But getting old has it's rewards too. Our kids are grown and out of the house. We get to spend our money on ourselves or the grandkids, because that is really fun too. Cooking for two is easy.
The peace and quite is wonderful, no fighting!

Young parents, do not dispair, your reward will come in 20 years or so!

I love this!

Snapdragon

This picture doesn't really show how it works, but if squeeze the sides of the flower, it opens and closes, like a mouth, a dragon mouth.

Memories

It has been over a year since my Mom died. April 13, 2008. I haven't been to the cemetary to visit her grave. Friday night I was coming home from some errands in Benton and Bryant, and decided to drive down Highway 5. It's such a peaceful drive and I can check out landscaping along the way. I guess because night comes late, the gates to Pinecrest were still open. I decided it was time to visit my mother's grave.
It may seem strange to visit a cemetary, but we were raised to visit the cemetary several times a year. Our brother had died at a young age. I guess our parents wanted us to remember him and honor his memory. He died before the three youngest of us were born. My parents had Robert and Anita, my Mom was pregnant with Ann, when they had the wreck.
It was always a big event to visit the cemetary, we took flowers to decorate the graves of my grandparents, my brother, several uncles, and cousins. Then my Dad died and we continued to take our Mother to visit. It was a part of our life.
Now my parents are not here to tell me to visit the cemetary. I went, but didn't have any flowers. I paid my respects to my family. I have had a little guilt about not going this past year.
I decided that I do not have to visit the cemetary to remember and honor my family that have gone on before me. I remember them all the time.
When I work in my garden I think about how much my father loved working in his garden. My sisters and I dug up plants out of his garden before we sold the house we grew up in. I have iris, buttercups, and 4 o'clocks that came from his garden. Some of the 4'oclocks came to me by way of Ann's house. I brought his round stepping stones from the front yard and placed them in my garden. I step on them whenever I do yard work.
My Dad built a chest when he was in the navy. I have had it in storage for years. Ron got it out for me and fixed the broke legs. I am in the process of sanding and restoring it.
My Mom, in her younger days, laid a slate rock patio. Last week I was making a rock walkway, and I thought of that patio. I guess I always loved growing things. My Mom helped me plant radishes when I was young, my garden was maybe a 2 foot square, I have vivid memories of watching them grow.
I am in the process now of helping my children and grandchildren make those memories. Monday, I had Jackson and Tucker help me plant some cosmos seeds. And they got to pick fresh blueberries from my bushes. Veronika had a dance recital tonight, I was able to pick her an orange lily from my garden.
I want the memories of my family to be full of happy times, that they will know how much I love them. And they will remember the times we spent together. I want to be at every ball game, every recital, every party and I feel so blessed to be invited and able to particiapate in these events.
Paula told me a funny story. I had taken Veronika, Jackson and Tucker to a play at the Childrens Theater. We sat in the garden waiting for the show. I picked a snapdragon and showed it to the kids. Paula said when she cut a muffin sideways, the boys said , "Oh, that looks like a snapdragon, like Dodi showed us."

MOPS

The last MOPS meeting for the year was last Wednesday. The moms had a short meeting, then they had the volunteers come to the Life Center to thank them for taking care of their kids during the year. Then the MOPPETS sang. This is Brother Marks version of Deep and Wide. Jackson and Tucker think it is hilarious!

Hummingbirds

This is from August 2008. We have hummingbirds, but not this many yet. They usually increase in the numbers in the heat of summer.

Getting Tagged

I, of course, will goof up this getting tagged thing, but here goes.

First, 8 things I look forward to:
Having a new grandson, Phoenix.
Spending time with my grandchildren.
Growing flowers, especially sunflowers, zinnia, cosmos, morning glories, and food like, tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, etc. and perennials.
Getting to swim this summer, especially with the grandchildren.
Getting my house finished so that we will have more room to enjoy the grandchildren and the enhanced view of the garden and birds.
Planning Ron's 60th birthday celebration.
Waking up each day, enjoying the first cup of coffee while watching birds at the feeders.

8 things I did yesterday
birdwatched(I can't hardly get dressed for watching the birds)
worked
enjoyed my coffee
went to Jackson's TBall game, sat in the van in pouring rain until it was cancelled
ate dinner at East End Cafe
remembered why I do not like dinner at East End Cafe
read the newpaper
went to bed, but couldn't sleep, so watched TV until 2:00, which actually was today, which caused me to be sluggish all day today

8 TV shows I watch
American Idol, 1st year for me and I have really enjoyed it
Scrubs
Ugly Betty
Office
30 Rock
How I Met Your Mother
Big Bang
Chuck
(when I watch TV I also read the paper, home decorating or gardening magazines and play solitare on my iphone, which would explain why I don't get ANY house work done, even though all we have right now is the pool house and bedroom.)

8 people I tag
any and everyone who might read this

Awana is over for the year!

Veronika is in Sparks. She received the First Book Award. I know that Veronika worked really hard to learn her Bible verses to complete the book.

Jackson received his first year award. These kids learn the Bible at Awana! They have Bible time, devotion time, play time and snacks.

Awana stands for "Approved Workman Are Not Ashamed". This program teaches Bible scripture to kids. I have not really worked with the actual Awana program, just the Pre-Cubbies, the kids too young for Awana.

This is my 6th year teaching Awana. I still love it, but I still feel like I do not know what I am doing, it's hectic, crazy, kids everywhere. Some nights all we do is feed them, take them to the bathroom, change a diaper or two, and try to keep them from hurting each other.

Every Wednesday night I just pray they received a little bit of the love of Jesus amid the chaos! By the end of the year they amazed me with what they knew. They start the year learning to talk, by the spring, they can tell you that Jesus died for them!

This year we had 13 children! Andrea, Amanda and Paula have all helped this year, along with several other mothers of the children. Thank goodness for the help, it takes every hand available to help these little ones.

Awana Cubbies

This is Jackson's Cubbie awards.

Awana

This is the PreCubbies singing at the Awana closing on Sunday night.