April 20, 2010

Today I'm thankful for sunflare.  They are calling for rain the rest of the week, so I spent a good part of my day outside soaking up all the sunshine I could.

I snapped this dandelion a little before 7:00 a.m., just as the sun was starting to come up. 

Dave's folks like to put Bayleigh on the bus in the mornings and get her off of the bus in the afternoon, while they're here, so I thought I'd capture this ritual, before she gets too old and doesn't want anyone putting her on the bus anymore.  Eli also has his own little ritual of picking up a rock in the driveway to give to my mom (the bus driver) each morning.

After we got Bayleigh on the bus, I did some cleaning, Dave's folks packed up and headed for Branson, and Eli and I went outside to play.  We hunted for special treasures, and I found lichen on a tree stump,

while Eli magnified the lilacs.

We also spotted a cat in a tree.  Luckily this particular cat and two of his brothers have found new homes, so we'll be down sizing the herd of outside cats by three.  YAY!

After Bayleigh got home from school, I took the kids outside to play some more, and we ended up taking a walk to my mom's house.

I caught her doing chores (and she would KILL me if she knew I'd taken a picture of her . . . so please don't tell on me!).  She is the hardest working person I know and I admire her greatly.  I hope I can be even HALF the woman she is, when I'm her age.

We helped her carry buckets of feed, and I grabbed a few shots on the go.

I could take hundreds of pictures of this old barn.  My grandpa built it all by himself.  He's long since past on, but I have very fond memories of him.

When we finished choring, mom asked me to take some pictures of her flowers.  This single solitary little violet most suits my personality.  Quiet, shy and trying to fade into the background, although you'd never know it online.  (That's the great thing about the internet.  You can just say what's on your mind with the power to shut things off when you don't like what's being said in response. lol)

I caught this little guy flitting from one little flower to the next, and he finally sat still and posed long enough for me to get a shot.

Mom called these fairy roses.  The bush was just loaded with these beautiful yellow/orange blooms.  I think I'll cut a start from hers and see if I can get them to grow.

After the chores were done, mom decided since I was there, that we needed to move some furniture to the basement.  We ended up taking one door off of it's hinges and moving a huge library table downstairs . . . and then I loaded up an old school desk and some odds and ends to bring home with me.  When we unloaded the stuff at my house, we somehow got side-tracked into cleaning some of the yard up, and we didn't get back in the house until almost 8:00 p.m.  There is never a lack of things to do around here, and as soon as I get the yard cleaned up and in order, I'll be mowing it!  (And just so you know . . . I'm one of those warped people who like to mow their yards.  Crazy, huh?)