I promised I would share a part of our devotional from Saturday. The theme for the day was gardening...
Bless the "thyme" of sowing, watering, and growing. The final thoughts being that God uses some people to sow the seeds, others to water, but He is the one who causes the growth...the increase...the beauty. Several flowers were chosen by me to represent those who had and still have a part in making my life beautiful.
The
red rose usually stands for
love. Gram Carlson was a beautiful picture of love in action. Her greatest desire for her children, grand-children, and great grand-children was that they know Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour.
The
pink rose represents
gentleness and gracefulness. My mother is one of the gentlest people I know. Through the trials of life, she has been an example of God's grace in her life. She has been my prayer warrior during times when I didn't know how or what to pray. We laugh together...we cry together. She is my mother...she is my friend...she is my encourager.
The
purple snapdragon was chosen to represent my sister. Mari has such a
"snappy" bubbly spirit that is refreshing to be around. She makes me
laugh and
"stand a little taller" in the hard times of life. Now that we are grown and live far away from each other...we understand what Mom meant when we were little..."be kind to each other, love each other...someday you won't be close to each other and you'll wish..." Mom was and is right...as usual!
The
gebera daisies always seem to have their faces lifted toward the sun. They are
bright and
cheery like my aunties. In each of their lives and ministries they look to the Lord for His guidance and strength, and then they share it with others.
The
mini-daisy spikes were chosen for my cousins, who stand above the crowd by using their creativity and talents to serve the Lord and be a blessing to others.
The
white hydrandgas signify
spiritual love and
purity. Two ladies that stick out in my mind are Nel Barlow and Eileen Hinkel. They served the Lord in churches that we were in and ministered to our family by opening their home and hearts to us many times. They were involved with teaching children in our church...caring for our souls...challenging us to do right.
The
tiger lilies are for the college girls that came and stayed with our family every weekend on extension. They treated us like little sisters and spent time with us...and we wanted to be "just like them" when we got big.
The
purple zinnias stand for
thoughts of friends...who make the days brighter and the burden lighter. God has blessed me with some friends who are "the iron sharpeneth iron" kind and I am grateful. He has also blessed me with a friend who has taught me to
laugh...even if I am having trouble finding the
humor in the situation...she helps me find it!
The
yellow rose stands for
friendship. It is a picture of the friendship I have found in my mother-in-law. God has blessed me with a wonderful "mother of my husband". She accepted me as part of her family...another daughter...right at the beginning. With four sons and one daughter, it is always nice to add another female to the picture! On Friday, when she picked up Teddy, she told me she was praying for me...and has been...as I prepared for our day together. She is a great help and encouragement to me as a wife and mother.
And finally, the
yellow daisies represent the daughters that God has brought into our lives. Daisies stand for
innocence of youth. What a joy they have been to us...Ashlynn and Alisa! A reminder to me that God is still making "everything beautiful in His time"...
"The ones that I love and hold dear to my heart are just borrowed, they're not mine at all. Jesus only let me use them, to brighten my life, so remind me, remind me, dear Lord...Draw back the curtain of memories now and then, Show me where you brought me from, and where I could have been. You know that I'm human, and humans forget. So, remind me, remind me, dear Lord!"
I was given some starter...ya know, the only ones who know how to make it are the Amish kind...
and it is wonderfully yummy...but really, it is a job that will never end...anyone want some starter to feed? Off to put on our Saturday coffee and cut some cake for a visit with Grammy...
11 cake mixes, 4 dozen eggs, 1 bottle of vegetable oil, 1/2 can of Crisco, 6 bags of powdered sugar, 4 boxes of pudding mix, 2 large tubs of CoolWhip, approx. 150 minutes at 350 degrees, approx. 8 hours of mixing and decorating and delivering = 5 half sheet cakes for 2 graduation open houses for Saturday...the baking was done in shifts last week...because we had to...
go to the annual Memorial Day Parade and watch for Uncle James and the fire engines, collect three bags of loot, stand proudly as the flag passed by, and...
watch all the neat vehicles go by...tanks, hummers, limos, semis, tractors, motorcycles, fire/rescue trucks, race cars, go-carts, boats, ambulances, and etc. Our favorite? The Frito-O-Lay semi with bags of Cheetos! Oh, and the golf cart throwing packs of Trident!
go to Daddy's cousin's open house and tour the beautiful gardens that Aunt Dana works to make their yard so inviting...I am sure the flower fairies love to visit...I know the girl's loved it!
then go back to the lakehouse to relax and play in the sand and water. It was a busy week!
The captain and his mateys needed a snack break...goldfish, life-preservers(Cheerios), and rafts(rice chex) all washed down with rootbeer...argh! I didn't think the whole thing through...so I had to put a kabosh on "what does it mean when you are drunk?" Our friend helped us..."it means you can't talk very good or walk straight." What did I think would happen? 
Looking mean turned into giggles and bubbles up the noses...they took off their "get-ups" to eat...drat!
So many pirate props...helped him look the part of the ornery day he had turning five...I guess it was hard work for him this year!
The ship...complete with the gang-plank for his sisters...one overboard and one tripped on the plank...guess who! Blow me down...again and again...we had trick candles!
Everyone approved of the birthday cake...even the pirate princess and her Daddy! It was such a rough voyage that everyone was in bed by 9:oop.m.
The captain has requested a pirate ship birthday cake...and a gang plank for his sisters to walk...and he is not joking these days...ahhh...the first sounds of our summer vacation...a scurvy pirate at odds with his mateys! 
Awards Chapel at school for Ashlynn...who earned a B Honor Roll! We are proud of her hard work this year! This was interrupted by a quick trip to Walmart...the awards part was veeeerrryyyyy long for the siblings! The chapel time was followed by an inside picnic due to threat of rain...we waited while Ashlynn ate because we were hungry for...
our annual lunch-out with Grammy on the last day of school...to Applebees! Ashlynn just kept us company! Thank you, Grammy, even though we were nuts! The pictures depict a calm spirit...
it is all posed!!! Giving children a Snickers bar to "help them make it to lunch" wasn't wise! The sugar kicked in about the time we sat down to eat...which they didn't do much of...sigh.
All this followed by a movie and a nap...well, for a tired teacher and dog! It is summer vacation...officially...at our house!!!
happy to play at Grandma's house!
Grandma's little helper!
A productive day for mom and Grandma...postcards done for the shop and a thank you gift for a special teacher! Thank you dollar store for a clipboard...husband for the cricut machine...variety of scrapping papers, left-over modge podge from a kid's craft, bits of ribbon, and fun stamps!
This is what we saw last night as we parked our car at church! I was so excited I had the camera in my purse to capture the beauty...Ashlynn wanted to know where the end of the rainbow was and would we find anything there?!
Teddy finished his second year in Cubbies! He is excited to move up to Sparks...and play big games in the gym. Teddy is in the green striped shirt...sporting a fresh haircut!
Alisa finished her first book of Sparks and almost made it through the second time for the review! She is in the middle of many kids that came for the first time...that night...looking a little shy if you ask me!
Ashlynn almost finished her second book of Sparks...she has three verses to say and she will be done. Their group got too big and there were times she didn't get to do a section. She has memorized passages of Scripture this year at school and Awana. For a first grader, she has done a fantastic job...I don't remember that much memorizing when I was that age!!!
Pastor trying to keep all the kids quiet and "with him"...they were a little crazy to say the least!
and copy...while cleaning up after this little girl got sick...at church...twice...and then two more times at home! I guess there was just too much partying last week...for now we are on the couch with the bucket and fever! No one is "supposed to get sick" at this time of year...it is almost summer and school is over for the year for this kid! One down...one more to go...or two depending on which phrase you apply it to...great!
You know it is time to fold your laundry when your mother looks at the baskets with big eyes and asks if it is all clean! 
Time on the computers...
and time for lunch...then a much needed nap!
The girls with Alisa's new blender pens and table...thank you aunt and uncle!
How Mommy spent her "alone time" while the guys were away and the girls were shopping...ahhhh!
A profitable trip...thank you uncle, aunt, and cousins! She got two things and took the time to get the most for her money! Thank you, Aunt Sara, for the shopping trip!
Aunt Sara recouping after shopping...with a Cinnabon and Pepsi!
A relaxed Mommy!
Ended the day bowling with K4 and K5!!!
Alisa had fun...and kept her ball in her lane!
Big scorers...
Started the day in the classroom...
Alisa tried on her "graduating dress" for Daddy on Tuesday morning. Whew! It fit! I think she was worried that it wouldn't!? She is anxiously counting down the minutes and reciting everyone's line from their little play...if anyone forgets their words, I am sure she will help them out!
Only three days in our countdown till our second K5 graduation! Alisa requested an "Alice in Wonderland" cake with red roses...so mommy's creativity must be put to use! It is exciting to graduate from kindergarten and go to school "all day" next year! I know her teacher will enjoy this little bundle of personality!
I promised I would share a part of our devotional from Saturday. The theme for the day was gardening...Bless the "thyme" of sowing, watering, and growing. The final thoughts being that God uses some people to sow the seeds, others to water, but He is the one who causes the growth...the increase...the beauty. Several flowers were chosen by me to represent those who had and still have a part in making my life beautiful.
I can't seem to get a pic that doesn't have both or one eye closed in response to the flash...nice! Sorry to my mother for the mother and daughter picture that didn't turn out...maybe your camera worked better...
or not! It is kind of hard to see the lcd screen when you put it up to your eye to look through the view finder...that isn't there! Can you hear us laughing hysterically? It happens at least once every time we take out the new-fangled contraption!
The men in our lives that love us anyway!!! 
