Oh Happy Day!

This is what I've been waiting for.....

***color in the garden***

little rays of sunshine smiling through the yard

What a treat

I hope that you are getting these sweet surprises in your garden
as well.

I'm joining Outdoor Wednesday to see what every one else is doing
now that Spring has Sprung

A Refreshing Reprieve

My phone rings this afternoon and it's one of my oldest dearest friends on the other line....

She says

I just read your blog post from today~~

I have 6 tickets to Powell Gardens

Do you wanna go?

Let me tell you all the reasons that I had to say yes

*we were having an unusually warm day

*the girlies squeeled in delight when I mentioned it

*it's a beautiful place to spend some time

*it's like asking a homesick kid at summer camp if he wants to go home

You see....it's not just a pretty place to spend some time for me~
It is like going home.

This is where I worked before having kids.

Yes.....I loved my job.

I felt a real sense of belonging and peace as I entered the botanical garden where I once spent so much time.

I saw old friends.

I saw plants that I grew from babies that were like old friends.

I got a chance to really play with Nikolai for the first time...
{you know...my new camera}

in fact....
I took so many pictures that I'm going to have to break it up
into two segments.

It was good for the soul.

Thanks for calling Tina.

How does your garden grow?

"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." Psalm 127:3

How thankful I am that God allows us to enjoy the beautiful flowers and fruits that grow in our gardens. But even more, to enjoy the great blessings God bestows upon us with the children he has allowed to bloom in our hearts and in our wombs.

Our oldest son, Joshua is graduating next week, and I just had to include him in this outdoor Wednesday post. We have carefully tendered, nourished and cultivated this child (he greatly objected to being called a little plant) that God blessed us with, and I can hardly believe the wonderful, godly, young man he has become. Congratulations, Joshua. We pray you will be blessed in every good thing you strive to accomplish.

Now, onto our flower gardens!

Lovely lilacs! Mmm....they smell so good!

Tulips are my favorite flowers! I would love to have hundreds in bloom.

And isn't the phlox so sweet! LOVELY!

Bleeding hearts in Grandma's Memorial Garden

Another lovely Lilac, this one from Chasity, in Grandma's garden

Those little violets dancing around the tulips will be a real nuisance later,
but they are so sweet now!

I hope you enjoyed your stroll through our gardens this Outdoor Wednesday! Have a lovely and thank-filled day!

love

Debbie

"Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands; happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD. " Psalm 128 1-4

**Milestones**

• Twinkletoes learned to ride her bike without training wheels this weekend! With the combination of protective mother and cautious child....it's a surprise that it ever happened at all!

• I got three flower beds cleaned out....only 12 to go! It sounds so overwhelming when I say it like that, but when I look back at the clean beds, I have to smile and feel very happy. I will not be adding many new plants this summer...but I am trying a vegetable garden this year- for the first time ever. Twinkletoes has declared that she wants to be a farmer when she grows up... so she wants to get some practice in. :)

• We watched Nacho Libre for the third weekend in a row... I have never laughed so hard in my life. Even the third time through. I think it just keeps getting funnier. And I love to laugh. Don't spring-time and laughter make the perfect pair?

a few of my favorite lines:


"Hug, Hug, Kiss Kiss, Hug Hug, Big Kiss, Little Hug, Kiss Kiss, Little Kiss"

"I was wondering if you would like to join me in my quarters this night for some toast."

"Today I saw a man in town, people were throwing daisies at him and giving him goodies. Sometimes I would like that kind of respect."

Have a happy week.
Chasity