The Grands

Sometimes I just sit and ponder life. One thing I think about that I do not like is the fact that my grandbabies are growing up. Found these pictures the other day and just can't believe how many years ago they were taken and can't believe how much older they are now. 

Garret is now 19 (he will be turning 20 next month). How can I have a 20 year old grandchild. It just doesn't seem possible.

Caleb will be 16 in May. Where did that little baby boy go?

Sweet Alexis. She is one of the happiest little girls I know. She will be 15 later this year. WOW.

The wild one, Shelby, will be 11 in July. That just doesn't sound possible. 

And Mr. Energy himself, Colby, will be 9 this fall. Talk about making me feel old. Look how teeny tiny he is here. 

Somebody help me stop time.

Happy Valentine's Day

Starting to Plan

Easter isn't until April 21, but I want to start now getting some Easter decor for the house. I love decorating with spring items. I did pick up some things last year for my Easter centerpiece on the dining room table. But I need to find stuff for the rest of the house. Here are some things I like.

I think this is one of my favorites. 

My favorite poem

A couple of years ago I was going to work one early morning and it was a gloomy day, but high up on the mountain I could see the reflection of one light in one secluded home, nestled high above town. It brought to my mind my favorite poem by Helen Steiner Rice. It has a good message for all of us to quit looking for "something else" when we have all we need right at home. The grass is not always greener on the other side. I hope you enjoy this poem as much as I do every time I read it. 

It's The Window of Gold by Helen Steiner Rice. Here it is. Enjoy. 

There is a legend that has often been told
Of the boy who searched for the Windows of Gold.
The beautiful windows he saw far away
When he looked in the valley at sunrise each day.
And he yearned to go down to the valley below
But lived on a mountain that was covered with snow.
And he knew it would be a difficult trek,
But that was a journey he wanted to make.

So he planned by day and he dreamed by night
Of how he could reach The Great Shining Light.
And one golden morning when dawn broke through
And the valley sparkled with diamonds of dew,
He started to climb down the mountainside
with the Windows of Gold as his goal and his guide.

He traveled all day and, weary and worn,
With bleeding feet and clothes that were torn,
He entered the peaceful valley town,
Just as the golden sun went down.
But he seemed to have lost his "Guiding Light,"
The windows were dark that had once been bright.

And hungry and tired and lonely and cold
He cried, "Won't You Show Me the Windows of Gold?"
And a kind hand touched him and said, "Behold!
High On The Mountain Are The Windows of Gold."
For the sun going down in a great golden ball
Had burnished the windows of his cabin so small.

And the Kingdom of God with its Great Shining Light,
Like the Golden Windows that shone so bright
Is not a far distant place, somewhere,
It's as close to you as a silent prayer.
And your search for God will end and begin
When you look for Him and find Him within.
　
by Helen Steiner Rice

My wandering mind.....

It's Monday and I don't have a lot to report from the weekend. Cooler temps, work, fix meals, work some more. Church. Then work some more. I did have some excitement Friday when the mailman brought my Thirty-One new Spring & Summer catalog. I am super excited about a lot of the new products and patterns.

Then their is an additional catalog with a spring collection that is only available about three months. There are some awesome things in that as well. I am going to pick some of the new things to share in a post later this week. But suffice it to say for now that I am very excited.

I do want to share two things that I have on my wish list. The first is the demi day bag in the new island nights pattern. I am loving this pattern. 

My favorite wallet is the All About the Benjamins. They have released it in a rose blush pattern so that is going on my must have list. 

I don't remember if I shared some things that a couple of friends gave me recently in milk glass. Missy from church gave me these two items and I love them. I have that pattern on a flower vase in my office so I put these in there as well.  

Joel that I work with gave me these. The one on the right is one I have been trying to find for a long time. Needless to say I was thrilled with all four pieces. 

In all my cleaning back in January, I finally found my little egg with violets on it. So I added it to the dining room table centerpiece and now I am very happy with the results.

I have always just had a valance in my bedroom. But I found a pair of lace curtains I forgot I had so I hung those instead. I love the result. 

I am still trying to find this tea pot at a Cracker Barrel. I may have to break down and order it on line.

That's pretty much it for now. But I do want to leave you smiling so here is one of my favorite funnies I found recently. Enjoy. 

Cinnamon Sugar

 I am craving something cinnamon and sugar today. So I went to Pinterest to check out recipes. Here are some amazing things I may try one on my day off this week. This cinnamon sugar loaf looks really good.

Or perhaps a cinnamon roll dessert pizza.

I have made the donut muffins before and they were to die for. I may try them again.

I found a recipe for mini cinni rolls

This one is cookie dough of some type and it is call cinnamon sugar cookie rolls.

And I am always a sucker for a cinnamon sugar pretzel. They are divine.

These looked super easy. Cinnamon sugar tortilla chips.

And of course, I might just make some cinnamon toast to get my fix. 

Whatever I try, I'll share it with you and let you know the results.

Oh what a beautiful day

I'm joining up with Ms. Debbie at Friday Foto Friends to share my day yesterday. Our weather was amazing. But first, let's back up a week. One week ago this past Tuesday and Wednesday, we had about 2-3 inches of snow dropped in just an hour or two and extremely frigid temperatures. I didn't leave my house for two days because it was too cold to even go out on the porch for me.

Then by Thursday most of the snow was gone and God blessed us with an amazing beautiful sunrise. Over the course of the next few days, the temps steadily begin to climb.

The higher temperatures resulted with yesterday being in the 70's. It was a text book perfect day. I was able to get my work done an hour early so I got to leave work at 4:00 which got me home in time to change clothes and head over to a local park to walk around the track.

As you can see, it may have been spring temps, but it is still dry winter grown. Look at the brown grass. But I can handle the dry grass when the day was as beautiful as yesterday was.

The walking trail has some ups and downs, but they are gentle slopes so it is an easy walk and I walked at a fast clip. I haven't walked in over a year and I want to incorporate walking as part of my regimen to lose weight.

It was such a perfect day. White fluffy clouds, a gentle breeze blowing.

 There were a lot of people out at the park. There was one young teen with his girlfriend and they were flying kites out by the baseball field. The wind was perfect for it.

As I was making what I decided would be my last lap around because I didn't want to end up there when dusk came, I saw a beautiful sunset starting in the west.

Obviously, I snapped a bunch of pics to try to get a good one. These aren't great but they aren't too bad either.

Then when it was all said and done, I checked the new pedometer app I had downloaded. I did 2.27 miles in 46 minutes. I wasn't sure how good that was so I talked with my friend who knows all about exercise and diet. He said this was actually terrific. So I am very proud of myself. Plus I am still drinking mostly water with just one soft drink per day. Although, the other day I drank 74 oz. of water and NO SOFT DRINKS.

But alas all good things must come to an end. We woke up today after a very rainy, windy night to this weather. So instead of another 70+ degree day, we are going to be luck to get up in the 40's. Mother Nature is not our friend.

 

A friend of mine hit the nail on the head when she posted this on Facebook this morning. 

Well, I will take whatever good days I can get until spring officially arrives to stay. Even though the crazy weather left me with a head cold that is finally going away. I just have the lingering, horrible, dry hacking cough. I coughed so much that sometime when I talk my voice doesn't work right. I hope everybody has a great weekend.