Tributes

 Yesterday had many sending out lovely thoughts and tributes to their Moms or to women who were a huge influence in their lives even if they weren't the traditional picture of "Mom".   I'm very blessed to still have my Mom with us and enjoying her life as she nears her 88th birthday....more on that at the end of this week!  I want to thank my sweet kiddos for all the good wishes, gifts, cards, visits, texts, and calls.  I even had a few facebook shout-outs! (even though I don't post much..I do peek often!)  It's been a gas being your Mom when you were just little kiddos and enjoying you as adults and watching you with your kids!  The month of May is a big celebration month around my family.  I already had a birthday post for 2 of my fav people...Lexi and Phil. Well, today is another birthday. My Granddaughter Katie out in Oregon (Portland) turned 12 today.  It's a "golden" birthday.  That means she turns the age of her birthdate.  So Happy Golden birthday dearest Katie..she's also my namesake as she's really a "Kathleen"...I'm so honored!

Katie is the absolute sweetest kiddo ever.  She's so good with her siblings and so kind and helpful to others.  I remember visiting them when they lived in South Carolina and going to her school during her lunch hour.  We were in her classroom and the kids were all getting their lunches out.  There was a little girl sitting at Katie's table who couldn't get her milk carton open.  Katie immediately jumped up and went over to help her.  Katie was only 5  and I could see her compassion and sweet nature just blooming. Can you tell I love this girl? Happy Golden Birthday Katie! We love you!  Another quick tribute I want to blog about today is Spring has finally, officially, decided to land at the Pines.  Some of our trees and bushes were hit hard by Winter but those that held on are blooming and look and smell wonderful. My favorites are the lilacs. I picked a bouquet tonight as storms have been passing through all day and I felt I better grab some before they are gone.

I love the dark purple the best and I even have a white one that bloomed just a few blooms this year. Too bad you can't smell these....so lovely.  Sitting next to the bouquet of tulips Craig and Amy sent me it screams Springtime!  I hope you take time to send a tribute out to someone you love...don't put it off...time has a way of fleeing!

Whoooooossss sitting pretty in the blooming dogwood?  I found this wind chime last week at our hospital's annual flower sale.  Love him!

Birthday Greetings

Is it weird to celebrate the birthday of your grown-up kiddos with food, family, laughter, cake, gifts, and fun? Well, it's not weird around here and especially not in the month of May.  We have many birthdays this month. Our Grandkiddo Lexi turned 8 on the 7th.

She's a smart little cookie who loves to read and help in the kitchen. She really enjoys watching food network too! She's a lot of fun and she's a good big Sis to Addy.  She also gets to share her birthday week with her Dad.  Our son Phil turned 34 yesterday and we celebrated with a little rib cook out!  Yum! It was a fun evening. Phil is my creative one. He's also very handy at any project he decides to undertake...thanks to You-tube !  Growing up he was a real corker...never knew what was going to come out of his mouth!  At work they always ask me to tell some good little kiddo Phil stories.

When he was in pre-school he told the teacher we beat him with a baseball bat.  She of course had to question me about it.  I looked at her like she had 2 heads. I remember saying that if we had beat him with a baseball bat wouldn't he look a bit bruised and battered? I looked at Phil and asked why he would say that. He kept saying: "It's true, you know it is"...as I dragged  him out the door he kept saying that.  When we got to the car he told me his brothers had hit him with a little plastic bat. I was lucky they didn't turn me into child welfare services! I have many other stories but my very favorite has to be when we went to my Grandmother's funeral. Phil was 6.  When we went up to the casket and were quietly looking at her he burst out: "She's breathing! Yep, She's breathing!"  I quietly said, "No, she's not breathing"..He loudly said: "Yes, she's breathing!".  I sat him down in the back of the funeral home and told him again she wasn't breathing and he needed to talk quietly.  He then loudly said "If she's dead, why do we have to whisper??"  It was at this point I noticed his little brother Jordan was missing. After searching everywhere we found Jordan across the hall from my Grandmother's viewing at another funeral standing at that casket!  Oh, I could go on but you get the picture! One of Phil's loves is music.  He got a guitar when he was 12 and took lessons for many years. He even had a band in high school and made a CD. He loved to write his own songs.

Those were crazy years too! You never knew what he would come up with.  Like shaving his head and piercing his tongue. He threw a party in his senior year when we had gone out of town.  To make sure we wouldn't find out, he took everything off the walls and out of china cabinets and shelves that might get broken. Before he did that he took polaroid pictures so he could put everything back in the right place.  However, when you live in a small town it's almost impossible to get away with anything.  It's amazing we and him made it to adulthood with our sanity! He's really close to his brother Jordan.

When they were little we called them "Wally and the Beave". Phil's the one on the right with the big smile.  He still has the best smile!

Happy Birthday Phil! I hope you have as much fun with your 2 kiddos as we did with you!  Nothing like "paybacks" to make a parent smile!

Blog Fog

Last time I posted we were in tornado mode. Thankfully all was good.  Nothing to report and I'm glad of it!  I feel like I've been in a "blog fog" however.  I haven't posted about anything happening around these parts and trying to keep up with my blog buddies has been a challenge for some reason.  I'm hoping to get by and say hi to all soon!  In the last week I helped host a guest speaker at work.  He came and talked about positivity and he had some really good points and I think everyone enjoyed him.

A few gathered around the conference table enjoying  breakfast that my BFF Donna and I made for everyone.

I figured if the meeting was a bust at least they were fed! (I've learned the way to surgical personnel's hearts!) Fortunately, the speaker was great..no complaints! The one thing I did enjoy about last week was finally being able to mow our lawn for the first time this season! Yippee! (I won't be as excited come fall!)

You can see it was pretty long....thanks in part to the great fertilizer....Eddy. Now it looks like this:

Smooth as a baby's bottom!  Leaves are beginning to finally appear and warm temps this week should bring out the lilacs.  I'm hoping! I also did some Spring cleaning.  Carpets were cleaned and I was feeling pretty good about finally taking the Christmas quilt off the bed in our guest room.  Yep, pretty pleased...until I noticed. as I was turning off the light in that room, the nightlight plugged in was from Halloween....I'd say I was suffering from more than "blog fog"!

Whoa!!

Mother Nature is not a happy soul here in Ashland.  Tonight the loud rumbles of thunder and the giant flashes of lightning are also frightening!  We even had hail to enhance the experience.  Many storms are plaguing the South and they've left tragic destruction with loss of lives due to tornados. A tornado warning was issued in the last hour for Mansfield..a town about 15 miles from here.  I grew up in the Midwest and this is nothing new for this time of year.  You learn to keep a look out for funnel clouds.  You make sure there's a place to run when the warning siren goes off. When we lived in town it was easy to hear.  Out here in the country it's still loud enough to hear, but the windows are closed and the sound of the wind and rain can drown it out.  When these things happen at night it's really a challenge....no way to see the sky and sleep can make you miss the warnings.  Tonight Jack had a meeting in Canton. I'll feel better when he finally gets home.  I'm sure he will too.  I'm betting it's a steering wheel gripping night for driving in the heavy rain and strong winds.  So even though this weather is expected this time of year, it's still enough to have you say "Whoa....I'm heading for the basement!"  Thankfully the power is still on. Obviously, since my computer is working....and I'm thinking I probably shouldn't be on the computer during a thunderstorm....Yaya, signing off!

Just A Whisper

In March Spring arrived on the calendar.  The days were lighter later and now the mornings are again lighter.  Snow still fell silently reminding us to not get too antsy in the pantsies when it comes to welcoming warmer weather.  The last few weeks have found us in a rollercoaster of April weather changes.  A few days in the 60's and many  nights in the 30's.  Easter found us sunny and mid 70's.  Today rainy and 40's.  But through it all the little signs of Spring have moved in.  Almost as quiet as a whisper, the changes are happening here at the Pines. 

The Dogwood may appear bare.  Upon closer look small little round buds are appearing:

Soon this tree will have limbs full of white and pink blossoms.  Last Fall we planted a couple of apple trees and I worried this harsh Winter would do them in.  I was pleased to see they made it.

Green growth and perhaps some flowering will appear soon.  It will be a few years before crops will yield an apple pie...but it will be worth the wait!

The ever brave lilac isn't afraid of cold weather.  There have been years where late snows and freezing have killed these buds. I'm hoping for a lovely lilac season.  If the bushes we have are any proof of that, we're in for a treat.

Hostas show their little heads.  They are welcomed every year like a visiting favorite Auntie.

The chives are here! In celebration they'll have large purple flowers.  I planted some near my roses. I heard Japanese Beetles don't care for chives.  Didn't have any beetles on them last year so let's hope it's stays that way this season!

As I trudged into the Creepy Woods I listened to the birds singing and saw some deer taking off in the distance. I looked around and it still seemed pretty bare.  But looking closer the "whisper" became a bit louder. Can you see the green?

Tiny little flowers in yellow, white and lavender were almost hidden amongst the dead leaves.

This was found sprouting in there too! I gathered a few before heading back.

The magnolia wants to shout: "I'm bursting out in pink glory!"  However, for today, it's still just a whisper...a promise...a hope for a glorious Spring.

Last, but not least, yesterday Jack gave me this lovely arrangement and little notepad and pretty pen.  I guess it was National Executive Assistant something or other..Day.  I help him out on Tuesday nights in the office when needed. Warrants this beauty I guess! I'll take it since I love fresh flowers and I love surprise gifts!  He also threw in a Chinese lunch date!

Thanks Babe! (I won't even whisper it...I'll shout it out!)

Perfection

If ever there was a day that I would love to gather and savor the memories...put them in my pocket to take out for a smile when I need it...that would be today.  The weather was perfect from beginning to end.  Jack and I were up early to go to church in Akron. It was our Stake Conference weekend and the music and talks were really good and the drive was smooth and easy.  After arriving home we put the finishing touches on our Easter meal that would bring the kiddos and Grandkiddos over.  I had prepared most of it yesterday and felt ready for the fun to begin. Our temps reached 75 and we decided to eat outdoors on the deck.  We don't have the top of the gazebo on yet, but the deck shaded by the time we were set to eat.  It couldn't have been nicer.

There were 14 of us all together.  Phil had brought outdoor toys that were enjoyed by the young and old!

He was enjoying them!

Can't have Easter without bubbles....can you? Cameron didn't think so!

Summer and her PawPaw!

Food is always in abundance at the Pines. I laughed at my lamb cake...somebody was messing with his nose! I make one of these every Easter.  It was..and still is...tradition in my Mom's house.  I was lucky to get an antique cast iron lamb cake mold from my brother...the same as my Mom's.  She got hers when she married in the 40's.  I found one for my Daughter-In-Law, Amy and it's been a tradition in their home too.  After dinner all the little ones were ready for the annual egg hunt.

Cameron was looking perplexed...

Addy was leaving no twig unhunted!

Eddy was just happy to be outdoors, running and playing and hoping for a fallen piece of Easter ham! Yep, perfection was the name of the day today.  Happy Easter!  Wait! I just received some pics from my son and his family in Oregon (Portland!) These make the day a total perfect Easter!

Sophie and Taylor coloring eggs!

Katie, Taylor and Sophie going to church.

Time Of Reflection

I did something a bit out of my "box".   A friend of mine belongs to the Presbyterian Church in our little town.  They were doing something they had never done before and she invited me to go with her to experience it.  They put a labyrinth in the middle of their Sanctuary and after reading an article  about it's meaning and how to navigate it, we walked the labyrinth together.  It was interesting and certainly a time for meditation and reflection...along with prayer.  The newspaper did a little paragraph about it:   "The procedure of  labyrinth walking is divided into three phases: the journey inward,  a pause for prayer or meditation at the center and the return journey" We went in and read some instructions on how this was to be done and some history about labyrinth walking.  The church was lovely and the music was very angelic.  (Although my friend didn't enjoy the music as much as I did!)  I liked the music because it kept me focused on prayer and meditating.  My mind wanders so much when I try to meditate in a quiet place! (I think I probably have some alphabetic disorder.. ADDHXYZ...or something) So the music helped!  We walked quietly and reverently.  I'm betting this experience meant more to some than others.  I think many people are looking for "something" in this world.  Whether it's a spiritual experience or answers to prayers or help in life, people will seek out these opportunities in many different ways.  I can't say I had any huge awakening to my soul, (I'm very happy in my own religion of choice...The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints)  but taking time to ponder and pray is always time well spent....especially this week before Easter.  I have a strong faith and love what my Savior, Jesus Christ has done for me.  I love the Easter season.  I grew up Catholic and also celebrated "Greek (orthodox) Easter with my Mom's family.  It was a special time of traditions, fasting, prayer, and then the big feast.  No matter how or what you may believe, or if you even take this time to celebrate Easter, I wish you peace, happiness and love.  Here's a photo of  the labyrinth.

AHHHHHHH!!!!

Today we woke up to this:

The last 3 days were in the 70's...Today my car thermometer said 31de when I was driving home. There were so many titles for this post I would have loved to used, but my Mom would have washed my mouth out with soap...nuff said.

Whistle While You Work

The weather is amazing this weekend! I have waited a long time to say that! It's been a week since I've blogged so I really want to put this up today to prove that it's not all gloom and snow here at the Pines.  (Well, snow is coming on Tuesday but I'm trying to block that out!) It's been in the mid 70's and yesterday I finally got to the yard work that needed to get started.

Flowerbeds needed to be cleaned out,

Sticks and limbs needed gathered to later be put in the fire pit for our first official fire of Spring!

As you can see, the trees are still bare.

But a walk in the woods later in the day had me rejoicing over this little clump of daffodils sitting in the middle of nowhere.  They come up every year in this crazy spot and I'm glad to see they decided to come back! I even have some coming up all over the Pines.  I'll have to pick them soon because the weather is going to get cold on Tuesday and I'm sure they'll not enjoy that!

Eddy was loving the sun in the morning.

Ahhhhhhhh.

As we were walking in the Creepy Woods, we came across a tree that came down in the wind we had last week.

Jack's not perplexed on how to get over it...he's just dreaming about getting his chain saw out and starting on firewood for Winter...oohhhh, it's that (W) word!

Eddy had no problem clearing the tree to head back for the fire pit.

The sticks and big branches were put to good use.  We sat around the fire in the evening thinking about all we accomplished.  I think I was working about 4hrs just raking and clearing out the old so the new growth will have a happy spot to sprout! I even have a bit of sunburn to prove it!

The fire pit wasn't the only thing burning brightly...the sun set on 2 very tired but satisfied folks...and one sleepy dog!