Mother Nature

I don't know about anyone else, but I am definitely ready for this weather to quit playing games with us. We have had some beautiful, warm weather lately, with just a little rain (which we sorely needed) and Mother Nature has decided to play a trick on us one last time. Hopefully this is the last time. We have been having temperatures in the 80's for the past couple of weeks. Last night, though, the temperature dropped into the 30's. I woke up to a frost covered lawn and a sore throat.

I am ready for the summer!

I want to be able to spend time at the beach or the river or in the woods without worrying about what the next days weather is going to be like.

I know that the summers here are sweltering, but if I didn't like it - I wouldn't choose to live here! I like the warmer weather!

Spring is a beautiful season - but around here is doesn't last very long. I am somewhat grateful for this fact because when the trees start budding out and the pollen fills the air, my hayfever runs rampant.

Once the blooms have all run their course and the weather starts to get some heat to it, then it is my time to shine!

No more worrying about when the next cold front is going to hit us.

No more hating the rain - I love warm summer rain showers!

No more jackets!

Just plenty of time to enjoy the heat and the longer days!

~~~waiting for summer~~~

Fire bugs!

This has to be one of my families favorite past-times.







One of our favorite things is to gather around a fire. To me, there is something calm and relaxing about this. Sitting back and watching the different colors coming from the fire. Feeling the warmth emanating from the center. Hearing the crackle, hiss, and pops coming from the wood.




This is an all-year long favorite of ours. when it's cool outside, it helps to warm us. When it is hot outside, it serves as visual entertainment. I guess we have a little bit of a fire-bug in our veins. It's even fun to gather the wood to start the fire pile. The reward definitely compensates for any amount of labor done to create the perfect bonfire!

Clouds

I never noticed until I was looking through some of my pictures that I have a few of some clouds.

To me, all of them seem to have an ominous tone to them... considering that these were the precursor to Hurricane Ike, ominous doesn't even start to describe what I feel when I look at them.

You can almost see the sun through these. The clouds were moving very fast and went from complete blackness to the sun shining through them. This was probably about 12 or so hours before the storm really hit us.

In this one - you can see just a hint of blue through the sparse openings in the clouds. It gives you that touch of hope.

I am thankful that we made it through the whole ordeal and came out alright. I had a few friends who weren't so lucky. It is almost 7 months since the storm, and they are still rebuilding.

Jubilee Continued...

Friday night was the fireworks show for the Jubilee. This was almost cancelled. Right about 5:00pm, a heavy storm moved in. There were people running for cover, holding on to canopies, trying to make sure nothing blew away. The rain was pretty heavy and turned into pea-sized hail for a few minutes. Within the hour, though, the storm moved out and everything was back to normal! The sun was out, it was warm, the weather cooperated very nicely (after the storm). We walked around for a little bit, ate some crawfish, walked around some more, and then watched the fireworks.

The next day was good as far as the weather was concerned, just a little cool in the morning and a steady breeze throughout the day. It warmed up rather nicely, though.

Even though I spent most of the time working at our booth, I still had a good time. My kiddo even got to go on a helicopter ride (twice!!). He really enjoyed that!! He did the rock-climbing wall, the bungee swings, and just pretty much just ran around having a blast!

Overall, it was a good day!

My New Niece!!!!

Welcome to Alyssa Danielle!!!!

Born 3/29/09

8:25am

7 lbs. 15oz.

21"

El Paso, TX

Congratulations Jenny & Danny!!!!

Jubilee

This weekend is the time of the year where we have the "Family Fun Fest" referred to as The Liberty Jubilee. Let me remind you that I am in a small town in Southeast Texas and events like this are a big deal! The courthouse even closes down for half a day because most of this is set up in the town center. It goes on for 2 days - Friday & Saturday. I am just hoping the weather holds out because our store is hosting a booth which I have to work on Saturday. It has been storming for the past 2 evenings - and is supposed to be a little stormy this afternoon. The weather is supposed to be better for tomorrow, though. I have been watching the setup progress through the store window all morning.

This is my view of the setup of the food vendors from our store window. Just about the very left side of the picture is where our booth is going to be set up, on the near side of the street - opposite all the food vendors. This is going to be tough for me tomorrow - I have to sit there, manning the booth, smelling all the different aromas floating through the air. I love the smell of fairs & carnivals. Hopefully - they will take care of us with some free samples of the food!! :)

Tonight is going to be the fireworks and the street dance. My other half and my munchkin are coming in to town tonight to meet up with me so we can watch the fireworks. I doubt we will be attending the dance because, even though I love to dance, that is not something that fills my other half with any type of joy. But who knows - maybe this once - he will humor me! (I still think this is highly unlikely - just not something we normally do.) I am hoping to get some good pictures of the fireworks! We are just going to set up a few chairs in front of the store, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!

If I am able to take any breaks tomorrow - I'll take a look around and see what they are offering this year. I know that they have helicopter rides this year! Just maybe - I will be able to do that! I know that there will be the usual booths set up, the petting zoo, the kiddie rides, the street performers, the musicians on stage, and the parade to really kick things off!

to be continued...

♥loving life♥

My son's sense of humor...

My son has a great sense of humor. But there are times that it can border on annoying. The clip below is great (as I am a big "Family Guy" fan!) and gets my son rolling on the floor laughing for a long time afterwards - but here is where the borderline is - for HOURS after seeing this clip, he will repeat it to me and bug the CRAP out of me. Of course, the first couple of times it is funny - but only for so long!!! The first time he saw it - it was days before he quit. After a few days, I think he enjoyed the fact that it annoyed me more that the actual comedy of it.

Damn you Stewie Griffin!!!!

There is also another site he gets a kick out of watching a kid bugging the mother. If you havent seen it before - take a look!

http://joecartoon.atom.com/cartoons/71-joe_momma

Country...