Guts and all!

Happy Blue Monday, Bloggers!    I sure miss Ya'll!! 

I just can't seem to get everything together to blog or swap or anything lately.  Just incident after incident these days.  Maybe this Summer I'll catch up and have things to show and accomplishments I can be proud of to share??  

Got something silly today...

This is the guts of a baseball that we found in our yard.  We suppose Jack Beagle got it and ate at the leather and left this mess.

Life is Gut-wrenching at times!!

Deep breathes...xox, DeniseMarie 

Let Love bloom

 It was recently Nurse Appreciation Week. 
I was in N.C. with my in-laws.  I felt like I got to experience a second Spring!!  It was beautiful.
I brought this bouquet to the nurses helping Hubby's Dad.  It started with a pot & oasis from like 2 or 3 years ago that I had sent MIL flowers in.  I used a sharpie marker to embelish it with words like Joy, Love, Peace..all around the rim.

 This is their rosemary bush.  I have to rub it and smell my hand often while I'm there.  I also have to sigh that I cannot grow the amazing herb myself??  Our climates are similar but I must not treat mine right.  I probably give it too much attention & water and she just ignores this and look at it!!  Our bouquet was stuffed full with this as the base.  It smelled divine.  She picked it herself!

 She got 3 rose bushes from the woods years ago and they all bloomed while I was there.  I learned for the 1st time this trip that this is called 7 sisters and it is such a sweet lil rose.  The smell is ever so sweet but very faint.  It grows in clumps.  It went into the pot too. lol

Then, I took a 1 mile hike to the road to collect the daisies and yellow wildflowers.  The smell of honey-suckle where I was picking the flowers was heady!!  It took me right back to my childhood at my G-parents home that had a huge bush.

She even had a floral pick for us to prop our butterfly card onto.  It felt right to put this together and give it.  I wrote a scripture inside to thank them for their selfless service to others.

Choose Love & Grace!!  It changes the atmosphere!!  I really got to see this in a special way...even thru this simple act.

xox, DeniseMarie 

Rainbow moments

 I think some moments or seasons that are thrown at us that take our breathe away are meant to grow us, change us and test our Faith and Endurance.  I try to pray, sing and smile my way thru them.  The Lord usually shows me amazing passages of scripture as I go thru these times.  I found 1 in the Psalms this past week that delighted my heart and suited the situation.  Maybe we are like this trained jasmine vine I saw in my neighborhood Sunday...and we are weaving a beautiful pattern of life as we go along.

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;  let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.  Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in truth. ~Psalm 96:11-13

 I'm trying to color outside the lines like my youngest.  He got into my sharpies and blinged out his clone war trooper batallion.  lol   He tells me to "Taste the rainbow, Mom!!" 

I love to stop, look and listen when seasons come that are different than we expected.  There are moments to delight in along this journey that are up-lifting and meant to help us go from strength to strength.

xox, DeniseMarie

Walks to remember

Hello Bloggers!!
 I sure have been enjoying the Spring season in all it's glory!

found this gorgeous tree in the back woods of the property on Papa's farm.  It just looks spectacular!

collected on a walk thru the property.  lots of fallen eggs, love that robin's egg blue color.  There are plenty of species of birds here.  We've seen a few we don't even recognize.  There is 1 here with brown coloring but glorious red on the head and body.  Mama Bear at Love Bears All Things was right...it is a purple finch!!  there is a blue bird nest right out on the grape vine too.

Take a walk...breathe deep...enjoy the remnants of the Spring season!!

xox, DeniseMarie

Rosey view

 This is my driveway bed;  this rose bush refuses to stand up.  It is right where the boys get out of my SUV.   It looks exactly like it's buddy right down the aisle but it must be a climber or creeper.   Hubby is threatening to rip all of this up and concrete a bigger driveway.  We'll need to eventually, but it is so pretty.  Pretty is as pretty does, I guess.  But, the birds love it too.

This 1 is perfectly standing up and staying back a little like it is suppose to.

Hope you have a rose of a day, with no thorn pricks, of course.

Moo

Happy Tuesday, Bloggers!

Moooooooo!

I went to NASA Johnson Space Center with the 5th graders and all I'm showing Ya'll today is some of the Longhorn steers on the property.  Did you know they are on-site??  It is a neat program where the local high school kids from the school district raise them in FFA.  They get to graze the grounds and delight everyone with their calm demeanor and those awesome horns.

I'm joining in at 3 or more Tuesday at

the Gypsy's Corner

Pink Bloomin'

 We've got some amazing PINK bloomin' going on at Beagle Run Way!

 ..very full and lush, indeed.

And a few more bushes up front.

Happy Blog Hoppin':

Show n Tell Friday(already 265 entries)

Happy Pink Saturday(last week 219 entries)

Use your brain, Tom.

When my oldest son was about 6 he hollered at the tv screen, "Use your brain, Tom!!"  LOL!!
Sometimes, we are having 1 of those days or weeks or seasons, right? 

Let's determine to Fake it until we Make it!!  To God be the Glory!!

DeniseMarie

Pre-school Worker

I've started Subbing at my church Preschool.  It is a big leap of Faith for me. 
I haven't worked for many years.  I'm hoping and prayerful for a 3 day a week spot next school year.  Nate even had the teacher that I would love to replace.  She is gonna go be a G'ma full-time for 2 grandbabies.  It would be such a joy and blessing to be able to start working again without going downtown for an Accounting spot.  I am willing to work and have been truly blessed to stay home with my boys and volunteer all my hours.  But...we moved...we could use more $$ for taxes and fees and gas for the carpool so off to work I go.  I am humbled that the Lord would use me again outside the home.  And, I'm over~joyed that  I may get a spot so close to home, easy for me to accomplish, exactly fits our needs, not interupting my home duties.  Esp. because it is my beloved church, all the preschool songs and activities still live in my heart from when the boys went thru it. 
Yes, Lord...I am a willing servant...even still.

I have it in me to do all of this again. 
I just have to trust the Lord to keep me strong and creative. lol

I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me. ~Phil 4:13

 1st time to join in at {Titus 2}SDAYS 
Rednesday at Sue Loves Cherries

DeniseMarie

Moody Gardens Aquarium

My birthday had a wonderful suprise this year. 

Naters had been sick all week and his fever finally broke.  He couldn't go to school yet so he and I made a precious memory together...

We went to Moody Gardens Aquarium in Galveston, TX.

This is a HUGE complex of areas to explore and we just did 1 activity.  They are about to re-open the Rain Forest pyramid shown here.  It was such a beautiful day too.

We had a membership for 1 year about 4 years ago and this was a fun rememberance of those days.

I thought the penguins would be the show stoppers but they napped the whole time we were there.

There was a touch tank and a hands off tank full of sea stars, anemonies and the like. 

Every color...who can imagine such beauty under the water??

God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:10

Who was awake and much fun to behold...the seals!! 

They had a ball they were throwing around and dive bombing. lol

This gal was a hoot!!

She would swim back and forth between 3 tank view windows for all the kids and cameras.  You couldn't see her until she was right up on the window and she loved the drama.

Can you see the White Sea Horse??  Amazing!

They are crazy, glorious creatures!

I could have sat in here for an hour!  Sharks, schools of fish.  Big and little all around.  It reminded me of the mural in the boys playroom for many years.  They had an Arctic Adventure theme.  Now that we've moved and nearly every single room is painted boring beige...I gotta come up with something cool, right.

I had a camera...how could I resist this inspiration in the girls bathroom?? 

This would be cool in a kids bath or the floor of a pool,

it got my wheels spinning.

Finding Nemo flashback. lol

See the 2 Blowfish that look like the rocks. lol

That's all Folks!!

Linky:

All Things Inspired

DeniseMarie

Opening Day Little League

This year I got towards the end of the parade instead of the front.  Here comes the lead Fire truck making noise, honking and flashing his lights. lol  All the kids and families line the streets to catch the candy as it is thrown off the floats by players.  They are always begging for the candy back by the end of the route.

I thought this golf cart pulling the trailer was cool!

 How did this team get a San Fran trolley car??  How awesome!

 This Liberty bell belongs to a local church and weighed tons.

 This is our Phillies team!!

 Gotta love this truck..the big Dawgs. lol

 Gotta love a John Deere tractor in the middle of all the red with a TeePee for the Braves.

 They all end back up on the big field and circle the infield and wait for their team to be announced.

Let's Play Ball!!

Seasonal Sunday post anticipating a terrific Little League season!!

DeniseMarie

Waiting on you, Lord

Well, this pantry is now stuffed to the hilt!!

this is the room where my craftroom will be set up.  (former owner's office)

This kitchen is for sale, but not the beagle. lol 

we have been negotiating since Open House with a savvy young couple about to marry.  We are so hopeful and prayerful to hear great news this afternoon.  Please, Lord..let us have closure to move forward into the plans you gave us!!

EDIT:  We got a contract!!  It feels great!!

DeniseMarie

For Sale on Feb 25th

Well, we've been working on our Honeymoon Cottage...aka...Beagle Run Cottage for 6 months solid to get her market ready.  3 of those months were during the Holidays and with us living at Beagle Run Way.  Wow, it has been quite the job to join my Hubby in his dream and vision for our family!!  Almost more than I could bear up under.  We have expanded our Faith...gotten our feathers ruffled but kept smiling...finished all our dream projects for this home.  We were there for 17 years so I'm really attached!!

This is the new roof, painted trimwork, new columns, shutters and black landscape mulch my Real Estate Agent asked us to put out.  None of it has been any small feat.

We have felt that we need to get our best foot forward.  The scripture about doing unto the Lord to give your best comes to mind.  It is in God's hands now.  We had a box of wood laminate flooring left over so we used it to make the stair landing sing. :)  I can't get started about how much it took to do all the trim painting the way we always intended it to be.   The entire upstairs got new carpeting.

Our son's dinosaur room is looking so good!  That volcano and Triceratops might look un-assuming but we had to call our dear friend back out that painted it all in 2004 to fix that area where the 3 palm trees are.  We had a speaker box removed from every bedroom and had to patch and paint to look like nothing ever happened.  She did an amazing job!

This was my craft room and it is staged and ready for showings and an open house on Sunday.  We have a set of wingback chairs near the front window there and this piece Hubby got me that is staged and looking pretty...not full of all my junk. lol

Blogging Buddy Love to any who will join us in our Faith and prayer for the Lord's blessing on our effort!!  My birthday was Friday, February 25th and I've felt we should have her on the market that day and I'm calling for it to blow a young family away and it will be sold by March 15th....20 day turn-around..against all odds.  Today is our open house and she is shining like a diamond!!

Well, that is how we have been using our Texas Sunshine. 
Happy Seasonal Sunday, let's go see what else is going on in other blog spots.

DeniseMarie