Roses...

“The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart.”


“Do not watch the petals fall from the rose with sadness, know that, like life, things sometimes must fade, before they can bloom again.”


“If I had a rose for every time I thought of you, I'd be picking roses for a lifetime.”


“God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.”


" The fragrance of the rose, remains on the hand that gives it."


Oh, my luve’s like a red, red rose, that ’s newly sprung in June;
Oh, my luve’s like the melodie that’s sweetly played in tune. ~ Robert Burns

Just another Tuesday

Watching Hannah during her skating lesson...one of my favorite things to do!











These two were watching intently as you can see.  Yeah, total sarcasm!


Lunch with my girl after skating at the Cracker Barrel!

Feathers, Furs & Scales

Field trips are so much fun, especially during the winter. Sometimes I go stir crazy being home all the time, so it feels good to get out. I'm sure the kids would agree with me. This past week we went to the local Audubon Center & Coastal Society for a class on "Feathers, Furs & Scales."

The Audubon Center...a very cool building surrounded by trees filled with birds and beautiful scenery. It's right on the coast, so in the warm weather it's fun to walk around on the beach too!


Zachary and Hannah posing on the upper levels of the porch. It was too windy and bitter cold to go up to the very top though! I was afraid they were going to blow away!!


One of the adorable bird 'condos' in the marsh area.

As part of the class, the kids learned all about birds and their feathers...Hannah is holding a turkey feather here...


The touch tank wasn't as good as it usually is....most of the critters were hiding under the sand, but we did see some cute fish swimming around.




This bearded dragon was so cute...he sat still most of the time, as if posing for the camera! (He's the one on the right - ha ha)


Pretty colors in the tank AND on the bearded dragon!


This turtle was so very cute...his face was very expressive. Hannah and Zachary both loved this guy...


This turtle wasn't as cute, but he was fun to watch.


The instructor from the Audubon showed the kids several animals. This was one of the more exciting ones....a Corn Snake. The underside of his belly actually looks like Indian corn...thus the name. She put him down on the floor and boy did he move fast!! He even managed to scare a few of the moms! =)


This Box Turtle was adorable! He was actually faster than I thought. At one point he went into his shell too...very cute!


Hannah raising her hand to answer a question the instructor asked. See? Even homeschoolers know when to raise their hands! =)


Zachary was a bit old for this particular class, so he sat with the Moms on the sidelines and watched. I'm sure he still learned a few things...I know I did!!


Looking out across the water for birds. Not an easy task since most of them have gone south for the Winter!


We had so much fun on this trip...can't wait to go back when the weather is warmer to see all the birds as they return home! Our next trip is to a local nature center to learn about Maple sugaring. We've done this several times, but honestly, it never gets old!!

Scenic Sunday - #14

(Click on photo to enlarge for a much better view!)

Girls Night Out

Well, last night Zachary had Youth Group at church, so instead of driving him all the way there, coming home and then driving back later to pick him up, I decided to spend the evening out with Hannah....just us girls! We had a total blast!

We dropped Zachary off and hit the road to go shopping! The first place we went was the shoe store....our favorite! Hannah and I both got a pair of shoes. She got these very elegant white heels for spring (can ya tell we're anxious for warmer weather?!?), and I got a very pretty pair of black heels. I don't normally wear heels seeing that I'm already 5'8", but these were too pretty to pass up!!

Here's Hannah holding up her new shoes:


She saw a pair of boots she wanted, but I was able to talk her out of them since the season is almost over. =) After that we went over to the department store, to Hallmark for a bit, and then....the jewelry store!!! You should have seen us drooling over all the pretty things....diamonds, rubies, emeralds and more. Hannah was most interested in the earrings since she now has her ears pierced. As much as I love jewelry, I had more fun watching her admiring everything with those big brown eyes! She was just so sweet!!

When we finally pulled ourselves out of the jewelry store (actually the prices scared us off...so it was easy to walk away), we drove to Starbucks where we sat and talked for almost an hour. She had her orange juice, I had my decaf coffee, and we talked about anything and everything! It was so cute...every time we'd finish one topic, she'd say "So, what do you want to talk about next?" as if if was up to her to try and keep the conversation going. I could tell she felt like such a grownup and I loved every minute of it. Thanks Hannah, I love you so much!!!

These times with my children are few and far between...with the hustle and bustle of our daily schedules, life often gets away from us and we don't get to sit and just enjoy one another. This is one evening I'm hanging on to for a very long time.