Purple!...

"Mauve?  Mauve is just pink trying to be purple."
 -James McNeill Whistler

Now isn't that true!?  There are so many shades of purple!  I found this out as I was looking for the color purple for this week's Scavenger Hunt.  I also realized that there are not many things that are purple.  I thought it would be easy to find, but it wasn't.  Sure, there were flowers, but I had taken alot of pictures of flowers recently and I wanted to be different.   So, I present to you purple:

         

Okay, these ARE flowers, but I did something a little different with them.  I like how they look like a star, too.  Does anyone know what kind of flower this is?  I found it in my Mom's neighbor's yard.

The second picture is a yummy treat!  A grape gummi bear!:

         

Thirdly, I have a purple jug for you.  I have a glass collection, as I have told you many times before :-).  This is a purple jug I found at an Amish lady friend's craft store.  It was the Amish lady that made my quilt.  I wrote about her, remember?  This jug has a picture of George Washington on it.  It held maple syrup.  I am not sure how old it is (or even if it is old at all), but I didn't purchase it for the age, I liked the color and style.:

         

Lastly, I have a clay picture I painted one afternoon of purple lillies.  Here is part of it.  It was too big to take the whole thing.  It was fun!:

            

I have been having a blast with Matt being here!  He is my sunshine!!  I will be back on regular schedule when he leaves Tuesday afternoon.  I hope everyone is having a good weekend!  Hope you enjoyed my purple items!  Sending out hugs and love! xox

"Water"...

"To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in the spring - these are some of the rewards of a simple life."
-John Burroughs

Matt, Krissy, John and I went to our local park yesterday to relax and feed the ducks and take some pictures of water for the Scavenger Hunt this week.  I had such a relaxing time!  Boy did I need it!  I was running around like a kid looking at everything.  Sometimes I think I am a kid in a big person's body :-).  Atleast when it comes to nature.  I can't stop looking at it.  I was discussing this with my sister yesterday and we recalled our Mama being the same way.  She used to point out every little wildflower and sunset. every bug and tree!.  When we went on car rides she was constantly saying, "Look!  Look!"  I don't think you can actually "learn" this from someone, though.  I think it comes from something internally.  You have it or you don't.  I am constantly pointing things out to my kids outside and I get groans back.  She is doing it again!  "Oh well, their loss."  I think.  So, onto The Hunt!!:

This week's subject is water.  Krissy and I took alot of pictures and I noticed a few had a theme, so I am posting those today.  The theme is "oddities in and around water".  Hope you enjoy them!

The first one is of a duck that was going under for food alot.  He kept poking his bottom up into the air.  So, here you have it - An upside-down duck! LOL

                  

The next picture is a tree by the water that I thought was very interesting.  Look at the trunk.  I like how knotty it is.  It must be very, very old!

                 

 

Finally, the last two trees by the water are very, very crooked.  I had to turn my camera at an angle to get in the whole tree for both pictures.  The second tree was even more crooked than the first.  Interesting.  It really was a gloriously beautiful day by the water!

                 

                 

"The tree that is beside the running water is fresher and gives more fruit." - Saint Teresa of Avila

Have a good holiday weekend everyone and be good to yourselves and to one another!  Sending love! xox

This Is So Sad...

This is so sad.  Mr, Cruise, I hope you haven't caused women and babies their lives by your lack of knowlege.  When you choose to speak up about something, please KNOW what you are talking about!  Let's hope this does the reverse as Ms. Shields hopes.

Kids and The Moon...

Madman Michael wrote a wonderful and informative entry about the moon and asked us if we had any "moon stories".  That got me thinking.  And reminiscing and laughing....

    

When Matt was young he had an active imagination.  One morning when he was about 20 months old Chelsea, Matt and I went behind my home onto a playground to play.  It was early enough in the morning where you could still see the moon.  It was big and bright and very, very close to the earth.  When Matt saw it his eyes got as big as saucers and he said, "Moooommmmmy!  A ball!"  Then he tried really hard to reach out and touch the moon!  Then he looked at me and asked me to get it.  He kept saying, "A ball!  A ball!"  Poor thing wanted to play with that ol' moon!  LOL  I had to try to explain to him as best as I could that the moon could not come down to the earth and play with us.  He was getting frustrated!  He wanted ME to pull it in!!  Ah, memories!  I laugh about that one alot still.

Another moon memory I have is when Chelsea and I and her father were driving in a car and Chels was in the back seat and she saw the moon or recognized it for the first time anyway.  She was just a tiny thing.  She looked back at it.  She was amazed.  Then wherever we went that night she kept commenting on how it was following us.  She became VERY upset that it wouldn't go away.  She was despondent that the moon kept following her!  Awww, poor thing.  She started to cry.  I guess it was hard for me to explain the moon to my kids at such an early age.

Do you guys have any moon stories when your kids were tiny?

I am off to see my Matteo...he just awoke!  Love to all! xox