Mother's Day weekend

I am feeling nostalgic (seems to happen more frequently the older I get) and decided to post some favorite pictures of my mom. This is my mom and me at the Logan county fair when I was about 5 years old and still an only child. I remember we had a wonderful time and that she won me a goldfish at some kind of booth. We rode all the rides together and had trashy, junky things to eat. It was a day I will never forget. My mother is usually disdainful of all of those things and I do not know how this day came about but I sure had a great time.

This was taken on my wedding day and is one of my favorite pictures of my mom. Maybe she was glad to be getting rid of me! Just teasing as I know that is certainly not true.

My parents when my baby sister Melissa was in high school. Amazingly my mom is smiling because she hates having a photo taken and often looks forlorn in them. I was (and still am) lucky to have a good mom who cared about us and I think her 3 daughters turned out quite well.

And these are the 2 cherubs who have enriched my life immeasurably since I became the mama to them. Oh, I adored and continue to adore my little blonde angels. May all the moms of my acquaintance feel blessed with their families on this weekend.

Finally, a product

Haven't really done much the last couple weeks in my year of creativity. So I made a little jewelry last night. This necklace and earrings.

And these 2 pairs of earrings which both go out to mom.

The vestry

Just because this amused me. One day last week when I came home from errands, I glanced out the door and thought, "My gosh, what's on the tree?" Dennis had washed his dog adoption vests and hung 'em up to dry. I, of course, at first glance thought it was some big birds. Yes, Becky-just waiting to peck my eyes out.

May 2, 1998

Can it be possible that this sweet couple has been married for 11 years? Hope you guys had a nice anniversary. My daughter Mandy and her husband Brock.

makes me feel good

Just because I haven't made a little dress in quite a long time, I wanted to try one and feel pretty pleased with my efforts. I have discovered that as I have aged I find sewing more pleasurable and get less frustrated with details. Used to be I hated all the finishing details of garment construction and now find I rather enjoy it. This is a cute little print with pink rosebuds on the stripes although that really didn't show up in my photo.

And a little more creativity-the altar flowers I made for church yesterday. Flower arranging can be very rewarding and it is probably time for me to try my hand at some more creative designs relying more on design elements and less on the natural beauty of the flowers.

dogs of our hearts

Today marks the 12th anniversary of Sadie living with us. This is one of my favorite pictures of her. She looks so elegant. I had a rough beginning with her, knew nothing about dogs and wasn't really sure I wanted one. My unexpected drive home with her from the Humane Society has been an often told story and really was rather ridiculously humerous.

This is Sadie with my nieces when they visited a few years ago (actually maybe more than a few). Sadie has always wanted to be in the thick of things.

Sadie in a family picture on Christmas day of 2003. One of my all time favorite pictures of all of my people. Becky's dog Cassie was just a baby.

My Sadie taken by me a few months ago, now in her declining years. She was thought to be 3 years old when we got her so she has reached a quite remarkable age for a big dog. I love her so much. She has brought many gifts to my life, the greatest of which is her unconditional love. Happy anniversary, my special girl!

The dogs of our hearts

This post is in memory of my sister Melissa's beautiful golden Lab, Max who sadly went to doggy heaven on Tuesday. Max was a sweet, loving and funny boy. Even my mom, who has a lifelong mistrust of dogs liked him quite a lot. These pictures are from his younger days. When I saw Max a year ago he was a really big boy. My love goes out to my sister, her husband Mike and the girls. I know they will always have wonderful memories of this sweetheart.

sweet little mama

In this my year of creativity and productivity, I've had a little dry spell. My sister-in-law Beth came for her yearly visit and we kept so busy, I didn't have time for projects last week. This week I've had several meetings and some catching up to do. Was feeling a little blah and depressed this morning. And then I saw this sweet little bird fly in to sit on her nest which is about 3 feet outside my bedroom window. I just hope Sadie's barking doesn't chase her away. She made me feel so happy that I cut out a pattern this afternoon.

Dale Chihuly

Beth and I had the 4-8 p.m. show for the Chihuly glass exhibit at Desert Botanical Gardens yesterday. I simply loved it.

unusual art work

This very unusual and thought provoking exhibit is being displayed at Civic Center library. I have been wanting to see it and decided to wait until Beth came.

The main portion of the works.

One I particularly liked.

The beaded ones were the most realistic looking.

something for everyone

My sister-in-law, Beth is visiting this week. Yesterday we spent all day out. Started with a visit to Penzey's Spices and ended up at this place for lunch.

Inside the restaurant, Beth must be telling me something funny.

This place has something for everyone. In addition to all the hunting and fishing gear, there is furniture, clothing, decorative items and a little food shop. All of their displays are quite elaborate. We had a good time.

The hunt is on

the getting ready

Preparing for the egg hunt, baskets at the ready

Uncle Dave helps Brazey with his new sandals

We always get a couple of mug shots of these guys

Almost time

my new screensaver

and a few of the other shots. Becky told me when I first got the camera that you need to take about 20 shots to get a good one. This group was taken by Beck.