Tulips

I have always loved tulips. When I was a young girl living home with my family, I planted hundreds of red and yellow tulip bulbs under our plum tree. Each year I loved when the catalog of tulips from Holland came in the mail. I would sit for hours, pouring over each page, taking the time to select just the right tulips for our area. I would have to plant many new bulbs each year as before the first frost, the squirrels would often dig up my prized possessions. I loved waiting for them to pop through the soil and then slowly and steadily reach for the sun. It was very sad when my parents sold our home after we all grew up and moved away. I often thought about my tulips under our plum tree and wondered if the new owners ever realized their beauty as I did.

I am in New Jersey, where I grew up, visiting my mother for her birthday this weekend. I snapped this picture of the tulips growing outside of my mom's assisted living facility. Living in Florida, the only tulips I see are in the flower buckets at the grocery store. I can't begin to explain how I felt when I saw these tulips today. While I love living in Florida, there are some things remembered from days gone by that just cannot be replaced. The lilacs, the daffodils, the buds on the trees, there is nothing like the renewal of Spring.

Inchies and ATC's

Hope everyone had a great Easter! I thoroughly enjoyed the day relaxing with family and dear friends. Church was wonderful, dinner was yummy and the togetherness was special.

Last Sunday was Art Day for me. My monthly clubs met and we had a great time. We started something new for this month - Inchies. They are exactly that - a one inch piece of art. Our theme for this month was "The Color Pink". Here are mine . . .

We had to make eight sets of four different inchies. Here they are all together. Don't they look nice with all the sets together? I'm going to put them in a little book with removable adhesive dots so I can easily access if good for a project.

We also traded ATC's. Our theme this month was "Shaped ATC's". I made mine in a gothic arch shape.

Here are the others. It's such fun to see how everyone interprets the theme.



Look at this one. Isn't this an adorable little turtle?

Lift his shell and what do you find . . . How cute is that?


And how appropriate for today, Easter Sunday . . .

It's always such fun to see what the others have created. Next month's theme is "Children". I will enjoy making those.

I've been making art for a couple of years now and just cannot believe how much I enjoy it. I've learned a lot and am feeling more confident from when I first began. Makes life more fun!!

Rainbows

Love this rainbow I saw on my drive to work this week! I was driving on a big, open, empty highway and snapped this with my phone so it's not the greatest, but still beautiful.

When I lived in New Jersey, I rarely saw rainbows. I was probably ninety minutes out of NYC and it was a heavily populated area, not offering numerous opportunities for rainbows to show their true colors. Since moving to Florida over twenty years ago, I have seen numerous rainbows and I am in awe each and every time.

And yes, if you look closely at this photo, you can see the reflection of my hand on the steering wheel. Thank goodness I didn't need to look closely at what I was doing as this rainbow was beaming in all its glory!

Cheryl's Hearts

I have a blog friend named Cheryl. She lives in Maine and is a truly superb photographer. Living in South Florida, I find Cheryl's pictures quite different from mine and I savor each one of her beautiful photographs.

Cheryl has a real knack for finding hearts in many of her landscape photo's. It's really quite amazing to see where she finds them. Her posts often show the many hearts she finds. Now I have a heart to share as my tribute to Cheryl. This heart of mine can be found along the walkway to my home. I often think of Cheryl when I see it and had to post this for her.



You should take a moment and see how many hearts you can find along your daily travels. I think you'll be surprised.

Prom

Not only is today Logan's official 21st birthday, it is also Rachel's prom. Though she is a junior, she chose to go to the prom this year with a group of friends.

The parents had fun snapping away at a pretty local park where we all gathered for Kodak moments and for the kids to hitch a ride.

I wonder how long those 5 inch stiletto's will stay on their feet.

And I wonder how I will survive waiting while Rachel dances the night away and Logan heads to Fort Lauderdale to play blackjack at the Hard Rock.

I think I'll go organize my rubber stamps . . .

April 1, 2011

It's been two months since I've posted on my blog and I am missing it. About a week ago, a previous post came to mind so I spent some time going back through my blog to find it. I had such a fun time doing that as it brought back many memories of things I've done, places I've visited and some milestones too.

My word for 2011 was "determination" and I need to reel myself back in and focus on determination. We're through the first quarter of the year already and we've all had 90 days of living. I've enjoyed my 90 days and plan to reflect upon them right here.

My son, Logan, will be 21 years old tomorrow. Twenty one years ago today I went to the hospital to get prepped to be induced to give birth to my first child. All my life I looked forward to the day I would have my very own child. The anticipation I felt 21 years ago today is vivid still. I never thought I would physically be able to handle it, but I did and I have loved just about every moment since then.

We took Logan to his favorite restaurant last night as he has to work on his special day. It was so very nice for the four of us to sit together to celebrate Logan. It actually was a celebration of all of us . . . our immediate family unit. We've all been through so much these past 21 years, of course good and bad, but it was so nice to sit with Tom and look across the table at our children and feel pride in what they have both become.



Life's changes can sometimes be hard. Watching your child grow into an admirable man is bittersweet. It is nice to hear now how he handles some of life's challenges, but it was also such fun to hear years ago about driving those Hot Wheels cars and trucks through the pathways built in the sandbox.



Happy Birthday Logan!