A boating adventure.

In Michael's words...

"What a day Saturday was beautiful out on the ocean 4 to 6 foot rolling seas 15 to 20 knot winds. Funny at one point the boat was hauling a$$ but we were going backwards 2 knots.  We are still learning about the tides and currents in the ocean, our 3 hour voyage actually took 8 but the sunset and day were so worth it!

I love this picture of my MIL - she had SUCH a good time!!!

We were riding along - the winds were really great, perfect distance between swells so it wasn't a ton of work but a great ride.

Our adventure started with a bit of a kufuffle getting out of the slip, we are able tie two stern lines and the 2nd stern line is really far from the dock side...so as we leave (in the past, remember this is a new marina and our first time pulling out with that 2nd stern line tied) and in trying to get out and hang the line so it's not in the water, we ended up having to fend off of the boat next to us, all but hit the cement dock, broke the handle with the hook on it that we use to hang the line and the line went in the water anyway...... it was a total disaster getting out of the slip.  I was thinking yay, we got the day's kufuffle out of the way.....

OHHHHH what a GREAT ride.... we were going SOOOO fast ..... well there was a reason for that...we were on a tack (going the direction we were) for about 30 minutes.... we made it really FAR.... really FAST!  So we turned back....

After about 40 minutes into that turn....Michael realized we were not moving....rather we were slipping backwards (because the buildings on the shoreline were not moving, we should be passing them by now).... the waves we had been "riding" for that time.... were just that...we were riding the waves and the rip tides UNDER the water were pulling us a totally different direction....BACKWARDS!  So what took 30 minutes to go one way, took over four hours to get back to the original starting point (which was still pretty far out). 

Now granted it was a GREAT ride...but we were beginning to wonder if we were going to make it back in by night fall.  So we turned the motor on to help us head back, phew so now we're motor sailing to fight that current.

Finally we were making progress when the motor ALARMS started ringing.... and it was not a good sound.  The motor overheated!! WHAT THE HECK!!!  so we shut the motor off, continued to sail until we got closer to where we needed to be before turning them back on again.  Phew, it all worked out very well in the end and we had a flawless dock (thank goodness) but wow it was truly eye opening and shocking how strong the rip tides are, it took our 12,000 lb boat and acted like it weighed nothing!!!  Total respect for the sea!!!  I'm so glad we don't ever take chances out there because seriously - we'd lose!

Mikayla had a great time and managed to even catch a cat nap, sitting up, leaning on me.....I loved it!  She has napped more times in the great outdoors on the boat than we can even begin to count.

It was an amazing sunset!  I couldn't pick my favorite picture so I have a lot below.

 

More weekend fun to come!!.....

Happy Mother's Day!!

What a beautiful and perfect weekend it was! It was everything I wanted it to be!!!

The Lily in the picture below..... bloomed, what is so special about it is that the day we found out we were pregnant with Mikayla, my dad and I planted some Lily's (at the old house).  When we moved we brought one with us to the new house. Not only did the one that we planted bloom and grow, it spread and has four branches now that are also getting ready to bloom.  I will forever love this plant!!  It was just perfect that we planted them the day we found out and just perfect that it bloomed over Mother's Day weekend.

I miss my mom though, days like Mother's day bring it home again.  From all the Mother's Days I wanted to be a mom (7 of them to be exact that we had to wait, I was torn up because I wasn't one) to now not having my mom...... I never got to have one with both of them.... with my mom while I was one.... I did call my mother-in-law two separate times (she called me once too LOL) on Mother's day and we texted too.... I'm SOOOO thankful for her!!  She is an amazing woman!

Right now, I'm alllll about making our new house - home and what means home to me are some of my fondest childhood memories about tons of flowers.  So for the next few years, I'll be asking for bulbs and bushes for all holidays! 

This year my dad and Mikayla got me the rose bush below.  It smells sooooo good and is so pretty.  I can't wait to have a weekly bouquet of fresh flowers from the garden!!!!  However, Mikayla seems to think it's hers because she is the one that made me a mom.... goodness who can argue with that logic, right?

Speaking of gardens.... LOOK AT THIS BABY BEAN!!!

Back to Mother's Day!  Michael and Mikayla got me the 3 tier planter and all the plants below, Mikayla and I had a blast planting them!  (I threw in some fresh herbs for fun too, sage, basil, cilantro and thyme) so not only pretty but pretty edible too ;)

Awwww look at our first baby cucumber!!! 

and some of the bell peppers. 

YUM tomato's we have tons of them growing!!

carrots....

 

Our yellow squash blooms, there are a lot more of them now.

 Another bell pepper.  We have poblano peppers and banana peppers growing also.

It is AWESOME!

So here is home!  It is so much fun to see it change and become more ours the longer we are there.  I have to be real though when I say the yard/garden wouldn't be happening (you know, full time work, full time mom, wife, friend, cook, maid, launderer, 2 hour daily commute....)(not at all realistic to add more into a day).  So without my dad (he is the master Gardener), Fidel (amazing lawn and more helper), an automatic sprinkler system (didn't have that before), garden beds that already existed  that we just added to or changed and didn't have to start from scratch.... it wouldn't happen.  I love that the slate wasn't completely blank as we do this but without the help we have..... it wouldn't exist and if it did, it wouldn't be quite the same or quite as enjoyable!!  It was exactly one year ago this week that we put our old house on the market, listed for 14 days, one looker, one buyer, 45 day close, move, 3 days later flood, home reconstruction for 3-4 months and here we are!  PHEW

And yes, the porch swing is still one of my absolute favorite places to be!!  We go out there just about every day.  I have been known to even leave the dishes *gasp* until the sun goes down so that we can swing for awhile and just enjoy (and hope that the gnomes and fairy's come to life and do the dishes for us, where is my unicorn anyway)...it hasn't happened yet but it doesn't stop me from hoping!

and this is how the day is going today..... have you ever had one of those days??  Just keeping it real.

These are my legs and feet....

today.....

at work.....

see anything strange??  yea....I don't either besides that carpet..... seriously.....

Seeds Seeds Seeds....

Seeds seeds, they're good for your heart

the more you eat the more you _art....

the more you _art the better you feel,

so eat some seeds with every meal....

oh wait that poem is for beans...not seeds.....

HA HA!!!

(I crack myself up)

Well anyway, moving right along, I wanted to show you what I did with our garden seeds.  The original state of the poor babies is that they were carelessly thrown into a paper sack from Ace Hardware... poor things were so unloved there was no way they'd be able to blossom and grow to their fullest potential.

So I took it upon myself to change their HORRIBLE and completely un-liveable living conditions.  So I took the scrapbook below, it is an 8x8 scrapbook with plastic page protectors inside.

and I sorted through all the seeds, paper clipped each packet shut so no more will get lost, and each seed packet got it's own happy slot :) 

They got alphabetized (no more having to root around and spilling the poor dears into the bottom of the ace sack, never to be found or planted again).  um...not at all dramatic, right?

How's that for organized!!!  It makes me so happy just to have checked that one small item off my list and before you think I'm all glamorous with my mad organizing skills...this project took all of 7 minutes from start to finish.... it just makes me happy to know that we have happy seeds now :) 

Yes, they told me that-should I be worried that I know my seeds are happy??

Little Flower Girls :)

We had our final Little Flowers meeting, we have enjoyed this so much.  Our leader/facilitator is not going to do the group next year and thankfully another lady stepped up to take over so we'll still be able to participate.  There are two more "Wreaths" before we have a repeat so as long as we both continue to enjoy it, we'll continue to do it.

This month's virtue is Truthfulness (which extends way beyond just not lying), the saint of the month is St. Bernadette of Sweden (although Mikayla says sweetness instead of Sweden - lol) and the flower of the month is the daffodil.  Phew, yay, I remembered it all.  HA!

Circle time - lesson, song and prayer time.

Mikayla was awarded the petal patches for her flower patch :)  so we can attach them to her sash.

Near the end of the session, we were reviewing all the past virtues, all the little girls were calling out the ones they remembered.  Piety was Mikayla's favorite, I'm not sure if she just likes saying that word or acting it out, but that's the one that comes to her mind first, then the little girls all received a blank card to write a note/letter to someone about a specific virtue.

Even though Mikayla's favorite was piety, she chose the virtue "Love of God."  She wrote a note about how much God loves Tiffany and how much Mikayla loves Tiffany too.

Tiffany is one of the moms in our group, her husband was tragically killed in a car accident about 5 months ago. 

She has three small children at home.

Tiffany had a really bad day on Friday, I don't know what happened but she was just a few minutes late, so she rushed in with her girls, sent them to the prayer circle and sat in a chair and just burst into tears, not the loud sobbing and I need a ton of attention kind of tears, the quiet and I'm just really broken right now kind of tears..... so she had one of those days.

Mikayla was so receptive to that and chose to remind Tiffany she's not alone. In the picture below, Mikayla had just given Tiffany her card. 

Tiffany was so appreciative...... it was one of those moments in life where you just step outside your own troubles and pressures and try to take the load off of someone else just for a moment.  Mikayla is so good at that.  She is the kind of friend we all need in our lives.

I got spurs.....

I got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle
As I go ridin' merrily along
And they sing, 'Oh ain't ya glad you're single'
And that song ain't so very far from wrong

Guess what time it is..... School program time!!!!!!



We all know I love love love them and YEE HAW if the songs just ain't stuck in my head!!!!

The program was all country/Texas songs.  So we boot scoot boogied right along.

Mikayla's class did I got spurs....(and boy do they get stuck in my head......) (we are STILL singing them) and they also sung Don't Fence Me In" and the Yellow Rose of Texas.

The music director does so well with all the kids, it appears they all participate in the dancing and singing.

of course Mikayla is right in there doing her thang too!

SO cute!!! 

It's so funny to hear the little 1st graders singing this!

Oh, Lily Bell, oh, Lily Bell,
Though I may have done some foolin, this is why I never fell

I got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle
As I go ridin' merrily along
And they sing, 'Oh ain't ya glad you're single'
And that song ain't so very far from wrong

Oh dear...... that darn song is STUCK in my head...... 

I've been singing it for days!!

TONS of children singing The Yellow Rose of Texas.... it was fun for ALL of us! 

Here is Mikayla with her teacher Ms. Harper!

We had a really great, toe tapping, finger snappin, jolly ranchin, boot scootin boogie, we' partied till the cows came home kind of night!!!!

YEE HAWWWWW!!!  Ya'll come back now....ya hear!