The Peonies are Coming, the Peonies are Coming!

I know I have mentioned this before, but one of my favorite times of the year is the month of May when the Peonies bloom. Just like Halloween, Peonies hold a nostalgic estate in my heart from memories of childhood. Growing up our yard was long, flat and without a fence. Coincidentally, our neighbors yard was long, flat and without a fence. The only demarcation between the two yards was a row of voluptuous (can we all agree that Peonies are the Marilyn Monroe of the flower world) and fragrant Peony bushes.

Many memorable Spring days and evenings were spent between the two yards and with the family next door, the Burts. These memories were a time in childhood with no realization of the heavy weight that life can hand you. Every time I see these flowers they evoke those feelings in my soul. Maybe one Mother's Day, I will awake to a row of Peonies across our front yard...hint, subtle hint!

And Baby Makes Three

Look at what our dogs found out in the yard today. Initially, we thought it was one of our two owls, who was injured. But a closer look revealed a smaller size, lighter color and downy feather - our two owls have been busy. Better yet, it's a family. How stinkin' cute is that?
So as I am taking some pictures, (which most of these are David's by the way) David tells me to look up in the tree, that there's another one. How cool is that? So as I am looking up and trying to find her in the tree again, I start to focus, then I see the second owl in the tree (find the first owl, then look up and to slightly to the right). I started to get a little creeped out. It felt like Harry and the Hendersons, when the Hendersons take Harry back to the woods, and as Harry is walking into the forest, the Bigfoots (or Bigfeet) start to emerge from among the trees.

We are assuming the owl perched lower in the tree is the Mama. Here is a closer look at her, taking a closer look at us. She did not like us near her baby. Out of respect for motherhood, I kept a safe distance away and on the other side of the fence. Out of mannish curiousity, David did not...

and obtained baby's birth announcement photo. Welcome baby!

Eat Cake

I can't get enough of this cake. In fact it's so easy to bake, I have made three in the last week. Which means I have eaten about two and half of them. Please note, in true PICU nurse fashion, I used one of my white sheets as a tablecloth.

From the Words of Ice Cube,

I'd have to say it was a good day. It all started when I walked into my bathroom, and my sink was beaming back at me. Sparkling, shiny rays of sunshine emitted from my bathroom faucet. I have only one person to thank for my shiny sink, that person is Flylady. I have begun a regiment, if you will, that teaches you to build habits and routines to make cleaning your house easy and not so overwhelming. I am only one week into this plan, so who is to say it will become my norm, but just bare with me. So today was kind of a FREE day, and I needed to make myself take a break from the house (I am starting to clean compulsively, which is not what Flylady is about) and do something for me. So I grabbed my camera and headed outdoors.
I really just wanted to practice with different settings, different lighting and try to get some funky effects (without the aide of Photoshop). These pictures are pictures of some of my favorite views of our yard. These are things that I see staring out my windows and they make me happy. They make me thankful for our house, yard and little family with which to share.

Did that last sentence make me sound smart? I am always ending sentences with prepositions, and it drives me CRAZY. But I am too lazy to try to rewrite, so I leave it and call it artistic liberty. This blue lantern hangs from a butchered lilac bush that sits about 20 feet outside my kitchen window. I once chastised David for hanging up such a silly, old rusty lantern, but I have grown to love it.

I love this bush, it has grown thicker with each passing year. I don't know it's name. My favorite thing about this bush is in a week or two the flowers will start to fall off, and they float through the air like ashes from smoke. There are no words to describe it. I am determined to get pictures of Charlotte in the grass when this happens.

Then I stumbled upon this broken Robin's egg in the grass. Obviously not a permanent fixture in the yard, but as of lately I have been obsessed with this color of blue, so I tried to capture it's gorgeous blue hue. Didn't turn out like I wanted, but I liked them all the same.

"Mom, take a pitchure of this..."

So Joe had to get in on the action. Ah yes, a locust shell, so inspiring.