Welcoming Spring!

Tomorrow marks the first day of Spring

and

since this is my favorite season, I welcome it joyfully!

*

I've missed the vibrant colors of Spring.

I've missed the blooming fruit trees and their soft white beauty.

I've missed the dandelions. * The sunny happiness of a dandelion is often overlooked. But, not by me. * I love it's bright yellow florets, even though they are a weed. (*Jack has been considering using these edible weeds in salads, stews, soups and such...yes, really. I'll let you know if we decide to try it.)

I've missed all the beautiful birds that fill bird our birdhouses

and make such sweet sounds.

*

This one has been living in the Crape Myrtle tree in our front yard

for a few weeks now.

*

I took this picture through the window because she is super shy

and doesn't come around if we are outside.

*

She has a patch (or two) of that sunny happiness too...

I've missed my favorite little bug, the butterfly. I've missed being outside in the fresh air, enjoying a lazy breeze and not freezing my buns off while doing it. * Days with weather so nice you just have to spend it swinging on a porch swing or sitting by a creek listening to the water flow, the wind rustling in the trees, the bee's buzzing about and the sweet cadence of a wind chime somewhere in the distance.

-or- Maybe a day spent swinging on a rope swing hanging from an old oak tree, making you feel like a kid, taking you back to a simpler time. (*Madi and I discovered this treasure during one of our outdoor adventures this week. I plan to write a post later about it.)

Ahhh!

*

Spring, I welcome you!

days like these...

Thankfully my Art Class was canceled for today. So, I got to have a day all to myself. A free day, a day to do whatever I wanted. Nice! I'm getting to where I appreciate time to myself more then I ever have before. I guess it's because once Jack and Madi get home, it starts to get real busy around here and we are going non-stop until bed time. Having the day to myself, I was able to finish up the blog post I started writing early yesterday morning (Madi's Birthday wrap up, which I posted earlier), I was able to work on my next project due in Photography class (an abstract black and white photo), and I was able to go outside and enjoy the long awaited sunshine and 75 degree temperature. I love days like these. I also had time to wipe the dust off of my digital (it's been a whole 5 days since I used it!) and play for a little bit, my ultimate favorite thing to do. Since it was just me and the babies (Bella, Tex and Cassie) and because everything outside is still so brown and ugly, I mostly took pictures inside of them. I did get a few pics of some dandelions in our backyard, but I'll save those for a "informative" type post later on. Here are a few of the photo's I took of the wild ones.

This is Tex's "I'm 'bout to get buckwild up in this joint" look. He has been cooped up in the house since his little run-away stunt about a week ago. He gets this crazy look, which you see above, when he is about to lose it and start attacking his sisters. He hates to be in the house all the time, but he'll have to wait until he gets his microchip before he's allowed out again. Sorry little gentleman!

He's such a good subject because he looks right at me (hoping I'll give into his pleading eyes and let him out, I'm sure) when I take pictures.

This is what Bella did ALL day. Either here in the house or in the yard. Sleep. All day. I thought it was so cute when I saw her laying asleep with this tini-tiny rabbit Madi gave her some time back. Bella's pink~sleepy~mouth is just kissable! And the bunny, doesn't he just look happy?! Now that it's five o'clock, the lazy, carefree part of my day has to come to an end and time for the rush to start - Madi to swim, go exercise, pick Madi up from swim, cook and eat dinner, homework, cleaning and baths. But, after the day I had, I can do it all feeling refreshed and ready! That's why I love days like these and I think everyone needs (deserves)one every once in awhile.

350 days and counting...

We've had a busy last few weeks and therefore, I haven't been able to wrap up Madison's Birthday week as I had planned to do much earlier than now.

I say, "Madi's Birthday week" because it really seemed to last that long. As you may remember from a previous post, Madison's Birthday in Pictures, her Birthday was on Tues., February 23 and on that day Central Texas received an unheard of 4 to 5 inches of snow! So, she got pretty much a full day out of school and spent it playing in the snow. Fun! During the week she received calls, cards and presents from family and friends. On Friday night, she had three girlfriends from school come over to spend the night. I spent the afternoon on Friday making Madison's Birthday cake and once it was ready, we officially celebrated Madi's 12th Birthday! ***just a note: If you want to see the pictures better, you can click on the collages below and you should get to veiw them at a much bigger size. There were just too many pictures and I wanted to share them all, so it was much easier to make collages and post them this way.

~Madi opening gifts with her friends, Aunt Gennie & Jason.

The girls joked with Madi all week that they were going to get her play-doh as a gift. They did and for some reason, that was super-hilarious to them!

~ A visit from Cami and Johnny-Dad.

~Madi took all of these pictures. Including the one of her.

On Saturday Jack and I took the girls to Austin's Park 'n Pizza in Austin, Texas. Let me just say, if you ever get the opportunity to go, DON'T. That place was a rip off! It was lame! My sister, Gennie, and my nephew Jason went with us. We all agree (including the girls) that the place wasn't worth the gas to get there and was definitely not worth the near $200.00 cost for the park itself!! So...huge disappointment there.

Even though the park was a disappointment, all in all Madison had a great time with her friends and a fun two days shared with them.

~The girls just before we took them home. Jack and I enjoyed these delightful young ladies very much! (Jack enjoyed driving them home very much!)

We dropped the girls off at their houses around 8/8:30 on Saturday night and then went home to recover from a very active few days.

On Sunday Madi's Nana, Papa & Great Grandma came out to visit her and to wish her a happy Birthday.

They stayed for a few hours and agreed (somewhat apprehensively, I'm sure) to try Madi's homemade Birthday cake. They're either really good a faking it or they really enjoyed it.

So, Madi's Birthday week ended as Nana, Papa & Grandma Rowe walked out the door Sunday evening. Jack and I breathed a sigh of relief, but Madi could've kept it up for weeks more! Well, look at the bright side Madi, only 350 days and we'll all get to experience it all over again! Woohoo! Seriously though, it was tiring, sure, but it was nice to see Madi happy, hanging out with family and friends and being celebrated during her special time.

Well, that's a wrap, finally, on Madi's Birthday goodness. 350 days and counting! ;)

SO worth it!

I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. Yesterday I made Madison's Birthday cake from scratch. It was my first attempt at making a homemade cake and I'm so glad I didn't mess it up because I didn't have a backup plan for Madi's party. No Birthday cake on order at a store and no boxed cake mix to save me. Surprisingly (to me), it wasn't hard. Time consuming, yes. But, not hard. And, in all, I had a good time doing it. It made me feel great to know I was personally making my daughter's Birthday cake. I think my first attempt at making a cake turned out pretty good, not awesome, just pretty good. There's definitely room for improvement. I had issues with finding the right cake pans and had a stressful moment where I started to doubt my decision to make the cake, but it all worked out and Madison's reaction to the cake when it was completed made it all SO worth it! Madison's 12th Birthday cake....

~The cake was a little lopsided, but I don't think Madi noticed.

Madi's reaction! I love it!

Madison's Birthday in Pictures...

Madi turned 12 years old on Tuesday, February 23 and on that day, Central Texas, received four to five inches of snow! Oh boy! What a wonderful gift! She has been wishing for snow all winter

and was disappointed when it missed us a month or so ago when it hit some of the surrounding areas. Since I don't have much time (I promised Madi I would make the B-day cake for her party tonight and I need to get moving on it! Yikes!) I'm not going to write much today.

I've just attached tons of pictures captured on her special day.

Here's Madi's Birthday in pictures... ~getting ready for school. It has already started to snow outside, so we kinda knew that she would get out of school early.

~She's ready for school.

~Thinkin' - OK Mom, enough with the pictures this morning!

~sure enough, she got out of school early. The official school release was at 12:30, but she called to tell me that they are letting kids go if the parents came and signed them out. So, I picked Madi up at 10:30. I told her she was so lucky to get out of school on her birthday to go play in the snow! She agreed.

~When I picked her up, we drove around just for a minute looking at all the snow. I stopped at a few places to take pictures. ~the park that Jack and I jog at the most.

~The road going to our house.

~the small park in our neighborhood. We stopped here and I let Madi and Bella get out for a minute.

~She loved the snow!

~Bella and Madi racing. Before Madi got home, Bella was not happy about the

snow, but once Madi got out and started playing, Bella was happy to be in it and loved

playing with her buddy. I loved watching them.

~Madi throwing snowballs and Bella catching them.

~making a snow angel.

~our Crate Myrtle covered in snow

~this little piggy liked eating the snow.

~a very happy Madi.

~another tree covered in snow.

~Madi about to make a snowball which she will try to hit me with....

...Bella is waiting.... ~Madi throws it and Bella goes after it. Best part, it didn't hit me. :)

~gathering snow to make another snowball which misses me, again. She's really good/great at a lot of things, but hitting her intended target is not one of them! hehe!

~looking down the road to see who else was out having fun. At the time, surprisingly, no one was.

~taking snow over to her buddy...

and her buddy eats it!

~She's such a pretty girl!

~Thank you Lord for giving us this special day, this gift of snow and for this happy time with this sweet, sweet, child.

~Jack on the phone with his mom and smiling...sweet. He left work early to come play in the snow!

~I like this picture. A lot.

~red tip peeking out from the snow

~Jack and Madi working on our snowman.

~the snowman before we dressed him... ~working on his look.

~our completed snowman

~after the snowman was built we went to the neighborhood park where Madi and Jack rolled down the hill over and over again...you can imagine where the snow went once inside their clothes...not something I wanted to experience so I watched and laughed. After the park, we drove around again for a few minutes. These horses were out running around. When we drove by, it looked like they were playing together in the snow.

~a little outhouse type building. This picture was also taken while we drove by it.

~A park down the road from our house.

~at the end of the day we let Madi open a gift from her friend Micaela. Because she's having a b-day get together over the weekend with the family, we have asked her to wait to open gifts. Micaela's gift was an exception. The card was a hoot! Madi got a good laugh. Thank you Melinda, Albert, Micaela and Ashley! You guys are always so thoughtful when it comes to Madi. She loves the gift! It's really the perfect gift too because Madison just moved into her new room about a month ago and we have been looking for things to hang on the wall! What better then her own creations?! I will be sure to share pictures when we hang it. You guys are the best!

Thanks to snow, gifts from great friends, tons of phone calls, and her favorite meal (Arroz Con Pollo) made by Jack, Madison had a fantastic Birthday!

We'll do some celebrating this weekend and I'll share some pictures and events in a post later next week.

Hope you have a great weekend!