Our Temporary Pet

Last night, my husband rescued a box turtle from the side of the road (on the white line, to be exact). We were all in the van and excited about our new friend. We took her home, kids named her "Boxy." We made a nice habitat for her. This morning we were gathering information about her. She seemed delighted that we fed her a strawberry! It was really interesting to see her eat up close and personal, too be able to watch her stretch her neck to eat her strawberry. The kids were thrilled to wake up this morning and remember they have a "temporary" pet. Later they found some empty laundry baskets and put them on their own backs to use as a turtle shell. So they could "play" turtle. They are really enjoying this time and learning about our turtle.
We learned that she has a great homing instinct and needs to go back where we found her. We took her back there across the street where she was headed. Sent her back out into the woods. Her home.
The kids were blessed with an educational experience and a temporary pet. So were Mom and Dad.

Pray for Me?

This is a short and sweet post. While we were driving today, my two children were in the backseat. I heard my son ask my daughter to pray for him. He had gotten a bad cut on his finger and it was bothering him. He has had a band-aid on it yesterday and today. Well this afternoon he asked my daughter to pray for his boo-boo to heal. I think my heart actually swelled! Feeling good. =) I have to count my blessings today.

Sneakers & Other Simple Pleasures

Yesterday for Mother's Day, I joyously received a new pair of sneakers! We also went out to lunch and stopped at the health food store to replenish my vitamins. Sounds mundane to some of you? I really needed and wanted a new pair of sneakers. Can you tell that one of my top 5 values this year is health? As I have been focusing on my health this year, I feel really good - healthy and energetic. I have lost weight. I have been exercising and planning my meals.
Speaking of meals.....check out May's month of meals. Maybe you need to spice up your meals, need a filler or just want to try something new. There are a lot of ideas there. My new goal is to experiment with beans and make some meals with beans in them.
Other pleasures I got to enjoy on Mother's Day:
take a walk*enjoy a prepared, leisurely breakfast with my family*go to church*listen to a rainstorm*enjoy lunch out*indulge in a treat*new sneakers*spend time with my family*read a book for me (not to be confused with reading a children's book to my children, which I also enjoy)*lots of kisses and hugs*taking a bath*getting in my pajamas much too early*snuggling with the kids in bed*quiet time with my hubby*going to bed early, especially on a Sunday night as we prepare for the week ahead!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! If you haven't seen this short video yet, I had to share. Of course I hope your life is at a much slower pace than this. =) See how many of these phrases you may recognize from your own childhood.

Simple Pleasures

Do these things happen at your house too?? We have some wildberries that grow in our backyard. The kids like to go out and collect them. My son has been especially fascinated with collecting them lately. Earlier this week, he went outside in shorts and a t-shirt, with big yellow rain boots that come up to his knees. Can you picture this? I have this image of him captured in my mind's eye. He came back in and asked for some gloves (we are talking winter mittens here) to wear so the thorns didn't bother him. So I gave him his gloves. Then I opened the sliding glass door again and gave him a container to put the wildberries in. When I did, something fell inside the house. It ended being a tree frog! It was a large one too. He hopped all around, then finally made it to the sliding glass door. Well that was exciting trying to catch him! They really hop! We got him....my son finally caught him in his bug catching net (which the tree frog really couldn't hop in) and took him back outside. We would have put him in our aquarium to study for a bit before sending back to nature, but there was already a big spider in there. Not sure who would have eaten who and I didn't want to find out. So we sent him back to nature.
Later that same night, it was beautiful here. After an exciting afternoon, we went out front at about 5pm waiting for my hubby and didn't end up coming back in until 7:50pm! All of the neighbors in our court came out and all of the kids as well. We have new neighbors next door and they have a son, about 6 months younger than my son. They were thrilled to have found one another! They played really nicely together. My son showed him the snake skin we found in our backyard. Then he draped it around his neck! We just let the kids run around and play. We ate a quick dinner then got them in bed. The fellowhip with the neighbors was great too.
There were so many simple pleasures in our day. Being at home with the kids. Watching them explore. The picture I now have in my mind of my son out in the backyard in his shorts, t-shirt, big yellow rain boots & winter mittens picking blackberries. The tree frog hopping around the house. My children and I running after it, trying to catch it! The excitement and chaos of the situation. Waiting for Dad to come home. A beautiful night. Fellowship with friendly & kind neighbors; sharing stories, experiences and learning more about one another. Having nothing scheduled so we can enjoy these moments.....