Spring Choir

Spring Choir, originally uploaded by Capturing Life - Capturing Memories.

If you listen carefully you can almost hear them singing...

Listening To The Call Of Spring Flowers

I had to do it... I couldn't resist... They were calling out to me, "Buy me! Plant me at your house! We'll make your life happier."

Yes, I heard your call... Pink, yellow and purple primrose and baby tears. Sweet, sweet, sweet!!! Now we're talkin' spring!!!

What a GORGEOUS day again... And to top it off, Laurie and I had a lunch date at Noodles, one of our favorite restaurants. God is treating me OH so good!!!

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Yeah Spring!!!

Spring, originally uploaded by Capturing Life - Capturing Memories.

Yes... this made me very very very happy to see the other day :-) And, this is ONLY THE BEGINNING!!!

I'm really looking forward to gardening (i.e. my business) this year... MUCH more than last year. I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be a GREAT year. I begin working some regular hours at BCC (Bloomington Country Club) starting next week in addition to my regular clients. I think working at BCC will be a lot of fun and will be a tremendous learning experience for me... I'm especially looking forward to working with their head gardener. She has several years of experience in gardening and has a lot of knowledge to share about perennials and annuals.

I was especially thrilled to receive a phone call last week from the new homeowners of a house I had been working at since my business started in 2002... I met with the new owner on Monday and they will have LOTS of work for me to do all of this year. I'm really excited because we'll be completely redesigning ALL of the gardens. It can't all be done in one year, but a large chunk of it will be done in 2010. I'll also be doing regular weekly maintenance as I have always done.

I just hope the weather continues like today was... 65 & sunny on March 10... WOW!!! I LOVED IT!!! However, I'm not holding my breath. I know Illinois springs...

Throat Warmer

This is a photo I quickly snapped of Alexis last night... Though it looks like she's trying to keep Andrew's throat warm, actually she's snuggled in suckling AGAIN on his teddy bear's chest... I don't think she is EVER going to kick this habit.


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Alexis Update

After a four-day stay at Highland Pet Hospital last week, Alexis is on the mend after being de-clawed and "fixed."

Her post-op orders were to do as little as possible for about a week after coming home... i.e. no quick movements, no hard playing, no jumping off high places, etc. Yes, my response to that was... HA HA HA!!! Just TRY and keep a kitten from doing those things... Especially when her best friend is a 2-1/2 year old silky terrier that she loves to pick on and play with and chase around. Or when her favorite place to jump up on (against our liking) is our dining room table (hardwood floors below it). Or when her preference is to move from bed to bed throughout the night, which requires jumping down off a couple of high beds onto hardwood floors.

Anyway... she seems to be doing OK, but we've been a little concerned how she's been favoring her front-left paw. I called the vet today and I'm taking her in on Wednesday morning to be checked. Hopefully she's OK and it's just some minor tenderness from the surgery.

Tumnus has actually been behaving very well since Alexis came home. He's made a few attempts at chasing her, but we stopped that pretty quickly. I think he realizes she's not 100% and has kept his distance. Especially since she hasn't been picking on him like she usually does. Of course, that hasn't stopped him from helping her keep her ears clean (GROSS!!!!)

Red Belts Are "In"

We had reason to celebrate today in our house... Andrew received his red belt in taekwondo!!!

He performed very well with all of his testing... although, he still has room for improvement in breaking boards. Luckily, breaking a board isn't "required" to pass a test. But... it does show a level of ability and concentration learned from TKD.

Why does he have problems breaking a board? Self confidence... he looks at the board and doesn't think he can break it, even though he's done it before.

It was funny, though... when Grand Master Sosa took time after the test to work with him on breaking, he had Andrew close his eyes and follow through at the board... and... he broke it. (Which was quite funny seeing Andrew's reaction) But, when he tried a few more times with his eyes open, he wasn't able to break it. Again... it comes down to self confidence. His eyes tell him he can't, even though he can.

Here are a few snapshots from the test:

Grand Master Sosa works with Andrew on his form during the test.

Andrew performs his most recently learned form.

Andrew's best friend from church breaking a board with his elbow.

Another friend performing a running jump kick to break a board.

Andrew and his best friend after receiving their red and green belts.

We are so very proud of Andrew and what he's been able to accomplish in the almost 2-1/2 years that he's been doing participating in taekwondo. He's stuck with it and is determined to reach his goal of becoming an under-aged black belt (under 16). Andrew might not be the most aggressive kid, or the strongest kid, or the toughest kid. But, he's probably one of the most determined kids.

But most important... Andrew has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I've ever known... and that's bigger than any color belt he could ever receive.

Winter Walk - A Time to Reflect

I enjoyed a nice winter walk on 12-31-2009... a time to reflect on the prior 365 days... the ups and downs of my year... my failures and successes (well, ok just failures)... my physical and emotional health... My relationships with family and friends. I came to one conclusion: God does some awesome art work!!! Yes... I guess you could say my walk gave me a better perspective on life and what's important. Maybe I should go on a "winter walk" every day.

Getting Rid of an Eyesore

The house across the street is FINALLY being taken down after sitting vacant and in ruins for 2+ years. A pipe burst and the water froze throughout the house right after the tenants moved out. It's been an eyesore on our block and we're thrilled it's finally coming down.

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Little Dancing Fingers

Andrew and Savannah have been doing AWESOME with their piano lessons.


They started last fall, taking from a friend of Laurie's... I loved hearing their teacher brag tonight about how well they're doing. Made me smile VERY big. I'm very proud of them and how hard they're working.

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Chilly Chimnea

Our chimnea expressed extreme disappointment in our 6 inches of additional snow today and the constant cold weather we've been having...


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Ice Sculpture

We have a very cool (no pun intended) ice sculpture hanging off our front porch roof...


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Winter Walk

There's something about a long nature walk in winter. It's amazing how much beauty can be seen in it's dormancy... Alive but dead; Dancing but still; Breathing but silent.

At times I feel like my entire 2009 has been a "winter" - Yes, it's been a long year... Alive but dead; Dancing but still; Breathing but silent...

Here's to 2010 being an entire year of "summer."

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