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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Outdoor Wild Flowers.

“Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.” By Rachel Carson.

What a beautiful quote!  If you have time, read about Rachel Carson. 

I hope your Thursday is going great!  These are pictures I took on the way back from Houston.  I begged my oldest son to stop so that I could take some pictures for you all.

I need to make a post about Jr and how medical school is going!  He really deserves his own little post. :)

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I didn’t see many bluebonnets.  

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This is a pomegranate bush!  This was at a picnic area.  I wonder who eats the pomegranates? 

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I hope you are enjoying some beautiful weather!  Our weather is very mild for a change! 

Blessings,

Sandra

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

You Made My Day!

 

How beautiful a day can be
When kindness touches it!
~George Elliston

This will be my Woohoo post. :)  I am linking with Marla at Always Nesting for Woohoo Wednesday!  Please visit her blog and check out the other participants joining in on this fun party!

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Dear Sweet Marla!  Thank  you so much for this beautiful card!  You made my day!   Such a cheerful card!   A card conveys so much encouragement to the recipient and Marla your card did that!  Thank you!!!

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I decided to display it next to my rose plate.  Hubby immediately noticed the card and asked “who sent the card?”  Of course I told him “My friend Marla did”   I love it!!!

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I found this plate at an Estate Sale and paid only five dollars for it.  I had to have it!  The roses spoke to me!  “Please take us with you!” :) 

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I am so blessed,

I am so thankful,

to be part of you wonderful bloggers!  I am touched by all the love!

Have a beautiful Wednesday! 

Blessings,

Sandra

 

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Sunday Blessings.

 

I hope your Sunday is full of blessings. 

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 Sincerely,

Sandra

Friday, May 21, 2010

Snapdragons and Updates!

 

Hello! Thank you for visiting my blog! I am linking with Tootsie and Fertilizer Friday . Please visit Tootsie and her wonderful blog! You won’t be disappointed!

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I hope you enjoy my photos!  There are tons of snapdragons growing in my garden. 

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Their color is so vibrant!  I think that angel is enjoying them, don’t you? :)

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The yellow ones are just a few.  I’m hoping for more though. 

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I wanted to thank you all so much for including Nancy and Joseph in your prayers. 

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Nancy’s surgery is today..May 21st at 9:00 a.m.  I am planning on being at the hospital a good part of the morning.   Please keep her in your prayers.  Please pray for the surgeon too.  Please pray that there are no complications.  I talked to Nancy yesterday and she was nervous but eager to start with everything.  The dr wants to give her three weeks of recovery and then he wants her to start chemo. 

Joseph is doing good.  He had a fever and had to go back in the hospital but recovered from that.  He is at home recuperating before the next treatment. 

Also, thank you all for the comments on the lost Yorkie. 

This is my 12 yr old.  :) He looks just like mama. :)

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I decided to drive around and see if I could find the owners.   I drove up from our street and asked a couple of people.  No one knew.  I drove the street behind us…nothing.  I went on to the next street after that and I found the owners!   I knew they were the owners because the Yorkie immediately went with the man.  The boys were a little upset that she’s not here anymore but I explained to them that her owners were happy to have her back.  I am so glad she is where she belongs.  I am going to Houston so I didn’t want to leave without finding the owners.  I’ll be back in about a couple of days!  Yippee!  My oldest son’s last day of school is today!  We will drive back and I’m  hoping to stop in Austin because I found a nursery that sells David Austin roses.  I am so happy about that!   

I hope y’all have a wonderful weekend full of love and laughter, alrighty? 

Blessings,

Sandra

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Someone’s Baby!

Blogger friends, a Yorkie showed up at our house this evening.  Ugh, I’m sure someone is missing their baby.  I know I’d be freaking out if my babies Shih tzu  Skipper and Chloe were gone. 

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Isn’t she a cutie??  Look at that precious face!

She is well taken care of.

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Aw, we have to find her owners.   My boys have gone up and down our street to find her owners but no luck yet.  Cross your fingers that I find them soon, please.

Sandra

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

New Pruners and a ‘BooBoo!

Be extra careful when you buy pruners.  They are very sharp!  I splurged and bought a pair of pruners .  I was going to town as I pruned all of my rosebushes, snapdragons, and anything else that needed it. 

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I was having so much fun using my new pruners. 

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My pruners were doing a fine job of pruning.   All of a sudden clip, I see red!  I cut myself!  My poor little pinky finger!  I dropped my awesome new pruners and went crying to hubby.  He saw how much I was bleeding and immediately got his first aid kit to clean my pinky.  My twin boys and 12 yr old started panicking and kept asking me if I was ok.  They kept insisting that I go to the E.R.   I’ll be ok. 

I might not be able to wash dishes for the next few days.  *smile* 

I think I will need to purchase some of these for me!  Aren’t they pretty?  

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Umm, for that price, I’ll keep looking! 

I hope you are having a better day than I am.  :)

Blessings,

Sandra

 

Monday, May 17, 2010

June Issue of Better Homes and Gardens

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First, I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for including Joseph and Nancy in your prayers.  Joseph is doing good.  He started chemo week before last and was able to go home.  He will have chemo for five days and then get to be home for three weeks.  Nancy sees a surgeon on the May 18th.  Please continue praying for both. 

I am really enjoying this issue!  Did you know that June is the month of roses? Yep, it says so right here:)

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I must start buying David Austin roses.  These are gorgeous!  (please excuse the glare)

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I want a garden like this.  Spectacular!

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Look at those climbing roses!  They are beautiful!  Aaah, Everything in this issue is just beautiful!  

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I’m planning on reading this issue from cover to cover. 

We finished painting the kitchen and dining room in Svelte Sage..  I can’t wait to share with y’all!  I still have to put everything back in place in the dining room.  You should see my living room.  It looks like I’m getting ready for a garage sale but everything that belongs in the dining room is in the living room.  The red and white toile you see are the curtains!  ha ha. 

Have a wonderful Monday. 

Blessings,

Sandra

 

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Quiet Moments

Make time for the quiet moments as God speaks in whispers and the world is loud….

Take time to praise God.  Make sure there are quiet moments with God in your life. 

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"let us be silent that we may hear the Whisper of God"
Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Thank you Abba for the many blessings you give us.  I love YOU with all my heart and soul.  Thank you Father.

I hope y’all have a blessed Sunday!

Sandra

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Believing in the Power of Prayer

Hello my friends.  Lately, I have been feeling down because of two situations happening to someone close to my husband and I.   I have been thinking so much about this and wonder why things like this happen. :(  We don’t know the reason “why" things like this happen but I do know that the power of prayer is very much real.  I had kept all of this to myself.  In fact, I had only told one blogger friend about the 17 yr old.  I’m just a private person when it comes to my personal life and those that I love, especially something like this.  I thought of not posting it on my blog but I’m feeling led to post it and ask for prayers. 

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I have a cousin whose nephew has recently been diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma Cancer.  His name is Joseph and he is only 17 years old.  He lives in a small town close to my city and his mother drives him to another city (Lubbock, Tx) for his treatments.  Please keep him in your prayers.  I truly believe in the power of prayer. 

And last request….My husband has a cousin who just found out that she has breast cancer.  Her name is Nancy and she will need a mastectomy.    She is such a kind gal.  She is always there for everyone.  So loving and kind.  This dreaded disease is attacking so many!  Please pray for Nancy.  She has an appointment next week with a surgeon. :(

I know that the “Word” tells us about healing.  For instance:

Jeremiah 30:17
"But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds," declares the LORD.

These words were not only powerful then, but they are still just as powerful. 

Psalm 103:3-4
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

With Love,

Sandra

 

Friday, May 14, 2010

Crazy Weather!

I hope your weather is much better than ours.  Numerous tornadoes had been spotted around my area.  The kids were placed under shelter and we were not allowed to pick them up from school.  Thankfully, they were able to leave at 3:15 p.m when they were due to leave anyway.  Whew! 

Here is a picture that someone took of a tornado that was spotted in a small town fifteen minutes from us. 

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As of this moment, we are anticipating another storm.  According to the meteorologist, the air is very unstable at this time.  Praying that our weather calms down.  To all of my friends in Texas, please stay safe if you are having serious weather.

Sandra

 

What Do I See?

 

I was driving thru town today when this house caught my eye.  What do I see hanging in the front porch?  Can you see them?  Ok, let’s take a closer look.

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Can you see the pretties now?  Aprons upon aprons hanging on a line there.  I’m assuming that a gal lives here and washed all of her aprons and hung them to dry.  I count ten aprons! :) 

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Oh gosh! I hope she didn’t see me taking pictures!  *smile*

TA TA FOR NOW!

Sandra

 

Thursday, May 13, 2010

A Horse and His Pal.

I was busy doing everything that needed to be done before we sat down for supper.  All of a sudden, one of my twins came running in and says “Mama! Come outside!”  He was so excited to show me that a horse and his pal were about to go by our house.  lol  We live out in the country and it’s not unusual to see horses go by but it still excites my boys. 

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“Can we get a horse someday?” says my son.  Yes, someday we will get one. :)  I love living in the country. 

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Blessings,

Sandra

 

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Sharing my roses….

 

Hi everyone! I hope you are enjoying warmer weather in your area.  

I am linking with Marla with Woo hoo Wednesday 

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and Tootsie with Fertilizer Friday.

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Please visit these lovely blogs.  :)

Woohoo!! My white roses are all blooming!  Oh I wish you could smell these! 

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This one is climbing on an arbor in my Mary Garden. :)  It is more of a coral color.   

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A close-up. :)

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This climber is doing a great job of showing off!

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Take time to smell the roses. :)

TA TA FOR NOW!

Sandra

 

Monday, May 10, 2010

Blessings…….

I hope you are blessed as I was when I read this wonderful story by Beth Moore.  Beth Moore is a wonderful speaker and author of best-selling Bible studies and other books for women  She has written books such as “So Long, Insecurity: You've Been a Bad Friend to Us.” and “Believing God Day by Day: Growing Your Faith All Year Long.”  There are many many more books. 

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On April 20, 2005 at the Knoxville Airport -Waiting to board the plane: I had the Bible on my lap and was very intent upon what I was doing.  I'd had a marvelous morning with the Lord.  I say that because I want to tell you it is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God really working in you.You could end up doing some things you never would have done otherwise.  Life in the Spirit can be dangerous for a thousand reasons not the least of which is your ego...I tried to keep from staring but he was such a strange sight. Humped over in a wheelchair, he was skin and bones, dressed in clothes that obviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier. His knees protruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coat hanger was still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of veins and bones.  The strangest part of him was his hair and nails.  Stringy gray hair hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails were long. Clean, but strangely out of place on an old man.  I looked down at my Bible as fast as I could, discomfort burning my face. As I tried to imagine what his story might have been, I found myself wondering if I'd just had a Howard Hughes sighting.  Then, I remembered that he was dead. So this man in the airport...an impersonator maybe? Was a camera on us somewhere?....There I sat trying to concentrate on the Word to keep from being concerned about a thin slice of humanity served on a wheelchair only a few seats from me.  All the while my heart was growing more and more overwhelmed with a feeling for him.  Let's admit it.  Curiosity is a heap more comfortable than true concern, and suddenly I was awash with aching emotion for this bizarre-looking old man.  I had walked with God long enough to see the handwriting on the wall.  I've learned that when I begin to feel what God feels, something so contrary to my natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen.  And it may be embarrassing.  I immediately began to resist because I could feel God working on my spirit and I started arguing with God in my mind. "Oh no, God please no." I looked up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through it into heaven and said, "Don't make me witness to this man. Not right here and now. Please.  I'll do anything. Put me on the same plane, but don't make me get up here and witness to this man in front of this gawking audience. Please, Lord!"...There I sat in the blue vinyl chair begging His Highness, "Please don't make me witness to ! this man. Not now. I'll do it on the plane." Then I heard it..."I don't want you to witness to him.  I want you to brush his hair." The words were so clear, my heart leapt into my throat, and my thoughts spun like a top.  Do I witness to the man or brush his hair? No brainer. I looked straight back up at the ceiling and said, "God, as I live and breathe, I want you to know I am ready to witness to this man. I'm on this Lord. I'm you're girl!  You've never seen a woman witness to a man faster in your life. What difference does it make if his hair is a mess if he is not redeemed?  I am on him. I am going to witness to this man."Again as clearly as I've ever heard an audible word, God seemed to write this statement across the wall of my mind. "That is not what I said, Beth. I don't want you to witness to him.  I want you to go brush his hair."I looked up at God and quipped, "I don't have a hairbrush. It's in my suitcase on the plane, How am I supposed to brush his hair without a hairbrush?"...God was so insistent that I almost involuntarily began to walk toward him as these thoughts came to me from God's word: "I will thoroughly furnish you unto all good works." (2 Tim 3:17) I stumbled over to the wheelchair thinking I could use one myself.  Even as I retell this story my pulse quickens and I feel those same butterflies.  I knelt down in front of the man, and asked as demurely as possible, "Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?" He looked back at me and said, "What did you say?" "May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?" To which he responded in volume ten, "Little lady, if you expect me to hear you,you're going to have to talk louder than that. At this point, I took a deep breath and blurted out, "SIR, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?" At which point every eye in the place darted right at me.  I was the only thing in the room looking more peculiar than old Mr. Longlocks. Face crimson and forehead breaking out in a sweat, I watched him look up at me with absolute shock on his face, and say, "If you really want to." Are you kidding? Of course I didn't want to.  But God didn't seem interested in my personal preference right about then. He pressed on my heart until I could utter the words, "Yes, sir, I would be pleased.  But I have one little problem. I don't have a hairbrush." "I have one in my bag," he responded. I went around to the back of that wheelchair, and I got on my hands and knees and unzipped the stranger's old carry-on hardly believing what I was doing.  I stood up and started brushing the old man's hair.  It was perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted. I don't do many things well, but I must admit I've had notable experience untangling knotted hair mothering two little girls.  Like I'd done with either Amanda or Melissa in such a condition, I began brushing at the very bottom of the strands, remembering to take my time not to pull.  A miraculous thing happened to me as I started brushing that old man's hair.  Everybody else in the room disappeared.  There was no one alive for those moments except that old man and me. I brushed and I brushed and I brushed until every tangle was out of that hair. I know this sounds so strange but I've never felt that kind of love for another soul in my entire life.  I believe with all my heart, I for that few minutes felt a portion of the very love of God.  That He had overtaken my heart for a little while like someone renting a room and making Himself at home for a short while.  The emotions were so strong and so pure that I knew they had to be God's.  His hair was finally as soft and smooth as an infant's. I slipped the brush back in the bag, went around the chair to face him.  I got back down on my knees, put my hands on his knees, and said, "Sir, do you know my Jesus?"  He said, "Yes, I do." Well, that figures, I thought. He explained, "I've known Him since I married my bride." "She wouldn't marry me until I got to know the Savior." He said,"You see, the problem is, I haven't seen my bride in months.  I've had open-heart surgery, and she's been too ill to come see me.  I was sitting here thinking to myself. What a mess I must be for my bride. "Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when we're completely unaware of the significance. This, on the other hand, was one of those rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in details only He could have known.  It was a God moment, and I'll never forget it.  Our time came to board, and we were not on the same plane.  I was deeply ashamed of how I'd acted earlier and would have been so proud to have accompanied him on that aircraft.  I still had a few minutes, and as I gathered my things to board, the airline hostess returned from the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks.  She said, "That old man's sitting on the plane, sobbing.  Why did you do that? What made you do that?"  I said, "Do you know Jesus? ! He can be the bossiest thing!" And we got to share.  I learned something about God that day.  He knows if you're exhausted because you're hungry, you're serving in the wrong place or it is time to move on but you feel too responsible to budge.  He knows if you're hurting or feeling rejected.  He knows if you're sick or drowning under a wave of temptation.  Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed.  He sees you as an individual. Tell Him your need! I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat, wondering how many opportunities just like that one had I missed along the way...all because I didn't want people to think I was strange.  God didn't send me to that old man.  He sent that old man to me. John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

 

What a story huh?  I truly believe that I was blessed when I read this at http://ourcreativelife.blogspot.com/2010/04/dont-miss-blessing.html

Thank you Father for sending me to read this touching true story. :)

Sandra

 

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Happy Mother’s Day, Mama!

If roses grow in heaven, Lord, pick a bunch for me ~ Place them in my Mother's arms & tell her they're from me ~ Tell her that I love & miss her & when she turns to smile ~place a kiss upon her cheek & hold her for a while ~ Because remembering her is easy~I do it everyday ~ There's an ache within my heart that will never go away. Happy Mother's Day in Heaven, Mama.  Siempre estara en mi corazon, mami. 

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Friday, May 7, 2010

Happy Mother’s Day.

 

I’d like to wish all of the mamas in blogland a Happy Mother’s Day.  May your day be filled with lots of love and laughter. 

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I’m sure my hubby and kiddos will make breakfast for me on Sunday morning. :)  Probably french toast or something easy.  hee hee! 

Thank you for visiting my blog.  I am truly blessed to have such awesome friends.  Thank you!!  You all are the best! 

Blessings,

Sandra

Vinyl Art & Birdies!

After painting our living room in Tobacco Road, I added the ever so popular vinyl art wall decor to this area.  
 That is my hubby’s pride and joy, his huge 65 in television.  
For now, it’ll have to be in the living room until we have a family room.  ha ha!


It says “Bless this Nest”   After I did that, I thought to myself “something is missing”   hmmm??

Tobacco Road, Vinyl Art

So I drew some birds on top of each picture and then painted them in a dark brown.


As you can tell, the paint has not even dried yet but I just had to show you! :)


I think it completes the look! Perfect!

Tobacco Road, Vinyl Art

I’m looking for curtains  for the window so it looks a little bare. *blush*
I’m linking this post to
Between Naps On the Porch – Metamorphosis Monday
Cottage Instincts – Make it for Monday
It’s So Very Cheri – It’s So Very Creative (On Monday)
A Soft Place to Land – Do It Yourself Day
My Frugal Family – Talented Tuesday
Domestically Speaking – Power of Paint (On Wednesday)
I hope everyone is having a great day.
Blessings,
Sandra