Snowballs and My Weekend Warriors

We had the most beautiful weather this past weekend!

Jackson got in lots of outside play time.

Jackson would stay outside from sun up to sun down.

He was finally able to get his gator our and ride it around the yard

and Austin walked right with him in case he needed a little boost.

The shoes were off and he was ready to play...

He had so much fun running and climbing all over the yard.

We laughed because it seemed like the grass was turning green

right before our eyes.

My Azalea bush is getting ready to bloom.

Lots and lots of little pink blooms  ready to burst.

I noticed the other day that some of the azalea's in town 

have already bloomed and started to fade already.

I think the groundhog was wrong this year...

we have definitely had a mild winter and spring

has made an early arrival.

Scott worked on his lawnmower this weekend

getting ready for his other full time job of the summer...

the yard!

He bought a spray tank this week to add to his lawn care

arsenal and worked this weekend to attach it to his lawnmower.

I laughed a little, because he really would like to have one of those

zero-turn lawnmowers but can't justify spending the money

unless something happens to his mower.

And even when it did break down, he worked to fix it

instead...still can't spend the money.

I told him now that he made this neat little attachment

for his spray tank, the mower would die,

he would finally give in and buy a new mower,

and have to build something else to make it work.

(He gave me a dirty look)

But now he is all ready to spray the weeds and 

get some fertilizer out!

Another one of Scott's weekend projects was

to fix the downspout between the 

garages.  When it would rain, the water would

shoot out of the middle of the downspout,

so,  Scott spent the morning digging it our and

re-routing the drain.  He also dug out a tree

root that had been in the flower bed.

Last spring, our only tree was snapped off at the base

when a big storm came through and we had not put anything

back in it's place.

I decided that I would like to have a snowball

bush in the yard and this seemed like a good place

to put one.  I can't wait for it to grow larger and 

"hide" the downstairs garage from the street.

All planted, filled in and mulched up.

Now waiting for it to grow, grow, grow

so I can use some of the big beautiful blooms around the house.

I do not have a green thumb, but every spring I get the 

urge to go and buy lots and lots of flowers and plants

and put them everywhere...

I think our snowball bush is a great start.

Hope you were able to get out and enjoy some 

sunshine where you are this weekend...

What a Beautiful Day!!!

It was amazing outside today!

This entire week actually.

We have been enjoying the sunshine around here

and have to confess that the air conditioner has

already been turned on...

Tuesday night it was 80 degrees in the house...

I couldn't handle it anymore!

Our grass has already started to turn green...

can't wait for the entire lawn to come in.

Our grass is so soft and is like walking on 

green carpet...can't wait to play in the yard with

the kids in bear feet as the sun sets on a long summer day!

Our little hosta's are peeking their little heads out.

I have a feeling that they need to be split this year.

Last year they were massive 

and this year they are coming up like gangbusters!

We chased airplanes across the bright blue sky and 

talked about when we get to ride our

airplane this summer...

I sure hope Jackson still loves airplanes when we have

to make our trip...the thought of 10 hours with him on a plane...

unhappy....scares me a little!

Of course, we also have the other joys of Spring

around as well.  The pine trees in our neighbors yard

look like they have oranges hanging on them,

but it is just pollen...lots and lots of pollen...

A-A-AH-CHOO!!!

But it did not stop us from playing outside today.

It was about 83 degrees out today and the sun was 

shining bright!

I heard something behind the house and looked out to see

some action going on at Joe and Deborah's lot.

We went out to meet Caroline and see what was up.

Large equipment has started moving in

and Jackson was soooo excited to see all of the big

trucks and the bulldozer!

Lots of dirt came in and Jackson really wanted to run

over and climb on that giant pile of dirt!

But as soon as one load was dropped, they were right there

to smooth it our.  We watched 3 of the 4 loads and Jackson

was just as happy as a clam!

We sat and watched most of the action from the back porch

as we enjoyed some lemonade.

I tried to get him to look at me and smile

and this is what I wound up with!

He looked at me and as I said "Smile"

he replied "no"

He's such a boy!

Well, did you get outside and enjoy the warm

sunshine today?

I sure hope it was shining on you!

Hopping on into Spring

Hop on in...

we are glad you are here.

Things have been hopping around here this week.

We have a visiting preacher this week at Church

and have been out every night this week.

He has been a wonderful speaker and we

have truly enjoyed hearing his lessons.

But, being out every night has meant

eating out every night, so my little table has

not been set very much.

As we get ready to "Spring Forward" this weekend

I thought I would do another "spring" themed table.

Not much has changed...

but I have added a few things from around the house.

The little bunny planter hopped off my kitchen cabinets where

he usually resides to add a fun little to the table

I had found these candle holders at the end of the summer

last year on clearance.  I love the wavy glass and can not wait

to use them on the porch this summer.

I used my same white dishes ...

and my square handled wicker place mats...

I added these cute little bunny salad plates for a touch of 

green.  I love the little bunny in the middle.

My little bunny peeking around the plates to say "hello".

This little bunny has a funny little story that goes with him.

I have been know to be a little selfish from time to time...

especially when it comes to my Mother...

and possibly a former sister-in-law.

My brother had just gotten married not long before my 

 Daddy's Mother passed away.  When she passed away,

my Momma and Daddy packed all of her things up and brought them home.  

 I was still in college and we both were eager to look through the things and keep

a few...I however was not pleased with the fact that

"she" was going through "MY" Grandmother's things...

not my proudest moment...

So, on one weekend when my brother had been home looking through

the many boxes, this little bunny planter popped up.

His wife was a big fan of bunnies and just fell in love...

wrote on the outside of the box that she wanted the white bunny inside.

I don't know why she did not go ahead an take it then...

'cause when I read that note, I thought

"I don't think so..."

Needless to say...the bunny came home with me...

Now, my Momma and I have a little laugh over the bunny

and she tells me that she's glad I was a selfish...

"she" didn't stay around very long, but we are glad

that my Grandmother's bunny did...

I think he looks pretty cute sitting in the middle of the table.

I grabbed some pale green napkins tried

a quick little napkin fold...

I'm sure they would look better if 

I had used an iron on them,

but then I would have...well...

had to actually pull out the iron.

Not my favorite thing to do.

You can see step by step how to fold your napkin like this

and many other creative ways at

Between Naps on the Porch

She has all of her tablescapes posted here

and there are many different tutorials on napkin folding

there as well.  Here is how I folded the napkin above.

Susan's Napkin Fold Tutorial

Thanks for Hopping by to see what we have been up to.

We are ready to hop on into the weekend and get a few 

things crossed off the  Spring Cleaning list.

It seems to be growing every day.

Hop on over to 

Susan's

and see all of the other lovely tablescapes this week.

Marches In Like a Lion...

The other day I mentioned our unseasonably

warm temperatures....

thinking it would turn cold and we would have 

a big snow storm in March or something.

Well, we had the something...

This photo was taken from the fire station that is

about a 1/2 mile north of my house.

This Tornado hit near my house...

Four streets away...

Waaaaay too close for comfort!

Friday morning the weather men were telling us that  

we were going to have storms later in the afternoon.

Children would be home from school 

and they were keeping an eye on things...

We were going about our day as usual,
Jackson and I were at home, watching his morning cartoons.

  Austin called from school around 8:30

and said he really needed me to bring him something that he

needed for Science class that day.

I told him I would be happy to and asked him what time he needed

it by...he said as long as I got there before 10 he would be OK.

I explained that there was a "little thunderstorm" headed our way

and after that it would be clear and I would bring him the things he 

needed.  I told him I just didn't want to have to drag Jackson out in the poring 

down rain.  As soon as it passed. we would be on our way.

Well....

I jumped in and out of the shower and thought

I would at least try and make myself presentable

since I would have to walk into the office...

So, I took my shower and started to get ready...
put my shoes on and got Jackson dressed.

I told Jackson as soon as the rain stopped,
we were going to school for a minute to take something
to Austin.  Jackson was excited...he loves to go and visit the
ladies in the office.

I was a little on edge because of the Tornado outbreak we had
last April, so I knew to be weather aware...later that afternoon...
but for some reason I decided I would check the radar one more
time before we headed up to school.

Let me stop and tell you that
we have the best weather men around!
When the weather is "unstable" they are constantly popping in
on the TV and giving us updates...
they are awesome about posting updates to Facebook,
and we also keep a NOAA weather radio plugged in at all times.
Our weather men have programs that can stack the storms and can tell us
specific times that the storms will get to our neighborhood and even have
maps of the area and can tell us street by street if necessary where
a storm is going.  When I logged on to check that last time,
the weather man was "watching a spot of possible rotation" on the radar.
As the radar would sweep around, the spot would be there and then it would
be gone...next sweep it would be back...then gone again.

I decided that I would go and look out Jackson's window to see
what the clouds were doing.  Not that I would have any idea
what I was looking at, I thought I would look just the same.

As I sat there and watched I noticed the rain start to curve as it came down to the
ground...and the clouds began to spin...and drop down....
I thought to myself "is that what I think it is"
and before the thought went through my mind, it was gone...

And then it came back....
I didn't wait around to see if that was
what I thought it was.

I ran back to my room where Jackson was,
scooped him under one arm and yanked the computer out
of the wall and started to run.

About the time I hit the top of the stairs,
the power went out.

I have never run down those stairs faster
in my life!

We jumped into the storm shelter and waited for a few minutes
to let the storm pass by.

While sitting there trying not to completely FREAK OUT
holding Jackson I realized I had no flashlight,
no phone and a computer that no longer worked because
as soon as the power goes off...so does my router!

I peeked out of the door and saw that it was not raining
and the sun had started to come out, so I ran upstairs
to grab my cell phone and a flashlight,

About the time that I got back downstairs,
Leisa called me...
I think our conversation went a little like this...

Leisa:  "Um, What was THAT?"

Me:  "THAT was a TORNADO!!!!!!"

Leisa:  "But we are not under a Warning, not even a Watch...
I thought it was the garbage truck...and then the house started to whistle"
(looks out front window)
"Oh no, my neighbors have no roof....there are no roofs"

TOTAL FREAK OUT BEGINS!!!!

As I sat there in the dark, with no way of knowing what was next,
I have never been more scared or felt more helpless in my life.

All I wanted was to go and get Austin from school.
I had no idea if more was coming or if were were in the clear...
what to do, what to do...

About this time in my thought process, Scott called...
He was beginning to hear reports at work and called to check on us.
He was able to look up the radar and said there was another
storm coming, after that, go get Austin...

Meanwhile, Leisa is trying to get out of her garage to come to my house
to hang out underground, but can not get the garage door open.
With no power, the garage door openers had to be disengaged and lift the
door up on your own.  She could not get the door open by herself so off
to the closet she went to ride out the next storm.

When it was clear, I loaded up Jackson and headed to her house to pick her up,
and then on to school to pick up Austin.

I was able to get my garage door open,
but tore it up in the process,
not to mention that I almost took off the lower section,
because I didn't get it raised up completely and the luggage rack on
top stared to take it with us...
luckily I stopped in time to NOT take the door with me.

The photo below is of a house in the Canebreak Subdivision.
The house you see that back of, that is still standing...
that is Leisa's neighbor...
it was that close to her house and she had no idea
what was going on...
We were under a Sever Thunderstorm Warning...
but this Tornado came without warning...




There were about 15-20 homes in this subdivision that were damaged
and this storm went on to travel across Limestone County
and into Madison County and then out of the state.

We were under Tornado Watches and Warnings until
around 10 o'clock last night...

Luckily, no more storms came this close to our house.
We are very thankful that the only loss was material.
No one lost their life in our area on Friday.

There were so many horrific storms this last week
that have destroyed so much property
and have taken so many lives...

So many are hurting,
so many full of sorrow...

Praying this month Marches out like a Lamb....