BEAUTY IN BLOOM

As you look around our yard you see flowers in full bloom. The hanging basket above is a geranium that has so many blooms until I'm afraid they are about to break. It hangs between two pots of white petunias.

This is one of the beds at the corner of the pool area. It has just an assortment of flowers. The red ones above have been transplanted several times and originally came from my mother's yard.

I believe the white petunias might be my favorite right now. They are loaded with blooms and will continue throughout the summer as long as I pull the dead blooms off daily. I've always had colored petunias but love the white ones. These baskets are hanging on my side porch by the pool. It's nice to see all the beautiful colors as all of my flowers are blooming now.

TODAY

Today was a beautiful day and this is what you found us doing after the boys got home from school. There was no baseball games tonight so all three headed over to our house and we had a great time. Griffin is about to do a cannonball, but my camera skills are not too good. As you can tell I snapped the picture too quickly.

I did much better taking this one of Keith. Maybe it's because he jumped higher in the air.

I got Zack just as he was hitting the water. Granddaddy & Gigi had a good time with the boys in the pool. I already know that we will spend most of our time this summer right here.

MOTHER'S DAY

Sunday is Mother's Day......such a special day. I remember 1996 and dreading this day. It was the first Mother's Day without my mother. It was so difficult sitting in church that day knowing that there would not be a visit that afternoon with my mother. When I sat down after praise and worship there was a card on top of my Bible from a sweet lady in church. It just said that she was thinking about me today. Hope she knows what that meant to me. Mother's Day is much easier for me now. Sure I still miss my sweet mother so much. There are days when I want to pick up the phone and talk to her and almost find myself reaching for the phone. Then I am reminded that she is in a much better place. I am so thankful for precious memories and the things she taught me. I am also very grateful for the gift of my children. Being a mother has definitely been the greatest joy in the world. I thank God for my children and grandchildren. Mother's Day is a time that I can now celebrate having a daughter AND daughter-in-law who are wonderful mothers. These two have given me six precious grandchildren. I will be wishing both of these young mothers a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY. I love you both...... Amy (my daughter) and Amy (my daughter-in-law).

I'M ADDICTED

I have an addiction....just got hooked this week.....I'm going to blame my daughter.....It's her fault......She took me with her on a trip last Saturday night.....That's all it took.....I've been hooked ever since. I've tried couponing before but was never organized enough I guess. I also couldn't see any good in buying an item I didn't use.....that is...until last Saturday night. She educated me on Walgreen's and CVS sales and their reward bucks. That was either a mistake....or the best thing that could have happened. I have spent this week searching for coupons and visiting other blogs that are experts at shopping at these two stores. In fact, some will even give you exactly what to buy and what coupons to use. You have to know that you can't buy it all in one transaction to get the most "bucks" back. Patience is necessary in this addiction....but it does pay off. I have been to CVS & Walgreens a couple of times this week and never spent much out of pocket. Today I visited Walgreens and CVS and got all the items pictured above. My out of pocket cost was $12.38 and I got $9.00 back in Reward Bucks to spend at Walgreens. I am so excited. It's so much fun looking for ways to save!

READY TO SWIM

We are ALMOST finished with our pool house and I can hardly wait to get in the pool. It was such a pretty day today, and I was so tempted to get in but the water is still just a little too cold for me. My husband and son-in-law have the pool house within days of completion. All we really like is plug covers and the bathroom fixtures to be installed. I have a feeling we will spend most of the summer right here.

This is our view from under the pool house.

If you notice you will see my cat has already claimed his spot. Two of our grandsons have already been been swimming. I think we will be joining them in a week or so!

SWEET WEEKEND

We had a SWEET weekend. We spent Thursday, Friday, and some of Saturday with our son and his family in Louisiana. While there we saw several places that was selling strawberries and decided to buy some on our way home. They had the car smelling like berries by the time we got home. After eating a few/many and making a delicious strawberry cobbler, I made 12 jars of strawberry jam.

It was indeed a sweet visit.....not only the delicious strawberries, but loving on three precious little girls.

THINGS I LOVE ABOUT SPRING

........Planting Flowers

........Longer Days

........Warmer Days

........Flip Flops

........Irises

........Having my windows open

........Dogwoods blooming

........Smell of freshly mowed grass

.......Grilling & Eating outside

........Hummingbirds

........Ferns hanging on my porch

What do you like best about spring????