Don't think I am weird...

...but I do love to talk about my plants in the spring. I may be weird about it, but each spring with the coming of the blooms and new leaves on things brings much talk about the beauty and what else I would like to have in my yard.

The other thing I discovered this year about spring that I love...are the bees. With the coming of the flowers on the blueberries, azaleas, and rhodies, brings many many working bees. What I love about them is that they don't care a thing about me walking around the plants picking at them. They are busy working and not caring about coming after me. Besides, I love the buzz that comes with their work.

If you don't care about plants, don't look at the other posts done today. And rest assured that I probably won't post about plants again this year!

Our white dogwood...

The first spring we owned this house our white dogwood did not bloom, and I was very disappointed.

Last year, it was beautiful in bloom.

This year, I think, it is just a beautiful. When I was thinking about taking a picture of it, I decided that I would not just snap a picture from a distance. I thought it would be interesting to stand at the trunk and look up. So...that is what I did! I think the pictures turned out pretty cool. I wish that I had photo shop to play around with it, but alas I don't - which is a good thing because then I know a lot of my time would be sucked into playing with pictures, and I do mean SUCKED out of time I already don't have to be playing on the pictures.

I digress back to the point...this dogwood brings me much joy when it is blooming. Maybe next year, you readers can come and visit and see all the wonderful whiteness for yourself. You are always welcome!

Fruits of last year's digging...

I am so pleased with the plants we put in last year!

I loved what we chose last year to put by Molly's bedroom and the stone wall. However, the way things are coming in this year makes me smile even more. There is something to be said for time in the ground and a little love. I think that we chose well, because things seem really "happy" in their dirt. I can't wait to see the blooms on the plants now - we will have some pink and white, along with the already purple blooms (which were prettier a week ago! )

Lilacs...

I like lilac trees, but have never thought of them much otherwise.

However now that I have a couple of them in my backyard, every spring they elicit a memory for me that I love.

My Oma LOVED lilacs. She and my Opa had a couple trees in their backyard. I remember every spring when they were blooming she would go out back every day and "pick" new blossoms for the house. She would always have me smell them. I thought she was a bit odd to go out there everyday - of course, this was before my being a homeowner.

Today, I "pick" some for my house to bring some spring smell inside. Now that Oma is gone, it is one of those "sweet" memories that I will always carry with me each spring.

The orthodontist...

Today we visited a second orthodontist for Jack, and are now more confused than ever. We came home, and I immediately called a third orthodontist for yet another appointment. The two we visited were great and we liked them both, however, they were on COMPLETELY different pages as to when to start treatment and how likely the treatment would work. I think that Kyle and I liked the second one better, but of course, he is quite a bit more in price.

So in true parent style (trying to do what is best for your child) we are going to visit another orthodontist and compare what he says before we make the decision.

On a side note - while we were at the orthodontist today, he was more than willing to offer advice on how he could correct my teeth as well as Jack's. He was polite and tactful about it, but I had to laugh to myself at the thought of correcting my teeth while paying for his teeth, and then when we are done with his we will most likely be looking at starting with Molly - when will Kyle get to participate in all the fun!

Here's to teeth - do they really need to be straight and perfect?

Molly's dress...

I wanted to get a picture of Molly in her new Easter dress for Grammy and Granma to see, and this is what she gave me! True pictures of Molly Clark Parker and ALL of her personality, which there is a lot of! We love her so.

An easter "couple"...

This is what Jack and Molly really wanted to do in front of the camera, but I tried really hard to get a good Easter photo for memories. What follows are my results...

I think this is a really funny picture of the two of them for two reasons... 1. Molly looks so serious - without a smile at all, 2. Jack has the "typical" head tilt that so many photographers tell you do it and no one knows why because when you look at the picture later in life it looks so very posed and silly!

Here is another picture of what they really wanted to do at home while I was MAKING them pose for the pictures.

A decent picture of them both - at least you can see they love each other with the arms around one another!

Smiles!

I had grand hopes of a family picture, but of course the day got away and it was forgotten and/or there was never a good time. I am going to try and get one when some of the flowers pop open, which looks like it will be soon! Kyle and I really do exist but I figure most people looking at the blog would rather see the kids than Kyle and myself. We don't change so much!

Yeah, yeah, yeah...

The other day I had had it. There is something about the word "yeah" in response to questions that irks me. I have been noticing that all four of the Parkers had been using it alot, so I thought to myself how can we combat its use in our talking. Well...pushups! Yes, pushups. I told Jack and Molly that every time they used the word "yeah" they would have to do FIVE pushups! What a mean mom and dad!! They looked at us in amazement, and a little bit perplexed. Then I realized they did not really know what a pushup was, so Kyle proceeded to have them get down on the floor and attempt to show/explain a pushup. Many minutes and much laughter went by, and we decided that a situp would be better suited to our six and four year olds gross motor skills!!

So it was settled, and everyone - including Kyle and me - knew the consequences of using THE WORD!! Three days have passed, and what sounded like a good idea has not accomplished my goal. THE WORD is still used quite a lot, and there is way too much joy in doing the situps. I thought the kids would hate to do the situps, but instead they see it as a way of doing exercises - which is a good thing that I am not discouraging! Molly has more than once done situps with Jack even though she has not been caught using THE WORD!! By the way, we discovered that five situps for Molly was a lot and a little unfair to think that she needed to do the same as her brother two years older, so we changed hers to only three situps each time she uses THE WORD.

Today while we were out on some errands, I think the count for situps was 18 for Molly, 25 for Jack, 35 for Kyle, and I had to do 20!! I guess the only good thing about my idea is that we are going to have a family with really strong abs. Kyle and I are rethinking what might work better to get rid of us using THE WORD. If we find something that works better later, I will let you all know.

Some friends to join us on the hunt...

Camille enjoying some chocolate!

Noah on the hunt!

Naomi and Molly investigating what they had to eat!

JT helping Camille get some of her chocolate!

TJ quietly unwrapping a chocolate egg all by himself!

The start of the hunt - the boys are off!

Our little easter egg hunt...

Molly deep in the throws of finding an egg!

Jack searching for an egg that he was told was over there, but having a little trouble finding it!

Jack enjoying the spoils of his trouble!

Molly proud to carry her candy around!

My two wonderful kids who so joyfully sat long enough for me to snap this picture!

We had our "annual" easter egg hunt at the house this morning. We have had a LOT of rain this week, so I was not hopeful that we were going to be able to go outside for the hunt. BUT, the kids were able to run around outside in the very wet and muddy grass to find all the eggs. Yeah! The hunt was over in a blink of the eye, and the kids were excited to eat some candy. We then enjoyed lunch, and now the kids are sleeping. We are ready for tomorrow's Easter service at church which will start off with a fabulous brunch. Look for some easter pictures to come - I am hoping for a family picture but we will see since it is a Sunday (work day) afterall!