An Ever Changing View

As a little girl, I can remember that one of my favorite things to do was watch the clouds.  I would see dogs, horses, whales, giants, all sorts of images.  It didn’t matter if we were driving down the road or I was laying in the fresh, green grass, I always found pictures in the sky.  Then just when you spot something, it changes.  So dynamic.  I still love to cloud watch with my guys.  This is what we found this week…

You have to get good and comfortable…  Relax…  Let your mind drift and imagine.

Are you ready??????

  Check out the whale’s tail.  Ready to make a splash in the sky.

 Then there was this dark cloud.  Grumpy old man.  He needs to cheer up.

There are some days that just are not good for finding cloud shapes.  But nonetheless you still need to keep a close watch on these skies too. 

You might see some lightening, or end up spying a rainbow.

You might catch a crop duster buzzing by.  My guys are always excited about catching a glimpse of these in our backyard skies.

Sometimes, you might just enjoy a view of some beautiful, fluffy, white clouds.

Take a minute or thirty and just sit back and enjoy the ever changing view in the sky around you.

 

This week the theme for you capture at I Should Be Folding Laundry is Sky.  I am sure it will be awesome to see everyone’s sky pics.  Check it out when you have a spare moment.

Springtime Shots in our Backyard

In the months of looking at many blogs trying to get a feel for what is out there and what I want to do here, I have come across a few neat weekly theme posts.  I have been thinking I need participate in a few of these “blog carnivals” or “blog hops” sometime.  One that I have really enjoyed looking at is at I Should Be Folding Laundry--You Capture.  You capture is a weekly challenge/assignment where folks jump in and post links to their blogs showing what they capture for the theme through their own camera lens.  This week I decided to finally take the plunge and jump in myself!  This week’s You Capture theme is Depth of Field.  I have a few favorite images from this spring that fit perfectly into this challenge.  Hope you enjoy them too!

This first set of pics were taken when the boys and I headed out back one afternoon in early April.  It was a beautiful day.  They guys all had a blast.  TanMan loved getting to put his new walking skills to work.  Great fun was had by all.

The second set of pictures were taken around our backyard.  A dogwood blossom.  Newly emerging sassafras leaves.  A single redbud bloom.  I think I need to print this one and put it up on the wall somewhere!

When you are done here head on over and take a look at more you capture images.  You might be inspired to jump in yourself.

“Big” Surprise…

Oh, a too cool opportunity came up last night!!!  I never check my email around supper time.  Usually I look at it in the afternoon or late evening.  Last night, for some unknown reason, I got online right as we finished up dinner.  I was showing Ross the pictures that I put in the berry picking post.  I had a message from a friend that if we had the evening open, we should come see the _____________________________ that she had at her place.  (I can’t tell you yet or it won’t be a surprise for you now.)

So we loaded up the boys and headed out.  It takes about 15 minutes to get there, and the boys were excited to be on the go at the spur of the moment.  (I am not usually crazy about such impromptu stuff, but it is becoming a habit lately.)  Anyway, this is what we saw in her driveway when we arrived!

 

Oh My Gosh!  We were going to see the Budweiser Clydesdales up very close and personal.  Marshia has a horse farm and offers overnight boarding to folks traveling through the area, and this day she just happened to have 10 of the Budweiser Clydesdales and the 3 semis that haul them at her place.  One of the guys that travels with the team just happened to be out feeding while we were there too.  Never dreamed I would ever get to do this.  I have seen the Clydesdales a few times before, but never up this close!  I am still excited and maybe a little giddy about it myself.  Thank you again, Marshia!!!!

            

Meet Elite.  He is one of the two lead horses for the team that travels out of St. Louis.  He stood about 6 feet tall at the shoulders.  The top of his head was about 8 feet up in the air!!!!  WOW!  We got to walk in the stall with him and pet him for a minute.  That is also the Budweiser Dalmatian that rides up on the wagon.  He hung around for a few minutes too.  Then the guy, Tony, that was feeding came over to see how things were going.  He asked if we would like to have Elite brought out for some more pictures.  “Sure.  That would be great,” I replied in a hurry.  Never did I ever dream that he would hand the lead to me and walk across the barn isle.  WOW! (I think I might have said that already.)  A Big Thank You to Tony!!!!

          

These guys are huge!  Gianormous! Absolutely awesome!  They make our neighbors big percherons seem small in comparison, and Linny and Jordan are no where near being small, they are big draft horses too.  Riley was awed by this gentle giant.  Elite seemed to love the attention too.  He nuzzled all of us.  It is awesome to have a giant Clydesdale nose right up next to you.  What an incredible experience.  Look at Elite’s head.  It is almost as long as my 6 year old is tall!  Whoa! 

Tan Man got a big kick out of trying to offer Elite some hay.  He just walked right up to the horse with handfuls of hay and said “Hi, Hi, Hi.”  He loved getting to help hold the lead for a while too.  He didn’t care that this guy towered over him! 

We will definitely remember this adventure for a llllloooonnnnggggg time! 

An Impromptu Adventure

Saturday we had an exciting afternoon.  Totally unplanned…  Here is a little hint as to what we did.  Any guesses?  What a mess, huh?  Not sure if the shirt will ever clean up.

The boy did come clean.  He was sure a mess for a little bit though.  Have you figured it out yet?

When we left the house, the boys had no idea what we were going to do.  All they knew is that we were going someplace while their dad spent a couple of hours mowing.  It drove Riley crazy not knowing.  He guessed and guessed and guessed.  I finally gave enough hints on our drive that he figured it out.  We had a great time going to the Strawberry Patch to pick some berries. 

The boys had a blast and were hard workers.  Riley couldn’t wait to get started.  In no time he had figured out what the perfect strawberry was.  He went right to work and hardly stopped until the buckets were filled.

       

                       

At the beginning the lady said to let them eat as much as they wanted too.  Not Riley’s thing.  He wanted no part of eating the berries.  Braden was not shy about trying them out.  He would pick one or two and then take a break to eat a couple.

Tanner gobbled one strawberry up.  Appeared to love it.  Then wanted no more.  He was done.  =)  He just watched his brothers.  Guess he really wanted out to pick his own too.  I was not ready for that!  One messy shirt was enough for one day with only 2 grown up hands around.

This first picture shows a typical scene while we were at the patch.  TanMan watched from his perch in the stroller, Braden watched while stuffing a strawberry in his mouth, and Riley worked hard picking the perfect berries.  See that huge one that he found!  It filled up his hand!  Mmmm, it was yummy! 

                     

  With Buckets full, it was time to head on back to the house.

Happy Picking!  See ya next time!

Ahoy, me Hearties!

 

Early Morning Fly By

What an awesome start to the day.  As you might know by now, my guys ALL really, really, really love all things motorized.  They will drop whatever they are doing to look at that motorcycle zooming down the road, listen to the tractors in the field, watch daddy on the mower out the window…  Whatever it is, they stop and intently watch.  This morning was no different. 

Ross came in and said, “Guys, come out here for a minute and look at something.”  Of course I am not going to be left out.  I have to keep up too.  Wish I would have grabbed my camera when I first went out the door.  How was I to know that we weren’t looking at the cute giant white bunny munching on the grass out by the pool?  Who would have guessed at 7:15 in the morning we would see this…

The crop dusters were all out working early this morning!  Right before the “yellow plane” sprayed this field just past our property line, the “white plane” was in a field right across the road.  Then the second “yellow plane” came in to finish up this field too.  Cool, huh?

Now seeing crop dusters at work around here is not unusual at all.  In fact, we drive past one of the hangers each time we go to town.  They fly over the house almost daily traveling from field to field or banking and turning to make a pass over a nearby field.  But to see them at eye level just a few dozen feet away was sooo awesome!  Braden has been warped all day.  Every toy he picks up becomes a crop duster.  Riley had to be pried away when his ride to school pulled up.  Tanner was perfectly content to stand on the deck and point up at the sky looking for the planes to come by again.

See anything exciting in your view of the sky lately?

She’s growing!

Nova will be 3 months old this week!  Seems like she has been a part of our family forever…  Critters tend to do that here.  They wiggle their way right into our hearts.  Make you forget what it was like before they arrived.  They are members of the family!  That might be why we have dwindled our critter numbers down to one.  No more rabbits, cows, goats, chickens, turkeys, kitties, fish, or anything else.  At least not right now.  I am sure one day more critters will inhabit our property again…  Not until boys are bigger and can help with the chores involved!

Anyway… Nova is growing…  You might remember that cute, wrinkly puppy from a few weeks ago. See those adorable wrinkles again here.   Now, just a few short weeks later, she is looking a lot more like a teenager puppy.And acting a lot more like a teenager puppy…  Is this a preview of what my 3 boys are going to be down the road?  I know it won’t be the same.  After all they are NOT labradors, but…  Loving family, selective hearing, gallivanting, hunting, sad eyes to say sorry…  Hmm…  What do you think?