BUSY Time of Year

Does Spring seem like one of the busiest times of the year to anyone else?  Our weeks have felt crammed full!  We did manage to get ready for the Easter bunny to hide eggs for the grandloves.

I'm so looking so forward to seeing all those Little Loves!

In last week's frenzy, we had THREE birthday celebrations...  Including one for this precious Little, who has the most tender, joyful, loving and grateful heart.  I adore Karsyn and her sweet spirit.  She graduated to the double digits this year! 

We will be heading to Ft. Worth this evening to make Grandparents' Day at the Little Men's school tomorrow!  Then, turn around and head back home!  Whirlwind March!

In East Texas, we are SURROUNDED by beauty this time of year!  And, pollen.  There is a yellow/green haze on EVERYTHING!  Ha!  Thankfully, to make that bearable, everywhere you look new life is pushing forth!  Our azaleas are poised to POP and I think they will make it by Easter morning.  The little Japanese Maple is budding.  My hydrangeas are leafing out.  Color abounds along with that pollen!  It is spectacular!

With our March madness, I managed to get all the tax stuff together last week.  Have I ever mentioned I HATE doing that?!?!?  Well, I do.  Pretty much a week of my life I will never get back.  I even got up at 1:30 one morning to work on it.  Arrrrgggghhhh...

And, finally... a simple, repetitive task that has kept me sane in the frenzy... Little squares while spending a precious few evenings in front of the TV with My Beloved.  Everybody needs a little down time.  ;)

Well, I've got to get busy!  Stuff to be done.

Wishing you all beautiful spring days filled with productiveness... Ha!

blessings ~ tanna

SPRING Break!

This week found me making early morning drives...

To gather a herd of Little Loves...

For a few adventures including a visit to Caldwell Zoo...

So many years I've taken Loves to this great little zoo... 

It was free when I took Amanda and Zack... beginning almost four decades ago... what a wonderful blessing to young families by the Caldwell family back then.  When the older Caldwells passed away, the younger generation started charging for admission.  Though it's still a great place to visit, every time I go, I remember all the years I could bring my children for free.  It is truly amazing that the senior Caldwells made such a GIFT to their community of this zoo.  I was very thankful then and I still am.

Caldwell Zoo always makes for a fun family outing...  Our Littles LOVE following their MAPS and checking off all the animals, birds and reptiles.

I don't think we've ever passed this spot without needing a photo!  It's just beyond a beautiful pair of white tigers.  The day was sunny and cool, so almost all the animals were stretched out sunning themselves.  Not much activity!  Just napping.  Ha!  This Noni was ready for a nap when the day was done!

I'm running behind on my blog visiting... I promise to catch up soon!  I'm "making hay while I can" as the old farmers say!  Hope all of you are having a wonderful SPRING break!! 

blessings ~ tanna

Blessings and Basketball

The older I get, the more I realize just how much of a blessing good health is.  We tend to take it for granted until our fragility rears its head.   We had a bit of a health scare with Amanda recently.  Over the past year, her hearing had become so impaired she finally conceded to a hearing aid.  Then, over the past months, her vision in one eye had blurred markedly and she had developed a constant sense of pressure behind her eye.  With both her hearing and eyesight issues, we began to have concerns of something even more serious than hearing and vision loss. 

Finally, after a battery of tests, we have taken a deep breath.  She has been cleared of tumor or neurological disease.  Still, the stark and fresh realization of our fragility leaves me shaken.  Also, My Beloved has been suffering with a bout of cluster headaches.   Oh, the blessing of good health.  Not to be taken for granted.

Last weekend, we enjoyed a short visit to Ft. Worth and took in the Water Gardens with the Little Men & Co.  It reminded me of a concrete jungle of sorts.

While the waterfall went DOWN, the mountain went UP!

I can't imagine how many gallons of water flow through this place in an hour!

Any day is made better sharing it with these two!

And, we were able to attend their last basketball games of the season!  So fun to get to see them play!

And, this little smarty pants (6 years old) runs the scoreboard for his big brother's team after enjoying a win on his own team! Ha! 

Their Daddy, Jerry, coached Andrew's team and is always encouraging and leading these boys in such a wonderful way.  I feel so blessed to have him as father to my grandchildren and husband to my daughter.

And, this one... well, our visit was good for all the usual reasons of loving to spend time with this precious family, but most of all... this mother (me) just needed to see and touch and hold her own child and thank God for her... and for her health. 

I am so thankful.

blessings ~ tanna