While Taking a Break

Why is it that while I was taking a break from blogging, I still wrote numerous posts?  Only these posts were just thoughts in my head, never making it to the blog.  When something funny, thought provoking, or whimsical would happen, I would comprise a post.  Working out the words, I mentally pictured photographs to add.   Alas, since I was on a break, all those wonderful, and not so wonderful, untyped words have been forgotten.  However, I still wanted to share some of what has been happening.  So, today, I condensed and compiled the remembered subjects into this single post...


1.  While leaving the house one day, we found this:

a bird's nest on top our front porch light!  I am hoping this is by no means a reflection of the 'wildness' of our front and back yard...but it may just be.  I am slightly embarrassed to admit this,... but I spent a few hours in the front flower beds one day 'spring cleaning' (weeding and cutting away winter damage).  Hours of work in a yard measured in feet not acres...

2.  Our three oldest children's soccer games were canceled, and so we traveled to the art museum to view the exhibits on Armor & Arms and art from the Middle Ages as we have been studying this time period in history.   Many beautiful tapestries, paintings, and wood carvings were on display.

This time, due to the rain, we opted to park behind the museum, and thus missed climbing the famed Rocky Steps, a personal favorite of mine.  Perhaps our next visit...I still want to get our picture with the Rocky statue...


3.  While getting ready for Easter service my husband found his suit pants no longer fit.  He wears a suit only occasionally, and thus we had assumed the suit still fit.  "Do these look bad?" he asked me.  Glancing down, I notice his belt cinching about two extra inches of fabric...the pants were too big.  "Did you lose weight?" I ask him.  Nonchalantly, he replies, "I guess, but I wasn't trying."  {uh, huh, nice...but I can't relate}


4.  After a beautiful worship service, we returned home to release the butterflies we have observed since the caterpillar stage ~ a wonderful reminder of the marvels of God's creation.

5.  For Easter dinner, we traveled to my parents home.  Afterwards, we had our annual egg hunt. 

As the children have gotten older, we have hoped to keep it fun for all, and so a few years ago added camouflage eggs to the mix to add a bit of challenge for the older ones.  Each year since we added those camouflage eggs, one egg remains not found.  This year, we simply could not remember where all 143 eggs were hidden.  We did, however, find the missing egg from last year...quite tattered and empty...


6.  A trip to a local garden {the same one that we visited to see the orchid display} proved to be another photographic delight for myself and our camera toting children.  Since our last visit, the outdoor areas have opened, and we enjoyed walking the garden paths and climbing into the tree houses and tower.  In December, we learned that it was actually cheaper to buy a family membership with a coupon discount than to pay for one individual day for all of us {weird, I know}  Since then, we have visited multiple times, and look forward to another visit in early summertime.


7.  A few days ago, when I went to the back yard to check on the hosta bed, I was surprised to see another bird nest.  {This one is inside the junipers.}  A robin was sitting on her eggs, and wildly peering back at me.  Startled, I quickly rose and bumped my head on a tree branch.  I looked up and noticed the flowers.

Five years we have lived in this home.  Five springs have come and passed.  In those five years, I have never noticed the tiny yellow flowers on this tree.

Marveling at their beauty, I began to wonder what else in my life I keep missing... what else, good or bad, do I need to be startled, or 'hit on the head', to notice...and I pray...



Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Psalm 25:4-5 ESV