Water + Bubbles = Fun

What is it about water that is so appealing to children? Take one little boy, fill up a small bucket with water, put some toys in the water and you have a magic formula that entertains for quite a while.

Needless to say, most of the water escapes the bucket (with the little boy's help) and the boy is wearing most of the water. But he is having a "boat load" of fun!

And...bubbles! What is it about bubbles that is so intriguing to children? They can be entertained for a very long time with a bottle of bubbles and a bubble wand. 'Course, they want to try to blow the bubbles themselves as well, although they don't quite have the ability to do so. But it's fun to watch them try and to watch them explore.

Children are a joy to watch, to observe them as they process new discoveries and learn the consequences of choices. Sometimes it's hard to let them go through some of the experiences and trials that we know will hurt them, but we know from our own experience that we have to learn from our mistakes. To learn the results of cause and effect: Pull the cat's tail and he will scratch you. Drive too fast and get a speeding ticket. Eat too much and get a stomach ache.

It's all done to help our children (and grandchildren) become strong in the Lord and to learn right from wrong, good from evil, and to make wise choices.

That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace. (Psalm 144:12)

Nature Photographer

Last weekend, I was much more patient with my bird-watching and nature photography. I decided to bring out the camera before I sat down on the swing so that I would be armed and ready to take photos. It was a very good plan. Here are some of the photos I was able to take in the backyard.

What? Why are you taking my photo? Can't a bird eat in peace?

Hey, you with the camera! Yeah, you. I'm talkin' to you!

Okay, so the raccoon isn't real. But he's still cute.

Purple lilac in the neighbor's backyard that overhang our fence; white lilac in our backyard (finally blooming after 7 years).

Okay, so I'm not quite ready for National Geographic. But at least I had fun!

New from Old

Twenty-three years old is young, if you are a human. However, if you are a car, it's quite old and bordering on antique. In Idaho, a car that reaches 30 years of age is considered to be a classic and qualifies for classic license plates at a reduced rate from regular license plates.

Our 1988 Toyota Camry station wagon is still running with over 250,000 miles accrued over the past 23 years. It has witnessed the driving abilities of teenaged girls, made multiple trips across the United States, and safely transported our girls to0-and-from high school twenty-five miles away for several years. It takes a licking and keeps on ticking, and it isn't a Timex!

The hood was beginning to show signs of fading and the paint was deteriorating over the past few years. My darling husband bought automotive paint that was color-matched to the car and gave the hood a fresh new look last year. The rest of the car still looks great.

The driver's seat bottom had become thread-bare over the years, and this past weekend, the front seats were given a new look. I had been trying to come up with an inexpensive way to renew the front seats without purchasing hideous seat covers that either didn't match the car color or had ridiculous-looking images on them. Last weekend, I had a brilliant idea: why not purchase bathroom towels and make carseat covers out of them?

I went to JCPenney (my favorite store) and bought four bath-size towels for less than $20. I only had to use three of them as it only took 1-1/2 towels for each seat back/bottom. Two hours later, I had great looking seat covers in a color that matches the car perfectly.

Simple Pleasures

If you look very closely at this photo, it appears as though my grandson is going to fall head-first off the toddler slide. You would, indeed, be correct. But even as this photo was taken, he has no fear--he just goes with the flow and tumbles off the slide on to the carpet. He landed on the carpet, flat on his back, and lay there looking up at us and laughing.
If we were to take the slide, enlarge it to an adult-sized slide and send me down in the same manner that my grandson went, I guarantee that I would be hanging on for dear life and trying not to finish the descent. Why? Because I knew that the landing at the bottom would not be pleasant, and I would probably have broken body parts.
Sometimes, too much knowledge can cause us to be overly cautious and, at times, prevents us from really enjoying life. Are we afraid to take on new adventures because we know what the end result could be?
I know that, for me, I would not want to try rock climbing because I would be terrified to be dangling from a rope hundreds and thousands of feet above the earth's floor. But for someone else, it is an exhilarating adventure, to be suspended above the earth and challenging themselves to complete the ascent.
We are all different creations, fashioned by God, with unique talents, different ideas, and a vast array of languages and beliefs. I prefer to keep my feet on planet earth on good, solid footing.
"You have shown me the pathway to life. In your presence is fullness of joy, and at your right hand are pleasures forever." (Psalm 16:11, The Clear Word Bible)

Happy Painters

Buying a house can be fun as well as lots of headaches. But the real fun begins when you place your signature on your home and really make it yours. There are many ways to do this: new furniture, window coverings, rearranging the flower beds and painting. I chose the latter--painting--to make some signature changes to our home recently.

For several months, I had been wanting to paint one of the living room walls and one of the kitchen walls in a complimentary color that matched the rest of the walls in the house. (When we bought the house nearly five years ago, all of the walls in the house were painted the same color: celery green.) I just couldn't decide what color to use: brown tones, green tones, gray tones. None of them seemed to be the right color, even with all of the color samples that I had brought home. I even had each of my daughters pick out a color last winter. The colors still didn't feel quite right. So I got rid of all of the colors and started over. Amazingly, the color I settled on was actually one of the colors from the first batch.

My next task was to convince my darling husband that we needed to paint the walls. He had just spent a week with one of our daughters helping her to paint her kitchen, so I wasn't sure that he really would feel like painting again. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: "Honey, I really would like to paint the walls."

Husband: "If you're really sure."

Me: "I'm sure."

Husband: "It's not going to look very good just to paint one wall when the corners are rounded."

Me: "Okay, then we can paint the wall all the way around."

Husband (grumbling): "I knew I should have quit while I was ahead."

Me: "Can we go buy the paint today?"

Husband: "If you really want to."

Me: "I want to."

So we headed to our favorite building supply store, Home Depot, and bought the paint and other necessary items. And then the fun began: laying down drop cloths, masking the areas we didn't want to get paint on, dragging in the ladder, brushes, and other paint supplies. We finished painting the living room and kitchen walls that I had wanted to paint, and then the conversation went like this:

Me: "Hey, honey, why don't we paint one of the bathroom walls? I think it would look great!"

Husband: "Okay."

At this point, I think he had finally decided that it's better to just agree and get it over with. So we also painted two (not one) of the bathroom walls. Four hours later, we finally finished, cleaned up the mess, and went to lunch at our favorite fast food Mexican restaurant, Taco Time. Munching on a burrito and nachos, I leaned over to my husband and said:

Me: "Hey, hon, we could paint one of the bedroom walls. The other walls didn't take all that long."

Husband: "Yes, dear."

I think he knew it was futile so it was time to just go with the flow. We dragged out all of the painting supplies, drop cloths, ladders, brushes, and paint and started the process over again. An hour later, we were done and the house looks great!

Wildlife Photographer

I have decided (and my husband agrees) that God did not intend for me to be a wildlife photographer. Here's why: Sit on the swing on the patio in the backyard. Watch beautiful yellow finches land on the bird feeders and think, Wow, I could be taking photos with my zoom lens. Get up and go into the bedroom, drag down the tripod, open the camera bag, get out the camera, switch lenses so that the 75-300 zoom lens is in place, extend the legs on the tripod, attach the camera to the tripod, go back outside and...voila...the birds are gone. Not only are they gone, but they never come back after an hour of sitting on the swing and waiting...watching...hoping that they will come back within lens-shot. But they don't.

Once, a few birds did come back--sparrows---but they never went to the feeders. They stayed on the fence where my husband had placed some bird seed earlier in the day. Never quite close enough to get a really good shot, but still they were there so I took advantage of their stability for a few seconds and got a few good photos. Even caught a robin on the fence (see photo). But the finches never came back.

Yes, my husband is correct: I would make a lousy wildlife photographer because I just do not have the patience. Oh, and as I sit here in the living room, writing this story, the yellow finches are back on the feeder.