Happy Memorial Day

We are having just the greatest weekend......we had *nothing* planned, but have been busy non-stop.....in a carefree, relaxed way.

Today was the Califon Memorial Day Parade.....Otto marched with his BoyScout Pack and had the honor of holding the American Flag. It is also Otto's 10th Birthday!!!!

Emma Sage and I went and watched the parade.......she was at first afraid of the sirens and loud noises from the FireTrucks and Resue vehicles....but her flag waving and saying 'HELLO' to everyone that passed got the best of her.

Right now the children are swimming in the pool....I'm running to the store, we have family coming for Otto's Birthday Celebration....

Oh, and I'm doing laundry and gardening in-between! lol!

In honor of all those that have fought and given their life in the name of Freedom, please take a moment from your day for a minute of silence at 3:00PM.

Peace on Earth!!!

Here is Emma Sage waving her flag at the parade....


My Big 10 year old reflecting by the river after the parade.

Old glory

Memorial Day ~ Please remember to observe a moment of silence at 3:00 P.M. for those who so bravely gave their lives in service to this nation.

Red is for Bravery;
blood shed in sacrifice.
Freedom came with lives the price.

White is for Liberty;
freedom's purity.
Life be free from God's decree.

Blue is for Justice;
as vast as the sky.
Over freedom's land to occupy.
By Roger W. Hancock

I think I got one....

I think I got one....
Originally uploaded by annikaleigh.

and she did!!! Emma Sage caught a moth...which we looked at and then set free!

Bug Concentration

Bug Concentration
Originally uploaded by annikaleigh.

Today we set off to catch bugs.....Isn't this the cutest net,,,,it was part of her Birthday present from her friend Emily!!! Thank you Emily....we have been having a blast with all the amazing gifts you gave Emma Sage!

My Sweet, Sweet Child

We are having a delightful weekend.....pool is almost ready, gardens are getting weeded and planted, laundry is done and summer clothes are in the drawers and winter are ready to be stored away.

I have been taking pictures of our carefree weekend, and this one just melted my heart.

My Sweet, Sweet Child......

Everything that happens
and everything that befalls us has a meaning,
But it is often difficult to recognize it.

Also in the book of life every page has two sides:
We human beings fill the upper side with our plans, hopes, and wishes,
But Providence writes on the other side,
And what it ordains is seldom our goal.

Nisami

My creation

TGIF....

Thank goodness it is Friday!!! and after this week, I am so thankful it is Friday and that it is a long weekend ahead of me. What have we planned......nothing, and everything! Our plans are scheduled around the house and property. Rick started empting out the pool and he and Greta have grand plans to have it opened by Memorial Day [and Otto thinks that is just perfect, because I believe that young man is part fish!]

We had a very busy week....lots of fun and exploring. We found a lost baby duck.......searched and searched for its parents. We have a pair of Mallards at the pond [but they have not yet had their brood] and our neighbors pond has a pair of geese that already have good size goslings....so 'Lucky Duck' is a mystery. Since I have way too many things on my plate these days, we decided the best place for 'Lucky Duck' to go is Ms. Bonny's up the lane [Bonny is an amazing woman who has the most incredible farm]......and we get to go visit 'Lucky Duck' when we visit with Ms. Bonny and go riding.

I just finished a very good book called 'A Lesson Before Dying' by Ernest J. Gaines. The book made me really reflect.

And we had a major decision made this week. We are officially going to homeschool Emma Sage. I will write about the process that brought us to this decision later, but right now I feel so much better than I did a week ago.

Katrina had a blast at prom...and I have pictures and her adventures to share.

Greta took 4th out of 72 runners in the 100meter and 5th out of 68 runners in the high hurdles this week.

Otto is healing well....he is back at school and his friends really missed him [which made him feel so good!]

Rick is home for a week and then off to Japan for 9 days, home for 3 and then off to Italy for 16 days.

and I had a nice, large, icy Margarita tonight with a friend and just sat and talked......man, oh man,,,,Life is good!

Competition #43 - Mom

Competition #43 - Mom
Originally uploaded by Theme Competition.

Emma Sage and I are in the third row down, 2nd in from left....Nash and his Momma are in the first row, 4th in from left!

A Series of Sisterhood photographs

"One's Sister is a part of one's essential self, an eternal presence of one's heart and soul and memory."~Susan Cabill



"Chance made us Sisters, hearts made us friends."~ Author Unknown



"A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost."~Marion C. Garretty



"There's a special kind of freedom sisters enjoy. Freedom to share innermost thoughts, to ask a favor, to show their true feelings. The freedom to simply be themselves." ~Anonymous



"Is solace anywhere more comforting than that in the arms of a sister"~Alice Walker




Celebrating Sisters.  Emma Sage has been missing her Greta, so for today's 31 for 21, I thought I would post a moment in time of them sharing their special bond of  'Sisterhood'

Sweet Sunshine......

I just love when Emma Sage looks off like this.....contemplating the mystery's of the world.

Blowing a Birthday Kiss......

...and guess who got to be the goose?

FH000020_edited
Originally uploaded by annikaleigh.

What fun we had at Emma Sage's birthday party.

Playing Duck-Duck-Goose

FH000021_edited
Originally uploaded by annikaleigh.

Now who could resist a kitten in a basket?!?

You want one,,,I know you really, really want one.

Mountain Farm 3

Mountain Farm 3
Originally uploaded by annikaleigh.

This is the farm that is up the ravine from our house......it is now a county park [part of the land for this part had been owned by my in-laws and they sold it to be preserved by the park system]....it is such a fun place to walk and explore with Emma Sage...we see so many birds and bugs and animals.....the back end of the park is the Ravine where I have taken many of the fairy/angel pictures of Emma Sage.

Filling in for Momma!!!

Everytime the Momma cat leaves to eat, do her business or go hunting,,,,Emma Sage fills right in for her. The other day I couldn't find Emma Sage.....looked, looked and looked. Sure enough, there she was in the basket curled up with the kitty's all around her belly [I had to laugh as it looked like she was a Momma Kitty nursing her kits]

So who wants a beautiful and very much loved kitten?????????????? Come on now,,,you know you WANT one [or two! lol!]

Sweetness

Sweetness
Originally uploaded by annikaleigh.

Yesterday we spent a delightful day just playing 'catch-up' from all the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks......and then the power went out [a big tree fell down the lane] and lucky for me, the laundry was done [except for one last load that needed to be dried] and I had put on a pot roast and baked potatoes and when the power went out at four [they were done.....can you believe my luck?!?]....so we ate, cleaned up while there was still day light [we have a well, so no electricity means no water either].....got some candles and books and headed to bed early....I took this at the last bit of remaining daylight outside as we were feeding animals, bringing in the laundry from the line and getting ready for our early evening to bed [It was wonderful.....in bed by 8:45pm......now that was a treat!!!]

My creation

My creation
Originally uploaded by annikaleigh.

...and OH, what do you have there little girl?

Life is flowing,,,swifty, with a few unexpected turns in the current....but we are loving every minute of it....and guess what else has happened at our home? Kittens...yes, five absolutely beautiful and precious kittens [and they are free to good homes, just drop me a line]


Emma Sage has been in complete awe of her new little friends....

I know the next few weeks are going to be filled with a lot of 'kitty holding'

"The thought manifests as the word. The word manifests as the deed. The deed develops into habit. And the habit hardens into character. So watch the thought and its ways with care. And let it spring from love, born out of concern for all beings. ...."~Buddha

The most favorite birthday present....

This was Emma Sage's birthday present from us...I know, not huge, not flashy, but let me tell you,,,,,this kid adores this gift,,,,a dish swing that Daddy and Greta hung high in a branch over the slope [it is actually the same tree that stopped her wild-n-crazy car ride]........and she tells me she is going to go so high she will touch the moon!

I just love this shot......

This is a shot that just makes me laugh and laugh!! AlwaysChaos was the first to notice that little Miss had put her shoes on the wrong feet!

Doesn't this picture just make you laugh?

Have I ever mentioned????

Have I ever mentioned the Emma Sage LOVES to swing!?!

Yup....this girl is a swinger....day-in,,,day-out....if she is missing ~ you know where to look...on a swing, swinging away!

A Go-Gert Break....

That gap....oh, that lovely gap!

I just love Emma Sage's toes......[don't mind the dirty feet, she was running around foot loose and fancy free yesterday]

As Alice looked down....

I did these photographs yesterday and this one reminded me of Lewis Carrolls ~ Alice in Wonderland.

""I quite agree with you,' said the Duchess; `and the moral of that is--Be what you would seem to be--or if you'd like it put more simply--Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.'"Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll""

Standing alone reflecting....

Here is Emma Sage alone as the other children ran off to the side in hot persuit of a very active froggy!

Today at the park....

The children and I headed to the park to play and explore....here they are looking at fish and frogs.

Where have we been?.....

Well, Saturday was the Circus....and then the rest of the last few days have felt like I joined the circus.

Sunday was just a beautiful day....I met my Mom at the graveyard and we planted flowers on my brother and nephews grave........

Here is my Mom on Mother's Day



and then Sunday afternoon Otto went for a long bike ride with his Aunt Heidi and came home unusually tired and sore...took a hot bath and Advil and then settled in to a restless night of sleep....he awoke in pain and I called him out of school and made a doctors appointment.

Off we headed to the doctors [I in gardening clothes thinking that we were just off to a quick 15 minute appointment] to find ourselves being sent immediately to the Emergency Room.....and then before we knew it, Little Man was in Pediatrics and slated for an appendectomy surgery to remove his appendix that was inflamed and enlarged based on a catscan.....

I slept in my clothes,,,,got home in the early morning to shower and dress and return to spend the day with our little guy. He was such a troop and a wonderful patient. We are home now and he is resting peacefully,,,,but quite sad that he is out of baseball, track and gym for the rest of the season.

Emma Sage spent the day with us at the hospital and took such good care of her big brother.

Here is my sweet little guy....


I have Emma Sage's fifth birthday letter written, but not typed and many things to do to get ready for her friends and family party on Saturday.

I hope all the Mothers out there had a magical and wonderful Mothers Day!

My creation

My creation
Originally uploaded by annikaleigh.

Here are my current top 10 photographs on flickr.com explore pages.....so very exciting!

C*I*R*C*U*S*

C*I*R*C*U*S,,,,,Mommy, look, C-I-R-C-U-S-T-O-D-A-Y



Emma Sage spelled all the letters and was just besides herself, and guess where we got to go today?!?



Heading off to the Big Tent.........


and finding my bestest friend in the whole wide world....Claudia!!!!!


and I got to ride

A Pony......around and around....

and around and around.....

and then,,,,,WOW,,,,I got to ride a CAMEL!



and when she got off, she asked me "Can I get a Camel?" lol!!! Just what Momma needs!

Then it was off to the big tent to watch the show......and what fun we had!


There were acrobats....

and a tight-rope walker.....

and what fun we had....

Emma Sage was amazed the whole time.......she kept turning back to look at me and the grin on her face was priceless....


Emma Sage thought the alligator was amazing....but was afraid of the big snake.....

and sometimes she turned around and gave me a silly face.....

and we had popcorn, nachos and cotton candy.......

We had the most amazing evening at the cirucs..........what a wonderful weekend!