CHILDREN NEED YOUR PRESENTS MORE THAN THEY NEED YOUR PRESENCE!

GERBER BABY!

BABY MAGIC BABY

  Maybe that is not exactly what Jesse Jackson said. . . But that is pretty much what my boys might say!! Today marks a milestone for my son. . . He has finally leaped into the 20's. 

 And we all survived the teen (alien) years!! Whoopee. 

 I think I have heard that:

 "small children interfere 

with your sleep,

 big children--your life!" 
 

 But casting all seriousness aside. . . .I can't help but remember that precious small child. 

THIS TAKES EXTREME TALENT!.

 
I always envisioned smothering my children with love, but to be honest, there were moments I had to restrain myself from smothering them with a. . . pillow.

 

The years roll by and Kevin has grown into a fine young man with a great sense of humor and many talents  as you can see from all these pictures!!

RANDY NEWMAN INPERSONATOR

ROBOT MAN

HERE ARE SOME FAMOUS QUOTES. . . FROM THE MOUTH OF BABES!

Elliott watching Kevin's baby video: "That's before I was mean to Kevin."

Kevin looking at a picture of Grandad and Grandma's wedding picture: "Oh, that was back before they had wrinkles."

Kevin: "Daddy, I think your gray hair has been creeping up on you--You need some of that stuff to make you look younger! "ONLY MEN'S" that turns your hair brown. Did your hair use to be brown?"

Listening to music on the airplane with earphones: "Dad they're playing that old fashioned music like you are."

Me: "Princes Di loved children!"
Kev: "Yeah, she would have loved me if she had met me!"

Kev:  "Even when your dead we can have your birthday.  George Washington is dead and we still celebrate his birthday."

Kev praying the night before his first day of kindergarten: "Help me not to be shy tomorrow and help me not to get a tatoo like my dad has."

My favorite--the night before his birthday: 

"Tomorrow I'll be 4 and I will still be your precious boy!"

STILL MY PRECIOUS BOY!

MINDFUL EATING or BREAKFAST REFLECTIONS

I was reading an article about how the "Serenity Diet" can change your body shape with your mind. Researchers UCSF, were examining the link between mindfulness and abdominal fat (the most dangerous kind) in overweight women. The findings indicate that meditative techniques can change how you eat—so food becomes a choice rather than a habit. Here is one of the training exercises:

Take ten minutes to eat three raisins. Examine their texture and color. Notice how they feel in the palm of your hand; notice how they smell. Eat them slowly, one by one, chewing patiently to savor the flavors. You are cultivating your ability to eat with awareness: When you focus your attention on your food, you derive more pleasure from each bite and ultimately eat less.

With this in mind this morning, I decided that I would head out to the back deck with my bowl of hot cereal and mug of Mexican coffee, sans lap top (I am usually multitasking while I am having breakfast) and just savor each bite while enjoying my back yard. Thinking that maybe I could stahl or slow the middle-age spread that I am experiencing. (Now who am I kidding. . . MIDDLE AGE? That's factoring that the average life span is 120 yrs.) I had taken a couple of bites, slowly enjoying the flavor and texture, when I noticed that things were literally humming. In minutes, I had forgotten my meal and was walking around the yard, enjoying the beauty of this spring day. The apricot tree was in full bloom and was buzzing with life! I realized that I am so enamored with the fall leaves and color, but now as things are starting a new cycle with buds and baby leaves, it is just as beautiful in a different way. Needless to say, about an hour later, I did finish my breakfast with new appreciation of not only my meal, but my surroundings. Can't say I noticed any earth-shattering change in my body shape, but my mind felt great!!

It's being here now that's important.
There's no past and there's no future.
Time is a very misleading thing.
All there is ever, is the now.
We can gain experience from the past,
but we can't relive it;
and we can hope for the future,
but we don't know if there is one.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Springtime is the land awakening.
The March winds are the morning yawn.

Yes, Spring has brought flock of birds of all color out. On my drive home from work, I watched as a flock of redwing black birds attacked a hawk as he was just minding his own business sitting on the fence. He was harrassed so much, he finally took off. I guess this is not unusual. Red-wing BB are quite territorial and the hawk was evidently hanging out in their "space".

I had to stop and take some pics of this field of wildflowers. The red-wings loved them too and were everywhere belting out their conk-a-leeeee song. Evidently, someone else really liked this spot, too, cause the next day. . . they dumped a dead body! Hope I didn't leave any fingerprints!!




Meanwhile, back at the ranch. . . . we have a cute little couple waddling around. I anticipate that it won't be long before we see a few ducklings joining them.

Now April is bringing showers. . . I love the dark sky of an impending storm!!

“April comes like an idiot, babbling and stewing flowers.”