Favorite Movies

I was looking through trailers of current movies in theaters and I was astounded at the lack of interesting movies (well actually not really). I enjoy watching movies, but so many just do not seem to interest me. I have several movies that I love to watch over and over again. I thought I would list some of my favorites:

Pride and Prejudice (1995)
Persuasion (1995)
Sense and Sensibility (2008)
On The Town (1949)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Holiday Inn (1942)
Love Comes Softly (2003)
The Mummy Returns (2001)
My Favorite Wife (1940)
Sabrina (1954)
Singing in the Rain (1952)
Walk Don't Run (1966)
Pirates of the Carribean (all three)
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Hard Times

When you are in the midst of hard times it is difficult to look at the hard decisions that are necessary and be excited. Looking back on many of the hard times we have had I remember that there were several times I made a decision that was the right choice, but still very difficult and painful to me. I was reminded of these recently when we had some people in our church family facing hard times themselves. A quote from Anne of Green Gables came to mind:

"It's all very well to read about sorrows and imagine yourself living through them heroically, but it's not so nice when you really come to have them, is it?"

Job also went through some of the worst imaginable hard times. He lost his family, his wealth, some of his health, and through all that he was faithful to the Lord. He was probably not all optimistic and happy through those hard times, but he trusted that the Lord was with him and that He loved him. Through all the changes happening around him, Job knew that God was there and that He never changes.

When hard times come our Father wants us to come to Him and to turn these worries over to Him. He wants us to trust that He loves us more than we can comprehend and that He will provide and take care of our needs. He will reward our faithfulness. Job was faithful and praised the Lord's name, even through these hard times, and the Lord poured out His blessing on Job.

Humorous Headstones

I was looking at a website with some information on cemetery surveying and transcribing. There were several funny ones that I just had to share! You can also go and check out the Transcribing Monumental Inscriptions site.

At Potterne, Devizes, Wilts:
Here lies MARY the wife of JOHN FORD,
We hope her soul is gone to the Lord;
But if for Hell she has chang'd this life,
She had better be there than be John Ford's wife.

And a few for fun, origin unknown:
Here lies Ezekiah AIKLE
Age 102
The Good Die Young

In London
Ann MANN
Here lies Ann MANN
Who lived an old maid
But died an old Mann.
Dec 9. 1767

Ribbesford, England
Anna WALLACE
The children of Israel wanted bread
And the Lord sent them Manna
Old clerk Wallace wanted a wife
And the Devil sent him Anna.

My Garden

A couple of weeks ago my Dad, Joe and Dr. Wesley came and prepared my garden for me. They brought my Dad's tiller and tilled the spot we had picked for our garden. We also got some ceder posts that use to be part of the fence line at my parents' house. A few days after that our family went outside to put the posts in the ground. We also bought some garden fencing with 2"x4" openings. Joe and Bubba got the fencing on the posts and last week the boys and I got the seeds and plants planted. Now we have a garden!

A bee pollinating our yellow squash

Last night after we came home from eating with the family we went to look at and water the garden. I was amazed how much it has grown in a week! We saw the watermelon, zucchini, green beans, black beans, and corn had all sprouted. The yellow squash and sweet potatoes were growing well, too. I cannot wait until the plants bear the fruits (and vegetables) of our labor.

My watermelon plants

Green beans

Funny Quote

As we turn into the Krispy Kreme Donuts the other evening:

Bubba: You know the only thing better than Krispy Kreme Doughnuts?

Us: No, what?

Bubba: Hot Krispy Kreme Doughnuts!

Otter's 1st Birthday

Today we celebrated Otter's 1st birthday! It is so hard to believe that she is a year old already! She has grown into a beautiful little girl and so funny. She put her hands right in the icing on her cake and started eating (after Grandmomma put her hand to her mouth so she could taste it). It was also funny when I turned around and she had pushed it off her highchair, of course Icing side down. Oh well! She enjoyed it while she had it! We enjoyed spending time with family.

Butch showing her her toy

Eating her cake. Yummy, yummy!

What Have We Here?

Tomatoes! I was checking on our eight, yes, eight tomato plants yesterday and saw not just one tomato growing, but three! You see I had bought two different varieties of tomato plants a couple of months ago. We also purchased one of those upside down Tomato tree planters which holds three plants. The others I planted in pots on our back porch. We were going to see which grew better.

Our plants were blooming really well and I was hoping that they would actually have some fruit. When I was watering our Tomato Tree planter last Saturday I noticed the first actual tomato. I was so excited! Well, last night I was checking on the other plants in planters on the back porch. These are currently unstaked, but are growing well. That is when I saw them! There was not one, but two tomatoes growing on one of those plants. I had to show Joe this evening. He is looking forward to eating these yummy tomatoes!

Clay Deux

This is Larry the Pirate from the Veggie Tales
"Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" song.

What Were They Thinking?

Driving down the interstate the other day we saw an amazing thing. How to explain this... I am not sure. I thought it was a car, but then...no it looked so weird. I could not help but laugh at this contraption as we drove. Luckily for us I had my camera in my bag and I quickly passed it back to Bubba. He took a few pictures as we drove. This is what we saw. Can you explain this? Only a Texan would think of this! Identities have been protected, even though they feel fine with driving this out in public! ;)


Notice the shag carpet fully covering this car, and the trunk is a literal trunk with the turn signals being the vertical lines on the back.

Clay Day

Bubba has always loved arts. Drawing, sculpting, coloring, painting, he tries it and likes it. Last year in Art class he used some clay and when he came home he begged us to buy him some! Well, we did and lately he has been going nuts with it. So I thought I would start posting pictures of his creations.

Local Farmers Market

For those of us who enjoy getting fresh veggies and other homemade products, here is something for you. To find a local Farmers Market you can go to the state agricultural website (link) where they list them by counties. I have been to the market held at First Baptist Church in Seymour. It is open from June till August on Saturdays from 7:30a-10:30a. There is also a Farmers Market that opens in April through November in Market Square in Knoxville. It is only open on Wednesdays 11a-2p and Saturdays 9a-2p.

School's Out For Summer

Today, roughly in 12 hours, is the last day of this school year. It is hard to believe that it has come and gone. My how time flies! I am excited about the more relaxed mornings (the guys waking at 6am all happy and ready to go, which never happens during the school year). I am not sure if we have any specific plans or if we will just see what happens. So, now I need to get some rest because it will be in short supply until August. Here is the project for the guys this summer. Now they can work on their lumberjack skills, hammering skills, nunchuck skills, etc.

Foods Kids Like

We have learned that Otter likes some strange foods. Well, not really strange, but strange for a baby. She loves black beans, most any bean for that matter, mac and cheese, shredded cheese, tomatoes, Laughing Cow cheese on Ritz crackers (also in cheerios), broccoli, sweet potatoes, and dried cranberries to name a few. Maybe we just never tried some of these with the boys. Who knows. I do know there is no baby food for this little girl!

Flowers Galore

I am so excited! I have been waiting to spruce up our yard with lots of plants and flowers since we got the house. I have started in the last few weeks getting some plants and clearing out areas to plant. From my earlier post (link) you can see that we have a naturally beautiful yard, especially when the crocus are in bloom. I am hoping that with the things that I am doing that I will be adding to the natural beauty of our home. My mom has been giving me lots of plants (as long as I come and dig them up for her). She has already given me wisteria, mock orange, flowering almond, iris, catnip, gladiolus, and daffodils. Today I got some peonies, roses, red hot pokers, iris, rose of sharon, lemon balm, mint as well as the spiderwort and lilies I had planted at her house.















I am also planning to plant a small food garden area (Wesley...a trip to my parents' house might be in order! ;) I have tomato plants, okra, spinach, watermelon, corn, and squash seeds.

More Hiking Pictures

Here are some of my pictures from yesterday's hike. I hope that you enjoy and have a Happy Mother's Day!

Special Hike

We went on a special hike today. Why was it special? We were taken to a location, that I will not name, to see some pink lady's slipper orchids. These are very few and are losing their natural habitat in most local areas due to the loss of the pine trees. Also they are sometimes dug up by some visitors.


We also saw another type of flower that I cannot remember the name at this moment. It was a kind of lily.


I also saw some sweet shrubs. I am adding a picture once I get them from Linda's camera (mine died so I borrowed hers!). This temporary is a picture I took on the Abrams Falls trail in April.

I Would Love This Hat

I was watching Sarah Plain and Tall: Winter's End and saw this cute little bonnet with an attached scarf. It is so cute! It looks like it was crocheted or knitted. I would love to find a pattern for this. I am not sure that I could figure one out myself, but I might try. If anyone knows or has seen this pattern please let me know. I could just see my little Otter in one of these!

Cades Cove Pictures

These are some of the wonderful views in Cades Cove. It is a wonderful place to visit. These are all pictures from this past weekend.

Weekend Camping

After a weekend of camping I am still tired. I have not unloaded the vehicle yet, so I will have to come back later and edit the post to give more information as well as some pictures. Hold your breathe and I will be back later with more morsels!

Update:

Friday we went up to Cades Cove for a weekend of camping with the Cub Scouts. We spent the evening setting up camp then sitting around the campfire. Our leader made a chocolate cherry cobbler. It was very good! It was also great when we went to sleep with the wind blowing through the trees. It was so relaxing.


On Saturday we woke and prepared for a hike to Abrams Falls. I strapped Otter to my back and we set off on our hike. We had been concerned about the thunder and gray clouds earlier in the morning, but it cleared away for a great day. We made several stops as they tracked the locations on the GPS, then we made it to the falls. It has been many years since I have seen the falls, so it was nice to see it again. On the trail we also saw three deer. They got as close as four feet from me (I was in the back end of the line).


Later that evening we went on a hayride through the loop. We were excited to see lots of wild turkey and over 70 deer (all the older kids around middle school age were counting). We were especially hoping to see a bear. Early on in the ride there was a large group of people standing in one area, some with binoculars, saying they had spotted a bear. None of us saw one. When we got to the other end of the loop from that location we saw another large crowd. This time we did see the bear! I did not get a clear picture, but I will share a picture anyway. Otter enjoyed her first hayride, but fell asleep towards the end.


The rain and bad weather held out until after we left on Sunday. We were blessed with a good time and good weather. The three of us had a wonderful time. I must say that if we all go camping together as a family we will defiantly need a bigger tent!

Soccer Practice