Finders Keepers

When someone leaves stuff laying out in my yard, I automatically fill it with flowers. I wonder if someone will come looking for their boot? Hmmmm ...

I sure hope not because I won't have a place to put my hibiscus and my mandevilla and my other little plant. And it looks really nice next to my red garden wagon.

And speaking of the wagon, I finally got some plants to go in it. I went with a red theme ... red caladiums and some other kind of red "star flower" along with a bit of snake plant and a couple other things.

I think the wagon turned out really cute. I just hope I can keep the pots watered well this summer. They are a bit on the small side so I think they'll take daily watering to stay alive.

I also found this little plant in the discount bin at the garden center this weekend. I call it the squiggly plant. Any idea what variety this might be?

And one parting shot ... one of my favorites ... Wave petunias spilling out of a hanging basket. And they smell so sweet? Don't believe me? Wish I could put them on smellovision for you all.

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A Check, A Check, A Big Fat Check!

I got my Big Fat Check from Ebates in the a mail today. Woo! I was so excited to open it and see how much money I got back. It was over $50!!!! Mama's gonna have her a little shopping spree!

Do you want your own Big Fat Check? Click this link: Ebates.com and get on your way to earning your own Big Fat Check.

Don't know about Ebates? It's a program where you get 3% -25% cash back for shopping online at all your favorite stores - Dillards, Gardeners Supply, Barnes 'n Nobles, Bath & Body Works, Walgreens and even eBay! You can also get access to discounts and coupon codes using Ebates. You don't actually purchase items at Ebates.com ... you just have to click through Ebates to get to your favorite store. Ebate tracks your purchase through your favorite retailer and send you a Big Fat Check.

Have you ever used Ebates? Tell us about your experience.

Sign up now!

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Wet Weekend and Who's Dancing Their Way Home

Last week, I predicted that we would have - yet - another - wet weekend. So did it happen?

No! We had no rain on Saturday or Sunday. We got out a did some Garden Center shopping both days. I didn't take any pictures yet, but I will try to do that later this week. We got some really neat and interesting things. And the daylilys are just blooming more and more every day.


Who's Dancing Their Way Home

My sweet mother-in-law gave me this week's Dancing With the Stars spoiler. If you don't want to know, then don't continue reading. Anyway ... apparently, the TV Guide on some cable providers indicates that the finalists are Shawn Johnson and Gilles Marini. That means my personal favorite - Melissa is dancing her way home.

So what do you think? Are Shawn Johnson and Gilles the best dancers of DWTS Season 8?

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Do you see what I see?

Yep, it's the first daylily blossom of the season. I am overjoyed by this little fellow.

And it looks like we'll have new daylilys tomorrow. There are two bright orange buds on this one. The flower in this bottom picture is one of the late-comer daffodils. I probably have 20 daffodils in bloom right now.


And look at home many buds are on this one plant! I mean it is just overloaded! All the Stella D'Oro daylilys are just bursting with buds like this one. A half-dozen other varieties are budding out right now too.

The daylilys must be loving all the rain we have been getting. (And ... in case you were wondering ... we're supposed to get more rain later tonight ... and tomorrow ... and maybe NOT on Sunday.)

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April Showers et al

April Showers Bring May Flowers.

Something about this classic saying is not working right this year - at least, not in Oklahoma. We had a dry April, but a very wet and rainy May. Someone told me the other day that we had 16 out of 17 days of rain. I don't know about anyone else, but this rain is really wearing me out.


Mother's Day

We had a really nice Mother's Day last weekend. I'd already gotten my presents - my red garden wagon, wind chime, and topsy turvy tomato planter ... along with lots of plants. We went to lunch at Outback Steakhouse with the fam. The food was yummy and we had a good time visiting. We missed Pops though. He was home sick.

After lunch, we went home and took a nap and I'm pretty sure it rained. (See note above.)

Emily probably told me "Happy Mother's Day" 50 times that day and at least once or twice every day since then. She's just the sweetest little girl. I'm soooooooo lucky to have her and I love all her sweet hugs and kisses every day.


All good things must come to an end

Tomorrow is Emily's last day of pre-school this year. They will be having a pizza party. I know she will miss seeing her friends. Her teachers made a book of some of her artwork and papers that she did throughout the year. The book turned out really cute. I'll have to take pictures of some of the pages so that you can see what all she's done.


I hate to admit it, but ...

I hate to admit it, but Emily and I went to see the Hannah Montana movie at the theater a few weeks ago with Nanny, Madison, and Aunt Cherry. I thought it was going to be a bunch of young girls screaming, but I didn't actually hear any screaming or anything. We actually had a pretty good time ... even though it was Hannah Montana. Sad to say, but Emily knows the whole HM theme song and she knows the name of all the characters. Sad ... but true.


Beauty, if only for a day

All of my Stella D'Oro daylilys are full of buds. A few of them will be blooming within the next day or two. I can hardly wait! A few of the other daylily varieties have buds on them too, but none are close to blooming like the Stellas. I am looking forward to documenting my flower garden in pictures this year.


Daffy Daffs

The belated daffodils are still blooming. It's been nice to have such a long season of beautiful sunny yellow blossoms.


Thumping Thieves

Someone or something has been stealing some of the flowers out of my flowerbeds. I mean the whole plants ... just gone. Nowhere to be found. I'm pretty sure it's the bunnies that live under the shed. I just can't figure out why they are not eating the strawberries this year. Maybe they are waiting for the strawberries to ripen!


A Bowl of Fun - Saturday - June 6, 2009
Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details ...


Silly Goose

I think this picture needs a name ... what would you call it?? Leave a comment and let me know.

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Sweetly Springy

Since I've been away (read: lazy and tired) for a few days, I thought I would post some Easter/spring/4-year-old pictures for your viewing pleasure.

I also wanted to mention that Kim had her baby on Wednesday morning. Brynlee weighed 4lbs, 12oz and was 18 1/2 inches long. Mom and baby are still in the hospital but doing well. Congratulations to Kim and Duane on their beautiful new addition.

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Praying for Kim

Mike's cousin, Kim, is in the hospital in labor with her baby girl, Brynlee. Pray that everything goes perfectly and that mom has a easy time of it.

We can't wait to meet baby Brynlee!

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I Know I ...

I know I named my blog "Grace Like Rain", but this is getting a little ridiculous. I have seriously lost count of the number of rainy days in a row we've had here in Oklahoma. And I'm sure it's no surprise that more rain is forecast for tomorrow.

I wish the rain would hold off a few days so that I can get back outside to my beautiful flowers.

Hanging baskets full of Wave petunias

And a flat of multi-colored Wave petunias that need to be planted

New daylilys that were planted a couple weeks ago

Stella D'Oro Daylilys already beginning to show buds - Can't wait to see all these in bloom

Pink azaleas with beautiful blossoms but very few/small leaves

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My Awesome Niece

On Sunday night, we went to Madison's children's choir program at church. My awesome niece had a speaking part, a couple solos AND she played a piano prelude. She did a great job!

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Weeds

This girl is growing like a weed! So big, so strong, so smart, so beautiful!

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Does it work? Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter

I've been wanting to try the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter for quite some time. It's one of those As Seen on TV products that look like it might actually work. And who doesn't love fresh home-grown tomatoes.

This weekend, we were at Home Depot and they had some of these gadgets in the garden center. Mike saw them too and asked if I wanted to get one. Of course I do!

So we picked one up and I read on the box that you have to buy a tomato plant to put in it and some potting soil. We browsed the tomato selections and ended up picking a Better Boy tomato. This is a variety that my Granddaddy grew in his garden.


When we got home, Emily and I potted up the tomato plant in the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter. It was a very windy day and, unfortunately, Emily was sitting down-wind from the planter and all the potting mix. It ended up getting all over her and in her hair. Whoops!

So you take off the planter's cap and remove the split sponge that's in the bottom of the planter. I let Emily hold our sponge and she ended up breaking it in two pieces, but it worked okay anyway. You insert the tomato plant from the bottom and then put the split sponge around the stem. Then you push the sponge down into the bottom of the planter. This is how the plant is held into place.

After the plant and sponge were firmly plugging the bottom hole, we started adding potting soil to the planter. The directions said to fill it to within two inches of the top, but ours was not quite that full.
We hung the planter on a shepherd's hook in the backyard then added water to the top of the bag. Unfortunately, it was so so windy outside and our poor tomato plant was being whipped around. I hope it survives the night.

The instruction pamphlet says to water the plant often and to fertilize it every two weeks at first and then ever 10 days and then every few days.

I'll let you know how it goes ....

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I Love Shopping with My Husband

He picks out things that I love but I would never buy for myself.

And I love him for it.Can anyone identify this little tree that he bought for me? May be hard to tell what it is in this very wind-blown photo.

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Animal Instincts

On Friday afternoon, Dan the Eagle visited Emily's preschool. I believe Dan was a mascot for an insurance company, not entirely sure. All I know is that he brought cookies. More on that in a minute.

So according to the teacher, Emily started screaming and crying as soon as Dan the Eagle came into the room. The teacher eventually covered Emily's face with a folder and she settled down a bit.

The funny part is that Dan brought cookies as I mentiond earlier. Even though Emily screamed and cried at the Eagle, she still wanted to eat his cookies. Typical!!!

Speaking of Animals ...

Speaking of animals, Madison's class is going to the zoo on Wednesday. Nanny asked Emily if she wanted to go to the zoo too and Emily said "Okay but I'll wait in the car." Haha, and she also said that they would have to keep the windows closed.

Apparently Emily does not like animals - real or un-real.

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Video from Spring Program

As promised, here are a couple videos from Thursday nights performance of the Preschool Spring Program. Sorry the video is so bad. I did the best I could do, but I am always so torn between doing the video and watching my child on the stage. I think I miss so much by looking through the tiny lens.

Enjoy!

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Belated Beauties

You probably remember the 80 daffodil bulbs that I purchased on clearance last fall and planted in my garden in early February.



Earlier this week, these daffodils finally started blooming. Only three of the bulbs are blooming right now, but several more have buds on them and I'd say that well over half of them have sprouted and are growing larger every day.



The ones pictured below are growing in my daylily bed. Normally, the daffodils will bloom before the daylilys start coming up.

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Oklahoma: Where the Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Plains

The other day, Emily and I decided to get out the Barbie kite that she got in her Easter basket. It was a perfectly windy day for kite flying ... or was it?

This particular Barbie kite was unlike anything I'd seen before. You inflate the kite using a small straw and then just tie on the string that's wound around a simple plastic handle ... no reel-type thing like kites had when I was a kid twenty years ago. *Gasp, I can't believe I just typed that!* Very simple, but an interesting concept.

So Emily carries it outside while I hold onto the string. You know, in case Emily accidentally lets go of the kite. We don't want it to blow away or anything.

We go out into a clear part of the yard and I let out a little of the string then tell Emily to throw the kite up into the air. She does this and "We're flying! We're flying!" The kite is up and twirling around. So I start unreeling a little more of the string to send the kite higher.

And higher it went ... the plastic handle slipped right out of my hands and the kite went up, up and away into the clear blue sky! D'oh! This was not supposed to happen!

I rush Emily back into the house to "get another kite" that I just happened to have. Anything to get her mind off what just happened. The new kite was a colorful Dora kite. Not as fancy as the inflatable Barbie kite, but it would have to do. So I quickly assembled that one and we took it back outside.

Again, I held the string and Emily let the kite go. Up, up into the sky, the Dora kite flew higher and higher. It did some dip dives and some fancy swooping moves. Emily even got to hold the string all by herself a couple times.

The wind was so strong. It was really making that Dora kite dance in the sky. Emily was watching the kite from her teeter totter. Suddenly, the kite takes a nose dive right into the top of a tree! Not again! This is not how kite flying is supposed to turn out.

We had to wait until Daddy got home to get the kite down from the tree. It was stuck and I mean stuck good! Mike used a broom to get it down, but it had a big hole in the side of it.

I think that will be the end of kite flying for us this year.

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To sing or not to sing. That is the question.

Last night was Emily's spring program at her preschool. Before the program, we got together with Mike's family and went to eat at a local Mexican restaurant.

Side note about dinner: Mike and Emily and I went to this same restaurant recently and they made Emily a gingerbread man-shaped sopapilla. So last night, I asked our waiter if he could make her a gingerbread man-shaped sopapilla. And he looked at me like I was crazy. Like really crazy. Not just a little crazy. And Mike looked at me like I was a little crazay. But ... he ended up bringing her two gingerbread man-shaped sopapillas .. a boy and a girl. Nice!

So after the restaurant, we went over to the church and Emily changed clothes in the car while Nanny and Pops and Madison went to save us some seats. I know it's just a preschool program, but those seats fill up fast and people are not shy about saving all the prime seats for their friends and family.

I tried to get some pictures of Emily in the lobby before her program, but she was pretty distracted by all the kids and parents that were walking through there.


I can't believe I actually got a picture of her looking toward the camera.

I had a really hard time getting pictures or video during the actual program. Some of the teachers were standing in the way and some other heads were in my way.
Being a bunch of three-year-olds, everyone has to wave at their family and friends before they can perform. Of course.

This is not a good picture of Emily, but check out the little boy standing next to her. This is her little friend Brady. I keep hearing that he's recently taken a liking to Emily. I'm not sure what she thinks about him though

So did Emily sing with her class? What did they sing? Well I can tell you that one of the sings was "Jesus Loves the Little Children". But did Emily sing? You'll have to wait until I get the videos uploaded (on Monday, I hope.)
I will give you this hint .. Emily looked beautiful and she did a really good job. Her Daddy and I were very proud of her.

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Cubbies Countdown

The Cubbies Countdown has officially begun!

Only two more weeks of Cubbies club left, at least until next fall. I must admit that I will be glad when Cubbies is over. I like Cubbies and I like interacting with the kids, but sometimes the nights are long and hard.

This week was definitely better than last week. Last week was so bad that I couldn't even blog about it. This week was better even though we had a "major" accident in the bathroom. Not really a toilet accident, but someone hit their head really hard on the trashcan. Not really sure how this happened, but he was screaming really loud when he came out of there. Then when I was leaving tonight, I overhead one of our little girls telling her mother that something was hurting. I will admit that I hurried out of there without even stopping to ask.

Well, tomorrow night is Emily's program at preschool. I'm excited to see what they do and what songs they sing. I hope she is not too nervous, but I know the program will be cute. I wish everyone could come!

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What I've learned about Jon and Sherry Rivers

I've learned quite a few things about Jon and Sherry Rivers in the last few weeks. Some of them are shocking. Some of them are downright unbelievable.

Did you know that Sherry may not be married to Jon? She may be married to Jim. Or she may be married to Rick. But she may be married to Mike. AND no matter who she's married to, their last name might not be Rivers. In fact, it might be Smith! Or Jones! Oh the scandal!

There's a rumor going around that Jon and Sherry are getting a divorce. No, they're not getting divorced, they are divorced. But not only are they divorced, but they were also fired by Klove due to this. And not only were they fired from Klove because of this divorce, but Klove is also covering up their firing because of the sheer embarrassment.

And besides the divorce and the scandalous cover-up, they are also moving from their home/ranch deep in the heart of Texas (no, Colorado ... No, California ... No, Texas). And where are they moving to? Well, they're moving to Nashville. Why are they moving to Nashville, you may ask? Because, of course, Jon is recording the song(s) that he wrote. And he may have possibly joined a band. No, not joining a band. He's forming a band.

I know it's all so hard to believe, but that's what I've read on the internet in the past couple weeks. And you know the internet is always right. Right? Hello? *crickets chirping in the background*

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All insight was gleaned by analyzing web searches regarding Jon and Sherry Rivers. All or none of this may be factual. It is, in fact, all for fun and is fully intended to hurt noone. To Jon and Sherry Rivers: If you're reading this, lots of people miss hearing you every morning on Klove. We hope you all are well. I am, of course, only speaking for myself.

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You're Invited

You're invited to Emily's Spring Program

Date: Thursday, April 23rd

Time: 7:00 - 8:00pm

Location: Email me

Come join us! It should be a lot of fun.

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