Category: Seasons

November Sunday Afternoon

On By My Crazy Graced LifeIn Family, SeasonsLeave a comment

This Sunday afternoon was a perfect fall day: sunshine, mid-60’s, blue skies, little wind.  It’s always easy to get caught up in preparing for the new week with a chore list a mile long but, today, I felt more compelled to get outside and enjoy a little fun.  An impromptu call to my daughter, Krista, and within an hour the hubby and I were hiking with some of the grandkids at The Heard Natural Science Museum in McKinney.

A delightful couple of hours spent soaking up a beautiful day, checking out the animatronic dinosaurs, looking for wildlife and butterflies (they were gone), taking pictures, walking and, if I’m honest, a little bit of, “I’m sooooo tired I just can’t go on…”.  No matter, this spur-of-the-moment outing made for a very pleasant Sunday afternoon.

Always time to play
A tree 250+ years old
Checking out a very unique dinosaur
The Heard
Making sure we are heading the right direction on the map
The Heard
Photo op!
The Heard
T-Rex
The Heard
Pioneer Village
The Heard
Pretty pond
Colette
It’s so tiring riding on grandpa’s shoulders
And, Fulton!

Birds In the Backyard – Cardinals In Winter

On By My Crazy Graced LifeIn animals, Nature, Seasons3 Comments

I didn’t know how much I would enjoy the variety of birds that would come to visit my yard when one day I decided to hang a birdfeeder.  I’ve been treated to robins, blue jays, woodpeckers, finches, sparrows, doves, and cardinals.

Every bird has been fun to watch and I’ve probably taken a thousand pictures, and I’ve decided it’s time to share some of them here.

Today, I bring you a few cardinals.  The males with their bright red and the females with more subtle color along with all of them having those little tufts on their heads.

All of my pictures are taken from inside the house looking through a window so sometimes they look a little diluted.

Meandering with Lucy

On By My Crazy Graced LifeIn animals, Dogs, God, Nature, Seasons, Spring, The Daily Post2 Comments

Maybe it is the time change, but my 14-year-old Westie, Lucy, woke up this afternoon and was feeling feisty.  Lucy, who is mostly deaf and partly blind and spends most of her days sleeping wanted to play so – taking advantage of a pretty afternoon and the extended daylight – we went for a walk.

Cool temperatures, budding trees, blooming grape hyacinths, and one of those amazing sunsets turned a quick walk into an opportunity to meander.

These moments are always good.  And appreciated.

WPC – It IS Easy Being Green When It’s Springtime in Texas

On By My Crazy Graced LifeIn animals, Boys, Daily Prompt, Dogs, Nature, Photo Challenges, Photography, Seasons, Spring, The Daily Post, Weekly Photo Challenge, wpc1 Comment

An ordinary Sunday afternoon spent enjoying my boys, my dogs and lots of sunshine. (The Hubster was out of town)

Luxurious Green-ness is abundant during springtime in this great state of Texas!

 

 

Waiting for Baby

On By My Crazy Graced LifeIn Daily Prompt, Family, Nature, Photo Challenges, Photography, Seasons, The Daily Post, Weekly Photo Challenge, wpc7 Comments

The ‘official’ due date for my baby girl to deliver her baby girl has come and gone so now we are all sitting around staring at her, waiting for her to announce, “this is it!”

Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration.  We aren’t actually sitting.  Or staring.  We are keeping busy and carrying on with life as usual.

Yesterday, in an effort to remain occupied we took advantage of some beautiful springtime weather and spent time at the Dallas Arboretum.

I’ll tell you – no matter what the season this place never fails to amaze me with its beauty.

In the fall you have Autumn at the Arboretum with pumpkins galore

For the Christmas season, it’s the Twelve Days at Night

Right now, it’s Dallas Blooms.  A beautiful array of springtime flowers punctuated with carpets of amazing tulips in vibrant colors.

It is stunning.

This years theme is ‘Peace, Love, and Flower Power’ and showcased Volkswagon’s covered in blooms.

Texas-sized games were available that kids and grown-ups alike enjoyed.

Cute grandkids and lush backgrounds made for great photo ops.

In hopes that a lot of walking would help jumpstart labor we stayed for a long while. Apparently, Baby is quite comfy and all we managed to do was wear mom out.

A lovely family waiting for a small bundle of joy to join them.

Any time now Baby K…

I wish, for my daughter’s sake, that Baby comes sooner rather than later.  Even though she feels, at this point, like she might be pregnant forever, we know she will go into labor.  For now – we continue to pray for the blessing of a safe delivery and the joy of new baby snuggles.

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths.

 

WPC – Relax

On By My Crazy Graced LifeIn animals, Christmas, Daily Prompt, Holidays, Photo Challenges, Seasons, Weekly Photo Challenge, wpc3 Comments

Without fail my Christmas tree invokes a sense of peace and relaxation.  During this busy and hectic time of year I relish a quiet morning – or evening – spent gazing upon the colored lights and ornaments filled with memories.  Today, the rain outside, the animals and the fireplace were an added bonus.

Christmas tree

 

The Heard on Black Friday

On By My Crazy Graced LifeIn Daily Prompt, Family, Grandchildren, Nature, Photo Challenges, Seasons, The Daily Post, Weekly Photo Challenge, wpc1 Comment

 

It’s not this time of year without the madness of the Black Friday frenzy.  And, while I have, in past years, jumped on the bandwagon in search of savings, this year I had no desire to join the crowds.

However, I did feel the need to get outside and make the most of the sunshine and mild temperatures.  With such good weather my daughter and I made  a plan to visit dinosaurs and explore trails at   The Heard Museum in McKinney, Texas.

Arriving earlier than the rest of the family I was able to get in two miles before we met up.  I enjoyed the solitude in nature as I encountered fewer and fewer people the farther out I went.

The water, the turtles and our version of autumn

When they arrived I met them on the dinosaur trail, and as I came up behind the kids I was met with the wonderfully familiar sound of “NAAANNAA” as they caught sight of me.

Dinosaurs – oh my! Let’s take a a selfie.

As we wandered along we came across a trail that none of us had been on in a while and decided to follow it.  Five year old Kolbe was convinced that this was the trail with the giant white sycamore and really wanted to find the tree.  Despite the rain a few days ago everything had been relatively dry so we thought, “okay!”

11-nov-25-black-friday-at-the-heard-16It may have been a little muddy in a few spots.

We were thoroughly enjoying our hike when we came across areas that had obviously been flooded.  Seeing a bridge which had been washed away from who-knows-where along with all of the piled up branches, trees and debris we commented on the damage.

11-nov-25-black-friday-at-the-heard-2

See the bridge?

Walking a bit further we suddenly found the spot where the bridge had been.  And, it was where we needed to cross. 11-nov-25-black-friday-at-the-heard-1We wondered, “Should we turn around and retrace our steps or see if we can get across?”

Now let me set this scene for you.  We were a party of seven.  One Nana – that’s me, one daddy, one pregnant mommy, two school-age kids and two young-un’s.

11-nov-25-black-friday-at-the-heard-11

The littlest ones

What the heck – it was time to be adventurous.  If we fell in the water or slipped in the mud it wouldn’t be too bad.  After all, it was 62 degrees with sunshine and no wind!

It’s an adventure payoff!  We all got across and no one fell in!

Time for another selfie.  Or two!

11-nov-25-black-friday-at-the-heard-7AND – we found the giant sycamore!  More than 160 years old!

As we came to the end of the trail we realized we had been hiking a closed trail.  Due to damage from flooding. Oops.

11-nov-25-black-friday-at-the-heard-17I don’t know what happened to the sign at the start of the trail, but our ‘adventures’ made a good day truly memorable.

 

Countless Bluebonnets

On By My Crazy Graced LifeIn Daily Prompt, Nature, Photo Challenges, Photography, Seasons, Spring, The Daily Post5 Comments

Summer is around the corner and the countless bluebonnets of 2016 are past their peak.  Always a beautiful sight to see here is one more look before barbecues, beach parties and bug catching ( that is, lightning bugs) sets in.

Ennis, Tx Bluebonnets

See you next year Spring.  Hello Summer!

Eighth Gradeitis

On By My Crazy Graced LifeIn Boys, Daily Prompt, Photography, Seasons, Spring, Teenagers, The Daily PostLeave a comment

Senioritis: that time of year when seniors in high school or college are so close to finishing but aren’t there quite yet. When time slows to a crawl, and it seems like graduation day will never arrive.

Eighth Gradeitis: Senioritis for 8th graders.

The next generation of 9th-12th graders are finishing their middle school years and are on the cusp of that great big new exciting world called high school.

My own 8th grader, Ben, said to me a couple of weeks ago, “I am soooo ready to be in high school.”

“I know you are – but you still have to get through these next few weeks of school.”

Saying that also prompted me to remind him to slow down and live in the moment.  Don’t forget about today because you’re so focused on starting high school.

After all – as an 8th grader he is doing many things for the last time.  Like the sports in which he participates.  High school will be much more competitive, and chances are he won’t be able to play volleyball, basketball, soccer AND baseball.

Also, for now, he and his classmates are the BIG kids on campus.  Next year….it’s back to the bottom of the heap.

I told him, “Be excited about your future but don’t live just for tomorrow.  Enjoy today and relish all the things you have going on right now.”

Isn’t that a good lesson/reminder for all of us?

The 8th grade class of 2016 – blink and it will be 2020.  Just like that they’ll be graduating high school.

May 6 8th grade class
copyright and photo credit to Don Chamblee Photography

Reminder to self – enjoy this remarkable young man now.  The next four years will go by way faster than I think they will.

Joshua 29:11 For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.