sleep little batman....

...you need your rest to be able to do all of your awesome stunts.

This sweet boy is going home tomorrow.

Needless to say...

I have enjoyed every minute of our time together.

Archie is home....

doing well.

He is an amazing kid!

Very thankful to God for how this went.

Back for a minute to Gus.

We were working in the yard just now.

The sun was setting.

He was jumping from tree to tree

playacting a show he likes.

He stopped.

looked over at me,

and said,

"Grammy, is your dream my dream?

I replied,

"Probably not dear one,

but I know both of our dreams are very special."

There is nothing like the mind of a child.

Sleep now sweet boy and dream your dreams...

very soon I'll be dreaming mine.

Grammy

i don't want to go to neverland

This is my little helper.

His name is Gus.

He is staying with us while his brother Archie has his surgery.

I bought him a child size rake and

we have almost filled a whole bag with debris.

I just tucked him in,

kissed him,

and we prayed for Arch.

I love this little guy so much.

Archie did so well today

and he is recovering nicely.

Thank you Lord for hearing our prayers.

This next picture is a silly one,

at Gus' request.

You can also see the size of the bag he (we) filled.

Outside we were discussing Peter Pan.

He told me emphatically

that he didn't want to go to Neverland.

"Why not," I asked.

"Most kids would give anything to go there."

He replied, "Because I want to grow up."

Gus is wise beyond his years,

and he sings

beautifully and with passion.

I am so glad that God brought him to us!!!

the easter gathering.....

Chicken Salad

Shrimp salad

Pineapple bake,

Deviled eggs

Broccoli Salad

Strawberries with fresh whipped cream

Warm yeast Rolls

Crackers (for David)

Tea and Lemonade

A peep cake

Coconut cake

Pecan pie

Coffee after the hunt.

Charlotte Bell as the Easter Bunny.

Kid's table

Some major happiness went on here!

August David with his new sunglasses.

Before the hunt...

The rain stopped long enough

for the egg hunt to happen.

We were all very happy!

Archie had the right idea to use his Easter basket

as an umbrella.

The hunters are getting very "hot" on the trail

of the golden egg!

Lucy found the "golden egg."

It had 20 dollars in it.

After the hunt...

happy hunters with wet, dirty feet.

Easter Sunday is a great celebration for believers.

It starts early with church

and then continues all day long

with dinner and fun times.

All we have comes from Him....

even our very life.

Another day to be glad and thankful!!!

He is Risen....

He is risen indeed!

If I could just go to church and worship

every morning,

standing strong in my faith would be so much easier.

I gather so much strength from

worshiping in song,

being with other believers,

and hearing the truth of God's word proclaimed.

Yesterday on Easter morning in Savannah

it was cloudy, and rainy, and gloomy

on the outside,

but in our hearts it was bright and joyful.

We met together to worship Him

who died and returned to life,

just like He said.

God keeps all of His promises,

not one word of His truth ever fails.

The boys in their new shirts.

All smiles.

Gussie doing some of his antics behind.

Gram and Lucy.

Everybody else is singing and we are

posing for a picture

taken by granddaddy.

Go figure.

I will share about our Easter party later.

saturday ~ silence

On Friday when Jesus was taken down from the cross,

the soldiers saw that He was already dead,

so they did not break His legs

as was done to the other two who were crucified with Him.

His side was pierced with a spear, though,

and immediately blood and water came out.

Joseph of Arimathea,

a secret disciple of Jesus, got permission from Pilate

to take away Jesus' body.

Nicodemus also came,

bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes,

about a hundred pounds.

In the place where He was crucified

there was a garden

and in the garden was a new tomb

 in which nobody had yet been laid.

So they took Jesus' body,

bound it in strips of linen with the spices,

as was the custom.

Then they laid Him in the tomb.

The stone was rolled in place and secured.

From John 19

Today has been a quiet Saturday for Bubba and I.

After the Good Friday service last night,

our minds and hearts were prepared for today 

and especially tomorrow ~

Resurrection Sunday.

So great to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord!

 Our faith is based on that one truth.

If Jesus had not died, 

rose from the dead,

and ascended back to heaven to sit at the right hand of our Father,

there would be no hope of eternal life

with God,

as He intended from the beginning.

Hallelujah...What a Savior!!

Jesus walking to His death

Jesus is God...

Jesus was a man.

He was sinless...

but He was human.

He was born to die.

We had transgressed God's commandments.

God could not look upon us in our sin.

God provided Jesus.

Jesus was our substitute.

We should have died but He died for us.

God accepted Jesus' death on our behalf.

All who believe that Jesus is God's Son

and that He died for our sins

has eternal life.

It was Spring on that Friday morning so long ago.

What was on Jesus mind after the night 

of suffering and humiliation?

Did He notice the sunrise,

the flowers,

their scent?

Was He sad to be leaving the earth and His friends?

Probably.

But His face was set like flint to His duty.

He came to die and He did,

and that death of our

Savior the Lord Jesus Christ 

changed everything.

Just Believe!

I love you!!

getting ready for easter

Lucy spent the night last night..

This morning

 she helped me dye the eggs

for our big Easter celebration on Sunday.

It was as you can see,

quite the production line.

She was in charge of all of the colors.

I put in the vinegar and boiling water.

She did the rest.

Right in the middle I ran out of

red food coloring

and had to make a flying trip down to the grocery.

The eggs came out beautiful

we think.....

always such a magnificent centerpiece.

After all was said and done

we poured all of the colors together in one big bowl.

We had one egg left and wanted to see what color it would turn out.

Wanna take a guess?

It came out brown!!!

Now we all know where brown eggs come from.

Next I let Lucy dye her hands,

(This is something only a grammy would let a grandchild do.)

So much fun!!

Now all I have to do is 

finish decorating 

and get some food together.

Can't wait!!!

Sadly, rain is expected

but the egg hunt will go on.

There will be $20.00 in the golden egg this year!!!

amanda

She is my daughter,

my best friend,

my baby girl,

my grandson's mom.

She is Mark's wife,

a personal trainer,

 fitness instructor extraordinaire.

We shop together,

we talk till our voices give out,

and...

most of all we laugh, laugh, laugh together.

We find the same things funny.

she is one of my blessings from God.

At Jupiter Beach

in the glow of the setting sun!!.

ascending into jerusalem....

...on the back of a donkey.

On the Sunday before He died,

our Lord Jesus was going up to Jerusalem.

The city was packed full of people

celebrating the Passover.

When he arrived near the Mount of Olives,

He said to two of His disciples,

"Go into the village opposite you

in which when you enter you will find a colt tied,

on which no one has ever sat;

untie it and bring it here."

"And if anyone asks you,

'Why are you untying it?'

thus you shall speak,

'The Lord has need of it."

"The two found it just as Jesus had told them.

And as they were untying the colt,

it's owner said to them

'Why are you untying the colt?'

And they said,

'The Lord has need of it."

Interesting!

It happened just as Jesus said.

They brought the donkey to Jesus,

spread their garments on it's back,

and had Him sit there atop the beast of burden.

As they were going the people were

spreading their garments on the ground ahead of Him.

They were praising God

joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen.

In just a few days,

many of this same crowd 

would be crying out for His Crucifixion.

Jesus knew what would happen

because He came here to die.

The people were amazed at Jesus for His miracles,

but they didn't know who He was.

He wasn't riding on that donkey up to Jerusalem to be their king.

The donkey thing should have given them a clue.

Kings don't ride on donkeys.

He was coming to be their Savior.

He was coming to die so that they could be reconciled to God.

but....

they didn't want a Savior, they wanted an earthly king.

We are sinners!

We need a Savior!

Don't miss who He is and what He came to do.

yep....he got me to the ocean again

Bubba & Cathy standing on a pier

 very, very far out over the 

beautiful blue ocean

in Jupiter, Florida.

Oh how I love it so!!!

I thought I had two more weeks until Easter,

but sadly there is only one.

We will get it done!

It will be a fabulous day

because...

its our big celebration,

the biggest of the year.

Jesus rose.

That one truth changes everything.

Gazing over the rail at the beauty of the water.

Its a different color in South Florida/

home again

Home from trip.....

Confused by clocks in this house

 that were not set to

Daylight Savings Time

before we left last Sunday.

Missing Amanda and the boys

and all the fun we had.

Feeling very pollinated.....

translated:

tired with flu-like symptoms.

Thankful for the blessing that last week was!!

more later...

c

first for charlotte bell

Happy First Birthday Charlotte Belle!

Cannot believe that you are turning one already.

We had such a good time celebrating with you this afternoon.

You are walking,

you like to dance a few moves,

you have some teeth,

you babble and coo.

I love you little girl!!!!!

You had your very own tasting cake

which looked so delicious.

You were very careful, though, 

not to make a big mess.

You gave more to your brother than you ate yourself.

Thanks for inviting your Aunt Cathy & Uncle Bubba to your party.

We had a lovely afternoon.

new plates

These are my new spring plates,

I cannot wait to set this adorable table....

Cannot control my joy at finding these on sale.

Of course there will be the Easter dinner served on them...

but...

these will be used every day of Spring.

They are too cute not to use them.

This plate was brought to me by

David and Erika.

When in Atlanta "Star Provisions" is always

a must stop.

They have all my favorite things.

I just love this!!!

Today has been a "house cleaning" day.

Love to get it "spic & span."

Constantly on my quest to bring beauty to our home!!

chaos?

Our country...

what do you think?

Is it in chaos?

Yes, probably.

But....

God is still in control.

Lest you think that God is not sovereign over

The United States of America,

stop and think again.

Whatever happens next November

will be exactly according to His plan.

No one,

not even the plenteous talking heads

know what will come down.

So much talk only fuels the chaos.

Believers can pray.

We know for a fact that God hears our prayers.

My prayer is that He will glorify Himself in this land.

But,

this is not a Christian nation.

Yes,

it was founded on Christian principles,

but the government

 no longer abides by those principles.

Our country has not received any promises from God 

that we as a nation will be blessed.

When the leaders and the people

no longer call upon His name,

no longer obey His word,

have no sense of right and wrong,

prefer lawlessness to order,

Yes there is chaos.

Pray that God will draw this people to Himself...

eli turns nine today

Happy birthday to this

blue-eyed,

freckle-faced,

smart as a whip little boy

who stole my heart from day one.

He love Star Wars.

especially Boba Fett.

He plays Wii U' like a real pro.

He and I are going shopping when we get to his house

for four of the game figures that he loves.

He is a swimmer,

he loves the ocean like his Gram,

he will walk with me and look for treasures,

he is interesting to talk to...

He loves Disney and Sea world,

he does well in school,

he loves to read in bed till he falls asleep,

just like I do.

every now and then I still get a snuggle,

a sitting real close time.

And,

wonder of wonders,

he and his brother still love for me to read to them.

Happy Birthday Eli!

I Love You,

Gram

he will cry

Lucy, Harry, Archie & Gus,

all four of them spent the night here

on Friday night.

It is kind of a tradition

 for us to watch a movie together.

I asked David about E.T.

He said that was fine,

but Gus would cry.

E.T. came out in 1982.

It is 34 years old.

Lucy and I had already watched it together

a couple of times.

We love it.

I made our TV room into a movie theater.

Lu and I sat in the big recliners

and the boys had comfy quilts and pillows on the floor.

We fixed ice cream sundaes,

dimmed the lights,

and started to watch the show.

Lucy was quiet,

Harry was mesmerized,

Archie asked a thousand questions,

and Gus, he asked questions too.

All of the boys desperately wanted me to tell them

what was going to happen next.

Gus started out with his brothers,

then he separated from them a little bit.

Next thing I knew,

he was up in the chair with me

sitting very close.

By the end of the movie,

when it came time for the children 

to send E.T. back home,

Gus started sobbing unconsolably.

He was so sad and would not be comforted.

Gus is all boy...

He can be tough and brave.

But he cries at movies.

I like that in a man.

He is not ashamed to show emotion.

I hope he never stops!

the black and white dog

These four just left to go home.

The house is very quiet...

no one is saying "Gram."

We were outside 

working in the yard this afternoon

when Miss Lucy Lu

came over to play.

Lucy Lu is the black and white dog

who belongs to our neighbors.

Great joy abounded

as she chased them around.

Tired grammy I am,

but it was all so much fun!!!

Love these kids!

So thankful for what they teach me.

breathing

This I love!!

I have a little metal sign that spells out the word

BREATHE.

Sometimes I need to be reminded to take that

long, deep breath

that makes all the difference in the world.

Stand before the sunrise at the ocean

and remember to breathe deeply,

and then remember Who gives you the ability 

to take the next breath.

Praise to the One tonight who sustains us

in our life!

geraniums ~ 3 for $10.00

Here I go again...

first sign of Spring and I'm at the nursery buying flowers.

These deep green healthy geraniums were

such a good buy

 I couldn't pass them up....

And, they look so lovely on the porches.

Maybe the deer will leave them alone this year.

(In my dreams)

Have you noticed how much longer the days are getting?

That, along with increasing warmth from the sun

is a sure sign that winter is almost over.

It's time to start thinking of the yard again

and all that goes with that.

Very thankful today

for the progress that has been made

getting the David Cleland family settled in their new home.

Most all of the boxes have been unpacked

and it is a living, breathing home.

Bubba and I are looking forward to a trip

to South Florida very soon.

One little boy who lives down there

is getting ready to turn nine

and, of course,

we have to celebrate with him.

Friday and Saturday

we will have four great kids here

for an overnighter.

believe me,

you have to be up for this undertaking.

Maybe will all watch a movie together....

ride bikes,

eat hamburgers cooked on the grill,

plant my flowers.

For sure there will be a lot of

laughter and craziness.

Busy days and Happy nights.

Full life and then overflowing.

God's grace abounds.

Thank you dear God.