Simple Pleasures

Simple pleasures are what makes my days seem bearable. In the spring, I had grand ideas about all of these flowers that I wanted to plant and grow. Being a mom of 3 busy boys, my plans did not go as smoothly as planned. I planted a package of Peppermint Zinnia in with my Gladiolus. Well, the only thing that came up was the Zinnia's, the rabbit ate the other flowers and I had to tell the kids everyday, don't dig there, mommy has flowers planted. Here are some snapshots of the pretty little flowers. The plant is full of blooms and it's a perennial, so it will come back (I hope).

This crazy vine is my clematis. I love the flowers when they bloom. However, this crazy thing has not bloomed. Last year it consumed our entire deck. The sides of the deck are 6ft by 6ft. And it was all over it and at least 3 feet thick. This year, after much research, I decided to cut it back and see how well it would do. I expected it to not do well this year and then take off again next year. I have a double-shepherd's hook next to it and on the right side a wire trellis. Obviously me cutting it back did not harm it. But I would really like for it to bloom. I'll just have to wait and see.

Finally, these next few shots were taken at the park last Saturday. The older boys have a Supersports Class and they were going to be playing soccer. We arrived at the park early so we let the three of them play on the playground equipment. This one is of Ethan climbing out of a tunnel. He wasn't quite sure how to get out of it. In this picture, you can see that Michael and Trevor are dribbling the soccer ball. Well, Michael is anyway, Trevor is just looking at the other kids. Finally, Trevor decides that he should kick the ball. Once he got started he didn't want stop.
SCORE! Michael scored a goal (actually they all scored a goal). But he was so excited. He really seemed to enjoy it. His uncle would be glad to hear that he likes the sport.
Just one more note. I read a passage today that was titled Desire, Ask, Believe, Receive. The passage talked about worrying and how worrying can be such a thief of time. The article said that you should take notice of what causes you to worry, what sets you off. And once you recognize the signals, you can remind yourself that you need to stop yourself from worrying. I have found that worrying causes me more stress and grief than not worrying. It can turn a wonderful day into a miserable day. It steals my time away from me. I am learning my patterns that cause me to worry (the house isn't clean enough, the kids don't like what I fixed, do the kids have clean underwear) and making myself stop and say a prayer or have a conversation with God, Jesus, Mary and/or the Holy Spirit. This has helped me to overcome my worrisome habits (or at least I'm trying to get them in control). The article says "Desire, Ask, Believe, Receive begin by praying or conversing in that order and you will see the abundance of amazing grace that is available to us". I have also taken a liking to a phrase that Scarlett O'Hara used "I'm not going to think about this right now, I'll think about this tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day."