And the winds did blow! We had a little micro-burst last night that knocked out our power for about 3 hours and blew down a big limb from the tree in the front yard. A lot of it ended up on the porch roof, but missed all the windows and did no damage to the house. As you can see in this first picture - the big limb landed in a fork in the tree so most of the weight did not hit the house.
Here's one branch that was torn down.

And here is where the big limb split. Last night, John said, you need to get a picture in the morning. Well, I was woken up by the sound of a chainsaw at about 7am. Tracy King was up on our roof taking care of things. By 8:15 am, he had all the limbs cut into logs and stacked by the fend, the leafy branches were piled high on his Crawford Towing Truck bed and he was even raking up small branches. What a guy!

Jack was in the tub when the lights went out and Maddie was all scrunched up in the corner of her crib because the window was open and the wind was howling. It didn't last very long but the kids were a little freaked out so we all climbed in our bed with flashlights and soon the kids were fast asleep. Jack has told everyone he was taking a bubble bath and he started crying, but then he was strong enough to blow the wind away.

Today we have overcast skies but very warm. Now we just need to rake all the tiny twigs - AGAIN. Jacee was excited because that means we get to do our bon fire tonight!

Spring Cleaning

It's that time of year again! And when you have a wonderful tree that shades the entire back yard, it's hard to grumble when it's time to pick up all the dead sticks and branches that invariably fall from the tree anytime there is a slight breeze. Luckily Grama and Grampa bought a fire pit so cleaning up the yard was kinda fun because we got to burn the branches! Jacee and Jack had a grand time running from stick pile to stick pile and then throwing their treasures on the fire. Truthfully, it was mostly smoke and John didn't want that in the picture (please notice the roaring flames.)

And here's the truth behind the roaring flames - John got the pump and really got the fire roaring right before we took the picture. Fun times! Overall the yard looks great - now it's time to start mowing!

On a Brighter Note

I just couldn't leave the pictures of the hacked off lilac bushes as my top post so I am adding some more positive photos. Jacee took these pictures and I do think she is quite the budding photographer. Here is our one and only daffodil that has bloomed so far. It is right by the front door so we get to gaze upon it often. We have more, they just haven't popped yet.

I don't know why Jacee took a picture of the hide out. Maybe she sensed that it would be gone soon and she wanted to preserve it's memory. Well, here it is - the lilac bush hideout that has been in use for over 30 years - until this year...


Some of our tulips. I do love spring and all the beautiful flowers. We take many walks around our yard to note the progress of all the new spring growth. Ahhh, that feels better, to talk about new life instead of a brutal death!

A Very Sad Day Indeed

Yes, this is what you think it is. The lilac bushes in front of the neighbors fence have been hacked down to unrecognizable stumpy bushes. I know that the bushes did need to be pruned - but hacked down to this? And the timing - right before they bloomed this year. Now, according to some sources, we won't get blooms for another 2-3 years. Why oh why couldn't this wait until next fall - when they don't have any leaves and look pretty much like this anyway?

Here is a shot from across the street. When I stand next to them, they come about to shoulder height.

Close up of the hide out. I use to hide out there when I was a child, and my children have been hiding out there now. It will grow back, it will grow back.

Wrong Color

We use to have multi-colored lights when I was a little girl. And then my parents went to blue light with a flocked Christmas tree in the window with blue lights also. I have always loved it. But in an effort to continue our own traditions with our children - we opted to do our red/white lights on the house with a green lit tree. You can't really see the tree in the window very well because of the garland - I think we will hang it a different way next year. Anyway...we have gotten a lot of comments about not having the blue up. Sorry neighbors and sorry mom and dad. I tell people it will be back for Christmas 2010. Merry Christmas - and we miss you mom and dad!