Tulips, Tulips, Tulips

More pictures of the gorgeous tulips in Holland, MI.  A feast for the eyes and soul!

Downtown:

Window on the Waterfront Park:

Veldheer Tulip Farm

Sweet Shot Tuesday 4/27

Veldheer Tulip Farm, Holland, Michigan.

Tulips are ablaze all over town in preparation for Holland's annual Tulip Time Festival starting this weekend. 

There were so many beautiful places around town, full of tulips in every color of the rainbow, that I was almost giddy snapping away with my new camera.  I took over 100 photos, making it hard to choose just one for Sweet Shot Tuesday, so here's one more!  I'll be posting additional photos in another post soon.

See more great photos at Life with My 3 Boybarians.

Announcing a New Addition!!

Did that get your attention?!   :)

I'm so excited - I got a new "big girl" camera!  Presenting . . . my new best friend . . . (okay, still exaggerating) . . . a Canon EOS Rebel T1i DSLR.

Hello new friend!

Goodbye old friend, Kodak Z8612 . . .  you've been a decent friend, especially your zoom, but you're just not good enough for me anymore.

Now I need to spend some time with my new friend and learn all about her.  She seems a little complicated right now; hopefully she'll be patient with me.

More Laughs from a Six Year Old

A couple more things that Aaron has said recently that made me laugh.

Yesterday he helped me make cookies (which are somewhat rare around here because they're too hard for this Mom to resist eating!)  While I was cleaning up, I turned from the sink to see Aaron licking spilled sugar off the counter, like a dog, which was funny enough!  But then he told me, "There was so much sugar that I couldn't even taste the counter!"

Later, he declared "I love cookies!  They're my favorite circle thing!"

He's also still calling pirates "Pie-Rips", which cracks me up every time.

Here he is, ecstatic after beating everybody at UNO!  What innocent joy!

Sweet Shot Tuesday

This is my first time joining Darcy from Life With My 3 Boybarians in the Sweet Shot Tuesdays that she hosts.

This photo was taken in downtown Grand Rapids. The flag is outside of the Gerald R. Ford Musem.

Check out more great photos at Sweet Spot Tuesday!

Dog-sitting

Our dog Chester is having a 6-night sleepover with his friend Pharoah.  Well, perhaps calling them friends is not exactly accurate.  Chester is a little annoyed with having another dog invade his territory, but they're getting along better than they did the first day.  Maybe by the end of the week they will be friends!

Don't they look like they could be related?  Chester is the smaller one.  Pharoah lives up to his name and is the larger, grander one.  We love Shelties; they make great pets!

Vinegar as a Weed Killer

I heard quite some time ago that vinegar, full-strength, can be used as a weed killer.  I finally decided to try it on the weeds that are taking over our otherwise dormant vegetable garden.  I'm planning to start planting the cooler weather vegetables next week, so the weeds had to go before preparing the soil this weekend.  I poured vinegar into a spray bottle and sprayed right onto the weeds, enough to wet the weed and soak the ground/roots a little.

Result?  Weeds brown and dead within 24 hours!! 

We tried it on some dandelions as well, but it killed the surrounding grass.  So only use it where you want to kill all vegetation or where there's no grass.

I also read that vinegar will decrease the pH of the soil somewhat, but within 48 hours the pH balance is back to its original state.  So I guess it should be used at least 48 hours before planting anything in that same area.

I'm happy to find such an easy, effective, non-chemical way to kill weeds!

God Delights In Us

Have you ever watched a child, completely engrossed and involved in some activity or thing that they love?  Perhaps they're marvelling over an interesting bug, or jumping for joy on a trampoline, or dancing, or getting caught up in a good book.  They're so focused, intent, and just plain enjoying themselves.  Without any guilt or feeling self-conscious about it.

It doesn't matter if the activity or object of their attention is of great importance to the rest of the world.  It doesn't matter if anything is being "accomplished".  What's important in that moment is that they're simply Being and Doing - just being themselves.  It makes me smile, and gives me joy to watch that.

Don't you think that God feels the same way about all of us?  Don't you think that God enjoys watching us, His children, just be ourselves?  It's easy to feel, as an adult, that our day is supposed to be filled with the tasks that we need to do, responsibilities we have, things that just have to get done.  And practically, there is much that we need to do each day.  God must also delight in seeing us responsibly fulfill the work He's given us.

But how often do we allow ourselves to simply do something that we really enjoy?  Something that makes us happy and is part of who we are?  Without feeling guilty. Without feeling that that we're wasting time. Why do we feel guilty if we take a little time away from responsibilities to do something that fulfills us?  God created each of us just as we are.  He specifically gave us our individual interests, skills, personalities.  It's not God's character to give us a particular interest, and then discipline us or be disappointed in us when we partake in it.

Apart from sinful or indulgent or harmful behaviors of course, I think that when we dive wholeheartedly into something that truly interests us or gives us joy, God delights in watching it.

I love photography.  Sometimes I head out on a nice day or after a fresh snowfall with my camera to try to capture some good shots of God's beautiful creation.  I sometimes feel so compelled that if I don't get some pictures, I'll just burst!  Who gave me that desire? Aside from doing it too often, to the extent of completely ignoring my responsibilities, aren't I fulfilling God's purposed design in me?

What do you love to do that God delights in watching?  Do it today!  Enjoy it!

I'm going to go outside now and try to get a good picture of the big, fat robin hopping around our back yard.