showeredwithgrace

I have found my lenten sacrifice.  It will be this blog.  I will be closing it down permanently.  While keeping this blog has opened my eyes to much of the beauty in my life and in many cases helped me to celebrate and remember more clearly all the joys of the last few years ~  it has also taken me away from commiting myself completely to the things that I most value.

Over the next few weeks I shall be saving parts of this blog that I would chose to keep for memories sake and then I will close it down.

Adieu, my friends.

 

We picked up this puzzle at the Wildlife World Zoo.  I thought it might be too challenging since the borders were not straight but she pieces more by the picture.  She completed this one solo (50 piece).  Aren't the colors wonderful.

Week Five:

 

We skipped posting about our table top root garden last week as it wasn't progressing much.  This week the progress is worth mentioning.  See our red carrot?  Finally, it is sprouting noticeable greens.  The question . . . what do we do with these now?

 

We spent the day at the Children's Museum of Phoenix on Saturday.  Rose Red had fun trying to ride this with her pappy's help.

Unplugged Project:  Water

 

I would recommend this book, A Drop of Water by Walter Wick ~ awesome.  We explored water a bit today. . .

   

floating and sinking

 

making water worms on wax paper (connecting the water drops)

 

painting with water

 

the absence of water under this bridge

 

painting with frozen water/paint (acrylic mixed with water)

 

her "ocean".

A Pearl of Great Value

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it." ~ Matthew 13:45-47

 

Rose Red listens attentively to the scripture reading during tonight's Atrium session (Catechesis of the Good Shepherd).

OOOoooo!  We are so excited to share with you what we discovered in our neighborhood this morning.

 

A mother owl sitting on her nest high in the arms of a saguaro ~ she had her eye on us.

   

 

And some more signs that spring is just around the corner. . .

 

 

This is the nest of one of our cactus wrens ~ looks like it's soft and ready.

 

 

Our Gambel's quail.

 

And bees, bees and more bees.

This is Rose Red taking a break.

We're expecting!

. . . baby birds that is

 

Doesn't this mother-to-be look so sweet sitting on her nest?   She's right outside our front door.  A Mourning Dove.

 

Flowers for sale

 

. . . today it's a flower cart.

Beginning a little handwork.

 

     

 

Creating flower art this morning . . .

Two boats sailing on a white sea filled with one fish, one shark and many plants

(per Rose Red)

  

Playing with color and examining the differences between flowers

 

examining the bugs that crawl out of the flowers

   

Rose Red found the bugs the most fascinating part.

Peeking in more garden pots . . .

cilantro

 

lemon thyme

 

sugar peas

 

 

Off to the park with Pappy.

 

& loving up her pup.

Desert hike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to search for one lone desert lupine.

 

An early herald to tell us Spring is coming.

 

This week's Unplugged Project :  Clothes

   

      

 

Things that depress me:

1.  War

2.  Our table-top root garden

Week Three:  And Then There Were Four

 

Progress:  excruciatingly slow

And what's with our red carrot . . . .   It's low self-esteem I think (because the parsnip thief chose the parsnip instead of it). 

Hoping for greater developments next week.

Bugs on our tomato plants.

 

After mass this morning we discovered tiny black bugs all over our tomato plants in our greenhouse.  We gave them the recommended dose of soapy water spray.  Hope it helps.

"If your heart is a volcano, how shall you expect        flowers to bloom?"

~ Khalil Gibran

Blue and Yellow make Green Pond

 

 

Discovering pond life.

 

   

    

 

 

Did you see this fabulously big and beautiful star in the western sky tonight?  

Wow. 

 A Crescent Venus

Making fresh flower fairy crowns this morning.

Ate the first strawberry of the season off our strawberry plant today ~ still warm from the sun . . . (forgot to take pictures).

   

This day ~ two years ago ~ was Rose Red's baptismal day.  May our sweet little imp walk always as a child of the Light.

The new aquarium at our Wildlife World Zoo was lots of fun.  We were able to pet the sting rays, starfish, sea urchins and horseshoe crabs.  The penguins too, were great fun to watch ~ and the fish were beautiful!

 

There was of course much more but these fish were my favorite.