Peace and Quiet

This week I took the children (won't be able to say that much longer as they are now 15, 13 and 11!) to their first art class of the school year. The class is held at the new Virginia Museum of Fine Arts once a month and lasts an hour and a half.

Of course I had an ulterior motive for signing them up for this class. 1) It's good for them and gives them regular exposure to the amazing world of art. 2) It's good for me because I have an hour and a half to wander around this beautiful art museum and actually admire each and every work of art!

It is such a gift to be able to walk around in a very quiet environment (with cell phone turned off) and really take in the pieces of art on display. I so enjoy reading about each artist and learning about where they are from and what they may have been inspired by. The best part is I can linger and absorb as much as I'd like.

Our culture has changed so much in the last decade. Can you remember the last time you did not have some type of media or communication device distracting you? I can attest that it is absolutely THERAPEUTIC to leave the iphone, radio, tv and internet behind to quietly enjoy beauty for a little while. Give it a try and I'm sure you'll agree.

You think YOU had a bad day? Put it into perspective.

Catching Up!

I haven't written since spring time. Wow!! So much has happened since then. I've been very busy with everyday life.

If I had any regular readers they've probably long ago given up on me. I do have a few new pictures to share. My husband bought me a horse about two months ago. What a great surprise! He did a great job and picked a real sweetie pie!

I haven't ridden seriously in almost 20 years. I've started lessons (Hunter) and am re-learning everything. It's a great challenge but it's also great fun.

Here are some pictures of Tucker. He is a 14.1 hand Paint gelding. I'll try to post more soon.

Spring? Are you coming or not? I have plans....

Spring!

It's 40 degrees here today but yesterday was the first day of Spring!

I'm so excited to know that it is here and soon the flowers will be blooming and the temperature will be rising.  I bought an indoor seed starter and some seeds and I'm looking forward to giving it a shot this year.  I will need to figure out a good place to plant my little spring garden in my very sloping backyard.  Most likely, I'll need to do a raised bed in order to level the garden.

If I want a farm one day, I suppose I should work with what I have and be a good steward before venturing off into bigger and more difficult things.  Despise not small beginnings!

It's Party Time!

My daughter turned 10 years old yesterday.  She is my baby and it's hard to believe that she is growing up!

We had a rock star themed birthday party for her.  It was a lot of fun even though several of her friends weren't able to make it.  There were a total of 6 girls, and believe me, that's plenty of girls to make some noise!  They all came dressed in rock star attire, and were given gold or silver sunglasses to wear.  They made their own V.I.P. passes and had to present them at the door of our game room to security, played by my 12 year old son.  He enjoyed that role very much.

They played Guitar Hero, Freeze Dance and enjoyed junk food and popcorn.  The kids loved it.