Josh's Family Party...In No Particular Order

I have worked and worked on getting my pictures for Josh's Family Birthday Party into order for this blog post, but it is just taking way too long.

So, here is Josh's Family Party...in no particular order.

Which may drive me just a little crazy.

Family arrived on Sunday morning!

The first guests were from northern Indiana...Papa B, Uncle Robbie, Aunt Brandy, and Baby Ciara!

Baby Ciara isn't so much of a baby anymore...

She and Matthew tried out the music box while waiting for the other guests to arrive.

Music tastes good!

And so does everything else when you're almost one.

Next to arrive were Grandma and Grandpa, GG, 

Uncle Brian, and Uncle Scott.

Grandma looked on as Josh decorated his Brownie Cake.

There's that sweet Josh smile!

I don't have any pictures from lunch.

Josh chose something simple this year...pizza and chips!

Yay for simple!

After eating and clean-up...PRESENTS!

This year, Josh could read his own birthday cards!

Unless signed in cursive handwriting.  

I'm not sure what Matthew is looking for here.

He was already camped out in a grocery bag that he found among the litter.

William, the Tool Boy, was quick to check out 

Josh's new drill.

It looks like Papa B is patiently waiting his turn 

to check it out too.

Time for singing!

And cake!

And ice cream!

Oh...and for lighting his own candles!

It seems that Matthew already has 

chocolate lining his lips.

Hmmm...

Happy Birthday, Dear Joshua!

O.K.

Here's where I gave up trying to get pictures in order, so you are going to just get a sampling of the rest of the day.

I can't believe that Baby Girl is going to be ONE 

in less than a month!

And then a big sister in just about three months!

Unicorn siting!

Enjoying it all...even the disorder of this blog post,

A Short Nature Break...

 I remember when I first started blogging.

It drove me crazy to add pictures to my blog. 

I couldn't see what the picture was until 

I got it all entered.

Now, it is so much simpler...but still.

For some reason, there are times when my pictures don't load in the order that I have them on my computer.  That's what is happening right now with my blog post about Josh's Family Birthday Party.

Drag.  Drop.  Drag.  Drop.  Refuse to drag.  Delete itself.  

Ugh.

When that happens, I tend to stop blogging.

This time, I've decided to continue blogging my family's life while working on that overwhelming post.

On the morning of Joshua's 8th birthday, 

we decided to take it easy.

I had been so busy with birthday and school preparations that a bit of a break sounded wonderful!

We hung out in our jammies and enjoyed nature.

Matthew is so intrigued by the cicadas!

He really, REALLY does not like bugs of any kind, but lightning bugs and cicadas are different.

He couldn't wait to show me what he found on the tree 

at the side of the house.

Fresh out of his shell!

Cicadas aren't my favorite, so we're going to 

take a flower break...

My friend, Peggy, divided up her Black-Eyed Susans a couple of years ago, and shared some with me. 

They are absolutely beautiful!

O.K.

Back to bugs.

After looking at the cicada and his shell for a bit, we discovered many, many more shells all the way up and around the tree.

Believe it or not, Matthew likes to collect the shells and the dead cicadas and keep them in a sandwich bag.

A couple of weeks ago, William and I were driving home "the country way," and found a field that we didn't recognize.  At that time, they were just stems and leaves.

We thought we would take a drive 

to see what we might find.

Wow!

Look at that!

Sunflowers!

And some stray Morning Glories.

Here, they look like they are 

bowing down to their Creator.

And the next minute, 

they are lifting their heads to the Son!

I remember seeing acres and acres of Sunflower fields when Paul and I drove through South Dakota some...

19 years ago?!

I love this progression...

 Matthew got the biggest kick out of sunflower toward the middle of this picture. 

It was a "tall guy!"

One of my favorites...Queen Anne's Lace.

I remember my mom taking the Queen Anne's Lace and placing them in jars of water colored with food coloring.  We would watch the dainty little flowers turn such pretty colors.

I also remember seeing my first grade teacher, Mrs. Arch, and her son, Chas, walking down our road, harvesting the dried Queen Anne's Lace.  They would take it home and make tea.

Sunflowers, Queen Anne's Lace and Clover all together.

As we were driving home, we decided to drive through the pretty, quiet neighborhood behind our home.  As we drove by the pond, we saw these little white sails floating along.  We couldn't quite tell what they were, so William got out of the car to take a closer look.

Goose feathers!

As he was walking along the bank, he said that frogs began croaking and jumping into the water.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above^[a] proclaims his handiwork.
 Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
 There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
 Their voice^[b] goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
     which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

Psalm 19:1-6

Enjoying the glory of God,