A little hanky-panky

going on in the front yard in full view of the neighbors.

The sun came out today.

We have three trees in our front yard that look like this one.

A little congestion.

Jordan didn't get to school as early as she had wanted.

Artist at work.

She certainly can't be bothered to clean off the palette.  I can't lay all the blame on her, though.  The topmost pinks and the greens are mine.

Camillia.

Jordan volunteered at the Ukrops Monument Avenue 10K this morning.  The run takes place in an older part of town and there are some beautiful homes over there.  Many of them have wonderful landscaping, too.  We found this enormous camillia shrub/tree near the sidewalk where we parked.  The plant is dropping it's blooms now, but it is still gorgeous.

Bench Friday - Backyard

We didn't wander too far today to find a bench.   It was way too cold and rainy.

Another beautiful spring day.

Sweet girl.

She'll make a good mom.

Art Show.

Maddie's mask was chosen as one of the pieces to represent her school at the local mall art show.  She is very proud of herself.

Camera fun.

Jordan and I have been taking pictures like this in the car for a couple of weeks now, but this time Maddie was with us.  We were having so much fun - mostly because Maddie is usually making a funny face.  This is the only one where we all are looking into the camera.  I will definitely use the others to make a photo booth strip.

Couldn't wait.

I just had to go to the garden center and get a few flowers for the front porch.

The Lorax.

The assignment is to bring a childhood fairy tale up to date.  She chose The Lorax.  Of course we're talking about Jordan and she didn't want to turn in just a written story.  She wanted to include illustrations as well.  She did a great job on this project and tomorrow when she's done, I'll post a few pages on the Scraps blog.

Bench Friday - Cary Street

On to the next holiday.

Ahhhhh, the Jelly Belly.  I love those lavender purple ones - don't know what flavor they are, but they're the best.  But then there's tutti frutti and grapefruit and Dr. Pepper and rootbeer and watermelon and lemon and - oh, the black licorice.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

This is what we found in our pot at the end of the rainbow.  Our leprechaun left us quite a mess in our sitting room and eating area this morning - overturned chairs and stools, magazines and laundry tossed about.  The little guy left so fast he lost his shoes on his way out the window.

Happy Day!

The weather is beautiful, the sun is shining, minimal homework . . .

Irritating.

The past few months somebody has been dropping their dog poo in our trash bin as they walk their dog through the neighborhood.  The bad part about that is our trash collectors don't actually dump our bin.  Instead they pull the bags out and throw those into the truck which leaves dog sh*t in the bottom of our bin.  This past couple of weeks has been getting warmer and our bin has gotten stinkier (because of the poo sitting at the bottom).  Today I noticed yet another bag of dog poo at the bottom of our bin.  What's the matter with people?!!!  What makes them think we want their dog sh*t in our bin?  If they live in the neighborhood they certainly know that these bins don't get dumped.  I hope this nice note helps our situation!

P.S. I hope I didn't offend anyone with this photo.

Easter Candy.

What do we need?  We never seem to finish the jelly beans, but M&Ms are always a good choice.  We did buy Sour Patch jelly beans and they are dee-lish!

What happened this winter?

Nearly all of my clay pots look like this or worse.

Bench Friday 3/12

At the park near the library.

I don't know what this is

but it's got a nice vintage look to it.

Leapfrog at Harmony Park.

Another beautiful day.  It actually was 75 degrees today.

Thirsty?

This wonderful old fountain sits on the grounds of Henrico High School.

Lovely day.

Our first warm day of the year - 67 degrees.  Now we just need these bits of brown to turn into something a little prettier.

Brick.

Brick is Jordan's new nickname.  That name comes from a character from the TV show The Middle who spends all of his time reading - doesn't matter where he is (even IN the swimming pool).  When Jordan finds a book she enjoys, she does the same thing.  She is currently reading the House of Night series.

More art.

Actually, this is Jordan's english assignment.  Write 1-2 pages, draw, or write a song/rap about two IB principles that you've acquired or put to use since starting the IB program.  The peacock represents pride and dedication.

A new project.

I've seen lots of photographers taking bench pictures.  Most of them are titled "Bench Monday" or something to that effect.  Since mine was taken today, I guess I'll have to go with Bench Friday.

Honk if you received good service.

It's sad but true, there are only two places where I receive consistently good service:  Chick-fil-a and this place - Wachovia Bank.

A page from Jordan's sketchbook.

Roadside Assistance.

Today was my first time using jumper cables.  One of Jordan's friends had a dead car battery after school today.  Fortunately she had jumper cables, but unfortunately she drives a Volkswagen and needed the driver's manual to find the battery under the hood - everything is pretty under there (and hidden).  That's me in my black coat in the rain pretending to know what I'm doing.  I quickly read my car manual to know where to put the cables - negative to negative, etc.  Now I'll just need to put some jumber cables in my car in case this ever happens to me.

Yup. She's my daughter!