Butterfly Show

Back at the beach and about to take a run. Debating whether I should do 4 or 5 miles and all these butterflies dancing in this bush/tree stole my attention.

Best Summer Project EVER

Our gardening efforts...

This is the replacement tree we picked (after we took down the huge one).  It is a crab apple that has pretty pale pink blossoms in the spring and red berries in the fall.  Right now it is fighting a fungus (probably the same one my roses had that one summer).  It just needs to hang in there until next year when we can take the preventative measures in early spring.

The pumpkin is growing fast.  I just moved a bunch of the annuals that were planted near it so the vine could spread out.  I showed my kids a video of still shots of a pumpkin growing.  Now my 4 year old knows that we planted pumpkin seeds, we go out every morning to check out the pumpkin flowers but somehow not until she saw that video did she understand we are growing our own pumpkin for halloween!  She was thrilled.

The bees LOVE our garden.

We really have very little full sun spots to plant in our yard.  When we took that tree down in the front we finally saw a full sun spot, the hell strip.  The hell strip is the strip between the curb and the street.  I highly recommend it as a gardening spot if you want to meet all your neighbors.  Since everyone walks by and admires our work although I have to admit still don't remember peoples' names.  Today's most loverly surprise is the white flower growing out of this plant with pink leaves that I think is called Caladium.

Managed to find new homes for the annual along the walk.

The Kid With the Fish Had Enough

While on vacation I was really trying to think about "enough" and what it means in my life.  I happened to go to church without the kids which means, I got to go to church and listen.  The reading was about Jesus' miracle of multiplying the fish and bread in order to feed a crowd that came to hear him speak.  Remember this one?

A crowd of thousands comes to hear Jesus' sermon and then get hungry.  The apostles can only round up a few fish and some bread from a kid.  They tell Jesus we don't have enough to feed the crowd.  They suggest that Jesus send everyone home.  Then Jesus tells them to bring the food they have to him and he performs a miracle by multiplying the food to feed the crowd with tons left over.

Anyway, I had heard it before and the notable take aways from the scripture are usually (1) Jesus rocks because he takes care of his flock even if it takes a miracle, etc.  (2) Apostles often seem kind of bumbling in this story as they could only round up a few fish and few loaves from a kid and encourage Jesus to send everyone home.  The priest usually draws parallels between us and the apostles, aren't we so short sighted, we should always leave things in God's hands, etc.  This time the priest focused on the kid with the fish!!

The kid with the fish had ENOUGH.  No one knew it was enough for a crowd BUT he offered it up to God and it was multiplied.  The priest reminded all of us that God has given all of us through our talents, time, what ever more than enough, we just have to offer it up and it'll be multiplied.

Pumpkin!