Heavenly Gardens

Our weekend was spectacular. We drove down a secluded dirt road. One would never know it would lead to anywhere but a grass farm. There are grass farms everywhere down there, and this was just another one of them. Anyway, you drive and drive and wonder why you are driving down a skinny dirt road only meant for a tractor when suddenly you cross two cattle guards and you enter paradise. It's like entering another world. I felt like I was in a magical place like the Secret Garden or Cair Pavel. If ever I needed a place to hide out, this would be it. It was breathtaking. Unbelievable. My aunt's "ranch" is like better homes and gardens on steroids. They have poured more sweat and toil in this place than imaginable. And, oh yea, money. That's helped immensely. The first thing you see is the barn. There are two murals painted on the sides. They were painted by teenagers, so they are cute but in an eclectic sort of way. But I wondered if I was at the right place. And then I asked myself, "Who else would have the money to make something like THIS way out in the middle of nowhere?" I mean you just sit there in your car dumbfounded.

And then I saw my sweet aunt come outside of her three story house and wave to us to pull on up. As we got out of the van the most tantalizing smells of dinner came from the kitchen. I was immediately overtaken with the beauty and art of where I was. It seemed the whole place fit and worked together as a complete whole. Flowers loomed everywhere and everything inside was immaculate in color and cleanliness. About two hours later I realized this wasn't her house. This was the guest house! I about freaked out. What I mean is the bottom floor is really the guest quarters. The counter tops are granite...in the guest house. There are two bedrooms, a pretty little pink and blue parlor, a dining area for 12, a screened in patio that you could live in for years, and a living room with golf clubs and a piano...in the guest house. We settled in and found our rooms. We actually got the guest "house" all to ourselves. It was nice. Kind of like a really wonderful apartment, only it outfitted like a house. They keep many of their favorite things there. I would venture to guess it was almost the size of our house.

I couldn't keep my eyes off the gardens. Flowers loomed and flowed from every corner of the eye. There were two vegetable gardens full of large boxed gardens made with rows and rows of vegetables. Unique fences and gates surrounded these gardens and gave such an appealing texture. Surrounding these vegetable gardens were paths of all kinds of flowers. I wanted to run outside and soak it all in. But I had to be polite and say hi to everyone. And then I had to help with dinner. The kids were immediately excited about swimming. There's a covered pool house. The pool is as large as the one for our neighborhood. It has two guest bedrooms, a full bath, a full kitchen, tons of cushy patio furniture, and a table that seats 20. It is surrounded by beds and beds and beds of hydrangeas. Gorgeous hydrangeas in all colors!

And as far as the eye can see there is st. augustine grass that they have planted themselves, or at least hired someone to plant. It is all irrigated with a sprinkler system that uses treated and recycled waste water. They have a green house with four different rooms that is larger than our first apartment! Under the greenhouse shed they helped our kids make stepping stones for one of the pathways. They truly love kids and I think wish they had kids of their own. Right outside the house there is a patio with beautiful teak furniture and this large fireplace. There is nothing else to call it. It is made of a pink, peachy colored brick and on the mantle sits a little cupid. Just imagine english gardens and you will get the picture. And there along these pathways that surround this beautiful house are every imaginable flower that can grow in texas. And right now the lilies are blooming in all their glory.

If you were to walk right outside the screened in patio you would walk up to a fountain. The fountain is cement and it is about seven feet wide and five feet tall. You walk down a path from there and come upon a water garden enclosed with a large iron gate. When you enter your eye is immediately drawn to this little horse statue that they bought in nyc. The color of the bronze horse blends well with the plumbagos blooming everywhere. She planted in a secession of color on the outside of the garden. Shades of red turn to oranges and then yellows and then blues and then violets. All the way around. In the very middle is the goldfish pond. When you exit this garden you walk down the path of logic and reasoning. About 24 brick columns take you down a paved walkway to a gazebo. Wisteria grows wildly all the way down this path. The wisteria is growing on wooden slats overhead. The gazebo has 8 walls each 9 feet wide. Inside is nicer furniture than I'll ever have in my living room. It is all screened in to keep the skeeters out. Beyond this point is a tree house. Literally. And arbors. I cannot begin to tell you how many arbors there are. Do you know how long I have wanted a small little arbor for my backyard? And they have...many. I was just flabbergasted. I cannot say that you envy what they have. It is all too much to ever imagine obtaining. You just appreciate and feel inspired. You just stand there in disbelief with breath taken away. It is too much to believe really that a place this wonderful could exist. That a place this exquisite could have been created by two people... That they would share it when they feel it such a private part of who they are... It is really amazing.

And then, in the midst of these exquisite gardens, you feel anything must be possible.

I'm HEEEERE!!!

Well, my back and neck are slowly getting better. Actually my back feels great and my neck has intermittent pain. That's good! I think it's all just from lying around forever. But I'm getting there!

Getting ready for Shakespeare. I'm working on a backdrop for part of the play. Let's hope I get it done. costumes are sewn and ready for some acting. Elizabeth is absolutely fabulous in her role. I hope she doesn't freeze up because I think the whole thing is going to be amazing.

what else? I'm enjoying the day AT HOME. Doing some laundry, procrastinating on painting. Packing to go see my aunt. We've never been to my aunt's home, and we've all talked about it for years. And now we finally get to go. She has an indoor heated pool with this awesome energy efficient tubing that uses the sun to heat the pool. She has gardens galor with people that actually come to take care of it for her. She has umpteen number of bedrooms. I can only imagine what it's like, so I'll have to describe it better after we get back.

And saddest of all, we lost our camera! Can you believe that? No one knows where it is. It's just disappeared in thin air. Please pray that we will find it or that some honest person would turn it in. i don't want to think about all the pictures we're missing!

That's all for now!

Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore Art Thou Romeo?

I just finished a Renaissance costume for E. It took my mom and I 22 hours to finish it. My mom put in a good 7 of those hours. Thank you, Mom! 7 of the hours were spent just cutting out the pattern! No kidding. It was 16 yards of fabric, and if anyone is familiar with sewing you know that is a heap load of fabric for one dress. I will post pictures as soon as I can. Elizabeth is playing Portia in a neighborhood play of the "Merchant of Venice". I am so excited for her. She has memorized tons and tons of lines. If anyone wants to come and see the play it is at the end of the month. I can email you a place and time if you're interested. Rebecca's in it, too, as a servant/singer. The best part is that the whole dress only cost me $27 with tax. The fabric store had fabric on sale for $1 a yard and I grabbed some. Now! I am off to my castle!

New Exercise

Okay, I hurt my back. I did a crazy 20 year old exercise class and can now barely lift the baby. I'm kind of silly. So now instead of doing my step class I'll be going to see a physical therapist twice a week. Fun.

Gymnastics

We went through a difficult time two weeks ago when we thought we might need to pull Rebecca out of her gymnastics classes. We prayed about it and Rebecca felt she wanted to look into other gyms. So we did. We went on Tuesday night and observed girls at a much higher level than she. I was sitting in the balcony watching and chatting with a friend about the gym. After the class the coach had Rebecca try out to see what level they would place her at. I found out from talking to my friend that the gym was fun and not so big on form. They move their girls up levels very quickly. As a result Rebecca's form was far better than any gymnast in that room. Not surprisingly they recommended she move up a level.

When Rebecca stepped on the floor everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her. My friend commented, "She's good!". I wondered at this since all she had done was a salute. At this gym they don't do a salute before beginning. Her presence commanded attention from everyone on the floor. I watched in awe as she performed her routine. It was not perfect by far. The coach even showed her a few things. But the difference between her and the girls in the class was light years. And that is not an exaggeration. You could tell she was serious. She did not smile but her body looped and straightened the way a gymnasts body should and you could tell she was happy by what she was doing. Those other gymnasts looked like overcooked spaghetti. At that moment I knew I couldn't and shouldn't send her there or anywhere else. Doing so would mean giving in and giving up for Rebecca. She would digress. I realized how much her coaches have invested in her and how hard they have worked to make her as good as she is. It would be like sending an Olympic gymnast back to a beginners class (not that Rebecca is at that level but I am talking about the level at which they work). I said nothing to her as we left. But on the way to the car she said, "Mommy, Coach Andrew says bad gymnastics hurts his eyes. Now I know what he means." Later she told me that she could see that the reason they say all the things to her that they do is to motivate her to do better. So, I think something clicked inside for her.

So, we called the head coach and asked to meet with her. She gladly met with us and we had a wonderful talk about how Rebecca is doing and where she is struggling. We brought up the things that we were concerned about, and she set our mind at ease and explained things better to us. I was so glad we did that! So, thank you so much for praying! I think we all learned a valuable lesson. I for one realized that we are involved in a program that is turning out true blue athletes. We did not realize we were signing up for that and that is why it has been a difficult transition for us. We just started going there because we loved the head coach so much. And I think we also learned that if you want to be really good at something you have to make a lot of sacrifices and put up with a lot. But at that moment in the other gym I was so proud of her and realized we had made the right decision. All those times of tears and heartache have been worth it for her to be what she is today.

As confirmation the Lord put a sinking feeling in my stomach that I could not shake. I stood at the desk and they asked me if I wanted to sign her up. Two years prior I had tried to sign her up at that same gym but had the same feeling in my stomach. I ignored it. I couldn't find my debit card. I came back the next day and signed her up. We walked in the door at home and there was a flyer in the mail for the gym she is at now. Her favorite coach's picture was right on the front and she got so excited. Thankfully the gym gave us our money back. So, when I had that same feeling again this time I listened and told them I'd have to talk to my husband. The funny thing about is that it all seems just perfect. The owners are Christians, they homeschool, it is a fun place to be. But as I said I knew we weren't supposed to be there. So, we are putting our nose to the grindstone and continuing on. Rebecca realized on her own that she either needed to quit completely or continue at her gym. She could see that going to any other gym would mean giving up. I was amazed at this.