lauradodson::art + life

Out and About

Our little town has spent quite a bit of money restoring the Central Park fountain.  Tonight we took the boys downtown to see the fountain lit with its new lights.  This time of year the park, courthouse, and downtown glimmer with twinkle lights and evergreens.  It really is quite pretty. 

If only it was blustery and cold!  No such luck.  Try balmy and breezy. 

I love these street lights.  They bring much nostalgia to downtown.  Too bad the storefronts are mostly empty.  Our town cannot support little businesses for some reason...but they sure can dump millions into the local box store.  (I go to this box store so I am not pooh-poohing per se.  I just think it's a shame the downtown is not thriving.)

The boys had such fun checking out the fountain.  It has been finished for months but we hadn't made it to the square. 

There is is really knotty, gnarled tree that all the kids were climbing.  I think it is a pecan tree.  I'm sure it is since our town is known for its pecans.

I caught a glimpse of Caleb just hanging out up here.  Once I started towards him, the other children at the park decided it was a good looking tree to climb, too.

  Before I let the other kids on, I asked them to step back onto the grass so Joshua could climb up and get a pic too.  :o)  They all did so nicely...and I complemented them on their patience.

This is my favorite! I love the blue!!

Have a sparkly, relaxing weekend! 

County Fair

Hello!  I have been so swamped with school, I've had no time to update my blog.  I really miss writing.

It's that time of year again, GC County Fair!  When the boys were little we'd take them to ride all the kiddie rides.  Now that they're older, we go to the rodeo.  We went Thursday night and had a wonderful time.  The weather has started to cool off, for Texas, and the night air was dry.

Then, Friday morning Joshua rode on the LCS float.  And I fell.  Yes. Fell.  Off the curb.  My knee, elbow, and shoulder are banged up and so sore.  I am not sure what I was doing.  Not paying attention would be my guess.  I'll heal up in time.  For now, it's an aggravation.

As you can see, there wasn't a cloud in the sky Friday morning. We are only a few blocks from downtown.  We walked part of the way and hitched a ride with some fellow LCS parents.  We cheered for one of of 8th graders.  She is participating in Miss Round-up.  Tonight is the big night.  I hope she wins.

Later in the day, Joshua had a game.  This game was played on a high school field in town.  The school allows us to use their nice field as long as we pick up after ourselves.  They are gracious enough to mark the lines for 6-man football even though their team is 11-man.

Hope your weekend has been a lovely one.  Ours sure has. 

Flood Waters Stabilized

Flood sirens sounded 4 times today in our little town. The 4th one is the evacuation siren and several of the 'lakes' along the river were put on high alert and encouraged to evacuate. 

The river here has a good history of flooding every 10 years or so and it's been awhile since the last major flood.  In 1998, hundreds of homes were wiped out, swept completely off their foundations or totally submerged under water... and then filled with river mud once the waters receded.  It happened again in 2000.   So needless to say, everyone around here starts to panic a bit when a deluge comes our way.  As it did today.  Reports of 7 inches of rain are unconfirmed but I am sure that's about right.   Road closures, water rescues.  The whole works.

We are on high ground, although the intersection at the library was closed at one point.  We enjoyed a fairly quiet, dark day ...lost power for a bit.  Took a nap.  Took some pics of the rain, and of the boys playing outside.

  Joshua and Caleb found some scrap wood and floated 'boats' in the street currents.  We all sloshed around for a good hour when the rain let up. They took nice warm baths afterward.  I think more rain is headed our way.  Man, this has been one wet summer.  (Shhh, but I really like it.)

Please keep those who live in flood zones in your prayers.  More rain could be problematic.  Jeff talked to Garrey, a friend on the river, and so far the water is over his dock and into the grass but not near the house.  He lives on the lake that was put on alert first.  So here's hoping no one's home floods.

$1.27 pack of balloons + one hot day = FUN!

A picture's worth a thousand words.  That's the saying, right?  Well.  What does this one say?

WATER BALLOON FIGHT!!!!

Boy'haddy has this been a restless transition from full time school to full time summer.  I know it'll all smooth out in a week or so but right now these dudes are driving me nuts. 

I headed to the store to get more propane for our burgers tonight and I get a call from Caleb on my way asking for water balloons.  Did you know that WM was completely sold out of water balloons!?!  I guess because of Memorial Day or all the other poor moms who are trying like crazy to keep their now home children from killing each other.  So I had to get helium quality balloons.  It took the guys a while to figure out how best to get them to pop but they did it!  ... as you can see some burst in mid-air.

I like this pic.  It looks like Caleb is hunched over ready for balloon impact.  Crash landing pose.  hee. 

The whole time I am clicking, laughing, somewhat shrieking not to get my camera wet.  I had fun watching them...while filling up the balloons, Joshua and I discussed his 12th birthday sleepover.  A water war is in the works for sure!  Supersoakers, balloons, and those water balls.  Movies.  Video games.  And junk food. Woohoo. 

This last picture I took was the final balloon bomb.  It's a bit blurry but it is my overall fave since it shows all the action packed fun the boys had.  It was a lucky click.

Enjoy your evening.  Time for burgers and tots down here.

Beautiful Sunday

Isn't she gorgeous?  I think so.  I am trying to console myself by thinking positively...the rose bushes burst into bloom after the two severe storms we had here last week.  They smell delicious.  Not like those roses you buy at the store that have no fragrance, or worse are sprayed!! with fake fragrance. (Can you believe?!)  No.  She's an original beauty.  The silver lining in the cloud. 

The cloud is losing 70% of our tree in our backyard.  The tree is absolutely pitiful looking.  Her left over branches are all wonky and jutting out in all crazy directions from the major trimming Jeff had to do.  Four large branches either snapped and were hanging by bark threads, or split in two and splayed across our neighbors RV and our back fence.  Jeff got them in time before they did any damage to either.  However, now our yard is torn to bits due to the lift and tractor.  Oh.

Let's look at another rose, ok?  There. That's better.

This one here smelled scrumptious too. In this photo it looks brighter than it actually is.  It's a deeper red.  I guess my camera distorted the color somewhat. 

I hope your Sunday is Beautiful, too.  So far, ours has been.  We have been blessed beyond measure. Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good.  His love endures forever!

More Beautiful Sunday here.

**edit:  after seeing all the photos and video footage of Greenburg, KS...a lost tree is such a little thing.