Yay!

They hit the 1 million mark on Saturday! Click through for the full story.

So proud of my boys! Already to 1,032,686!

At home

Monday has always been my planning day for the week. 

I like to do a general tidy up (weekly home blessing with the flylady), check the calendar for appointments and meetings, plan projects and create a menu. Nothing is set in stone but it feels good to have a general idea of the shape of the week.

On the calendar this week, there are two prayer meetings, a visit to the tulip fields with camera in hand, a walk with one friend and a coffee date with another.

At home I have painting on the agenda, weeding the flower beds, and a cupboard, or two ten, to tackle.

Daily exercise of some sort goes on the schedule too. Otherwise it goes by the wayside.  And it's a really sweet feeling when I get in some music practice and drawing for fun. I have a lovely new "How To Draw Flowers" book. I can hardly wait to get at it.

Housework in the morning - hobbies in the afternoon. And, if I can help it, only one day a week in town for errands, library and groceries.  It's a good plan.  Which doesn't always go as planned! But it's the goal.

Here's a new planning tool that I mentioned before - my menus on Pinterest. Simple and effective. All my online recipes conveniently in one place. Saving $ and less waste. It really works for me. 

I love seeing in a glance what's for supper.

Do you like to plan ahead for your week? Or do you go with the flow?

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day celebration yesterday.

I had the whole crew out - along with Andrew and Hyekoo by Skype -

It was a double celebration - Mother's Day and James' graduation. 

and I can't forget this little pumpkin too. Her second visit to Belfast.

Oh. my. heart! I am smitten. :)

In fact - we all are! 

She's the icing on the cake for sure. What a love-filled Mother's day. I am so thankful!

fff > happiness

A lovely Friday morning to you all! I'm counting blessings with Susanne at Living To Tell The Story. 

1. First on the list? Listening to my daughter, Sarah, speak at a Women's Fellowship group. I know, especially as moms, that you will say amen with the apostle John who wrote " I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."  There is nothing sweeter to me. She is one of the leaders of our youth group and shared how the Lord is moving among the kids. It was a powerful testimony of His faithfulness.

2.  Another blessing? Singing with her! I played the piano and led worship at the meeting and she made me sound a whole lot better by adding a beautiful harmony.  Here she is singing with her cousins. I love their rendition of "It Is Well With My Soul"

Making music with my children is always at the top of my blessing list. In fact, it's what I asked of all my kids for Mother's Day. No presents please - just come out and sing. And maybe a campfire! That's my idea of a perfect evening.  

3. Speaking of singing - my band boys posted a youtube video of their song "Travelling" back in Dec 2007.  I mentioned it before here on the blog. For some unknown reason traffic started to take off in Nov 2011 - they were getting anywhere from 4000 to 10,000 hits a day. And now they are almost at the One Million Mark! They're hoping to hit it before the end of May and they're planning a big celebration. So if you've never watched them before, here they are!

 I can't tell you how many times I've watched it - if repeat visitors were counted in the stats, they'd be well over a million!

4. Another blessing? Bright sunshiny days and soft rainy days. Everything is turning green and buds and blossoms are surprising me everyday. I feel so energized by the lovely weather. If I could, I'd be doing this...

Ah well . . . those days are gone. But I am doing this and it feels wonderful too!

It's lovely to freshen things up in the house this time of year. Cupboards have been sorted and windows have been washed. Still a fair bit left to do but I made good progress this week.

5. For my 5th Friday Fave, I'd like to introduce you to a brand new blog - my girl is venturing into the blogging world.  She's a funny girl - note the sub-title? I probably should be nervous! *grin*

If you have a moment, pop over and welcome her. Thanks!

6. Here's a bonus favourite this week.  It's hard for me to believe but this boy will graduate from university tomorrow!!  Is it really possible??

Sweet baby James ~ 2 yrs old

Congratulations James!! We're so proud of you and Nora (3rd year BN).

James and Nora 2009

Thanks for visiting here at A Sparrow's Home. Your lovely comments and cheery hellos always bless my day and make me smile. 

Have a very Happy Mother's Day this weekend! May your hearts be filled to overflowing with blessings.

with love, 

An Island springtime evening

Had such fun visiting our good friends Graeme, Victoria and wee Elijah.

 Such a sweet little laddie!

Wandering around their beautiful property is pure delight. 

Quiet and peaceful 

Blossoms everywhere.

Azalea buds

Can anyone tell me the name of these blue flowers? Could they be bluebells?

heather

We found a perfect robin's egg beneath a bush - but sadly, no nest or mama bird in sight.

I barely had time to snap a shot of this yellow rumped warbler before he flew off into the bushes.

We caught a glimpse of a muskrat swimming across the little stream below the pond.

All in all, a lovely evening of nature's beauty, fellowship and a variation of this yummy trifle - Victoria's specialty. 

So good!

fff ~ birds, blossoms and babykins

Hello from Prince Edward Island!

It's the first Friday of May! Time to look back over the week and remember the blessings with Susanne and all the Friday Fave gang at Living To Tell The Story.

1. Roger and I enjoy the bird feeders all year long but they are especially interesting in the spring. 

This male American Goldfinch is changing from his drab winter plumage to his brilliant yellow and shiny black summer plumage.

Every day Roger and I see chickadees, american goldfinch, white-throated sparrows with their beautiful songs, common redpolls, cowbirds, bluejays, red-winged blackbirds, mourning doves, juncos, downy woodpeckers and hairy woodpeckers. The robins are everywhere but they don't eat from the feeders. We're always on the lookout for a new bird or a different behaviour. Like this . . .

The mourning doves always eat the seed that falls from the feeders to the ground. This is the first time I've ever seen one perch up on the feeder. This feeder is intended for the tiny finches and chickadees. As you can tell, he doesn't quite fit! Perhaps he decided the pickings were better up there :)  I had to take the picture through our kitchen window. I knew he would fly away as soon as I opened the door.

We get so much pleasure watching the birds. 

Downy woodpeckerChickadee and Common Redpoll2. Spring is a wee bit slow on PEI, but after a long winter every tiny change, from the greening of the grass to the budding of the trees, is greeted with enthusiasm.

L M Montgomery described our spring perfectly.

Spring had come once more to Green Gables -- the beautiful, capricious, reluctant Canadian spring, lingering along through April and May in a succession of sweet, fresh, chilly days, with pink sunsets and miracles of resurrection and growth.

Beautiful, capricious and reluctant! but oh so appreciated.

3. Looking for new blossoms in the garden is a favourite springtime joy. Their bright colors and sweet fragrance make my heart sing.

Grape Hyacinth

Primula

4.  A few miles down the road, there's a stream flowing into a marsh. Every spring this glorious display unfolds.

Marsh marigolds

And I know a little hidden spot, behind an old country schoolhouse, where these tiny beauties blossom. 

Mayflowers ~ trailing arbutus

"I'm so sorry for people who live in lands where there are no Mayflowers," said Anne. "Diana says perhaps they have something better, but there couldn't be anything better than Mayflowers, could there, Marilla? And Diana says if they don't know what they are like they don't miss them. But I think that is the saddest thing of all. I think it would be TRAGIC, Marilla, not to know what Mayflowers are like and NOT to miss them. Do you know what I think Mayflowers are, Marilla? I think they must be the souls of the flowers that died last summer and this is their heaven

5. But here are two of the sweetest blossoms ~ just can't miss a proud mom/nannie moment :)

Auntie Sarah and Baby Josie

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend - I'm off to a ladies retreat. I'm looking forward to a refreshing time!

Thanks for dropping in for a visit!

with love,