The Great Outdoors

I had the incredibly good fortune of spotting a stick bug outside my front door the other day.  It must have made a home somewhere close by because I saw him two days in a row on the pillars in the front of the house.  It surely was the same one, or maybe a family member, I guess.  Anyway, I was again astounded by natures perfect design.  I don't think I've seen one before, so I felt lucky.  The leaf bug I saw a few weeks back was amazing, and now another bug has blown my mind!  They are so perfectly created to blend in with their surroundings and they truly do look like leaves and sticks. 

 

Reminds me of one of my favorite hymns:

 

Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder

Consider all the works thy hands have made

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

 

When through the woods and forest glades I wander

and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,

and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

 

Then sings my soul, my savior God, to thee:

how great thou art!....

 

This song makes it's way into my head frequently when I'm outside.  There is just so much to marvel at.

While I'm on the churchy subject, I just happened to have my camera in my purse last Sunday at church.  Usually before we head for home we stop over at the P/O Box and check our mail.  It was a particularly beautiful day last Sunday.  The weather was in the low 70's in the morning.  It was bliss.

Colleen made Evangeline some "story stones" for her birthday.  They are beautifully painted rocks that each have a different picture.  I really need to take a picture of them.... We lay them out and make up stories to go along with the pictures.  Evangeline loves them.  She took them to church last Sunday and wanted to show them to everyone. 

 

My strawberry pillow has a new friend.  I finished this patchwork cover just in time to put them away for the fall.  I made this pillow cover last weekend when Evangeline was at Grandma's house.  When she came home and noticed it she said, "Mommy, you make the cutest things!"  I thought that was so sweet.  She sure knows all the right things to say to her Mamma.



 

Evangeline loves to collect things from nature and put them on her "nature table".  She has some really interesting artifacts.  Among some of her nuts and leaves she has "moon rocks" and an actual "piece of the moon"!   This just proves again that you just never know what you will find in our yard.

 

My dear old dad spent Sunday afternoon with us.  Of course there was food involved....