Mimosa In Bloom

Our Mimosa tree is finally in full bloom.  It makes my heart happy!

The tree is covered in these little pink puff balls.

The power lines really add to the beauty, right?

I can't believe how much this tree has grown since we bought the house nine years ago.  I suppose it's time to trim it a bit.

At night the little leaflets close up.  They open up again in the sunlight of the next morning.  It's so cool.

The leaves do the same thing during a storm, and we've had several storms this week.  I waited for the rain to let up, and then I ran out and took a few pictures.

The storm knocked lots of the little blooms off, and they were like confetti in our back yard.

One thing I can't show you is the amazing smell.  These cheery little pink puff balls fill our back yard with a sweet floral aroma. 

I'm a total sucker for this blooming tree.  It makes me all nostalgic about when we bought our house.  We're hoping it'll hook some other poor sap as we try to sell our house.  :)

Jessica

Your Panties Are Lovely

I was sitting in our car with Griffin and Nora.  We were parked on a side street near Nolan's school waiting until his school dismissed for the day.  We had the windows down to let in the breeze on such a hot day. 

As I sat reading my Sunday school lesson for the week (about holiness), I noticed another mom walking up the street toward us (toward the school).  She stopped in the yard near our car.

There was an elderly woman in the yard pruning her bushes.  The mom walked up to the elderly woman and loudly exclaimed, "YOUR PANTIES ARE LOVELY!"

"What?" the elderly woman asked, astonished.

"Your peonies are lovely!" the mom repeated.

The two women discussed the early-blooming bush, and I giggled like crazy in my car.

Apparently, the elderly woman and I had both misunderstood.

The kids and I walked up to the school and got Nolan.  When we walked back to the car, the elderly woman stopped me.  She thought I was the mom who had stopped to compliment her panties/peonies. She asked me if I wanted her to cut me one.  I gladly accepted her offer.

I turned my attention to getting the kids buckled in the car, and I was amazed when I turned around to see her holding a gigantic gorgeous flower.  She called it something other than a peony (piney something?).  The kids and I marveled at this spectacular flower.  The kids took turns holding it on the drive home.

I got a quick picture of Nora with the flower before it eventually wilted from the heat in the car.

We were just driving to Nolan's school to get a parking spot and wait for him to get out, just like we do five days a week.  I had no idea that this day would turn into something so hilarious and surprising.

Jessica

Ranunculus

This past weekend I attended the most beautiful birthday party I've ever seen.  And it was for me!

My husband and my sister collaborated to plan my perfect party, and they executed it so well with help from some of my loved ones.  It's been two days since the party and I'm still thinking about it.  It was amazing.

I want to share some of my favorite details from the party.  My sister took pictures at the party, and I don't really want to nag her for the pictures when she just helped throw me the party of the century.  So, I'll share more party details when I have the pictures.

The party was full of my favorite things, including centerpieces with my very favorite flowers:  ranunculus.  

I love ranunculus.  I think they're amazing.  I love how many, many layers of petals each flower has.  I wanted them for our wedding flowers (nearly 8 years ago), but since we got married in July they were not in season (we went with Peonies instead, also one of my favorites).

After the party I got to take all the flowers home.  Have I mentioned that they're gorgeous??

I wanted to take some pictures of them before they started wilting.  I took lots of pictures.  And I have a hard time choosing favorites, so there are still lots.  Don't worry.  If you want to just scroll down past all the pictures, I'll never know.  :) 

I thought it looked like these two flowers were snuggling.

See?  I warned you there were lots of pictures.  I can't help it.  I just think these flowers are beautiful.

I can't wait to share more party pictures with you.  Plus I have a list of blog posts I'd like to write soon.  I hope your week is off to a great start!

Jessica