Happy Mother's Day!

                          Happy Mother's Day to my mother!

         Mother loves being at Hubbard Hill. It is wonderful having her nearby. I get to visit her every day and this is the best gift that I can 'give back' to her. Every day, Mother tells me that "she doesn't know what she would do without me" and I tell her that she forgets that she took care of me for many, many years so I want to do this for her.

Mother was a busy lady with this crew of five kids. Three of these kids are May birthdays so I hope she got a lot of presents on Mother's Day during the early years. Somehow, I would imagine that the presents were made with a lot of love and not a lot of money. Paula just celebrated a birthday May 9th. Keith will turn 70 (!!!!!) on May 18th and Barry will be 72 on May 22. I'm way too young to have siblings this old! These are the ages of grandparents...not these kids! Oh wait! They ARE grandparents!

Mother spent most of her day doing laundry, ironing, cooking, cleaning, and all of those things that mothers did. It's easy to understand why the mother's were so tired back in those early days!

 Thank you, Mother, for making me the person that I am today.

 

                                    Happy Mother's Day!

Lexi Lou! How Old Are You???

Alexis Elizabeth Smith will be 5 years old on Monday, April 7th. She is on spring break in Florida as I write this but will be home to celebrate her birthday.  Before the Smith family headed for Florida, Tom was able to head to Noblesville for a visit. He captured some Lexi expressions that are priceless!

                   "That is the funniest thing I've ever heard!!!"

 

"Ohhh! Just stop!!!!!"

 

"Thank goodness I'm back in control!"

                         "BTW, did you know that I am almost 5?"

                            "JoJo needs my birthday list!"

SUN day!

There was another SNOW DAY back home! There was another SUN DAY here in Florida! Our trip has been more laid back this year but it has been so nice to wake up to sunshine, have windows open, drive on perfect roads, shop, eat and sit in the sun whenever we want. I have nearly finished three books and loved every minute! During the last three days, we have been to:

 

                                     Bradenton River Walk

 

Waiting for a TRAIN???? Unbelievable!!!

Well, maybe waiting for a train isn't so bad after all!

We have "water parks". They have skateboarding parks.

Tom attempts to play the bongos. Oh well!

 

Pirates/Orioles Spring Training

We hadn't been to this ball park before and it made me realize how wonderful the South Bend Silver Hawks park is. We had to search to find the "scoreboard".

 

I only took this to prove how nice I am to let this guy check out my camera!

Safe!!!

 

Historic Downtown Sarasota

(TK and I have been here before but you can't ever see sculpture too often.)

 

 

Sunset on Bradenton Beach

 

We spent a lot of time on the beach and I loved having so much reading time!

The only word a person can say after seeing a sunset is "Amen".

 

Village of the Arts

 

We met a wonderful artist in the village who creates with stained glass. She invited us into her home/studio and entertained us with her knowledge and stories. To learn more about her:

Sandra French; stained glass; artist

She made the trip to the Village of the Arts memorable!

 

 

I think I'd like this in my front yard!

 

Beautiful Siesta Key

 

 

It was only after griping about going back  soon to the cold, wintery northern Indiana that

TK reminded that I needed to enjoy every moment of our trip.

In other words:

Shut Up Jill!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunshine!!!

                                                     Hello sunshine my ol' friend!!!

TK won't have that sweatshirt on for very long!

 

The Road Less Travelled

My Hero!!!

 

Here I am!!!

 

Glorious day!

Sunshine!

Heat!

Water!

Flowers!

Color!

Sunburned necks from sitting on the beach.

Happy talk.

Glorious day!