And I present...

The first roses of my garden this spring. I have a rather small yellow rose bush that has lots of thorns, but produces a yellow rose with little streaks of peach and light orange. And smells amazing.
And my other rose bush is a giant round bush that produces hundreds of small pink roses that don't have many thorns and don't really have a smell, but look so, so pretty.
Here is the first yellow rose and small pink rose of the season, with many more to come:

I always look so forward to the bluebonnets here in Texas. But we have had so little rain in the past 6 weeks or so, that I have only seen a couple here and there. Hopefully before the season is over, I will find a small patch that I can capture in a picture to last me until next year.
I plan on carrying my stitching to the arboretum or to my yard this weekend and will have a post of my latest on my ABC's (along with some thoughts from me!)
I gave up Facebook for Lent. I was spending WAAAAYYYY too much time on it. I gave it up for several reasons, and while I have missed it, I have also found I spend more time in the yard looking a birds and smelling the warm fresh air and have been going to bed earlier and getting much needed rest. It is amazing how something like Facebook steals precious time from you without you noticing.
When I go back to it, if I go back, I hope I can monitor how much time and energy I use and keep it under control. But for now, I will enjoy roses, family and stitching.
Hope this post brings you sunshine and roses.

A break from ABC's

I am not really taking a break from ABC's. Rather I am adding a new post not related to it.
Every year, the past 3 years, for my youngest grandson's birthday, we have gone to Grapevine Mills Mall Rainforest Cafe to celebrate. The kids and their mom come here to Waco and then we go up to Grapevine for his birthday.
We always take a picture in front of the Rainforest Cafe sign with James (my DH), the boys and myself. It is my main picture at the top of my blog. I have been amazed at how much it shows the boys' growth over the years.
Last year my youngest (and my tallest) grandson was just under my shoulder, a little higher than breast height on me. This year he comes up to my chin. Same photo each year, but just a little different. Soon he will be taller than me. He is 7 this year. The oldest will turn 9.
They are growing up so fast, esp. when I only see them about 3-4 times a year.
We had such a wonderful time. This year my son in law was able to join us for the first time. We rented a mini van and all rode together. We were all very tired at the end of the day, but it was a lot of fun.
Here are some photos:
James & I

Jen & Chris (acting like they were in love. LOL)

Jen & me (Wearing matching shirts. We got these for Valentine's Day, but have never seen them on each other in person)

Jen, Chris and the boys (acting silly)

And finally, the birthday boy blowing out his candle:

I am sure I will be back to stitching at the end of this weekend and will have more ABC's and insight to go along with it. But for now, I think I will play with some little boys while they are still little.
Hope you have sunshine and daffodils!