Oh, the old oak tree . . .

Oh, the old oak tree . . . is gone.
It was a beautiful old tree, and I always enjoyed looking up at its tall branches. The birds and squirrels loved it and made their homes in it. When we first got our cat, Romeo, she climbed it and even took naps in it. Her kittens enjoyed learning how to climb in its branches.

We decided to cut it down for a variety of reasons. First, it caused our entire back yard to be shady. We like to grow plants and have had a garden for many years, but we have also had a whole bunch of challenges with growing things due to the shade and all the worms that live in the tree and the acorns and other "stuff" the tree drops and sheds every year. Speaking of the acorns and "stuff", that is another reason we wanted to cut it down. The amount of debris the tree created for us to rake up and bag up was out of control. More than once a year, more like two or three times each season, we would have to clean up all the "stuff" all over our back yard and in our flower gardens and our vegetable garden plot. The huge, contractor size bags of leaves, branches, acorns, "stuff", and more "stuff" we had to take care of frequently was getting to be too great of a job. Having to clean up all the time was taking away time that we would rather spend growing vegetables and enjoying the flowers we grow.

Another reason we gave it the "axe" was that one of the major, huge, limbs was rotting and it was hanging over our house. We didn't want to take any chances with it, considering the heavy storms we get in this area sometimes.

Our bird feeder is still filled regularly for the birds and squirrels. We didn't have very many birds or critters eating from it right after we had the tree cut down, but now they have all returned. Some days we have about 15-20 mourning doves, countless sparrows, and about 4-5 squirrels buzzing around to get the seeds.

It was a lovely tree and I do miss it sometimes. However, it was a good decision, and I know we will be glad we did it after the seasons begin to change and we don't have to clean up all that "live oak tree stuff". I look forward to spending time on my patio, using my brand new patio furniture, and watching our garden grow. There's such great sunshine coming into my living room now, too! I love the beams of light shining on our carpet while I play with Isaac.

A day at the park

Isaac was asleep in the car on the way to the park. Here he is riding on a swing for the first time ever! He doesn't look really excited about it, but he never cried. I think he was still waking up from his car-trip-nap, so he wasn't sure how to react!

By the time we were taking him to ride down the sliding boards for the first time, he was awake and excited!!

He loves to go down the slide!

When he's a little bigger we'll let him slide down by himself with one of us to catch him at the bottom. We still hold onto him while he's on his way down. He loves it! He giggles and laughs and smiles really big!

His little tongue is sticking out, he must be really eager to get up and do it all over again!

Isaac's dedication to God at church

On October 9, 2010, we dedicated Isaac Samuel Sasser to God at our church. He slept through the entire service!

We were so thankful to have both our parents present as well as our sister-in-law, Heather, and her two children Brady and Ruthanne there to share this special day with us.

Flowers, flowers, and more flowers!

While our familes were visiting, Debbie's Mom and Dad picked up these beautiful flowers for our kitchen table! They were so gorgeous! Thanks again Grandmum and PopPop!

These beautiful daisy are blooming in one of our flower gardens in the back yard! As you go outside through our back door, they are to the left. Next to the daisies are these lovely lilies!

On the back patio, we are growing some beautiful rain lilies. They are so delicate and seem so clean, fresh, and vibrant! I am always tempted to get the camera out to photograph them when they bloom, because they are so pretty.

These orange cosmos have taken over about two thirds of the other flower garden, right side, in our back yard! they get to be about 8-10 feet tall and are very bush and just FULL of blooms! So pretty and cheerful!!

Surprise! Flowers!

Thank you soo much to Jason for bringing home these gorgeous flowers for me! He surprised me on a Saturday night with a lovely bouquet of flowers . . . so thoughtful! They lasted really well for two weeks, and really held up for almost three weeks.

Welcome the new season of Fall with these fantastic colors! Fall colors are some of my favorites, because they are so bright and vibrant, yet often contrasted with colors more rich and deep.

Isaac is 8 months old!

Hi! I'm 8 months old today, September 25! I can crawl, stand up with assistance, pull myself up to a standing position, and I try to talk! I love to eat oatmeal, and all the fruits and vegetables Mommy makes for me to eat!

Isaac loves to play in the bath tub! He is sometimes more difficult to bathe these days because he is so eager to play that he doesn't want to be in a good position for washing! He is a little rascal, and we're so happy he's part of our family! He's really growing right now, and seems to be learning new things everyday. He loves to go exploring all over the living room, in our bedroom, and in his nursery!

A new season . . . Fall at home

Isaac is 7 months old in this "at home studio" photo! I tried to make a nice backdrop to take some photos of him, and it turned out really great! He even smiled for me a couple of times! At this age, he's so into exploring and moving around that it is becoming more challenging to get him to smile when I want him to. He still smiles lots and lots, but snapping a photo of one of those little grins is a bit more difficult to do lately!

Isaac's favorite vegetable is green peas! He gets really messy when he eats them, but enjoys them very much!

Already showing his food in his mouth, isn't that a teenager thing or something? Maybe a tweenager?? He keeps us laughing, that's for sure! Silly boy!

Isaac and Jason at the piano! Isaac automatically knew what to do . . . pound away! He likes to listen to me playing the piano, and was really excited to make some noise, too!

One morning, I went into his room to get him from his crib and found that he had wiggled an arm out of his jammies! The outfit was still snapped securely, but his entire arm was outside of the neck hole on these pjs!

Isaac loves his little "Thomas the Train" toy! It moves when you pull it back and release it. He likes to chase after it as it chugs along, and grab it and chew on it!

When Isaac kept grabbing the laundry basket, I decided to let him try sitting in it!

Romeo found my pile of dirty rugs waiting to be washed, and she curled up for a little cat nap! Sometimes our cats play in the sheets that I pile up by the laundry area. Oh, and large piles of laundry make great hiding places so the cats can ambush each other! It's pretty hilarious when they stalk one another from behind my laundry!