Happy Birthday Mark

Happy 28th Birthday to our son Mark!

The Dinner

 Beautiful little Sarah

 The Cake (Hannah helped me decorate it)

   A picture with his Grandma

This is a picture I captured of Ethan and I.

I had switched the camera so he could see himself

And this is how it all began 

Happy Birthday Mark!!!

I love you!

28 Years Ago Today

Today was another wonderful Monday 

because I had Ethan! 

He is so cute...he tries so hard to carry on a conversation - 

hand gestures and all,
and I try real hard to figure out what he's saying. 

He loves the little rocker, but I also caught him sitting on the floor 

and standing up holding on to the cabinet beneath the TV

just dancing away...

listening to his favorite show and shaking his little head to the music. 

It was so precious!

Earlier in the day we went to visit Grandma Helen

She had recently found a cute little stuffed character from his favorite show

and she gave it to him (with a kiss)

When we went back home it was lunchtime.

Ethan is really liking peanut butter sandwiches, 

but I have to cut them into tiny pieces and give them to him one or two at a time

otherwise he would cram them all in at the same time

(don't ask me how I know)

 28 years ago today, a friend of mine took me to Bok Tower Gardens

to walk, and Walk and WALK.

I was five days passed my due date for my second child

and we wanted to help him along a little bit. 

Sure enough, that night I went into labor.

That little boy wouldn't be born until the next night, 

but my labor was smooth and steady 

and a whole lot easier than my first. 

So, tomorrow is my baby's birthday

but he's not a baby anymore...he'll be 28, 

and he happens to be Ethan's daddy. 

We have a family dinner planned and I'll be baking a chocolate cake.

But for tonight, I do believe I'll sleep a lot more comfortably than I did 28 years ago.

Good night all!

WOW, What Some Much Needed Rest Can Do!

It is Sunday afternoon 4:45 and I'm feeling so much better. 

Hate that I've missed posting the past couple days

but the busy week really got the better of me and I was completely wore out!

We went to the Early Service at Church this morning- 

we were even up early enough to stop by Starbucks 

for a Caramel Macchiato and Danish before church ☺

When we got home I fixed my hubby a little something to eat

I wasn't that hungry...too tired to eat. 

After that, he went to finish up some work on our bus 

and I climbed into bed where I stayed for the next few hours. 

I got up to put some spaghetti sauce on to simmer

I've had a taste for some home-made lasagna lately.

After I got the sauce simmering,  I went back to bed. 

The house was nice and quiet and the business phone has been turned off all day!

My cell phone hasn't rung either, just a few texts came in - so I could finally relax. 

I put on a movie and dosed on and off and it was WONDERFUL!!!

So, I really need to go back and recap the past few days...

Hannah came over to spend the night Thursday night

and then Friday - Hannah, my mom, and I met my sister and some friends

for lunch and this neat place called The Stable

They have lovely gift shops and a charming restaurant called The Back Porch

where they serve your lunch in a Picnic Basket.

  We had a lovely time!

 After lunch and our visit with friends we headed home to drop my mom off.

Then I went to take Hannah home...but we had one more thing to do first

We went to get our nails done - my nails / her feet.
There is this salon in town that has little chairs for little girls. 

 I almost forgot to mention, she got to watch and listen to a movie 

while she was getting pampered.

 She got all the pampering the big girls get and she felt just like a princess.

Her mommy had taken her one time before, and Hannah had been telling me all about it.

Here are her pretty feet and toes when they had fininshed
(she asked them to paint butterflies)

We had such a fun day together!

I think I'll wait until tomorrow to post about my Saturday activities.

Here is a picture of my lasagna...I just took it out of the oven

An Unexpected Surprise

So, this was our morning...Guitar lessons :0)

We had found an inflatable guitar for Ethan just the other day.

He thought it was the COOLEST thing!

 Ethan learned about peanut butter sandwiches today

and Grandma Dee learned to be sure he only takes little bites and swallows before taking another

He really enjoyed that sandwich!

After his nap he had some TV time on the little rocker

And then, late in the afternoon I had an unexpected and WONDERFUL surprise!

I learned that Hannah would be coming over 

and not just for a visit, but a sleepover...YAY!!!

I'm still getting use to her shorter (but still beautiful) hair.

 We played with her favorite Doll House that Grandma and Papa bought for her

when she was very little 

and we giggled about how much her grandma paid for that silly doll house, ha ha. 

But it is very sweet and she looks for it every time she comes over, 

and I'm sure eventually little Sarah will want to play with it too.

And then she showed me the picture of our bus that she had drawn and saved on her Nintendo DS

 and THEN she created a character of me for her Nintendo games.

I got a big kick out of that!

 Here I am with my glasses. Notice how skinny I am, ha ha, 

and Hannah also pointed out her selection for my hair. 

She said, "it's like my hair Grandma Dee" 

and I said, "you mean, kind of wild"

because untamed, we do have wild hair, hahaha

 We had so much fun and stayed up way too late

and then papa came home from his association meeting...

just in time to say good night. 

Hannah Elizabeth, we sure do love you

(AND your sister AND your cousin). 

My oh MY how blessed we are!!!

Mid-Week Hump

The days and weeks are passing by...

today was errands with mom and lunch, too. 

I spent a LOT of time on the phone today, trying to resolve some business issues, 

even though I was on the road, with hands-free talking I could take care of 

time-consuming things while driving and waiting for mom.

It's been a good day, productive, and Mom has beautiful hair again. 

Thank God for perms :0)

Tomorrow is my day with Ethan. 

I should have pictures to post from my day with him. 

Good night all.

Happy As a Daisy

This is what I wake up to most every morning

and this is the rest of my kitchen

Don't you just love the kitchen? It's like the nucleus of a home :0)

Well, like my title says...I'm happy as a daisy today

Yes indeed, and for several reasons...

For one, I dropped off our books at the accountant's today...YAY!!!!

I still have a few documents to submit, but the bulk of the work is behind me

PRAISE GOD!!!

This was my motivation the past few days.

 I would type a little and eat one or two (or three) of these tasty morsels :0)

 And another reason is that my team of O2 girls has grown tonight. 

This is really, REALLY exciting!!!

And beyond the excitement is the realization that it's all been a GOD thing!!

WOW!!!

Thank you, Lord!!!

Yippee

Today I definitely made progress with the books and tomorrow

my hubby and I have an appointment scheduled with a new accountant. 

I will be so happy to surrender the books to him...YAY!!!

I made homemade Pizza for dinner tonight

(but forgot...once again to snap a picture). 

Trust me - it was delish!

Tomatoes, bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, fresh mozzarella, 

and some seasoning all on fresh pizza dough.

Also made a yummy salad. 

My most recent adventure is researching phones

Droid vs Iphone. 

So far the consensus is 50/50...we shall see. 

Short and sweet tonight.

Good night all :0)

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Well, Praise the Lord, I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel.

I've been trying to close out our books for what seems like an eternity. 

I don't know why it's been harder this year than in years past.

Ever since my sister and sons helped me switch to an Excel spreadsheet on the computer

it's been so much easier these past several years.

So why has it taken me weeks upon weeks to close out my books this year???

I honestly could not tell you, but I've had trouble focusing, 

there have been countless interruptions and my heart has just not been in it.

I think I'm just overtired most of the time, and I also think hormones have something to do with it.

If I worked for someone else who depended upon me to get this done

I would most likely have been fired! Not a pretty thought. 

It has been a busy weekend, with no time for resting.

Yesterday my husband and I drove to a town nearby to visit some of our bus friends. 

They had come in for a rally.

We didn't take our bus but we took our work van instead. 

Manny had offered to help someone out with a lock on their bus.

We visited with our friends for a few hours and then ran a few errands.

When we got back into town we went to Panera's for dinner.

Once again I forgot to take any pics of our meal so I took these instead

This second picture is of the booth we sat at...isn't that funny!

Manny got up to refill his drink and I snapped a picture of the back of this booth seat. 

This is how wacky I've become (better pray for me).

It is a pretty restaurant though :0)

We took some soup and bread home for mom...she loves their soup and bread!

Today was Sunday.

We started the day with Church which was wonderful 

AND we got to see our precious grandchildren 

which was triple wonderful!!!

After church we ran by the grocery store. 

When we got home I fixed us some brunch...eggs, grits, toast and bacon.

Then Manny went to work on our bus and I headed over to Mom's to do some cleaning for her.

When I got home I got right on the books. 

And now they are done...PRAISE THE LORD!!!

At least I've been able to close out the books for our business...

I still have a few more things to gather up for our accountant, 

but I'm pretty sure the worst is behind me now. 

Oh Please Lord, let it be so!

Good night all!

BOOKKEEPING

Once again it is almost the midnight hour and I'm up working on our books. 

I am usually so meticulous about every single line and entry

but I am so stinking tired of dealing with these silly books 

I just want them to be DONE!

I told myself I was staying up until they were completed

and now I notice my eyes getting heavier and heavier. 

I so wanted to go to bed knowing they were completed
but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. 
I made myself a cup of tea a while ago

hoping that would help me stay awake
but it's not working. 
It's bathtime and the sack for me. 
Good night all!

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day today!

My day started at 5:30 am...

I woke up to go to the bathroom and when I realized what time it was 
I was so excited that I'd have about two more hours to sleep. 
And just as I was crawling back into bed, I heard Milli's familiar snorting start up.
I figured since I was up and she was up...I'd run her out to the bathroom 
so I wouldn't have a mess to clean up later. 
I opened the bedroom and walked toward the kitchen area
and quickly realized she had broken out again 
but I couldn't understand how because the gate was still in place
and then I realized how she did it!
The night before, I was cleaning my floors (with hair dye in my hair)
at almost midnight. Ethan would be here early the next morning 
and he's all over the floor so I like to clean the floors before he gets here.
Thinking that Milli would be contained in the kitchen with the gate 
I did the floors at night while I was coloring my hair
(I had been trying to get my hair done all day, but you know how that goes)
I was so happy as I crawled into bed thinking the house was nice and clean for his arrival
the next morning...WELL, in my DREAMS, maybe!!!
This is how Houdini got out this time

 I had moved the Bakers Rack to clean and apparently did not push it far enough back.
She squeezed through the back!
I could NOT believe it. 
So, instead of crawling back into bed, I mopped my floors all over again, 
then I got dressed and put my makeup on 
and was ready for the day when Ethan arrived. 

We had a wonderful day together. 
I brought down from upstairs my old rocker. 

We had it recovered many years ago, when Ethan's daddy was little.

Hannah has been using it for a few years now when she comes over for a visit, 
but I know she won't mind sharing it with her cousin.

He had so much fun making it rock, all by himself
as he watched Disney Jr on the TV.
Later in the day, Papa came home from working
just so he could spend some time with Ethan.
Ethan LOVES his Papa!

When it was time to go home, we took him to meet his mama and daddy.
We were going to a Valentine's Banquet at our old church which was near Ethan's house.
I took this picture in the car (he thought it was funny)

We had a great time at the Banquet. 
And then when I got home I quickly took a bath and crashed into bed :0)
It had been a L-O-N-G day!!!

He LOVES Me!

Finally, I feel as though I'm making headway

and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

Today was fairly productive. 

I put a chicken and veggies in the crockpot so I wouldn't have to worry about dinner

I missed a few steps picture-wise

but you start with some chicken, seasoning, cream of chicken soup straight from the can

then you start piling on the veggies...

I used potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions.

Cover and cook for about 8 hours on low.

It was delicious!

Anyway, as dinner cooked slowly all day, I worked on the books.

I had to break off around 3pm to drive into town 

and meet some customers to deliver their orders.

 I arrived home to find these 

OH how they made me smile!

I L♥VE Daisies...they are my favorite flower.

They made me feel so loved.

When we dated my hubby use to bring me daisies all the time

but it's been a while since he's gotten me any.

Thank you Honey...I just love them!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and guess who's going to be my Junior Valentine

You guessed it, my little Boo Bear.

This picture was taken by one of his aunts while he played in the church nursery tonight.

Sleep well Ethan...Grandma Dee will see you tomorrow.