The Hamsters

Today has been a pretty good day, not too crazy (for a Monday).

  I was thankful, especially after coming back from a weekend away. 

I just saw a brand new commercial for the Kia Soul cars.

We have a Kia Soul and I love that car. 

Now, I know it's just a thing and not a person

but it has so much personality :0)

And it has an AMAZING sound system!!!

About a year ago our old van finally died. 

We really weren't in a position to get a new car

at least, that's what we thought 

but God always has a plan and He takes care of His children

and when He does something, He does it right!

He worked it out and we wound up with a brand new Kia Soul.
It isn't something we had been dreaming about for a long time or anything.

All I can say is that it was a "God Thing" the way it all came together.

So this is our car

The Hamsters didn't come with it, but my hubby bought them for me for Christmas last year.

After a while their red sweatshirts seemed boring 

so I found them some hats and glasses and started looking for clothes 

But I could never find clothes to fit, so when my mother-in-law came for a visit

she made them some new shirts (she is very talented).

The other day I got this monkey in a happy meal.

(What? I was starving and on my way to the grocery store...

they say you should never shop when you're hungry)

Anyway, lol, I figured the monkey would make a good pet for the hamsters

It's all in fun. Life could get boring if we didn't make it fun...RIGHT?

Btw, have you ever seen the Kia Soul Commercials?

 I'm gonna have to find a knitted cap for them now :0)

Happy Birthday Manny

Just got back from a wonderful weekend away camping celebrating my husband's birthday.

Our kids and grandkids were able to join us which made it extra special!

I took LOTS of pictures...

Our campsite at Disney's Ft. Wilderness Campground

(We've been camping here for over 30 years)

Deer we saw the first night there

This is a very old Cypress Tree 

Our younger son, daughter-in-law and Ethan arriving the next day

This was Ethan's 1st camping trip at Ft. Wilderness

                                                    Going for a bike ride with his daddy

Going for a golf cart ride with mommy and daddy

Baby Sarah arriving

this was her first trip to Ft. Wilderness, too

Isn't she beautiful?

 Sarah with her mommy and sister Hannah

 Singing "Happy Birthday", eating cake and ice cream, and opening presents :0)

Manny with our sons Manuel and Mark and all the grandkids

Off to the playground

 Going down the slide

Big black snake (Racer, I think) on the ground

Back in the bus

Making Memories

and

Having fun

Manuel, Darla, and Sarah had to go home but Hannah got to spend the night. 

Cousins hanging out

Dinner time

 Always a smile on this boy's face

Hannah smiling too (she's loves bread and butter) Me, too!

At the Sing-a-long campfire roasting marshmallows

Making Memories

Probably the highlight of the day...

Meeting Chip and Dale (this one is Chip - he has a chocolate chip nose, ha ha)

  

Hannah in between two Mickey lights at another campsite

 And this was today just before we all headed home. 

Ethan pretty much summed up how we were all feeling...tuckered out.

We woke up to rain but we didn't care.

We had had such a wonderful weekend!

But, it would have been nice to stay just one more day and sleep in - 

listening to the rain on the roof of our bus :0)

Thank you Lord for a wonderful weekend!

Here we go again...

Well, it's practically midnight and here I am again

finishing up last minute things in preparation for our anticipated departure tomorrow.

Oh how I've been looking forward to a few days away!

I've been feeling so worn out....it's beginning to take its toll on me.

Slept like a rock last night, but still woke up grumpy.

I hate being grumpy! 

SO, for the next few days, God-willing, of course, we'll be camping.

Unfortunately we won't have internet

(but maybe that's a good thing).

So I may not be able to post for a few days

but I'll catch up when I return. 

I pray the Lord will keep us safe and refresh us (body, mind, and soul)

and as always, I pray that HE will watch over my family and friends.

I found this on a camping website and thought it was cute:

In all that we do we must let our light shine!

                                          Matthew 5:16

My Resilient Girl

Well, today's post could have been very hard to write, 

but thank the Lord things worked out!

Last night just before going to bed, Milli had some sort of a seizure.

She had never shown signs of this (whatever it was) before.
I really thought we were losing her. 

So many thoughts went through my mind

and I wondered if I would lose her in the night or have to make the decision to end her life.

It was a difficult night, but she ended up falling asleep and so did I.

We slept all night. 

When she woke up...she was a bit stiff as she usually is, 

but she went potty outside and came in ready to eat. 

As the day went on, she seemed to improve even more. 

I was holding back the tears today reflecting on the events of last night, 

but we got our sweet Ethan this morning, and so I tried to focus on him.

I didn't want to get him upset, so I kept praying and thinking good thoughts
and the day went well.
This is how Ethan greeted us this morning

He is such a loving baby and he LOVES when Grandma Dee holds him

so I am very thankful for this wonderful papoose thingy, lol

 Here he is wearing an outfit from his Aunt and Uncle :0)

And because today was also about my sweet Milli here are some pictures of her
Here she is in our bus about 6 years ago...

 This one was taken a few weeks ago (she often spaces out now)
or maybe she's praying here :0)

Her mind is usually on food. I think she even dreams about food, ha ha.

Labor Day

Today is Labor Day  

and for many people it means getting together with family and friends 

and going to picnics or maybe to the beach.
It is a celebration of your hard work throughout the year. 

Hopefully, for most people it is a break from their everyday work routine.

That was definitely how it played out for me and my hubby. 

We chose to stick around this weekend and yes, work some

but that's only because we have plans to go camping next weekend

if the Good Lord allows :0)

But today, the phones were pretty quiet because most everyone else is off playing.

So my husband took this opportunity to catch up around the house

and get our bus ready for camping next weekend

and I chose to so some more work on our bookkeeping.

Often times, when I am working on the computer, entering data

I'll put a movie in the CD drive to listen to. 

It makes work time a lot more fun!

Today I watched one of my favorite movies 

"Sleepless In Seattle"

and I'll even include the ending clip here for you to see

(if you haven't watched this movie, you may not want to see how it ends)

I hope you've had a beautiful day...whatever you chose to do :0)

If you'd like to know more about the origin of Labor Day click here

Sunday Surprises

What a lovely Sunday afternoon!

Guess who came for a visit?    

Papa taught him how to make a paper boat and hat.

He of course, tried to eat them, lol

                                           

Then we went for a stroll

He rather enjoyed that

Until he got sleepy

 then he wanted Grandma Dee to hold him

and he fell asleep

After his little nap he watched the races with papa until it was time for his bath.

Mommy and Daddy arrived shortly after his bath

and then he went home where his mama would feed him 

and she and his daddy would tuck him in for the night :0)

Sweet Dreams Precious Boy

We love you!

(The only thing that would have made this day more perfect

is if our other grandchildren had been here too.)

Dear Lord, thank you for our precious grandchildren!

Seasons

Finding it hard to believe today is the first of September.

I seem to be changing the months of this calendar every time I turn around.

But I love the Fall! 

I'll start getting out some autumn decorations soon. 

Funny because I've never really seen the change of seasons

having lived in Florida for most of my life.

We don't have much of a Fall or a Spring

and when we do have a Winter day

you can spot a Floridian a mile away

because we'll be all bundled up in 60 degree weather.

Mostly our weather goes from hot to hotter, but we do have sunshine practically all year long. 

The sunshine makes people happy :0)

 I believe there are clinical studies to prove that.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to maybe having some days in the 70's

and the smell of pumpkin and banana bread.

All things festive and fun.

What is YOUR favorite season?