Happy Birthday Margaret!

Mike's mom is a Leap Year baby and today is her REAL birthday!

Birthday festivities!

The birthday party was great and went off without a hitch! So good to be with Mike's sisters and their families and seeing so many relatives that we hadn't seen in years!
Matter of fact we were enjoying talking with each other so much that I forgot to take pictures......
here is the ONLY one I took and it was at the end when we were beginning to clean up.
I didn't get Mike's parents, the cake or all the people!
Hoping Cheryl has some pictures to share!

Maylena's First Visit Here!

Brittany and Maylena came by yesterday and I got to feed her!
Anna and the children were here and got to see her for the first time! They were so excited!

We had such a nice visit!
Even with the house a bit upside down. All the kids are giving Mike's parents a sort of surprise birthday party this Saturday and party "stuff" is everywhere. They have no idea that extended family from GA, AL, SC and NC are coming to surprise them. We are quite excited about this! It's his Dad's 85th and his Mom's 80th. She actually has a REAL birthday this year. She was a Leap Year baby!

OKAY! OKAY! I GIVE UP!

I'll take the first picture and give up the second one. (But in my heart of hearts, I would still like one snow..yes, even in March!)

To...

Facebook or not to Facebook...that is the question!

I am undecided!

"Oh Happy Day!"

Just got back from breakfast at the Grill with our friends AND WILL BE HOME ALL DAY!
Don't have too many Saturdays like that!
We will work outside a bit and I will clean house some since I didn't get much done this week.
Even with things to do I feel quite giddy....just to be home!
As Dorothy said..."There's no place like home."

PS....

And this is what I came home to... from my sweet husband!
I so enjoy fresh flowers!

Grand Love!

Yesterday I spent most of my time with all our wonderful "grands"! I hand delivered Valentines to Anna's a little after 10 am and visited a bit there. Then I went to drop off Maylena's and ended up staying for a nice long visit! I actually saw her with her eyes wide opened! She gets more beautiful every time I see her. She needed sleep and was having a hard time getting it and I held her and got her to sleep. She was holding my finger with a very strong grip! Smitten! Yep! That's what "grands" do to you!

Then a quick trip to the grocery store and home for a late lunch and putting the house back together before the oldest "grands" were coming. We kept April's as Valentine's Day is their anniversary and they were going out to dinner with money Mike's parents had given them. (They always give anniversary money to all of us! So sweet!)
We got pizza and watched the kids TV programs...interesting! Was a "grand" day and evening!
A time filled with lots of love!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Always remember...

YOU ARE GREATLY LOVED!

Happy Valentine's Day!

More Doggie Wisdom

Don't know who said this but it's worth sharing.

"If a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joy ride.
Take naps.
Run, romp and play daily.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
Be loyal.
When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
Never pretend to be something you're not."

A Dog's Purpose

Here is Charlotte at her class. Our instructer, Amy, took her picture. To us she is just too "stinkin" cute!
(Oh I know we are quite prejudiced! )

Then my friend sent me an e-mail this morning entitled "The purpose of a dog!"
Oh my....it was incredibly sweet and so true. I can't put it all down but wanted to share a few things.
It was supposedly written by a Veterinarian who had to put a 10 year old Irish Wolfhound to sleep.
The family's 6 year old son was present and the boy gently petted his friend during the procedure.
The boy seemed to accept his friend's death calmly. They all sat together sharing about animals not living as long as humans and the boy said he knew why.
This is the wisdom that came out of his mouth.

"People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life--like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right? Well dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long."

Charlotte and nephews!

Kept Duncan and Kellan today while Anna took the girls for haircuts. Here is one of the more rare quiet moments.
We had a great time and enjoyed Anna and the girls too after their outing.
One of the priceless moments....Kellan kept going up to Charlotte, even getting down on his knees to be eye level with her, and asking "Are you going to chase me? Chase me!" Most of the time she obliged him!
Another precious moment was Kellan leaning back on me, half asleep with Charlotte sleeping on his lap.
Duncan...well he was taking on those crazy pigs with all the angry birds. So in his element!
What an active and not-quiet-afternoon! What a blessing! :)

The harder I go....

the "behinder" I get! Oh, surely not!
Having a "toddler" in the house means I do tasks in shifts. It seems that the harder I try to get things done-OMG! the time has gone and the "toddler" needs my attention...again.
Would you believe this is my desk in a sort of cleaned off stage? It was worse than this the other day!
I start clearing out papers and they multiply! (Like rabbits!) As they do that I tend to say "forget it" and move on, only to have to come back to it in a day or two.

I'm not sure what happened to January. One day it was here and I had all these grandiose ideas of household organizing. Ideas! That's about all that got accomplished. Somehow I've got to put hands and feet to those ideas before I turn around and it's already March!

Where is Mary Poppins when you need her???????

Early February Morn

I'm sitting at my desk enjoying the rising dawn outside my window. The pinkish light on the horizon, interspersed with gray/blue declares the coming forth of a  new day and compels me to a state of anticipation. I am a morning person. I usually awake with a smile on my face and a song in my heart.
(Just thought of a movie line from National Treasure..."people don't talk that way anymore...but they should")
Old-fashioned...yes I am and I don't want to be any other way.
The morning is calling. Mike may want breakfast. I hear him trying to be quiet so as not to awaken our sweet Charlotte. I've had some Bible time and a time of "putting things back in place".
I've errands to run and Book Club to prepare for but things are nicely falling into place.
It's going to be a lovely day. How do I know this? Everyday is a lovely day to me...even when things don't quite go the way I planned. Why? Because I know the Ancient of Days and He knows me.
He works all things to my good. He knows me best and I trust Him. He alone is my happiness and the Keeper of my "lovely" days.