Livin' on a Prayer!

Laurel's 21st

2011-06-05T10:07:00.000-04:00

Laurel visited for a few days so we could celebrate her 21st with her. We showed her downtown, Folly Beach and Morris Island.

Exploring

2011-06-04T07:57:00.000-04:00

We were in the house for three days before the movers came. While we waited, we explored. This fountain is downtown Charleston. It is a beautiful city.

The move down South

2011-06-03T19:54:00.000-04:00

We left Ft. Wayne on Saturday afternoon, March 19 with a car top carrier, the trunk full and an old cat and huge old dog int he back. Silver spent a lot of time on Brent's or my lap. He had never been out of the house so this was amazing to him. We drove as far as Lexington, KY the first day and arrived in Charleston late on Sunday night. We couldn't get into our house until Monday morning, so we stayed downtown Charleston Sunday night.

Last day in Ft. Wayne

2011-06-03T19:40:00.000-04:00

L-A Electric planned a going away party for Brent at Woodland Lounge on our last night in Ft. Wayne...we actually were going to leave that afternoon; however, because of the planning without consulting either one of us...we didn't leave until the NEXT late afternoon!!! It all turned out good. It was a great party and some of my people from work showed up as well. Above: Kass Foltz, me, Mandy (Foltz) Roos.

Mandy and Kass

Laura Messick (her husband got Brent's former position at L-A), Lisa Scharr (controller at L-A), and Mary Lou Arnold (she and her husband, Bill, own L-A Electric).

Not sure who he guy in the orange is...next to him is Bill Arnold, owner of L-A Electric, and not sure who the guy in the blue is either.

Scott Foltz in the orange shirt...

The party started at 4pm. The movers were still packing up our house when I left to meet Brent there. We got home somewhere around 1am to an empty house (we had our luggage, some clothes and an air mattress...oh and the cat and dog!) It was so weird, sad, yet exciting. We made a lot of friends in Ft. Wayne in the 10 years we lived there. The next afternoon we began a brand spanking new chapter in our lives.

Disney on Ice

2011-06-03T07:26:00.000-04:00

We took the girls to see Disney on Ice before we moved. Mackenzee said it was "the best night of her life"! It really was a good show. We finished the night by going to one of their favorite hangouts...Steak and Shake. They also spent the night. Fun!!

First trip to Charleston

2011-06-02T21:21:00.000-04:00

We made our fist trip to Charleston in early March to check it out and try to find a place to live. It was so cool that Ricky and Ashley live so close, they came to spend the afternoon with us. We explored downtown and found this candy store that Ashley had seen on the Food Network. She told us about these crickets they have and wanted the guys to try some.

Brent - holding one of the ugly buggers. I believe his was sour cream and onion flavored.

Oh............YUM, YUM !!

Pics from Ricky

2010-01-26T05:42:00.006-05:00

This work dog found these.

Your bad day suddenly doesn't seem so bad, does it?

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T11:20:00.004-05:00

We had a very nice New Year's Eve celebration with friends and family at Kathy and Scott Foltz' house. Kathy and Scott, their son Joey, their daughter Amanda and her significant other Chris with their little one Chloe and their little guy on the way were all there. Bowling friends, Rick & DJ, Mike & Suzanne, Jeff and Chris were there. Brent and I along with Sara, Maddison and Mackenzee (and baby grandson on the way) were all there and Laurel even made an appearance!

There was plenty of food and fun. We had ping-pong and cards going on out in the garage, pool in the game room and Guitar Hero in the livingroom. We all made it until midnight....kids and old people (me) alike!

Scott, at regular intervals, brought out his jello shots. I turned them all down except for this one below! eeeewwwww

Here's Joey playing Guitar Hero...
Here's Sara, Mackenzee and DJ

Here's Kathy and Suzanne

Sara, DJ, Amanada

Brent (cheesin' and feelin' no pain!) and Jeff

Maddison, Chloe and Mackenzee had a blast...

Chloe wrestling with Maddison

We were all out quite late, so no one even stirred until about 9:00 this morning (that would be me and Mackenzee....usually both always up before dawn). Brent came down and the three of us were enjoying some Spanish conversation with Mackenzee (she was teaching us!) when we heard screams coming from upstairs. Brent and I wondered what in the world was going on, but Mackenzee knew right away....she exclaimed "Maddi lost her tooth!!!". Maddison's top teeth have been quite loose for weeks. Just before Christmas we were all sure that one of them would just fall right out....but nooooooooooooo. Brent tried working on it, we tried getting Maddison to get it out (and I told her that night, if she pulled it out, I would give her all the change in my coin bank).

Well................she finally got it out this morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is her tooth and the hole it left in her mouth! She has a pretty little tooth fairy pillow to put it in for tonight.

And on her lap on the left is my change bank!!!

2009-12-29T21:19:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Fun in Kalamazoo!

2009-12-27T15:54:00.005-05:00

On a whim, Brent and I headed for Kalamazoo on Saturday afternoon. I've read on a few of the facebooks and alumni sites that the PNHS alumni meets on the day after Christmas at Burdick's. So we decided to go. By the time we hit Battle Creek, it had begun snowing and 30 minutes later, we were being pummeled. That was okay, though, we were staying right there so didn't have to drive anywhere.

I hadn't seen any of these people in 25-30 years! We had a really good time. We had a really nice room, had dinner up there last night and came down for a nice breakfast at Burdick's this morning.

This Santa Claus on the Kalamazoo Mall, downtown, has been a part of Kalamazoo history since before I was born so many years ago!

In the lobby of the Raddison at the Kalamazoo Center.

And here's a picture of the two of us. We had a good weekend.

Christmas

2009-12-27T15:36:00.006-05:00

We had a good Christmas with all the girls....Laurel, Sara, Maddison and Mackenzee.

Maddison was way into her new Leapster game!

Silver was pretty worn out from the whole thing!

2009-12-24T19:18:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

2009-12-18T18:27:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

2009-12-18T05:49:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Nelson Resemblances

2009-12-13T19:29:00.007-05:00

This is Ricky (on the left, of course!)

This is his Uncle Monte

Look at their right eyes........do you see how they are the same???

This is Ricky with his gun....yeah, makes a Momma proud! :(

This is his Uncle Monte and HIS gun!!!!

I think it's all genetic!!!

The Nelson boys!!!

Hillary singing....such a beautiful voice

2009-12-07T21:11:00.000-05:00

My niece, Hillary....singing....so beautiful!

2009-12-07T20:43:00.001-05:00

Ringo goes to daycare!

2009-11-26T09:32:00.002-05:00

Ringo started doggie daycare this week and he LOVED it. Just look at all of his new friends! They have all kinds of toys and each other to play with. Ringo is in the "big dog" daycare room that happens to have a webcam in it. I took my laptop to work and could view him all day long!

Well, only when they were inside. They have a very structured day! They start out playing outside (weather permitting), then they play inside. At noon, they all go to seperate kennels for lunch. Then they go back outside, then inside, then back out. There is always a human with them, playing, petting, talking to them.

He was so worn out that night. He's used to just vegging on his dog pillow all day long. So now, hopefully, he'll go play with his new friends a few days a week. (This daycare stays completely full, so even if I wanted to send him everyday, I couldn't right now).

Too cute!

2009-11-08T18:28:00.003-05:00

I had never heard this song before. Maddison and Mackenzee just could NOT believe that I had never heard this Hannah Montana song before! Wow, am I really missing out or what?

Halloween

2009-11-01T07:43:00.008-05:00

Brent, Maddison and Mackenzee working on
Halloween costume projects.

We bowled in league last night and our team dressed up as black-eyed peas! This is Brent and Kathy Foltz. I don't have any of Scott or I...I wanted one of all four of us...our whole team...but couldn't get anyone to pay attention to me long enough to get the camera and shoot a doggone picture. Oh well...wasn't meant to be I guess.

The cat's meow!

2009-10-29T17:41:00.005-04:00

It's that time of year!

I came home from work tonight just as Maddison and Mackenzee were leaving for a Girl Scout Halloween function.

They are both some kind of kitty this year!!

I may be partial, but I think they are just

doggone adorable!

Meow!!!! :)

Our Trip to Brazil!

2009-10-09T18:41:00.029-04:00

Okay, here are the pictures from our trip. They are in no certain order, because I am SO TIRED! I've got the pictures all over right now and just can't sort them out. I've been in my center for only 3 days this WHOLE MONTH and I've got all that I need to get done on my mind. I got back around 10pm last night (Friday the 23rd) after beind in Dallas for a week.

So, here they are..............................

Me and Paolo saying goodbye....he gave me a painting of his.............

Brent and I partying in Rio on the Copacobana

Sue and I with an Indian peddler...Sue bought one of his CDs and it was really good.

Partyin' in Copacobana~~

I bought Maddison and Mackenzee two of these purses that this guy makes out of pop can tabs

I became a peddler on the beach!

Here I am trying to sell my wares...not having much luck.

Paolo thanking me for the hat I brought him...

Here I am sunning at Sue and Matt's house.

This is a view of one of the verandas

The door on the left was our suite. The brown door in the middle is so cool, it has stained glass fish in it.

Here's another view of our suite, you can see the window on the left.

This was right outside our suite, you can see our window on the right and another suite on the left. The hallway goes upstairs to the main floor.

This was a beach right down from Sue and Matt's. Bren and I walked down one afternoon to soak up a few rays and drink some of the local favorite....SKOL.

Here's Brent snorkeling. He saw starfish and pufferfish among other things. This was right at Sue and Matt's yard.

Here's Sue and Matt at the bar. Both are always so happy and smiley!

This was in Rio at the Corcovado.

Here's a beautiful sunset. This was at Tartaruga "Turtle" Beach.

Me and Sue at Tartaruga

We got caught in the rain one day when all four of us were out...we were in Sue's topless buggy!

Brent and Matt were sitting up on the back in the pouring rain! They barely fit and had to hang on for dear life because we put the surf boards and beach chairs in the back.

This was on the way to the beach. Sue was looking for a new washer so we pulled right up into one! The stores there don't have fronts...everything is wide open!

Here's another shot of the appliance store....see what I mean? She just pulled right up into the store almost!

This is one of the little nooks at Sue and Matt's...

...here's the view...and a waterfall comes down over this too!

Here's what's left of my birthday cake. Sue surprised me...they had a traditional Brazillian Barbecue and invited all the guests and some of their friends. Then came down singing Happy Birthday in Portuguese! The candles are a five and zero! She did this because she missed my big five-oh back in July and because I had such a crappy birthday....wasn't that sweet?

This was at the barbecue/my birthday party...there was even live music!

This is Sue and Marcia (the live in help) setting up for the barbecue.

More of the party....

more party.....this is Brent and Matt

This is a hummingbird. This same little (much bigger than the hummingbirds here!) guy sat in this tree every day.

more party... a view of the bar...

Looking down on one of the sandy beaches in their yard. They have banana and coconut trees right in their yard and pick them to use as needed! This is sitting at the bar looking out to one of the covered verandas...

Here's a view of one of the sitting rooms. The window to the left is Sue and Matt's office. The window straight back looks into a hallway that takes you down to one of the pools...this window is soon going to be one huge salt water aquarium!

Brent taking a dip in one of the pools..

This walkway in the front leads to the garden suite and to Sue and Matt's office.

Sue and Matt the night we all went out to dinner.

more barbecue/party...this is James from London on the left and Brent in the middle.

A friend of Sue and Matt's..Roland...providing the live music. He was really good!

Here's a view looking up from down by the cove...I was actually getting a shot of the cactus!

Here's a view from the bar area looking into the dining room.

This is looking out of the window in our suite...

This is how all the beds look after the room has been cleaned and prepared each morning...They use fresh flowers (on the towels) each day...they put them in each sink too.. these just grow wild all over their yard...

This was the bed in our suite.. another view of our suite looking out...

This is Barone! He lives there with three cats...

Sunset in Buzios from one of the verandas...

Sue and Matt at the barbecue/birthday party....

This is at their front door as you come in off the street...it's outside

One of the beautiful doors....everything at the Inn uses natural materials found locally such as bamboo, coconut, stone, etc.

Brent snuck out very early one morning while I was still snoozing..he thought he was being sneaky! I snapped this as he was heading out. I actually got on a kayak with him later that day.

there he goes........

way out there!

this is in the front

a peaceful setting on one of the verandas

the barbecue pit

morning coffee and tea set up on the bar every day

this is in the middle of the bar area

ooking out into the neighbor's yard

looking up at the house from down near the water

at the front door

looking in as you come off the street

looking down on one of the jacuzzi pools with waterfalls

the swim up bar

cool way to get some sun!

James (from London) making caipirinhas

Sue giving James a lesson on how to really shake it (shaking is the most important step in making this drink!)

This ring was made by the girl I met in Rio (she just turned 18) who was orphaned on the streets in Rio when she was five...Sue gave me this for my birthday

This is a handmade metal box with semi-precious stones found in the area...Sue gave me this for my birthday too...

While we were in Rio, minutes after the announcement that Rio won the 2016 Olympics, Matt called Sue to tell her they had just been named THE NUMBER ONE BED AND BREAKFAST IN ALL OF SOUTH AMERICA! Here's the news release......................

Cachoeira Inn CHOSEN AS Best in South America IN THE BEST OF BEDANDBREAKFAST.COM AWARDS
Búzios, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -- The Cachoeira Inn of Búzios, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was selected as Best in South America in the annual Best of BedandBreakfast.com Awards, 2009-2010. The Best of BedandBreakfast.com Awards are based upon a qualitative and quantitative review of the nearly 50,000 independent reviews submitted to BedandBreakfast.com, the leading online B&B directory and reservation network worldwide.

"BedandBreakfast.com surveys show that independent reviews are the most important factor when choosing a B&B. In fact, according to BedandBreakfast.com's most recent survey, 96% of consumers consider reviews to be somewhere between important and essential when selecting a place to stay, and 12% will not make a reservation at a property without them. We're delighted that inn goers concur that the Cachoeira Inn is deserving of its accolades from travelers," explained BedandBreakfast.com's Sandy Soule, one of the most highly recognized authors and a spokeswoman for the B&B industry. "Clearly, the Cachoeira Inn earned its stellar reviews from inn goers for its quality accommodations, breakfasts, amenities, and wonderful hospitality and service," commented Soule.
"It's a true honor to be chosen for a Best of BedandBreakfast.com award, and we thank our guests for the positive reviews that resulted in this award, stated Matt and Susan Marshall, the Cachoeira Inn innkeepers. "It is gratifying that our guests took the time to share their comments about our hospitality, accommodations, breakfasts and attention to the details which set the Cachoeira Inn apart," commented the Marshall’s. Here's an excerpt from one of our reviews: My girlfriend and I decided to give the Cachoeira Inn a try during a trip to Brazil in May. Let's just say we made the right choice. We were blown away once we entered the front gate of The Cachoeira Inn and took in the most incredible B&B we have ever seen.

About the Cachoeira Inn: The Cachoeira Inn, meaning “Waterfall Inn” in Portuguese, is a Luxurious Seaside Tropical Asian Style Guest House in the beautiful resort town of Armaçâo dos Búzios, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We are perfectly perched along Ferradura's rocky eastern shoreline, laying scene to panoramic views of Ferradura bay and her verdant hillside. From our privileged location, you will IMMERSE YOURSELF In 9 waterfalls - 7 pools - 3 sand beaches - botanical gardens - winding river - sundecks - dry sauna - BBQ area with sit-up bar - 2 hanging chairs under the coconut palm - open air gazebo - and to top it off, a private ocean access from the Inn's backyard. Having a maximum capacity of 8 adults, allows us to provide a more personalized & highly sophisticated service, bringing everything you need, right to your fingertips. For reservations, please contact us at (55)-(22)-2623-2118 or visit our website at http://www.cachoeirainn.com/.

For a complete list of all winners, including regional and international Best of BedandBreakfast.com Award winners, please visit http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/ and click Winners 2009-2010.

Founded in 1995, BedandBreakfast.com is highly recommended by The New York Times, Real Simple, Forbes, Travel & Leisure, USA TODAY and many others. To learn about more nearly 9,000 other perfect choices for your next B&B getaway, visit BedandBreakfast.com, the leading online bed and breakfast directory and reservation network worldwide. A variety of search functions and extensive maps enable inn goers to find the perfect B&B. Travelers can make reservations online, purchase The Getaway Gift Card from BedandBreakfast.com, welcomed at over 4,000 B&Bs in the U.S. and Canada, read up-to-date trip reports on The BedandBreakfast.com Blog, read and write independent reviews, and post questions on expert-hosted message boards.

# # #High resolution photos and color brochure available upon request.

Related Articles:
New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/greathomesanddestinations/21gh-brazil.html?_r=2
Travel Agent Magazine – http://www.nxtbooks.com/nxtbooks/questex/ta-080309/#/62
Trip Advisor - http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g303492-d1201905-Reviews-Cachoeira_Inn-Buzios_State_of_Rio_de_Janeiro.html
Journal do Brasil – Request PDF

Matt & Susan Marshall
Cachoeira Inn
Rua E-1, Lote #18, Praia da Ferradura
Armaçâo dos Búzios, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 28950-000
Phone: (55)-(22)-2623-2118
Website: http://www.cachoeirainn.com/

===================================================

All of the reviews that people give them are so spot on. I had the time of my life there and it is such a beautiful place. Sue and Matt have put a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears into this place and a long six years. Their efforts have definitely paid off...............

I'm going back too; Sue & I promised to not let another almost 20 years go by before we see each other again....that's a promise I intend to keep!

Vacation-still

2009-10-09T10:10:00.004-04:00

Wow! What a whirlwind week it has been. This has been a fantastic trip and I'm so sad to see it coming to an end.

I have enjoyed re-connecting with my best-friend from school so much.

I have very limited access to the internet and it's very slow so I haven't taken the time to put any pictures on the blog. Just these three took FOREVER to upload....so I'll post more when I get home.

We stayed two nights in Rio when we first got here. We happened to be walking on the Copacabana when it was announced that Brazil would be hosting the Olympics in 2016. WHAT A PARTY IN THE STREET THAT WAS!

We came upon this sand sculpture minutes after the announcement.....boy someone was really sure they were going to get it!
This is Paolo...one of the artists that Sue and Matt work with. The hat on my head is one I brought from the states for him and he LOVED it. Can you believe he is turning 38 in a couple days? I couldn't! This was taken at our hotel in Rio right after we got off the plane...I was still in my cold weather clothes!

While in Rio, we went to see Corcavado....one of the wonders of the world. It was an amazing train trip up that mountain. This is a picture of Brent standing in front of it.

Sue and Matt are having a party tonight and have more guests checking in. We've been here all week with a couple from London. They leave a few days after we do.

I have LOTS of pictures... Buzios is absolutely beautiful and so is Sue and Matt's home. I could stay and stay and stay!!!

More Grand Finale

2009-10-01T05:46:00.003-04:00

This is my mom's Grand Finale cake. She did her's in shades of....what else?........PURPLE!!!

She did a fantastic job. The flowers are amazing.

Grand Finale Cake

2009-09-30T05:49:00.003-04:00

The last class of Course No. 2 of the cake decorating class my mom and I took was last night. We made a cake using all the techniques we learned over the last four weeks. We learned to do color flow (making flat designs and letting them dry) and royal icing (the flowers dry hard) and to make victorian roses, mums, violets, and all kinds of other flowers.

Last night we learned to do the basket weave. It's amazingly easy once you know what you're doing!

The book showed a cake in white frosting with springy colors and bluebirds. Because it is September, I made my basket brown with fall colors and little brown birds.

I can't wait to make more cakes!

Well, actually I can....I won't be making any cakes until the end of October because I'll be so busy........................I won't have access to phones or e-mail (darn!) for a while.

The Party

2009-09-07T21:28:00.008-04:00

Sara and Ricky

Teresa and Monte

Corn Hole was one of the favorites

My mom and sister

Mike and Hope from Waco, TX (Brent's Army buddy from Ft. Drum 20 yrs ago)

Teresa

More corn holers

Sandy

Monte

Maddi and Kenzee were having a ball with all the kids that came

Kenzee and one of her new friends

Ashley and Zoey mingling

Ricky and his future Uncle Rob

Kenzee

The best chef ever!

Brent, Ricky, Mike, Hope

The Claycombs (Glenn, Jodi, Hunter and Kearstin)and Ricky

My mom

Laurel's group

Kathy and Scott Foltz

Ashley

Melanie (Ashley's sister-in-law) and Dot (Ashley's mom)

Mackenzee's Special Date

2009-08-01T23:28:00.008-04:00

Mackenzee has been waiting an entire year for this! Ever since last year when Brent and I took Maddison on a "special date" to get a backpack and some school clothes and shoes. Back then, it was extremely rare that only one of the girls went anywhere with us alone. It affected Mackenzee a lot back then.

So...........Thursday after work I went and picked up Mackenzee then we headed over to Brent's work to hurry him up (it was, after all, past 5:00).

"Look, Grandma.......I can cross my eyes!"
Puttin' on her shades!

So we let Mackenzee decide what and where. She chose the mall....specifically, J.C. Penney's. Here, she's trying to decide which backpack she wanted.

And the winner was.....................ta da...................Hello Kitty!

She actually modeled all of her outfits for Brent (he couldn't go in the ladies dressing room with us).

My camera messed up after I took two pictures of the outfits (probably time for a new one!)

Then, it started working again. Here's Mackenzee with her loot. She so was trying to carry the bag, but it weighed more than she does! Yes, everything she chose was PINK! I told her she could choose anything, but she insisted on PINK! Even her new tennis shoes...white with a PINK Nike swoosh!

Here's Brent and Mackenzee afterwards. The empty pocket thing went above Mackenzee's head!

We let Mackenzee pick where we would have dinner. She chose the food court and her favorite Chick-fil-a chicken strips.

I can't believe Mackenzee is starting kindergarten. If you talk with her for any length of time, you would sure guess at least second grade!

Summer in a weekend

2009-07-01T20:20:00.007-04:00

Okay, so you would never know by the temperature in Ft. Wayne the last few days that we actually had a summer in a weekend! It was hot and sunny and beautiful. It was made even better because Maddison and Mackenzee spent the weekend!

Here they are waiting for the water in this fantabulously large pool to fill up a little more.

Here they are showing me how they can swim. Actually they go to the Y three or four times a week for swim lessons and I hear they are getting quite good at it. They both can go down the big twisty slide and they can swim around like little fish. Mackenzee was even showing me how she practices her "scoops"!

Brent brought home a dump truck load of mulch and some long awaited trim. Here, the girls were helping him.

I had picked up some Trix yogurt and Maddison noticed on the package that you could put a stick in the top and freeze it for a yogurt pop, so that's just what we did. All afternoon and into the evening she had me checking the yogurt. Finally, at about 9:30, it was frozen! They loved it.

Here they are watching Brent tip the dump truck so he could get to the mulch. Notice the look of surprise on Maddison's face!

Here's the sweeties having a blast in the pool. They play together so good.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T21:45:00.005-04:00

Brent had a great day today! Ricky and Ashley surprised EVERYONE and showed up in Ft. Wayne on Thursday night. We had a really fast, but fantastic weekend.

Ricky and Brent took off at 6am this morning to go fishing with Scott and Joey Foltz for a father~son outing.

Brent caught none, Ricky did, but didn't reel any in, Scott and Joey both caught some.

Here's one of Scott's......................

Here's Joey's......................................

After fishing, they all took turns tubing. They said it was fantastic.

Here's Brent.......................

Here's Ricky.....................

When they got home, we had a cookout. My mom provided the Omaha steaks...they were delicious.

The kids played a game of cornhole.

Here's Laurel and her friend Lydia................

Laurel taking her best shot...................

Ahsley taking her best shot....................

And Ricky........................

And here we all are: Ringo, Laurel, Brent, me, Ashley and Ricky.

Here's a video of Ricky getting thrown...............

Busy week

2009-06-13T21:49:00.010-04:00

This past week flew by. After taking off the previous Friday, work was almost overwhelming. Thank goodness for the other things in my life.

Maddison and Mackenzee stopped by my office to say "Hi". It felt like I haven't seen them in eons. I got a phone call one afternoon from Maddison. She had just lost her second tooth at swim lessons while in the pool and the darn tooth was sucked down the drain! The tooth fairy came anyway!

Here's Kenzee and her beautiful smile..............
And Maddi with her still beautiful smile....teeth missing and all!

I am so fortunate to have yard like I do. I absolutely love this time of year and so look forward to chilling out after work out there. I discovered this nest of robins in my FRONT yard in the Bradford Pear...right at the bottom....here's the babies looking at me after I accidentally scared the mama off..............

Here's Ringo meeting a new neighbor.......Michelle and the boys picked up a new kitten this weekend.........looks like Baloo wants Ringo to be his new play toy!

This video is very bumpy, but this is one of the baby robins from the nest in the front yard. While we were all out there checking out the new kitty, this little guy got scared a flew the coop. I can't believe three of these fit in that nest. I sure hope he got back in his nest!

Here's Ringo and Baloo playing............

Great Weekend!

2009-06-07T19:35:00.004-04:00

This is my mom's new BFF in Minneapolis! She works at Christopher & Banks and helped her for two days find some really good stuff.

This morning (Sunday) at breakfast....

more at breakfast.....

out in themall.......

Karen took a bunch of pictures too...

Lego Land....

The girls taking a break...

Lego Land again.....

From the second level looking down....there are four levels in the mall.

The end! We left early for the airport becuase we all took off at different times. We were also worried about our luggage being overweight. We were all good, though.

Thanks so much mom. Yes, it would be fantastic to make this an annual trip!

Girl's Weekend

2009-06-05T23:04:00.016-04:00

We all took off from our homes in the wee hours of the morning this morning and met at the Minneapolis airport. By 10:00 a.m. we were checking into our hotel room at the Raddison right across the street from the Mall of America.

The room is beautiful. We freshened up and hopped the shuttle over to the mall.

Seven hours later, we stopped into Kokomo's for dinner. We had a few drinks (even though we didn't need a DD -designated driver- my mom stuck to ice water!).

Karen had her Blue Moon............

Linda had her Cosmopolitan and of course, I couldn't go without my date with the Captain!

I ordered oven baked, coconut crusted tilapia in a banana leaf with black beans. The meal was fantastic and the customer service at this establishment was the best.

We got back to the room and before Karen, Linda and I headed down to the bar in the hotel for a few, we had a show-n-tell of what we got today. Karen and Linda had me laughing SO hard!

So, they bought the same sweater. Here are the "twins" talking to each other. So funny!

What a fun day! I'm sure the rest of the weekend is going to be just as fun.

Thank you, Mom, for getting the four of us together like this and for the fantastic weekend ahead of us. We all really needed this!

Class of 2021

2009-06-03T19:46:00.004-04:00

Really? Class of 2021??? That sounds like the name of a sci-fi movie, doesn't it?

Maddison graduated from kindergaten this morning. Mackenzee kept telling me that Maddison is graduating today, but when I asked her what that meant, she said she wasn't sure, but it's pretty exciting!

Here's Mackenzee looking for her sister............
Oh, there she is!

Each child was called up to the podium to shake hands (that was fun watching them trying to remember which hand to shake with!!!) and receive their certificates.

Maddison got flowers too!

Here's Maddison and her principal.

Happy Fifth Birthday Mackenzee!!

2009-06-02T16:57:00.009-04:00

So....the conversation this morning went like this (G=Grandma, M=Mackenzee):

G: Mornin' Sweetie! Happy Birthday!

M: Thank you!

G: So, you're finally five now! Does it feel any different?

M: I am? I'm really five right now, like today?

G: Yes, baby, you are really five now. How does it feel?

M: Well, Grandma that's really strange. When I went to bed last night, I was four. You know, really four. So then I wake up this morning and now I'm FIVE. I just can't figure out how that happened.

Out of the mouths of babes!!

Mackenzee's Birthday Party

2009-05-31T16:12:00.003-04:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Cousins

2009-05-23T20:54:00.002-04:00

We haven't done this in about 40 years! We used to, about once a year, all line up in our Grandparent's backyard and get our picture taken. Well, we finally were all together again....well, minus Karen, Mark and Linda! But here are all four of the Kilduffs and me.
(l-r: Bill, Helen, me, Kevin, Tom).

Kevin and Sharon

2009-05-23T16:12:00.007-04:00

We are in Nashua, NH for my cousin, Kevin's, wedding. He and Sharon were married outside at 10:30 this morning at a beautiful inn. The reception immediately followed. My aunt, Helen, who is Kevin's mother, was able to get up and dance the mother-son dance. That has been her goal since this past winter when she lost her leg to diabetes.

This card was on our table. Kevin and Sharon have donated to several different charities in honor of different people (Sharon's grandparents, Kevin's nephew in the Air Force, etc.) This one was for my dad..............
My mom and Aunt Helen....sister helping sister cut her meat!

Mother-Son dance..............

Beautiful wedding...great to see cousins I haven't seen in years and years. We are heading to Kevin and Sharon's this evening for a family reception.

Fabulous Spring Day...............

2009-05-20T20:03:00.007-04:00

Beautiful 80+ degrees and sunny..............

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The arborvitae where the Cardinal family resides....................

The babies have doubled in size in just three days!

Days like this make me wish Brent and I could just stay home, not work, sit out in our yard in the warm sun, reading a good book and enjoying the sights. Alas, just a dream....someone must pay the bills.....

Little Ditty

2009-05-18T06:21:00.002-04:00

Mackenzee (almost 5....doesn't read yet) to Brent: "Here Papa, will you read this for me? I don't have my glasses on"

First Cookout ~ 2009

2009-05-17T20:54:00.002-04:00

Great food. Good job, Brent!

Last day of Real Men Read

2009-05-15T20:11:00.003-04:00

On Brent's last day of reading to the second grade class, they gave him a folder, autographed by each of them containing a thank you letter to Mr. Day from each one of them.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T05:43:00.004-04:00

This is hilarious!

Busy, Fun Weekend!

2009-04-18T22:24:00.021-04:00

Wow! What a busy, fun-filled weekend it's been and it's only Sunday morning! Can't wait to see what today brings!

It started out Friday afternoon. I had planned on getting Mackenzee while Sara and Maddison attended a Girl Scout function at the school. Sara called and asked if Mackenzee could stay the night because Maddison was having a bunch of friends spend the night and they were already fighting with Mackenzee. Of course, Mackenzee can come hang out with me! To hear her side of it, they were playing house and she was the "doll house baby" and all the girls were spanking her and that is just not right "you don't spank a doll house baby" (!!)

I picked her up and we started by meeting my mom at Country Kitchen SweetArt where there was a big extravaganza going on.

As we walked in we received a bottle of drinking water with their logo printed on the label and a receipe booklet. That alone got Mackenzee's attention! Every 5 feet or so was a table set up with all kinds of samples of everything from candy bark, to popcorn, to cookies, soup, meatballs, etc., etc., etc. Mackenzee was having a ball as were my mom and I. We went into the kitchen part of the store and watched a demonstration on making a cookie bouquet. Mackenzee and I came up with a cool idea for her birthday.

We left there and across the street is Putt-Putt Golf, Games & Go-Karts. I pulled in there and to Mackenzee's surprise, she and I hopped into a Go-kart race car! She LOVED it!

Mackenzee and I in the race car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We then headed home to finish Maddison's birthday cake for the party on Saturday morning.

Here's Mackenzee licking the beater after I colored some frosting pink.

Here's Mackenzee with pink frosting all over her face (this, by the way, stained her face RED)!

My mom came over to help with the decorating. She did a fabulous job!

Mackenzee was helping by washing dishes. She told me "I love dishin'!"

Here's my mom trimming the top of the cake.

Here is the finished product.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Saturday morning, we were up and out early to get to the 10:00 a.m. party at Rollerdome South. Maddison wore one purple knee pad over her stitches so she wouldn't break the hole open again. Everyone had a blast. Brent, Karen and I all skated too. Maddison participated in the limbo contest and WON! She got to pick a prize from grab bag and she chose a "Go Army" lanyard because her Uncle Ricky is in the Army! Usually, when they go skating, Mackenzee wears a pair of plastic skates over her shoes. At the party, she insisted she wear real skates. Bless her little heart, she spent more time on her bum than she did upright, but by golly, she never gave up. At the end of the party, she could make one whole circle around the rink without falling.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Maddison's birthday party at Rollerdome South. Lots of friends and family attended and everyone had a great time.

After the party, Brent and I went to the Back Nine Family Fun Center to hit some balls at the driving range. I started golf lessons this week so I can actually go out on the course and get a ball off the tee box in a few shots before Brent forgets where he hit his! (that happens whenver I go with him!) At the driving range, I got a HUGE basket of golf balls and could actually hit some that looked like I knew what I was doing! That was fun!

After a little nap, we headed out again to another birthday party. Our friend, Cam is having a birthday this week and his wife, Brea had us all meet at the Trolley Bar & Grill for a super dinner and fun with friends. Brent and I both had steak. Yum!

After dinner, the party continued at Crazy Pinz where we bowled for an hour. That was a blast too!

Now, it's Sunday morning and it's rainy (not really too cold, though). So there goes our big idea of working out in the yard. I sure hope we can get it done tomorrow or Tuesday, because Wednesday night Brent has his golf league and I have my golf lesson.

Then on Thursday, we are heading up to Watertown, NY to visit Ricky and Ashley for a long weekend. We're going to have a jungle in our yard by the time we get to it!

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY MADDISON!!

2009-04-16T21:19:00.002-04:00

Maddison turned 6 years old today. It is just so hard to believe. Where does the time go?
She has been waiting for this day for a long time because at her school, when it's your birthday, you get a special pencil and you get to take cupcakes.

Her mom and Mackenzee surprised her at lunch time and took her a Happy Meal. Then, Brent surprised her and showed up in her Spanish class with flowers for her! He said she was so excited and surprised that she was shaking! AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Sara usually schedules the girl's Well Child check-ups on their birthday. Today was no exception. She had an appointment after school. I was actually talking to her when they got called into the office. About an hour later I was talking to Brent on our cell phones when he said Sara was trying to call him.

Long story short, Sara now feels like a horrible mother. Maddison was standing on the exam table tracing the patterns of the wallpaper with her finger while waitiing for the doctor to come in. She slid on edge of the roll of paper and fell..............and CUT HER LEG AND HAD TO GET STITCHES.

Oh my gosh. Well, Maddison cried and cried and said she wished it wasn't her birthday, she will never go to another Well Child check-up and wanted to know WHY OH WHY her mom put her up on that table!!!

She's having a roller skating party on Saturday with friends from school.

Happy Birthday Maddi!

Fun on Easter!

2009-04-16T20:12:00.004-04:00

Sara and Mitchell playing Guitar Hero World Tour for the first time. Now they want it!

We all had a blast on Easter, thanks to Maddison and Mackenzee! My mom and I each had a basket for the girls, so they each got two here. Brent hid Easter eggs out in the yard. After dinner, they went on a very long walk out in the woods. Later, Mackenzee told Brent she wanted to go hunting again! She told him it's hunting because they were searching for things to bring home! Each girl walked a dog too. They brought their dog Mason to our Easter celebration and he had fun too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Here's Mackenzee checking out her loot from the Easter egg hunt.

The girls decided to go check out Grandma Great's backyard for eggs.

Mackenzee getting ready to eat.

Maddison checking out one of her Easter baskets.

Mackenzee checking out one of her Easter baskets.

After dinner, Maddison and Mackenzee treated us all to a great dance performance to a Miley Cyrus song. You can tell they've done this before....it looks very well coreographed!

Happy Easter ~ Signs of Spring

2009-04-12T10:19:00.002-04:00

Happy Easter! The sun is shining this morning and it's beautiful. My backyard critters are out in force this morning. I'm making Easter dinner...on a much smaller scale this year, though. My mom, Mark, Sara, Mitchell, Maddison and Mackenzee will be here this afternoon.
Missing are, of course, my Dad who LOVED ham. He's having dinner with the angels today.
Ricky....he and his wife are having their own ham dinner in New York in their new apartment (which I have yet to see any pictures of). Laurel....she's in California....not sure what she's having for dinner today.

I made some yummy sugar cookies from a pound cake mix and glazed them in bright, springy colors.

I made some pink and purple meringue....it's surprisingly easy and Brent loves it.

And, HEY........this is NOT a hummingbird! This guy was really digging the sugar water in my hummingbird feeder. I just put them out in case we get some early arrivals. Now they'll have to fight the squirrels for their dinner!

And a SURE sign of spring.....Mr. Robin Redbreast! There were a BUNCH of them all over the yard finding worms!

Friday Night Fun

2009-04-12T09:33:00.005-04:00

Friday night, Brea and Cam came over. Their computer was on the fritz and Brent was fixing it. They came over to have a bowl off on the Wii. We bowled and played golf, then broke out my favorite: Guitar Hero World Tour. I'm getting pretty good on the drums if I do say so myself!

Cam, Brent and Brea.....the computer is now fixed!

Cam on the guitar.

Brent and Brea

Me, Brea and Cam jamming together as a band. The name of my band is called Livin' the Dream!

Real Men Read

2009-04-12T09:04:00.004-04:00

A couple of months ago, I read a small article about a program called Real Men Read. They were looking for local volunteers....men....to read to elementary students.
Real Men Read is a simple program that has a huge impact. Men read to a classroom of kindergarten, 2nd, 5th, or 7th graders for one hour each month.
All students, boys and girls are read to, but the thinking behind this program is that teacher tend to be women and the books being read tend to be geared towards girls....not on purpose....that's just how it happens. So the thought behind this program is to show young students that "real men read" too. I thought it sounded like a really cool program and mentioned it to Brent. I even cut it out of the paper and he said he might give them a call. Well, like always, our busy lives get in the way and nothing was done. A few weeks later there was another article somewhere that Brent saw and he did call! He went to an orientation and signed up. Wow!

He was assigned a school, Washington Center Elementary, and a classroom. He reads to a second grade class. He was given a packet containing three books. Each book has a set of note cards that he uses as he reads. The cards tell you how to start the story, what questions to ask before you read and when to stop during the story to ask questions.

He was a little nervous the first time. When it was over, he said it was fantastic. ALL the kids were participating and it took a little longer than it probably should have because he didn't want to leave anyone out. He said he could tell that even shy kids that don't normally raise their hands were timidly raising their hands. He got them all to talk.

He just went to read the second book this past Thursday. He has one more month, but I'm pretty sure he'll do it again next time.

I am so proud of him!
They gave him a pin to wear....he wore it ALL day!

This was the first book he read.

This is the book he just read.

This is the book he'll read in May.

Kindergarten?

2009-04-08T21:48:00.002-04:00

Wow, has kindergarten changed since I attended....since my kids attended. First of all, it is ALL day which I think is NOT right. Maddison is SO tired every afternoon. And these kids not only already knew their ABCs before they started kindergarten, they are learning SPANISH.

This is Maddi counting to 50 in Spanish. Gees, I can make it to only 10!

April Fool?

2009-04-06T05:20:00.003-04:00

Okay, so every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is look out the window. I'm not sure what I'm looking for, I just do it out of habit (from when the kids were in school ~ checking to make sure their cars were here meaning they were home in bed and making sure ONLY their cars were here!).

ANYWAY....I could not believe my eyes! Today is April 6 and it is SNOWING. Not only is it snowing, it's ACCUMULATING.....WHAT IS UP WITH THAT, I ask you? Are we just going to have winter year 'round here now? Is there a place where it NEVER snows and stays nice and warm all the time? Yup! Brazil! Can't wait!

In October, this is a beautiful sight. In April, it's just plain MEAN.

Even Ringo was in awe. When we went to bed last night it was POURING rain.

The Bunny

2009-04-06T05:10:00.003-04:00

Maddison, Mackenzee and Sara stopped by Saturday afternoon to show Brent their new bunny that we got them. Her name is Loveable Hannah which is an example of how the girls are learning to compromise. Mackenzee wanted to name her (we're not sure if it's a boy or girl, so we just picked one!) Hannah Miley and Maddison wanted to name her Loveable!

She is the sweetest softest little thing and she likes to be held. They carry her in a little dog purse and she's as content as can be!

"The One with the Grasshopper" - Funnier Than a 30-Minute Sitcom!

2009-04-04T12:03:00.006-04:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I love 30-minute sitcoms such as Will & Grace, George Lopez, King of Queens, Reba, etc. I need my laugh each day and I get it from those.

Today, in the middle of my heavy spring cleaning in the house, I decided to clean up my computer desktop....meaning finally burn the many, many pictures I've had stored in folders since last July to disks. There are so many so this is a long process.

In looking at one of the folders, I saw there was a video and decided to check it out. I don't remember if I posted this last August, (if I did, think of this as a rerun - I love 'em!) but OH MY GOSH, HOW FUNNY IS THIS?!!

Please excuse my snorting in the video, I couldn't help it. I wouldn't make a good camera man! I really needed this laugh today (it's been an extremely long, stressful week) - hope it makes you laugh too. I think Brent, Maddison and Mackenzee should have their own series, don't you?

Happy Birthday, Laurel! April First

2009-03-31T23:10:00.003-04:00

Today (April 1st) is Laurel's 19th birthday. Hard to believe, but true.
Below are some pictures of when she was a sweet little thang.

Sleepover on a Tuesday!

2009-03-31T23:03:00.003-04:00

Maddison is on spring break this week. She tells everyone she can't go to school for NINE whole days. Doesn't sound like she's really happy about spring break, does it?

I had Sara bring them to me at work when I was just about finished and told her to bring clothes for an overnight.

Brent, Laurel, Maddison, Mackenzee and I went to Crazy Pinz. Tuesday is Family Day there. They have a big ball room, games, and a miniature golf course. The three girls had a BLAST. Maddison and Mackenzee also got free dinners with the purchase of ours.

We got home around 9:30. Right now, the girls are camped out in the "playroom" coloring, watching a movie and eating popcorn.

How fun!

"Don't it make your eyes BLUE?"

2009-03-29T07:47:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I learned something very interesting yesterday while Maddison and Mackenzee were with me. We were in the car and I heard the two discussing the color of Mackenzee's eyes. And I heard one of them say, they're blue now because Grandma got soap in them. I asked them what they were talking about and Mackenzee proceeded to tell me that "a long, long time ago" I got soap in her eyes and it turned them blue. I asked her what color they were before that and she told me they were PEACH.

First of all, I don't remember ever getting soap in her eyes. Secondly, I just didn't get where they thought that could change eye color. Mackenzee said she thought maybe because the soap was BLUE!

Man, if only I had had my video on at that moment. I did get my camera out and hit record, but because I was driving, I had no idea if I was capturing the girls or not. I did get them to discuss this on video, and most of it only shows Mackenzee or her forehead.

But here's how it went:

WOW! She was talking about the circles UNDER her eyes!! How funny is that? And to top it off, they BOTH truly believe that I am responsible for them!

Absolutely hilarious! They are so literal. In talking with their Aunt Ashley and Uncle Ricky a little while later, they mentioned that they'd like to go with them to New York. Ashley played along. Maddison and Mackenzee left the room for a while and we all continued with our conversations. Next thing you know, the girls come in, arms loaded with their worldly belongings, coats and shoes on and told Ashley they were ready. The serious look on their faces was priceless! They really, truly were ready to move to New York. Ashley asked them "What about your Mom? Do you really want to leave your Mom, or Dad or your dog, Mason?" They both nodded their heads. "Well, what about Grandma and Papa?" THEY NODDED THEIR HEADS!

Wow! There was no talking them out of this one! Finally after a few tears, they agreed to stay here for now if they get to go visit Uncle Ricky and Aunt Ashley in New York sometime.

Whew!

Moving day for Mr. and Mrs. Nelson

2009-03-27T23:04:00.003-04:00

Ricky flew in this morning to collect his wife and their household goods, finally. He took possession of their apartment on Monday and he moved his few things he has with him over there this week. It's a two bedroom with a garage on base.

Ashley picked him up at the airport and they came straight to my work. Brent was there waiting too so we could all go to lunch.

Husband and wife together again after more than a month!

I think Ringo was trying to tell Ricky to take him with him to New York!

Brent, Laurel and I all went over to Ashley's to help load up all her stuff. Her mom made a wonderful dinner and we finally got everything loaded. Tomorrow they will come get the 30 some boxes of Ricky's stuff, go get their washer and dryer and kitchen table and chairs then they'll be all set.

They will be leaving very early Sunday morning so they get home by Sunday night. Ricky has Monday off so they can get the truck unloaded (they're hoping to invite a bunch of Ricky's buddies over for pizza and beer and hope they'll help unload the big stuff!).

We plan on going to visit them as often as we can for long weekends. And they have an extra room for us!

Grandparents Rollerskate!!

2009-03-21T15:37:00.012-04:00

Gees...I had one more picture to add and it goes to the top. This is Maddison playing one of the games at the rollerink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brent heard Sara talk about taking the girls skating this morning, so we got up early to go to the 10-12 session. The girls were surprised...especially at me. The asked me "Are you really going to rollerskate, Grandma?" !!!

Well......This blurry, but distinct picture was really the last time I've been rollerskating until today! I've tried rollerblading since then (not successfully, though!). This was on Sara's eighth birthday. Ricky was a teeny little guy. Yup....a really long, long time ago. I expected to get out there today and fall down immediately.

Sara was more amazed than anyone that I could still skate. I started out very slow and worked my way up. I was breezing right along!

Mackenzee was having a ball!

Maddison really was flying. She's getting good at it.

Me, Mackenzee and a friend.

Maddison hanging on to her Papa's pockets and skating behind him.

Here we are doing the Hokey Pokey!

I only fell once the whole time. I was really feeling good, was able to fly and was showing off. I skated past Sara and Brent when my wheel stuck and I flounderd for a few seconds and was determined not to fall backwards (I didn't want to be like the actress who was skiing and died from hitting her head). I fell forward and skinned my knee pretty good.

Oh well.....it was a BLAST!!

Miss Mackenzee!!!!!!!

2009-03-21T15:22:00.005-04:00

So, Friday morning around 11:00 a.m., I was at work deeply immersed in what I was doing. My cell phone rang and I could tell it was Sara by the ring. I answer and it wasn't Sara...it was Mackenzee! "Grandma!!?? Hey, Grandma??? MAY YOU PLEASE TAKE ME TO THE GROCERY STORE??? I really need to go, Grandma. PLEASE? PLEASE?

I wanted to make sure I understood her. It sounded urgent, important and full of drama (just like her mama!) I asked her if she needed a ride to the grocery store and she told me yes she did. I asked her what she needed to get and she asked me again to take her to the store. I asked HER again, "What do you need to get?" She said I don't know because I can't read this piece of paper. "Oh", I said, "you have a list?" "Yeah, Grandma, I have a list." I told her I'd be there at 12:30 and she said "Okay, I'll bring my list."

She was waiting at the front window when I pulled up.

And here is her list!! How cute is that. It's cutouts from the Meijer ad!!

Maddison is taking her lunch next week and she requested anything but peanut butter. Kenzee was quite worried about what she was going to take and needed me to take her to get some things for Maddi's lunch.

We got some good things like donut holes, lunchables, brownies.....all yummy stuff (yogurt too), but as we were checking out, Mackenzee was looking over her list and realized we forgot PRETZELS. Oh my gosh. I had to get back to work, so I told her she'd have to explain to Maddison that we forgot and I'd get her some for next week.

When I left, Mackenzee hugged me tight and thanked me for spending time with her.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! She is so sweet!

Long month and a half......

2009-03-15T19:29:00.009-04:00

Time sure does fly. Has it really been a month and a half since the wedding? Wow.....I thought I would be bored after the busy months leading up to the big day! Not so....first off....I have been sick since February 1. It seems to come and go but last week did me in and I finally had to go to the doctor to get antibiotic. YUK! I so would prefer not to have had to go, but I have to go out of town for work next week and I would have been miserable.

Anyway, I have been extremely busy at work.....WE as a center haven't been....it's been dead, actually, but I have a whole lot admin. things changing at work and it's keeping me hopping.

I haven't really been able to spend much time with Maddison and Mackenzee either. They all went through a week of so with terrible colds, flu, etc.

I am SO glad Spring is almost here. It's been a LOOOOOOOOOOONG winter.

Sara won tickets (she wins stuff ALL the time) to go see Plain White Ts (I had NEVER heard of this band before) in Grand Rapids, MI and a night in a hotel was included. The concert is tonight, so they headed out this afternoon. They took Laurel with them. She's staying at the hotel with the girls...they can go swimming and just hang out. Sara called and said the room is beautiful.

Sara's sister, Brandy, lives near as does her cousin, Christopher. Christopher actually works at the club right across the street from the hotel. Brandy is going to the concert with Sara and Mitchell, and I believe they were going to try to stop in and see Christopher if he's working tonight.

All the girls knew was that they were going to MICHIGAN (said with excitement!) and that Aunt Laurel was going with them. They were very happy...they love staying in hotels...Mackenzee calls them "bacations"!

Aunt Laurel sqeezing in between the car seats for the three hour ride!

Mackenzee, happy to be going to MICHIGAN!

Maddison cheesin' for the camera!

Papa giving Mackenzee a kiss goodbye ~ it looks like Mackenzee was giving him the what for about something, though!

Sara and Mitchell looking forward to the three hour drive ~ NOT!

~~~~~~~~~

On another note, Ricky will be heading back from Virginia to New York this week. He's tentatively planned on coming home the next week to collect his wife and ftheir urnishings. He found out last week that they do have on base housing for them. I know Ashley is anxious to be with her husband.

I looked up "married housing ~ Ft. Drum, NY" and this picture is posted at the top of the website for Fort Drum. Pretty cool looking...I can't wait to go see their new apartment. This picture, of course, in NOT where they will be staying....they don't even know where they will be staying yet.

Ricky had a little excitement last week in Virginia. He was eating breakfast and choked on some meat. He couldn't get it out and couldn't breathe. A Seargant nearby ran over a began performing the Heimlich Maneuver on him. He still couldn't clear it so he had to put his hand down his throat. They sent him to the hospital to get checked out, make sure his throat hadn't been damaged or anything. He was fine and went to work. Later that day a Colonel showed up and presented that Seargant with a Commendation Coin for saving Ricky's life!!!
When Ricky was telling me the story, he said "Yeah, I almost died and I'm not even at war yet."

They're pretty sure that his unit will be deployed in November. Not good news at all, but we all, including Ricky, knew it was inevitable. The only thing we can do is pray for his safety.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a much happier note, an exciting piece of news in the Day house....Brent and I are finally going to go on a 'HONEYMOON"!!! We are going to Buzios, Brazil . Everything is set, except for our passports and visas. We have the pictures done and the applications filled out...we just need to get our buns down to the Post Office and get the process going. Sometime soon we'll be relaxing on the beach in Brazil! Oh yeah........

This is a picture of the sun setting on the beach. The picture was actually taken by a guest at my friend's inn where we are staying. This is the view from one of the suites. Oh how exciting!!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Some of my favorites!

2009-02-14T07:24:00.004-05:00

Oh, my gosh, we were all having a great time!

THIS IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE PICTURE OF THE WEDDING!!! ASHLEY, THIS IS PRICELESS!!!!

From left to right: Joey Foltz's shoulder, Kass Foltz, Sandy, me, Ricky....

Again...from left to right....Ricky's cousin, Melinda, Laurel, and Ricky's first friend he made here in Fort Wayne nine years ago, Chad.

My in-laws, Karen and Harly

From left to right: the back of Laurel's head, Melinda, Teresa, Maddison, Brent, Kass Foltz, and I don't know who is after Kass...

Mitchell and Sara

Awwwwwwwwwwwww! Kenzee kissing Maddi. (I made those dresses!)

Ricky and Ashley getting ready to cut the cake...the cake that my mom and I made!

Ricky and Maddison dancing during the dollar dance....that's me next to them.

My beautiful granddaughters.............(I made their dresses!)

I have a video I will post soon of Maddison dancing to Beyonce's song.

What a difference a week makes!

2009-02-12T05:57:00.006-05:00

It's amazing how our back yard can change in a week's time! Last week there was snow knee-deep back there. After two days of spring like temps and one full day of constant rain, there is no sign of snow at all and our little trickling creek has swollen into a RIVER! We could hear it rushing from inside the house when we got home from work last night. Brent took a few videos to show our family from the south.

Our grass is actually GREEN. I am SO ready for spring....bring on the tulips!

Texans in the SNOW!

2009-02-12T05:35:00.009-05:00

Brent had hoped for weeks before the wedding that we would have lots and lots of snow so his parents from way deep south Texas could "enjoy" (experience, rather!) it. He got his wish. I think Harly may have taken just as many "snow" pictures as he did wedding photos! I know one night in the dark he was out in the woods taking pictures!
This is a shot of the woods behind our house. There is a little creek back there too, but no water in it and just snowed over.

My mother-in-law, Karen, on a sled! Maybe the first time ever??!!

My father-in-law, Harly, making a snow angel!

Harly practicing his shovelling tecniques on my patio!

Wow, this would have made a great Christmas card picture!

We had other Texans staying at the house as well. Wow, the snow was such a novel thing to everyone. YUK, YUK, YUK! Sure, on an earlier blog in November I took a million pictures of the first snow and raved how gorgeous it is. Well....it still is gorgeous, so was the ice storm ~ as long as I don't have to go out and drive in it!

Opening Presents

2009-02-12T05:19:00.004-05:00

Ricky and Ashley came back from their honeymoon late Sunday night. They both said they had an awesome time, the weather was good and they met a lot of interesting people.

Ashley's mom, Dot, graciously invited Brent and I over on Monday night for a fantastic dinner and to watch the kids open their wedding gifts.

Ashley's (now Ricky's too!) little dog, Lilly, wanted to be a part of it too!

Dot, Ashley and Ricky.....they read everyone's cards and handwritten, heartfelt best wishes. Wow, are those kids loved by a lot of people!

Ashley and Ricky showing the set of dishes that Ashley's sister, Laura gave them.

(Yes, that is me holding TWO drinks on the far right, but I was NOT drinking two...I was holding Brent's so he could take the pictures!!)

Maddison and the Lindley PTA

2009-02-10T21:37:00.003-05:00

Maddison attends Lindley Elementary School. She is in kindergarten, but goes for a full day. The first half of her day is with one teacher who teaches everything in English. The other half is with a teacher who teaches the exact same things they all just learned, but in Spanish.

The kindergarten and first grade classes sang at the PTA meeting last night. The video below is about seven minutes long and takes a while to get started (it's a little shaky in the beginning). You can see on the video when she spots her mom finally, THEN she spots her PAPA!

Brent was making signals and making faces while she sang and at about 6:30 into the video you hear her laugh out loud while singing.....that was because of her Papa!

Afterwards, Brent told Maddison she could pick anywhere she wanted to go eat and we'd all go. She picked Chick-fila, her FAVORITE, she said.

Mr. and Mrs. Ricky Nelson

2009-02-01T11:08:00.004-05:00

Ricky and Ashley were married last night and everything was fabulous! Everyone had a great time at the reception.

They are on their way to Miami where they will set off on their honeymoon cruise for eight days.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARA MICHELLE!

2009-01-29T06:37:00.008-05:00

I've posted some random shots of Sara between 2 and 4 years of age. I could post HUNDREDS of pictures and that was when we usually only took pictures for special occasions, unlike today when we take pictures of almost every single moment of our lives.

What a stroll down memory lane it was this morning looking for pictures.

I remember the first moment they told me I had a little girl. Back then, I had NO idea if I was having a boy or girl and I really wished for a girl and wanted to name her Sara.

My wish came true and it's been a very happy 27 years. When Sara was born and throughout her first few years, there was NO ONE in the world who had a child as beautiful and wonderful as mine! I told anybody and everybody about my perfect child. My gosh, her first poo? Well, I made ten phone calls right then....OH MY GOSH people...you're not gonna believe this, she had her first pooey diaper! That was amazing to me. Her first fever? Yup, you guessed it, first I called the emergency room, then I called her doctor, and after being politely, yet sternly told that Sara was indeed going to live, that 101 degree temp in a 1 and 1/2 month old child would not kill her and that, NO, I did not need to bring her in, I called my mom. She also assured me that Sara would live. Then I called everyone I knew...Gues What? Sara just had a high fever (101 to me then was HIGH) and lived through it....isn't she just amazing?!! Her first tooth at 4 months? Holy Cow....I would have published it in the local newspaper if I knew how!

Then she did the MOST fantastic, fabulous thing ever. SHE TOOK A STEP! That was back before cell phones, digital cameras and the internet. I made a few phone calls, but we didn't really have the money to call long distance, so I drafted off a WHOLE slew of letters to those long distance with paragraph after paragraph about this amazing child who poos in her diaper, gets fevers, has a few teeth and now can WALK!!!!

I could ramble on for 27 years worth. I'm just so happy that even today, all those special memory moments are right there....not tucked away....not forgotten, but right THERE for me for ever and always.

I love you Sara! HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Sara at 2 1/2 years.

This was on her fourth birthday.

She was three here.

Christmastime and she was a happy camper!

She always wanted to help. Here she's making Kool-aid.

This was her fourth birthday too. I made her teddy bear cake!

This was at 2 1/2 at Christmas and she was so happy about something here!

My beautiful girl!

Whoa! This is a very familiar look! I think I've seen the EXACT same face on Maddi and Kenzee recently!

Sara in a box. She was almost two here.

Cutie and the Easter Bunny!

She loved Cabbage Patch dolls!

She insisted on wearing swimmies in the bath tub! The pink tinge on this and a few others is because the film got dropped into a little swimming pool. Years later, I took it to see if it would develop and sure enough, there were pictures on it! Just a whole lot of pink!

Swimmies AND a ring.....sure not going to drown in the tub NOW!

I know her grandpa loved her, but the hug in this particular picture is to hold her back from running at the camera. My mom had a Poloroid camera where the pictures shot out and you could watch the images appear. Once she figured that out, it was hard to get any shots except Sara running with her arms out to grab the picture!

Hey, again, I love you Sare Bear!

One week......seven days....and counting!

2009-01-24T21:52:00.004-05:00

Wow! Time sure flies! Ricky and Ashley will be getting married one week from tonight.

I've been working since the day after Christmas on Maddison and Mackenzee's dresses. They are now complete except for hemming them up which I will do tomorrow when they are here.

I had Maddison try her's on last week. I didn't have the plum colored sash ready then.

Here's a picture of her in her dress:

I had Mackenzee try hers on today:

I have the ring bearer pillow all finished and I finalized the programs today. I will be printing them tomorrow.

Also, this week, with the help of my mom, I made a practice "proof" wedding cake. I only made two of the tiers. Ashley, my mom, Brent and I all tasted it. I took the rest to work on Friday and they DEVOURED it. Yeah! I also had three people ask me about making birthday cakes!

I think we're all ready for this now. Just so the weather holds out. There are a bunch of people coming from out of town!

Congratulations Hunter!

2009-01-18T19:26:00.003-05:00

Our nephew, Hunter Carver, raised rabbits for 4-H this year and the auction was yesterday.

His rabbits went for $300. Great job Hunter! We are so proud of you and wish we could have been at the auction with you in the nice, warm, beautiful, shirt-sleeve weather.

We love you!

Uncle Brent and Aunt Kathy

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD DAY!

2009-01-18T14:53:00.006-05:00

Karen and Harly have been married for 40 years today!

Here's wishing you 40 more!

January 18, 1969

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We love you guys!

Brent and Kathy

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time!

2009-01-17T06:36:00.004-05:00

Maddison is a Daisy Girl Scout this year. Sara is a co-leader of the troop. Just like I was her leader in Kalamazoo for years and Laurel's leader in Corpus Christi for several years.

Maddison called me on Thursday night to let me know:

Yep! It's Girl Scout COOKIE Time!

And she wanted me to spread the word...her goal is 100 boxes so she can go with the troop to Build-A-Bear and Science Central.

Each box is $3.50 and you don't have to order and wait. The troop gets the cookies first so they are available immediately.

She went to her daddy's work yesterday and sold twenty boxes (they were still there last time I spoke to Sara, so she could have sold more). Apparently, Mackenzee is in on this too. Maddison isn't much of a speaker when it comes to strangers. Mackenzee doesn't know a stranger! She did the talking yesterday from what I gather...and did a darn good job of it!

Maddison will be going into her Papa's work next week, but a woman in the office there has a daughter in Girl Scouts and sent the order form around yesterday. So, not too sure how well she'll do at L.A. Electric.

I can't solicit at my place of business, but the word has spread that I can get the cookies, so she'll rack up some sales from me.

If you are reading this, please, give me a call and let me know how many boxes and what kind you would like. Maddison will personally call to thank you.

EVERYONE LOVES GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!

(and they freeze nicely!)

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T23:28:00.001-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas Dinner Dance

2008-12-07T16:15:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday, Brent and I were invited to attend the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Christmas Dinner and Dance at Ceruti's. I wasn't sure what to expect. The place was beautiful. We had such a good time and thank Bill and Mary Lou Arnold for inviting us. Bill owns L~A Electric, where Brent has been employed for the last seven years. We had a wonderful dinner and the band played some really good music.

This is Bill and Mary Lou Arnold dancing. Brent and I did dance a few dances too. So fun!

This is the newest addition to my snowman Christmas collection. When Mary Lou and I sat down, she said, "Check the backs of the programs for something different. We checked everyone's and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Well, imagine my surprise when they announced the winners at each table of the centerpiece for that table. If the last line on the program was in black, you were a winner. MINE WAS BLACK!

A woman (they announced her name and I can't remember it) made all the centerpieces for this dinner. There were quite a few and they were all beautiful.

Also, when we checked in at the door, we were each given two drink tickets. When we ordered our drinks, we kept the little top half with numbers on it. Throughout the evening, they called out numbers. If you had that number, you went up front to a table FULL of wrapped presents. One of MY numbers was called first!!! I went up and, not wanting to be really greedy, chose one of the bigger presents, but not the biggest. I can't say what it was, because I already have one and I'm regifting to one of our kids for Christamas, but.....HOW COOL WAS THAT?

I won a centerpiece that I love and a door prize! The dinner and desert was delicious too.

Thanks Bill and L~A Electric...................we had a lot of fun1

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like..............WINTER!!

2008-11-30T09:23:00.006-05:00

Wow! The weatherman wasn't kidding! I've been up for quite a while this morning and it was very cold and windy. I had to go fix a strand of lights that had blown down from our front tree. No snow though. Then, after I just posted yesterday's pictures from the GORGEOUS day we spent outside, I looked out the window to see SNOW! LOTS OF IT!! COMING DOWN HARD AND FAST!!!

It is such a good thing that we got the yard done yesterday and the outside lights up. I am SO happy about that. Look at the difference in just hours. Amazing~Beautiful~Wintery~Christmasy!!!

Doesn't this look beautiful? And, look, no leaves under the snow!! Maybe, if the snow is just right, we can build a snowman with Maddison and Mackenzee this afternoon when they come over.

It looks so beautiful out in the woods. I could see the squirrels scurrying out there.

The big white ball in the picture above is either a snow flake or water droplet cathing the light of the flash on the camera.

This is the same view I took yesterday with Brent mowing and the girls playing in the sandbox with the sun shining brightly.

Today might just be the first time we shovel this season. It's really coming down fast.

Looks like Christmas, huh?

The Weeping Cherry tree in all it's glory!

Weird, but the Bradford Pear tree was the last in the area to have the leaves turn and most of the leaves are still on the tree.

Beautiful November Day!

2008-11-30T08:03:00.008-05:00

I picked up Maddison and Mackenzee very early yesterday morning. The sun was shining and the morning looked deceivingly warm. It definitely wasn't, but in the toasty car, the girls were getting carried away. They came up with a plan to go to the park and have a picnic! After a lengthy conversation between the two of them on where we would go, what they would play on and what we would eat, I interrupted to let them know that we may not be able to go today.

They are so easy going! They continued on with their plans "just in case we were on that side of town". When we got home, Brent and the girls played chase and be scary games for a while. Then we all played a Nickelodeon Interactive DVD Bingo game they brought over. I am amazed at these girls. They knew exactly what they were doing and they showed us how to play!

At 10:30 a.m. (remember, I went to get them very early -- at 10:30, I was almost ready for a nap) I mentioned that today was supposed to be the last nice day of the year. The rain and snow was forecasted to start in the middle of the night Saturday. So we bundled up (it was still pretty chilly at 10:30) and all went outside. Maddison and Mackenzee played and played and played! They don't know the word "bored" because they do so well at entertaining themselves.

They got out the sidwalk chalk and decorated our driveway and Grandma Great's driveway. At one point, I came around the front of the house and saw Maddison walking around in circles in the driveway holding the sponge from the chalk box to her hand and whispering to herself. I asked her what she was doing and she showed me her hand. It's hard to see in the picutre, but she got carried away coloring on the cement and rubbed all of her fingers really hard on the cement.....taking a few chunks of skin off in the process. She didn't cry and whine. She wasn't even going to come tell me. I took her in, cleaned her hand, bandaged the bad spots (Mackenzee needed the same amount of bandages too for some "ouchies" that none of us could see, but she could feel!) and put a pair of pink gloves on her. They were my gloves and a tad too large for her teeny, tiny hands, but she kept them on the entire time.

They entertained themselves with the pogo stick, Razor scooter, a stroller and the sleds. Mackenzee pulled Maddison, then Maddison pulled Mackenzee. In this picture they have blue rubber gloves on that were humongous on them. I used some inside of my garden gloves and they wanted some too. They didn't keep those on very long!

They had so much fun just being outside.

When Brent was cleaning up the leaves in the back yard, the girls discovered their sandbox down by the woods. The sand was amazingly clean and bug free! Once they opened the sandbox, that was it. They played in that for almost two hours!

Brent used my Mom's lawnmower with the bag on it instead of raking. Man, our yard looks good now! I cut down all the spent summer foliage and raked out the flower beds. Brent was able to put down fertilizer as well....knowing it's suppose to rain soon.

After a yummy lunch I made with Thanksgiving leftovers, Sara came to pick up the girls. I then climed up in the attic and brought down our outdoor lights. I thought I'd better get them done NOW instead of doing it in the cold or wet or windy weather. Around 4:30, Brent had finished the yard, had just finished blowing off our driveway (he pulled our cars out in the cul-de-sac at the end of our driveway, just like he ALWAYS does). The lawnmower was still sitting out in the driveway. There was no mistake, if you happened to pull into our cul-de-sac, you would know we were right in the middle of yard work. I was putting up Christmas lights on the weeping cherry tree. Brent was in the house for a minute. I see a Fort Wayne Police cruiser come into the cul-de-sac. He circled a total of three times before stopping next to my car. My heart, by then, was just pounding. Laurel had left a couple hours before. I couldn't imagine why he was at OUR house unless something had happened with Laurel. WELL.....................I raised my sunglasses to get a good look, expecting him to get out and come up to talk to me. Instead, all of a sudden, I hear him on his LOUDSPEAKER ... in our quiet little cul-de-sac. He is screaming at me to move our cars our of the street and into our driveway). Then he pulled away as I stood there for a few seconds with my mouth hanging open. I didn't comprehend right away. Then I stormed in to see if Brent had witnessed that. He missed it, he was upstairs. Absolutely unbelievable. First of all, there were other houses on our street with vehicles parked out in the road. I did not hear him stop and scream at them on his loudspeaker. Our vehicles were in front of our driveway, not blocking or obstructing anything. And, truly, they were there only temporarily. Just by looking at what was going on in our yard and drive, a normal person would have come to that conclusion almost instantaneously.

I tried to call the non-emergency number for the Fort Wayne Police....they were closed. You can bet, though, that I will be calling first thing Monday morning. I, unfortunately, did not get a car number or anything. I was so stunned, I didn't even think. But you can bet, someone is going to get an earful from me!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T20:30:00.012-05:00

Brent and I started at 9:00 this morning in the kitchen. We watched some shows on the Food Network last week and wrote it all down. This turkey was what we were so excited about. We thawed it just like they said in a big stock pot under a slight trickle of running cold water for eight hours. Then we put it in a brine we made for sixteen hours. Then we roasted it just like they did. and Voila! We thought he was a beauty!

We also made an Italian sausage dressing, some extremely yummy cheesy potatoes with mozarella and parmesan cheese. Also, the old stand-bys: green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, regular stuffing, rolls and Brent's special stuffed mushrooms. Sara and Mitchell brought the all time favorite, deviled eggs.

There were very few of us this year. My mom is in Dallas and Ricky couldn't come home because he's on global alert. He can't go more than two hours away from his base.

Still, it was a wonderful day.

Brent and I are SO proud of this!

Such a pretty sight ~ I was referring to the bird, but yeah, Laurel is too!

We could be on the Food Network!

The girls toasted with their special bubbly.

Oh my gosh! After dinner, we all sat down to play games on the Wii. Well, you can see what happened, I sit ~ I sleep! Only for a little while though. The girls are spending the night and we're getting ready to go up and watch the Santa Clause.

I have so much to be thankful for.

Moving Day

2008-11-04T21:01:00.017-05:00

Wow, the last eleven days went fast. Ricky was originally going to leave this morning for Fort Drum, but he and Brent talked about it and decided if he leaves Wednesday, he'll have plenty of time to get there and report by Thursday. I think it's a nine hour or so drive.

This is really it. He's moving. Fort Drum will be his permanent duty station for the next three years. Oh, he'll be back to visit, probably even this month at Thanksgiving. But, he's MOVING. I went up to his room tonight and he's got his stuff all in piles....he'll load his car in the morning. Wow, the memories in there....all over his walls.

I made this poster for him when I first started working at FedEx Kinko's. I thought it was pretty cool and so did he.

Brent MADE this skim board for him for his 10th birthday. It hangs on the wall now, but while we lived in Corpus Christi, it was used weekly. He's even taken it back there when we went to visit.

I made this poster for his 18th birthday. The picture is actually him just before his first birthday. Even back then, he loved the guitar!

Vincennes is where he took classes while he was an electrical apprentice.

This is a panoramic picture of the entire St. Vincent eighth grade class during their trip to Washington D.C.

This is a picture of his entire class at Bishop Dwenger on Junior Day.

Wow, oldie, but goodie. Here's one of his acoustic guitars. The stand holds two more (I haven't seen his other ones....maybe they're packed), but it was also good for holding ties, belts, etc....

I made this poster too from a picture that he or Brent took when they went to the concert together.

Awwwwwwwwwwww......I couldn't resist. This bag was sitting on the floor, looked like he had it almost all packed, but I put in his super loud, vibrating alarm clock and the Sock Monkey I made for him years and years ago. Think he'll notice?

Pictures from over the years..... I see him holding Maddison when she was a tiny baby, one of him and Ashley years ago at Johnny Appleseed....some of Panama City.....

Aw....and this frame collage....all with him and Ashley.

Wow, Brent and I have talked about making this room a sort of office. How do people do it? He's not actually taking everything with him right now becuase he won't have room. He's starting out in barracks. He won't be in married housing until after they actually get married early next year, THEN they'll have to be put on a waiting list for housing.

So.....I'm not sure if I can actually take everything off these walls and box it up. Then paint over the dark red and dark blue (was not something I would have chosen at all), and just put away all these memories. Then disassemble the bed (which he outgrew several years ago!!) and get rid of it. And store everything else up in our attic (along with his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle wooden toy box that was made for him when he was FOUR!)

I'm excited for him....really I am. He's all grown up now and movin' on. Everyone does, it's a fact of life. But, MAN, it went way faster than I'd have ever imagined.

....just hangin' out with us on his last night home.

Cheesin' for the camera.

Ringo givin' some love!!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T05:21:00.007-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Laurel!!!

2008-10-28T22:01:00.001-04:00

She was SO getting into the Hula-Hoop on the Wii Fit!

Yep, still cold when it got light!

2008-10-28T19:39:00.006-04:00

As I was leaving for work this morning, I told Laurel she probably should go warm up her car.
She followed me outside wearing a TANK TOP and complained how cold it was. She saw the sky and insisted I take a picture of it. You can't really see how red it was at the bottom, but his picture is pretty cool. Definitely snow clouds!

Then she scrambles to her car, freezing all the way, as I get into my warm car wearing a shirt, TWO sweaters and a lined leather coat with gloves. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!

Wow! Southerners....Look what you are missing!!

2008-10-28T07:31:00.002-04:00

For those of you that live in the southern states, look at what you are missing. I finally gave in and turned our furnace on yesterday after walking into what felt like a refrigerator. Then upon arising this morning, was greeted outside with this "fabulous" sight!

This is the top of my car after Brent had warmed it up for me (about 20 minutes) The frost still on the top of the car looks like snow and ice.

This is Ricky's car....totally encased in sparkly frost. Beautiful, huh?

I just heard that we are supposed to have sleet, snow and rain today. Oh, yeah! I love driving in the stuff. (NOT) On a good note, though, we are supposed to have a heat wave and see record highs on Friday...Halloween.....60-65 degrees!

Funny, Funny, Funny

2008-10-28T06:26:00.002-04:00

This video was forwarded to me in an e-mail. It's just plain funny. (I'm very sure the gun was never loaded. He was playing a prank on her, not trying to hurt her). Watch her mouth after she smells it and aims at the water bottle. Just FUNNY!

(Warning.....there is a swear word at the end of this video)

Ringo actually LOOKED at the camera!

2008-10-27T20:58:00.002-04:00

Wow, this is such a rarity. Ringo actually kept looking at the camera when I was taking his picture. Isn't he so cute?

I'm still snapping away, and he's still looking at me!

Even though he has a whole toy basket full of chewy toys, I gave him a new one and you'd have thought I gave him a million dollars (as if he cares what dollars are!).

Oh, and here's Ricky and Ashley leaving for her house. Hey, I've got to get the pictures while he's here. He's going to be gone for another long while!

My Back Yard Again!!! I love it!!!

2008-10-27T19:04:00.006-04:00

Wow! What a huge change from yesterday. Guess I posted my back yard video too soon. I just couldn't wait, though.

The trees have REALLY changed just since yesterday. Amazing.

This cool looking guy knows that I am sitting here at my kitchen table looking at him. It's so funny, I've seen other birds do this too, especially when I was sitting RIGHT THERE on the patio.....they put their backs to me. I guess they figure if they can't see me, I'm not there! How funny is that?

This little house finch was enjoying his dinner too.

I took a video of this guy eating, but, once again, I'm having problems posting it. Not sure what's up with that.

It was pretty cool. He didn't fly off until Brent opened the garage door when he got home. How that bird heard that is beyond me. He didn't hear me clanking on the window or Ringo or Silver slapping up against the blinds.

Ricky, Ashley and the Gearharts go to the zoo!

2008-10-26T19:33:00.001-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

My Backyard

2008-10-26T17:31:00.002-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

More Wii Fun!

2008-10-26T15:59:00.004-04:00

Ricky and Ashley have never done the Wii Fit, so we got them set up with little Wii Miis and had them do fitness tests. According to the test results, their "Wii Age" is early to mid thirties! We've just been hanging out today, not doing much of anything. It's kind of nice for a change. And the weather is way better than what the forecast called for and than what it looked like it was going to be early this morning.