Happy Sweet 16 to my favorite Cupcake~

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Sweet 16th Birthday to Christina....
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

I wish you only beautiful and fun things today! Do at least one or two things to make this day a memorable one, sweet pea. One day you'll look back and think, wow, remember when I turned 16?

Time sure flies and it seems like just a few weeks ago when I went to your kindergarten graduation with your favorite uncle. :) You were just a tiny little cutie with long blonde hair and snaggle teeth. Watching you grow into a smart, beautiful, confident young woman has been such a pleasure.

Love you and we hope to see you soon to celebrate!

Cowbell Birthday!

"I didn't know, til I was at odds with the world, how much my friends, who believe in me rather generously, mean to me." - D.H. Lawrence.

One of my friends who's always believed in me generously is Valerie! She's one of the May birthdays I celebrate, and today is her special day. When people speak the word "friend," it's she that they speak of. I'm proud to know her and have her consider me her friend as well.

Happy Birthday, Valbelle-Cowbell-MOO!!! May this day be full of special blessings and cake! In her honor I am posting (again) the layout I made about us. The title of it is 37 Years and that's not her age, it's how long we've been friends. And this year makes 38. Love you!

Grouchy

Haven't posted cause I've been grouchy. Just in case anyone was wondering...... :)

May is full of birthdays

I noticed this morning that between family, friends and canines, the month of May has seven birthdays of people I love: Our dog Tokyo (who isn't really a person, but she thinks she is), LJ, Hayden, Nana Shuman, Sonny, Valerie, and Christina-nina. Today is my Uncle Sonny's birthday - my favorite uncle!! We won't mention the number (coughcough71cough) because that would be tacky and in poor taste. ~wink~ Couldn't resist.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Sonny! Love you and hoping your birthday is full of only good things! To help you celebrate, here's a yummy cupcake-cake I made two years ago for Caroline's birthday. Everyone MUST have cake on their birthday!

Indian Names

My mom and I have laughed for ages about "Indian names." In the movie Dances with Wolves, the name of the love interest character was "Stands with a Fist." Remember the wolf who befriended Kevin Costner? His name was "Two Socks."

Once upon a time, my mom called me "Hot Heels" during one of her visits to Orlando. I was laying on my bed and instead of taking off my socks, I just bunched them up in the middle of my foot so that only my toes were covered. I was probably trying to avoid the squiggly line patterns on my ankles that come from the elastic in socks when they're worn for a long time. She asked me why my socks were like that, if I had hot heels or something. We cracked up! So I joked that could be my "Indian name." Certainly it fits me. Ha!

Back then, I didn't have kids, only canine children. My yellow Labrador Beamer's Indian name was Whippersnapper, because we always assumed Kismet, my black Lab, was older. Every now and then, Beamer would try to break bad with Kismet--the young jock trying to knock the aging coach off the pedestal. It never worked, but he was pretty much always the little upstart his whole life. Kismet's Indian name was Crumbseeker. Self-explanatory.

What's your Indian name?

A very special birthday

Sending out a very special birthday wish today to Nana (Kathy) Shuman! We call her "Grandma/Great-Grandma" - because she is both! Happy Birthday to you! I sure hope Duane is working at Red Lobster today because I know he's your favorite waiter who brings that yummy coconut shrimp. Much love and many hugs, as well as many happy returns! We all love you!!

The Graduate

Caroline's graduation was very sweet. All the kids looked uber-adorable in their little caps & gowns (which, for some weird reason, weren't the same color as the pictures they had made). The children sang and recited Bible verses from memory. Honestly, nothing else in this world is comparable to hearing a tiny voice talking about Jesus' love. The actual ceremony was somewhat disorganized, so I did get some videotape, but not exactly what I was hoping for. I guess old Martin Scorsese won't have to worry about my filmmaking skills any time soon.

Congratulations to Caroline Grace and all her classmates! You made us all very proud.

Caroline's VPK Graduation Day

Tonight is Caroline Grace's VPK graduation! If you're not sure what "VPK" means, it's voluntary pre-kindergarten, or what we used to call 4-year old kindergarten! We've already got her outfit ready, and we'll be at her school's church sanctuary at 6:30 pm for the ceremony. Pictures will be posted this weekend! We are very excited for her, because she has worked so hard this year. And we wish that we had been allowed more family tickets (only 3). I'll be taking my big old honkin' camcorder so everyone in the family can watch later and be proud all over again.

I'm going today to sign up with another legal placement service. The director didn't want to meet with me because it's been so long since I've, um, worked outside the home. (Diplomatic, if nothing else!) But I mentioned that I hadn't forgotten how to be a good secretary just because I've been at home with my kids. That's what women do, work AND have babies. Fingers crossed, and send me some good luck if you have a little extra!

Scrap Projects

Now that the birthday and Mother's Day presents have been opened, I can freely share the projects I made but have been hiding. One is a frame & photo that I gave to Mami for Mother's Day, and the acrylic album is what I gave to L.J. for her 40th b'day. (I love saying that, LMAO) Oh, I know, I'm probably the very last scrapper in the universe to make an acrylic album. It was still so much fun to work on. The blue beaded angel on the cover of the mini album was hand created by my friend, Colleenie Bobeenie.

Zen for Tuesday

"In my own experience, the period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life. Through a difficult period, you can learn, you can develop inner strength, determination, and courage to face the problem." (the Dalai Lama)

"For certain things are not refused us, but their granting is delayed to a fitting time." (St. Augustine)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

While I'm not going to be giving away all material things and shaving my head anytime soon, I found a lot of value in these quotes. Appreciating the tough times is hard for everyone, I'm sure, not just for me. I'm reminded that there is a purpose for all my experiences, and being aware of that is timely and appropriate. I'll focus on that today.