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.

The beauty of blogging . . .

It occurred to me the other day that I used to want my own newspaper column. I guess the blog is my own "column" in a geeky kinda way. The very best thing, I've discovered about blogging, is that I can ramble about any subject I choose (not just the one my employer would want me to write about), and I can post photos that aren't Pulitzer prize quality! Hmmmmm, maybe the name of the blog should contain the words "lazy slacker"? "Underachievers are us," perhaps?

Onward we go. The water slide we got for the kids could be called a "McMonstrosity." In the same way that a McMansion outshines and overpowers all the other houses around it, the Banzai Plunge takes up nearly one-half of our backyard. It's way bigger than it looked in the toy store flyer. Yes, it says 9'6" on the box. But ya just don't know how big that really is until it's all the way blown up. Goes without saying that the kids had a monstrous good time on it. (Ba-dum-bum!)

My Don Juan is exploding with blooms! Two different stems had three large blooms each. I've been babying all three of our rosebushes--keeping them watered and sprayed, and taking Nana Shuman's advice of putting banana peels by the base of the plants. So far only the red roses have rewarded my efforts; they seem to be making themselves look extra pretty so as to garner all the attention. It'd be hard not to notice them.

More original artwork from John Samuel and Caroline Grace. These are the kinds of presents that mommies keep and treasure forever. Handmade creations from the ones who made me a mother!

~Happy Mother's Day~

Zales Commercial "Mom Rocks"

It's common knowledge among family & friends that I'm a sentimental sap. You know, a tender heart. A crybaby. Even television commercials make the tears flow; how lame is that? But I really love those commercials that strike an emotional chord. There are some that even make you gasp a little the first time you see them! Publix always has some good ones at the holidays, and I enjoy seeing them repeat each season. The best Mother's Day commercial I've seen this year is the new one from Zales. It has piano music and the only words in it are Mommy, Mom, Ma-ma. Keep an eye out for it, and plan ahead of time to have a tissue ready. I'm sorry to say that it doesn't make me want any jewelry, but it does make me feel incredibly happy and lucky that I have the title of Mother.

Lordy, Lordy, look who's 40!

Guess who?

Today is the day that my little sister joins me in reaching the top of the hill . . . you know, the one we're all over?! Not so bad when you're at the top, eh, Sissy?


Happy 40th! Love you very much!

Also, I would like to send a very special shout out to "Little Pink," who will be minus her tonsils in 12 hours or less. She is one tough little bird, and such a dear. She'll be wowing the doctors and nurses with her spunk and sass. Love you, honey!

Happy Birthday, Tokyo!

It's been exactly one year since Sam brought home Tokyo Jones! Happy Birthday (observed), T-Jones! She's so sweet and just loves the kids. We are so glad to be able to celebrate her first birthday as part of the family. No doubt--tonight, there WILL be Milkbones! :)