The Weekend Part 1

More random pics from the birthday party!

Hopie had lots of fun opening presents and eating her birthday cake!

We had a great picnic supper followed by entertainment of the CLOWN variety......with the star of the show being Hope's Daddy.......Peter...........he made quite an entrance, along with his other clown companions........the kids loved it......except for Addie and Ava........they ran straight to adult arms for safety!

Friday night started with Hope's 7 year old birthday party! It was at her Mimommy's house and as we drove up the street the first thing we saw was a REAL carnival ride!!! Woohoo!!! What a treat for those kids!

Ava's First Ballet Recital

Here are a couple pics from Ava's recital this morning! What a dolly cakes she was! More blogging to come on this event, as well as the busy weekend activities!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Hope's birthday party

Here is Hope at her 7 year old Birthday Party! I cannot believe she is 7! Oh my goodness!
Here is Hope and her Daddy....slash.....Clown......do you recognize him?
.......and here are the 2 MONKEYSHINERS.........OH SO CUTE!!!

More pics to come!

More Daily Computer Humor

man, you sure know when i have nothing else going on......i have to resort to cartoons! be on the watch! this weekend is Hope's 7 year old birthday party and Ava's first ballet recital! Exciting blogging ahead! Strap those seatbelts of excitement on!

A LITTLE DAILY HUMOR

here's a little laugh for you............but honestly..........it is true!.........often i have been watching t.v. and wished i could somehow download it off the tv and either send it to someone or keep it in a file!!!!!.........scary what these computers have done to us, huh?

Bragginig on Hannah

It looks like it should be in Better Homes and Gardens, doesn't it????.......SERIOUSLY! (even if I AM her mother)

I have to BRAG on my youngest daughter, Hannah! This is a picture of ONE of the rooms she decorated in a model home in Iowa. She was there a couple weeks ago, she has done many for Emily and Brad Miller (builders and friends of ours)

Is it NOT AWESOME????? I can't wait to see it in person when we visit there in June! YOU GO HANNAH BANANA! YOU ROCK!....so says your MOM!!!

Let this challenge you!

GodTube.com
If you click on this link and view the video and listen to the powerful song along with it...............I promise you will get a blessing, and be challenged, and feel gratefulness, and be humbled.

My Grand-dog, BARKLEY

here are 2 pics..........not actually Barkley....but since all Labs carry many of the same characteristics.........these dogs resemble him.............( i am still working on getting a camera of my own so i can have my OWN pictures and NOT have to steal them!)..........
.........anyway..............i am dog-sitting this week for my baby granddog........or i should say my giant baby grand-dog, BARKLEY.........while his MOM and DAD are in Iowa for an emergency trip.........Josh's brother has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and they have been with the family as Justin goes thru tests in Iowa City....... i know they would appreciate and be so grateful for your prayers at this time.........
well........Barkley knows me as NEE NEE, since he was a baby they called me that in front of him........and he goes absolutely WILD at the mention of my name........(oh my.......wish everyone did! ha!...just kidding)...........when all of us lived in Iowa and he was very young........he would go to the window and watch us leave after visiting their house and he would cry for a while! (LOVE IT!)..............
so, now you know he is just a BIG LUG of a DOG, full of LOVE...and he is hilarious! He absolutely LIVES the ENTIRE day, just to get a chance to lick any leftover food residue from Simba's dish..........we have to hide it and regulate Simba's eating schedule.........or Barkley would never care if his "pal" ever got a bite to eat! Of course...Simba resents the very ground Barkley walks on, as he resents ALL other dogs PERIOD!...he is SUCH a BRAT!.....altho every night at about 9:00 they both have a good round of TAG! they make so much noise we have to stop them, lest the neighbors turn us in!
well....he has been a very good boy, at least mostly, during his stay here....except for his BARKING!.....he has a GREAT NAME, that mirrors exactly what he DOES!.........i always say..."BARKLEY....NO BARKING!".........you know like the cartoon....SWIPER! NO SWIPING!....
but the funniest thing happened the first night he was here....you see, both Larry and I get some kind of reaction to him when we are first around him........something to do with the dander in his coat or something........and Larry also gets terribly red, itchy eyes around ALL dogs, and especially BARKLEY........so Larry had crawled into bed.........and as soon as he got settled.......he started complaining about his eyes.........and the only way to relieve it is to wash his eyes out with water for a long time..........so he had to get OUT of bed and do that........which made him just a LITTLE bit irritated.........and made me a LITTLE bit nervous of how the night was going to go........i talked Larry into taking an ADVIL PM.........fearing he would not get any sleep otherwise.......which thankfully KNOCKED him right out! :)..........i got the dogs to calm down and went to bed also.........
well, at about 3am.......i got up to go "potty"..........and of course Barkley got up to greet me, happy and a rearin to GO..........which annoyed my tired little self...........so i told him.........'YOU GO NIGHT NIGHT RIGHT NOW!"........and he obeyed.....or so i thought.........so i get ready to climb back into bed, not seeing him anywhere, of course it was quite dark, so i wasn't seeing much of ANYTHING.........and i put my hand on the bed to get the "lift" i need to plop in.........and oh my word! i touched BARKLEY!.........as i focused my eyes i beheld the FUNNIEST site ever..........he was totally stretched out....his head was on my pillow, nonetheless..........and the FUNNIEST OF ALL.........he was almost touching LARRY!!!!!.............i didn't know whether to laugh or scream! i did neither! i laughed my heart out......INSIDE........and whispered very sternly........YOU GET OUT OF THIS BED RIGHT NOW!.............if Larry had woke up before i got that dog out of bed..........honestly i don't know what would have happened!!!! he is not the greatest to wake up out of a dead sleep anyway........and especially in the middle of the night!..........oh if i had only had a camera! but i would NOT have DARED to take the time, risking Larry staring at a BIG BLACK, LOUNGING BARKLEY beside him!
of course he did not even KNOW what happened until he came home from work the next day........i assured him i had washed the bedding and any trace of dog hair was GONE!.............
oh BARKLEY...........you are SO FUNNY!

Happy May Day!!!

Happy May Day !
How many of you remember actually celebrating May Day? I do!!! I LOVED it!!! and I am mad at myself for not doing something about it this year! What a fun tradition it was to take the time to make home-made May baskets and fill them with goodies.............and go to our friends and neighbors and leave our baskets on their doorknobs!!! OH how I loved doing that! I wish this tradition would re-surface! My Mom was very faithful to gather the materials it took to make the baskets and fill them with penny candy!!! I think our materials were: construction paper, glue, crayons and that was about it!............later with my own children we grew "lazy" and started using paper cups as the "basket".........and either tied or stapled on some kind of a handle..........that laziness should have been a sign that the tradition was going down the TUBES!..........I am sure SOME of you still celebrate this delightful day...........please let me know if you do! And HOW you do it!!!!...........I would LOVE to write a book on May Day ideas!!!
Anyhooo.....go gather yourself a bouquet of wildflowers and plop them delightfully into a basket at least!!!



Handing out May Day baskets is a charming and gentle activity for children and adults. It's a tradition that Louisa May Alcott wrote of in "Jack and Jill" (Chapter 18):
"The job now in hand was May baskets, for it was the custom of the children to hang them on the doors of their friends the night before May-day; and the girls had agreed to supply baskets if the boys would hunt for flowers, much the harder task of the two. Jill had more leisure as well as taste and skill than the other girls, so she amused herself with making a goodly store of pretty baskets of all shapes, sizes, and colors, quite confident that they would be filled, though not a flower had shown its head except a few hardy dandelions, and here and there a small cluster of saxifrage."