Spring Break

Today was Kristen's last day of school and it is officially Spring Break. She wanted to do something fun so we all met out at Miss Vickie's on the Anclote River for dinner and drinks.

E and I got there first and scrounged around til we found enough chairs and the people next to us were leaving so we snagged their table before the kids and grands arrived. And the icing on the cake was Randy Vincent, one of our favorite local singers. This man plays and sings the blues so amazingly.
Colvin and Landon both handled the water in the cups pretty well for little guys. We still use the topped sippy cups at Nana and Papas and they use them at their house but we were outside over crushed shell so what is a little water, right?

Leighton slept until just as her mama's food was being delivered, of course. lol
Colvin either wears his baseball cap backwards or to the side for the most part. I think he does this because having the bill in the front restricts his sight.
Here are the twins and Little Mama and Big Daddy.
Little Mama and our cutie patootie, Leighton
The kids friend, Tom, (and our house sitter) joined us for a beer and, on our way out, the boys took turns astride his huge motorcyle. Neither one seemed the least afraid of either the bike or the height.



Landon and I took a nice long walk and then, in imitation of a boy about six, he threw rocks and shells into the river with pretty good aim!

I managed to keep my points down by having a salad with only a teaspoon of dressing and a beer. This Simply Filling is working!

Happy Spring Break everyone!

Cropping at Posh with the Wed. Girls

I so miss these days and so enjoy the Wed. I can crop at Posh with these women, Cynthia, Diane and Jacque. I did three layouts (two pictured here and one was still drying when I left...all 3 can be viewed at Posh Scraps in Palm Harbor, Florida).

We broke for lunch at one of our favorite eating spots, Marathon Grill. There are several menu items that are on the Simply Filling Weight Watchers Power Foods list with only a point or two added. I had the Mediterranean salad with the baked skinless chicken breast and pasta. I got the salad dressing on the side and took a pass on the pita...total points :3!

I loved the new Jillybean papers for scrapping some of the food photos I have but found the balloons too light colored. I used the Yasutomo Pearlescent Watercolors to add a bit of zing and used waxed twine to emphasize the balloon strings. This is the seafood broil that E does down at the beach for all of us every summer...so very good.

I had a lovely hour twenty brisk walk this morning with cottage cheese, O cal Greek yogurt with fresh blackberries and raspberries for breakfast. Having lunch with Linda, who is doing a jewelry party for me next month at Dimitri's on the River so checking out the menu in advance. So far since starting the Simply Filling WW plan, I am down another 3 lbs over the almost four I had previously lost. I am bound and determined to make goal and get Life Time before I turn 65 this June...wish me luck but more than that wish me will power and determination!

Candids from Chris and Kristen's camera

Our happy baby,Leighton Kay.
Colvin, trying to fill Daddy's shoes. He has a bit of an obsession with shoes.
The twins in their new baseball hats.
Landon is not a big hat fan so his does not stay on long.
The boys on a visit to every male's dream store: Home Depot.


I am off today to crop with my Wed. gal pals at Posh. I don't get to crop much during the school year on Wed. with them because that is our Nana/Papa day with the grands. We swapped days and had our turn with the little kids last Monday so today I am cropping! ! and next Wed. too because it is Spring Break.

Busy week this week and next: having lunch on the Sponge Docks tomorrow with a new friend, cropping Sat with the NWTampa Scrappers at Posh and next Monday, off to the zoo with the kids, Tues, Janet and I are meeting our good on line friend, Lynda who has recently built a home outside of Ft. Myers at The Columbia in Sarasota for lunch and shopping, then Wed. is cropping with the Posh Girls, Thurs is book club, and on the 31st I am teaching my Glitz and Glam class at Posh (see my altered blog for the tag samples). And I can't forget WW check in. I am bound and determined to make goal and Life Time Member before I turn 65 in June. Off to walk my hour before I pack up for the crop.

Have a great week.

My hotmail was hacked

If you get an email from me with nothing in the subject line or with a link, so not open it and please do not click on the link. If you did open and/or click, change your email pass word ASAP.

Thanks and apologies.

Before we headed to Spring Bayou last Sat. afternoon for the photo shoot by Adriana Davies of Angel Lights Photography, E snapped a few shots of Leighton Kaye and her ol' Nana.
I think maybe I had the head band a bit tight for this shot! lol She didn't try to take it off the entire day but by about 3:30, she was done with the dress and it's petty coats, cameras and all she wanted was her mama.
Can not wait to see Adriana's pics of all of the Grammies and our Grands!

No longer a virgin

That would be E in regards to the Marathon Grill in Palm Harbor, Fl. Had ya going there for a moment, didn't I? lol

I first learned first hand about the culinary pleasures of this little restaurant tucked to the side of a strip mall off HW19 many many moons ago when Jacque and Di adopted me at what is now Posh Scraps on Tampa Road. We took to gathering to scrap on Wed. and they lured me to this place again and again for our lunches out. In return, I took them to Jack Wiley's Tiki Bar and Restaurant where a large white bird developed a crush on our Jacque.

Today, E and I were right near Marathon, to which I had been trying to get him for at least the last two years, opening a saving account for our next year's trip to Aus/NZ at the credit union. It was after 1pm and we were hungry and he caved...and he will cave again and again. He loved it. And what is not to love...I got the low fat chicken plate and he got my favorite ...the chicken feta spinach with the basil chips. To die for.

I ate about 1/4 of my salad and have half left of my meal (top photo) for dinner tonight...it's left over night at our house. E fixed us shrimp in a lemon sauce over pasta meal last night that would melt the enamel off your teeth...and for Lynda Kay...he has no recipe...he just winged it.

Busy weekend coming up filled with fun and frolic...stay tuned and hope yours looks good too.

Nana and Papa Play Day March 14

The boys were totally Joe Cool today with their shades. We wore socks on our hands, our sister's hat on our heads and learned to walk on Nana's feet as she walked. A good time was had by all.
And here comes our little Easter Bunny. I found this darling outfit at Children's Palace . The pants have a big cotton tail on the back...way too cute. And, bad Nana is teaching Leighton how to do the Rrrrrrrrrrrrrassssssssssberry just like I taught her brothers. She is at the stage where she grabs her feet and rolls side to side laughing hysterically. Gotta love these kids!


We had company today. First the cable man came to fix the cable box and the some of the Aunties came for a visit. Miss Jacque and Miss Cynthia stopped in to cuddle and chat and it was so good to see them! Looking forward to two Wed. in a row to scrap with you all!

Sat. is a hugely busy day for all of us. I have a class to teach at Posh Scraps in the morning and then I pick up my grand daughter and head home. There we're meeting up with Dee and her grand daughter, Maria and her grand daughter, and Adrianna, Maria's daughter who is an amazing photographer. We'll head to Craig Park in Spring Bayou for the Grammie/grand daughter photo shoot. Late, Chris and Kristen will come by with the rest of the gang and we'll celebrate his birthday belatedly.

Hope your week is going well.

Pleading busy busy busy for not blogging...

I'm going to work backwards through the past week. Last Sat., my step brother, Steve, and his wife Loren, came for a visit on their way back to Mich. We gave them the 35 cent tour, headed to Dimitri's on the Anclote River and sank into the Greek food and wine and beer! We headed back to the house after roaming the Sponge Docks and sat on the lanai catching up with each others' lives. It had been since Papa Joe's funeral since we had all been together and that has to be at least six years. Steve is the spitting image of Papa Joe but with hair.

E fixed his infamous Spanish chicken and I did a salad from the Columbia. And we even had a bottle of the authentic dressing to make it perfect.
It is Chris' birthday and Kristen had such a lovely day planned for him: we would baby sit and give him a day off , golf with a pal and no cares or worries. But, the best laid plans...it is still Snowbird Season here and she could not get a tee time for the guys today. Baby Leighton and Colvin had follow up dr. apt.s so Landon and I hung out exchanging clever repartee. Ok...so not so clever but we did laugh a lot.

This is from last Wed. : Landon wears the coolie cups like boxing gloves

Colvin: a very serious driver
Landon today
showing me his muscles (and tummy)
Colin, who has taken to wearing his baseball hat non stop, backwards...probably because if he wears it bill in front, the little kid can't see!
and Colvin last week on the zoom zoom...shouldn't ever Speed Racer wear a helmet?
I'm posting a couple of my latest layouts on my altered blog. I don't do that often but this one is filled to the brim with Proud Nana stuff...lol

Enjoy your week!

Marvelous Monday

After a wonderful evening with Charo and Gaylen, today was a continuation of perfection. I watched Colvin while Big Daddy took Landon and Leighton in for check ups. All is well and happy in Paradise. Colvin and I had a long talk about safety, streets and then just kicked leaves for fun.

Quite a few of my friends' daughters have had baby girls so we decided to have Maria's daughter, Adriana, who is an amazing photographer (angel lights photography on face boook) do a Grannie and Grandies (grand daughters) shoot. Every one is converging here in Tarpon Springs, Fl on March 17th and we'll head to Spring Bayou for the photo shoot. The Grandies will all be dressed in PINK, of course.
And today, I found Leighton's outfit. I bought the big flower headband because she has no hair...ok, she had some and it is soft and very light. I love these headbands. They did not have these when Leighton's Mama was a little one and I still remember scotch taping a bow into the four or five stands Kristen did have on her her first b'day. Of course, when the day was over and I took the tape off, the hair came off too. Now, voila...big bow instead.


Leighton is the 'old gal' of these cuties, then Maria's baby doll and then Dee's sweetie pie. And these were all within 4mo. Our friend, Ginni also had a new grand baby doll. Hopefully, these little ladies will all be scrappers and all be friends...now wouldn't that be cool?

And no, Clare, I have yet to inform Leighton's parents that you and I have betrothed her and her New Zealand husband to be. Timing is everything, right?

Demented Nana strikes again

I could not resist these too cute bunny coveralls I found today at Beall's Outlet store near me. I mean, how much longer are those little guys going to let Nana put them in bunny festooned clothes? I am picturing knee socks and the cute new shoes I saw when E and I had our Nana/Papa day this past Wed.
The little guys, like most men, are fascinated and a tad obsessed about pockets and how much they can cram into them. At one point, Landon had a wooden spoon in each of his pockets while Colvin, pictured below, focused on small objects...like my cell phone. lol


The boys had their ca chee (cottage cheese) and e-l-l-o (jello) along with a meat, veggie and fruit for lunch. They are so wanting to feed themselves and are not doing such bad job either, except with the jello which ends up all over them and me. But I do have to say, red jello is my color!

And the boys got their hair cut. No more whispy strays in their eyes! And Colvin still has his 'tail'.
Now if only our little girly girl would start growing some hair. She has the same hair line as both me and Landon...let's hope she gets her mama's curls!
Thanks to Janet M. , I have resumed my walking. When she came up for a visit before our weekend at Cheeky Chicks Scrapbooking retreat in St. Pete, we walked and walked and walked and when we got to the retreat, we walked some more. Yesterday i did an hour and another today...I need to finally make goal at WW and this is a good habit to have. Smoochies Janet.

I was waiting for traffic to abate yesterday at Alt 19 and Old Dixie Hwy so I could cross and head home and kept hearing this loud PEEP, PEEP...I finally looked up and there sat a baby Osprey and his/her mama/papa peering down at me. Love my camera. Click Click
E's rib is doing better and healing slowly. Missy L did a tap dance on Papa but he just grinned and said it was ok...it was his Bella! lol

Busy weekend for us ...we have company coming on the 10th and trying to get ready for them...combining spring cleaning and can't wait to see my favorite step brother, Steve, and his lovely wife, Loren. Meanwhile, we have two couples coming over for dinner on Sunday and I am teaching at Posh Scraps tomorrow morning.

Have a great weekend all!

Layouts from the Cheeky Chicks Crop

While I took tons of photos to work with at the crop, I ended up scrapping the grands almost exclusively. And what fun it was too! Above: baby Leighton at almost 4 mo. Below: Landon at 17 mo.
This is Colvin Christmas Day...what a flirt!
And Landon again at about 15mo.
Leighton when she was just a couple of weeks old.


I have two more done except for titles of Leighton (one has the letters falling off)and one more of Landon. I hope to finish those today.

Jo and her sister, Sandy, came over for dinner last night and they leave to return to St. Louis tomorrow. We're meeting for lunch down on the Sponge Docks. Weight Watcher's check in was today and, while my dr. visit showed my weight down, WW scale said up by half lb. Back to tracking. We are off to the grands tomorrow, I have a class on Sat. to teach at Posh and we have two couples coming over for dinner on Sunday. Hope your week is a good one!