Merry Mother's Day

We attended the boys' dedication ceremony at the kids' church, Harborside Christian, on Mother's Day morning. This is a joyous place filled with singing and praise and our little guys will grow up in this place where the kids have found a church home.

Here are the little boys whom Kristen and Chris call their "mini mes"...and they really are!




And here is Uncle Rob with his nephews. Colvin has adopted gentle head butting (more like 'let's put our heads together') as a type of kiss and wanted to repeat this with everyone all day! And Landon just wanted to be tickled and laughed with.



Rob gave me a funny card referencing his (IMHO)mistake in 'friending' me on facebook and gave my computer an update and a deep clean. Kristen and Chris added two more beads to my Pandora bracelet. Now, I have the boys' initials too. And I got my very first NANA card!


We swam in the pool, ate and enjoyed each others' company...great Mom's Day all around. Hope yours was the same!

Happy Mother's Day Eve

We have been so busy I have not had time to blog. I am seriously considering going to a 3x a week blog until things calm down around here, which I estimate will be sometime in the year 2014...lol.

We have been in our house for four years now and just now completed tearing out the horrible shrubs the previous owners had across the front. We're planning on replacing that with a white vinyl picket fence across the front and down the left side. We've planted and replanted the flowers and are in the process of refurbishing the watering system and extending to the lower lawn behind the pool. We've had the front walk paved and the front porch and down the sides of the drive way. We've repainted all the rooms except two, planted and planted and planted and are fairly finished in the back. The outside of the house needs repainting and the garage door replaced like we did with the outside light...all things in good time. It is our home now even though people in the neighborhood still sometimes refer to it as T______ and N_______'s house.




Thursday we spent on laundry, house cleaning chores and me getting ready for the two National Scrapbook Day crops I was working. We got so busy, we forgot to go for our margaritas at Cinco de Mayo in Dunedin. Oh well, next year. Thurs night was book club at Linda H's and she held it in the club house where she lives on the cause way to Honeymoon Island. We saw dolphin and even a manatee. It was a lovely evening with a great group of ladies. The Nov. meeting is back here and yes! girls, E will be making his apricot glazed brownies for dessert.



Friday we had our usual play date with the twins. They are both still a bit stuffed up from colds and did not nap very well. We have a new game...chase me Nana. I make growlie noises and stomp my feet and they race away from me in the walker laughing and turning around to come back for more. And they love to eat...almost as much ends up on their sweet little boys faces as does in their tummies!


I had the 3-6 pm shift on Friday with Pam Bennett who is the CT leader there. We had a challenge : scrap a layout with the title "When I Win the Lottery" and, while we all want world peace, better pay for teachers (ahem!)and a cure for cancer, we asked the gals to be a bit selfish and scrap something they would do for themselves WHEN they win. This is my layout: this is an island off the Amalfi Coast of Italy and even has a guest house for visiting friends. This also adds another layout to my Med. cruise album, btw. We also did a Fast Scrap (create a post card front and back ) which means the project must be completed in that hour. I will put my postcard in my altered blog.



This morning, Janet Miller and I had the 6am-8am shift at ACOT and our challenge was a sketch that Janet made for us to scrap to. You can see the sketch at ACOT (Challenge 6). This is my take on her cool sketch.



At 9:30am, I headed up to Posh Scraps in Palm Harbor to do make n takes for Michele, the owner, during the one day National Scrapbook Day crop she is holding at her store today. I took the gals through a tag with the Ranger stains, Tweety Jill Butterfly stamps, chalk inks, Stickles and some lovely ribbons step by step. I left the tags up at the store so any late arrivals could complete the make n take too.
That tag is on my altered blog as well.

I scrapped with Jacque and lots of other ladies until a bit after two when my allergies got the best of me and I headed home.

Tomorrow we are celebrating Mother's Day at the boys dedication at the kids church and then back here for bbq and swim time. We're getting family pictures taken compliments of the church (one for the kids but I am sure we'll buy a few for E and I too).

I hope your Mother's Day is special and that you are surrounded by love and family.

Great day scrapping at Posh!

I think I may have broken my record for the number of layouts I was able to complete at Posh on a Wed. Today, I got five done. These are the four that stayed at the store for display and I did a fifth one for Janet's and my shift at A Cherry on Top's National Scrapbook Day cyber crop. So, I can't put that one up yet but look for it and the challenge layout from Pam and my shift and our fast scrap Sat.

I got two of the boys swim pictures scrapped, one of our little town's Farmer's Market for our 2010 family events album and one more layout for the Med. Cruise album. Not a bad day at all. Plus, I got to have time with two of my dear friends and share laughs! Jacque and Di were the icing on the cake for today!






Book Club tomorrow night...I am picking up Ms Gloria; we're putting the top down on my late mid life crises car, "Hot Mama" and heading to the causeway to Linda H's. Guess I had best finish the book, what? lol

Mid week catch up

Big Daddy brought the little guys by yesterday for lunch and a swim with Nana and Papa. Those boys sure love the water and are entranced by the waterfall. And for dinner E fixed the most amazing dish: Mediterranean Salmon with White Beans and, because we are bound and determined to get the last of our weight off, it was only 9 Weight Watcher points by the time E got done with it. I couldn't even eat it all. I have 8.5lbs to go to goal and by heavens, I am going to get it done!



Landon is within a hair's breath of walking and here is Colvin picking out Nana's next Pandora charm for my bracelet the kids started for me.



It was four years ago today we moved here from Ft. Myers. We've been working on the house and the gardens ever since and not sure we'll ever call it done. Our current project is the fence for the lanai which we special ordered yesterday and it should be in and up within 3 wks. E has cleared out the hedge that I hated from in front of the house and replaced it with flowers and more decorative shrubs. Our next big project is to replace the gate and fence to the lower lawn. It suffered a ding when the boys dropped a tree on it and never quite recovered...lol.

Busy week ahead. Today I am off to crop with Wed. gals, tomorrow we have some yard work on our schedule, Friday is our Nana and Papa play day with the boys and the start of the A Cherry on Top National Scrapbook Day cyber crop. I have a 3-5 shift with Pam and a 6-8am shift Sat. with Janet. I'll be up at Posh Scraps on Sat. morning starting at ten doing some make n takes and scrapping at Michele's National Scrapbook Day event at the store. Sunday is the boys' dedication at the kids' church and family pictures and then back here to celebrate Mom's Day. I have a day of rest on the calendar for E and I for Monday...lol.

Hope your week is a lovely one.

Raspberry

What a weekend!

As usual, on Friday we had our all day play date with our little guys. They both had colds and runny noses but were still loving and fun. E had to leave around 1 for a dr. apt. with his heart doctor. And he got an A+. Our change in eating and our daily walks and rides are paying off.

We got home and our wonderful weekend company from the other side of the state arrived, Kim and Mark. We dined at Dimitri's on the Water down on the Sponge Docks, and enjoyed each others' company the rest of the evening.



Sat. morning, Mark and Kim headed to the triathlon race down in St. Pete and I headed up to Posh Scraps to teach Workshop Four: stamping and inking on mixed backgrounds. We stamped and inked on acrylic, vellum, tissue paper and glass and, for fun, made a necklace with alcohol inks, stamped images and Memory glass and frames.

After class, the little boys, Little Mama and Big Daddy came over and we let the boys loose to race around the house chasing each other and, again, we were all laughing so hard. Landon is so close to walking, it is scary and Colvin is not far behind. Little Mama is going to have her hands full in a short time. The boys have already figured out how to undo the gate to their bedroom...oh oh!

We swam and grilled and ate and laughed. I know the kids were glas to see GAK (great Aunt Kim).





Sunday, E and I did some laundry and a tad bit of weeding on the lower lawn. We've got a list of the plants that need replacing and will be visiting our favorite nurseries today to take care of that. Our fence guys should be out to measure for the fence that will go across our lanai and hopefully they can start installation early next week. The gate will swing inward and have two art deco-ish solar lights on either side.

After Kim and Mark left, E and I called halt to our to do list and enjoyed the day...I did not scrap, I did not clean, I did finish up a couple of loads of laundry and I did read a great book: The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards who also wrote The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Excellent read.

We have a busy couple of weeks ahead of us and can't wait to plunge in. Hope you have a great Monday.

What a day...

I was going to surprise our friend, Gail, from Vermont, with Janet. The three of us have "known" each other for about ten years via a message board, long ago and now far away. We were part of what became known as the Early Birds, posting to each other about our plans for our day, our trials, joys and in general our lives. There are about 12 of us left who still check in with each other almost every morning via an Early Bird message board that Gail set up for us. Almost all of us have met IRL one way or another.

Gail was waiting for a washer/dryer to be delivered to her sisters and Bob and Janet arrived at our house around 11am. Bob and E had made plans to continue their search for the perfect oyster and Janet wanted to visit with her "nephews", Colvin and Landon. Janet is one of the boys Aunties. Janet and Bob arrived looking a tad bit like the Bobbsey Twins but oh so cute!



After a visit with the twins, we met up with Gail at Posh Scraps. Both gals found some things they just had to have and I got to see a new line of products that I fell in love with! More on that later but I know Michele was ordering some!

After Posh we headed to Monolo's in downtown Tarpon Springs where Gail use to live 18 or so years ago. The area has changed a bit since she last saw it. Our waiter was also we believe, the owner and was a real charmer. We had wonderfully fresh salads window side and watched my little downtown go by.



We hit the Sponge Docks and did a bit of shopping therapy and then back to our house for refreshing drinks on the lanai. Gail headed back to her sisters but before she left she and Janet did a smack down on E who didn't seem to mind a whole lot. and Gail gave each of us a lovely jar of Vermont Maple syrup...I see pralines!




We headed to Rusty Bellies at the far end of the Sponge Docks for some more salad for Janet and me and grouper and mahi mahi for the guys.


And I am not sure what had E and I laughing this time because we laugh most of the time we are with Bob and Janet...love you guys!

Be sure to check Janet's blog tomorrow as I am sure she'll have some great pics too...the ones she took of the boys ROCK!

Just another Wed. in Paradise

E and I biked into town and back this morning and I just had to stop and take a few pics of these enormous and velvety looking Morning Glories growing wild beside the trail. What a great way to start our morning!




Di could not make our Wed. crop today but Jacque and I preserved without her. I got four layouts done but can only show 3. One is for my challenge at the upcoming National Scrapbook Day on-line crop at A Cherry on Top. Pam and I are kicking off the event at 3pm on May 6th. and Janet and I have the 6am-8am shift the next morning. I'm then shifting gears and heading to Posh Scraps to do make n takes for Michele, the owner, and then cropping at that National Scrapbook Day.

So here are the layouts I can show you.





So far it has been a great day with our friend, Suzie, coming by after she gets off work for a dip in the pool, some wine, cheese and crackers. And a big day tomorrow with Janet and Gail. Life is good!

Simple Pleasures Day Seven and Easter

Today ends my week of Simple Pleasures. I think doing this has made me far more aware of how every day, even the darkest, has something to offer us, some small pleasure in which we can take comfort and feel joy.

Today, my simple pleasure are my new tennies. Now this may not seem a big deal to most...go to the store, pick some out, try them on, pay and wear them But I have arthritis in one foot and an old stress fracture in the other and most tennies do not fit well. I found these at TJMaxx and on sale (which it itself is a huge pleasure) and they even came with a spare set of shoe laces albeit in neon pink.

The simple pleasure comes from the fact, these shoes do not bind, rub or put pressure on sensitive parts of my feet yet give me support and I have reinstated walking for at least a half hour as an alternative to biking. Variety is the spice of life, right? My simple pleasure...shoes that fit!





The entire family came together for Easter. The little guys seemed to love the duck and the bunny we gave them, with Colvin swinging that rabbit around by its ears with joyous abandonment.

E fixed us a wonderful turkey, 3 cheese mac and green beans and the boys swam in the pool and got reacquainted with their Uncle Rob.






After dinner, the little guys has us in stitches. We put them both down on the floor and they played some sort of tag, follow the leader, hare and tortoise game crawling at breakneck speed from one end of the house to the other, stopping now and then to bump heads, laugh riotously. They would trade places and the game would start all over again! We laughed with them so much not a single one of us (and all armed with cameras and phones that shoot video) took a single shot.

Busy and fun week ahead filled with scrapping, old friends, weekend fun with company and much much more.

Hope your weekend was a delight and your week even more so

Smiple Pleasures Day Six and Dinner Club

Today's Simple Pleasure is two cute stuffed animals for the twins from the Easter Bunny (or Papa and Nana). Hope the boys like these. We took a pass on baskets this year but we're pretty sure we'll be hiding plastic eggs in the garden this time next year!




Dinner Club last night at Bob and Becky's was a delight. The weather here was cool enough we could sit out on their screened in back porch before dinner. Becky out did herself with a tender brisket and her table was decorated so prettily! Michele brought a wonderful salad and Suzie made a lamb shaped cake for us for dessert. Becky took this picture of E and I together. She was right...E and I don't have tons of pictures together and this is nice to have...thanks Becky!






Happy Easter to Everyone!

Simple Pleasures for Day Five and two layouts.

One of my Simple Pleasures is waking up in the morning or at dusk and looking out my bedroom window. We've worked hard to take the grassy slope that was edged with rocks at the bottom and turn it into a winding path lined with roses,lavender, gardenia, hibiscus and other pretty plants that leads to the rustic and (slightly) leaning gate and fence.

In the morning, the sun's rays are filtered and alternate with the shadows on the fence. In the evening the low hanging solar lights lining the pathway and the solar twinkle lights that outline the gate and fence bring back memories of fireflies (which we do not have here in Fl or at least the part in which I live).




These are the two layouts I did Thursday when Jacque and I cropped at Posh Scraps. Both are done with Little Yellow Bicycle's Twig line of papers and embellishments. One more layout done of the Med. Cruise with Jo and Bill and one more to add to the Madcap Adventures of the Luscious Lushes Album with Janet, Clare and Pam last Jan. Progress! lol.


I am working today preparing for my workshop next Sat. at Posh. We'll be stamping and inking on some fun things like acrylics, glass, tissue paper etc. and, for the gals who come, a special surprise! Call the store to make reservations 727-784-2928.

We also have Dinner Club tonight at Bob and Becky's and E is knee deep in six different kinds of deviled egges. We have appetizers. The kids are all coming over tomorrow for Easter and swim time.

It is a busy week coming up with cropping on Wed. with Jacque and Di, my friend, Gail, is in town from Vermont and we have lunch plans on Thur., Friday we watch the boys and we have company coming into town for the weekend.

Hope you have a great Easter Weekend!

Simple Pleasures Day Four

My grandsons napping...

Simple Pleasures Day Three

My Simple Pleasure for today is a connection between the past (my grandmother's vase) and the present (our roses). And what is your Simple Pleasure of the day?





I am doing two of my many favorite things today: scrapping at Posh Scraps (and lunch with Jacque/ we're missing you Di) and then getting my hair cut! Hope your day is a joy!

Simple Pleasures Day Two

I posted yesterday's Simple Pleasure earlier this morning and with this one, I am caught up. To see the why of doing a week of Simple Pleasures, please scroll down.

Today my Simple Pleasure was taking my coffee and the paper out to the lanai. The birds were happy, there was a sweet breeze off the Gulf and I was/am a happy gal.

Please share your Simple Pleasure here or in the thread at A Cherry on Top.