A Birthday Gift Treasure

My birthday yesterday was exactly how I expected it to be, plus more. This very special wooden custom made plaque was from Steph and her family. I can't tell you how much this means to me. I haven't found the perfect place to hang it yet. It will go either in my kitchen or above my picture wall. I had to kid her and ask "what if we need to add to the names" She gave me this look that sort of made me believe I will just have 6 grandkids....
I had lots of birthday wishes from dear friends, family members, went to lunch with my parents (because I chose to work) and went on my extended lunch hour, ate my favorite food for lunch at Olive Garden. After I got off work we went to the County Fair with Steph and family. She treated us to yummy fried veggies and shake up lemonade. We also sampled fried milky way candy bar, fried reese peanut butter cup, fried oreo and funnel cake. The best birthday cake!

I enjoyed watching the boys ride the rides and enjoyed looking at the piglets. I even treated myself to a cute pair of fake Coach sunglasses. The weather could not have been more perfect. As we were getting ready to leave it started to rain. We sought shelter in the horse barn until the rain let up. It was a very fun Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me

I was all set to maybe go shopping for a new Coach purse (swingpack) at the outlet mall, when, I got this massive toothache. I suffered for 2 nights and decided that pain is not my friend, so yesterday I got in to see my dentist after going to work half day. After an x-ray and being told I had an infection, he removed the bridge covering the tooth that was torturing me and proceeded with a root canal. I picked up my prescriptions for an antibiotic and pain meds and went home and crawled in my bed. I woke up this morning Pain Free. $450 later, and that's with insurance, I have no new Coach purse and I am another year older. Happy Birthday to me!
P.S. After posting this, I opened up a Birthday card from my hubby, with money inside and a note to go shopping for a new Coach purse. How Sweet!

Jillian says "Absolutely" to my home town boy, Ed

Ok, so I said I would not get hooked again on another one of these reality shows, but, I've always loved the name "Jillian", and she reminds me of my niece, Kyla. So, in the beginning of the Bachelorette, my picks were Jake, the Pilot and Kiptyn, one of the final 2. I only started liking Ed after he came back on the show from having to leave because of his job in Chicago. He reminds me of a cuddly teddy bear. I was so thrilled that she accepted Ed's proposal. I NEVER seem to get these things right, but for once I did. And, he is from my home town, Chicago, which makes it all the more exciting. ABC thought they would throw in a twist by having Reid coming back to confess his love and propose, and I have to admit, I was a little nervous, eating ice cream and any snack I could get my hands on, hoping that she would not accept. It ended just the way I wanted it to. I just hope she doesn't kick Ed to the curb in a few weeks and take Kiptyn or Reid back.

G-Force with 3 boys

Saturday morning Noah, Carter & Gray came over bright and early while their daddy went to play golf and momma was at BlogHer in Chicago. They arrived to bacon sizzling, biscuits and hash browns cooking. Would you believe out of all of this, Noah wanted yogurt and Gray wanted a poptart? They did eat some of the good stuff first though. Remember, almost anything goes at Mimi's house. They were so excited knowing we were going to see G-Force in 3-D in 4 hours, leaving an hour earlier for theater candy shopping. Noah asked me every 15 min., is it almost time to go? Now, I am not a cheap person, but when you add up 4 people going to see a movie and all of the munchies, it can be very costly, so I decided to pack bottled water and Carter's favorite lemonade in a bottle, wrapping each one with foil to keep cold. I got my Big Purse for the haul. We left an hour before show time to head over to the store for theater candy, letting each pick out 1 of their favorite. Guess what Gray chose out of a zillion kinds of boxes? Tic-Tacs. They had a 3 for 3$ special, so he did get a box of candy as well. They are so funny, choosing exactly the same candy, Krabby Patties, a Spongebob Squarepants candy, that is quite good, sort of reminds me of gummie bears and peeps.
When we got to the theater, I got 1 large tub of buttered popcorn for all of us to share, since I thought they would be more interested in the candy. Noah polished off the last of the popcorn after passing it back and forth to Carter. Gray had ALL of his tic tacs eaten before the show started, then he was on to the crabby patties. By the middle of the movie, Gray was so fidgety from all of the sugar, I told him, No More Sugar, after he was begging to open another box of candy. The movie was so cute, clever and good humor. I really enjoyed it and would give it a thumbs up. I am getting spoiled to 3-D movies now. After the show, I heard, "I'm hungry". Now, you would think after all that junk they ate, they would not want lunch for at least 2 or 3 hours. So, thank God for McD's. We drove thru and got Happy Meals and headed home to await daddy picking them up. They, of course were more interested in the little toy and Gray didn't touch his food. He took home to eat later. When Jeff came to pick them up, they were 3 very tired little guys. Of course, Carter didn't want to go and the tears started flowing, but that's our Carter Bear, very attached. It was a great morning with my 3 favorite little boys and guinea pigs.

Dreaming of umbrellas and sand

I have always been a dreamer. I might be at work today in body, but my mind and spirit are on this beach watching an amazing ocean and having not a care in the world. May your dreams be as exciting. Happy Friday!

Cheers to my Sister Vacation

We went one night while in Florida to this awesome Mexican restaurant call La Paz. As you can see, we ordered the house drink called a pomegranate margarita. Now, I am not much of a drinker (hiccup), but this was the best drink, very light and refreshing. Diane didn't finish all of hers cause she was driving, I couldn't let it go to waste and finished it for her. It was great for washing down those chips and salsa.

Jack Jack

I wanted to share these sweet pictures of Jack, taken at Carter's Birthday party, July 11. Isn't he a cutie? I love his receding hairline. He is a carbon copy of my son when he was this age.

Vacation June 26 - July 5 2009

Just call us the Fab Five. From the back is my sister, Diane, Me, Niece Kyla, Front is, Great Nephew, Corbin and Great Niece Madigan.
I flew to my sister's town in Louisiana and we drove to Sandestin Beach Florida to attend her work conference. It was about a 7 hour drive. She only had to attend 8 hours of classes the 6 days we were there. We had plenty of time to play and believe you me, we had a great time and made every second count! I love the tan I came home with.
I enjoyed every waking moment on that sandy white beach. This is before the tan.

Ok, I don't like how I look here, but hey, it's me. So I didn't lose the 50 lbs. I wanted to lose. I have another year to lose it. Maybe I will be wearing a bikini next year and fool everyone. There is a story behind this bathing suit I bought on-line from a nice store. The first time I wore it, it started falling apart. The panties were coming apart from the underneath that held the bathing suit together. Thank God I brought another one.
My pretty manicured toes.....Gee, I miss this sand. My feet and ankles were burning so I poured on the sunblock and kept them buried in the sand a lot.
Madigan & Corbin (sister's grand-kids) hanging out with me while she was in class. Madigan is 11 and Corbin is 12. They are best friends.

Here I am just chilling on the deck at the Hilton we stayed at overlooking the beach. The others went out to a race track for a few hours and I just wanted to hang out with my thoughts and stare at the waves. I ended up listening in on some guys phone conversation for about 30 min.
I can't leave out our friend "Miss Cooler" that I purchased at the dollar store when we first got there. This little friend was such a blessing on the beach, carrying our cold drinks (hiccup) and very easy to carry. I tried to fly home with it, but decided to leave it with my sister to take care of so we can take it next year. I really miss her!

I had a whole lot of things I wanted to say about this Fab vacation, but I think the pictures tell all. There were so many highlights, like when my sister brought her and I a piece of key lime pie on a china plate and linen napkin down on the beach and we sat under our $45. rented umbrella and chairs and enjoyed every crumb. Another highlight was a prayer breakfast I attended with her. They had a praise and worship team singing and a special speaker and the best breakfast buffet. It left me with an inner peace feeling that I really needed. See, God can even be with you on vacation too. Thank you sis for a fabulous time. I enjoyed every grain of sand stuck in places I care not to mention. Next year could not come any sooner.....

Happy 7th Birthday Carter Man!

7 years ago today, Carter was born. We were so excited to have another Grandson. When people would ask me if I wanted him to be a her, I said No. I really wanted a brother for Noah. These 2 boys are best buds. Carter is the comedian in our family. He is the most pleasant little guy and also speaks his mind. He has such a tender heart and is super smart!

We had a pre- birthday celebration on Wed. night at Red Robin and Carter was Thrilled to be sang to and given a special ice cream dessert & balloon. He told his mom that it was the best day of his life. Noah is cheering Carter with is fancy vanilla milk shake. Isn't this little man so handsome? I think he grew a foot while I was on vacation.
Gray is all smiles and was just the happiest little guy. He loved to dip his fries in whip cream. He was my buddy that night sticking to me like glue. He kept telling me that he loved me.

And then there is miss Thang! Ivy LaRue.....This look on her face cracks me up while looking at Carter. Carter makes her laugh. Carter is always admiring how beautiful his sister is and handles her with tender loving care.

Happy Happy 7th Birthday Carter! We will have another big celebration tomorrow. With presents and cake! Yum!

Dinner and a Show

I know I promised lots of pictures of my vacation, but would you believe I am still not completely unpacked? I have been going at full speed since coming back home. I will share my whole vacation soon! Until then, I had the best time last night with Steph, Ivy, Noah, Carter & Gray. We went to eat at Red Robin as an early Birthday celebration for Carter's 7th Birthday, which is tomorrow. They must have sang to at least 5 different Birthday people. Carter asked the server if they can sing to him. We had already arranged for that, but he was so excited and was just making sure. Then we went to see the Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 3-D. What a great movie. I laughed and loved it almost as much as the boys. Ivy stayed with daddy at home. I ended up dreaming last night about sleeping with 2 dino's and was afraid to move for fear of getting bit. So, if you have the chance to go see this movie it is well worth it! Especially in 3-D. Gray looked up at me during the movie and said "Mimi, I love you". Now, wasn't that worth it? Carter told his mom that it was the best day of his life. It's good to be home....I guess I will trade the beach for this any ole' day.

Sneak Peek at Vacation

Here is a sneak peek at my Vacation at Sandestin Beach Florida with my sister. We rented this fancy umbrella and chairs to come in out of the sun when it got too hot. I came back with a golden tan. My ankles and feet did get sunburned, so I would cover them up with the sand to keep them from getting more burned. This is the most beautiful white sandy beach.

Here we are sipping a very refreshing drink called a Dreamsicle. The beach is behind us.

More details of my 10 day vacation and pictures to follow....stay tuned!

I left my heart in Lake Charles

I got back last night at 10:00 p.m. from my 10 day vacation. I will share my pictures and stories as soon as I catch up. Gee, I miss everyone!