Care Bear Slumber Party with Abigail

I try as a Mimi to do special things with my grand kids. I want them to remember me when they get older as the Mimi who believed in having fun. Last week I asked Abby if she wanted to have a Care Bears sleepover. Of course she was thrilled and counted down the days. I thought that Saturday night would be a perfect time, since we could get up in the morning and go to church together. I knew how much she loved her Care Bears and I happened to have a few myself, so she arrived with Daddy carrying the huge tote bag of bears. She couldn't wait for her mommy and daddy to leave so we could start having fun. She immediately wanted to put on her play princess dress. We lined the bears up on the bed and she read them a story. She actually found a book that I am giving Jack for Christmas in my closet. I told her we would read it, but she had to keep it a secret from Jack. The name of the book is "Jackson's Blanket".

After story time with the bears, Abby wanted to call her cousin, Ivy, to see if she was feeling ok after breaking her arm. Abby was so concerned after she heard of her accident. It was so sweet when she was talking to Ivy. I could hear Ivy just jibber jabbing away and Abby's face had this concerned look as she asked how her broken arm was and telling her she loved her. Abby is a human Care Bear.

We decided to go downstairs to play with play dough and make care bears. Abby is giving me a silly face.
This is my work of art sitting on his lap. After making care bears, Abby hung out a while with Grampa at the computer. I actually fell asleep on the bed, surrounded by all the care bears and Grampa said he heard me snoring. Abby came in to wake me up so we could put the care bears in their own bed, so we would have room to sleep.

It was a late night of playing and we finally got to sleep around 10:00 p.m. When we awoke at 6:00 a.m. I started making breakfast. I made Abby a Care Bears pancake. One of his legs sorta got damaged. Abby was very happy with her new breakfast buddy. She didn't want to eat his head for some reason.
Abby was a little tired of me taking pictures as she sat quietly eating her breakfast, reading a little book. It was a most eventful evening and I would love to carry on the tradition of doing something special with each grandchild. Whether it be going to a favorite restaurant, zoo trip, beach, orchard, or just playing catch in the yard, I love spending time with my grand kids. We made new memories last night and they will last forever.

Blog Debut

And Now, making it's Debut for the very first time, Mimi's Toes new blog design. Many thanks to my daughter, Steph and very talented, and special friend, Beth for making this happen. Steph knew I was wanting a new design, so for my Birthday, she arranged for Beth to design exactly what I wanted. It didn't take me long to decide. I knew I wanted a beach theme since I feel such peace there. The 6 birds represent my 6 grand kids, which Beth's brilliant mind thought of. The beach chair makes me think of my sister vacations in Florida. My sister had given me a special paper weight with a beach scene inside which gave me the inspiration for the look. Thanks again Steph & Beth....I love it!

30 Minutes

Have you ever thought about how much you can get done in 30 minutes? This morning as I woke up and jumped out of bed at 5:30a.m. and put on my workout clothes to be at Curves by 6:00 a.m., I started thinking, I plan my day a lot of times in 30 min. intervals. It took 30 minutes for my workout, then it was back home to start making lasagna for dinner tonight, which only took me 30 minutes to assemble. (really). I had 30 minutes to get ready for work and out the door. I made it! I allow myself 30 minutes to get to work, which only takes about 20 minutes.
So, what do you get done in 30 minutes?

Princess Abigail

One of Abby's favorite things to do when she comes to my house is "Dress up like a princess". Her and Jack came over last night while their mommy went shopping and daddy was at work. I found this beautiful white flower girl dress at a yard sale for, would you believe, $1.00. I knew it would be perfect to add to my collection of dress up outfits for when Abby comes over. She gasped when she saw it and immediately put it on. It was a perfect fit.

Abby loves to look at pictures of when she was a baby. She took a break from playing and looked through the photo albums. I had to sneak in a picture of Jack Jack. He is growing so fast and changing looks. I took this picture on the run. It's hard to get him to stay still long enough. He is a busy little guy and Loves to eat. We had a fun night. We read books, played tea party, told stories of a princess and prince, ate snacks, watched Nick Jr., watched Wiggles on YouTube, jumped on the bed, And would you believe they were still awake when mommy picked them up at 10:00pm? This mimi fell into bed.....

Ivy LaRue is Two!

Happy Birthday Ivy LaRue! "Two"....already. No one can give a hug like Ivy. She comes at you with full force and you better be ready. I am amazed at the vocabulary of such a little girl. She can already count to 10. I see great things ahead for this lovely lady. A Stage is in her future. Growing up with three brothers do have advantages. She does rule the roost. I am so proud to be her "mimi" and she does not like to share my lap. A funny moment on Saturday when the whole family gathered for breakfast at a restaurant on my sister's last day, I was holding Jack and Ivy was seated across the table from me. As soon as I put Jack down, she rushed around the table to hurry to get in my lap. She eyed him the whole time he was in my lap, as if to say "she's MY mimi". I wish her a very happy birthday today....She's my Lu Lu!

Labor Day week with my Sister

After picking up my sister from the airport my hubby decided to take a detour since the traffic was slow. He took us to a wonderful Italian restaurant "Cafe Borgia". We enjoyed the food and the atmosphere so much, we were even taking pictures of the bathroom.

One of our many outings during the week. A stop at our favorite hamburger joint. Culvers. My sister with our parents.

Poppal and the great-grand kids...Noah, Gray, Ivy & Carter....at the River walk in Portage, Labor Day evening.
Gray picking apples at County line Orchard. He was king for the day.
I love this picture even though I will probably be yelled at for posting a back side picture. My sister, Ivy & Steph.

Steph, Ivy & Diane on the River walk, Labor Day evening. It was the most perfect night.
Diane, mom and I on Labor Day. We looked tired, cause we were! We had a family reunion all week long and made the most of every minute we could.

My sister and I at the Orchard. What a gorgeous day it was. We rode the tractor to pick apples and went to the kids farm and saw a bunch of cute animals. Steph, Gray & Ivy joined us. Our parents hung around in the big barn. Afterwards we went in the smaller barn for lunch. It was homemade and delicious.

Our view from the tractor ride after apple picking.

Ivy never sat so still. She didn't want to get off of the tractor ride. She insisted on sitting next to Aunt Diane. They became best friends.
Ivy and Aunt Diane had an instant connection. I love how she has her hand in Diane's lap and the loving hand on top of it. Precious!

It was the best Labor Day week having my sister home. It was so sad to say good-bye to her yesterday. I can only look forward to our next time together.

Missing my sister

In 24 hours my sister will be on a plane flying back home. Why does one week have to fly by so fast? It seems like we just picked her up from the Airport and were anxiously awaiting her big smile. Our warm embrace was just what I needed. We were just together in June, so I am so thankful she was able to come home for a visit, even though it was mostly spent helping out our parents. We spent a lot of time taking turns cooking and visiting with family. It was like a week long family reunion. We had the best time together and there will be more pictures to come.

So, stay tuned.

My new Ride

My hubby had this brilliant idea to start bike riding together, to get in shape. He researched the internet for coaster bikes and found us the perfect bikes. Not only were they affordable, they are not complicated to operate. His is blue and mine is mint green. They sorta have a vintage look about them. I feel like a little girl again. I remember my first bike. It was pink. I took such good care of it. Then one day some bad person stole it. It broke my heart.

Getting this new bike gave me a warm fuzzy feeling again. We have great riding trails by our house we hope to start burning rubber on. I just might get me a basket and see if my doggie wants to take a ride too. I'm thinking I might need a helmet too. So, if you see an over the hill couple riding on the trail on coaster bikes, move over for your own safety. Here's to a healthier lifestyle. Thank you Mike!