the Happy in my City

We

had

a

pretty

great

day.

Fun, Food, Friends, & Family.

It all started with monkey bread, made by Shelbie and her friend Kacey (my "3rd daughter").

My parents came over, and we picked muscadine grapes from our vines.

{and maybe I drank some wine, to take the edge off the parental-visit-induced crazy. Maybe.}

{Someone was hiding under the grape vines....}

We all walked around the yard, looking at the garden and the rose bushes.

I made two huge pots of chicken & dumplings,

to feed my family, two of the kids' friends, and my parents.

And now, my teenagers are at the movies;

Shelbie, Tim, and Kacey, the 3rd daughter.

As for me, I am full of The Happy.

I hope you had a wonderful Sunday in Your City!

Sometimes thinking of a title takes me longer than writing the whole post. I give up!

~This week has been nothing short of fantastic. It was a good week in general; work was great, I had some good quality time with a friend & with the hubby....but best of all, there was wonderful news.....

.....my niece, Heather, is PREGNANT!! Yes - the one who just got married. Honeymoon Baby! I am absolutely ecstatic. I told her I was ready for her to have a baby and she hopped right to it! I love it when people listen to me. ;-) She's due in March. I am so happy that we will have another baby in the family! My kids are excited too. I can't wait for March! I have visions of tiny shoes dancing in my head. (I love tiny baby shoes.)

~ Just thought I'd clarify that my WW post about my Mother-in-law was mostly tongue in cheek. MIL doesn't really come between hubby and I nearly as much as she'd like to. The picture kind of amuses me; I had it in a frame on the bookshelf for a long time until I got sick of looking at it. My mom was taking a picture of me and John that day when MIL jumped in and got between us I should have seen it as an omen.

~ I just posted about my disappointment in Kat Von D. Now I just heard that she and Jesse James broke up. Shocker! *snort*

~ Have you watched Dance Moms? Oh my word. They make the Toddlers & Tiaras moms look tame. These chicks are hard core!

~ I haven't been around much this week, I've been really busy with work & other fun stuff, but I'm going to try to catch up a little tonight.

~ One (of many) things I learned at work this week: Don't call an 85 year old woman 'pet names'. A nurse called my client, Ms J, "sweetie", to which Ms J calmly replied, "don't call me sweetie, you asshole." I flipping LOVE her! (She was just calling it how she saw it; the nurse was kind of being an asshole.)

~ Tomorrow (Friday) night, I have a date!!! With my best friend. We're going out to dinner, then drinks & karaoke. Anytime she and I are together we have a blast. I can not wait!!

~I am loving this song, it reminds me of myself & my daughters! (and Ms J, come to think of it!)

"There ain't nothing wrong with a woman who's gotta little backbone!"

Don't forget to visit Mrs 4444 for more Friday Fraggin,

& have a great weekend!

Sometimes, a picture really is worth a thousand words.

Taken in 2005.

John is on the left, I'm on the right.

My mother-in-law is in the middle.

Enough.Said.

Linking up with the lovely Angie & Amanda for WordFUL Wednesday!

Sweet Memories

You may remember that last month, my niece got married.

She got married in my little city, at the historic Women's Club, and it was so pretty.

I really would love to share ALL of the wedding pictures with you. They are just so beautiful.

But instead I just chose a few of my favorites.

This is my whole family, except for my dad who had wandered off somewhere.

Front Row: Tim, Shelbie, Elayna, Andrew, my sister Angie, the bride Heather, groom DJ, my brother, his wife, and their son. Back Row: John, Me, my Mama.

The byooooteeful cake.

Just pronounced husband & wife.

I love this picture. The girls are all watching Heather walk down the aisle, and their happiness and love just shines in their eyes. <3

(that's my daughters, and Heather's two best friends.

The one on the far right, Crystal, is also the groom's sister.)

My oldest son Tim and youngest daughter, Elayna

.

The beautiful bride. LOVE this shot.

Heather & my baby girl, Elayna.

Elayna helping Heather with her shoes.

Elayna right after getting her hair done.

Shelbie getting her hair done.

Shelbie & Heather

another shot of my oldest & youngest walking together. Love it!

(I'm willing to bet he's aggravating her in this picture! It's one of his favorite activities.)

Every time I look at the pictures I tear up. I never cried at weddings before, she ruined me! It was just so beautiful, and I was there when Heather was born. I was fourteen years old, so we grew up together. We've always been very close. Then, seeing my beautiful babies all dressed up too....it was emotional over load!! It was such a special day. I look forward to my children's wedding days although I hope they are a loooooong ways away!!

It's Friday and I am Totally Fragged!

I have lots of fragments for you today!

This whole "job" thing is totally interfering with my sleep! Zzzz.....

I'm exhausted!

Elayna said something hilarious last night. We were watching Family Feud, which is not always exactly "family-friendly". They asked, "What is something you do to get your spouse in the mood?" and one of the contestants yelled "Liquor!" Then it appeared on the board: LIQUOR and Elayna said "Ooohhh, I thought he said LICK HER."

....and I died.

Elayna and I had some one on one time Thursday night. We went to dinner and a movie. We saw Winnie the Pooh, and other than the time when I blinked for about 20 minutes....it was very cute. We had a good time.

My son Tim is now officially enrolled in college. He will start in the fall. He also had an interview on Thursday for a job that will be in his planned career field and will help him towards his goals. I'm so excited for him, and proud of him.

Do your kids (or you) watch Good Luck Charlie? The little girl who plays Charlie may just be the cutest child I've ever seen in my entire life.





When I was about 7 or 8 years old, I had a very good friend who moved to Arizona. We were really close, I have wonderful memories of spending time with her family, and I was so sad when they moved away. We wrote letters for a little while, and our parents exchanged Christmas cards for years.
Last night, I found her on Facebook. I.LOVE.FACEBOOK.




There will be big changes at my youngest kids' school next year. Their principal is retiring after 20 years. It was a sudden decision. I've heard very good things about his replacement though. Also, many of the teachers are switching grades, including the teacher that Elayna SO badly wanted next year. But I'm not worried, it's a great school and I know the kids will be Okay. We ran into Elayna's 4th grade teacher today and she had such great things to say about Elayna. I just soaked it all up! Love it!



Alright, if you have a teenage or preteen daughter and haven't heard this song yet....you just have to hear this!

And as always, don't forget to check out

Half Past Kissin Time for more Friday Fragments posts!

And have a fantastic weekend.

The Simple Things....

I am a simple girl.

And although I will admit that there are some simple things that really irritate me....

like ridiculously long lines at the store,

or SLOOOOW drivers in the fast lane........

There are so many simple things that make me very happy.

Like those times when my whole family (me, John & the kids) are sitting around, talking and laughing our butts off. Sometimes I stop in the middle of it all and tear up, because it's so simple, so sweet.

Like the close friendship that my daughter Shelbie has with my best friend's daughter. They are best friends too, and even if they don't talk for a while, they pick right back up. They love each other dearly. And I LOVE that.

Like a great song on the radio.

Like a GOOD sleep. Which, now that I'm working more hours, is much harder to obtain.

Like eating the vegetables that we grew in our garden.

Like banana Fanta Icees.

Like when my husband and I say exactly the same thing at exactly the same time. And then crack up.

Like a really good book.

Like when my kids' friends call me their 'other mom'.

There is no fancy thing in the world that can bring me as much joy as the simple things.

Linking up with Mama Kat for her Writer's Workshop.

Look Who's Talking

Meep is gracing my blog with her furry presence today!

I decided to interview her, to see how things are going for her here at Dysfunction Junction.

If you're new, click HERE to read some older Meep posts.

"Hello there!

What's that?

You want to put me on the blog again?

Hang on, let me wash my face, I just ate.

You want to know what, exactly, I just ate?

I think we should change the subject now.

So.

You want me to sing you a song?

Whatever, your ears are NOT bleeding.

At least someone around here loves me.

She doesn't mind that I'm a runt.

She's kinda short herself!

Shorties gotta stick together."

{This cat is about a year and a half old, and still the size of an adolescent kitten. Her mom is tiny, she is tinier, and probably will not grow any more.

But we love her just the way she is!}

Linking up for Wordful Wednesday: