Mother's Day SIMC

We all gathered at my Mother-in-law's house 

to celebrate Mother's Day.

I made lasagna, and we had salad, texas toast 

and three yummy desserts; 

pineapple upside down cake and 

chocolate delight from my mom,

and Shelbie made monkey bread.

Heather & Hayleigh

Heather and Hayleigh,
and behind them,
my mom and sister.
4 generations!

My mom & me

After dinner was eaten and gifts were opened, 

we all headed out to the pool.

Hayleigh loved splashing in the water!

Elayna taking a break
(yes, those are my toes.
I mostly soaked up the sun.
The water is still a LITTLE chilly for me!)

Elayna cheesin'

Tim trickling water over Hay-bug's head.
It made her giggle!

The Mamas: mine on the left and Byron's on the right.

MIL has two armadillos living under her deck.
They came out to play today.

MIL's dogs let them know
that they were NOT welcome there.

We all had a lovely Mother's Day.  

The card my son gave me got me all choked up.  

The gift from my girls will be here later this month.
OH and my wonderful Mother-in-Law
 gave me a firepit like hers for my birthday!  I LOVE IT.
I was asking where she got hers
 and mentioned that I'd always wanted one,
and BAM now I have one!

I'm feeling very blessed!

Hope you all had a wonderful day too.

Pretty Much

** Thank you all for your comments on Shelbie's artwork!  I showed them to her and she loved it.  =)


** My sweet hubby is taking me away to the beach for my birthday!  Y'all - I turn 40 on Saturday!  WOOT WOOT It honestly doesn't bother me AT ALL.  We have a lot of fun plans and I'm excited!  St Augustine - my favorite place on the planet - I can't wait!

** I am so blessed with an AWESOME Mother-in-Law this time around.  Not only that, but my parents actually have a relationship with her- so much so, that we are all celebrating Mothers' Day at  MIL's house.  I'm cooking! This is so much nicer than dividing time or alternating years.  It's all one big, happy family!

** Also, I pretty much have the best son on the planet.  He is 20 years old but he still tells me he loves me every time we talk on the phone - even when he's at work, surrounded by guys.  And he says it FIRST.  He is also taking care of our pets while we're away this weekend.  He pretty much is awesome.  Proud Mama right here!

** So, that's pretty much all I've got.  I'm out for the weekend.  Wishing you all the best, and a wonderful Mother's Day!

These are my confessions...

I confess....
that I have always wanted to confess with Mamarazzi, and this week seemed like the perfect week to do it.


I confess..... 
that today is my BIRTHDAY!!  I am 39 and darned proud of it.

I confess....
that I'm going to PARTY tonight.  Oh yes I am!


I confess....
that I still love my birthday like I did when I was a little kid.


I confess....
that when I was very young, I was APPALLED one year to see that the mail was still delivered on
MY BIRTHDAY!!!  It's a HOLIDAY, people, WTF??  

I confess...
that never has a birthday went by that my MOTHER didn't remind me of that!  (She just texted me "Hope u have a very happy birthday! Think the mail will come today?" I replied "It better not!!")


I confess.....
that I think it's because I LOVE ATTENTION and I get lots of attention on my birthday!  Yeah, I said it.  I'm a bit of an attention whore.  What then!
You can go ahead and get me one of these for my birthday because TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY DID I MENTION THAT????

I confess....
that I loved waking up to dozens of Facebook posts saying Happy Birthday!


I confess....
that I would like every day to be my birthday.


I confess.... 
that I am already planning my 40th Birthday party.  And it is going to be EPIC.


I confess....
that last month nearly took me down, but I'm still standing! (yeah, yeah, yeah!)


I confess.... 
that when I look at pictures of Tim Tebow, I want to do things to him that go against his admirable Christian values.  STRONGLY.AGAINST.  And over and under and around and.....

I confess....
that I absolutely can't wait for this weekend!  On Sunday we'll be with my family celebrating baby Hayleigh's Dedication, Mother's Day, and MY BIRTHDAY (did I mention that today is MY BIRTHDAY?????)!!!!




Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend, and Happy Mother's Day to the Mommies!!  

Where to Begin?

There is so much going on around here, I don't know where to start!

Most of it is good, and I'm focusing on only the good today.

We had a fun weekend. On Saturday the kids had a soccer game, and then we took them to the Splash Pad at a nearby park. They had a blast. Then they washed our car, washed the dog, and weeded the garden! Go Child Labor!

For Mother's Day, very little money was spent but still I was spoiled and made to feel very special. I got breakfast in bed, a huge vase of hand-picked wildflowers, handmade cards as well as store-bought cards and small gifts. It was simple, sweet, and thoughtful, and I loved it all.

With all the stuff that we've been through lately, I've realized some things. I am blessed to have a very strong marriage. If it wasn't, we could not have weathered these trying times. It has just made us stronger, and if I have to go through these things, there's nobody that I'd rather go through it with than my husband & family. And I have faith that we're going to be the ones still standing when all of the dust settles. I'm clinging to that. My family isn't perfect, but we are strong and bonded by love. We may fight with each other, but we will also fight FOR each other. We are a force to be reckoned with!

There's so much more to say; Wednesday is my birthday and we have a FUN afternoon planned, and I have a FANTASTIC day planned on Friday, followed by a great weekend....but I'll post all about that later in the week!

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day full of appreciation & love!

{virtual} coffee

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I've been seeing these {virtual} coffee posts up recently, and I wanted to join in, but I never remembered until it was too late. Because that's how I roll. But finally, as I was sitting here with writer's block, I remembered in time to join in. So I visited the blog that hosts {virtual} coffee, and fell in love. Go check out Lucky Number 13 - I bet you fall in love too.

First of all, if we were having coffee, we'd probably be at Starbucks. Because I don't make coffee at home. Second, it would probably be in the afternoon. Because I am not an early riser. I would be drinking something with lots of sugar and caramel and vanilla and yumminess. I don't really want my coffee to taste like coffee! Once we got our coffee, we could get down to chit-chat.

Tonight after the kids' soccer practice, I'm going to our Ladies' Bible Study for my church. I usually don't go; weeknights can be so hectic. But I need this; I think it will be good for me.

Did you realize that Mother's Day is THIS weekend? Because I did not. It works out well though, because the kids will be home this weekend.

I can't believe we've only been in our new home for a little over a month. It feels like forever! We really like it here. My garden is coming along nicely. We're starting to see pears popping out on the pear tree. Do you have any good pear recipes?

We have so much going on in our lives. Besides the stressful stuff....let's not even go there! My son is graduating in June. My niece is getting married later that month. And in September, my parents will celebrate their 50th anniversary! We're already throwing around ideas about that celebration. We want to surprise them.

What are your summer plans? We're hoping to spend some time at the beach & springs, camping and swimming. Maybe we'll be able to hit up an amusement park, too.

Well, all this hot coffee has made me thirsty. I need a Diet Dr Pepper!

See you next week!

Wordful Wednesday ~ Mother's Day Edition

Mother's Day 2010

I had a pretty great Mother's Day. First we went to church for our Mother's Day service. The kids brought me flowers. It was very nice.
Then we went home and I spent most of the day relaxing by the pool, which is exactly how I wanted to spend my Mother's Day. John grilled burgers & hot dogs for dinner. The kids gave me cards, plants, hugs, love, and a few new gray hairs.
My parents, sister, niece, and niece's fiance also came over to spend the day. We had a ton of good food and I got more nice gifts for my birthday.
The cards from the Littles were super-cute, and the card from Tim was super-funny, so I just had to share them.

Hope y'all had a great Mother's Day!

P.S. If you missed yesterday's post, check it out ~ I've started a Snail Mail Project!

Word to My Mother

Oh, my Mother. She is so good to me, and she drives me so very crazy. Although she claims that she understands that I work full time and have a house full of kids, pets, and responsibilities, still she would love for me to call her every.single.day. and talk for at least 2.5 hours. I'm totally serious. And if I don't answer her calls, she pouts.
She is sixty seven years old, and she still pouts.
But I can usually make her laugh and she comes around.
Now, let me tell you about something else that this sixty-seven year old lady does.
She texts. Often. And not only that, she uses text-speak! And she does it like a pro.
I don't even use text-speak, and I am thirty years younger than her!
She texts like a teenager, and it cracks.me.up.

So I'm going to subject you to share with you two recent texts I received from my Mama.
She ordered one of my birthday gifts and had it shipped directly to me, and heaven forbid, I didn't let her know that I received her gift. So I got this:

guess i sent ur b.gift to the wrong address.they said it had been delivered.
(Queen of Passive Aggressive, she knew she had sent it to the right address!)
I called her and teased her about her mean text message, and she acted all innocent!

Then later I got this:
i dont want u to get me anything for m.day!
(Queen of Martyrdom, she knows she wants gifts!)
My reply was: well too bad!

I'm going to try to say this like my mom would:

hope U have a great m.day!

Mother's Day

I received this via text message and wanted to share it with you all.

I traded eyeliner for dark circles,
salon hair for ponytails and braids,
long showers for hairy legs,
late nights for early mornings,
designer purses for diaper bags,
and wouldn't change a thing!!

Moms don't care what we gave up and will continue to give up for our kids til the end of time! :)

Happy (Early) Mothers Day!

Weekend Wrap-Up 5.11.09

I hope you all had a great Mother's Day Weekend! I definitely did.
Friday night, we went to the Crawfish Boil in St Augustine and had a blast!!

Saturday, we went to St Augustine beach, the fort, and shopped & had lunch along St George's street. It was great!

Then I ended up not feeling well so we went ahead and left Saturday afternoon. We spent the night with the in-laws. Other than that, we had a really good time overall, and I felt much better Sunday morning.

Sunday was Mother's Day, of course. Hubby had given me a single red rose the day before, and woke me up with a massage. Ahhh! We picked my kids up from their dad and headed over to my parents' house. Andrew came over with the in-laws. We had a very nice time and I got some beautiful gifts. I also got some of the best cards ever! The one from my MIL was especially nice. Also, Tim and Shelbie bought Mother's Day cards themselves for me, and they were both great. The Littles made cards for me which were super-sweet!

Also on Sunday, I found out that a reader of my blog adopted one of our Foster Kittens!! The kittie were at Petsmart this weekend with the rescue group. Astaryth had emailed about them after realizing we live not terribly far from one another. So Saturday, she visited Petsmart and took home the little black and white girl! I'm thrilled that I'll get to watch her grow through Astaryth's blog! There are still four left...is there anyone else nearby out there looking for a kitteh? =)

*ETA: I almost forgot to tell you ~ I am 36 years old today! We celebrated yesterday but hubby is making dinner for me tonight. Gotta love him!

Hope your week is great!

Yo Mama!

So, what are you doing for Mother's Day?
Our recent Mother's Day celebrations have gotten a little less ordinary and more fun.

We always celebrate my birthday on Mother's Day, because it's always close to the day and sometimes falls on Mother's Day. Several years ago I started the tradition of making lasagna every year. We all meet up at my parents' house and have a good time.

My ex's mother passed away many years ago, so until I met John, sharing the day was never an issue. But now we both have mothers to celebrate. So last year, I got a great idea. Since my parents and his family really like each other and enjoy one anothers' company, I invited his family to just come join our celebration. They did, and we all had a great time!

So, we made that our new tradition. This year we'll have all three of the women over who helped make my husband the awesome man he is today; his mother, aunt, and grandmother.

I'll make the lasagna, we'll exchange gifts, and hang out and have fun.

(and my mom's not mad at me at the moment, woohoo!)

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Mother's Day!

How will you celebrate?
Do you have any traditions?

For Mother's Day...............

Making the decision to have a child - it’s momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. ~Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty

Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. ~Marion C. Garretty

Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Couldn't resist throwing this one in......

Setting a good example for your children takes all the fun out of middle age. ~William Feather