Spring is Here! Yes!

I am so happy that Spring is here! We may get a blustery day from winter not wanting to go away and let Spring take its proper place, but I hope not! The weather man said that today was going to be in the low 60's and sunny. It was 65 and gorgeous! The rest of the week it will be rainy and showers, so today was the day to do my projects outside! I worked outside for 4 hours! Woo hoo! :o)

I love Heather. I bought these three plants and in a few years they will be much bigger! I can't plant too much in this area since it's where two cable boxes are located. Originally the developer had three grass looking things growing in there and I never liked them. So out they came!

You can't see in this picture but to the left is a phone cable box. My flowering plum tree is finally beginning to bloom. It's a slow starter. I'm glad because when everyone else's tree are done, mine is taking it's turn for beauty!

This is the 'after' picture. If you look along the fence line it's just dirt. I spent two hours taking out weeds! In the next few pictures following you can see the weeds in the pictures along the fence line. Every Spring I weed and keep it that way until winter. I let my grand kids use this back fence to draw with sidewalk chalk and do whatever art they want!

Our Peach tree is beginning to blossom!

See those weeds along the fence line? Not pretty!

I am blessed to see my neighbor's gorgeous tree from my patio window in the back of the house! Those trees are so gorgeous!

When Kirsten was in her final year of high school in her Life Skills Class they had an art project to do. I cut 150 little pieces of double layered pink tissue paper into squares and twisted them into little blossoms for her tree. We put glue dots on the page and helped her press her flowers on! It was a big hit in the class. Seeing my neighbor's gorgeous flowering plum trees reminds me of Kirsten's beautiful picture!

I love yard figurines and today I pulled them out of the garage from winter storage and put them out. I love them!

I had to replace two of my rose bushes in this spot. I'm not sure what happened but they did not survive the winter like the other two roses bushes did. One is a double flowered orange and the other a single bloom red rose. My other two rose bushes are yellow and pink. I love roses!

I have wanted a bird bath since last summer. I found this one at Walmart. It's made out of concrete so Neil approves of it, of course! I need him to glue (or however he does it) the bowl to the pedestal so it won't accidentally come off if one of my sweet little grand kiddies grab onto it. I also planted some new flowers in my planter. I can't wait to see how much bigger they will be in a month or two!

Angela's baby shower!

Today was Angela's baby shower at her mom's home. The picture below from...
L-R: Jennifer Fox, Angela Guptill (little mommy!), Stephanie Fox and momma Fox, Barbara.
I asked them if they wouldn't mind if I took a family picture of them. I said, 'say baby!' And snapped the picture. It worked! They were all smiling! :o)

This sweet little outfit was made by my dear friend. She made the dress, coat, blanket, slippers and headband in 1 week! She had so much fun crocheting this for Angela! It's gorgeous!

This is Angela opening my friend's gift.

Michelle sent this adorable Sherpa for Angela. It's soooo soft! On Angela's shoulder is a cute pin, "soon-to-be mommy"

This was a crib size quilt I made for Angela. It has cute elephants on one side and flowers on the other. I bought these two incredibly soft stuffed elephants that were pink and so adorable! I also made her a dozen drool bandanna bibs, 6-small and 6-large.

This is the floral side.

Angela reading my card. I had given her a check to pay for a crib mattress. Her parents gave her a matching crib and dresser. We gave her money for the mattress.

Lisa gave her some onsies and made these adorable leggings! I was so glad she made those while she was visiting me. Now I know how to make them!

Lisa also gave Angela some needed personal mommy things which she appreciated getting. :o)

I asked Angela to pose for me so we could see how big she was! Her blouse was so cute! She's such a cute girl and such a sweetheart!

David and Angela's dog Nala is the white chihuahua on the left. Marley is the black chihuahua on the right and is Angela's dad's dog. Bonnie is the terrier in the background and also belongs to Angela's mom. They were not happy about being on the 'outside' looking in!

This is Barbara, Angela's mom holding up a mat for a picture frame. They had us sign our names on the mat. They will put baby Avery's picture in the frame once she makes her appearance!

Bryan, Angela's dad, is making a rocking cradle for baby Avery. It can be on the floor as well as on a rocking stand. It's made of solid oak and is so cute! He hopes to have it finished before baby gets here! It will be her heirloom!

They had yummy food for us to eat. I also brought a platter of strawberries with a fruit dip and a bowl of yummy Snicker salad ( made with cool whip, vanilla pudding, cut up granny apples and snickers). They had a veggie tray and dip, quiche, another fruit bowl and a breakfast casserole made with biscuits and sausages. Yummy food!

Angela was so appreciative of everyone that came and for all the wonderful gifts she received. She got lots of onsies from newborn up to one year, leggings, pants and tops, sleepers, a few dresses, my friend's crocheted dress-coat-blanket-booties-headband, receiving blankets, two quilts, saucer seat, diaper wipes, plenty of rattles and teething toys, Michelle's Sherpa,bottle brush, feeding spoons, snack cups, outlet plug covers, bibs, a baby care kit for brushing teeth and cleaning and trimming baby's fingernails, pacifiers, two baby dishrack baskets (?s) that holds bottle nipples, etc., a few gift cards and only one small package of newborn diapers. I was so surprised she didn't get a lot of disposable diapers. She did get a diaper genie though! Angela said David would be very excited about that gift! We also played 3 games. One game we had a skein of yarn and had to cut off a length that would be what we guessed Angela might be around her tummy. One gal cut a piece the perfect length, it was an exact measurement! Angela told us her total weight gain (with only 6 weeks remaining) is 17 1/2 pounds. We all told her that was excellent! She looks wonderful! She did say that she has not too comfortable these past few nights and is glad she only has 6 weeks left!

Laughter is the best medicine!

This past week Lisa and her three 'lovelies' were visiting us. I drove down and picked them up last Friday and then drove them back home yesterday, Friday. Jordan was on his 'finals madness' week and was able to study without distractions. He passed everything! Congratulations Jordan!!! :o)

A visit would not be complete unless Lisa and I put together a puzzle. This was a mosaic puzzle. The only interlocking pieces were the outer frame. The other pieces were like tiles. It only took us 2 hours to put this together. It had about 400 to 500 pieces. I have to say Lisa did the Lion's share! I was getting Kirsten down for the night.

I took this picture from Lisa's blog. It totally identifies Matilda, a laugh a minute! Matilda is 4 years old and what a silly girl! She has an amazing grasp of the vocabulary world! You would think she was 12! On the ride back home yesterday we were about 45 minutes from their home and Tillie is 'begging' her mom to see a movie. Kids know that if you 'bug' your parents long enough they will cave. Lisa did not cave. She was remained firm! Lisa is addressing the needs of the other two in the back seat. Tillie sighs and says, "Oh man!" in a resigned kind of voice that said, I didn't get my way!

Again, I took this picture from Lisa's blog. I love this picture of LaRue, it captures every ounce of her loveliness and beauty! She is all about being a 'princess'! Everything she colors and imagines it is princess related! She is also miss 'neat and tidy', took after her Grandpa Guptill. She is helpful with her siblings. She loves to 'run'. While their mother was out on a run I had the girls doing exercises indoors. Unfortunately it rained every day and they could not play outside. So while mom was on a run I had them 'running' around my kitchen island, takes in the living and dining room, it's an open area, no doors. She can run like a streak of lightening!

Another picture I took from Lisa's blog. This epitomizes what Adelaide is all about. I call her, 'Miss Busy'. In her latest adventure here she loved to hide wherever she could squeeze into. When our footrest was out and we were sitting on the couches Adelaide would try and squeeze underneath the couch where the footrest popped up. She road her little push car under the table, she hid in the wardrobe cupboard, and into the toy chest cupboard. She is not afraid of the dark. She would open the coat closet and shut herself inside. It's pitch black and she is NOT afraid!

I bought two wooden peg puzzles that have 6 pieces and she had those figured out in a heartbeat! Her mom took both puzzles and mixed the pieces all together and Adelaide had them put together is less than a minute! She is so smart!

When my grandchildren come to visit I have a few basic rules:

-All food and drink remains IN the kitchen, not outside the kitchen.

-No jumping on the bed.

-No standing on, climbing or jumping on the couch or other furniture.

Three simple rules but like all normal children, they need reminders all day long!

I hope when my children and grandchildren visit us they can forgive me for getting after them as I remind them of these simple rules. When my children were growing up I felt like I should be wearing a black and white striped shirt with a whistle hung around my neck. I felt like a full time referee! Well, guess what? My grandchildren are just like their parents when they were their age! If I don't laugh a lot I would probably go nuts. So I hope my children and grandchildren don't think I'm not quite all there in the brain department. Laughter keeps me happy and sane! :o) I do love these little cherubs that come and visit.

If I seemed somewhat distracted this last visit I had a lot on my mind, most especially Kirsten and her latest neurology visit. She is having seizures every other day and we're going to see an epileptic specialist to see what suggestions she has. She has been having seizures 2-3 times a week since Thanksgiving. Now they are every other day and I have to give her Diastat and it's not something I want her to be on all the time. So I hope that appt. comes us very soon.