Stay tuned, PLEASE

Things have been so busy lately that I don't have a lot of time to get on the internet.  GASP!  I never knew I could get that busy!

I am frantically getting ready to fly out to my granddaughter's high school graduation.

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Here are the grands when they were much younger!  The reason I have an old picture here is because I got my son's Mac book, but apparently since I didn't have my pictures in good order and because I have so many, he's having to download them some at the time.  Now I can't find anything! 

Anyhow!  I'll be gone a few days.  I don't have any scheduled posts and to tell you the whole truth,  I don't know how to schedule posts.  So.....

Be watching around the 9th or 10th and you'll see lots of pictures and hear about our California adventures!  

Y'all come back now!

Go see!

Gigi is having a giveaway!  Go over and check it out.  Plus she's much more interesting than me today!

A little gardening?

O.K. little is the operative word here.  I'm not anybody's version of a gardener, but I have been known to plant a few things.....every now and then.

Picking out plants is torture for me....I walked around for three minutes looking for the appropriate plants. I just said I was nobody's version of a gardener!  But this is what I ended up with so I went straight home and did my version of planting.  I think I just won't go into that.  Let's just say I don't spend all day planting. 

I had a particularly good reaction when I stumbled across these little beauties.

My next door neighbor gave me this pot of what I now know to be hostas several years ago.  I set them down right there and haven't moved them.  The first winter came and they died....deader than a doornail!  I didn't think much about it until spring when much to my surprise they came back better than before!  This has happened every winter and spring for oh, probably five years now.  The point being, I knew they were a hardy plant to survive five years in my yard.

You can hardly see these little beauties, but they really are pretty.  I think it's Mexican heather, correct me please if I'm wrong.  They don't show up in the pictures but are really nice and will look better when we get new mulch put around them.

These, well these are another story.  They aren't pretty.  I do not like them.....when they die I will replace them with something prettier!

Would you look at the cracks in my driveway?????  I just noticed that and I'm so ashamed!


I also did a couple of things in the house.....


I bought these baskets to put under the church pew to store junk stuff in and as you can see, I've already started.

This is a photo I took when we were vacationing at St. George Island last year.  It really looks better without my reflection.   

  Another thing I've been doing lately!  More of my fascinating life to come!

Just some fun today!

Debby is following a tag and has put out these questions.  I thought it might be fun to do this, but I'm not tagging....just answering!

If you are here and want to play along, these are your ten questions from Debby.

1. 
   
   How often do you change the sheets on your bed?
    At least twice a week.  I really like clean sheets and our dogs sleep with us, so even though they're clean (they're looking at me accusingly), I want us them to always have clean , fresh sheets!
2. 
   
   Do you wash your hair everyday?
   I used to.....now every other day.  When I was younger I wouldn't go out of the house without makeup and freshly washed hair!  
    
3. 
   
   Have you ever told a white lie to get out of doing things when people ask?
   I'm afraid I can't answer this question on the grounds it could incriminate me!
    
4. 
   
   Do you like to talk on the phone or send emails to communicate?
   I really like talking on the phone......ask my husband, he just told me I used 712 minutes on my cell phone last month.  I told him it would be best if we just don't talk about it, especially not on the phone!  :)
    
5. 
   
   Matthew McConaughey or George Clooney?
   I know I'm in the minority, but I don't care for George Clooney and I hated his new movie!  I like Matthew though!
    
6. 
   
   I have known people who take a new towel each day after they shower. Are you one of those people?
   NO!  I figure I'm drying a clean body!  I use my towel a few days.
    
7. 
   
   Have you ever been on the news or had your picture in the newspaper?
   I had my picture in the newspaper when I got married :) both times.....actually there were three weddings but we don't really need to get into all that!  Besides, two of them were to the same man.  Also, when I was doing a class for juveniles I was in the paper with a co worker!  
    
8. 
   
   Do you buy new cars or do you always buy a used car? 
   I have had two brand new cars in my life.  We don't buy cars very often.  My present car is 7 years old and doing fine!  
9. 
   
   Do you have a green thumb when it comes to house plants?
    Oh, NOOOO......my poor husband had beautiful house plants when we married and I'm pretty sure they committed suicide when I moved in.....we don't buy inside plants anymore!
    
10. 
    
    Where would you like to live when you retire?
    Right where I've been all my life!  
     

So come on, give the tag a try and pass some questions on to others. Let me know if you play! 

Time flies......whether you're having fun or not....

But I actually have been having fun for the most part!  Five days passes fast in blogland!

One of my sons has started college and needs to borrow my computer a lot so I'm not on as much.....or it's late and if I write at night I can't be responsible for what I might say!  :)  

Just a few of the things I've been up to.....besides trying to read your blogs......a swim day with a couple of sweet mamas from church and their kids.......it's always fun to swim and play! 

Karina wastes no time!

Jump, I'm right here to catch you!

Nope, changed my mind.  It's a lot higher up here than it looks.

Emily with the little girls!

Poor Ethan, I only got him from the back!  He's in the ring float and he was surrounded by girls!

Isn't this a fun float!? 

That was a fun day with more days to follow....tomorrow. 

The virtual baby shower

Yes, I have been very, very busy!  I have tried to blog every day but something came along that was more important!  Thanks for checking in....things might be slower around here for just a little while!  
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Some of our sweet church ladies and a good friend (not that the church ladies aren't my good friends), planned a baby shower for our daughter in law.  Three or four days before the shower, Claudia went in for a check up and went straight to the hospital with high blood pressure and was tested for pre eclampsia.  Thankfully, she doesn't have it, but she's now on modified bed rest so the shower had to be canceled. Tommy and Claudia would have been driving here from Ocala and she sure couldn't make that trip.

As you can see, Charley's arrival is not far away!

Claudia's cat...Little Cat...doesn't look too impressed!  If you look closely you can see their dog, Roscoe peering at her belly and he's probably thinking....where did my lap go???  I'm a lap dog!!

Lots of people brought their gifts to me and we decided to do a virtual shower....of sorts....in other words, I took pictures of the gifts, then opened the gifts and sent pictures to Tommy and Claudia with names and addresses.  

The only bad thing?  NO CAKE!  Well, there is the diaper cake, but I'm not thinking it would taste so good!  I'm still not quite over that!  :)

So here are the gifts! 

Is this the sweetest diaper cake you've ever seen or what?  Made by a very talented friend, it truly looks like you could eat a slice. 

The gift table

The Gifts

I am so thankful to be part of a loving church family and to have wonderful Christian friends.

Thanks to you all and I love every one of you!

Now we just wait until that sweet boy is born so we can hold him and love him!!!

Mother's day continued.....

One of the reasons I put up pictures of my mama as a young woman for Mother's day is that I've noticed people treat the elderly differently. 

Doctors talk to me instead of directing their remarks to her.  (or whoever is with her)

Once a few years ago I took her to get a manicure and the manicurist hardly said two words to mama and we ALL know how manicurists love to talk!  And it hurt my feelings for mama.

Every single solitary elderly person was once a young, vibrant person.  They could once run around the yard chasing their children.  They could drive their children to every activity and even help them participate.  Headed up the PTA.  They cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner.  They had birthday parties.  They held our heads when we were sick.  They talked to the doctors!  Age doesn't change who you are, just how you look and function!  Mama is still mama!

We were all once young.  And we will all be old!

O.K. then...got that???

Whew!

 This is mama with three of her children Mother's day 2010. 
Me, Tommy and Debbie. 

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Now, my husband thinks cards are a waste of money, but he knows how much I love getting them.  I think he really meant to buy one this year, but forgot.  When I got up Sunday morning, this card was standing on the kitchen bar.

Front

Inside!

That was better than any store bought card!  Those were his feelings!  AML/AML means all my love, all my life.  I had that engraved in his wedding band when we got married.  I actually stole that from another friend of mine, but she's o.k. with that!

Hppy Mother's Day

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, beautiful mama! 

There are many special things I could say about my mama.....but the most special thing is that she was just always there.

When we came home from school, she was there.  When we needed her, she was there.  

Thank you mama!  

I love you just doesn't seem like enough.  But, oh, how we love you!

At St. Andrew's State park.  Mama's holding me and I think that is my cousin Ellen beside us.

At Christmas with my brother and sister.....we later got three more!

Above mama with all six of us on her  80th birthday.

Mama with her sister on mama's 86th Birthday

Still a flower child after all these years!

God indeed blessed six children, six spouses, tons of grandchildren and lots of greatgrandchildren!

Charley's Nursery

An added bonus to graduation day was seeing our newest grandson's nursery.  Little Charley is due in June, although yesterday our little mama was admitted to the hospital with blood pressure problems.  She stayed overnight and is now officially on bed rest!  

She was feeling good while we were there and below is our sweet Charley's new room! 

The baby beds these days are just beautiful!  No more sliding sides....this bed will make into a full size bed one day so will grow up with Charley unless he lets a younger sibling use it for a while!

As you can see, Charley is going with a safari theme.  These are some wall hangings that are so cute.

Cubbies for Charley's stuff.  

Of course, NO little gator's room is complete without a gator print hanging on his wall!

Claudia and Nana

Claudia with Mema, the great grandmother....

Also notice on the right the camera pointed down into the crib.  It is a night vision camera!  They can watch the baby from the t.v. in their bedroom!  What will they think of next???

Grandma Janie flew in from Minnesota for the graduation.

Meanwhile, the soon to be Pappy is inspecting a cat toy that our dogs fell in love with.

Matt, Russell and Mema were enjoying Tommy and Claudia's new couch which has recliners at either end!  They are so comfortable!

Feeling neglected, Boxer made himself at home on the table.  Claudia told Russell to throw a sharpie at him......Russell being the obedient man that he is, threw it and hit Box right square between the eyes!  Before you call the ASPCA, let me tell you that Russell never thought he'd even come close to hitting that darn cat!  And oh, yes, Boxer got off the table and gave Russell scary glares the rest of the time we were there!

I didn't get pictures of the chest/changing table or the swing......maybe the next pictures, Charlie will actually be there in those things.  We can't wait to meet him!

It was a great time of visiting and we loved seeing the babie's room!  

Our prayers, and we ask for yours, are with Tommy, Claudia and the baby as we now wait for his safe arrival.  We love him so much now and can't wait to hold him in our arms!  

In fact, I feel I should go practice my rocking now, see you later!

College Graduation

The last few days have been quite the whirlwind, but in a good way!  We got to see our youngest graduate from college after six years that flew by so fast our heads are still spinning!  

Last week we loaded our motor home and headed down to graduation with my MIL.  Another son lives near so we stayed in the city they live in and all got to visit with one another.

Friday was an early day since graduation was at 9 a.m. and we had a 45 minute drive.  DH and I got there first and got seats, which was a good thing because the stadium filled up fast.

Here's DH, MIL, the boys' mom, Tommy and Claudia.

The procession started.

Matt walking in......he's in the third group from the front on the right.

Matt was front and center, the second graduate again on the right.

A funny story....you know we always have a funny story.  When the 4,320 speeches were all done and the dean was about to confer the degrees, he asked all the doctors to stand.  Nobody stood for a moment so the dean  said .......That's all of you, stand please!  I asked Matt later why he didn't stand right up and he said he wasn't sure if they meant him!  That's right son, you're now a Pharm.D.

Matt walking across the stage......I don't have a fancy camera, but my little point and shoot did an o.k. job.

Dr. Matt with his brother Tommy

The boys' mom, Matt and Tommy.  Unfortunately Matt had his eyes closed!

Me, Matt, Russell, Tommy, Claudia.

Matt with his Mema, Tommy and Claudia

And here he is......the Dr.

Later that evening, we had a great dinner!

We had a great time with GREAT food!

I really loved this gator!  Matt is a gator through and through!

The cake.

All in all it was a great time of celebration.  AND he has a job!

Graduation was on Friday and we stayed over until Monday.

Now the next part of life starts!  God is good!