Adios March!

Are you as surprised as I am that March is 

already coming to a close??

Sadly, we are ending it in Nebraska just as we started it -

with snow forecast!

Just say NOOOO!

Bye Bye March!

In other random news, little granddaughter Dorothy

turned 3 yesterday!

Ahhhh - I remember the day she was born and I spilled

the beans that "it's a girl" before they told me not to tell

the kids!  OY!

They'll never forget how Mimi screwed that one up! :)

We'll be celebrating Dorothy's birthday on Sunday

with pancakes, waffles, Eggs Benedict and bacon! 

Always bacon! Yum!

(These photos were borrowed from their family b-day celebration!)

And next year, we'll have another March birthday to celebrate -

Baby Gloria is now 3-1/2 weeks old already!

In more random news,

Mads and I  tried our hands at a crafty little Easter egg

project recently!

Craft eggs with Modge-Podged designs.

Gorgeous, right?

I hope to get a few more done over the weekend . . . 

instead of cleaning closets and drawers.

Avoidance is one of my best attributes!

How about you? 

 What's up this weekend?

Catching Up - the Birthday Post!

Attempting to catch up a little bit!

Even though Maddie and I loved our part-time

jobs as Christmas gift wrappers, it did

put us a bit behind and the poor old blog

suffered!  

As did my housekeeping and laundry!

Miss Maddie turned 17 in December!

Yay for a birthday and the start of Christmas break! :)

Bummer that she had finals on her birthday! :(

We celebrated at one of her favorite places with the

whole family - Olive Garden!

Can you say YUM!!

We brought our own birthday cookie cake

and it was delish!

It had just enough frosting to keep me happy!

She's such a sweet and special girl!

Happy No. 17 Maddie!

Painting by Numbers??

Not only did Mr. Miata have a birthday in July,

I did too!

For a birthday gift, Connor gave me a gift certificate

to The Corky Canvas for Maddy and me to do some painting

and he joined us!

Oh my word -- I thought it was paint by numbers

or fill in the lines!

No, it was more like a demonstration of 

how to do the painting and instructions to follow along!

We mixed colors, painted fancy swirls, dots and

filled the canvas with the most adorable little owl!

Obviously, some people are 

better at following directions and drawing

a straight or curvy line than others!

Bonus -- wine was served!!

It was such a fun afternoon!

We will definitely try to find our artsy side again!

So Long February - Hello March

Hello Friends!

Are you ready for the month of March?

I'm thinking praying that it will be better

weather-wise than February!

Come on Mother Nature - play nice and

bring us some warm weather please!

February ended with my son, Philip's, birthday!

He turned 30 years old!

Holy cow -- how can he be 30?!

He loved that Sesame Street riding toy!

He was born on a record-high warm day -- 68 degrees!

So lovely!

I recall Mr. Tennis hitting every single pothole on the

way to the hospital!
Ouch!  :(

Philip was a healthy 9 pounder!

Such an adorable baby!

And he's been a joy ever since!

Philip at 7 years old and Connor at 5.

This past year he finished his pediatric residency and

moved with his family to Lincoln!

We are so delighted to have them here and
 celebrated at a dinner out last week.

Philip with his 2 boys, Walt and Harry

Such a great time and celebration!

Happy Birthday Philip!

Mini Blueberry Pies for Mom

My sweet Mother's birthday was this past Sunday.

I have been thinking of her a lot lately and missing her so.

Maddy, Mom and me from 2009

Fall was her favorite time of year and one of her (and our favorite activities) was baking pies --
her specialty was apple pies!
Of course, she made the crust from scratch and baked each pie with the
perfect amount of juicy apples and love.

Once in a while my Dad would buy a frozen apple pie he found
on sale somewhere and would attempt to say it was as good as homemade.
She and I both turned up our noses at those!
There's just no beating one of her homemade apple pies.
You should have tasted her homemade dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls!

So, in honor of her birthday the other day,
I made . . . mini blueberry pies!
Although they looked a bit messy,
they were delicious and I know she would have loved them!

Recipe and directions from the Pioneer Woman.

My Mom would have loved her and her fun cooking show!

Thinking of you on your birthday and every single day Mom.

You are loved and missed.

Birthday Fun!

I had a birthday earlier this week!

Yippee!
And no, I'm not telling how old I am 

. . . old enough to love me some Botox!! :)

It has really been a fun week -- am trying to spread the celebrating out!
The day before my birthday, my 

twin sister came to town for lunch so we could 

celebrate together!

It was soooooo nice!

We had a really fun lunch and chat!

On my birthday, I had a total indulgence
and had my hair shampooed and blown out!
Those who know me are quite aware of the battle
I have with my wavy/frizzy locks especially in the summer!
She made it sooooo straight that a friend from Maddy's
school did not recognize me when I picked Maddy up
from theatre camp!

Of course, the best part of my day
was celebrating with my sweet family*!

*Catherine was evidently taking the photos and neglected to get in any - sorry sweetie!
Next time!

Philip and Catherine made a super yummy dinner for us -
I'm not sure where he got his cooking abilities
as it wasn't from me or Mr. Tennis! :)
It was great to spend the evening with everyone
and totally indulge in some yummy cookie cake!
Do you see the special details on the cookie Maddy ordered?
 . . . A little Scottie, my big red jeep, some running shoes and balloons!

Later today I am picking up my bicycle from
a little tune-up!
It was my Mom's bike and I love that I have it!
Really missed her on my birthday
(every day, but even more on that day).
Lots of bicycle-riding with Maddy happening soon!

Happy Happy Birthday!

Today is my oldest son's birthday!

Happy 29th Philip!

It was 68 degrees on the day he was born.
Of course, it was 10 degrees with a major snowstorm
a few days later --
that's life in Nebraska!

He's an amazing Dad and husband,
a caring doctor,
and a wonderful son!

Happy Birthday Philip!
Love you!!!

She's 1 and He's Way More than That!

Two celebrations last weekend. Little Miss Janie turned 1 earlier in February and

her Dad (my son) turned a lot older than that!

Somebody help me -- do the math -- he turned 26!

Her Mom, Catherine, made the cutest little ladybug tutu for her birthday -- adorable!

Maddy helped decorate the cupcakes -- don't they look fabulous!

They were extremely yummy too!

Mr. Tennis had two, no make that three;

well, actually he ate the one meant for Cboo -- so he had 4 cupcakes!!

We had so much fun visiting and celebrating the birthdays!

Maddy had a blast with her little niece and helped her . . .

let's face it, Maddy opened all the presents for Janie.

Janie was a bit preoccupied with demolishing her birthday cupcake!

Isn't she the cutest little girl!

Happy Birthday Janie and Philip!

I know the next year is going to be an exciting

and wonderful one for your whole family!

Happy B-day Mr. Tennis

It's the Rickster's b-day! I try to ignore my birthday and certainly do not add to my age -- in fact, I seem to be getting younger every single year!! We had a great vacation at Hilton Head! It was fun to see everyone and Maddy and Rick made so many new friends - I was already friends with everyone. He had a blast playing tennis and living up to his "Mr. Tennis" moniker! Since we just got back home late last night/early this morning, a slight change in plans. Maddy and I were going to whip up a quick cake for him, but we're rethinking that and decided that a dinner and cake at our favorite restaurant sounds good (and much easier too)! Happy Birthday Sweetie!

On the beach at Hilton Head!

24!

Wow -- 24 -- no, not the TV show (though I've heard it's great), but my oldest son, Philip, turns 24 on February 28! Happy Birthday to You! Hard to believe that it's been that long since he was born on a really warm spring-like day that year. And, being the Midwest, it was snowing a few days later when we headed home. He weighed in at just over 9 pounds. Before he was born, my OB predicted I would have a 7 pound baby girl! The doc said he was NOT going to make predictions ever again after he was so wrong that time! :)

Ahhhh -- the first-born -- the things we didn't know when he was a baby! I constantly worried that he had a fever. That poor kid had his temp taken more times that first month than probably in his whole life! And there were no ear thermometers back then! ;) But, oh my, he was such a wonderful baby, even though I don't think he slept through the night until he was almost a year old!

Philip at 7 years old and Connor at 5 -- such cuties!!!

He had a few minor medical issues through the years including those dreaded ear infections and ear tubes. The tubes left a hole in his eardrum that had to be surgically repaired not once, but twice. Then one summer when he was swimming a lot, I was determined to keep that ear dry, so I put drying ear drops in every day. When I took him to the doc after he complained his ear hurt, the pediatrician looked at it and said, "That's strange, his eardrum is so dry, it's about to burst!" Ooops -- sorry about that!

And all of sudden, in the blink of an eye it seemed, he was grown up. He graduated from high school and then from college (those high school and college years go by so fast)! And now, he's in his second year of medical school. Last May he got married and we added his sweet wife Catherine to our family. It's been a wonderful 24 years and we look forward to many fun times in the years ahead.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Flashback Friday -- The Birthday Edition

Maddy will be 7 in a couple weeks, so I thought it would be fun to look back at some of her earlier birthdays. Here she is turning 3 -- as you can see!

Having a Party!

While the basement project continues and dust collects and settles EVERYWHERE (it is so thick already and the re-drywalling hasn't even started --aaaack!), let's turn our attention to something more fun, shall we? Someone special is turning 7 soon -- another reason to celebrate in December!! Yes, Miss Maddy turns 7 just a few days before Christmas. Since it is a very busy time for a birthday party, we are having her girlfriend party the first weekend in December. Then we'll have a family get-together on her actual birthday, so she gets to celebrate twice--yay!! In keeping with her fondness for all things "stuffed", her party is going to be at a Build-@-Bear-type place since there is no Build-@-Bear in our lovely city. It's the same general principal as BAB, but is called the "Animal Creation Station." Since she is a girl who LOVES stuffed animals, how divine to have her birthday party at a place where stuffed animals are created and celebrated!!!