A Little Snow and a Birthday!

Our winter weather has been a bit strange!

We had 6 days in February with temps in the 70's!

Most of us were very happy with those

warm and sunny days!

Ahhhh-- felt like spring!

Two days after hitting a record high of 76, we had

thunder, rain, hail, sleet and snow all in the time frame of 2-3 hours!

That's the beauty of living in Nebraska -

the weather can change very quickly!

Our little Scottie thinks she is a snowdog -- she absolutely

loves it and spent a lot of time rolling around in the snow and rubbing her 

face in it every single time she went outside!

She has so much fun that I don't mind (too much) the messy towels 

and blankets she uses to dry off when she comes back into the house 

only to want to go out again in a very short amount of time. 

Who knows what the weatherman will bring us in March and April?

I'm ready for the warm-up to hang-around!

Happy last day of February

and Happy Birthday to my firstborn son Philip today!!

[He'll love that he got to share a blog post with the dog!!!]

I didn't make this cookie-cake, but wish I had a bite of it!

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!

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!!!

It's a Match!

The luck of the Irish was with us yesterday!

For the last few months, we have known that March 17th, besides being St. Patrick's Day, was Match Day for my oldest son.

For those not in the medical school world, that means that on that day, he would find out where he will be doing his residency.

While part of his medical school career is nearly over, another part will be starting up.

Wow -- when he started 4 years ago, I remember thinking - that's a long ways off

and here it is . . . time for a new adventure for him and his family. Mr. Tennis and I met Philip, Catherine and Janie at the festivities. You could feel the nervous excitement in the room.

He's going to into pediatrics -- my son, the doctor (just had to say that!!). He matched with his first choice. Bonus -- they don't have to move and are fairly close by!

We're so proud of him and his hard work. Congrats!!

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!

Black and White Wednesday - Maddy and Her Guys!

Maddy has such a deep love for everyone in our family -- especially for her Dad and her brothers! Aren't they all so cute!

Cboo moved into an apt a couple months ago and is really busy, so we haven't seen too much of him and she misses him so much. She misses Philip too, but is more used to him being gone since he lives about an hour away. Maddy is scheming to set up a blind date between Connor and Taylor Swift -- hoping that someday, Taylor would become her sister! Wouldn't that be sweet!! So, if anyone knows Taylor and would like to assist in setting those two up, please advise.

Here's the photo above in color!

Love Maddy's red dress and the red tie on Mr. Tennis!

How time flies! This photo of Mr. Tennis and Maddy was taken when we went out to lunch after her Nebraska adoption hearing in November, 2003! Those two are so adorable!

Happy Birthday!

Today is my oldest son, Philip's, 25th birthday!! He was born on a really warm February day that year. We had taken our little Westie in to be groomed that morning -- I guess so the dog would be clean for the new baby -- who knows what I was thinking!?? When I called Mr. Tennis to tell him it was time to go to the hospital, it took him 45 minutes to make the 10 minute drive home. Oh yeah, he had stopped to get gas on the way home! I was freaking out only slightly. On the way to the hospital, he hit every single pothole (chuckhole) in the road - OY!! Philip was born only about 6 hours later, weighing in at 9 pounds! Whoa -- what a nice big baby!!

And now he's married with a baby of his own! He is thoughtful, kind, sweet and one of the best sons ever! And what a great bonus for our family -- he has an incredible wife and now adorable baby!

Philip and Catherine (2008)

Happy birthday sweetie! (Moms can always call their sons sweetie -- no matter how old they get!) :) Have a fun day and we will celebrate with you soon!

This year, his birthday is even more special as he has his sweet baby girl here and now shares his birthday month with her!

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!