He's BACK!!!

SURPRISE!!!

Yesterday I had a wonderful day! Put in another flowerbed. I am getting really good at working that shovel ;)

Around Noon my Mom came over and we made some lunch and sat outside to eat. It was just gorgeous! Then I cut her hair and shortly after that my Son got home from school. (Another Mom and I take turns picking up the kids and yesterday was my day off) My Mom will be going out of town to see some of her high school friends! They haven't seen each other in YEARS and I'm sure you can guess what in the world brought them back in touch with one another.... YEP, FACEBOOK!
Anyway, she is so excited and wanted to go to one of our very favorite places to shop- the Gypsy Rose! It is an AWESOME
little boutique! I got some cute flip flops :) As I am paying for them, I get a text from my Honey. It reads....

I will be home around 8pm.

WAIT?? WHAT??? You will be HOME??? OUR HOME??? Are you messing with me or are you really, really SERIOUS?

He was Serious! He arrived just shortly after 7 and will be here for less than 24 hours BUT ....HE"S HOME!!
So if you don't mind I am going to go enjoy my husband :)

Hope you all are having an awesome week!

There is nothing like Family time is there!! I've found myself reflecting quite a bit lately. Maybe it's because my baby will be headed for high school and will be driving in less than a year. I know you hear all the time, but time just flies by! What I wouldn't give to slowwwww things down!! One thing we have enjoyed so much as a family is asking


"What was your high today? and What was your Low?"

This is a game (per se') my kids Love to play, especially Jantzen, my inquisitive child :)

It makes for great dinner conversation!! Make sure that the adults share as well! You can also choose to ask when you are tucking the kids in. Choosing Bedtime allows you to take the question and more importantly, the answer, to another level. Prayer. Teaching our children to lay their "lows" at the foot of the cross and trusting that Jesus has heard you and is working it out is definitely "teaching your child in the way he/she should go!!"

It is something that works for every single age! Plus, if your kids have a friend over they can join in as well!!

You know when you ask your kids, "How was school?" response "Good." "What did you learn at school today?" response "same as yesterday" We learn nada. zip-zilch!

But when you ask for highs and lows, you get a very thought provoking answer every time!

What about you guys? What has been one of your family games or ways to get more communication going within your family??

It's Friday

Just wanted to pop in and tell everyone that I hope you all have a great and very blessed weekend!

I found out yesterday that my Honey won't be able to come home this weekend as originally planned. There are people who flew in to town specifically to help set up this new store, so it wouldn't be good if he took the weekend off, don't ya know :)
I am PRAYING for all of them and also that this weekend will be the ONLY weekend he be able to come home.

Enjoy your honey's, snuggle your sweet kiddos, and love on your animals, be kind to those around you, and most importantly let all you do bring Glory to the Lord! You are HIS Warrior, the apple of HIS eye!

Love you all my friends
XOXO

Everything's Coming Up Roses

Happy Wednesday - This week is going sooo slow. I know it is because my honey is gone. You know when you miss someone and it seems like everywhere you go you see a look alike car/truck, or maybe smell their cologne. OMG, for me, I have seen my husbands truck everywhere! It's like all drivers of a white chevy silverado truck were told to teleport straight to my location! LOL

I am still going to the gym and loving it. We will be doing another Weightloss Challenge beginning May 1st and go til the 31st. Maybe I can get this remaining 14 lbs. GONE!! Now that Spring is here, I am right back into the schedule of going to the gym and immediately when I get home I go outside and water my flowers and deadhead all of the ones that need it. I have been planting quite a bit as well. We have had so much rain these past few weeks and of course the trees, flowers, and roses are all just LOVING it!! :) So, when I walked to the front of my house, yesterday after workout, I was JUST AMAZED at all the blooms!! I knew I just HAD to share them with you guys!

Can you tell I like my sign ?? heehee :)

All of our Roses are Double knock out roses! I just Love them! I purchased two white ones a couple of weeks ago but they are still so small compared to these so I didn't take a pic of them BUT, I really think they will end up being my favorite!! The white roses are just STUNNING!!!!

The BIG 5-0 is almost here!

Good Monday Morning everyone :) How was your weekend? I hope it was ♥wonderful and blessed♥

I shared with you all on Friday that I was planning some Surprises for my husbands upcoming 50th Birthday! (♥It also happens to be one of our dear bloggy friends birthday that same day as well "Happy Birthday Darcie!! Love you my dear friend!!♥)

Years ago, my husband and I learned soooo much about our personalities, our love language(s), and just overall communication! I have learned very clearly that my husband does NOT like surprises. Well, to clarify "surprises"
I mean in the party manner. Sooooo, when I asked my honey what he wanted to do for his Birthday, he said, "NOTHING!"
Well, he knows there is NO WAY I was going to do "NOTHING" BUT, I translated that to mean that He wanted a low key weekend with his family and absolutely no surprise parties of any kind!

For Friday night, I made a reservation at a Fabulous Hotel downtown. I was able to get a GREAT package that allowed us to stay in the SUITE!!! and boy oh boy, it was.... ssssuuuuuuuwwweeeeeetttt! I texted my husband and told him that when he left work he was to come to ... and I gave him the address to the Hotel. When he arrived I had a warm bath waiting on him so he could begin to relax and then I gave him a massage. Now, now, now....really, just a massage! :)

We had dinner reservations @ 7:30. OH. MY. GAW! You guys, our meal was the MOST AMAZING MEAL I have EVER had in my whole life! Now, I am a very picky eater and when it comes to trying something new, well, I just don't. BUT on this night, guess what! I DID! and I am sooooo happy I did. Our meal started with a Spring Mix Salad w/honey & berry vinaigrette. I guess I should tell you guys I am really NOT a salad eater either. But OH MY! It was Fabulous! Our Entree' was Pan Seared Sole, with orange-mango risotto, and grilled asparagus. For desert we had...Get this.... Sea Salt and Caramel Gelato. Now this has to be the most unique desert I can say I've ever had. When you first tasted it, it was salty and then after a few seconds the sweet caramel would come through. WOW. JUST WOW!!. The awesome thing was that even though we cleaned our plates. (No, I didn't lick it clean but trust me, if I could have without being seen, I soooo would have!!!! LOL) we didn't have that horrible full feeling or bloated. Nope, not at all! When we went upstairs it started storming. We were able to fall asleep listening to the rain and the thunder rolling! It was a perfect night, a fabulous way to end our day.

On Saturday we spent the day together all the while My Mom was preparing a Surprise Dinner for him with all of our kids and grandkids there. It was a very relaxing day and weekend, and my husband couldn't have been happier or anymore thankful!

He won't turn the BIG 5-0 until Tuesday and sadly, he will be out of town. :( He will actually be out of town ALOT over the next few weeks....sniff sniff. But I am so glad he will leave having had a relaxing and joyful weekend with his family around him - just the way he likes it!

Here are some of the pics from this weekend

Moms beautiful table

Our yummy dinner

Papa blowing out his candles with Bentley

Holding his grandbabies

Happy Birthday Honey! I Love you sooo very much!

A Funny for your Friday

Holy Smokes this week has absolutely FLOWN BY!! I am sooo excited :) You want to know WHY???? Well....my Honey is going to turn the BIG 50 next Tuesday but he is going to have to be out of town ;>( so we are going to celebrate this weekend!!! I have a few surprises for him beginning tomorrow.... I can't wait to share them with you guys!!

Anyway, this past week One of my Son's homework assignments was to write a poem. Have you ever heard of an Elegy? The definition is:

a mournful or plaintive poem or song, esp a lament for the dead

It is not to be confused with a Eulogy. Well, his teacher had a few rules for this Elegy. It had to be humorous, with a play on words per se', and it had to be about someone fictional. When he was sharing all of this with me, he said,
"Mom, I have an example of what she is wanting!" Ok, so.... I absolutely had to share this with you guys! To say I have had some laugh til you cry moments when reading this elegy to someone is an absolute understatement! Here is the poem...


It is with the saddest heart that I must pass on the following news.

Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of
a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including
Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch.
The grave site was piled high with flours. Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered to be a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times, he was still a crusty old man and was considered a roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife, Play Dough, two children, John Dough and Jane Dough, plus they had one in the oven!
He is also survived by his elderly dad, Pop Tart. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.


I would highly recommend reading this out loud and if you feel so inclined, you may wish to read with some form of accent...If you need a good laugh- this should do the trick!

I hope you all have a blessed weekend and a Happy Friday! I will be taking lots of pics this weekend and looking forward to telling you all about the next few days ahead of us :)

Easter

So, how are you guys? Did everyone have a Wonderful Resurrection Day and weekend?? We sure did!

The weekend started out a little early for Jenna. She called us from college on Thursday night asking if she could come home. She sounded AWFUL and felt even worse! We got her home and loved on her. Took her to the Dr. on Friday and she got a steroid shot, antibiotics, and a strong drug that he explained was like Mucinex on steroids LOL along with some cough medicine that will help her sleep. She didn't improve much before she went home, doggone it! She only has 24 days till Summer begins for her!!!

Friday night we were able to attend our Easter Service. It was sooo good! I shared with you all that our Church opened the doors to our new campus. On Easter weekend they offered 9 services! We went Friday evening and was THRILLED to see it was a full auditorium! All of us rejoicing our Risen Savior!

Saturday my Honey & I spent the day preparing for our family to come over for Easter Dinner. It was a wonderful day and we had a good time working side by side one another. I was so excited for my Mom to see the new Island centerpiece we found! So on Sunday when I got a phone call from my Stepdad letting us know that my Mom had been sick all night long and that they would not be coming I was soooo sad! Sad for her! The nasty ol' stomach bug got a hold of her BAD!!
(She is feeling better now, Praise the Lord!) We had all our kids home, our grandkids too! My brothers girlfriend and her Son and girlfriend also came. My brother is a Fire Chief and was on duty so he wasn't able to be there.
They were all soooo missed and it DEFINITELY wasn't the same without my Momma there! Goodness gracious, not the same at all!

We had drip beef sandwiches and pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, potato salad, baked beans, and chips&dip. IT WAS SOOOO DELICIOUS! Everything was made from scratch! For desert we had angel food cake and strawberries! What's better than having your family all together and celebrating Jesus? NOTHING!! :)

Here are some pics of our day:

He lives Indeed!

My Dining Room Table

This is our new Island Centerpiece Brian & I found! The pics don't do it justice though! We LOVE IT!!

Rylee hunting her eggs! She had a BLAST and LOVED finding them :) Look at her face!! So funny!

Me and My Jen ♥

My Beautiful Girls

Sweetest Kids ♥

PaPa made sure Bentley got this bat in his Easter basket. NoNi told PaPa during this particular shopping trip that he would probably be doing some damage with that bat, but did PaPa listen??? Nope, and guess who got the bat whacked over and over LOLOLOL I don't think he minded AT ALL, do you?? ;)

Ok, so we had a little visitor. I hear some squealing and some shouting so all of us inside ran outside. The "boys" were all out back looking under a rock. This usually means I better make a run for it because I don't like slimy, slithery things, or long hairy legs and definitely not anything in the reptile family! So can you guess what Casey pulled out from under this rock???

This LIZARD! He was NOT a Happy Camper either!! He was whipping himself in every direction trying to get out of Casey's grasp. He really was a pretty thing but not pretty enough for me to hold! LOL The grandkids loved it and well, SO DID MY DOGS!! It ended up getting out of Casey's hand and my Boxer jumped on that lizard sooo stinkin fast! Luckily, Casey was just as quick and was able to pick him back up and take him back to the back of the yard where he was safe!

It didn't take long after everyone had left for these two to fall asleep! We were all tuckered out!

How was your Easter??

What Did You Say???

When I was younger and my parents divorced, my brother and I went back & forth from Moms to Dads and back again. One thing I always LOVED regardless of whose house I was at, was how both of my parents LOVED Music.

When I was with my Mom, she and I would "clean" the house, the radio would be playing loudly, and we could be found dancing away while dusting and scrubbing. :) Mom has always reminded me, "have fun Honey!" even if I was cleaning :) My mom loves to dance and now she doesn't dance with just me but you put her in a room with the music turned up and her grandkids join her....OH MY! Talk about FUN :) Just fills your heart with JOY ♥

When it came to being with my Daddy, Music was almost like an extension of him. He loved all genres: country, pop, classic rock. At one time Daddy had a TransAm. I remember driving down the highway at night, all the windows down and Billy Idol rocking out on the radio. Dad always "Played" the guitar on the steering wheel and then magically, it would become a drum and he would just bang away. We would sing our hearts out! Every now and then, my Dad would completely stop singing and look at me with this look ... then, he would say, "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY??" I would tell him the words ("I thought") I had just said. Before you know it, he began to laugh and laugh and laugh

Oh how I miss that laugh...

Then he would share the correct words to that song :) So you can only imagine that when I saw this commercial it took me back! They are such wonderful memories .... By the way, this was not a song my Dad ever shared the correct words for! Isn't it sooo funny how many people don't have a clue what he says...

Enjoy, and thanks for sharing in some of my precious memories I had as a child with my parents ♥

Is it Spring or Summer? IDK....

Happy Monday Friends! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend - I sure did! We had some amazingly warm weather! It was at least 90 degrees on Sunday. It has definitely been the topic of conversation. No matter where you go or whether you know that person beside you or walking by, you will most likely find yourself in a conversation regarding the HEAT, and it always comes with this statement.... "This is ONLY March or as of yesterday, This is only April 1st!! What happened to our Spring?"

We took advantage of the warm weather and worked in our yard. We planted 10 trees, and started clearing out an area for a new flowerbed. Working in our yard together is something my husband and I LOVE doing together! We planted some Maple trees and Dogwoods too. We are going to have to pull some stumps out sometime this week. Brian had to pull the trees down because we were afraid they were going to fall on our house or worse, our neighbors, but the stumps remained. It was quite a funny event watching him and the kids pull them down! We laughed & laughed! We have just one more tree to do and I would expect this to be just as comical.... TIMBERRRRRRRR! ;)

On another note, can you believe Easter is this weekend? A lot of the churches in our town had HUGE egg hunts this past weekend. Some even had a helicopter fly over, dropping eggs for the kids. It is pure egg chaos!!

Our church (Lifechurch.tv) just opened the doors of our new, completely paid for building. The goal to be moved in was Easter weekend but Praise the Lord, it was complete way before :)

What a special week this is...Celebrating ♥ JESUS, Our Risen Savior ♥

How will you spend your Easter weekend?