HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NEIL !

My dear husband Neil celebrated his 63rd birthday today.

Neil always makes our homemade punch, even for his own birthday. Grandson Knox thought it would be fun to help. And it was.

Birthday Boy blew out all those candles, probably wishing he could retire tomorrow. It won’t be long now.

He’s a fine looking 63 year old, don’t you think?

Party People ~ Sarah, Kelly, Elijah, Julia, Birthday Guy, Knox, Shelby (hiding behind Holly) and Holly, and Jane was hiding at the other end of the table.

The ladies definitely outnumbered the gentlemen partiers tonight ~ from left: Shelby, Holly, Jane, Sarah, Kelly, and Julia ~ my gorgeous lady peeps.

Neil and Knox digging the cake, ice cream, and punch

Presents! We call birthday cards ‘flat presents’ because they [usually] contain a nice little goodie ~ and a lot of ‘ha-ha-you’re-older-than-dinosaurs humor.

Neil enjoyed his 63rd birthday festivities ~ and then it got rowdy. Always happens. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Happy Birthday, Neil! I love you always and forever! [Even if you are older than dinosaurs.]

SING IT

We went to granddaughter Shelby’s  middle school chorus concert this evening. The kids chose a lot of fun, upbeat tunes, so it was a fun concert.

Some of the songs they performed: ‘Believe’, ‘Man Of Constant Sorrow’ [very well done by the guys], ‘Roar’, ‘Apologize’, and ‘Counting Stars’. Shelby is to the right of the microphone stand, second row from bottom,  in the white scarf.

She looked elegant in her long black dress and lacy scarf. This was something that she just wanted to be over and done with. As for me, I really enjoyed all the songs they performed and the energy they put into them. Children’s voices singing, especially in harmony, always squeeze my heart and put a lump in my throat. Can’t help it. Good job, Chorus! Loved watching you, Shelby!

S U N D A Y F U N D A Y !

The grand peeps, Elijah, Shelby and Knox, enjoyed some bouncy time on Knox’s big inflatable bouncy toy this afternoon in Knox’s back yard. They had a great time jumping and bouncing and rolling and wrestling and playing with Elijah and Shelby’s big purple ball.

Trying to get them to settle down for a few seconds for a group shot is like herding tumble weeds, especially when Knox is saying, “I’ve got boogies!”

After the ‘boogies’ were cleaned up, this was the best I could get out of them before it all fell completely apart.

Nothing cuter than kid feets.

Pile of Peeps!

I did get a cute group shot ~ Kelly, Knox, Shelby, Elijah and Holly

Knox brought me this pretty yellow crocus.

Then he took it back.

I shall try to explain this strange picture ~ the big purple ball got tossed across the yard and landed on something very sharp where it promptly exploded into two equal halves which Shelby and Grandpa decided to wear on their heads and look like the jelly fish in SpongeBob. True story.

Almost 70 degrees today. Great day to be outside under the sunny blue sky, soaking up the warmth. Great day to sit on the front porch and watch the world go by.
“Embrace your inner lunatic. Fun times guaranteed.”
― Derek Landy, Death Bringer
“There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it.”
― Andrew Jackson

EVER LOVIN’ SATURDAY!

Grandson Elijah and his Vision Basketball team played their last game of the season this morning [a bright and early 8:00 a.m. game]. That’s him in the blue holding the ball.

He really enjoys the game and played very well this season. Made lots of points today.

Elijah’s biggest fans: his Grandpa, cousin Knox, his mom, sister Shelby, aunt Kelly [and me, of course].

We all enjoyed breakfast at Hardees after the game.

Another beautiful day to be outside. Knox had a great time bouncing on the trampoline.

Neil is in the process of tearing down his shed/man cave/RC airplane hangar/former woodworking shop. He made lots of progress on the roof today. He can’t wait to get a new building for his airplane and woodworking stuff.

I could not have ordered up a more awesome day than it was today.

The geese were circling over our house, trying to find a leader. Headed back to Canada, maybe? They think it’s spring.

A day like today calls for blowing bubbles.

Knox is starting to get the hang of it. Bubbles = smiles!

Neil has run across some of our children’s toys as he’s cleaned out the attic in the shed. This Snoopy dog pull toy originally belonged to Knox’s mommy, Kelly, and he fell in love with it. Its ears are long gone, but its legs still work. Grandpa attached a string to it so Knox could pull it, and off he went up the sidewalk.

There’s a big patch of these pretty crocuses sprouting in our neighbor’s yard across the street.

Knox and Snoopy are buds now.

He took this toy home with him. I’m glad Snoopy could find  new love in his old age.

Kelly treated us to supper at D’Angelo’s [Authentic Wood-Fired] Brick Oven Pizza tonight. Neil and I enjoyed this place a few years ago, and then it closed, much to our disappointment. But it recently re-opened in the same little place and is just one of the many mom and pop restaurants in our neighborhood that we really enjoy. Delicious! Even Knox loved the half of the pizza with the spinach.

Kelly made treats again and brought them over to share after we stuffed our faces with pizza ~ chocolate covered strawberries, oranges, bananas, and peanut butter filled Ritz crackers. Totally yummalicious! Loved spending this gorgeous day with my sweet peeps! Happy Saturday, y’all!!

Good Day Sunshine

After the big bad storm rumbled through last night, we were left with a crisp, cool blue sky day and loads of sunshine.

Neil and I went for a walk around the block after our Slim Fast lunch. My left knee hasn’t done all that well since the surgery I had done back in January to repair a torn meniscus. I have other issues like osteo-arthritis and bone on bone troubles from worn away cartilage in that same knee. At my last check up, the bone doc drained  a bunch of fluid off my knee [I know, yummy, right? Not!] and gave me a cortisone injection, which has made a huge difference in my pain factor. Anyway, it was nice to get out and walk and not wonder if Neil was going to have to carry me back home.

It’s hard not to long for spring on a day like today. Even the buttercups are hoping.

The dogwood trees in our yard are starting to bud. I want to tell them not to get ahead of themselves. There may be blue sky and sunshine today.

But it’s still winter, and the last little bit of our wood pile is stacked on the back porch, ready for the wood stove.

I had a request from grandson Elijah to get some ice cream this afternoon after school. And grand daughter Shelby happily said yes to that. Sunlight seems to bring out that urge in people. We headed to Cream City where they had scoops of Cake Batter and Cookie Dough and I bravely abstained from the sweet treats. It was not easy, believe me.

This evening, we had supper with grandson Knox and daughter Kelly at Ocha Thai Food Deli which is always yummy. Knox loves the carrots and broccoli there. He dips them in sweet and sour sauce. The place was packed tonight, apparently with folks who had come to see TTU’s first baseball game of the season. You know spring is near when there’s a baseball in the air.

Knox showed off his arm full of Angry Bird [and pig] tattoos. Way cool.

By the time we got home from supper, my homemade bread was ready to pop out of my [magic] bread making machine. It really is magic. Warm bread. Lots of butter. Heaven.

Kelly shared the last of her  monster sized chocolate dipped strawberries which we devoured. Also heaven. Nobody gets too much heaven, as the Bee Gees song goes. So true. Hope you experienced a little heaven along your way today. Happy TGIF, everyone!

Just because everything is different doesn't mean anything has changed. ~Irene Peter

Peace, y’all! Just wanted to let you know, in case you’ve dropped by this blog more than a few times, that I’ve made some changes [thus the above quote] which have given me the chance to provide a way for you to follow this blog if you’d like to. Links are at the bottom of the page. I hope you’ll follow and drop in whenever you get the chance.

Daughter Kelly and Grandson Knox stopped by the house this afternoon and invited Neil and me to go for a walk/ride around the block. Knox is saying, “Where’s Grandpa?” Grandpa was on the other side of Knox’s sweet ride.

The wind was a little chilly, but who cares when it’s 50 degrees with lots of blue sky and warm sunshine, making it an awesome day to be outside.

The weather folks say we’ll be warming up quite a bit this week. Won’t that be nice!

Clouded up later this afternoon. Bummer. You’ve got to grab that blue sky while you can get it. Have a wonderful week, everyone!