Sharing Joy - The Girlies Way

I have realized once again that being a few months shy of 50 and having two active littles in the house exhausts me.   I love having the girlies here but after a few days of togetherness we all start to get stir crazy.  So, this morning we all got up, got dressed and headed to Goodwill.  Little did I know how a couple hours out of the house would refresh us all.  And in ways I never imaged.

A few years ago my word of the year was JOY.  I loved living that word.  I found joy in so many unexpected places.  Today my world is still filled with joy and my granddaughters bring so much of it into my life.  What I tend to forget is how much joy that can give others.  As I am walking through the aisles with Bella in the stroller and Bailey walking along side we can across a lady who started a conversation with Bailey.  Bailey is very friendly so she found out the lady's name and told her that Bella wasn't her sister but her cousin and shared their names and how old they are.  Carol told me she had 9 grandchildren aged 21 to 15 months.  We chatted for a few minutes and off we both went, me with Bella and Bailey both waving bye to Carol.  At the checkout two older women both wanted to wait on us, because of the girls.  When we were done checking out, the clerk didn't want us to leave as she was having some much fun the the girls.  Joy - I got filled by watching the interaction between my girlies and strangers - and the strangers got filled just from talking to the girls.  Amazing.

Here's a funny little story from last night.  I was sending Brent out for McDonald's and I asked Bailey what she wanted "a cheeseburger or chicken nuggets?"  She replied "a cheeseburger".  I asked her to ask Bella what she wanted and Bailey told me she didn't think she knew Bella's language.  I laughed and told her she was the best one to translate Bella's language since was the closest in age to her.  Very seriously, Bailey leaned down and asked "Bella, do you want chicken nuggets or a cheeseburger" and Bella answered with a baby babble.  Bailey looked up at me and said "Bella wants a cheeseburger, Nana!"  Love, love, love those girlies and those moments.

So as tired as I am and as messy as my house is, I treasure and cherish these moments.  The children of my children - the best gift of all.
 

Sunday Scrappin

So, it's been three weeks in a row that I have done some scrapbooking and I am doing the happy dance. I just want to continue creating and enjoying the process. Since it is once again Sunday, I am showing off my completed layouts for Sunday Scrappin'.

All of my layouts are digital and all are from classes I have taken from Jessica Sprague. The first layout is of my latest granddaughter Bella. Her mommy and daddy stopped by my work to visit so I took a couple of pics. Isn't she precious?
The layout is Bill and his oldest daughter, Kadie. Kadie graduated from Port Charlotte High School with honors and we are very proud of her.
The next layout is of the first day of high school for Brent last August. Way too early in the morning for a photo shoot but it's tradition.
Bill and I went to Spring Fling 2011 at Hammond Stadium which included some individual singers and groups we had never heard before. Train was the main event but we missed them because Bailey was being difficult. This layout is us going into the concert in front of the big fountain.
So, there are my ta-da's. My to-do's this week is 1.) scrapbook and 2.) keep up with my Power Scrapping - Digi Style class I am taking over at Big Picture Scrapbooking with Katie the Scrapbook Lady.

Have a nice Sunday afternoon, a restful Memorial Day and enjoy your week.

Kid's Say the Darnest Things.

I must give you some background information before starting this story. Many years ago, when the kids were little, before they understood that they should say "excuse me" after burping, their dad and I started saying "God, bless you" after they burped. It was a silly, funny way to remind them to remember to excuse themselves.

I had the pleasure of Miss Bailey Boo's company this weekend. I had sneezed a couple of times and she knew to say something but wasn't sure what. I told her to say "God bless you" and of course, her version was "God bless you, Nana!" Later that day or maybe even the next day, she burped and out of habit, I said "God bless you." Bailey comes back with "No, Nana, that wasn't a God bless you, it was a burp!" Honest and funny too! Gotta love this kid!

A Nice Surprise

Miss Bailey and her Mama stopped by the store to see me yesterday. I got my Bailey fix along with plenty of hugs and kisses. And Bailey says she is coming to Grandma's birthday party. Yeah!

A Fun Evening

I know it's been awhile since I had Bailey pictures on my blog but she's baacck! Nicole called and needed help filling out the financial aid for college. She and Bailey came over yesterday evening and I got started working on the application on-line. Bailey was not happy with Grandma working and not paying attention to her so we put the application on hold and spend time with Boo. My Mom and sister came down and got a big surprise to find Bailey and Nicole at the house. After some catching up and big laughs we took Brent to his end of summer party and then went to LaBamba for dinner. (LaBamba is one of my favorite Mexican restaurants)

A Sad Day

Today is a very sad day. Today is Bailey Boo's 2nd birthday and I am not able to be with her to celebrate. I texted her mom this morning and sent birthday wishes and love and I mailed a package to her. I hope she doesn't forget her Grandma. Bailey Boo I love you and I miss you!

Weigh In Day and A Gift

Today was weigh in day at Weight Watchers and I lost another 3.2 pounds, down 8.6 total. I am happy about that!

Yesterday I did some work on Photoshop on some pictures of Bailey with various family members, sent them to Walgreen's and put them in this cool Who Loves Baby? album. It brought tears to my eyes to work on this project but I am hoping Bailey will love it. I am putting together a box to send her for her birthday on Friday.

Family Get Together

We had a nice family get together yesterday. My Mom, Dad, sister and two of her kids were here. We had Italian Baked Chicken, Zucchini in the Oven, Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese, a cherry salad that my sister brought and a layered salad and carrot cake that my Mom brought. Yummy!

Here is Brandon. We celebrated his birthday yesterday since he will be turing 19 on Saturday the 27th. Happy Birthday Brandon! I can hardly believe he is 19.
Here is my Dad excited about his gift certificate from Lowe's. My sister got him two dress shirts and ties.
Here is Bailey and Jenna. Jenna had brought her iPod and Bailey thought it was cool to hear music through the headphone.
We had a great day and my Mom stayed to visit with us for a few days. We are going to Ft Myers to the thrift stores so I may have a post later with the goodies I find.

I have a confession today. I went to Walgreen's yesterday to purchase greeting cards and spent over $10 on three cards. No, that is not my confession. My confession is - I have thousands of dollars worth of rubber and acrylic stamps in my craft room. So why am I spending money on greeting cards that I could make? I also have two shoe boxes full of card that I have made in the past - why couldn't I go through those cards and see if I have a suitable card instead of just going out and purchasing one? CRAZY!

Crazy Beautiful Week!

I think my life can be described by Darryl Worley's chorus "I love this crazy, tragic, Sometimes almost magic, Awful, beautful life." I have had another one of those weeks and most of it is brought on myself. The week started off with cleaning up the area behind the couch in the living room to make room for my craft desk that was upstairs and not being used. Since we moved it downstairs I have used it more than the in the six months it was upstairs.
Then we got a crib for Bailey and Dave put that up the other night so this little crazy curly haired girl could spend the night with us. She loves her new bed and the dogs love that they can see her through the slats.
And then yesterday we got a twin day bed with a trundle and an old rocking chair from the store. We took all Bailey's old baby stuff (swing, bouncy seat, etc) there and loaded the chair and the bed in the rain last night. Left the mattresses for this morning. Now I have tons of work to get the rest of the guest room cleaned out so we can put the daybed in there.

And I am having a Father's Day and Brandon's birthday get together tomorrow. Right now you can't see the top of my dining room table so I have some work to do. I don't know what I am going to fix as my main dish either. Better get busy. Boo is still sleeping and I have a little over an hour before I have to leave for work. Have a great Saturday!

History Repeats Itself

This first picture is from Nicole's first birthday on April 11th, 1989. Since her birthday was so close to Easter I made her a bunny cake.

This second picture is from our Easter Sunday/Nicole's birthday dinner. My mom made a bunny cake for Nicole's birthday cake. I thought it interesting that we would have the same idea 20 years apart.
And Bailey and her Momma look so much alike! I was looking at pictures of Nicole as a toddler and they have the same facial features and wispy curly hair. The bunny cake sure brought back memories of Nicole as a baby.

Look What the Easter Bunny Brought Us!

Just Lil Ole Me

checking in. It's been a crazy couple of weeks since I got home from Tucson. First, Nicole took Bailey and went to visit her baby daddy (yes, the one that put her in the hospital) in Orlando. I was so upset I wanted to put Nicole back in the hospital! A mental hospital! Anyway, a little over a week later she is back home. I got to see her and the baby for a few minutes this afternoon and they are coming over in a bit.

Brandon has decided to move out and in with a friend. He got let go from his job because he called off too much. I don't think he is going to school much and he lays around home basically doing nothing other than his girlfriend. So today he decided that he needed to be able to watch tv in his own bedroom, packed up his stuff and left. I am hoping this will help him grow up and see how hard it is to live on your own. And at 18, with no job and no education. I will miss him but not his messes.

Dave, Brent and I had an awesome weekend for different reasons. I spent Saturday deep cleaning the kitchen. Dave took Brent to the Flea Market where they exchanged a pair of sandles for me and watched a cooking show. Then they put flyers on cars for the pizza place Dave delivers for. Brent brought home pizza and calzone and $10 for helping put the flyers up. He was very pleased. Sunday morning we dropped Brent off at church and we went hunting for a bookcase. First we stopped at Goodwill and I used all my will power to pass up all the alluring stuff to head to the back of the store to see if they had any bookshelves and they didn't. We left there and headed to Beall's since I needed a new pair of tennis shoes. I couldn't find any in my size. Strike two. So, we went to old faithful Wally World and I found my tennis shoes for a whopping $11.00 and two nice tall, five shelf bookcases for $29.00 each. Shopping made us hungry so we went to a little restaurant in a strip mall and guess who was sitting at the next table? Yes, Donna freaking Summer! She was so nice and gracious and even waited in line for the bathroom. I guess she owns a condo here in Naples and dines at this little cafe a couple of time a winter. COOL, huh?

Well, after our exciting breakfast we went back to Goodwill so I could browse. I got a lamp, a few clothes and a cute black and white purse. Dave put together the bookshelves when we got home and I loaded them up.

And yes, I have a LOT of books.

So, now I am waiting for Nicole and Bailey to arrive. I am sure I will have new pics of her.

More Cutie Patootie Pictures

Bailey spent the night last night and we had her most of the day today. She is so funny, she walks around and around, stopping to say hi to anyone in the living room. Then she goes into the kitchen and back around again. I would be tired after walking as far as she walks.

Here she is stopping to pick up a toy during one of her walks - notice her purse.

And here we have a picture of her curls. Her Mommy had the same curly, wispy bit of hair that Bailey has. Nicole has gorgeous long curly dark brown hair today so I am sure Bailey will have plenty of hair some day.

And here she is stopping to chat with Grandma. Again, notice her purse on her arm. She carries it all around the house with her. Funny girl, we love you!

My Bailey Boo

What a cutie patootie. I felt like Dave and I needed a Bailey fix tonight so I picked her up at her Mommy's and brought her home with me after work. She talked the whole way home. When we got home the first thing she went for was my little purse and put it on her arm. Then I put Brent's red Dodge hat on her and she played with it - she would put it over her eyes and start walking. It was funny to watch her and she looked so cute. She turned the hat backwards gangster style and then to the side. We had macaroni and cheese for dinner, danced together and the tickle monster visited. Her Mommy is coming over soon to get her.

Got Sketch 102 Layouts (Sketch 5 & 6)

These layouts are sketch 5 and 6 from the Got Sketch 102 class that I am taking. This is an awesome class and I am enjoying every minute of it.



These pictures make me think about Bailey's first week of life. She was a month early and only weighed 5 lbs, 13 oz and spent the first week of her life in the NICU. She had some type of infection that she needed to be medicated for. It was hard since as a grandmother I could only see her for 20 minutes a day. And to see her today:
Healthy and happy! What a blessing this baby is! Grandma loves you Bailey!