Happy Birthday Sweet Little Ria

I remember the day she was born.

We felt so blessed to know that

Lulu was going to have a little sister.

We wondered if we could 

EVER LOVE another little girl as much

as we loved our Lulu.

Well-Guess What?

WE DID AND WE DO!

She was an easy baby.

I don't have any pictures of her as a baby

on my computer because back then it was

all shoot and develop pictures.

However, as bad as I hate to show

MY PICTURES here this was taken

when she was about 20 months old..

a candid shot taken at a wedding.

My son had it blown up and framed for me.

It is huge-about 24x30

and hangs on the wall of our bedroom

so this is a picture of a picture.

It was a hot, steamy day.

When Lulu saw it she said---

Nana- LOOKIT your hair..

Lookit my hair, indeed! (please don't).

Anyway,

Ria was our sweet little thumbsucker

and had the curliest hair when she was tiny.

Mom braided it sometimes.

She loved Disney and playing dress up.

And she loved riding on the 

City Parade float for her school

No KRIS (from Chicago) she is NOT rooting for

THE CHICAGO BEARS!

She looks up to her big sister, Lulu.

And sometimes shares a secret with her~
 much to SweetCheek's distress.

She made her first communion

and is here with her Great-Uncle Paul...MyHero's handsome brother.

She is sweet and loving and a good girl.

She loves all babies-especially 

her little boy cousins-

She likes feeding CJK.

We love it when she got

all primped up for her dance recital.

She got all dressed up for the 

Daddy/Daughter dance this year, too.

Yep!

She's gonna be a heart-breaker, I think.

She is our "free-spirit" child.

The one who likes music and dance,

long flowing skirts and untethered hair.

I hope that she flies free and high as she grows

but will always come back home....

home to hold her sisters' hands

during her life journey.

There is no one that can love you

quite the way a sibling does.

Happy Happy 10th Birthday

Sweet Little Ria!

I love you to the MOON and back!

My Random Five

You know how you have those pictures that don't

really give you enough to blog about

but you want to preserve them 

and post them anyway.

Well, today's the day.

I know that somewhere in Blogland there is a

RANDOM FIVE PARTY.

Well, I decided to do my own little

RANDOM FIVE.

Random Shots of  Five Kids

in my life.

Ready?

Number One.

He might be kinda naughty sometimes

but he is sweetly beautiful when he sleeps.

Our little CharlesInCharge~

Yes- those rosy cheeks are for real

and so are the lips-this is a point and snap picture.

Number Two

Lulu-Girl Who Won Volleyball Tournament Championship

with her friend Miss A (Miss A is on left)

Number Three:

SweetCheeks practicing her dance for the upcoming recital.

Number Four

Sister Ria also practicing for the upcoming recital.

And, last but not least,

Number Five

BigBoyE dreaming about the new baby girl

that is coming to disrupt his life!

Yeah- it is NOT going to be easy, is it?

Sleep now-while you can, E!

I have had a busy week so far-

If I haven't visited you yet- I will try to get there soon!

Lots going on here and my bag is packed in case

New Baby Girl

decides to come a bit early!

Romantic Homes March 2014 Review

Well, still no blogger features in the front

of the magazine but I have to say

that this 
ROMANTIC HOMES 
issue is better than the last one.

Even the cover is beautiful.

Oh- I DO believe!

 I believe that Spring is coming!

I also believe that beautiful bloggers 

should be recognized.

Guess what?

One of my BLOGGING FRIENDS 

is in the March issue.

If you don't know Kris @ Junk Chic Cottage

you need to head over there....NOW!
I'll wait!

Okay!  Did you go over there?

See what I mean?

AND-the best part is she is as sweet 

as she is talented....a very good friend to me.

So-here is just a snippet of her 

FOUR PAGE SPREAD about her office.

And this is part of her office, too.

She's got some shabby goodness there!

Romantic Homes also included

a link for my friend, Donna, that does

beautiful shabby glittery goodness

over at My Shabby Chateau.

They featured some of her frames.

She lives by Lake Michigan.

Now-let's move across some

BIG WATER to HOLLAND.

There is a huge spread this month called

House & Home connected to the blog

serviesenbrocante

It is full of amazing, beautiful vignettes like this one

and this one of ballet slippers

The beautiful urn below belongs to 

Amanda Knox  of Decorative Country Living

There is a fourteen page spread for her.

AMAZING!

This next house was transformed by 

Enrica Stabile in the South of France.

(no link to a website was provided for Stabile)

You need to see the whole thing....

this is just a snippet.

And, because it is the March issue 

there is a nod to 

St Patrick's Day 

written by Melinda Graham

(I hope this is the right Melinda Graham as there is no link to her given)

Oh-and what a fun recipe I found in this issue for

Grasshopper Cupcakes 

by Janell Brown

from her book One Sweet Cupcake-

 you can order here.

Don't those look delicious?

I think I will make these 

GRASSHOPPER CUPCAKES  

for MyHero.

I'll be busy collecting the ingredients today.

Oh- Look!

THIS will save me some work.

These are already 

CHOCOLATE COVERED!

You can order them here

MyHero is in for a

WONDERFUL SURPRISE!

Lovers OF Louvers Will Love This Project Using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Well-In the end it looks pretty good

if I do say so myself.

Remember when I painted the little black TV white here?

Well, I picked up a little chest from a thrift store to set it on.

However, it was so ugly I kept it covered with 

Gramma Hazel's piano scarf.

Not wonderful but tolerable.

The fringed skirt hid this beaut!

Now, I am not one to paint GOOD wood furniture.

This is NOT a good piece.  It has a cultured wood top.

Anyway, I gave her a ride to the kitchen

using the finest moving technique known to man 

to keep from scratching the floor.

Maybe I could patent that technique and sell it?

Anyway, you can tell the old boy is out of town

because I painted it IN THE KITCHEN.

Up she goes to the top of the kitchen table.

She is perched on little painting triangles from Home Depot.

Here she is after two coats waiting to be waxed.

I might have muttered a couple of 

bad words to myself trying to get paint

in all those louvers-to say NOTHING

of the words I might have muttered

trying to BUFF THE WAX on those things!

While she was waiting to be waxed

SOME ONE "might have" 

spray painted the hardware

in the garage while the old boy was out of town.

Finally, waxed and hardware reinstalled 

she is moved back

to the little sitting room 

where she is used to store

all my loose leaf binders of ideas.

Did I mention I painted inside with 

Annie Sloan's Old Violet

which looks quite blue in this picture.

So, there she sits.waiting for me to light a fire

and watch Downton Abbey...

or any old Robert Redford film.

Do you see that rock down there on the left?

That is a huge piece of Amethyst -

a gift from my son and his wife brought back from their honeymoon.

Isn't it gorgeous?

It was the birthstone of my brother and my father.

A piece I hold dear.

It is full of dazzle in the daylight and so gorgeous.

MamasBoy ALSO brought me a large

piece of petrified rock that sits on the

other side of the fireplace.

As if the rocks in my head aren't enough.....

Speaking of dazzling...

MyHero will be quite be-dazzled when he gets up this morning.

I might, or might not, have

a few new treasures to show him that I found

while he was out of town.

un-huh-

Maybe if you are VERY GOOD 

and promise not to 

run your finger along the edge of the cake

and lick the icing off 

because you think no one will notice-

well, I just might share my 

new finds with YOU, too!

Happy Monday!

Am I the only idjit in the world that loves a Monday?

Prayer Request And Prayer Request Update

My friend, Julie, sent me this request 

a while ago.

With everything that is going on here

I did not get it posted right away.

Here is what Julie wrote:

Daena has been diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer. This literally came out of the blue for her. She has 4 children, the youngest being 10 months (who she abruptly had to stop breast feeding).

She is at Mayo in Rochester. They initially thought the cancer was throughout her body in her lymph nodes, but thankfully it is not. Tomorrow she will have surgery to put a stint in one of her kidneys as the cancer mass is pushing on some area that puts her at risk for losing one.  Her first chemo starts tomorrow also, and she will have that treatment every 21 days for 6 months. 

Please pray for this young Mom. 

She loves the Lord and is clinging to Him.

Here she is last Fall 

before she knew she was sick.

Thank you for praying for this young Mom.

It could be one of our daughters, or sisters,

or granddaughters.

Also-an update on my friend, Jettie. 

I requested prayers for her here

She had her surgery and 

is doing remarkably well.

She has thrown away her walker-

well, at least hung it up, 

and is doing great with her therapy.

More importantly, 

her PAIN level is WAY DOWN.

Would you BELIEVE looking at her that she is 

SIXTY-FIVE?

Well, she is and this is a recent picture.

I'm surprised she doesn't get carded

 when she goes out drinking.

Oh-wait- She DOESN'T drink.

Maybe that is why she looks so young!

So--say some prayers today

and tomorrow I will be back to show you 

WHAT I have been doing 

while the old boy is out-of-town...

Well, except for the part where I am slopping 

around in my nightgown and drinking coffee.

You WON'T want to see THAT!

You must trust me on this!

Happy, Blessed Sunday!

Red Transferware And Red Roses

Remember the other day when I asked you

What would YOU do for a dozen red roses?

Well, I had to censor some of your answers.

Anyway,

I thought a 

DOZEN RED ROSES

deserved a table set using 

RED TRANSFERWARE

and Ruby (or Cranberry)Thumbprint glasses.

I have a mix and match of pieces.

I got many of them when I helped my friend's,

Tom & Ruth, get their house ready for sale here.

Ruth has always been a collector of many things

and I was lucky enough to get the pieces

of red transferware that she had.

I combined them with the few pieces I had

to set this table.

The candlesticks are sterling silver and belonged

to Grandmother Clara.

The vase in the center is crystal 

from Poland and a gift

from a friend when she moved away.

It belonged to her mother.

It weighs more than my left thigh...

okay- I might have lied about that.

Close up of the vase.

The clear glass candle holders were a gift 

from my son-in-law for Christmas.

There were a few special pieces like the gravy boat.

Another shot overall.

And this shows the chandelier 

and the built in hutches 

that flank the fireplace.

Well, hubby is out of town 

so no dinner party tonight.

Time to snuff out the candles with my new 

CANDLE SNUFFER.

Does the word candle SNUFFER make you feel like SNICKERING?

My three granddaughters 

got this for me for Christmas.

Down goes the Birdie!

Out goes the flame.

Hmmmm.....MyHero is gone...

You know the old saying-

While the CAT'S away the MOUSE will play.

I could just go WILD & CRAZY, couldn't I?

My friend, Jettie, posted something to help me get

started with the CRAZY part!

I sent for TWO starter kits.  

If ONE is good TWO must be better, right?

Happy Birthday To My Best Friend Sandy (on Earth) And Charlie (in Heaven)

Wow!

A lot of years have flown by since

Sandy and I were kids and

 first met in a laundromat

in North Fort Myers, Florida

in the Fall of 1970.

Little did we know the day we met

that we would become best friends

for life.

Friends that would see each other

through marriages,

 the births of children,

divorces that we weren't expecting

and re-marriages.

We have both moved all over the 

country but have always lived 

within driving distance of each other.

Let me tell you how good of a friend 

 I am.

When she went to remarry 

she asked me to be matron of honor.

The long distance tolls started

adding up.

Me:  Did you get your dress yet?

Sandy:  I found a nice pants suit.
Me: WHAT?

Sandy: Yes! You heard me right!

A PANTS SUIT!

Me: You can't get married in a pants suit.

Sandy: Watch me! (sensing an "attitude"

here are you?;>)

Me:  I am wearing a soft pink dress as 

your matron of honor.

Sandy:  Great!  I'm wearing a pants suit.

Me:  Really?

Sandy:  Yes! REALLY!!!

hmmmmmmffff

The day before the wedding I went shopping.

I bought a wedding dress in her size.

I took it to her home in Illinois.

Me:  I have a present for you.

Sandy:  What it is?

Me:  It's your wedding dress~

Sandy: (the red head in her making her face flush)

I have a nice pants suit!

Me:  MOM!!! MOM!!!! Come here, Mom!

Look at this- I bought Sandy a REAL wedding dress.

Sandy: Oh, Crap!  Don't get my Mom in on this.

Mom: (timidly) Well, it wouldn't hurt to try it on.

Sandy: (glaring at me) I don't like wedding dresses.

Me:  You'll like this one!

Door to bathroom SLAMS shut.

Door to bathroom opens.

Her Mom and I look at her and we are 

smiling from ear to ear.

Me: It's PERFECT

Mom:  It's PERFECT

Sandy: It's too big on the sides!

Mom:  You have four hours to get ready,

I'll take it in.

Sandy: FINE!!! 
(this is the closest we have ever come
to having a cross word with each other!;>) 

TA-DAH!

ps.  And THAT is what best friends are all about-picking your wedding dress out

for you whether you want one or not!

pffffftt.....A Pant's Suit!!!!
Happy Birthday Sandy!

Listen-she recently connected to the internet world down there in the wilds of Minnesota.

Wish her a Happy Birthday here for me-will you?

And Happy 61st birthday to my brother, Charlie.

He is celebrating his second birthday in Heaven

today- I miss you, buddy!
~You are forever in my heart~
Yep-my best friend in life and my brother
born on the same day-
What are the odds on that?
I hope they made him an
Angel Food Cake
up there where calories don't count!

I am still at my daughter's house this morning

but headed home this afternoon.

I will play catch up with you all late today!

Happy Birthday, Sandy...

I love you as much as if we were

blood sisters.

Who knows?

Maybe we are.....after all...

my Dad used to travel, you know!!!!