Monday, November 30, 2015

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DARLING SWEET CHEEKS

This should have been yesterday's post-
but-alas-Nana is usually a day late
and a dollar (or two) short!
My Little Fairy Princess is Growing Up!
Look how cute!

Let me take you on a short journey
that started NINE YEARS ago..
The angels sang the day you were born.
You were so small when you were born-
You came early and spent 15 days in the NICU.
Nana visited you everyday 
and held you close to her heart.
Then-
When you got home your sisters loved on you
and you grew strong and healthy.
You were a cute toddler-
even when your mom 
thought you were a chicken.
Sometimes you were a hot mess.
And one time at the 
Christmas Tree Farm
a bush jumped out and grabbed you.
Instead of rushing to rescue you 
your mom had the 
presence of mind to take a  picture 
so that we could all laugh!
One day you ran away from your 
pretty princess outfits
and showed up
dressed for a magazine cover
for downtown Green Bay.
We were so proud of you!
You love the Packers!
You love to dance!
And you love school!
And 
WE LOVE YOU!
Happy Birthday, Honey!
I hope I live long enough to see you 
wearing something like this someday!
Even though you told me I can't 
SIT UP FRONT IN THE CHURCH
because I might
ACT UP!
Seriously?  Me?!!!!
Okay- Okay-you have me pegged 
but just remember
THE NUT DOESN'T FALL 
FAR FROM THE 
GRAND-PARENTAL TREE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Sweet Cheeks!
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Sunday, November 29, 2015

Lulu Opens For Santa

For the second year in a row my
Little Lulu
opened the Christmas lighting ceremony for
On Broadway 
in downtown west Green Bay.
She sang about 6 or 7 songs solo
and then Santa came on stage
to join the fun.

She did a fantastic job.
(Much better than Nana did on the picture taking).

I am working outside getting my lights up
while we have sunshine.
It is only 16 degrees here by the bay
this morning-
but supposed to go up to 35 degrees today.
A real heat wave, folks!

Have an awesome Sunday
(am I too old to say awesome)

I'll be back in a day or so!
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Friday, November 27, 2015

UPDATE on Prayer Request for Carter.

This is an update yesterday
from Sheila @ Note Songs
about her little granddaughter, Carter.
She thanks everyone for their prayers.
It is not over yet,
but this precious little girl is on her
way to recovery.

I am still away for a couple of days
but wanted to update you.
What a wonderful Thanksgiving for them.
They brought her home.

Here is what Shelia had to say:
Dear Ones! I just had to write one more time today about our little Carter. She woke up this morning after her treatment and was playing and doing so well. They dismissed her this afternoon and we've just had Thanksgiving dinner with our family and our precious little Carter. She will have another treatment in a few weeks and we will still need your prayers. She is on some oral meds right now, a steroid, even a blood pressure pill because the steroids seem to make her blood pressure go up. It's not very high but the med is preventative. She really has no limitations on what she can do but will have a salt reduced diet and no processed foods. My daughter and her family eat very healthy so this won't be very hard to do. We cannot put into words how much we appreciate your prayers. These prayers to our God have sustained us and has brought Carter through this very scary time. We know it's not over but prayerfully the worse is over. We prayer you all have had a wonderful Thanksgiving. This has definitely been our best Thanksgiving! We give God all the glory for what He has done for us. Thank you again and I love you.
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Tuesday, November 24, 2015

The COTTAGE JOURNAL & TAKING A BREAK

About a year ago 
I started getting this magazine.
I can thank a school magazine drive.

The school(s) should send me a tax refund
for all the "support" I have given over the years.
Sometimes I get rooked -lol-
but not this time! 
THIS TIME
I got what I paid for....
THIS "Journal" is so beautiful.

Want to take a peek?
Care to sit for a spell on this porch?
Jim Bathie/Yukie McLean
After you sit a spell you can pop in to
an inside porch at 
Home Sweet Home
After sitting a while we will
move right along to
 the home of 
Mark & Nancy Peeples.
Look at this
 light and bright dining retreat.
Katie Wood/Stephanie Melbourne

There are some great kitchens featured, too.
This warm and wonderful kitchen
 belongs to  Cathy & Mike Harris.
Somehow,
I  just knew the magazine would be a winner
with a front cover like this:
and a 
BACK COVER 
that is equally enchanting!.
So, if you happen to pop into a 
Barnes & Noble 
-or any bookstore-
 is worth a second look.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!!
I am over at the VA today
enjoying my time with the vets.

I will be off until after 
Thanksgiving and I will catch up
with all of you then.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
I hope each and every one of you
has somewhere special to spend the holiday
and that it is with someone you love.

As for me-
I am getting my turkey ready!

your photo name

Monday, November 23, 2015

Happy Birthday, Mama's Boy!

Here you were, minutes after birth.

Look at that head of hair!

Hey!  Even MyHero had hair back then!

You had chubby little cheeks

and loved your rocking horse.

You loved the swimming pool

when we lived in Florida.

You were a funny little guy-


and you were SO sad when we told you

that you were too big for

a sink bath.

One day we turned around

and you were five.

Five?

Five!

At six you loved playing ball.

And although you played soccer

for ELEVEN years.

(yes I was a soccer Mom

I never missed a match)

I could not find a single

picture of you in one of

your soccer uniforms.

You were a rabbit

BY CHOICE

for so many years that I lost track

of how many bunny costumes I made.

The years flew by.

You grew up into a fine young man.


We were over the moon

when you married

the girl we all love.

And..as your sisters had

children you became a

wonderful Uncle..

because you still have a lot of

'KID' in you.

But the biggest blessing 

in your life

(besides marrying your sweet wife)

is that you have a precious

little son of your own.








And HE loves his Nana!

Yes!He!Does!
You do special things like
hang up lights on the house
to delight your little boy!
It lights up the whole neighborhood---
I think there might be a law against that..
And you tenderly wash the boyo's hair..
Things like that make you an
amazing dad.
You are a good son, too,
and a great husband.

Not sure how you got to be
SO OLD cuz that makes ME
REALLY OLD...lol

Anyway-
Happy Birthday, Ryan!
Love you to the moon and back!

ps.  the check is in the mail....
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Sunday, November 22, 2015

PRAYER REQUEST FOR LITTLE CARTER- Granddaughter of Shelia @ Note Songs

You know me and my heart for
GRANDCHILDREN!

This precious little girl, Carter,
needs all the prayers she can get.
She is VERY SICK and they
don't know what is wrong with her yet.
This is an older picture but the only one
I found on Shelia's blog
She is hospitalized and,
as you can imagine, 
her family is sitting there on pins and needles
trying to pray her well.

Shelia is beside herself and I know the feeling well.
As a grandparent you just feel 
TOTALLY HELPLESS.

So, let's HELP by sending up prayers
and/or good wishes and blessings.

Thanks so much.
The link to Shelia's blog is HERE.
She will continue to give updates on
Carter HERE.
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Saturday, November 21, 2015

GET STUFFED!!!!!!

I love it.
In some areas of the country they call it
STUFFING.
In other areas of the country they call it
DRESSING.
At my house we call it
one of
Nana's Make-You-Fat Foods.

Whatever you call it,
each family has their
own special secret recipe,
often guarded by a
 bulldog of  a mother-in-law 
wonderful cook.

Well, I don't have many secrets so
I am gonna share my own
recipe with you.
Why get fat alone when
you can share the 
fat with a few good friends, right?

With this recipe I 
do all the messy work the 
day before.  
The morning of Thanksgiving
I just have to get up,
mix the ingredients together. 
and stuff that baby...
or in our case...
that FAT BOY.
Not such a good picture---sorry.
He weighed in at almost 
THIRTY POUNDS...
Uh-Huh!
And here is what got stuffed 
up his -ahem- behind.
(and in the place where
his poor neck used to be)
So...the day before
I chop about 1-1/2 cups celery.
I cut up a huge onion.
I quarter my own and peel the
quarters- so much easier 
to get the skins off that way,
if you've never tried it-
you might want to give it a go.
Then I put the celery and the onion in a 
microwave safe bowl with 
1/4 cup BUTTER
and nuke microwave them for
about 6 minutes...more or less..
till they are softened.
While they are getting nuked
I brown one pound of sausage
in a pan. 
Have you ever used a potato
masher to smash up your meat?
It is the best thing ever...
but it has to be a wire one like
this to work.  
I do all my ground meat this way.
Then I chop up a can of
Water Chestnuts and a can
of Mushrooms.
When the meat is browned and
the celery/onion mix is done
I put them, along with the 
mushrooms and water chestnuts
in a tupperware container
in the fridge.
The next morning when I am
ready to stuff the 
BIG BOY 
(the turkey-not MyHero)
I beat two eggs a bit and
add 1 large container 
Swanson's Chicken Broth.
I add this to 2 to 3 
large bags of stuffing crumbs.
2-1/2 bags makes my own
dressing moist enough 
for our family.
(yeah- I really wanted to lie
and be all Martha Stewartish
and say I made my own bread cubes
but...)
Here's what I use.
Then I proceed to stuff
the neck cavity and the 
well-you-know-where
area of the turkey.
Can you see he barely fits
in my roaster?

Now because my family
loves dressing I always 
make a side pan of it, too.
And...HOW do you get that
TURKEY TASTE into
the side dish

Easy-peasy!
You know those parts nobody
wants?
I stick them on top of 
my dressing....cover with tinfoil
and bake away.
MyHero says...
DIANA! You can't post that last picture!
It's disgusting!  
I say..
WATCH ME!
(you will notice that I
didn't watermark THAT one)

So, tell me...
What do you stuff
YOUR 
Big Boy with?

My "girls" and I will be on our annual
Mother/Daughter Christmas walk today.
They are predicting snow, howling winds
and freezing temps.
Sounds like a good time to me!

your photo name

Friday, November 20, 2015

Finish It Up Friday- Five For Friday!

Thanks for your patience yesterday-
Although a couple of you did 
SCOLD ME
for my absence---
and you know who you are.

I got a lot done and had about
30 people here for a meeting last night.

So, today, to pay you all back-
for giving me so much grief-
I am going to bore you with some
pictures that you can look at-
-or choose not to look at-
It's up to you.

Ha- Reeled you right in with that picture,
didn't I?

Now that I have your attention-
I am gonna make you look at some of
MY OWN PICTURES!

This is taken from my kitchen window.
It is one of the last ships that will 
come into the port of 
Green Bay, WI this year.
Soon, the bay will be frozen solid.
Unbelievably, our grass is still green.
Here is our little Bright Eyes....
Isn't she cute?
Just think-
Someday she will be all grown up and
wearing makeup.
NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT!
Let's start with Mom's eyebrow pencil
and see where it goes from there.
Looks like it might TASTE good, too!
And here is your 
LAUGH FOR THE DAY!

I kept CJK overnight on Tuesday because
Mom and Dad had to be out of town
early Wednesday morning.

I made him a 
BIG BUBBLE BATH.
When he first looked at it- 
the bubbles were about 8 inches deep
and he did not want to get in.
After he got in he did not want to get out.
He said:
It's like WHIPPED CREAM, Nana
I said- Yes- It is!
 I dropped him off at his pre-school 
the next morning.
It is a small lock-down school.
When you leave the door closes behind you 
and you can't get back in.
AS THE DOOR WAS CLOSING BEHIND ME
he says:
My Nana covered me with 
WHIPPED CREAM LAST NIGHT!

I can only IMAGINE what the teacher thought.

As for me?
I hurried home,
pulled all the drapes,
and waited for 
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES
to knock on my door.

If I disappear you will know that
I have entered the 
Witness Protection Program
to avoid being prosecuted for
child abuse--
OR
 I will be blogging as
Nana Diana Takes A PRISON Break...
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