Everything Is Coming Up Roses

Aren't these gorgeous?

They look ALMOST as nice as my own do!

See for yourself!

I moved them last year.

Looks like there is 

NO HOPE

here, huh?

Wait a minute...wait a minute!

What's that I see?

Can it be?

Yes!  Yes it is!

One little ray of hope on an otherwise

DEAD ROSE BUSH!

I'm gonna save this baby.

I think I might need a little help.

Is there a Doctor in the house?

Traveling with my girls....

be around late today!

Sweet Cheeks Graduation From Kindergarten

How can it be?

How can it be that this

LITTLE GIRL

graduated from Kindergarten?

She arrived early.

and she was all smiles.

No uniforms today.

They could wear whatever they wanted.

SweetCheeks wanted 

RUFFLES and SPARKLES!

Of course she did!

And cute shoes with

SPARKLES, too.

Sisters graduated from their classes, too.

Onto Sixth grade for Lulu and 

Fourth grade for Ria.

She is all smiles here, too,

getting her graduation certificate.

SweetCheeks did not realize until

later that her time with Mr. Schultz

has ended.

She didn't realize that she would be in

a different room next year

with a different teacher.

When she did realize it...

Well, let's just say it broke

MY heart, too.

The smile was gone and replaced by

a silent tear.

Good-bye Mr. Schultz.

Sweet Cheeks will miss you.

Sometimes growing up has pain

mixed in with joy.

We are praying that 

SweetCheeks 

first grade teacher will love her

as much as Mr. Schultz did.

God bless you, Mr. Schultz,

and thank you

for taking such good care

of our girl!

ps...Just imagine the stories
HE has in his memory bank from
his year with SweetCheeks!

Flowers In Deck Planter Boxes

Wait till you see my 
DECK PLANTER BOXES!!!

We have had a late Summer here.

It was too cold to plant outside until 

after the first of June.

Want to see some 

GREAT rail planters?

Don't you LOVE this one?

Unfortunately, that one is NOT mine.

Look at this one.

Ummmmm...that one's not mine either.

Nor is this one.

Wondering what MY deck planters look like are you?

You won't believe it!

Take a GANDER at this!

SweetCheeks & BigBoyE actually saw

the EGG WIGGLING as the baby

pecked his way out.

I didn't have the heart to disturb the planter.

On the OTHER side of the same planter

is this baby.

What's that you say?

I must have more than ONE deck planter box?

OF COURSE I do-you silly.
Want to see?
Well-here you go~

This one has plants in it.

See-I TOLD you I had plants!!!!
Just keeping it real, folks,
keeping it real.

Make Me Smile Mondays

You won't BELIEVE 

THE HORROR

I discovered in my bathroom.

TWO FLOATING HEADS!

AND

They can separate at will....

LOOK, Nana, LOOK.

Big Boy E has a body attached to his head!

OR DOES HE?????


ps.  Thank you all so much for the
sweet messages you left yesterday.
I don't even know what else to say except
you have filled my heart.

Heart To God

My brother passed over
four months ago this week.
Since then I have seen hearts everywhere,

In rocks and stones
Look closely at the 

sand trap in the golf course.

I think God might have had

a hand in this one.

I wondered why I was seeing hearts
everywhere...but I do believe in signs.

My heart lies somewhere in

the hills of Pennsylvania today...
my sister-in-law posted this and I

saw my brother's gravestone

for the first time.

Another heart to God...
way too soon...
way too soon.

Back tomorrow morning!

Sweet Cheeks First Day At The Farmers Market

Several of you have asked to see the girls

Three Sisters Cookie Company's

little blurb on Fox 11's morning news.

Here is a link to it.

Girls on the News

Here they are in their aprons all ready to go!

You can take a peek if you want to see it.

It is a couple of minutes long after you

get through the stupid commercial .

I asked SweetCheeks (who usually talks a blue streak)

How come you didn't answer the reporter's question?

SC:  CUZ, Nana, She said what is Maria MAKING?

She wasn't MAKING anything she was DOING SOMETHING!

I didn't want to make her feel bad cuz she didn't know she

was DOING something and not MAKING SOMETHING!

Oh- Well, why didn't you answer her next question?

SC:  CUZ, Nana- I was still thinking about her last question.

Let me tell you-

Once she got "out on the street" she never quit talking

while handing out samples.

Here she is with her first customers.

Her other grandparentss~Gramma & Grampa G.

Here are a few more pictures of them

running their business.

How about another nice picture, Ria?

NICE!!! Every family needs a funny face.

Sweet little sisters!

Wait-What's this?

There is a lack of customers because of the rain,

It was colder than a witch in a well!

Whatcha doing, Sweet Cheeks?

Looking nice so somebuddy will buy some cookies!

(notice how great the gloves fit-snicker-snicker)

(

Good job, SweetCheeks!

Nana?

Yes, honey?

Go around the side, Nana, cuz here comes

a REAL customer!

I rank right up there with day old french fries.

What's Up With My Polka Dot Bike?

No time-

No time this morning-

No time to write a long post.

So - here is a quick peek

at what I have been up to.

Remember this?

You can read about how

I painted it with polka dots HERE

I have NO idea why all my

old posts went to 

SMALL PRINT...UGH!!!

Anyway-this is what she looked like

yesterday.

Guess what this 

has to do

with my

Polka Dot Bike?

Well, I hate to tease you

but you will have to come back

tomorrow to see what I did.

What's going on here this morning?

Ummmmm....

Two little THUMB THUCKERS are VITHSTHING!

THEee you later!

A Message From My Daughter -SweetCheeks Mom-To My Readers

My daughter, Tara, left this message for

ALL OF YOU!

I thought you would like to read it.

Thank you to all of the Nana Diana Followers out there!

You all have embraced our girls as you have read their

stories, laughed at the antics and pulled the tissues out

when they are sad. And now, you have shown them support 

by "liking" their Facebook page and encouraging them with 

sweet notes and words of praise! All of this, and they have 

never met you face to face.

Thank you for the joy you have continued to spread. I am 

glad Nana takes the time to write down all of these things 

and share these tales with you.

It's me- Nana- from here on out-

I am off to the farmer's market tonight to

take some pictures of them in action.

If you haven't visited their Facebook page yet,

and you can-please go and 

LIKE them-  I'll LOVE them and

you can LIKE them!

The link is HERE

I add my thanks to my daughter's...

Thank you for being so wonderful.

Ps.  If you are in our area the will be
on Channel  FOX 11 News
(#12 TimeWarner Cable)
this morning.
I think it's at 8:15 but not sure of the time.

Sweet Cheeks On Getting Married

You know, of course, that the 

SweetCheeks and I have these

DEEP CONVERSATIONS.

Last Sunday, she was sitting on my 

lap-with a woe-be-gone look on her face.

Me:What's the matter, SweetCheeks?

SC: I can never get married.

Me:Why not?

SC: Because you have to kiss a boy

ON THE LIPS!

Me: Yeah-So?

SC : So...Nana...THAT'S just YUCKY

and GROSS.

Me: No-it's not!

SC:  Yehs! Yehs it IS, Nana!

Me: Well, your Mom & Dad are 

married.  Do

they ever kiss on the lips?

SC: Yessss and iht's GROSS!

Daddy pipes up-We only do that once a year.

She glares Daddy down.

SC: NO- I see yohu AHLL

the time kissing on the lips.

Me:  (stirring the pot)

Do you suppose Gramma & Grampa G

ever kiss?

SC:  No! (disgusted look)

They are WAY TOO OLD to kiss.

Me:  uh-huh

Well, you don't have to get married,

SweetCheeks...no problem.

SC: Yesss-It's a problem.

Me:Why's that?

SC: Cuz two boys at school have a

big crush on me....and 

THAT'S WHY IHT'S A PROBLEM!

End of conversation!

Ummmm....

Guess she can stop practicing now.

ps. Her Daddy hopes she feels that

way until she is at least 21!

Ready For Ruffles?

LOOK AT THIS!

Sweet Cheeks and Sisters needed some

RUFFLED APRONS

for their BIZNESS

(as Sweet Cheeks calls it).

Their BIZNESS is 

Three Sisters Cookie Company.

You can read about it here and here.

Their Mom, my daughter, and I 

spent about 3 hours finding materials that

"matched".

Look how cute these fabrics are.

While the girls were stirring and baking....

.I started to cut and sew.

By the end of the day I had cut and sewn

EIGHT APRONS-

6 for the little girls and one for Mom 

and one for Dad.

I think Mom would look cute in a pink hat

like that, don't you?

All the apron ties have two coordinated fabrics

for the ties and three or four for

the aprons themselves.

Guess what kind of ruffles

SweetCheeks likes!

That's  my girl!!!!

I'd rather eat my Ruffles than wear them myself!

Pictures of them at work

in their aprons

in a day or so!

IT'S RAINING IT'S POURING THE OLD MAN IS....

One of the best things about 

living on the

Bay of Green Bay?

Watching the storms come in

from the West.

The skies are bright at the house 

but looking West we see 

the sky darken.

Our neighbor goes down on the dock

for a closer look.

  The sky gets darker still and

you can see the rain coming

in a line across the Bay-

kicking the water up in its path.

Can you see it?

The rain hits the lawn....

I am sitting inside on the couch

watching the movement of

nature around us.

Look!  Look! I cry excitedly.

No response!  

LOOK- IT'S HERE- I say

with a raised voice.

No response.

I look to my right.

Remember the rest of that 

childhood poem?

Sure you do!

It's raining....

It's pouring....

The old man is SNORING.....

Do you think THIS might cause

a stir of excitement?

I hope I don't burn my fingers!

Do NOT try this at home!

I'll let you know how it works out-

Meanwhile -Hope you have a 

wonderful QUIET Sunday!

Sweet Cheeks And Sisters Meet The Mayor

Back before I was forced to

take a blogging break

(because I had NO computer)

I did a little post about 

Sweet Cheeks and her sisters.

Their Daddy built them a little

"house" to sell cookies and ice cream

at the farmer's markets and local

events.

You can read about 

Sweet Cheeks Sells Cookies 

and Ice Cream 
here.                   

They were downtown having 

their picture taken for their

Facebook page....here 

If you have a moment they would love it

if you would go and LIKE their Facebook page.

Well, imagine their surprise

when they were asked to meet

The Mayor, Jim Schmitt.

Here he is congratulating them on their business.
Sweet Cheeks is holding up their 
promotional piece and wonders
IF HE CAN READ!

They will use part of the money they earn 
for school funds

and will give part of it to charity.

Next Wednesday will be their first day of business.

I can't wait.

I am NOT eating any of the products-

even though I THINK they washed their hands

before they started baking!

I am OFF sugar and white flour because 

WHAT IS WORSE THAN  GETTING OLD?

GETTING OLD AND FAT!

I don't want to hear SweetCheeks telling people 

that I am her best customer-

she usually tags on that I am 

NICE AND FAT!

Anyway-Here they are-

Ready to go-

Who could resist faces like that?

Later, I will show you the aprons I made

for them to wear everyday-

Think patterns and ruffles!

I am off to warn the mayor that

SweetCheeks may be running

for his position in the 

not-too-distant future!

Heads up-Mayor Schmitt!