Future Roller Derby Queens

What do you do 

when you are at Nana's house

on a day

when it is too cold and  windy

to play outside?

Some might watch movies

while doing contortionist moves

with an arm over the head.

Some might color.

Some might play games.

But at OUR house 2 of the 3 girls

disappear.

I hear some giggling and 

in the downstairs hall 

 I see this!

Hmmmm....better here than on the

hardwood floors on the main level.

MyHero would be having a heart attack

if he were here....shhhhhhh...

What are you doing girls?

Nuthin!!!!

Really????

Hmmm....looks like skating in progress

to me-

Watch this, Nana!

Maria whizzes along like a pro.

Look at SweetCheek's face

Okay-it's YOUR TURN, SweetCheeks.

Ohkay! Here I come...

How are you doing, SweetCheeks?

I hahte skating!

I am gonna go watch Snow White.

Snow White doesn't like skating eihther!

Yes- But did you have fun?

NO!

Oh- Good- I am not quite

ready to go sit and watch the 

girls roller derby yet anyway!

Maybe I will put MY skates

on and practice in the downstairs hall.

Do they have roller derbies for

old ladies? Just wonderin'.......

Happy Valentine 's Day

This is a bittersweet

Valentine's Day 

for me.

It is the first Valentine's Day

in 59 years that has not

been celebrated by

my brother, Charlie.

Today I carry a 

Wounded Heart.

I want to thank each and every one

of you that took time to share

your thoughts and prayers with me.

It might take me a while but I will

reply to everyone that has a viable

email address....for those that 

don't-know that I read each

and every  comment and I am so blessed

to know how much you all care.

I know that time will take away

some of the pain.

I also know that Charlie was always a

Happy Soul.

He would not want us to mourn his death,

but rather to live in the joy of the day.

It was amazing to see all the people

that loved him step forward to 

offer condolences.

I don't think he had an enemy in 

the world.

He had a kind word to say about

everyone-finding good in even

the worst of situations.

I miss him....truly miss him.

But, as he left this world

on a laugh-here-

I know he would want ME to 

continue to spread laughter.

That is part of his legacy-

happiness and laughter.

So- today I have a very special

Valentine to send you-

One I know you have been 

waiting for-one I have saved

for this day.

Could there be ANYTHING more

HEART WARMING

than that?

~Happy Valentine's Day~

I will be back soon.

I promise.

Heaven Has A Brand New Angel-My Brother, Charlie

A week ago today my brother

walked into the hospital ER

because he wasn't feeling well.

Today at 4:04 he left the hospital.

He didn't leave the way we hoped

nor the way we expected.

He went to a different home

than the one he left last Tuesday.

He developed a very rare cancer

that affects less than 1% of

cancer patients.  It is fast moving

and there is less than a 1% chance

of survival.

I  struggled trying to figure

out why this has happened.

Then a peaceful thought came to me.

Our little granddaughter,

Anna Bella,  who would be seven now,

needed an Uncle

to keep her company.

A great-uncle.

Great in more ways than one.

We knew this morning that his

time to be with us was to be

short-lived.

They put him on a morphine drip

and he gently drifted away

without pain.

What you don't know about

my brother is that he was a 

joker-He loved to make

people laugh.

He was the "smiliest" person

I ever knew and he

dearly loved a good joke.

You know, even in moments of 

blinding pain there are

sparks of laughter,

After we said our good-byes and 

gave him permission to go "home",

we were all sobbing.

I told him: "You are so, so loved here

and Mom & Dad

and our grandparents and 

uncles and cousins and family

are all waiting for you-waiting to

welcome you to Heaven".

My sister-in-law added...

"And Snow White".

What? I asked.

Maybe you read a different

Bible than I do cuz I don't

think Snow White is in Heaven.

Everyone in the room erupted

in laughter.

In the burst of laughter

my brother, Charlie,

took his last breath of

life on this Earth.

We knew then that he 

was free to go because

in spite of our sadness

there was one last smile for him.

I'm betting that right now,

up in Heaven,

he is setting our little Anna Bella

up to some mischief

just like  I my father used to 

set him up.

He passed so-so peacefully,

with nary a complaint.

You did good, Charlie,

very, very good.

Thank you all so much

for all your prayers.

Please pray for my sister-in-law,

Sherry.  She was the love of

his life and has lost the 

two men she loved most

to death within a year.

I came back to a room

tonight at a loss as to what

to do.  I opened my blog and

I read each and every

comment tonight.

I am overwhelmed and don't know

WHAT to say-except-

Thank You!

I will be gone from blogging

for a while but I will be back.

After all, I have a few smiles

left to give away....

but just not today.....

not today~

ps.  Snow White?  She was Charlie's cat.

Please Pray For A Peaceful Passing-Update on my brother

I promised you an update

and I wish it could be an

uplifting post- one

full of hope and joy.

Sadly, that is not to be.

My brother, Charlie,

was diagnosed with 

Stage 4 cancer.

It is a very aggressive cancer

and it appears that he has

only had it for a month at most.

This is the little brother I 

have loved his whole life.

At this point in time,

the doctors are giving him

days, perhaps hours to live.

He has gone downhill rapidly,

but he knows I am here

and understands that I

(and his whole family)

love him.

He is a Christian and is at peace

with his spiritual life.

At this point, I am asking you

to pray for a peaceful

passing for him-one free of

pain and angst-that he 

could just slip peacefully

away knowing that he is so so so loved.

We have much heartache ahead...

but I wanted you all to know.

Thank you so very much for 

your prayers.

They are just being answered

in a different way than I hoped.

I have not responded to your comments

but please know that I have read,

and savored, everyone of them.

I will keep you posted.

Love to all of you-

Diana

Please Pray For My Brother

I got a call from my

sister-in-law that my 

brother, Charlie, is in the hospital.

On Monday he was not feeling well.

On Tuesday, he went to the ER.

On Wednesday they did a biopsy

on his  lesions in his liver and 

found a mass in his bladder.

They have transferred him to

another hospital in another

town.  The same hospital

he was born in.

I am heading out to 

Pennsylvania to be with him

and his family.

Please, please, please

pray for him.

He is the only sibling I have

ever had and he is an 

important part of my life.

Even though we live half-way

across the country from

each other we are connected

by the heart.

I will be taking a blogging break

but I will post an update

when I have more news.

I know there is power in prayer

and I know that you are

good prayers-if you are 
part of a church or group
prayer chain please add him
to the list...and pray for his 
wife, too.

I thank you.

Much love,

Diana

A SweetCheeks Zinger

SweetCheeks has this

way of giving you the 

perfect little zinger

without really meaning to.

That is why this is the

perfect card for her.

It says ZING.

Here's her latest little zinger.

She looks across at Papa

who is sitting on the sofa-

remote in hand.

Papa, she says ever so sweetly.

Papa, she repeats-because he

doesn't answer

Papa: Yes, SweetCheeks?

SC:  Papa~How ohld ARE yohu?

Papa:  I'm 62.

SC: (digests that for a minute)

Soooooo.....yohu are OLHD AND FAT?

I start laughing hysterically because 

I am usually on the receiving end of her

zingers.

Papa:  That's not nice, SweetCheeks!

SC:  Sorry, Papa.

SC: (looking towards me-stage whispers)

That's true though, isn't it, Nana?

(snort-snort)

Any problems with being egotistical?

I can send her over to fix you!

She works cheap-

you can pay her in glitter and glue.

Never Fail Caramels

Yesterday I promised you a
REAL TREAT.
Here it is!
There's a storm brewig here today.

We have 3-5" of snow coming

followed by a few hours

of freezing rain.

Can you see the big fat flakes

falling on the playhouse

in our backyard?

When I was a kid my mother

often whipped up a batch 

of fudge from scratch

after the chores were done

on a snowy Pennsylvania night.

I make caramels instead.

As you can tell, I love to bake

and make candy.

I don't know how many 

caramel recipes I have tried

over the years.

Some of them called for

stirring for what seemed hours

and then...

they might or might not

"turn out".

These are quick!

Less than 10 minutes from

start to finish AND they

NEVER FAIL 

to set up properly.

Ready?

Get yourself a nice big 

microwave measuring cup.
Edited to add this message
from Debbie (see below)
 Be careful though, I have a friend who was making caramels in the microwave with her daughter, but they were using a glass container, not a measuring cup. At one point, the glass fell out and my friend received third degree burns over her hands and legs. I would caution your readers to make sure they use a good quality measuring cup, as you mentioned, not anything else! Just a heads up

I use the 2 quart one.

Everything that is measured out

is in 1/2 cup increments.

Melt 1/2 cup butter.

Remove from microwave.

Add 1/2 cup Karo syrup,

1/2 cup light brown sugar,

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup sweetened CONDENSED MILK

(not evaporated milk)

Stir until mixed and dissolved.

Microwave on high 3-1/2 minutes.

Stir down.

Microwave on high 3-1/2 more minutes.

Remove from mic.  Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts-if desired- I don't.

Stir until few air bubbles remain.

Pour into 8x8 buttered dish.

Refrigerate until set.

Cut into squares.

You can wrap these if they last long enough.

Ours never seem to make it to the

wrapped stage!

Serve these to your husband.

Make sure he eats twice as many

as you do.

Remember- the fatter he gets

the skinnier you look

standing next to him!;>)

Crafting Valentines-The Rest Of The Story

As you now know I was able

to free myself from the 

World Of Glue

and here I am prepared to

give you the rest of

the girls' crafting session.

If you remember we started

with this:

They assumed their positions:

And here are a few of their creations:

Lulu

made this one:

Sweet little Ria made this one:

 She is my glitter girl.

SweetCheeks made this one

using a card that Julie Marie/Idyllhours

sent her around Christmastime:

What fun they had-they were full of 

ZING!

And as for me...

Well I feel kind of like this...
Like my ZING got ZAPPED

No! That is NOT me!
I'm cuter....bwhahahahahaha
Pop in tomorrow for a 
SWEET TREAT!

Making A Mess-Er-Making Valentines

If you are a regular reader

you know I had my three

granddaughters here for 

the weekend.

With Valentine's Day coming up

I thought it would be fun

 (kinda like poking my eye out

with a stick)

to craft a few Valentines.

This, of course, involves

GLUE & GLITTER,

the bane of my existence.

I set up "stations" before

they got here.

Look how handy these sweet

chalkboard plates 
(that my daughter-in-love made me)
 come in!

Station One:

Station Two:

Station Three:

This involves scissors & a hole punch

AND a paper cutter which the girls

are NOT ALLOWED to use.

I gave them a very sweet, gentle reminder

about "HANDS OFF" the slicer/dicer.

SweetCheeks said:

Yohu wouldn't do that enyways, Nana.

That is a stooopid sighn.

Hmmmm...We'll see about THAT!

Choosing materials each girl starts

crafting. 

Thing One

Thing Two:

And, last but not least,

Thing Three

How did everything turn out?

How much glitter was spilled in the process?

How many fingers were glued to eyeballs?

How many scraps of paper were

glued to the floor?

You will have to come back tomorrow

where all your pressing questions

will be answered.......maybe.....

if I can get unglued from my

seat so I can get some sleep.

Later........

A Sweet Treat For My Sweetheart(s)

Here are some 

Fast and Fun

little

Valentine's Day Cookies.

Want to know HOW EASY these are?

First bake up your favorite drop 

Sugar Cookie Recipe

(I'll share my own later)

As soon as they are done 

pull them out and while they are

still warm press a cookie cutter

1/2 way through the cookie.

You don't want to cut it completely out.

You just want the heart impression.

Sorry-blurry pic-hard to do it

and photograph it at the

same time.

Then take some colored sugar

and sprinkle it into the 

grooves.

It is just as easy to do it 

without the cutter in place.

Make yourself a little sign.

Use a pretty little setup

Watch the smiles!

And now, even though I never thought

I would do this I am sharing

My SECRET SECRET SECRET

drop sugar cookie recipe

when I am in a hurry.

Shhhhhh....don't you DARE tell a soul!

Have a wonderful Sunday

A Tutorial On Taking Children's Pictures-Using SweetCheeks As A Model

Ready?  Here We Go!

First ~ pick a child that is 

photogenic and likes having

their picture taken.

Two ~ DO NOT ASK

Can I take your picture in the

sweet little dress and cape that

your Uncle and Auntie bought you,

 SweetCheeks?

The answer will be-

  NOH!

I doan't wahnt my pickshure taken.

 Three: The Solution:

Tell her you want to take a picture

of the flowers in the basket

and ask her to hold them for you.

Ummmm...Not exactly what I had in mind.

Can you hold the flowers down and 

your head down a little bit and look

right at Nana.

Hmmmm..

Sweet Cheeks..just smile and look normal.

Yeah...well.....You kinda got that 

 fake smile

and puppy dog eyes

thing going on there...

How about one more.

What?

You want to take your cape off?

Okay- Off with the cape!

Now~How about a picture

with your Auntie Carol then?

Oh- That's a really good one,

SweetCheeks.

Now...give me one more picture when

you are looking all cute like that...

and this one all by yourself.

Ready?

Thank you SO MUCH!

I think the photo session is 

over for the day.

Today is your lucky day, ladies.

There is NO charge for this

tutorial.  The tips I gave you

 are all free and,

as you can see for yourself,

the outcome varies from 

shot to shot.

Go give it a try and may

God be with you.

Please Pray For This New Baby

Good Morning Friends

I had a fun post up this morning

but as I read my email I knew I had

to replace my morning post.

I have a plea

from Joanne @MyRandomInsanities

You can read about her beautiful

new grandson at the link above.

Here he is.

Isn't he beautiful?
She calls him The Boss~

Last night he went rapidly downhill.

Here is the email I got from Joanne.

D, things went rapidly downhill today and the little guy is in a lot of distress.  The doctor has sent him to a specialist**...Could I ask you to please ask your readers to keep them/life them with their prayers?  You were the first one I thought of tonight when I was praying for them  Bless you sweet friend

**I removed part of the letter from my blog
because Joanne's daughter is so upset about everything.
Sometimes  I wonder why I do this 

silly blog...

and then I get this and I "get it".

God is using me, when I let Him,

to find people that will 

pray for others.

Please wing a prayer skyward for

The Boss!

We all know we need one more 

Male Boss

here on Earth

to keep us on track.

Pray for his whole family-

especially his Mom.

Thank  you all~