TAKING A MEDIA BREAK----

Hi-

Off for some 

Rest and Relaxation-

Back in a couple of weeks.

Be good while I am gone!

See you soon!

MORE PRAYER REQUESTS---FOR KAREN AND ERICH AND KATIE

When I put up a prayer request

I often get prayer requests

from other people.

It breaks my heart

that there is so much suffering 

in the world.

 I will never understand,

this side of heaven, 

why good people have to suffer.

My friend Kimberly used to blog.

She no longer blogs but she

requested prayers for her

sister, Karen.

Doesn't she just look like the

nicest lady?

Here is what Kimberly wrote:

My Sis is going through radiation right now for an aggressive breast cancer and is in a lot of pain. Could you say a prayer for her too? 

Kimberly wrote quite a bit more, too,

but I felt some of it was too personal

to share.

Also-

Many of you know Carole

She blogs as Katie Isabella.

Her son, Erich, has had a 

long, intense struggle with cancer.

Here is the last email I got from Carole.

I am ashamed to say it was overlooked in my 

email system and I didn't see it for several days.

Here is a portion of the message.

I am writing to ask you and your dear husband John to pray for Erich. His CT scan showed two very suspicious places even though every CT scan and CEA marker has been totally normal all the way through last October. His CEA Count was one (1) every year for the last four years. He had his routine CT scan two weeks ago and that was done with the hope that the oncologist would discharge him. Last Friday we found that will not happen. (He has more battles to fight)

There was more to her email, but I don't want

to violate Erich's privacy too much.


And, last but not least,

Katie is the daughter of one of

our friends.

Our daughters used to babysit for her.

Her story is just heartbreaking

and I will let you go to the page

her mom, Debra, put up to 

read the details.

https://www.gofundme.com/wd2x6-help-katie-beat-cancer

If you don't pray,

please join me in sending your

HEALING THOUGHTS

and 

WELL WISHES 

to 

KAREN & ERICH & KATIE

Thank you so very much!

I hope you have a wonderful

Sunday!

STILL WAITING FOR SPRING!!!!

Yesterday as I was driving

home I stopped to consider

one of my favorite places

that is still closed for the

Winter.

This is Bay Beach.
Our small town amusement park
where tickets still cost
25 cents each and it
costs one, or two, tickets
per ride.

This is the  pavilion where

our daughter, Mimi,

got married 

a few years ago.

It was the first wedding held there

in 40 years!

They treated us like royalty

and gave everyone 

free tickets for rides.

Everyone loved it!

However, today it is 

CLOSED!

This is the Zippin-Pippin~

It was Elvis Presley's favorite

roller coaster.

The city bought it a few years ago

and had it erected at 

the amusement park.

I finally got a chance to ride it

last year with my granddaughters.

Do you KNOW how much

I love roller coasters?

Does that surprise you?

I am the one in the front row

with my arms in the air;

discreetly covered so my fat arms
(as SweetCheeks so fondly calls them)

don't wave in the breeze!

And as I look around,

I see the little train station buttoned tight.

Its little cars and engine parked inside.

SHUT!

The small pavilions are empty,

benches tilted sideways.
CLOSED!

The swings have no load

to carry-except for the snow

that has been covering them.

We do have bits and pieces of

GREEN showing through here and there.

However, everything is still

CLOSED!

The playground equipment

echoes with the whistles

of the wind.

CLOSED!

Finally ~I look up and see

the Spring sky and notice a

jet has scratched its way

across the surface.

My deck chairs sit sadly,

waiting...waiting...waiting...

for Spring when they will

be filled with a warm body

~or a wet one~

depending on the day.

Yep!  I am

READY FOR SPRING.

And..what else is ready for

Spring?
Not this one-

he appears
to still be hibernating!

I hope you have a wonderful,

wonderful Thursday.

Next week at this time I will be on my way

HERE!

CAN'T WAIT!!!!

SOME SPECIAL PRAYER REQUESTS FOR MY DEAR FRIEND MARY AND FOR DEBBIE-DABBLE'S NEPHEW JOHN

You know,

sometimes some of us have a

DOWN DAY

and we might even feel a bit depressed

or sad or blue.

I am here to tell you-

if you have good health,

or just minor health issues,

fall on your knees and offer up a

WORD OF THANKSGIVING.

While I am prone to complain about

SNOW in APRIL

or a

LATE SPRING

there are people that are 

praying for their lives.
Do you know Mary
Mydogsmygardenandmary?

I have followed Mary for a long, long time.

She has always been such a

BRIGHT VOICE.

I don't know if she wants me to tell you 

how old she is....

but you wouldn't believe me anyway.

Yesterday I got an email from her

asking for prayer.

I know it is hard for her to ask for anything 

for herself-but she is 

anxious and scared.

Here is her email to me:

Good Morning Diana,  I would like to ask you to put me on your prayer list.  I ended up in the ER last Wednesday morning after struggling to breath all night.  My COPD, asthma and heart were in high distress.  I apparently had heart failure and they have to put in a new valve, but can be done without cracking my chest and going in that way.  It will be up through my leg.  So if you could please have some prayers said for me I would appreciate it very much.

I am home now until all the paper work is complete for surgery.  All I have done is sleep since I got home yesterday evening.

I know Mary will appreciate your prayers

and good thoughts.

I love you, Mary, 

but you know that!!!!

Next on the list is 

Debbie-Dabble's nephew, John.

You can read his whole story here

This is him with his beautiful family

before CANCER struck him down.

He is a trained 

nurse-anesthetist.

You know what that means?

It means that

you know more than you want to know

about hospital things....trust me!

His story is just heartbreaking.

Please take a moment to pop by 

Debbie-Dabbles blog

to see his whole story.

Here he is with his brother, Dan.

You can sure tell they are from the

same family.

If you are a pray-er, please pray.

If you don't pray, please send 

healing thoughts and wishes to 

MARY AND JOHN.

My heart aches for them and their families!

Thank you for taking the time to read this-

You are ALL so appreciated

and loved!

OUR BELIEFS ARE NOT EVERYONE'S BELIEFS---BUT OH! THE FAITH OF A CHILD!!!

SweetCheeks was 3-1/2 years old

when she shared her beliefs

with Papa and me.

She is ELEVEN now.

We were driving her to brunch

after church and asked her

what she had learned

about 

The Easter Story.

It was so touching to me

to see what this
little girl
UNDERSTOOD
about Easter.
And it almost makes
me cry listening to
her earnest explanation.

If you have a moment
it is worth the listen.

Just so you know~

I do think she

might have mixed

a little bit of

Gulliver's Travels

into the the

Jesus story!;>)

She almost started
crying when she
thought Jesus might
have felt pain.

Here it is-

Listen up and see what

YOU think!
If you click on the little square
on the bottom right hand side
it will go full screen.
(I'm sure most of you know that)

Amen, SweetCheeks, Amen!

From me to you-
A Blessed Easter
For those that don't have
time to listen....

For my wonderful, engaging blogging friends

that are not of the 

Christian faith-

I love you all just as dearly 

as I love everyone else.

EVERYONE MATTERS

and I hope you have a 

Wonderful Sunday!!!

SPRING IN WISCONSIN-JOIN ME ON THE DINING ROOM PORCH!

I am back from my daughter's house

and just wanted to check in with you!

Look! Look!

Can you believe it is March 27, 2018 already?

It is now

OFFICIALLY SPRING IN WISCONSIN!

Isn't this pretty?

Care to join me on the side porch?

What?

What do you mean I am a liar?

Oh! Yeah!

This IS my porch but it is from 

THE END OF MAY A FEW YEARS AGO!!!!

Here is 

THE REAL PICTURE

of what a 

SPRING DAY in Wisconsin

REALLY looks like!

and this....

yes-I still have the Christmas flag 

on the playhouse-thanks for noticing.

Does this look like Spring to you?

THAT is the sad reality of  living in

WISCONSIN IN SPRING!

However, there is absolutely NO EXCUSE

for me to leave this out by the back door

until today.

Which reminds me?

Did I share a post of what the side porch 

looked like for Christmas?

NO?

Well, no time like the present!

Notice the ice on the table?

That was my PRESENT for Christmas.
and,yes, I know the difference between present and present~

By the way,

That is the same table that you saw up above.

Hurry! Hurry all you early shoppers!

There are only 273 days until Christmas!

You're welcome!

I will have an announcement

for you in a few days.

I am going back to work

full time for a two year period

as a partner with my son, hubby

and one other person.

I will be sharing pictures of our

REHABBED OFFICE

in a bit.

First I need to get the paint

out from under my fingernails...

although I did more

'supervising' than painting.

Age DOES have its privileges!

HA!

Be Gone For A Bit!

I am behind in---

posting

&

visiting blogs.

Bear with me for a bit.

Right now I am watching three 

little grands while 

MOM & DAD 

are on their way to

ARGENTINA!!!

 I brought Lulu & her friend along

to help with the kids.

(Lulu & Co. are on Spring Break).

As luck would have it----

Lulu has been throwing up since

early this morning.

I have a feeling it si going to be

A  LONG FEW DAYS!

I might need a break from 

THE BREAK

when I get home!

Have a great week

& I promise to 

visit next week!

HAPPY FOURTH BIRTHDAY LITTLE ANNA IRELAND

It is hard to believe that our little

BRIGHT EYES

(Anna Ireland)

is

FOUR YEARS OLD TODAY!

She is such a good girl.

A bright spot in all of our lives.

She is funny and bright

AND

just a  TAD naughty 

most of the time sometimes.

Tattoos By Anna!

She was a pretty baby

from the time she was born--

placid and an "easy care" child.

She was a doll baby on her 

FIRST BIRTHDAY...

At 18 months she was part of a 

AWEDDING PARTY.

and

LITTLE MISS CHRISTMAS 

for Indianapolis when when she was 2.

She loves dressing up---

And being a child of the 2000's 

she already knows more about 

computers than I do!

God bless this sweet child

as she grows up.

We love you to the moon and back,

Anna Ireland!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRHTDAY

to our little girl that 

LOVES DISNEY!

ALMOST SPRING IN WISCONSIN---YEP---TRUE

I know some of you

have green that is bursting

through the soil

right now

and it feels like an early Spring.

Spring comes a bit later

here in Wisconsin.

In Wisconsin you might

awake to

THIS scene on

the little deck off the dining room.

The play house is covered with

nature's frosting, too.

Mrs. Cardinal makes her

morning appearance.

Mr. Cardinal is a lot more

colorful and a bit cocky 
cuz he thinks he's purty!

Fat and Sassy is here, too.

(NO not ME- I mean this guy)

I know some people hate them
but I get a kick of 
SASSY SQUIRRELS!

Now- I'm not saying

that I have a

STARBUCKS

addiction or anything...

although SOME people in

my own family have

accused me of just that very thing-

Imagine THAT

but this is what the

roads looked like

when I headed out for

my

morning fix.

Were the roads slippery?

Did some idiot partially

cross over into my lane?

Was it worth the drive?

Did I white-knuckle it all

the way home?

Did I live to tell the story?

Would I do it again?

The answer to all the questions

above is a resounding

YES!

Anyone get them all right?

Anyone?

anyone....

Hey...did I EVER say

I WASN'T crazy?;>)

I have a houseful of grandgirls
this week while their new home
is getting set up.
I am back to cooking big meals,
lots of laundry,
squabble settling,
and-best of all-
lots of 
LOVE & LAUGHTER!

Wishing YOU 
Love & Laughter
this weekend, too!!!