Samantha Update

I got an email from Shauna this morning about her friend Samantha.  She was taken off her sedation medicine earlier this week in hopes of her waking up soon.  She has squeazed her mothers hand and moved her legs!  Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  Below is Shauna's email.

Ok, got a text about 9:45 last night from Sam's mom saying that they put the chest tube back in yesterday afternoon, Sam is opening her right eye completely! Curling her upper lip (Elvis!), moving BOTH feet from side to side, moving right arm and posturing with her left!

Just a few minutes ago, she said that Sam is the same today, not much movement. Maybe put in a trach next week, maybe remove drain tube in a few days. Sam is not waking up as fast as they had hoped but just wait and see. Her brain still has a lot of healing to do!

Keep praying! He hears us all!!!

Ringing of the Bells!

I am laying, peacefully sleeping. Abby is lightly snoring at the foot of the bed. Roxie, the small tiger that we believe is masquerading as a cat, was in her usual spot. Mylie was as normal on my right side, under the covers, head on the pillow and as close to me as she could get. Roger had left for work. It was our favorite sleeping time. No fighting for covers or position on the bed.

All of a sudden this God awful ringing starts pealing through house! It sounded like the Bells of St. Mary were in my living room! Had I drunk a bottle of tequila last night I wondered as I am grabbing my head and falling out of bed and tripping over my feet and dogs and a cat and carpet? No! I swore of Tequila the last time Teresa and I drank two bottles while making margaritas. Hangover lasted a week and I decided I was way to old for that! Besides if it were in my head the dogs wouldn't be barking at it. It's the doorbell!

Okay, mystery solved! I managed to find the door and get it open and there is the little face beaming up at me “Hi Nan! We haven't had breakfast yet!” “Yeah, well I haven't had coffee yet!” Then coming up the walk there is another one who is crying she wanted to be the one to ring the doorbell! “Can I ring it anyway?” “Oh Dear God help me” You have to remember with every ring there are like 10 barks in stereo. And bringing up the rear and walking as slow as he can is the last one. And of course, more ringing of the bell!. I am not going to make it through the day! And of course Mylie manages to get out in the confusion. Luckily we have figured out that we can bribe her so Austin grabbed the snacks and she came back. All I needed was to have to chase her little butt around in my PJ's.'s before my coffee at 8:30 in the morning.

Cara left for work. I managed to pour the pink Mini Wheat Cereal in one bowl and the blue Mini Wheat cereal in two others, pour the milk and get it front of them, get my coffee (Again I cannot stress enough how much I LOVE my Keurig!! Cup of coffee in 2 minutes!) and settle into our day. Hopefully the rest of it will go much smoother!

One of Those Days!

Yesterday was just one of those days.  You know the ones where you are just so glad when it is over and you just want to crawl in bed and sleep?  That was my day!  The kids got here and couldn't play outside due to the weather so they kept wanting to run through the house.  Lately they keep wanting to play in the water.  And they just don't understand why that they keep getting in trouble for it because, they keep doing it over and over and over and over.  And the boys, being boys like pick on Gabbie to make her cry, so of course she does everytime.  They tell she isn't pretty or she has cooties or sothing like that and  her "heart is broken forever!"  Yes!  She is that much of a Drama Queen at 5 years old!  Then if they get bored with that they fight with each other.  Or they want to "play" with Mylie.  They play with until she  has had enough and starts snapping at them.  They think that's funny, until she she connects with skin.  They get no sympathy!  Shoulda left her alone when she told them too.

Finally it's nap time and Lili (Holly) comes over.  She has a new dog she is trying out.  My sister and brother-in-law seem to have a beacon on their house that sends out a signal that says "All strays come here! This is a safe place!"  As such, they already had 5 dogs last week when Nickey found this little Sheltie running down the middle of a busy road.  He is a sweetheart but a bit timid.  Since Holly and John already have a rambuncious Boxer (Cino) she is trying the sheltie out to make sure he adjusts before keeping him.  If it doesn't work out then he will go back to Amy and Nickey's.  Amy said Nickey is already missing him. 

Anyway the 3 of them came over yesterday for me to meet who might be my new granddog.  So of course any idea that the kids might take a nap was gone!  Four dogs in the house?  Not gonna happen.  And Mylie hates Cino so she barking her head off!  Cino is louping through the house trying to see everyone (he is like a small horse).  Abby is trying check everyone out.  The new dog doesn't no what to do or think.  And the kids are all right in the middle of trying to be heard over all the barking and growling and posturing for the alpha positioning.  We finally get thing settled down a bit.  Apparently Holly's new dog has named himself Buddy.  She said that was what re responded to, wasn't what she wanted to name him.  Bu tit must have already been his name.  He has a fetish about shadows.  He stared at my wall and kept trying to catch his shadow.  Over and over again.  Holly said he does that all day.  Cino would go over to him and look trying to see what he was going after and then look at him like "Dude! There's nothing there!"  Cino has a very expressive face.  And you have to remember while all of this is going on, everytime one of them move Mylie starts growling and barking at them, but from the back of the couch and right behind me.  And then Abby will come over and bark at her.

Finally everyone left.  My-my got up in lap and passed out.  Abby collasped on the floor and passed out.  Roger and I just sorta sat there in stunned silence until we summoned up the strength to get up and go to bed.

Update on Samantha

Shauna called me a little while ago.  She wanted me to tell you that Samantha's doctors have taken her off of all of her sedation medication.  If everything goes well she should start to wake up in the next couple of days.  Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers! 

Please Help!

The girl on the left in this picture is my daughter Shauna whom, if you have read many of my previous post, is getting married in a few weeks.  The girl on the right is her friend Samantha.  I do not know Samantha personally but Shauna and one of my other daughters, Holly do.  And Shauna also works with her.  Samantha was severely injured in a car accident on April 18th.  She and a passenger were both ejected from the car and she was found underneath the car.  Her passenger has since been released from the hospital.  However, Samantha remains in critical condition in a coma.  She was somewhat responsive last week but took a turn for the worse over the weekend and her eyes be non-responsive.  Shauna just texted me to tell me that today her eyes were responding.  Which is very small, but very welcome news to her family I'm sure.  Shauna told me that this girls skull was fractured in three places but that she has no spinal cord injury.  Again something small to be grateful but welcome nontheless.

Samantha is 18 years old and just graduated from high school early.  She was trying to decide what she wanted to do with her life and thought she had all the time in the world to do so.  She was not wearing her seatbelt and was speeding, but she is a kid.  Kids don't always make the best decisions.  They shouldn't have to pay with their lives and should have a lot of support to help them recover from those mistakes.  Samantha badly needs your prayers and well wishes.  She was added to several prayer list just over this past weekend when her family thought they may have to say goodbye and today her eyes are responding.  Please, please pray for this little girl and her family as she tries recover.

Laundry Day

Apparently I need to do laundry today!  My husband couldn't find anything to wear to work this morning.  I had washed a few loads during the past couple of weeks but most of them did not get put away for whatever reason and now you can't tell what is clean and what is not anymore.  So guess what my activities are today.  I know that sounds like I am just a horrible housekeeper and I admit that I am at times.  My sister and I have analyzed ourselves in that area (well really in all areas but we're just discussing this one today) and we have a theory.  It's our mom's fault.  Growing up our mom kept our house spotless.  I mean obsessively so.  If you set a glass down just to go to the bathroom and came to get it, it was gone.  Rinsed out and in the dishwasher.  And she would start doing laundry every morning at 5:30, the time she got us up to start getting ready for school.  She vacumed, dusted, mopped and whatever everyday.  She just has this idea that everything had to be perfect.  She still does.

And there is no such thing as a junk drawer at my mom's house.  She calls it one but when you open it, it's all organized and she knows exactly what is in it.  Junk drawers are not supposed be all nice and neat and arranged.  A junk drawer is supposed be a jumbled mess of God only knows what.  When you go through you may find a pair of favorite earrings you thought you lost or an old birthday card with money still in it or an important doo dad you need to fix or whatever.  Thing is you have to go through all the stuff to see what is in it, not just open the drawer.  I love the surprises so much I have 3 or 4 of them in my house.

Anyway, as I said, my lack of housekeeping skills is Mommy Issues.  Amy's too.  Oh well guess I will go get started on that laundry now.

Mary's Day

Today was all about Mary.  Mary is Holly's BFF.  Has been since 7th grade.  In fact Holly's guy is Mary's guy BFF too.  And they have friends forever.  Mary is having a baby girl next month.  Holly gave her a shower today.  And of course I helped, as did Cara and few other people.  Because of the awful weather yesterday I still needed to go get her a gift before the shower today.  So I rushed this morning to get my chicken salad and spinach dip made.  And of course, as always happens whenever I have to hurry because I have to be somewhere at a certain time and have to get a lot of stuff done, my phone rang all morning with my girls needing things or just wanting to know if I have left yet.  They haven"t figured out yet that the more they call and ask if I have left, the longer it takes me to leave because I have to stop what I am doing to answer the freaking phone.  Hello?

Anyway got everything made and loaded in the car.  I also had the stuff for two punches and a couple other things.  We headed to the church to unload before running to Babies R Us and Party City.  We had a little less than an hour till the shower started.  The church is 2 minutes away from my house and the stores are like 15, unless you are following a cop.  The cop adds a good 5 to 8 minutes to your travel time.  Had to follow a cop about halfway today.  Finally we turned when he went straight.  (Mind you I am not advocating speeding here, though I have been known to have had to pay a few tickets in my time.)  Cara, Gabrielle and I ran in Babies R Us and Cara grabbed me a gift card and the cutest little dress jumped right out at Gabs and I.  So I got the dress and the gift card and a card and a really cute bag.  Cara got her a cute little outfits and socks and we checked and jumped back in the car to go across the parking lot (really 2 lots and an entrance road) to Party City.  Grabbed to serving trays and the balloon bouquet and my phone starts ringing, "Can you get a ladle?".  The girl checking me tells us where they are.  While someone was grabbing that phone rings again and it Shauna.  "Can you some straws for Riley?"  Got those and finally finished checking out and was only 10 minutes late getting back.  After that everything was smooth sailing.

All the food was great!  She got some really nice gifts.  Everyone seemed to have a nice time.  And now we are home, but Roger is going to take me to eat dinner.   So that's it for now.

Saturday

Today is not a pretty Saturday.  Fell asleep last night watching the lightening show and awoke to the first of what is supposed to be a day filled with severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings.  Just one the prices we pay for not having to shovel snow everyday in the winter for months on end.  In Alabama we get a snow warning, go to the store and buy as much bread, milk and toilet paper as we can.  We 1 to 2 inches by morning and by 2:00 p.m. it's gone and we are all at the mall or movie celebrating the fact that no one had to go to work or school today.

Riley stayed the night with us last night.  She woke me up this morning with her Pop-pop by squealing and laughing and playing on my bed!  All morning she has been running around chasing Mylie, trying to eat the dog food and generally acting like a soon to be 2 year old should act.  I am going to be a really stressed out exhausted person by the time this day is over.  The other 3 have just gotten and Tyler is already in timeout on the couch until his Aunt Cara comes to get them at 5:30 or 6:00.  Don't worry, he will be back here in time out several more times before the day is over.  This he hit Gabbie in the head with a dumbell and then when Austin told him that I said to come here he said "NO!"

Holly and my granddog Cino came over this morning.  Her and John moved yesterday into a house that is only 5 mins. away.  (I am so excited.  She just moved out this past summer and I've really missed her.  She is my baby after all.)  They don't have cable yet and she wanted to check on the weather and raid my fridge for breakfast.  Mylie was so pissed.  She loves Holly but hates Cino.  She snarls and snaps and barks at him and he doesn't even acknowledge that she even exists.  By the way, Cino is a boxer and Mylie is a Malte-Poo.  If I take Mylie for a walk she will carry on like that to any dog that ignores her but if we walk by a house that has a dog that is barking at her, then I have pick her up and carry her.  She starts crying and jumping up on me, waving at me and trying to climb up me.  It is so funny.  She definitely picks who she wants to be a badass too!

Humpty Dumpty by Tyler

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the kings horses
And all the kings men
Couldn't put Humpty together again
So they went to the store and bought a new one! 

At least that's how it happened according to Tyler.

Women's Lib

The Women's Rightsseems to have passed right by my house without even pausing to take a breath.  Or at least at least in Gabrielle"s direction.  (And apparently mine according to my daughters on some occasions.)  Gabbie will be five in a couple of weeks.  She believes that boys should always open the door for, carry her belongs for her, clean her room for her, when walking they should put their hand in the small of her back for her, buy her pretty rings and to put it bluntly, kiss her butt for her.  She has gotten a lot this by just observing her Pop-pop do some of these things for me.  He does open doors for me.  He does carry bags for me (won"t touch my purse though.  If he has to then it is handled like a football).  And he does hold my hand and put his on my back frequently when we are walking around.  So for her she makes Austin and Tyler, her cousins, do the same for her.  If they don's the she won't "marry them!!!" And they aren"t her "prince!!!"  Doesn't always work on Austin but usually work on Tyler. 

I guess it doesn"t help that when they ask where Pop-pop during the day and I say work they ask why.  I tell her to make money so I can spend it all on them.  But I did work till two years ago.  And all four of the girls work.  The boys and Gabrielle both know that and know where everyone works.  And she totally understands what payday means.  But still she prefers for the man to be the prince and provide her with the pay day!

As for me I am not near as helpless as my daughters seem to think.  Whenever their father has to travel for work they bug me about making sure doors are locked, I remember to set alarms if I need to get up for work or whatever or whatever it is that I need to do that he usually does when he is here.  I'm like "What the hell?  Remember you guys growing up?  Dad traveling then too from the time you were babies?  Did I kill any of you?  Burn the house down?  Get to you guys to school and me to work all by myself?"  Just because I choose not to do things I don't have to do because he is here doesn't mean I can't.  I just have a philosophy that why should I do something when there is a man around I get to do it for me.  Oh!  After reading that maybe that's why Gabbie has that perception she has.

Rough Beginning

I thought today was going to a bad day. It started way early this morning when Roger woke me to kiss me goodbye. (He's done that every morning for nearly the past 29 years. Is it 29? We got married the day after Christmas in 1981 and it is now 2010....yep that's 29. Damn, he's getting old!) Anyway...the kiss in itself was not the indicator of the bad, it was what he said. The cable is out. Maybe I didn't pay it or the money wasn't there when I did? Totally unfair. Just because it has happened on more than a few occasions in the past he shouldn't just assume that's what happened now! It was paid and the money came out of our account already. Probably just an outage. He left and I thought about going back to sleep and then it hit me. OMG! No cable means no DVR! No DVR means no General Hospital recorded today and I haven't even watched yesterdays yet! So I got up, let the girls out, got my coffee (again love my Keurig), my phone and my laptop. First checked to make sure I had paid it and the money had cleared. YES! I DID! Now I can be indignant with my husband and a bitch to the cable company. Called them and they were so nice and so apologetic that all of HSV was having issue with their digital cable box. I hate when people are nice and I want to be mean. I can't be a bitch to nice people. My mother can, but I can't.

So then I met Shauna at David's Bridal for her final fitting. Only Riley was with us and she was pretty good. Shauna had brought snacks and Riles is bribable. Just like the rest of my grandchildren. Afterward we picked the rest up and went out to Bridge Street for lunch. Tommy's Pizza has the best pizza ever. I am not a huge fan of pizza. Never have been really. But Tommy's is awesome. I could eat there 3 or 4 times a week. My fav is the tomato and fresh basil. Roger likes their sausage and their Mediterranian. It is a family oriented type place (even though they serve beer and wine) and Tommy is a great guy. His staff is always seems to be working hard but they also seem to like working there and are very friendly. After lunch we took the kids outside to ride the carousel and walk/run around a bit.

Now we are home, they are resting and I am catching up on GH from yesterday and today. So after a rough start it ended up being another nice day! Hope yours was too.

More of Yesterday

A trip to the garden would not be complete without at least one picture of a flower. I have more but this one was my favorite. Next time I will definitely take Roger's good camera for more detailed pictures. We made new friends while we were there. No I did not get pictures of the two little boys that Gabrielle decided were her boyfriends and she was going to marry them! They are pictured here however next to my flower. We thought they were really cute. I think this is project we may do here at home. Of course I also thought those damn brownie pops would be easy too!

About Our Day

It was a really good day. The treehouses at the Botanical Gardens were really cute and the kids had a great time playing on and in them. They ran and ran and ran and ran! I know everyone says this but it is so true, where do they get that energy? If I could bottle it by the ounce I'd be a really rich woman! Gabrielle did pretty good climbing down from the high places. She doesn't have a problems going up or being up high. It's the coming down she has problems with. Roger said she is afraid of heights. I asked her if she was scared of being up high and she said "No. I am scared of falling down." Blew me away! That is exactly my fear and has been all my life. I would climb things and be fine till time to come down. Never told her that though. And she is only 4, well nearly 5. But anyway, she did good today. Tyler slid down the slide and landed on his rearend, stood up and said "my butt hurts". Then he ran around and did it again. He and Gabbie were the main ones running. Austin more stayed back with April and I. He kept hoping I would give him my camera, which I did on occasion. In one of the pictures below the boys have binoculars. They were bird watching. And the green one was the Wizard of Oz theme. You will see of Gabrielle trying to steal the ruby slippers. And there were my 3 little birds in a nest. All in we left there with two worn out adults and three very dirty little children. Don't know about the kids but I will sleep well tonight and I may not be able to walk tomorrow!

Pictures of the Day

Afternoon Out

Going to spend the day with April and the kids at the Botanical Gardens. They have treehouses out there right now. I wish I had Roger's really good camera, but he took it to work with him so I will make do with my little Ashton Kutcher purple Nikon Colorpix! If they turn out I will post some later this evening.

See my Boys

My Boys

I haven't talked much about boys on here. They are brothers and 1 year to the day apart. 3 and 4 respectively. Austin is the older of the two; Tyler the younger. Roger and my dad took them fishing Saturday while we girls did the shower thing. Austin asked his Pop-pop why did we all had to take showers? He really thinks about things and asks some very good questions at times. But he averages about 1 million and 1 questions a day. It can get a little tedious. Pop-pop told them we were going to buy a tent so they could sleep outside and out of the blue one day Austin told him he really needed to buy that tent so they wouldn't have to carry his bed outside for him to sleep on. He loves cars. His favorite is a mustang. He pretty much can tell you who in his family drives what. Tyler on the other hand loves balls. Started throwimg them from the day he could grasp one. Doesn't matter what kind it is. Which usually gets his little butt in trouble because he forgets and throws them in my house. I have no idea how many balls I have confiscated in his short little life. His new thing at the moment is swords and knives. He takes his toy sword and sticks in his pants and it is as long as his leg. If he can't find his sword, he gets one of Gabbie's knives from her play kitchen and sticks in the waistband of his pants. Pulls it out and will swordfight you and the drop of a hat! He loves the dogs, especially Mylie. However Mylie is not as loving back. She has been known to go hide behind the toilet toilet from him. He always wants to kiss her goodbye when he goes home but she growls at him and I have to hold her nose because he knows she has had enough of him! But she is always happy to see him, his brother and Gabbie the next day. I know how she feels. Many is a night I'd like to growl and snap at them to leave me alone to. But I'm always happy to see them the next day!

My Day Off

I have the day off today. No children. No husband. No shower to worry about. And I am going to take a break in wedding plans today! I think I will take my doggies for a walk, clean up a bit around the house and tonight we meeting friends for Happy Hour at Wintzels for beer and raw oysters!

Riley's Eyes

Roger took this picture of Riley this week. Have you ever seen eyes so blue. Her mom's eye are really a pretty blue, but I think Riley has surpassed her.

Shower

Well the shower is over. All the gifts have been opened. All the games have been played. All the champagne punch has been drunk, and all the food has been eaten. I think all in all it was a success. And for my part, which was the food I'd like to say thanks to my friends, Emeril, Giada and most of all Paula who cooks like my Grandma B did. Except mostly where her recipes use butter, Grandma used bacon grease. Not healthy but tasted awesome!

And then there were some of my own recipes as well. And my friend who always makes me the best and prettiest chocolate covered strawberries you ever had! She did a great job again today. Tomorrow I plan to sleep late, go tan and in the afternoon go to a barbeque at a friends house to celebrate their grandaughters baptism. What I do not plan to do is go anywhere near my kitchen!

Brownie Pops

Okay, my brownie pops did not turn out nearly half as pretty as the ones I found online. Guess that's why I'm not a professional cake decorator. However I did eat a really unfortunate looking one. It did taste pretty good. In the end they look okay and taste great. It's all good. Hope my other food turns out.

What to do today

No kids today but my house looks like a hurricane blew through here from them yesterday. I have to clean that. All the while pre cook all the food for the shower tomorrow. Luckily Cara is off today and she can take Gabs to dance. We got asked to meet some friends for Happy Hour tonight. If I can get everything done (I know. Put the damn computer down and get started!) we can go. I would love to. I don't get to see this friend near enough anymore. I really miss her. Okay, I am going to go get started now. Menu for tomorrow: Garlic Cheese Grits, Creole Breakfast Casserole, Ham & Cheese Strata, Baked French Toast, Fruit Salad W/Cannoli Cream topping, Chocolate Covered Strawberries, Cheddar Biscuits, Petite Fours and Champaigne Punch,

RSVP

Why even bother putting RSVP on invitations anymore? It is just a waste of time and ink! It is now 2 days before Shauna's shower/brunch and I need her to call people to see if they are coming or not so that I know how much food to prepare so everyone has enough to eat. I know people are busy and I have been guilty of the not RSVPing in the past. But I am really learning a lot in planning this wedding and I sincerely apologize for any invite I did not respond to in the past in a timely manner. From now on I will do so the second I get an invite

Busy day today! I need pick up from the kids yesterday. Then I am finally going to experiement with those long talked about Brownie Pops, make a Bodacious Candy Bouquet, work on bows to decorate the patio at Terranovas for Shauna's shower Saturday. Even though they are a great Italian restaurant they are letting me cater my own food for the shower. We'd wanted to do brunch food for it and that is what we are doing. However they are catering the wedding for us. We just still need to decide on the menu. Have a few ideas there. No kids today so I should be able to get everything accomplished that I need to.

My Coffee Company

I love Keurig!! They seem to have to best run company in the world. I ordered coffee on Saturday or maybe Sunday. Either way it was over the weekend. It was just delivered to my door! No shipping charges. Just a very efficient ordering and delivery system. And I love my little K-cups and my coffeemaker. I have a cup of coffee in like 2 minutes in the morning. Which is great for someone who doesn't function until after that first cup. I bought the turnstile thingy to hold my K-cups so I just twirl it around to see what flavor I want today. It is like having a coffee shop right here in my house! Though Roger is starting to complain about all the different creamers I buy. But I have to coordinate them with the coffees. Duh!

Shauna And Riley.

Shauna"s Birthday

So today started with my daughter and grandaughter bringing me breakfast on her (Shauna"s) birthday. Then Cara and Gabrielle, Austin, and Tyler came over and we all went to Michaels for wedding shower stuff. Spent like a very stressful eternity there deciding on tulle and paper and stamps and glitter color and ribbon and a pattern for Cara's cricket thing that might work better for the fans. April got off work and met us there and we all went Target. Got stuff for dinner. Roger is grilling boneless chicken breast that I have soaking in an orange and lemon juice with fresh cracked pepper. We'll top them with Monterey Jack cheese. Put them on hoagie buns with garlic butter, tomato and avocado. Cole slaw and baked beans. Birthday Cookie and banana pudding ice cream. Later, after everyone leaves and nice big Zanex for Nana!

We had a very nice evening last night. I cooked mussels for the first time ever. They were good but next time I need a little more delicately flavored wine and I should cook them just a bit If I had let them cook longer they probably would have been fine, I was just afraid of over cooking them. I did not like the sound they made when I put them in the broth. I've never cooked anything alive before and I kept telling myself that mussels didn't count because they don't have faces. I know the sound was the broth seeping in the shells, but the guys weren"t helping by making the sounds worse!

Today we are going to work on the other candy bouquet for Shauna's shower next Saturday. Her birthday is tomorrow so I need to plan her dinner. I know she wants my chicken sandwiches. I just have figure out what to go with it. I think she wanted a cookie cake so we will go order that. And we have the kids today so it is going to be hectic. Already been yelling at Tyler like 25 time and he has only been here an hour!

Held Hostage!

OMG! Have you ever been held hostage in a store by someone you don"t want to really talk? Happened to me last night. Roger and had dropped Gabbie off after her dance and gone to dinner. Decided to go to Target for a few things. I was in the produce section getting a clove of garlic and this woman keeps staring at me. Finally she asks if I'm so & so's mom. Turns out her daughter and mine went to school together and hated each other and fought all the time. I had never cared for the girl or her mom. Then she talked to me for an hour and a half. First Roger said he was going to sit down somewhere and still she talked. When I finally made my escape, checked out he was in the car!

We have friends coming over for dinner tonight. I am going to steam some mussels for the first time. Seems simple enough and I found a good recipe. And I saw a recipe for Honeydew melon coladas that I am dying to try. Sould be fun.

No kids today! At least untill 3:30. I take Gabrielle to dance then. Her mom could only get her into a class at that time this year so dance class has been our thing this year. Her mom has been able to get there for a few classes. I know she really misses it. We have to video the class today. Recital is coming up and they need to work on it every day. But before dance I have several hours to feel! What to do? I need to clean, but that doesn't sound appealing. I need to practice working on those browing pops. If they turn out pretty enough the first time we"ll use them as shower favors for Shauna"s shower next Saturday. I could work on the candy bouquet that is to be a prize at the shower. Or any one of 100 other things that need to be done for it. And then there is Mylie who decided to play in mud yesterday. She could use a bath! I think I will just give myself a pedicure! I think that sounds as productive as I want to be this morning!

Abby & Mylie Pic

The kids came over today. Did I mention I keep Gabbie, Austin and Tyler while their mothers work. Cara and April share and apartment and parenting. When both have to work then I have the trio. They spend almost as much time at our house and they do at their own. We also had the air conditioner repairman out today. Guess he earned his money since I am now huddled under the blanket. Abby (our Chow) spent the night with Shauna last night. She usually wants Mylie to stay but Ryan was gone and she wanted the dog who at least had some umph in her bark! When Abby left last night Mylie pitched a fit for about 15 minutes and then pouted the rest of the night! She is definately one spoiled little brat! But she is my little brat dog!

So today was fairly productive. After lunch we went to Hobby Lobby. We plan to make the Bridesmaids bouquets ourselves and they had the color flowers we needed for that. I bought all they had. Cutters, tape, ribbon and a book. The girls dresses are Mermaid (a cross between teal and aqua) and the flowers are a simple navy blue flower tied with a Canary yellow ribbon. All of the girls (4 in all) dresses are different style but the same color. We are thinking with the navy flowers that navy shoes will pull the colors together. Of course we want a strappy dressy shoe and that may be harder to find. Don"t really want to do the dye thing but may not have a choice. We also bought stuff to make fans for the programs and started experimenting with that. I also bought molds for these brownie pops. If these turn out they are going to be awesome. I saw some gorgeous ones online and baking is sorta my thing. We may fail at the bouquets and the fans. We can do without the fans and I can order four more bouquets. I've already ordered the brides and coursages and such...we just wanted to do these. But I am pretty sure I can pull these brownie pops off.

Sitting at Atlanta Bread with my girl Gabbie and her mom. Gabs is being very entertaining. She is practicing her different smile and pouty faces. They don't work as well on her mom as me. Her mom just cut her off on the chips but Nan is going to go buy her a cookie or two. I do love this part of being a grandmother! Grandchildren are our revenge on our children. We can feed them a whole big bag of chocolate at 10:00 at night and send them home. When their mom tells me the next morning that she was up till 2:00 a.m. it isn't my problem. I was sound asleep!

Hi. This is my first attempt at blogging so...I've raised four daughters with my husband of 28 years. We are one of the those rare couples who got married at 19 and 20 and stayed married and still like and love each other. Thought we set a great example for marriage for our daughters but we now have four grandchildren and no son-in-laws to show for them. We have learned to adapt to the changes in our society. I mean what do you do? I love my children and I adore my grandbabies and there is no way I could ever turn my backs on them. So here is a quick introduction. Roger is my husband. Cara is our oldest daughter. Gabrielle or Gabbie, or Gabs, is her daughter. She is very much the girlie girl as you will see. Her father is Daniel and he is in the Navy. He wasn"t around much her first 3 years because he didn't know how to act and couldn"t get along with Cara. But he seems to have himself together now and Gabbie is very proud of him. He and Cara seem able to communicate and she lets him see her as much as he wants when he is here on leave. April is our second daughter. Austin or Aubie (Roger hates that nickname) and Tyler or Ty-ty are her sons. They are four and three and one years apart to the day. Their father is far, far away and hopefully will never ever come back. He likes his drugs to much. I personally am hoping he will be more successful with his next overdose. I know that's bad but surely God will understand. Shauna is our daughter number three. She has Riley. Riley will be two in June. The weekend after her birthday Shauna and Ryan, Riley's father are getting married. The wedding is going to be the maid subject of my blog for the next few months. And our baby is Holly. She is going to be 21 this summer. She is still in school and is working toward a degree in accounting. We also have two dogs. A ten year old Chow Chow named Abby and a three year old Malte-poo named Mylie. A huge orange cat named Roxie rounds out the mix..