Say What?

We had not been awake for 20 minutes this morning before I heard Sam say two things I had never heard before.

I asked Sam, apparently one time too many, if he needed to go potty. He turned and said "Mom, I'm fine!"

Trying to find out what he would like to eat for breakfast, I asked him if he would like a waffle. "No way, Jose!"

Seriously, where does he get this stuff? I guess the good thing about not being with him all day is that he brings home gems like these.

A Blog is Born

Today was a huge day in Sam's literacy development.

Last week, Scott, Sam and I went to dinner then to Wal-Mart (Ugh!) for a few things. As we were driving, we told Sam to look for the Wal-Mart sign. I told him that Wal-Mart started like Wall-E and asked him what letter would that be? He said "Y" which is an almost perfect answer! I told him that we were looking for a W at the beginning of Wal-Mart. We talked a little more about how Wal-Mart and Wall-E started with the same sound and letter. The next day, I brought it up again. I had him say the two words, exaggerating the /w/ (sound for w). He then added "walrus" to the list. I had never associated walrus with Wall-E or Wal-Mart. He made that link all on his own. That was a huge leap in my professional opinion and opened up new doors for us to enter and explore!

So, as we were driving to his babysitter's house this morning, we played a little phonemic awareness game. I would say 3-4 words that started with the same letter and ask him what letter they started with. I started with Wal-Mart, Wall-E, Walrus and wonderful, of course, and he said "W!" So then I tried obvious sounds like turtle, tickle, and taco. He named the T! I repeated this game with a few more obvious sounds and he did pretty darn well.

After school, Sam and I came home. I was on the computer (don't pretend to be surprised) and Sam was on the floor, on his belly, writing in a little notebook. I listened to him and then grabbed the camera. This is what he said as he worked so intently on drawing the letters at the bottom of the page:

t....s....p.....o....w....r........./w/....house! (as he ran his finger across the page I might add!)

Then he traced over the letters I had written probably months ago and named them as he "wrote" them. (Check out the pictures below)

Tonight, as I was reading to him, I tried something I haven't done with him before. When I read the sentence "Bertie was a bus." I noticed the b sounds and said Bertie and bus to Sam. I asked him what letter did Bertie and bus start with. He said "b" (of course!). On the next page, I asked him what letter Thomas started with and he correctly named the T. I asked him to find the word Thomas on the page. I will be darned if he didn't find the T at the beginning of Thomas! I did this a few more times during the book, having him locate Thomas and Bertie. In the next book, he found Percy's name.

As I was lying beside him watching him fall asleep and thinking about what a huge day we had, I realized that I had not chronicled his literacy development like I had always wanted to. BAM! Right then and there I decided I would have to create another blog dedicated to just that so that I could start writing these events that are so important to me down somewhere. I cannot believe I am going to do it, considering I spend so much time reading and writing blogs already. But, once the seed is planted, my imagination is a force to be reckoned with. The only way I will be able to get it off my mind is to go ahead and do it.

So, in the next few weeks, I plan to launch another blog dedicated to documenting Sam's journey as well as possibly serving as a resource for other parents. I imagine all kinds of things I could include. Oh, dear. I see many late nights ahead...

By the way, am I crazy, or does anyone else see an L, an O, a u, an 8 and a G?

Cake Wreck-y

This post reminds me of one of my favorite blogs, Cake Wrecks. Often, an inspiration cake is shown followed by the cake wreck.

Sam's babysitter, Ms. Pat, loved Sam's Halloween costume. She has been asking me to send him wearing his hat with his overalls ever since. Monday morning, I finally remembered to do so. Sam was all dressed up in his overalls and wearing the cute hat. He was also taking his trains to play with, which made for an even cuter picture. Speaking of picture, did I get a picture? No! Sam wet his pants just as we were all trying to get out the door. Scott and I ran a coordinated effort to round up a new outfit, strip Sam, and get him dressed again in about 20 seconds!

After washing clothes Monday evening, we tried again Tuesday evening to make Sam look like this:

I did get a picture this morning, even though I was running very late, because I had to show you how Sam insisted on leaving the house:

It is almost the end of January, right?

He even added the "Ho, ho, ho!" Of course, after looking at this picture, I guess he could have been saying "Yo, yo, yo!" (In my head, that sounded like a rapper!)

What is it they say about best laid plans? Sorry, Ms. Pat. We'll try again another day!

CoCoLoco

WARNING: Very long post ahead!

But first, a side note, remember the days before digital? I mean way back when people would break out the screen and slide projector and force you to sit through tons of vacation photos? Funny how the people who went on vacation enjoy looking through the pictures so much more than those who were not there. Thank God for digital! Now, you can choose which pictures to look at or which ones to ignore, all while in the comforts of your own home! So, if you're interested in our recent cruise to the Bahamas, keep reading. I've highlighted just a couple of pictures. Then, I've sorted the rest into albums. You can choose whether or not to check them out. Remember, I'm just documenting my life...you may not be interested at all, and I totally understand.

Scott and I were very excited about joining Missy and Ryan on their 5th cruise. We became addicted after cruising to Cozumel last year. We woke up bright and early Friday morning, drove to Port Canaveral, dropped all our luggage off with the trustworthy looking baggage handler in the nice shirt, and then parked. Who knew that we were not to see either of Missy and Ryan's two pieces of luggage until the last night of the cruise...

Poor Missy and Ryan. They spent most of their vacation at the customer service desk being promised that every single room was being checked for their luggage. Meanwhile, they had no change of clothes, no swimsuits, no personal items. And the worst part, Missy had been working on stockings for her, Ryan and both the kids for years. The stockings were in her luggage! Anyway, they remained in very good spirits throughout what will certainly be a memorable cruise for so many wrong reasons.

We were not planning on going into Nassau Saturday but rather spend the day poolside. However, because Missy and Ryan needed several things, including swimsuits, we went shopping. I love this picture of them. While they kept their humor through it all, it was obvious that the ordeal was exhausting and frustrating.

Nassau was okay. It was really just a lot of shopping. Standing on the bow as we came into port was lots of fun. Scott and I decided we would buy this house and then invite you all to come and visit us:

The most fascinating thing about Nassau to me were the Christmas decorations that were still hanging all around town. I loved the juxtaposition of the year-round hot weather and the lighted snowflakes stretched across the streets! We also found a shop that had a great sale on down-filled ski jackets! Coming back to freezing temperatures at home, we regretted not taking advantage of the sale!

We got back on the ship as soon as we could to enjoy some lounge chair reading and watching the sunset over Nassau. It was formal night in the dining room. We all dressed down since Missy and Ryan had no choice. We actually had more fun dressing down and being different. It was kinda scandalous to walk into the formal dining room wearing flip-flops!

(As I write this, I just flipped through the channels to find something else to listen too. Titanic is on. Susan, don't read anything into the irony. It's just a coincidence!)

Sunday turned out to be one of the very best days of my life. Several of the items listed on my life's to do list were checked off that day. It was a perfect day from start to end!

The day started very early. I woke up at 4:30 and did some reading in bed until my booklight died. At 6:15, I decided to go up on deck and watch the sunrise. I never saw another person until about 6:50. I felt like I had the whole ship to myself. Everything was so quiet and peaceful. I didn't go up to the top deck like a lot of other people ended up doing. I was on a lower deck, all by myself, photographing the most beautiful, magical sunrise I've ever seen. I couldn't help getting caught up in the moment and talking to God, thanking him for all the blessings he has bestowed upon me and praising him for loving us so much that he creates such beauty in the world. It was a very emotional time for me and I truly felt God with me as I stood in awe of the sun rising and took hundreds of pictures.

I met up with Scott and we ate breakfast then got ready for our day on the beach. We were on the first tinder going over to Royal Caribbean's private island, CoCoCay. When we got on the island, we claimed a hammock and some chairs that were standing alone, away from all the other chairs that we knew would fill up later. We felt like we had the island all to ourselves for about two hours until people started showing up. I snapped a lot of pictures as soon as we got there. See our little island within an island? It was the perfect location for relaxing the day away!

We missed Ryan and Missy, though. They had to stay onboard for yet another meeting with yet another manager. They eventually joined us at lunch time and were able to enjoy a few hours on the island.

We all found our happy places on CoCoCay. Scott could have snorkled all day. (Sorry, no pictures!) I had always dreamt of swimming in crystal clear water and spending a day in a hammock on the beach. I tried to savor every moment so that when I returned to work, I could escape back to CoCoCay. So I have two happy places. If I ever seem to have drifted far away, this is probably what I am picturing in my head and dreaming about:

My other happy place involed floating for what seemed like hours and enjoying the island's signature drink, a CoCoLoco.

Missy and Ryan REALLY needed a happy place! After enjoying massages, they retreated to a shady spot.

After an incredible day at the beach, we returned to our rooms to get ready for our last dinner on the ship before packing up and getting ready to leave first thing in the morning. Imagine the look on Missy's face when she opened the door to her cabin and found her luggage sitting there, pretending that nothing had happened. The very large, very obvious labels with their room number were stuck securely in place. It appeared that the bags had not been opened at all, nothing had been shifted around or was missing. The priceless stockings were safe and sound! And not one member of Royal Caribbean's staff has any explanation about where the luggage had been for the entire cruise or how it ended up at their door. Hmmm...even though they assured Missy and Ryan that they had been searching diligently. Whatever! I guess we'll never be able to solve the mystery since the luggage ain't talkin'! Kudos to Missy and Ryan, though, for not letting it ruin their vacation. I'm not so sure ours would have been so wonderful had it happened to us!

We started the long ride home early the next morning. Everyone was quiet as we tried to accept that we were so ruthlessly kicked off the ship and had to start facing the real world that was waiting for us at home. However, our spirits were lifted as we used Scott's iPhone to search for and begin planning our next cruise!

(Missy and Ryan, Thanks for vacationing with us! We had a wonderful time...and learned lots of lessons about packing for next time! We can't wait to do it again. And remember: "Enjoyment....is a form of entertainment!" Love, Scott and Sunny)

And now, I'll break out the slide projector and screen! Digital, of course, so you can pick and choose by clicking on the album(s) you want to see!

To see 36 pictures of us throughout the cruise:



To see 28 pictures of CoCoCay:



To see 18 pictures of Nassau:



To see 13 pictures of the glorious sunrise:

To see 16 pictures of the sun setting over Nassau:

For My Sister

Sissy,

Whenever you lie and try to tell me what a meanie big sister I was, I will remind you of this post and tell you that whatever I did, it could have been a lot worse. :)

Love,
Sunny

Cause for Celebration!

Wow! Getting Sam potty trained finally feels like an attainable goal! It has cost me a small chunk of change in bribes, but he has been poopin' in the potty without fail for a week now. No small feat I tell you. And, we've only left the house twice since last Friday (except to go to his babysitter's house yesterday) and both times he had no lapses. The first trip, I let him wear a pull-up and he kept it dry. Last night, with Daddy finally home from Ohio, we went to dinner and I decided to keep him in underwear. Daddy's words were "I just want to go on record as saying that I am not responsible if he wets his pants because I don't think it's a good idea." "Fine," I said. "You're on the record." Oh, yea of little faith! Imagine my pride when Sam went 2 hours without wetting his pants! I believe Scott said something like "See, Sam. I tried to tell your Mommy you could do it!" Uh-huh.

Another celebration! Sam looked at the Fisher-Price label on the front of his potty the other day and said "It's my computer!" He was exactly right! His computer has the same Fisher-Price label on it. Folks! That's reading! Speaking of his computer, I can't recommend Fisher-Price's Computer Cool School enough. Sam already recognizes some numbers and I know that it is solely from playing the math game on his computer. I tell you, it is only a matter of time before the kid has his own blog!

Not Prepared...At All!

Part I

Sam's first snow day! I woke up this morning filled with anticipation! I mean, school had already been cancelled last night, so they must have expected...something. Right? Sam and I jumped up and rushed to the window to find a few flakes in the air and what could only be described as a demi-dusting of snow on the ground.

Well, at least Sam was still filled with wonder and amazement! The first thing he said after staring out the window for a few moments was "Can I get my Crocs?" So, we scrambled to get dressed so that we could go out and "play" in the snow. You know, build a snowman, throw snowballs, make snow angels... Anyway, it has been a very mild winter here and I have not bought winter gear for Sam this year. I did manage to find a hat that fit and I wrapped my scarf around his neck. Thankfully, Linda and Sarah brought him some new, much warmer shoes just yesterday. No mittens to be found. I left him in his PJs since I knew we wouldn't be outside too long and out we went!

Check out my little ragamuffin!

Part II

A little later in the morning, as I was busy working (playing) on the computer, I heard Sam say something about a hat. Then I heard something about a "thing." Finally, he came to me and asked to go outside to make a snowman. I had to laugh, because all he was wearing was his pajama top, hat and my scarf. I asked him if he was ready and he ran to get his shoes on.

God bless him. Just look at my beautiful boy...

...balancing ever so gracefully on the line between genius and idiot.

"Honey, you need a little more than shoes to keep you warm if you're going outside."

"My coat!" he exclaims as he runs off. I turn to see this:

Hmmm. "Baby, let's get some pants, too!" "Okay!"

He seemed to like that idea, so I was finally able to get him bundled up and warm. I even found his mittens! However, it took so long to get dressed that when we got outside, the snow had melted!

Sam had to search high and low for some snow to play in.

And of course, he tasted it! Sam is such a little scientist! Here he is making very thoughtful observations about the snow.

He declared that it tasted "like ice." Brilliant observation, my dear.

We had a great conversation about what snow is. He couldn't get enough! He even shared some with Putter.

And then...he discovered icicles!

Oh, boy! He may as well have found a bowl of M&Ms! He loves to eat ice! I probably shouldn't have let him eat the icicles hanging off the dirty grill. But he was having so much fun! I can't imagine he ate enough dirt to do any harm.

By this point, I was freezing and the only finger I could move was my trigger finger. So I tried to pry him away from the icicles. But as I did, he happened to look up and discover the icicles hanging from the roof.

"Whoa, Mama. Can I get up there?"

"Sure Sammy, but first let's go inside and have some hot chocolate and we'll get those icicles after we've warmed up a little."

Thank God that he forgot about the icicles until after they had melted! I certainly wasn't prepared to climb up to the roof!

__________________________________

By the way, as I write this, my naked child is watching Little Einsteins and doing all the ballet moves along with the characters. "Mama, I'm the Toy Prince!"

You've seen nothing until you've seen a naked little boy ballerina doing plies!

__________________________________

Why does Sam always seem to be naked or half-naked you ask? That's a whole 'nother post!

I ♥ Faces Photography Contest

Here is my entry for the I ♥ Faces contest this week. Click on the button above to visit the site!

I caught Sam eating dirt...so I grabbed my camera, of course!

Memory Keeper

Why do I write this blog?

I love to write. I was always a journal-er at heart, but could never follow through. This forum motivates me.

I love reading blogs.

This is an easy way for friends and family to keep up with us.

If I had started this blog before Sam was born, I'd be able to remember when he had all his firsts. But I didn't, so now I have to find pictures and check the dates on the pictures. This blog allows me to document all that is important to me.

I have no problem bragging about my son and my husband.

______________________________

In the spirit of documenting my memories, I have to record a few things Sam has said recently that have cracked me up.

Sam has a great vocabulary. He uses lots of big words and I love how he experiments with the new words and applies them to new situations. For example, one night at dinner, he turned the lights down low with the dimmer switch and said he wanted the lights adagio. I thought that was so clever! Another night, while taking a shower, he touched his leg and told me the water was spicy.

Sam has always asked for chocolate milk. But for some reason, and I have no explanation as to why, two days ago he started asking for "chocolate milk and milk." He has asked several times. Tonight, he asked again and I guess I gave him a quizzical look. He quickly held one hand in the air, looked at it, and said "Chocolate milk." Then put the other hand in the air, looked at it, and said "Milk." Without skipping a beat, he put his hands together and said "Both." Then he looked at me like "Duh!" So, I got up without saying a word, gathered the milk and chocolate syrup, and offered a demonstration. I poured the milk in the cup. "Milk." I poured chocolate syrup into the cup. "Chocolate." I put the lid on the shook it. I opened the cup and showed him. "Chocolate Milk." Sam smiled and said "Yay! Chocolate milk!" I'm not sure if we worked out that confusion or not. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

See, I had a few more to record, but since I didn't write them down, I can't remember then. Sometimes being ADD is a drag!

"The Politics of Breast Pumps"

I never expected it and I can't believe it, but I've been tagged! Jennifer Juniper of Hope Studios tagged me while I was in the Bahamas. I have finally come up with some random tidbits about me to share. It took this long because I am, apparently, a painfully boring person. Anyway, here goes!

Playing Favorites
I have a hard time making decisions. That's why it took me a very long time to choose favorites. I'm 36 and I finally decided about 8 years ago that red was my favorite color. In college, I finally named daffodils, gerber daisies and daisies as my favorite flowers. I guess I never wanted the other colors, flowers, trees, or whatever to feel bad. I don't know where it comes from!

Burned Food
All who know me know that I love my food overcooked. The best filet mignon I ever had was one that Scott cooked for me. He butterflied it and cooked it well done. Perfect! When I order a filet in a restaurant, I always ask for it to be cooked "as well done as the chef will do it without spitting on it!"

Favorite Joke
Telling you my all-time favorite joke will clearly illustrate what a geek I am. Two ducks were walking in the woods. They came across a tree that had fallen across their path. As a warning, one duck shouts to the other duck "People!" Thanks to my first love for making me laugh in high school!

Swing Dance
I am NOT a dancer. Scott and I rarely dance and I am sure that the times I was caught dancing, alcohol may have been involved. Nevertheless, in my heart, I am graceful and uninhibited. And if I could learn to do anything, I would LOVE to learn how to swing dance. Unfortunately, Scott does not share my desire...

Mean Sister
My younger sister (by 8 years) tells me all the time that I was a mean big sister. I cannot imagine ever being mean, therefore she is obviously making it up. I have no memories of the wild tales she weaves. For example, and let me preface this story by telling you that she could talk non-stop for hours, she says that I would tell her to be quiet at night so that I could say my prayers. She would wait patiently for a very long time before asking if I was done. I would always say no, putting her off and putting her off until I could finally fall asleep. While this may not sound so mean, she still brings it up as if I scarred her for life. But, good God, she used to be able to talk the paint off the walls. If I actually did that, which I didn't, who could blame me?

Titles
As I've said many times, I love reading blogs. I also appreciate clever writing and clever titles. I like titles that grab you and make you wonder. Titles that may not state the obvious or may not be obviously connected to the post. I enjoy figuring out hidden meanings as if I'm doing a puzzle. I attempt, sometimes poorly, to be clever in naming my posts.

Well, there you go. Six random (boring) things about me. Now, I'm tagging these authors to learn a little more about them (and I hope they don't get mad at me!):

Walk By Faith
The Boozers-Just Drunk on Life
Finding Fairy Tales
I Should be Folding Laundry
The Peterson's Go Public
My Kids Might be Martians

Please check out their blogs. Some of them are friends of mine, some of them I've never met, but have just discovered their blogs.

And if you are tagged, here are the rules:

* Link to the person who tagged you
* Post the rules on your blog
* Write six random things about yourself
* Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them
* Let each person know they've been tagged

MY RULE: Because I don't want anyone annoyed with me, I think that it is perfectly acceptable to link back to a previous entry if you've already been tagged. :)

By the way, about the seemingly random title of this post, it actually has no meaning in relation to this post. As I pulled into my driveway the other day, the host on NPR was listing the stories that were coming up after the break. "The Politics of Breast Pumps" was the name of one of the stories and I was instantly intrigued. I did not have time to wait to find out what in the world the story could be about. I was, however, inspired by the curious title. It sounded like a great blog post title!

Don't forget to check out Jennifer Juniper at Hope Studios!

My First "Not Me Monday"

Click on the picture above to find out what MckMama DID NOT do this week.

As for me, I did not take off work Friday and Monday to go on a cruise to the Bahamas. Nope. I wouldn't abandon my students like that!

I did not enjoy sharing said cruise with our friends, Ryan and Missy. No, I did not enjoy every minute we were with them...at all!

And Ryan and Missy's luggage (2 bags, mind you) did not disappear and hide from authorities, evading a search of every stateroom, only to mysteriously show up at their door the last night of the cruise. And even though I like to be a good friend, I did not offer to share my things with Missy, especially not my underwear! And poor Missy did not, instead, rinse her underwear out and use the hairdryer on them. Nope!

I did not walk around Nassau Saturday and hang out on the ship Saturday evening without ever wondering what Sam may be doing. What kind of thoughtless mother would I be if I had done that? I sure am glad I didn't!

I did not surprise my husband the first day of the cruise with the first "flannel nightgown" I've bought in 15 years. We did not feel like we were on our honeymoon and I certainly did not have the most amazing weekend with my husband...ever. Oh, no. For if I had done that, I would certainly not tell you about it! And for goodness sake, I wouldn't recommend you doing that, either!

I did not take 692 pictures. (And will not bore you with lots of them this week!)

I did not drink 8 Mojitos.

I did not gain 4 pounds back.

I did not read a whole book.

I did not start my day on Sunday by watching the sunrise only to follow up that miracle by spending 8 hours on a beach...on a private island...in a hammock...and snorkeling...and floating in crystal clear water. Don't accuse me of that.

So, what did you NOT do this past week?

And don't forget to check out MckMama's blog. She didn't do a lot of things!

Ahhhhh.....

We're back from the Bahamas. I found my new happy place. Here's a sneak peek:


I'm catching up with Sam today. I'll catch up with you tonight or tomorrow.

By the way, where is your happy place?

Wish You Were Here!

I'll be back on Monday with lots of pictures!!!

In the meantime, picture me here:

CocoCay, Bahamas

And while you're at it, picture yourself there with me.

Enjoy your weekend!

Lesson Learned

File this under "Things I will Never Ask Sam Again."

Why I chose tonight, after eating dinner and feeling pretty full, to try on outfits for the cruise, I'll never know. But I did. Ugh! Anyway, I was looking in the mirror, checking out all the bulges and trying to decide if I could suck in my stomach long enough to wear this particular dress to formal night on the ship, when along comes Sam. Feeling satisfied with the dress, I asked him, "Do I look pretty in this dress, Sam, or does Mommy look fat?" I'm sure you know what he said.

With the sweetest smile and loving eyes came "You look fat, Mommy."

Hmmmph.

"Sammy, don't you like Mommy's pretty dress?"

"You look fat, Mommy."

"Sammy, please say 'Mommy, you look so pretty.'"

"You look fat, Mommy."

"Sammy, it's really not nice to say that. You're making Mommy sad. Please say 'Mommy you look so pretty' before I cry."

"You look fat, Mommy."

O.K. I get it. I'll take the stupid dress off! (cue stomping sounds)

Budding Photographer?

Yesterday was a cloudy, foggy, misty kind of day. I happened to look out the window and catch the sun shining for a very brief moment. I ran to grab my camera because the light shining behind the trees was gorgeous! It looked like the trees were covered with ice and they glistened. Anyway, I was standing on the front porch waiting for the sun to reappear when out walks Sam with his new camera (Thanks Aunt Jessi!). We had a lovely discussion about the sun shining on the trees and we waited together for it to come back out. Sam took a few other photos while we waited. I think he's the cutest photographer I've ever seen:

Here he is taking his self-portrait in the reflective glass of the front door:

Here are a few of the "good" shots from his portfolio:



He's got a good eye and he enjoys taking pictures. With a little practice, I think he'll actually be pretty good.

Well, after looking through his portfolio again, maybe I should say he needs A LOT of practice:



We took a picture of each other at the same time. You can see how well THAT turned out:

The sun was out for about 30 seconds and I didn't get the shot I wanted. This is the best I had time to get but it sure doesn't show off the beauty of the sparkling trees:


(Click to enlarge and you can see the shining trees a little better.)

I didn't have enough time to get one without the stop sign in the corner, either! And those blasted electrical wires!

I did get this kinda cool picture:

I had fun taking pictures with Sam today. He loves his new camera. He also likes putting his pictures on the computer. A future blogger??? Oh, no! I may be creating a monster!

Happy Birthday, Grams!

In honor of my birthday, today, I spent a few minutes restoring a few picture of me as a wee babe. (I am LOVING Photoshop!)

This one reminds me of Sam:

This picture is one of my most prized possessions. You know, the 5 things you would grab if your house were on fire.

About 10 years ago, my parents found a roll of film packed away and had it developed. This picture, along with the same shot of my mom and one of my dad were on the roll. They had the three pictures framed together and gave them to me for Christmas. If you've been in my house, you've seen it. I will treasure it for the rest of my life.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that today is also my Grandmother's birthday! We used to spend New Year's Eve together and go out in the yard at midnight to light sparklers. I always loved having the same birthday as Grams. We were hoping that Sam would have the same birthday as my mom, but Dr. Dave took him about 2 hours too early. (Not that I minded a bit!) Anyway, here's my Grams!

This year on Christmas Day:

And meeting Sam for the first time:

(Click on this picture to see the little red birds that remind me of my Grams.)

One Down...Lots to Go!

And....happy birthday to me!!!!

Enjoy your day! Make your resolutions! Eat your black-eyed peas!

Several posts are in the works, but I've been on the computer all night designing my new blog and I simply can't sit in front of it anymore. I've got lots of things to do and lots of fun to have!