Wordless Wednesday.

Quick Hello!

Just wanted to say a quick hello to let you know we are doing great!

I have alot to blog about ... just not alot of time to do it right now.

I'll be back tomorrow with an update.

Broccoli Salad.

Easter Sunday Bett's fiance Tony made a wonderful Brocoli Salad for us to enjoy.

Here's the recipe if you are interested:



Sauce:
1/2 cup - mayonnaise
1/4 cup - sugar
2 tablespoons - apple cider vinegar

Mix together mayonnaise, sugar and apple cider vinegar and allow to marinate (over night if possible)

Salad Fixins:
2 - head brocolli - cut into bite sized bits
1/2 cup - cashews (or sunflower seeds)
1/4 cup - finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup - golden raisins
8 oz - REAL bacon bits

The best way to serve this is to mix everything together right before you intend to serve it. That way it doesn't get soggy.

It is so, so, sooooooo good!

Let me know if you make it.

Downtown Disney: Part One

We went to Downtown Disney with Grandma, Pop & Nana.

We thought it would be a good test to see how Griffin would do at Disney World.

He was beside himself with complete and utter joy.


Entering the Marketplace.


Griffin's favorite movie is Wall-E ... he was beside himself with joy, literally jumping up and down with happiness when we came upon this remote control Wall-E. We went back and forth about getting it since the Easter Bunny had just visited, but in the end we decided Wall-E must come home with us. Griffin LOVES it. He's been playing with him non-stop since he got it.


Yo-Ho-Ho Maties ... Pop, Nana and Griffin helping the pirate steer the ship.


Though not the greatest of pictures of us (I'm getting my haircut tomorrow, yah!) ... I treasure each picture of Griffin and me together because I have so few of them.


Nana & Griffin riding the train.


Grandma & Griffin riding the carousel.




Our little family ... this is the one I used in my new blog header.


This was such a beautiful garden area ... loved the flowers, the water pots and the Mickey Mouse topiary. So pretty.

We had such a good time ... we went back for a second visit.

I will share that visit on my next post.

Dinner With Bonnie & Jerome.

We had dinner with Jerome & Bonnie at Fred's last night.

I've heard great things about this restaurant and it completely lived up to the expectations I had.


Seated at the dining table enjoying our delicious southern cuisine ... Jerome, Bonnie, Griffin and me


I loved this antique stove so I took a picture of it. They have antiques all over the restaurant


I love the fact they serve the dishes in "real" pots ... this is a pot of rice.


mmmmm .... navy beans ... they were SO good, I haven't had them in awhile. The green beans were wonderful as well.


Seriously ... you gotta love a restaurant that has a big 'ole pot of grits on the buffet.

{smile}


This was probably my most favorite thing on the buffet ...

FRIED GREEN TOMATOS ... YUM!


My plate ... fried chicken, a pork rib (which I didn't eat), rice with tomatos and okra, navy beans, fried green tomatos (which I had a 2nd helping of), squash and cabbage.

Yum. Yum. Yum.

It was fun getting together with Bonnie & Jerome for dinner. I wish we could do it more often.

On A Border Punch Quest ...

After dinner last night at Fred's (which I will be blogging about soon) ... we all went to Michael's. I was on a quest to find the border bunch I would like to find.

This is actually the punch that I want ...


I've learned it is made by Fiskars and it's called the Threading Water Scallop Border Punch. They didn't have it of course.

Martha Stewart does have a similar punch ... but I do not like the extra hole in this punch.


So ... if you are out and about scrapbook shopping and you happen to see the Fiskars punch, please email me to let me know where they have them.

Thanks bunches ...

Missy

Wednesday ~ Post #2

Okay ... so I went to both the Lakeland and Winter Haven scrapbook stores. I found some cute new things at both stores. I was going to go to a 2nd scrapbook store in Lakeland that Bonnie told me about, but when I drove downtown I couldn't find a parking spot. I couldn't imagine why it was so busy down there on a Wednesday ... but ... all I had to do was turn the corner to face the lake and I quickly found out what was going on. A "Tax Tea Party" was going on in downtown Lakeland. I went to take my camera from my purse to snap a couple of the clever signs protestors were hodling and the battery was dead ... that figures. No pictures. I had to make a mental note to charge it up so I can take pictures tonight when we are together with Bonnie & Jerome for dinner.

I made a big decision when I was at the scrapbook store. It's a "big" decision for me anyway. I have always scrapbooked using the 8.5" x 11" pages. Today I made the decision to switch to the 12" x 12" pages. There are so many cute papers out now and I can't use them scrapping with the smaller pages. So, now ... it's 12" x 12" for me!

I'm still on a quest for one of those Martha Stewart punches. Walmart had one similar to the one I want, but it was a little too frilly. I'll have to find a Michael's to get the one I want.

Hey ... did anyone notice I changed the background color? I think this yellowish one is much more pleasing to the eye than the black/white one. And it's still pretty "un-cluttered" looking. That's the look I'm going for right now.

Okay ... so gotta go get ready for dinner.

Happy Wednesday!

Missy

Looking Forward ...

I'm looking forward to having dinner with my brother Jerome and SIL/BFF Bonnie tonight. We are going to a restaurant called Fred's ... and I've never been there. I've heard good things from a number of people about it ... so I'm really looking forward to some special time with our family and some good food.

Today Bett is keeping an eye on Griffin for me so I can go to the scrapbook store. Big Decision here folks ... do I go to the one in Lakeland (Violette's) or the one in Winter Haven (Scrapbook Studio)?

I'm leaning to Violette's in Lakeland ... it's a great store. The one in WH is great too ... but it's only a 5 minute drive from Bett's house and I'm sure I'll get there as well.

I really want to find one of those scalloped Martha Stewart edge punches. I bought two scrapbook magazines and it seems like that punch was used on several of the layouts. I will have to go to Michael's to find that. Mmmmmm ... another stop maybe?

Wishing you a great day!
Missy

p.s. I still do not like my blog background ... if anyone runs across one that's cute and will match ... let me know where to find it.

Playing Around.

I have access to high speed internet today ... so I'm taking FULL advantage of it.

I just made a few changes to my blog for the time being ... what do you think?

I will most likely go back to the "seasons" header soon ... but changing it up every once in awhile is fun.

I'm not so sure I like this particular black & white background ... so I'm going to try to find one I like better.

It's rainy, rainy, rainy here today ... a day for Mike & Griffin to watch movies and for me to play on the internet.

Take care,
Missy

Flying A Kite.

Uncle Ray and Aunt Terry brought Griffin a birthday gift with them on Easter Sunday.

Ray has always been into flying kites and he thought it would be fun for Griffin to have a kite that "doesn't require an engineer to operate" ... inside joke ... LOL.


There is a cow pasture next door to where my mother-in-law Bett lives ... it was a perfect spot to fly the kite.


As we were entering the cow pasture, the cows came running up thinking we were going to feed them.


I love that Ray put his sunglasses on Griffin so he could see ...


And the amazing Macaw kite ... it flew really well.


It was fun watching the guys out in the field with Griffin flying the kite ...


We just had to be careful to avoid any steaming cow patties ... LOL.

What did you do Easter Sunday?

Missy

Easter Sunday.

There's nothing better than being able to spend Easter Sunday with your family.


Griffin may have been the only kid hunting Easter Eggs at Grandma's house ... but that didn't let it stand in the way of being super fun.


The big guys hid the eggs ... and then Griffin hunted them. It really was cute because everyone was helping him to find them.


The Glave Boys ... Mike, his brother Ray Jr., his Dad Ray (Pop) and Griffin


Bett (Grandma), Mike, Uncle Ray, Griffin, Jeri (Nana), Aunt Terry and Pop


All the same people as the picture above ... except I'm in this one.


The big guys being silly with Griffin.

It was a great Easter Sunday ... I hope you had a great one too!

Missy

Polka Dot Scraps ~ Cecile

My super talented friend Cecile has just opened her very own Etsy Shop



She has some darling handmade scrapbook goodies ... they are so cute and whimsical.

Click Here to visit her darling shop!

And on a side note ... does anyone watch Lost? I watched it in the beginning and I will catch it here and there ... but honestly when I watch it I feel "lost" and not sure what's going on.

Anyway ... Jorge Garcia the guy that plays Hurley has a blog that I love. I visit daily and I thought I would share the link to his blog with you in case you might like to visit too. So click here to visit his "Dispatches From The Island" blog.

Happy Friday!

Trip To The Zoo ...

Thursday was such a beautiful day and we had plans to go to the zoo with our good friends Carol and Sam.

I. AM. TIRED.

It was one of those days in which everytime I opened my mouth my little guy seemed not to hear me. Even though the day was a bit trying ... we still had a good time.


Griffin had to say hello to his friend Mr. Peacock.


Sam saying hello to his favorite animal, the giraffe.


Griffin feeding two giraffes at once ... pretty cool!


I love this picture of Carol and Sam ... notice Sam is taking a picture of Carol. So sweet.


Another picture of Griffin feeding the giraffes.


mmmmm ... how exactly does one's four-year-old loose his Lightning McQueen shoe in the orangatang lake? Well ... he just throws it in. Can you believe it?

HE THREW HIS SHOE IN THE LAKE.

I went to the front to see if they could retrieve it ... they said they could after the zoo had closed. So, Griffin had to walk around the zoo in his socks. Needless to say, they got filthy and he wore holes in them.

Thank goodness another zoo employee got her "pinchers" out and could get his shoe.

He won't be doing that again. I'm sure of it.


Love this picture of the boys riding the carousel. Griffin is on the "chicken" ... that is what he calls it. And Sam is on the lion.


Feeding the baby zebra ... he was SO cute!!


I love this picture of the boys feeding the camels.

We are so lucky to have Carol and Sam as friends. They are so sweet, fun to be around and they understand us. Thank you for being our friends!!

Teaching Him To Swing.

Griffin loves playing on "Fort Griffin" ... his playset.

We spend hours and hours (and hours!) outside.

I am trying to teach him how to swing himself. I've pushed him in that swing so many times I sometimes dream about it ... LOL.


He gets that he has to put his feet out and then in and out and then in ... but of course he still prefers to be pushed.


Here he's goofing around ... he's tired of "doing it myself" and wants me to push him.

I truly do not mind pushing him. It gives us some sweet time together ... and most times he ends up singing to me. Singing for your swinging ... now that's a new concept.