Mother's Day At The Strawberry Festival

I was treated like a Queen on Mother's Day ... ya'll it was the BEST day ever!

We all woke up pretty early, but since it was Sunday (and Mother's Day) we all snuggled in the bed together for awhile. After we came downstairs, Mike made an orange cranberry breakfast cake for us ... it was delicious!

Then we went to the Strawberry Festival at Chesterfield Berry Farm ... it was so much fun. There was so much for all of us to do together. And we met up with our friends Heidi, Jeff, Ryan and Evan.

Later Sunday evening Mike grilled up the BEST hamburgers and hotdogs and I added some french fries and Paula Deen's cheesy corn-on-the-cob ... AND we ate outside on the deck.

It was the PERFECT day ...

Here's some fun pictures of us at the Strawberry Festival.


This is all of us ... not the greatest picture of me (my eyes were closed)


Mike and Griffin looking for the perfect strawberry


Yummm ... strawberries straight from the earth ...


Even more strawberries ...

It's A Girl ... It's A Boy

Two of my very dear friends had babies this past week ...

Congratulations Stephanie, Cory & Big Brother Bobby
Welcomes Baby Girl Sophia Maria
Born May 10
6 Pounds * 10 ounces
19 Inches Long

Congratulations Beth Anne, Kevin & Big Brother Gavin
Welcomes Baby Boy Garrett Linwood
Born May 13
8 Pounds * 12 ounces
21 Inches Long

And ... I had the MOST awesome Mother's Day ... I will blog about that tomorrow.

7 Weird Things About Moi.

I was tagged by my friend Andi to list "7 Weird Things About Me". Each player starts with 7 random weird facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged write their 7 things on their blog and post these rules. It also requests that I tag an additional 7 people ... but I think most folks that visit my blog have already been tagged ... so, if you would like to play, please do! Here goes ...

1. I do not like lettuce or cheese on a sandwich or tacos. If lettuce or cheese is on a sandwich/taco, that's all I can taste. Leave lettuce to salads only!

2. My real name is Melissa, but NOBODY calls me that. If someone calls on the telephone and they ask for "Melissa", then I know they do not personally know me.

3. I drink lots of iced tea ... but it has to be the plain brewed kind. I do not like the iced tea that comes in a can or liter bottle ... they just are NOT southern iced tea. And please ... leave the fruit flavors OUT of my iced tea.

4. I never paint my finger nails. I would love to, but since I'm in the "creative art" (read paper piecing) business, I'm afraid I will slice a bright red fingernail right across something I've just made and leave a mark ... so NO nail polish for me.

5. I have a fairly heavy southern accent ... and really ... it comes out really heavy when I'm around other people that do NOT have a southern accent. The other day my friend Heidi was over and I caught myself saying "yon't a drink" ... which in clear English was "Do you want a drink" ... LOL ... I really have to be careful!

6. I allow my ice cream to melt a full 20 minutes before enjoying it ... it tastes better that way. And I guess I should also say I like my Diet Pepsi flat and my Oreo's stale (soft).

7. I love my mother-in-law ... I know this may sound weird to some people, because it is often times hard to have a loving relationship with an in-law ... but Bett my MIL ... I really do love and respect her. Both of my parents have passed away and my MIL makes me feel like her child. She has always been there for me, I can call and talk to her about anything ... and I *know* that she loves Mike, Griffin and me with her entire heart. I just wished we lived closer ... I miss her.

Okay ... that's my 7 weird things ... care to share yours?

Still Here!

Hey everyone ... sometimes life gets so busy with the ordinary we just don't have time to blog.

Nothing exciting has been happening here ... just staying busy being a wife and mom. Everytime I think I have something to blog about ... I just can't seem to get to it. So I'm sitting here updating my blog with NOTHING to say ... but hello!

Oh ... I do have one thing to say ... Dancing with the Stars ... can you believe Joey and Kym were in the bottom two? Crazy!! I hope Apolo and Julianne win ... they are the BEST in my opinion. And Bruno's comments to Billy Ray (the whole crap thing) was totally unnecessary. Okay ... so if I can't blog about something fun and exciting ... I will blog about one of my favorite TV shows.

I haven't had alot of time to visit my blogger friends either ... maybe I will soon. Please know even though I haven't been by for a visit I'm still thinking about you!!

Take care everyone!

Inspiration.

It's funny the places we can find inspiration to be creative. For me, the inspiration to create this paper piecing was found just by looking out my kitchen window. I looked outside and saw Griffin's beach ball in the woods behind our house. Instantly I knew I wanted to create a "water" paper piecing, featuring a beach ball of course (I knew I had a sticker) ... and then the fun began! I'm pleased with the way this turned out. Finally ... I was able to create something!

Yesterday I was overwhelmed with emotion while watching The Queen's visit to Richmond. I guess it had alot to do with the fact that I had just read the book "A Royal Duty" by Paul Burrell. He was at one time Queen Elizabeth's footman (I think) and then went on to be Princess Diana's butler and close confidant. I read this book on the way home from Florida while in the car ... it was fascinating. Of course he shared all of the rules, pomp and circumstance to be on staff at the royal household. It was fascinating to see Americans reacting to The Queen. In my opinion we are a much more touchy, feely society than England (my opinion) ...

One interaction really caught my eye. Two ladies were holding flowers out for The Queen (she received every bouquet of flowers that was offered to her). She shook the first lady's hand ... but then by-passed the second lady that offered her hand to shake ... but the Governor was right behind The Queen and I guess he too saw what happened ... he took the 2nd lady into a great big bear hug. I was amazed and happy to see the Governor do this.

I haven't had a chance to read richmondtimesdispact.com today for all of the highlights ... but I will later today.

I hope you all have a safe and fun weekend!!

The Queen.

The Queen of England is currently in downtown Richmond on Capital Square, I'm watching it on our local news channel. I am sitting here with tears in my eyes watching her greet everyone.

Oh my gosh ... why am I crying?

It's history in the making ... that's why!!

More tomorrow ...

Sesame Street.

Griffin loves watching Sesame Street ... and lately I realize it's not just for Elmo.

He is learning ... his ABC's ... how to count ... how to recognize shapes ... characters ... people. It's fabulous. Yesterday he was sitting on the couch watching Sesame Street while I was working. They were counting to 14 ... he sat there and counted with them up to 8. Mike was in the kitchen working too and we both stopped what we were doing just to listen to our boy counting. It was a magical moment.

Warm Weather & Sunshine.

I am so loving the warm weather we've had this past week. We can get outside, play, take a walk, and enjoy the sunshine. This is my kinda weather.

Yesterday I was on the phone with Heidi and we were chatting away. I asked if they wanted to come over and she said yes ... it's so nice to have a friend that will come over on the spur of the moment. She's my kinda friend.

The weather was just perfect. The boys (Ryan, Griffin and Evan) enjoyed themselves. Blowing bubbles, playing ball, running around, getting dirty, climbing on the tractor ... my kinda fun!

The simple life ... yep ... it's my kinda life.

New Camera.

While on vacation Mike and I got a new camera. It's a Casio Exilim 7.2 Megapixels camera and I love it! It's so small, it will fit right in my pocket. I can't wait to see what the pictures look like online. Right now all of our vacation pictures are sitting on our new camera, but the USB Driver for the new camera has not been installed on our computer, so I can not load them yet. Mike said he will load it soon ... and I will be able to share some pictures.

While on vacation, I seem to have lost my creative streak ... ugggh ... that's not good. I've tried sitting down at my scrapbooking table to create some new Tear Bears and nothing seems to be "clicking" ... everything that I've tried to make since returning home just doesn't "feel" right ... I need some creative juices to start flowing again ...

We are back to our everyday lives ... once again ... and I love that. Tonight I think we are going out to dinner. Mike was called away on an emergency call locally and thinks it will take less than an hour. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that is the case because I'm really looking forward to going out to dinner. Sometimes it's just so hard to decide what to cook for dinner. Do you get into the same rut as me? Seems like I'm forever cooking the same things over and over. Last night I did make black beans, yellow rice and tequila lime chicken wings ... that was pretty good ... and different. Tonight ... I have NO idea what to make if we do not go out.

I haven't had a chance to visit everyone's blogs yet to catch up ... but I'm really trying to. We have dial up and it takes FOREVER and a day for some blogs to load. My goal is to get back to my regularly daily blog reading routine by Monday.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend ... be safe & have fun!

I've Been Tagged.

Jen tagged me to to share 7 random facts/tidbits/habits about yourself that your blog friends may not know already. Then I must tag 7 more people at the end of my post, to get them to do the same!Seven things about me:

1. I witnessed the Space Shuttle Challenger exploding in January 1986. We lived in Florida and I was working the drive-thru at McDonald's. I looked up and saw what I thought was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. Soon I realized exactly what had happened as folks were sharing the news as they drove up. I am convinced to this day that what I saw was the crew's souls being lifted toward heaven.

2. I count the stairs in our house each and every time I come down them ... that way I know how many more I have to go to reach the bottom. Many times I have a 30 pound boy in my arms, so it makes life a little easier knowing "where" I am on the stairs.

3. I cry every week when I watch Extreme Make Over Home Edition ... never fails.

4. Both of my parents are deceased. My momma died in 1976 from complications of her intestinal by-pass operation (to lose weight). My daddy passed away in 1998 ... he died from heart disease. Of my four grandparents, I only knew one ... my Granny and she died in 1977.

5. I tape The View everyday and then watch the "Hot Topics" when Griffin is napping. I also visit Rosie's Blog (rosie.com) everyday. Although I do not agree with most everything she has to say, I am a fan.

6. I am extremely afraid of large bodies of water ... lakes, rivers, ponds, the ocean. I have a huge fear of drowning or of being eaten by a shark or alligator.

7. I had a cesarean (thanks Jen for the idea) when I had Griffin. Mike laughs that I did not "give birth" to him ... that he was "removed". I'll be honest ... it was easy. I remember talking to the doctor's about Disney World while they were doing the cesarean and then I heard our little baby crying. The recovery was not that difficult (for me) either.

Then I am supposed to tag 7 people ... really I do not know who has chosen to do this challenge ... so if you would like to do it ... please feel free!

We Are Home.

We are home from vacation after being away almost two whole weeks.

It truly was a working vacation ... but fun non the less. We helped my mother-in-law purge, clean out, throw away and sale a lot of stuff from her house.

It was great seeing all of our family and friends. I never really realize how much I miss them until we see them again and have to say good-bye.

This week, I hope to get back to blogging everyday and visiting all of my blogging friends as well. I will share more about our vacation soon!

Preparing For Yard Sale.

Hey there everyone ...

We are still in Florida. The past few days have found us helping my mother-in-law prepare for a yard sale. She has 40 years worth of his & hers items priced to sale. So ... if you are in Central Florida come by on Friday (8-12) or Saturday (8-2) for some great finds! Email me at mgmh@aol.com for the address. Or really ... it's on Gerber Dairy Road in Winter Haven ... just look for the bright pink signs. Located off Bomber Road.

She has a tractor, baby stuff, small appliances, outdoor furniture, antiques, clothing, glass ware, knick knacks, linens and lots of misc. She is doing a major down sizing and really wants to get rid of these treasures ... and we want to help her.

Yesterday we all went to the Sun ' N Fun Fly-In in Lakeland. It was fun. We always have to have a family day there. Mike goes every other day by himself to take classes and attend forums.

Well ... it's back to pricing. If you can come by the yard sale ... please do!! Tell everyone you know!!

Bye for now ...
Missy

Hey There!

Has it really been a week since I last posted?
That's crazy!!

We have been soooo busy ... gosh ... we went on a business trip with Mike to Raleigh, NC and now we are in Florida!! Yippee ... we are home for a few days with our family ... it seems just right ... just the way things are supposed to be.

I just wanted to say a quick hello ... just to let you know we are still here and we are okay ... just busy, busy, busy.

I promise to post again very, very soon!

Let's Play Catch Up.

Wow ... it's been a few days since I"ve had the chance to blog ... and soooo much has happened. Blogger will not allow me to load pictures right now ... so I will try to load them tomorrow.

Mike returned home from a business trip on Tuesday ... he had been gone for over a week. It was soooo good to have him home. Thing is, on Wednesday he had to turn around and drive to Charlotte, NC for a business meeting. Nothing was stopping us, so Griffin and I went with him. We drove there Wednesday night (it's a 6 hour drive) and we just hung out at the hotel on Thursday until Mike was finished with his meeting, and then we drove home. Nothing spectacular ... but it was nice being TOGETHER.

Upon arriving home Thursday evening there was a package on our doorstep. Inside was a spectacular collection of Easter goodies from Susie Q. She was so very thoughtful including things for both Griffin and me. Gosh ... I really want to share a picture ... I will tomorrow! Thank you, thank you, thank you Miss Susie Q ... you are so very, very sweet! Griffin and I have had fun reading the Farm book over and over. He just started making animal sounds ... so this is PERFECT!!

On Friday, Mike and I celebrated our 22 year (being together) anniversary ... it's so hard to believe it's been 22 years. We started dating in high school in 1985 ... and we've been together ever since.

On Saturday morning we woke up to snow ... 4 inches of SNOW ... can you believe that? In April? It was beautiful. The sun came out and it melted pretty quickly. Griffin and I colored Easter eggs yesterday afternoon. Well, Mommy colored Easter eggs and Griffin watched. Somehow both of our hands turned out blue though. He had fun putting stickers all over the Easter eggs ... too cute!!

Today is Easter Sunday ... and our 12 years WEDDING anniversary. We plan to stay home, hunt Easter eggs and have a good old southern meal for dinner.

We wish you and your family the happiest Easter ever!

Jen ... Her Sweet Bubble-ness

Remember when I posted about being obsessed with the ice cream toy?

Well very sweet Jen took care of that problem for me!!

The other day I received a very sweet package in the mail FULL of ice cream bubbles ... I'm talking three packs ... 9 ice cream cones!! Griffin is SET ... I no longer have to obsess about this toy. Not only do the bubbles come in these very cute ice cream cones ... but they smell YUMMY too!

She went all the way out of her way to pick these up and ship them to us.

Thank you so, so much Jen!!


Here's Griffin enjoying the bubbles inside the house ... he is definately a boy on a mission when it comes to some serious bubble blowing.

Andi ... Her Royal Bunny-ness

I have to admit it ... yesterday was a pretty bad day. I'm PMSing (too much information?), Griffin wouldn't stop SCREAMING in the grocery store, Mike has been gone on a business trip for more than a week (he's coming home today YAAA!) ... and I had HAD it ...

Then I got home and what do I find on my porch? An absolutely wonderful package from Miss Andi for Griffin and me. Inside was a lovely Easter card, a very sweet animated Easter Bunny with a hysterical frog and cute chicks, and FOUR packages of character bandaids. Do you remember the Baby Bandaid story from February? If not, check out my February 2007 archives for the Baby Bandaid story. Andi's sending these bandaids to Griffin made me laugh so hard and got me completely out of my bad mood. A good friend can always tell when you need her most. Thank you Andi!


After his nap I said ... Griffin there is a SURPRISE for you. I turned on the Easter Bunny and he climbed up to see what it was!


And then of course he dragged it down on the floor and played with it the entire evening.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Andi!!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail.

Wow ... Saturday we were BUSY, BUSY!

We went to see the Easter Bunny at the fire station. They were offering Polaroid pictures with the Easter Bunny for a donation, so we took them up on it.

After that, we went to Oakland Baptist Church's childrens consignment sale. I only found one shirt and a pair of shorts for Griffin there. Then we headed over to Redeemer's childrens consignment sale. Holy Cow! I found a dozen shirts for Griffin all $2.00 or under each, a really cute train toy ($1.00) and a new umbrella stroller ($5.00). Wow ... such good deals! Then it was on to the Scrapbook Store ... Memories Galore on the west end. They had the new MME Tres Jolie line ... wow it's gorgeous and I stocked up. Then we went back to Goochland to pick up a BBQ dinner the High School Band was selling. Whew ... it was a really fun, exhausting day!

Sunday, we stayed home the entire day ... that was pretty nice. I was able to work a bit. Here's a few things I was able to make.








Hope you all have a GREAT day!

It's Saturday.

(Griffin reading one of his favorite books)

We have many options for fun today!

What a great day to get out and experience the things our local community are offering. This is what we have to choose from.

The Easter Bunny will be at the firestation

Several local churches are having Children's clothing and consignment sales ... these are very cool. They always have a great selection of almost new clothing and toys ... great prices too!

The local High School Band is having a yard sale/flea market and BBQ at the fairgrounds

There is a petting zoo at Short Pump Towne Center

Like I said ... so much to choose from.

We are definately going to see the Easter Bunny at the firestation. After that ... I'm not really sure of our plans ... whatever we choose, it will be fun!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend too!

Sam's Club -vs- Costco

My family has a membership to Sam's Club and my friend Heidi's family has a membership to Costco. We've decided we each want to visit one another's shopping warehouse of choice to see if we might indeed like the other one better. Today is our chance to visit Costco. I'm kind of excited about it. Everytime we drive past, their parking lot is always full. I like shopping at Sam's ... I have no complaints, but sometimes it's fun to see what others have to offer.

Do you shop at Sam's Club, Costco or both? What do you like best about them? I'd love to hear your opinions.

The Sky Was Pink.

The sky was a beautiful PINK this morning ...
God amazes me everyday with His beauty.

Smile.

When I saw this picture on my camera, it made me giggle ... he's doing two of his favorite things ... swinging and holding a flower. No matter where we are, or what we are doing ... if he sees a yellow flower (in this case a dandelion) he wants to pull it up.

Have you been watching Dancing with the Stars? I have ... I'm a HUGE fan. I wasn't surprised when Paulina was voted off last night. She seemed very awkward. I thought for sure either she, Shandi or Billy Ray would go. My early favorites this year are Joey Fatone, Ian Ziering, Apollo Anton Ono and Laila Ali.

I have to admit ... I'm beginning to like Heather Mills ... and I really, really don't want to. For those of you that watched Monday night ... did you see that awesome backward walk over? Oh my gosh ... the woman has guts AND talent!! I can't wait until next week.

We are off to the gym today ... just a normal day for us. Hope you all have a great day!

The Zoo.

We went to the Metro Richmond Zoo yesterday with our friends Heidi, Ryan, & Evan. Our friends from the gym Leah, Kevin and Kenneth were there too! We had a fabulous time! I had no idea the zoo was as close to us as it is ... only 30 minutes away. We are definately going back ...


Mommy & Griffin feeding the giraffes


Griffin & Ryan head-to-head with the giraffe


This poor peacock didn't stand a chance


Whewwww ... he's safely out of harm's way


This was the tiniest little deer like creature ... so cute!


Griffin & Ryan watching the white tiger


It's time for a break ...

We had a blast ... can't wait until our next trip to the zoo!

It's Monday.

It's Monday ... the weekend is over.

We might go to the Richmond Zoo today ... we have tentative plans, it just depends on the weather. The temperature is currently 42 degrees and it is a bit overcast. So, we will just wait and see.

If not ... what to do today? Mmmmmm ... the Scrapbook Store sounds good to me!!

Will let you know what are final plans were tomorrow!
Hope you all have a great day!

By the way ... isn't this a great picture of Griffin? My friend Cyndi took this picture of him at her son's birthday party. Thanks CY!

Saturday.

Mike is home ... yaaaa!!

I'm very happy he was able to spend some time with his mother. We all get to see her next month. I've said it before and I will say it again and again. I have the BEST mother-in-law in the world ... and love her very much!

After picking Mike up from the airport yesterday afternoon, we made a stop by Sam's Club. Oh my gosh ... we picked up a couple of their already made pizzas for dinner. Mike wanted one with everything, I chose one called Ranch Chicken. Oh my gosh ... the Ranch Chicken was the BEST pizza. Instead of a red sauce, it had a white creamy ranchy sauce, two cheeses, grilled chicken and BACON! I love BACON! The best part? They were only like $7.00 each ... a bargain! We will be eating pizza for the next week ... they were huge too!

After Sam's we stopped by Michael's. I needed to find some brown ribbon. The boys stayed in the car while I ran in to get the ribbon. I found the brown that I needed, in addition I bought about 15 other rolls. They had the COOLEST new ribbons ... only $1.00 a roll! Ribbon is my 2nd favorite scrapbooking supply right behind cardstock and patterned paper.

We have no big plans this weekend. Mike does have a flying lesson this morning. It's a "cross country" flight. Basically he has to fly at least 160 miles. He is going to go along the coast towards Virginia Beach ... it should be beautiful! Other than that ... NO plans!!

I hope you all have a GREAT weekend!!

Sonny's BBQ

Mike has been in Florida the past few days spending time with his Mom.

Last night he called me and said "guess where I am" ....
mmmmmmmmm ... Could it be ????
Yes it was ..... Sonny's BBQ

I LOVE SONNY'S BBQ and I am SO jealous!!

They have the BEST sliced pork, crunchy french fries, BBQ beans, coleslaw and garlic bread.

They do not have Sonny's BBQ here ... I can't wait until our Florida visit in April.
I definately need a Sonny's fix.

For those of you with questions about Griffin's Ice Cream toy. It's basically just a two piece container. Top and bottom ... they probably sold them as a candy holder or something. They didn't have bubbles in them, but we could always play with the bubbles and then I could wash the container out.

Thank you Jen, Andi, Susie Q and Cassandra for offering to look at your Dollar Trees. I did check out the link that Cassandra provided from Ebay ... I will just have to order some of those!!

Here's wishing everyone a very happy weekend!

Happy Bday H & J & An Obsession ...

Happy Birthday to our buddies Harry & Jack ...
They are 3 years old today ...
We attended their birthday party this morning.
Griffin had a blast!


Do you see this toy???
I AM OBSESSED WITH IT!

Oh my gosh ... Griffin absolutely LOVES it!
I am constantly looking for one part or the other ...
I am worried that he is going to lose the top or bottom part ...
My friend got it from the Dollar Store (months ago) ...
Three in a pack for $1.00
Griffin is always playing with it, and has to know where it is at all times.

If anyone out there happens to run across them, could you please pick me up a pack, or two or three????

This obsession has to stop!!

And ...

I just wanted to give a "shout out" to my MIL Bett ... I just want her to know that we all love her very, very much.

Two By Two

I borrowed this fun Two By Two quiz from Cheryl's Blog.

It’s a Two-by-Two survey.
Answer with things that are relevant to you RIGHT NOW.

Put your answers in the comments section of my blog, or post to your own blog.

Two Names You Go By
1. Mommy
2. MiMi

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now
1. Top & JeansPajama pants
2. Socks

Two Things You Have in a Relationship:
1. Love
2. Trust

Two of Your Favorite Things to Do
1. Spend time with family & friends
2. Make Tear Bears

Two Things You Want Very Badly At The Moment
1. For Griffin to stop screaming
2. Fresh Krispy Kreme donuts

Two Pets You Had
1. Dalmatian named Wyatt
2. Orange cat named Popcorn (years ago)

Two People Who Will Fill This Out (Maybe)
1. Andi
2. Sue

Two Things You Did Last Night
1. Played outside with Griffin until dinner time
2. Watched Dancing With The Stars

Two Things You Ate Today
1. Three cups of coffee
2. Nothing else

Two People You Last Talked To
1. Griffin
2. Mike

Two Favorite Places
1. Home in Virginia
2. Florida

Two Things You're Doing Tomorrow
1. Going to Toys R Us to buy birthday gifts
2. Going to the gym with Griffin

Two Longest Car Rides
1. Winter Haven, FL to Coleman, TX
2. Winter Haven, FL to Dothan, AL

Two Favorite Holidays
1. Thanksgiving
2. Fourth of July

Two Guilty Pleasures
1. Deep massages
2. Chocolate Mocha Silk Ice Cream

Two Things that Make Me Laugh
1. Being tickled (which I hate)
2. America's Funniest Home Videos

Two Things I Last Got in the Mail
1. Package from Scraploft.com
2. Package from Gonescrappin.com

Monday.

It's Monday ... we had a pretty uneventful weekend staying home most of the weekend. Sunday we did venture out in the afternoon to Home Depot and Lowe's to try to figure out what we are going to landscape with around Griffin's playset that we will be getting in a few weeks. It's going to be a huge play area ... can't wait to get it ... we won't have to go to the park ever again. LOL ... just kidding.

Then, we went to Red Robin ... love that place, it's so kid friendly.

I'm soooo dang excited ya'll ... Dancing With The Stars is coming on tonight ... woo hooo ... it's one of my favorite shows on tv.

I will leave you with a few things I created this weekend ...

Little Red Wagon.

I've had this little red wagon many years ... since our Country Sassafras days. Country Sassafras was a little scrapbook and gift shop my sister and I owned when we lived in Florida. I used to display our Raggedy Dolls in this little red wagon ... it was always one of my favorites.

After we moved to Virginia, I put it outside on my front porch and displayed flowers in it. For those of you that REALLY know me, a green thumb I do not have. So, as I carried my flowers to what I call the "flower graveyard" the little red wagon also found it's way there too.


Guess who found it this past weekend?

Griffin had so much fun pulling it around the yard, filling it with scrap wood pieces from the addition and spinning it's wheels.

Who knew so he could have so much fun with rusted little red wagon.

And the gift goes to ...

I would like to send a great big THANK YOU to everyone who left a comment on our fun little give-a-way blog post.

This really was ALOT of fun and I do plan to have more give-a-ways in the future.


Everyone's name went into Griffin's baseball cap ...


And then he did the honors of picking a name out of the cap ...


And the gift goes to ....

Sandy !

You can visit Sandy's blog by clicking HERE

Sandy, please email (mgmh@aol.com) me your last name and mailing address so I can get your gift package in the mail to you.

Thanks everyone!

Fire Station Field Trip

Today the "Mommy & Me Play Group" had the pleasure of taking a field trip to the local Fire Station. We have Miss Sandy to thank for setting this fun outing up.

It really is a joy to be a WAHM (work at home mom) and have the ability to take Griffin to these kinds of field trips and events.

Griffin enjoyed checking out the humongous wheels on all of the trucks


He also enjoyed sitting in the ladder truck


Yippee ... we are jumping for joy ... we had such a GREAT time!

Celebrating 300!

Wow ... I'm celebrating my 300th blog post today.

It makes me so happy to blog. It brings joy to my life.
I've made some really wonderful friends by blogging.

So ... let's celebrate a little bit ...

See the fun things in the picture above?
A really cool pewter frame
Two Buttercream Yankee Candles
A package of Peanut Butter Kisses
Mary Engelbreit Stickers
Jolee's Stickers
A fun little calendar

I will be gifting this entire package to one person.

To enter for the gift drawing, simply leave a comment under this post and tell me what you look forward to when Spring arrives.

That's it ... it's that easy!

I will give everyone a couple of days (Tuesday and Wednesday) to post your comment and then Griffin and I will put everyone's name in a hat on Thursday and I will let him draw the name.

I hope everyone has a fantastic day!

299 ...

299 Blogger Posts ... tomorrow is the big 300 ... I can hardly believe I've had something to say 300 times!!

Make sure to check back tomorrow as I will be posting something FUN for my 300th post!!

I am having a total BLAST creating Tear Bear Paper Piecings lately. I made this grin, laugh, giggle one the other day ... and yes ... once again I posted it to Ebay.

Productive.

I was quite productive yesterday and actually created TWO paper piecings for Ebay yesterday afternoon. I made this BOYS Paper Piecing and I also made a repeat of my Easter Tear Bunny as well. I honestly think this BOYS paper piecing is one of my favorite paper piecings that I've ever created.

I love it when I actually have the time, energy and creative focus to make things. It's such a joy to start with nothing and then have a finished item. This BOYS paper piecing was very time consuming ... even though it may not look like it. I had the dinosaur tags on there and then wanted something "else". I tried stars and swirls and they just didn't look right. Then I took my pom pom punch and cut the punchie in half and thought it looked like grass ... and voila ... it was the exact thing I was looking for. Then on the bears ... I made little hats for them and did not like the way they looked, so the hats came off. Then I put the grass pieces behind the bears and felt I finally had a finished paper piecing.

As I type this Griffin and I are sharing my office chair. He is standing up in the back half watching Sesame Street and I am sitting on the front half doing computer stuff. The absolute best part is I'm getting hugs and kisses from my little guy without even asking. It's the best of both worlds today.

Here's wishing everyone a very happy weekend!

Autism Speaks: For Ali & Simon

Ali Edwards is a fabulous scrapbook designer and artist.

She has placed a Six Degrees Badge on her site to raise money for Autism Speaks. Six Degrees is a fabulous idea created by Kevin Bacon to raise money for various different charities. To find out more about his organization visit SIX DEGREES.

They are having a contest of sorts. Honestly, I do not know if "contest" is the right word to use. Six Degrees will honor the individual badge that collects the most NUMBER of donations with a large donation to the charity in which they are raising money. Does that make sense? It doesn't matter how MUCH money they raise, it's based on NUMBER of donations.

So ... if you are thinking about donating to a very worthwhile cause ... please consider donating to Ali's badge for Autism Speaks. Doesn't matter if it's $10 or $100 ... each individual donation counts.

Here's Ali's Badge for Autism Speaks:



If you are interested in keeping track of how Ali's badge is doing you may click HERE to do so.

If interested ... you can ADD THIS BADGE to your website or blog to assist Ali with her efforts. To get the HTML code to add to your website or blog post click HERE

Zucchini Squash Cakes.

I love Paula Deen ... I think you all know that by now.



The other day I was watching her cooking show and she shared a recipe for Zucchini & Squash cakes. I knew right away I had to try them.



What is better than FRIED vegetables ... right???



This recipe is a little bit time consuming ... but sooo worth the effort.



Here's Paula's recipe for Zucchini & Squash Cakes

1 egg
1 cup parmesan cheese
1/3 cup diced onion
1 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 cup bread crumbs
3 medium zucchini squash - shredded
3 medium summer squash - shredded

Mix the first 6 ingrediants together
Then add zucchini & squash
Make into 2" patty cakes and fry in butter/olive oil
Cook 3 minutes on each side

Missy's Tips:

1. I used Italian bread crumbs and did not have to add the italian seasoning

2. Make sure to squeeze as much water out of the shredded zucchini and squash as possible. I just took mine, put it all in a clean/dry dish towel and squeezed it out.

3. Her recipe says to cook it about 3 minutes on each side ... I think it takes a bit longer.

4. Also ... we added more bread crumbs to the mixture than she lists and it would have probably binded better with 2 eggs.

This is a DELICIOUS recipe and HIGHLY recommended!!!

Princess.

Another new creation I just posted to Ebay.

Rant.

Can I just say that my AOL Dial-Up Internet connection is the PITS.

We have no high speed internet options way out here in the country ... well ... we do have ONE option ... Hughes Net Satellite ... but it costs too much.

Arrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Neighbors.

Growing up my famiily lived in a really tiny little place called Eloise, right outside Winter Haven, FL. We lived in the kind of place where neighbors looked out for each other and we, as children knew if we needed someone, we could always run to a neighbor's house.

Summers were spent bar-be-quing, playing under the waterhose and picking peas in Plant City. After we picked peas all of the neighbor ladies and kids would sit under our covered carport shelling peas (don't forget the snaps mind you). I do not have alot of memories from when I was younger ... but this is one memory that is very vivid for me. I remember those shelling peas days with the rain just coming down in buckets. Mama, Rachel Garrett, Judy Brooks, Margie McKee, Mrs. Cox, Mrs. Smith and all of us kids. Wow ... what a memory.

I also remember the day in 1976 my mother took a turn for the worst when she was at Shand's Hospital in Gainesville ... my sister Joy and my mother's best friend Rachel Garrett had taken me shopping for school clothes. We came home and all of those ladies were in our house cleaning and cooking, they had gotten the message before we did. They were there for us, when we needed them most.

You know ... that's the environment that I wish Griffin to grow up in.

I am lucky to have two very close neighbors that I call my friends. I know if I was ever in a situation where I needed them ... a simple call asking for help is all it would take. The sad thing is ... I really do not know my other neighbors. Even my closest neighbor that lives right next door ... we've lived here almost four years and I've never even been on her front porch.

I wish for more neighbors that I can call my friends. The kind of neighbors that we can get together to barbeque with. The kind of neighbors that you can call on the spur of the moment, just to drop in for a quick hello.

I realized it's a much different world than when I was a kid ... but really ... I do not think I'm asking for too much.