Bakin' at the Garage Sale

This was our annual MOMS Club fundraising event. It just so happened that the weather decided to work in our favor this year (aka NO RAIN) and got fairly warm today. They're predicting mid-90's almost all weekend.

Here's some of the fun we had prepping all our donated items for the sale. Casey got into the spirit and created a very attractive ensemble
--great color matching! Even Nick lent a hand.













And, here's what it looked like during the sale over the weekend (everyone is hiding in the shade of the garage it's so HOT). We also participated in the Great American Bake Sale ... I made Cappuccino Chip Brownies--yummm!!!

Dusting off the Cobwebs

Do you feel like you've seen

the same blog update forever?

Good news!!!

Our windfall of activities has finally calmed down. So you will be seeing some of the adventures that have kept us busy these past several weeks VERY soon.

~ Thanks for visiting!

Spring Cleaning

While Nick showed Daddy how he was "strong" enough to get all the
fir needles out from between the deck boards, I took advantage of
the sunlight and had fun taking more photos of flowers that came into bloom this week.







Several of my photos have inspired me to begin working
on a new set of paintings.

They're still in the conceptual stage, but I draw a lot of inspiration from macro photography. So, stay tuned . . . who knows what the summer
will yield.

Happy Mother's Day & Birthdays

This was a very special Mother's Day this year. First, Nick made me a special flower and vase at our MOMS Club meeting this week. Well, he said it was for me when he made it, but has taken to playing with it since we brought it home. He is very curious about the blob of play dough that the "stem" (aka straw) of the flower is stuck into to keep it weighted down.

Our Mother's Day celebration was jointly shared with the birthday celebrations of John's parents--Mom's birthday was the day before and Dad's birthday was the day after. We had a lovely dinner at a new restaurant in town, and then came back to our house for fun and festivities.



Our dining room was transformed from
a quiet little room into "Party Central." There we celebrated 2 birthdays and wished 3 moms Happy Mother's Day.


John and Nick gave me some wonderful gifts, in addition to a few soon-to-be-used gift cards. (*wink, wink*) It was a wonderful day that I won't soon forget.

Signs of Spring

A little over two weeks ago, I was lamenting over the fact that SPRING had not yet appeared in our neck
of the woods.

Well, I am happy to say that between the rain drops . . . a little sunshine must have found its way through.

Here are a few of my little garden miracles!

Happy (Cuarenta) Cinco de Mayo

It was a big BIRTHDAY weekend/start of the week
for John.



We had a family celebration on Sunday night that started with a very tasty dinner at Red Robin's.


Each time we go there, John and Nick have to
"race" the cars before
we sit down to dinner.

I'm not sure how much Nick gets to drive, but they both have a really good time.








We ended at John's parent's house.

There were lots of gifts and a YUMMY mint chocolate chip
ice cream cake.










Then the next morning (Monday), Nick and I surprised John with a few more presents from us and my family.



But, the festivities
still weren't over . . .







I cooked John a special sausage dinner (his request) and surprised
him with a mini cherry cheesecake
for dessert.







You HAVE to blow out a candle
on your birthday, or it just doesn't count in my book!

Timber!!!

Nicholas and I drove up the hill to see what Dad has been keeping busy with lately. But, when we arrived, all we saw at first was the END of a what had been an ENORMOUS burn pile (estimated starting size outlined).






Of course, when you have something that big burning, a simple shovel just doesn't cut it. NOPE! . . . for this type of job . . . you bring out the BIG SHOVEL.
(And, no, John didn't drive it. He hired a professional--WHEW!)



We found John and his friend, Jason, down the hill. They were busy cutting up another tree that they had brought down.



Nicholas didn't like the noise the chainsaw made. So, he decided that if he climbed up the steps to the tree house, it would be quieter. I asked him if it was. He said "No. But, I can see Uncle Pat" (who was working further down the hill).

Feel Up Chicken (the Video)!

Well, for those of you who asked for it . . . here he is!

LIVE . . . Mr. Nicholas singing "Feel Up Chicken."

Feel Up Chicken

While Nick and I were waiting at the checkout stand this morning, he started "rocking out" in the shopping cart and began singing,

"Feel up chicken!
... Feel up chicken!
...... Feel up chicken!"

Over & over he sang it! It took me a few times before I was sure I'd really heard him correctly. But, the hardest part was trying to figure out WHY he started singing it (well, that, and not laughing hysterically, of course).

After we got back home, I finally figured it out. We were eating lunch at the kitchen table (and then Nick started singing again ... for Dad's enjoyment).

What Nick was trying to sing was . . .

Philadelphia Chickens!

Philadelphia Chickens is a musical parody utilizing the characters from Sandra Boynton's children books. I had been playing the CD this morning, but had it playing quietly, and, I didn't really listen to which songs were playing.


If you need a CHICKEN fix, listen to the song.

Select ACT ONE: Song #3 -- Philadelphia Chickens
(by the Bacon Brothers)
{PLAY SONG}


Don't be surprised if you start dancin' with the chickens! (LOL)

Good-bye Grandma

This morning, my mom called to let us know that my Grandma had passed and was finally at peace. She had been on hospice for quite some time. She was one month shy of her 98th birthday, so she lived a very long and happy life.

If you didn't get a chance to meet her, you missed knowing a very sweet and wonderful woman. My grandfather knew that from almost the first time he met her. He proposed to her after only dating her for 1 month and continued to propose to her every month until she said "Yes." My grandmother told me that the night she finally accepted his proposal they were out on Lovers Lane (which is now one of the runways for Los Angeles International Airport). They were married for over 57 years, until my grandfather passed away in 1988.

My grandmother had
one daughter. She got
to see both my brother
and I get married. And,
she had 3 grandchildren
and 3 great-grandchildren
that she loved very much.







Photo: Four Generations
December 2005