Happy Birthday Mark!

I don't think I could have said it any better Mark!

I sure do love you... Happy Birthday!

My Grandma, Grandma Alberta

I recently returned from my home town, Ashtabula Ohio, on a trip no one wants to take, one for a funeral. My maternal grandmother passed away, Alberta Taft. She was quite the woman. I always thought I knew her well, but I learned a whole lot more about this amazing woman after spending time listening to multiple generations and friends tell stories of her life. Grandma was a very godly lady who lived out the walk and was a sincere witness to the lifestyle of Proverbs 31 Woman, but she was never preachy. She lived her life as an example, and isn’t that how we all should be living. Grandma was also very outspoken and blazed her own trail. But here are a few things about my grandma that I learned this weekend (maybe one that I’ve always known) that will explain a lot about who I am and a tiny bit of my great heritage!

• I always thought I was the special one as far as the grandkids were concerned. Grandma had this old orange cookie jar (literally it was a huge cookie jar shaped as an orange) and whenever I was at their house the first thing I would do was check out the cookie jar. She always had cookies, and I could always sneak one without retribution. But I never took from Grandpa’s jar (it was filled with gingersnaps) he’d always catch me and he didn’t like to share his cookies! I thought I was the only one who got away with “sneakin’ cookies” but come to find out, everyone snuck cookies from the cookie jar, but never Grandpa’s!
• On family camping trips when my grandma had young children, she would insist on eating ice-cream for lunch at the local ice-cream shops when they left their campsites on their way to their next destination. For some reason though, when I was young going on these huge family camping trips I don’t remember doing this… but today with my young children we do this a lot, on a whim though not just camping, we’ll just eat ice-cream and or popcorn for dinner. In fact, we had ice-cream for lunch one day in Disney World.
• She could sew and quilt beautifully. I remember her sewing all of my baton twirling uniforms, my aunt’s wedding dress, my prom dresses, even my tiny Barbie doll dresses and outfits. She became very well known as a master quilter, winning numerous prizes and awards for her skill and beauty in her work. I can’t even sew a button on, I regret not taking the time to learn from her and now it’s too late.
• Grandma went to school to be a nursing assistant (or maybe it was to be a nurse, I can’t remember now). And she never babied us when we got hurt, neither did my mom. Maybe that is where I get that from too! “Ahh, rub some dirt on it, you’ll be fine!”
• One last thing... Grandma had the best sheets in the world. I loved sleeping at her house. The bed sheets were always crisp and smelled wonderful. I know she didn’t have a clothes dryer and lined dried everything. She claims that’s what made her sheets “so good!”, but mine never smell or feel like hers. I don’t know what she did or how she did it. I’ve tried to replicate the process over the years but could never do it just like her. My line-dried sheets certainly don’t smell like hers, maybe it’s that Ohio air; it’s much richer up there!

Today holds different meaning to many people. It's also one day that America joins together simply to remember and honor those that have gone before us and paid the ulitmate sacrifice for our freedoms we hold true today. Please take a moment today from all of your celebrating, picnics, and family time to just pray and be thankful. Daily I am in awe of the sacrifices that men and women in uniform and their families make for us as a Nation. They do it for me and you, and they ask for nothing in return. Today, simply say "Thank you". Those words will not heal all wounds but they will begin to mend the spirit and the soul.

Disney!

It's hard to believe that I haven't posted anything in over a month. I am so sorry, but honestly I've rather enjoyed the time with family and friends. We are getting back into the groove only to discover that we have less than 3 weeks of school left. That blows me away just thinking about it. Not that I don't want summer to come, I love summer time and spending hot days and cool nights with my fam, but the school year has flown right by. I must have slept or worked way toooooo much! I will leave you with a few pix of our Disney trip and I promise to share finished layouts and projects once I get them started... NEXT WEEK RIGHT!

The case of the missing egg...

The Easter Bunny was a huge hit this year! Each one of our kiddos had 5 items to hunt for that the E.B. left for them. Mind you this is a new house so we had lots of new places to look for things. Caleb searched for an extra half hour after everyoone else was done for his one last Egg! It was right next to him the entire time! Watching him hunt and hunt for that 'missing' egg was absolutely priceless! These are simply random photos of him hunting for that EGG... do you see it, on the lampshade above his head!

I love you Caleb, you truly keep it real around here and remind us to laugh and embrace life right in the midst of EGGStrodinary situations!

I live with a bunch of Egg Heads!

You may not get the title of this posting until you see the pictures... Just read the below and you'll soon see why Katie and I live with a bunch of Egg Heads!

The Egg Heads!

The Egg Head Family...

The Queen and the Princess!

Seth's Head

Caleb's Head

I love my Boys... especially the Big One!

Caleb shooting Katie... it's the case of the Egg Head and the Princess!

Snakes... I don't like snakes!

I know snakes are everywhere, but they are NOT allowed on my porch or roaming though my flower beds. Okay yes, that is a weed next to the snake, but now I may never pull weeds again because snakes might be there!

Mark found this snake last night on our porch right next to our front door. He went outside shortly after 9pm to get his gear ready for work. He keeps his PT boots outside b/c they are full of mud and sand (nasty smelly things). He picked up his boots, he jumped a tiny bit (he is a Marine and Marines aren't scared of snakes, just Camel Spiders... I've posted a picture below for you see those too!) So, being the NICE man that he is, he moves the spider into my flower beds w/ my broom before telling me about it.

We estimate that this snake was approx 3 feet long, we looked it up on the internet and it's just a garter snake, but did you know they can have upto 89 babies at one time. I could have 90 snakes in my yard right now!

We have to move, I just can't sleep at night thinking about 90 snakes in my yard and if each one of them reproduce... that's like over 8000 snakes!

Oh Crap, I think I am gonna faint!

What Marines should be scared of... and they have every right to be! That is one nasty spider!