A Remembered Anniversary

June 30, 1940.

That was the day that my Nana & Grampa were married.

72 years ago.

We are blessed to have Nana still with us.  Grampa passed away in 1990.

When Hubby & I were engaged, I was at Nanas' house at Christmas and looked at their wedding picture she has in her living room.

I had not yet gone shopping for my dress.

And suddenly a thought popped into my head.  I wondered if she still had her wedding dress.

So, I asked her.

And she did.  Wrapped in tissue at the bottom of her hope chest.

It was in wonderful condition.

So, then I asked her if I could maybe wear it to get married.

And I was delighted when she said yes.

I found a seamstress that specialized in wedding gown restoration.

And she did an amazing job.

It was restored to perfect condition.

In hemming it, she saved the material that she cut to use to make the headpiece of my veil.

In lowering the neckline, she saved the beading she removed to use on the headpiece.

I am so happy that I wore my Nanas' wedding dress.

I really hope that one of my girls will want to wear it too.

Here is a picture that I have on the wall in my hall leading to the stairs.

The gentleman on the Grampas' left is one of his brothers.  The other gentleman is my Nanas' dad and the woman is Nanas' sister.

Here is Hubby & I on our wedding day.

Here are Nana & Grampa on what looks like their 31st anniversary.  I just love them and love this picture.

They both looks so happy.  I adore my Grampas' smile.

CC Sissy is looking on as well as 2 of my Grampas' sisters.

What a fantastic picture.  I love this umbrella.

Sissy is sitting in between Nana & Grampa.  The woman is Aunt A., Nanas' sister and the sister from the wedding picture above.

I love the way CC Sissy is look up at Nana.  Lots of love there.

Here I am with Nana.  Yes, I was bald.  Very bald.

But, how about that swimming cap on Nana?  Love it!

And that beach ball in the background, love the giant beach ball.  I bought a giant beach ball this year for the girls because I  loved the one Nana & Grampa always had when I was growing up.

I have such great memories from swimming in this pool with my Nana & Grampa.

They always had big cookouts on Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day weekends.  Lots of extended family.

And we swam and swam and swam.

And always had lots of yummy food.  A roast and all the sides for "dinner", which was really lunch.  And we always ate at 1 o'clock.

Then for supper we would have hamburgers and hot dogs.

I miss those cookouts.

I am so glad to have the memories.

potd #180.  Happy Anniversary Nana & Grampa.

Don't Blink

Today the girls turned 9.

Wow, where did the time go?

I feel like I have blinked and they are all grown up on me.

I can remember when we had the girls, everybody would tell us to "enjoy it, they grow so fast".

And as new parents all we could think was "yeah right.  Sure they do."

All the while you are completely sleep deprived as new parents thinking that phase will never end.

Hubby & I used to joke when the girls were first born, and were infants, that we were afraid of the night.

Starting around 5pm, you just knew it was going to be a long night.  Feedings could vary through the night.

We always tried to get them to eat around 11pm.  But after that, who knew when one of both would wake and be ready to eat.

Those were long nights.

And we had pretty good babies.  No colic.  Some fussiness, but nothing that was endless.

Next thing we knew they were sleeping through the night.  Right around 9-10 weeks.

That was heaven.  A full nights' sleep. Ahhhhhh.

Then we blinked.  And they were 1.

And 2.  And 3. Etc, etc.

Now we have blinked again and they are 9.

I don't think I want to blink again.  Next thing I know they will be 16 and driving.  Yikes.

So, yes young parents, enjoy those babies and little ones.  Because the years go by way too quickly.

Even when you are down in the trenches of toddlerhood and potty training, it goes by way too quickly.

Because they go from this..........

......to this in the blink of an eye.

Interestingly enough, D is on the left in both of these pictures and E is on the right.

potd #179.  Getting ready to blow out the candles on their cake.  Love how D is looking at E.  And yes, D is on the left again.  Crazy!  Love these sweet girls so much.  I really don't want to blink for awhile.

Luau Birthday

Today was birthday party day here at our house.

D&E turn 9 tomorrow.

Today they had their party with friends.  It was a luau theme.

The weather was just perfect.  Hot, but not too hot.  And sunny.  Woohoo!

That's the only fear in planning a party where the main activity is swimming.  The fear that it is going to rain.

Thank goodness it didn't.

And I have to say having the party when we did, from 4:30-8, was just perfect.

The only trouble with that time is that the day seemed endless for D&E.

Time dragged for them today.

But pass it did and they both had a great time.

The girls helped me to decorate the deck.

The girls had lots of fun picking out luau decorations at the party store on Monday.

I just love the colors on this garland.  Such happy colors.

What to give for favors at a luau themed birthday party? Why, Hawaiian themed beach towels of course!

The cupcakes came out so cute!  Of course I got the idea from Pinterest!  Used graham cracker crumbs for "sand" blue colored sugar for "water" and gumballs for "beach balls".  And I just love the beach umbrellas!

And you have to have some leis and flower hair clips at a luau birthday!  The girls loved them.

We also had some grass skirts, they loved those too!

These foil palm trees were fun to have too.  Good find E!

The girls all playing badminton.  Many in grass skirts, leis, and hair clips.  Very cute.

D swimming during the party.  She had lots of fun.

E getting ready to pop a piece of cupcake in her mouth.  She is such a cupcake eater.  Loves them.

It was a great party and fun theme.  All the girls looked like they had a great time.

potd #178.  Hubby is such a good sport.  While the girls were eating their cupcakes and ice cream cake, he donned a grass skirt and lei.  And played the ukelele.  Such a good dad.

Walk In the Garden

As is my routine this time of year, I took a walk through the garden this afternoon.

We have had plenty of rain recently, so watering wasn't necessary today.

Last week and over the weekend we had some great, warm humid weather.

Good garden growing weather.

As my dad says, tomatoes love the warm humid weather.

And boy is he right.

My tomato plants have grown like crazy over the last week.

That makes me happy.

What doesn't make me happy is how my squash and zucchini are growing.

Something is eating them.  I have noticed empty stalks where there used to be a leaf attached to said stalk.  Boo.

And it seems like they are not doing well at all.  Yellowing leaves.

I am quite distressed.

A trip to the garden center is in my near future to see if I can figure out what is going on.

I love tomatoes.  And home grown tomatoes are wonderful.  I also just love the way a tomato plant smells.

Here is one of my squash plants.  See the 2 empty stalks.  Boo.  Could be a bunny. Or maybe a deer.

So excited that the rose bush I got from the girls for Mother's Day is getting ready to bloom.  So many blooms.  And I haven't even planted it yet.  Waiting for the painters to finish the house.

I love this blue flower.  It's an annual that I have planted in a pot.  Hummingbirds are supposed to love it.

Moving the pot up to the deck tomorrow.  Hoping to catch sight of a hummingbird.

Lucy loves this spot out on the deck.  Just outside the slider.

Outside, but close enough to the house so she can hear what's going on in the house.  Nosy dog.

potd #177.  Flowers on one of the tomato plants.  Boy I can't wait till the tomato plants start producing. There is also nothing like a toasted tomato sandwich made with fresh homegrown garden tomatoes, Hellman's mayonnaise and a dash of salt & pepper.  Yum.  And it brings great memories of being a kid and having tomato sandwiches with my mom.  That makes me happy.

Salon Day

Today was hair day for all of us girls today.

I got my haircut.

And a little later, colored.

I just recently was recommended to a wonderful new hairdresser.

This was my 2nd cut with her.

I really liked the way she cut my hair the 1st time, about 8 weeks ago.

It's not easy to cut curly hair.

So, I am very happy to find someone who I am comfortable with to cut my curly hair.

And then this afternoon the girls & I were off to see T, who colors my hair.

I just love T.  I have known her since I was a preteen and she is just so much fun.

And she does such a good job at covering my grays.

Boo gray hair.

And she does a great job taking care of my eyebrows.  Although I must say I think she is a little too happy to rip the wax off.

Oh well, what we women do for good looking eyebrows.

Today the girls came with me to my color appointment with T.

While my color was soaking in, T cut the girls' hair.

D wanted hers cut short.  E just wanted a trim.

They were happy with what T did.  Although I think next time D may want to go a bit shorter.

I am not so sure about that.  We'll have to see.

Getting home tonight, I wanted to snap a picture of D with her cute new haircut.

And in the process I found a great spot in my room for natural light in the early evening.

Love natural light.  I try to never use my flash.

This spot in my room is an excellent find.

potd #176.  Love.this.girl.so.much.  Love her smile and her freckles.  And her natural blonde highlights.  And her new haircut.  Sweet D.  She is a good girl, even when she's not.

Movie Night

The girls & I decided to watch a movie tonight after dinner.

We settle on Yours, Mine, & Ours.

It was a cute movie.

Typical boy and girl marry, kids don't like each other, try to break up boy & girl, everybody gets sad and then everyone makes up and they all live happily ever after movie.

E was very sweet.

There was a moment in the movie where the husband & wife are at the point where they just don't think they can make it work.

And the husband decides to take a job in Washington DC and will be moving.

So, he's saying goodbye to all the kids.  All 18 of them.

And E looks at me with tears in her eyes.

So sad thinking that it's not going to work out.

Silly E, she just doesn't know the formula for a romantic comedy.

E is definitely my "cry at Hallmark commercials" girl.

D was concerned, but not brought to tears.  Not at this movie at least.

What was priceless was the grin on E's face when she realized the husband & wife were going to stay together.

Goofy, silly grin.  Happy E.

Both girls loved the movie.  Such typical girls.

They love the comedy.  They love the romance.

Movie night was fun.

It was only at the end of the movie that E looked at me and said, "We forgot the popcorn!"

Oops.  We'll have to do movie night again.

And not forget the popcorn.

Love these moments with the girls.  Watching a movie together on the couch. Perfect way to spend the night.

potd #175.  Of course Lucy had to get in on the action.  She loves movie night too.

Snapshots

Hubby finished the top part of the deck today.

It's a big deck.

A view of the top deck as you head up the steps.  Looks good.

Can't wait to get the table and other furniture back up on the deck.

Flower pots too.  Then it will look even better.

Now to get Hubby to finish the bottom deck.  Maybe before we leave for Wisconsin. We'll see.

Another find at a tag sale yesterday.  $1.  Woohoo.

Kings in the Corner is a great way for the girls to learn solitaire.

They had lots of fun playing this afternoon.

Think it's going to be a great summer past time.

Busy weekend now come to a close.

Busy week ahead getting ready for girls' luau birthday party.

It's on Thursday.

That's not enough time.

But I am sure it will all get done.  It always does.

potd #174.  Happy girls playing Kings in the Corner.  My battery died on my camera today, so I had to charge it.  Good thing I have the camera on my phone!

Tag Sale Saturday

Went out this morning with Sissy.

We hit a few tag sales.  Ok, more than a few tag sales.

Some Sissy had found by looking through the paper and a few were found on our travels.

I found a few treasures.  Sissy found lots of treasures.

Found this sweet needlepoint at one of our stops.  It was $1.  

I really liked it because it was done on a green muslin. 

I took it out of the frame it came in.  It was old and not in the best of shape.

A new frame and it will be good as new.

At our first stop I found this little play accordion.  I bought it for D&E.  

They loved it.  They couldn't stop playing it when I got home.

Ok, I didn't find this at a tag sale.

On our travels, Sissy took me to a little Italian Bakery.  They make the sandwiches.

And boy, are they yummy.  I was a bit skeptical.  But Sissy assured me they were delicious.

The sandwich is made with a fresh Italian bread grinder roll.  

Slices of provolone and thick cut salami.  Then they add sauteed green peppers in the middle.

So.very.yummy.  I do believe Hubby declared it the best sandwich he has ever had.

May have to go back next Saturday for some more sandwiches.

When I got home, Hubby was working on painting our deck.  Really hoping it will be done before the girls' birthday party on Thursday.

Not sure that's going to happen.  We'll see.

This beetle was flying around Hubby and landed on his shirt.  It was ginormous.

E was not to scared to pick it up.  It was huge.

Always the worker, E.  She's been our little worker bee ever since she was a toddler.

She loved helping Hubby do a little painting today.  

potd #173.  The girls were so happy to get this little toy accordion.  I love that it is a simple thing like this that cost me $1.  And they are getting such joy & fun from it.  

Thunder, Lightning, Raging Winds

Ok, that's a little dramatic.

We haven't had the raging winds.

But, we have had some pretty serious thunder & lightning.

I guess that's the kind of storm you get after 3 days of 95+ degree heat.

The cool front that comes through brings some wicked weather.

The girls keep asking if we'll lose power.

We're all still a little traumatized from the October storm.

At this point, I think the worst of the storms have gone by us.

And we still have power.

Fingers crossed it stays that way.

At least before the storms rolled in they were able to get in some swimming.

We did have plans tonight to meet some friends to go to a local winery.

On Friday nights, they have live music and you can set up shop on the grounds.

Bring a picnic dinner.  Buy a bottle of wine from the winerys' store.  Perfect summer evening.

It's lots of fun.

The kids get to play with friends for a few hours and the adults get to sample some wine.

It's a win/win for everyone.

Unfortunately, with the storms we have moved to Plan B.

And that includes everyone coming to our house.

Should be fun.

potd #172.  Took this pic of the girls with my phone.  They are passing the time playing a Cranium game.  Having lots of fun.  Just prior to this E beat me in a solid game of War.  Fun age to play board games and cards.

Paper, Paper Everywhere

Somehow my dining room table is covered with school paperwork.

Oh, right.

D&E brought all of it home this week.

It is crazy how much paperwork and "stuff" came home with them on Monday & Tuesday.

And now it is covering every square inch of my dining room table.

Yes, every square inch.

I had the best of intentions to go through it earlier today.

But that didn't happen.

I tackled the what seemed to be endless laundry.  Just about done.  Couple more loads.

And then I just enjoyed the girls swimming in the pool.

Because that's pretty much what they did ALL day.  Swim.

If I had to add up how many hours I think they swam, I would guess it would be about 6 hours.

6 hours.  That's nuts.  I think they might be fish.

Plus they had tennis this morning.

And it was another almost 100 degree day.

Let's just say when it was time to go to bed tonight, they couldn't wait.

We pray with the girls every night before bed.

Tonight as they were getting settled under the covers E says to Hubby & I, "Can we please just pray now so that I can go to sleep?"  Think she was tired?

So for 1st days of summer, today was a pretty good one.

And I think the girls passed out as soon as their heads hit their pillows.

Now I am off to tackle the paperwork.  Need to reclaim my dining table.

potd #171.  D&E had fun playing with a couple of beach balls I bought the other day.

School's Out{For Summer}!

School is officially done for 2011-2012.

And what a year it was.

Started 3 days late because of Hurrican Irene.

Then we had the freak snowstorm in late October.  Powerless for 8 days and out of school for 7.

Before we even hit November 15th, we were already having to figure out how to make up 10 snow days.

Yikes.

And then we cruised through the rest of the year.

No more snow days.  Almost unbelievable.

And now, school's out for summer.

Yes, you must sing the Alice Cooper song in your head.  That's what I do every time I say that phrase.

And on this very last day of school, the temperature got to around 99 degrees.

That's hot.

So, the promise of a full summer lays ahead of us.

What a feeling.

Absolutely love it.

At least till the girls start to bicker too much.  Then I will be counting down the days to go back to school.

But for now, we will enjoy the blissful days of summer.

potd #170.  D&E on their last day of 3rd grade.  Took the picture this morning as we were getting ready to head out to school.  They are getting so much better at cooperating with my picture taking.

Summer Vacation Eve

Ahhhhh.

It's the night before the last day of school.

The promise of summer is just about here.

I love the start of summer vacation.

The lazy days of summer.

So many things to look forward to.

A road trip to Wisconsin in 2 weeks for the wedding of one of Hubbys' cousins.  Can't wait.

A couple trips to Cape Cod.

Tennis lessons.

Swimming.

Going out for ice cream.

Catching fireflies.

Going to the movies.

Getting together with friends.

Having a routine without having a routine.  If that makes any sense at all.

I do love summer vacation.

Ahhhhh.  Summer Vacation Eve.  I like the sound of that.

potd #169.  Steamed some yellow squash and zucchini for dinner tonight.  Had it with some steak and sweet potatoes.  Can't wait till I am picking my own squash and zucchini from my own garden.

Snapshot Monday

What a fun busy day.

I was able to get together with my Sissy and my Nana and have lunch.  Yum.

Then we headed off to Walmart for some things for Nana.

All I have to say is I hope I reach 95 and do it like my Nana.

She is just amazing.  Eats great.  Gets around pretty good.  Especially with the help of a shopping cart to lean on.  And she has her wits about her.

Yup, wanna be just like her.  I'll consider my freckles(which are just like hers) a good start.

Tonight I was able to get together with some friends.

We had a good time.  Lots of laughs.

And we found out how some of us are a bit particular about our laundry.  And how some us aren't as particular about their laundry.

Just so you know know, I am one of the particular ones.  Total ocd.

Hubby and I got the umbrellas up on the deck yesterday.  Love the blue on this umbrella.

It just says "Happy Summer" to me.

And summer will begin in 1 1/2 days.  That's how many days of school we have left.

Pretty yellow flowers in one of the flower beds.  A flower bed that really needs to be dug up and started from scratch.

I will be sure to save these pretty flowers.  Think they may be primrose.  Not sure. Will have to check that out.

Happy Lucy stretching in the grass.

One of Lucys' favorite toys to play with outside.  An old flower pot.  Yes, I said an old flower pot.

She is so funny with it.  She tosses it.  And she loves to play "chase me" with it. She likes to keep it away from us and if you chase her, she will do all she can to get away safely with her flower pot.

Silly Lucy.

potd #168.  Lucy trying to run away from me because she thinks I am trying to get the flower pot.  She makes me laugh with her wrinkled nose.  Too cute.  Who knew a flower pot could make a dog so happy?

#1 Dad

Happy Father's Day to Hubby.

Hubby is a wonderful father.

Always been hands on with D&E.

He kind of had to be.  Having 2 at one time didn't really give him much choice.

What I do know is that he would have been just as hands on even if we only had 1 at first.

Thank goodness for him.

And he's fun.

He plays so well with the girls.

And they love playing with him.

I am so lucky to have him.

Thanks Hubby for being a great partner to go through this parenting thing.

I love the family we have made together.

potd #167.  D and Hubby getting a little daddy/daughter time together hanging their feet in the pool.

Party Time

Today was party day.

And the last day of softball.

E headed off to play in the last softball game of the season.

D went to a birthday party for a classmate.

Then we all headed of to Sissys' house for my niece K's graduation party.

Family and family friends this afternoon.  Then tonight K was having a bunch of friends over for a bonfire.

It was a beautiful day.  Weather was perfect.

Sissy did a fabulous job with all the decorations and pulling all the little details together.

I have decided that she can definitely plan any party I am have in the future.

And she definitely will be planning D&Es' high school graduation party.

Love the tables and chairs with fabric tablecloths.  So pretty.  CC Sissy and niece, M in the background.

Love these straws that Sissy had.  And the little "congrats" flags.

The lemonade and iced tea were perfect drinks for today.  And she had some soda from a local soda maker.

Lots of yummy flavored soda.  Strawberry, orange, birch beer, pineapple, lemon-lime, black cherry, root beer.  Yum.

The girls were in heaven.  Let's just say there weren't any no's today from me.  They were very happy girls.

Sissys' dog Jack just resting in the grass.  Amidst all the goings on.

By halfway through the day he was practically comatose in the grass.  Fast asleep. It was a busy day for him.  Lots of people.

Pretty flowers on the tables.

Love this picture of Hubby with K and J.  Gosh, where have the years gone?

Sissy has a clothes line out her back door.  She pulled together a bunch of old pictures of K as a little one.

Really cute pictures.

And we'll just say that apparently 1996 was a year that K spent a lot of time in the corner.  

Gotta love that moms are happy to take pictures of their kids when they are in trouble.

I know I have a few taken a few myself.

This was one of my highlights of the day.

K's cake.

It is from a local Italian bakery.

If you are familiar with and like Italian Tri Color/Rainbow Cookies,  then you will love this cake.

It is that cookie in cake form.  And it is delicious.

Hubby really liked the cake too.  And he is not a fan of cake, at all.  He had two pieces.

I think this will be our new cake of choice for birthdays.  Yum.

potd #166.  K cutting the cake.  It was a wonderful day.