Happy Birthday, Benjamin!

Happy Birthday to my youngest.

Turning 30 can seem a little daunting, 

But it appears you've got it covered!

Conquer the world if you must

But remember to do what is just

Be yourself in all you do

Just let the Lord guide you through

And you will certainly be amazed

At what you've accomplished at the end of the day.

Love you now

Love you forever

Mom

Happy Birthday, Benjamin!

Happy 29th Birthday to my youngest!  He's knock, knock, knockin' on Thirty's Door!
It seems only yesterday he was born.  How can one tiny little baby grow into such a strapping young man in a matter of seconds?!  How?? 

Happy Birthday Ben, The Man, The Beast.

I love you!

Mom

Happy Birthday, Benjamin!

Happy birthday to my:

 

Youngest.

Only Boy.

You're standing on the threshold of yet another decade.

Just two short ~ very short ~ years away from 3.0.

I'm very proud of you.

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

Love you to infinity and beyond!

 

MOM

Johnny Appleseed

It seems that even as we get older we never lose the ability to be amazed at the things Nature throws our way.  And so it is with My Boy.  He's well into his 20's but can still find a curiosity in the simplest of things.

Back in late Spring, early Summer "Johnny" was enjoying his daily routine of an apple, a banana and a glass of OJ.  Simple enough.  Boring enough.  But Nature threw him a tidbit.  She gave him two seeds in his apple that were already germinating.  It never ceases to amaze me the little surprises that come along. 

Being of the curious nature, "Johnny"  promptly removed them and placed them on a damp paper towel and then placed them in a baggie.  He let them grow there until he was confident they would survive in a pot.

Speaking of pots, don't you just love these?   

He fusses over his little trees  like a mother hen. 

Don't, I repeat, don't mess with his babies trees!

Here we are ~ nearing Fall.  I'll be curious to see how Mr. Johnny Appleseed  "over winters" them.
Curious indeed.

Jump-starting July

It seems it took forever for July to get here.  Waiting on my gang from Kentucky seemed endless.  Now we are almost halfway thru the month and it seems a blur.  So, lest I forget, I shall start from the beginning and move forward (backward?), perhaps with sprinklings of "now" scattered in between. (or perhaps not). 

My boy didn't forget my birthday.  He left abruptly for town and returned with a birthday coffee for me from Starbucks.  He also took a giant leap in his culinary skills and decided to bake me a cake.  This is impressive in a couple ways:  1.  He doesn't like to cook anything that isn't chicken, pork, beef or fish related.   2. Putting something in the oven is NOT his cup of tea.

So imagine my delight when he decided to do this for his Mama.  The only downfall was the cake choice.  He was certain that Red Velvet cake with cream cheese frosting was my favorite.  Um, nope.  Not even close.  It's his dad's.  Bless his heart!  But, kudos to him for giving it thought.  The only way to fix that is to bake a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for his dad!

 

He's leaning on my baby!  Should I be concerned?

 

Scraping the bowl. 

 

Patting it out.  He said it is like smoothing concrete.  You pat it gently

to get the air bubbles out so it will "settle" nicely. 

I'm so grateful it didn't set up like concrete!

 

 

I love it when he cooks!  It means I don't have to he will survive on his own!  It was a delicious cake ~ even though it wasn't my favorite.  He did well.  He will be a keeper for some lucky girl. 

 

I got to celebrate it with Hubs, Ben, the Man, the Beast and Sarah Sponda.  She made sure I had candles to blow out on my cake and she made them sing "Happy Birthday" to me.  That was kind of like trying to force a child to eat green peas so nice of her!

It was a nice way to jump start our July. 

So, Alicia, keep a weathered eye open for upcoming events!

TTFN

Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut. . . . .

. . . . . and, Sometimes you are!

I haven't blogged in a coon's age.  I miss it.  I really, really do.  So, hopefully, this post is just the thing to get me jump started ~ again.

Ben and I went shopping at Marshall's (my favorite place to shop) a couple weeks ago.  We weren't
really looking for anything in particular, just fighting the winter blues.  But, as luck (not that I believe in luck) would have it, I found some orange sprinkling sugar marked down from Christmas.  Score!  Browsing and scoring are a match made in Heaven.   Every now and then I would see Ben saunter by.  He was more browsing his phone than he was the store.  He eventually discovered a bottle of beauty on the mark-down cart.  He says:  "Look what I found.  White chocolate syrup.  I could make us a bangin' coffee with this.  I could make my own espresso and add this."  Well, he had me at chocolate.  We browsed a bit more and headed on out to the checkout, ooo-ing and aaah-ing over the white chocolate in the beautiful bottle. 

 

Isn't it just beautiful!

 

 

 

He warned me not to crack it open 'til he was ready to make the coffee.  Talk about self control here.

He finally decided a couple days ago to create his masterpiece.  I.  Was. Stoked!  He opens up the bottle, he sniffs, he snurls his nose, he looks at me.  I give him a "What"" look.  He says: "This doesn't smell right.  Smell it." he says.  Ooookay, I think.  Is it bad?  Not a happy thought.  I smell.  I look at him.  I say, "It smells like vinegar."  He says, "Yep, that what I thought."  I say: "Didn't you read the label!!??"  He says: "I can't read German, or Dutch or whatever language that is."  So I turn the bottle over (and in English) it says:  White Condiment Gourmet.  Ingredients: white wine vinegar, concentrated grape must.  And it did have the words "Gourmet White Condiment" on the front at the very bottom of the label. It probably doesn't take an Einstein to figure that one out.  But our minds were set on WHITE CHOCOLATE!.  That's my excuse and I won't change it. 

 

Can I just say, on the one hand all the air had been deflated from my excitement, but on the other I had been spared drinking a lovely white wine vinegar espresso.  

 

Lesson here:  Read. The. Label.  Well.

Don't get the cart before the horse.

If it seems too good to be true, then it probably isn't.

 

We did mope about it for most of the afternoon.  Then we would laugh, and mope some more.  Now we just laugh.

 

Live and learn they say.  Live and learn.

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Happy Birthday to my Boy!

27 years ~ 27!

My youngest is on the climb.

I didn't think this time would come so fast!

A bond between Mother and Son

Is a bond like no other one

It's forged from the very depth

Of where one finds life and breath

 

I pray his life will bring him joy

This is what I want for my boy

That and a peace that comes from within

And strength and honor from this young man.

 

Happy Birthday, Ben

 

Love,

MOM

A Look Back at September Through Pictures

This month has flown by ~ way to quickly.  So here's the "lowdown" of how our life "went down" during September:


Our South Paw had to come to Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop's just to rest

Itty Bitt is really itty bitty!

Squashing the ants (long "A" sound here) on Uncle Ben's boat

Audrey Dog thinks my sewing space is her window to the world!  Get.  Off. Now.

A Sweet Pea named Missy gave ME raspberry jam and a bouquet of flowers
from her very own yard!  Thank you!

My washer went up so I was able to snag these from Kellifer.
Again. . . . Thank you!

We've confirmed Itty Bitty is a klepto thief.

I got to go to an estate sale as well as a barn sale!
Scored big time!  These are only a couple of goodies from
the estate sale.

We got to watch our South Paw play some fall ball!

Of course,  there was some playing with cotton, some birthday stuff, some a LOT of school and the everyday mundane stuff ~ you know ~ laundry, cleaning, cooking. . . . . .

So that pretty much sums up September this year.  Hopefully October will just casually stroll along.  Hopefully.

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

In less than two hours, 25 years ago, you will have made your debut.  I would never have been able to comprehend the change you would make in my life. I still can't.  Just like your sisters, you rocked my world!  I pray for you the best life has to offer,  the ability to handle the junk it may throw at you, the compassion to love and understand those around you and the common sense to use all those gifts God has blessed you with to glorify Him. 

I love you, Ben ~ the Man ~ the Beast ~ my Boy.

MOM

 

"Cheeseburger in Paradise"

Life is a "Drama Queen" sometimes.  And sometimes it's a "Barrel of Monkeys".  Today, it's a "Barrel of Monkeys".  Or more appropriately, today is a "Cheeseburger in Paradise". 

My boy bought this shirt at the end of the season to wear on that day when he chose to bid summer good-bye.  He thought today was as good a day as any.  So he donned his duds and headed out the door to hang with one of his buds.  (Do they even say that anymore?)

Words cannot express what the picture says:

 

The shirt has cheeseburgers and fries all over it (the "Big-Mac" type) ~ in bright oranges, yellows and tans.

His shorts are green and white pin-striped seersucker.

Green Polo golfing socks.

Orange, brown and tan Sperry's.

Pink Von Zipper hat.

 

Can I say more?  I think Baby Girl's expression says it for me.

 

He's going to try to convince his friend that they NEED SHOULD  run into town.  It takes a very secure person in their own skin to: 

1.  Think about such a concoction

2.  Wear such a concoction

3.  Even toy with the idea of being seen in public in such a concoction

4.  To GO into public in such a concoction

 

Secure, indeed.  That's my boy.

 

Now lest you think he's the only one of my youngin's to be so brazen, well, I have something in store for you.  :) 

 

Stay tuned.

Comedy Central, Bang 'em Up and Leaky Things

I have a lot to share about my summer.  A lot of fun,  nice things.  But since this is so fresh on my mind and has left me temporarily scarred, I will go ahead and share this first so I can get on with the healing process.

My summer has been a blur of busyness! But, life has a way of inserting its quirkiness ~ like it or not. In this case it was a "NOT". Our glorious old bathroom ~ the one that you have to drop an A-bomb on to begin remodel ~ had an on-curring tub faucet leak. One that was so bad I threatened the no-no word: Nag. We already had a new faucet, so let's get this thing on! That's what I "suggested". So, my trusty, feisty handyman, Ben, decided to tackle the beast. He is after all, fearless when it comes to this old house. And. . . he decided to tackle it in the late, very late, afternoon, on a Sunday. Not a good idea me thinks. He did, however ~ in his defense ~ buy some supplies beforehand. But you know life ~ it has a mean sense of humor, and we didn't have all we needed. Not feeling his own brute strength he (he being Ben, the Man, the Beast) turned a pipe wrench, or some kind of tool, a little too hard, hit the hot water line breaking it in half. Before anyone downstairs could register what his screams were about, approximately 300 gallons of water (in his - being Ben's guesstimate) spilled onto the floor (in the scary closet that only grown, brave men will venture into, behind our glorious old bathroom) and down onto the porch below. What occurred next was a mixture of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", and "The Three Stooges". (I can say that now because the pain has subsided somewhat). Ben has a shop vac attachment trying to funnel the water into a bucket and dump it into the tub. Not a pretty sight. He bolts down two flights of stairs, to the basement to shut off the main valve (of which there appeared to be several ), only to bolt back up two flights of stairs to find out his efforts were futile. By the time Bob and I made it to the bathroom, to say he was irritated and hysterical would be an understatement. After a couple of trips, Bob finally found the correct shut off valve and the meltdowns began. Oh yeah, I had one. Outside. Away from the pain of water damage and the frustration of a self proclaimed plumber.  Poor Kelly tried to console me, but to no avail.  Ben, the Man, the Beast, had one in our glorious old bathroom with the scary closet. Everyone else looked like deer caught in the headlights. Afraid to move, afraid to speak. Not pretty. No ma'am.

 In retrospect, Sunday probably was a good day to have this "catastrophe", since Bob and Kelly had work on Monday. Less folk in the house. Needless to say, Mr. Handyman had to get up a the butt crack of dawn to get to Lowe's to get the rest of his supplies (he was a trooper ~ and he had to make more than one trip). God love this boy's soul! He made me stay with him in that glorious old bathroom for moral support. I wasn't allowed to offer up much opinion ~ I just had to be a live, breathing body in the same room. And on occasion, I was allowed to hand him some kind of tool, or plumbing stuff, or the faucet, or a drink.  It's  hard work being a plumber's helper!  The girls were real troopers. Hope and Rease kept Helena and Piper busy. Thank the Lord for them! That was one less thing for me to worry about.

So, it's been about two weeks (seems like five minutes ago) and we have a new tub faucet, free of leaks and quite cute in that old glorious bathroom. Now to fix the leak in the sink. . . . . .

Are "A-bombs" illegal?