She Did It!!!!

 I think the pictures tell this story better than I can.......

 

Better Late than Never--Easter 2013

Wouldn't be Easter without the Easter Egg Hunt

3 of my very favorite people in the whole world

St. Margaret Mary on her 60th birthday

Snapshot of Our School Days

Weezer randomly wrote this and made my day!

Then of course we couldn't forget Dad!

These were her actually spelling sentence one day.  She got a big kick out them and had to take a picture.

This is Angel's Biology lab teacher and he is FABULOUS!  

Ok, so maybe it isn't all fun and games.... I found this while grading papers.

March 13 was a BIG day

Weezer turned 9 yrs old!  My little baby isn't so little anymore.  She loves all things Irish.  Every year it is a green shamrock cake but this year she wanted it to also have monkeys on it.  For her birthday she also got a new pope, Pope Francis!  We loved him from the first moment we saw him.

Additions to Our Zoo

Wildthing finally found her leopard gecko and named her Sedona.  Sedona had lost her tail at the pet store which immediately endeared her to Wildthing.  She told me she wanted a gecko no one else wanted and she found her.  This thing eats like there is no tomorrow and her tail has nearly grown back.

Then of course Weezer and Angel decided it was time to get pets of their own.  We spied two parakeets that are brothers and couldn't separate them.  

Meet Weezer's pet, Mezoo (I have no idea how to spell that)  It means water in Japanese.

and Angel's pet, Benji.  This bird is practically glued to its brother.

I have to say, it is sort of nice to have a parakeet again.

Hodge Podge (aka...oops been awhile)

We had two, count them TWO, 15 inch snowfalls within a week.  We rarely get an inch of snow let alone 15!  The weather forecast is predicting another 6-9 inches tomorrow.  Sure glad the first day of Spring was two days ago.

            

Arizona Revisited

Suffice it to say it was a memorable trip.  We spent over 66 hours in the car and drove 3875 miles in 10 days.  That's something to brag about especially when  Gagger drove all but 2 of those hours. 

   As if that's not impressive enough, he drove 20 of them 24 hours after having surgery!

We were gone for 10 days,  4 of which we spent in solid driving mode, and 4 spent in solid hospital mode.  That leaves 2 days of 'vacation'  but vacation we did.  We stayed in Sedona and got to visit the Phoenix Zoo,

hike in the red mountains of Sedona,
visit an old copper mine in Jerome,   

and the near elusive Grand Canyon!

Magnet surprised us and flew down to help recharge the troops and/or  help drive back.One of my favorite memories was picking her up at the airport.  It was SO good to see a familiar face.  

True Happiness Captured

                            

                              Yet another jungle themed birthday cake

My sweet little Wildthing just turned 12.   She can't get enough of animal/jungle things.  I knew she wanted another gecko but until we saw her open her present, we had no idea just how much.  That was a priceless moment.

What a difference a year makes!

February 3, 2012, a big day.  Hard to believe its been a year and every day since then has only gotten better.  Hard as it was, it is one of my favorite memories.  I'd have to say Gagger is in even better shape today than he was before this happened.  He is easily 30+ lbs lighter.  Other than being unable to taste sweet and an impressive 10 in scar, he is no worse for the wear.  Still can't believe how blessed we were then and continue to be now.

The day before....

The day of.....

9 months later....

It's a 'DOOZIE' of a Holiday

*This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather.

*Watch that first step. It's a doozie.

*Okay campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties cause its cold out there...its cold out there every day.

*He… might be okay. (truck explodes) Well, no. Probably not now.

*What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?  Ralph: That about sums it up for me.

We celebrate Ground Hog's Day around here.  Typically that entails some sort of ground hog (aka sausage pizza) for dinner whilst we watch 'Ground Hog's Day'. Magnet, daughter #2, is so creative.  This is NOT a pinterest item either. She actually came up with these treat ideas on her own!

Sweet Sixteen = Friends + Fun

Reasons to Celebrate!

Gagger turned 55 this year and 'Weezer' was in charge of decorating.  Can you see the resemblance?  Soon after came our other January birthday--- Angel's sweet 16.  Truly, her birth was one of if not THE happiest day of my life.  She wasn't suppose to make it let alone be normal.  She made it all right but she is definitely not normal--as Mary Poppins would say, she is 'practically perfect in every way.'

My Little Baby is All Grown Up

Yesterday was a big day.  It was wedding dress shopping day! Sweetness thinks she found her dress....and this ain't it!  C'mon, I'm not that stoopid!  My sisters told me it would be a blast and boy were they were right.  Makes me glad I get to do this 4 more times.  The best part of the day was seeing her be so calm and carefree.  It made me realize just how ready she is for all this.  She has her life together and found the perfect man to share it and you know what that means???? Gagger (my super cool, cryptic computer nickname for my own Mr. Perfect) will soon have a masculine back-up finally!

    I am going to attempt this blogging thing mainly due to the rather insistent prodding of my eldest, let's call her 'Sweetness'.  That's what blogging is all about isn't it? --the really cool cryptic nicknames for all the important people in your life!  Well, Sweetness convinced me to give it a whirl so I'm whirling away.  What's this going to be about you ask? Who knows.  It will be a surprise every time I write.  I have no idea but when it's all said and done I guess I will know.  I'm what is considered 'over the hill' so I've had a few years to figure out who I am.
     A documenter-  I've written a letter on every single wedding anniversary, nearly 30 of them.  I've videotaped each of our 5 children on their birth date every month for years and years.  Trust me, if blogging had been invented back when I was just starting out, I have no doubt I would have been all about it.
     A planner, which is very different from an executor.  I thoroughly enjoy planning small meaningful family events, things that just make a home happier.
     A follower of recipes (not sure if that qualifies as cooking).
     A photographer want-to-be.  I've single-handedly proven that owning good equipment does not a photographer make but I haven't given up yet.
     A homeschooling mom.  I don't wear jumpers though.
     A microbiologist.  Seriously, I LOVE bacteria, who doesn't?

Enough of post #1.  Time to go do what I am suppose to be doing at the moment.  Who knows.  I might be back.