Robbed the blog photos to share again

This one, I was amazed at because they are sitting in the sun, thus the umbrella but Emmie has a short sleeve shirt on, Rowan on the other hand has a heavy coat on. I told Sarah that I loved this picture. She said mom, the greatest part was, Emily was reading Rowie a book, which is what we cannot see on this side. I LOVE THIS PICTURE. SISTERS!

Emily is so much her mother, it's amazing!

When I saw Rayah Lee (my middle name too) this time, she wanted to go with me in the car. She calls me "Sissy" not Gramma. She has the smile worth a million and brown eyes like none other. She looks like Natalie but Natalie has blue eyes.
Rebecca still has the greatest head of curls. When I went to say goodbye to her in FL, she looked up at me and with the most sincere words said, I love you and I will miss you. This just broke my heart. She has such a sweet spirit about her. She looks like her daddy with the big brown eyes. It is amazing to see how much she has matured even just since seeing her at Thanksgiving.

I wanted to put some of the girls pics on our blog, eventhough you can go to the links. These are a few of my favorites.

SNOW

Ok, I came back from FL and wasn't home but a couple hours and it snowed. Go from hot and sweaty to cold and miserable. But Nick says the rest of the week is suppose to be nice. I hope I don't get sick from the drastic change. Had that fireplace cranked up when I got home. My blood is still TOO thin.

I grabbed the camera and when I posted it, you couldn't see any of the snow. So, no pic on this one.

Eddie Spaghetti

Here he is digging in the GA clay. He loved it. I don't mind watching him for a week. No thanks to having a dog. I will stick to my cats. He is really cute though - and he loves his aunt Brennie.

The Kubota and Eddie

We dogsat for Eddie, my sisters dachund the week before spring break. He is one spoiled dog. I tied him to the swing set and turned around and he managed to get out of his holster. We had to coax him to the garage to go inside. He's a smart dog but when it comes to dog treats, he's dumb as a tack.

Sun finally

Ok, no pics yet. I forgot the cord that uploads the pics to the blog from the digital camera. I will have to wait till I get home to do it. Of course, I have only taken 2 pictures since I have been here anyway. Tomorrow is the baby shower so I promise, Sarah is in charge of photography and she will be giving me some to upload.

Went to the beach today. It was awesome. I love it. I would go almost every weekend while I was still living here waiting to move up to GA and it felt like "Old home week". I still had my routine down to a science of what to carry and take and when to flip to get even sun. It was a perfect day. Got to read a little but mostly just chilled. Should have been posting my school work but not this time. That's why I am now posting to this blog at 1:31 a.m.

SPRING BREAK

Ok, who ordered the snow and cold again? This is our spring break week and there is no sunshine and warmth to be had. How is a girl to get a tan wearing a raincoat? I will have lots of pictures to upload once the week is over. I am hoping at least one of them will be the beach!

LOOK WHO'S DOING THE SUPERVISING!

Diane and Richard came over to help in the yard and if you notice in the first picture - the two men are supervising while Diane is doing the work. Me, by the time we got to that point, my back had given out and I was making dinner. I did get to drive the "Poulan" I stand corrected on the name of the tractor and "airaiter" the lawn in preparation for grass seed. Now I cannot say I have ever, ever airaited a lawn before. In Florida, you go to the turf place, buy it by the sheets and throw it down. This is a new concept here in the GA mountains. It is fun though driving that tractor. Quite honestly, picking rocks out of the dirt is NOT fun and that's what took the back out so it will be the LAST time I will be doing that. I will be the cook from this point on.

TUCKERS

This is our "space" at Tuckers. Nick finally got the shelves cut for the unit for the space my sister and I have in town. We had someone give us bifolds that we took the slats out and put boards through to create a shelf. We had so much stuff that it was impossible to display it without a unit. We got it up there finally today. It's coming together just in time for the busy season. When all the Floridians come threw and need a place to stop and shop on their way back up North for the summer.

PARTY!

Welcome to the Four Seasons! Just don't touch anything in the refrigerator cause it all cost over $4.00. Including the M&M's.

GOT THE PICTURES OF THE GIRLS WEEKEND

Beth& Kim when we walked uptown to have dinner that Saturday night in Atlanta.

GIVING UP THE DRUMS

Ok, I am giving up the drums! I decided school is too much to handle and learn to play the drums so I am carting them back to the Morgan's the next chance I get. So now I have taken up logging. (Well not really) I have officially learned how to drive a lawn mower. This is a Pulman (which we borrowed from the Morgans) and I could really get into this. Problem is, it's not smooth terrain. After you have had a lumbar facet epidural injection, NOT a good thing to be driving! Found that out. The seat is weighted and the motor cuts off if you don't sit just right. Nick says I need to eat a little bit more, gain some weight so the motor runs just a little smoother. I'm too much of a light weight to mow grass with it. My thought is to throw a rock on the seat with me so the motor stays on! I got to mow the Morgan's lawn on Saturday, I was in hog heaven. I threw that baby into reverse like I was Mustang Sally!

We took a tree down in the back yard that had poison oak on it. Had to haul the stumps off to the side so we can plant grass seed instead of continuing to grow MUD in the back yard. I was taking a break from writing my 1400 Word Persuassive Essay and I had a great time driving it around the acre lot.

Daniel Boone would have been proud of me. All I needed was the hat. I think Robbie had one like that-complete with the racoon tail! Notice though - the Harley boots, no work boots on this girl - Harley Mamma allllll the way down to the boots!

A WEEKEND WITH THE GIRLS

Wow, my three girlfriends from Florida drove up to see me! It was great. On Saturday, they arrived at the Four Season's Hotel in downtown Atlanta where I met them about 4:30 p.m. I pulled my car into "Valet" parking and was greeted by several lovely people who kindly said "welcome to the Four Season's" all the way to the elevator! They even had to ring Mrs. Lu's room to be sure I could have a card to the room. Like I was someone that might not be allowed. Once I got past that checkpoint, I went on up to the 17th floor to find them all wore out from the long drive.

We chatted and decided dinner was next on the agenda. We walked a few blocks to check out a few restaurants and found that a bar like pub was suitable and cheaper and ate there. We enjoyed the food and had a few beers. Terri shocked us all by blowing her nose on the dinner napkin. We laughed at that one and told her we would never let her live that one down.

We walked back to the room and after deciding it was a bit too early to call it a night, found out where the nearest CVS was and took another walk (MUCH farther) to find it. Praying most of the way that we wouldn't get mugged. Kim had to get makeup cause her suitcase got left behind that had it in. We laughed cause she had only one outfit to wear. She didn't smell too bad by the time the weekend was over. Fortunately she did have clean underwear to change into.

Beth was keeping a close eye on the clocks for us as she is a very time oriented person. When Beth's ready to go, you best be ready. We love that aspect about her. She keeps us focused. Both her and I came to downtown Atlanta and managed to clean out our purses while staying at the Four Seasons Hotel. Now that is time management at it's best!

On Sunday morning after "bagels" (Wisconsin pronounced) and coffee we headed off to Blairsville. I gave them the grand tour of 260 Knox Leila and we relaxed a bit. Then off to Tuckers to show them the consignment shop where my sister and I sell our wears. We hit Zaxby's Chicken for lunch first and Terri was able to stock up on paper napkins for those nose blowing adventures.

After Tuckers, I drove them to meet Diane and Richard and to see Nick who was working at their house on some welding. We stayed briefly and drove on home. After signing the guest book and taking photo ops on the front porch, they left to go back to the hotel.

It was truly a blessing for me. My plate has been so full lately and having them come made me feel loved. I NEEDED to have their visit. As soon as Terri sends me the pictures via e-mail, I will post them. My camera wasn't working.

Old photo

I have this one on my desktop of my laptop so when I sit to do my college work, I look at the lovely lips of "lips". That's Emily's nick-name. I love this picture. It was taken last summer at the rental.

THIS IS THE YEAR

Well, a friend of mine said I needed to update the blog cause I hadn't in days. Could be cause I have been inandated with school work. Now that I have gone back to finish my degree, I am hitting the books. BUT considering that my degree is in Information Technology, I decided to surf the web and found this.

This year my twin and I will turn 50 in November. I felt this picture was appropriate. Go ahead and laugh. My boss already calls me Granny and nothing else. So I might as well go with the flow. He's only 38 and I tell him his day is coming, and He is bald. So I can give it right back to him when he dishes it out. Here's this weeks update.

Brennie & Barbie

FAMILIAR FACES COME TO VISIT

We were so excited to have another set of friends come to visit this weekend from Florida. Don and Diane, our long time friends came in Friday evening and stayed with us. We headed off to dinner at the Yacht Club and then introduced them to our friend Diane and Richard where we had dessert and coffee. We got up and had Belgian waffles with blueberries and headed off to Alexander's (mall of Blairsville) and then attempted to go to the shooting range (to see who was the best sharp shooter this side of the GA/FL border) but everything was shut down due to TURKEY season. We tried to take them to Brasstown Bald but the roads were closed there as well so we wound up going to Helton Creek Falls to show them that.

Low and behold, they headed out about 4 p.m. and not a half hour later the door bell rang. I was sitting at the computer and thinking, OK , it's either the homeowners association or the Davis' forgot something.

Nick was in the basement playing his music tooooo loud to hear the bell so I darted down the stairs and could see through the cut class window - wood. Sitting on the front porch were two unfinished rockers! AND upon opening the door, there were the DAVIS' peering around the corner with grins on their faces. Earlier we were talking about needing two rockers for the back porch seeing we have the 2 on the front porch, they had them at the Shell station up the road and they went back and got them, giving them to us as a house warming gift. Talk about bringing us to tears. THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL. Now when they come back - to visit in the summer like they promised, we can sit in our chairs and watch the horses out back. They had been laboring about what to get us for a housewarming gift and Don strapped them to the roof of his Toyota truck and hauled them back to the house. The Lord has truely blessed us with friends that just leave us speechless - and that they did! AND GUESS WHAT - we have another project - I think we're gonna paint these white!


We enjoyed every minute of it - and we had them sign our guest book so we could keep the tradition.

This one was a snow globe with a history to it!

This Pinnochio has a very special story. When Emily (our oldest granddaughter) (now 7) was 1 1/2 years old, she was living with us and we had this snow globe of Pinnochio in our bedroom on my cedar chest. She came walking out of the bedroom proudly displaying the globe in her hands which probably weighed half as much as she did but when she got to the door between the family room and the foyer, the globe immediately left her tiny little hands. She was barefooted and I was struck with WHAT DO I DO NOW! Seeing this, I knew she would try to run and knowing she would dash across the floor full of broken glass and water (of course to no doubt slip and fall), I about panicked. You get those moments when you stop breathing and adrennaline kicks in, that's what happened. Fortunately, I was able to wisk her up before the tiny feet made a move.

At first I was heartbroken that the globe was broken (because it was a gift and held sentimental value concerning Robbie) but then I thought, it's just a "thing". I was so glad our little girl's feet were ok. I saved the globe, it has no water, it even has a piece of broken globe still attached, but the memory of Emily, living with us is precious and seeing how proud she was to be toting that globe to her gramma like it was a prize, was beyond words. Someday, I will give her that snowglobe.

It's a MIRIKOWEE

Wow, another project completed. Nick had to stay home today because we had a leak. Discovered yesterday when he went down to do computer work before we left for church, he heard dripping in the bathtub in the basement. ONLY to find out there was a leak under the kitchen sink that ran to the basement - that was leaking into the light fixture in the tub so we had to call the builder on a Sunday morning at 10 a.m. to come and tell us what to do.

While Nick was off, he managed to finish putting up the shelves for our Pinnochio collection in the game room over the garage. As soon as I got home tonight, I didn't even change out of my work clothes, I was into the eaves (storage area) found the box of our Pinnochio's tucked away and pulled them all out.

As I began to unwrap them, tears came to my eyes. I could not believe how many we have collected over the years. All the different sizes and kinds. Nick counted them we have 96!!

Above are a few pics of them, before they went up and then on the great new shelves Nick did such a good job on building in his handy work room down stairs - that didn't manage to float away due to the leak.

By the way, thanks to finding the leak, we also found out that the blower had come unhooked to the a/c heating unit in the basement and that's why I could not work down there lest I froze to death every time EVEN though the heat was set at 75 degrees. So the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Oh, and the story behind Pinnochio - when Robbie was still alive, he LOVED watching Pinnochio the movie, he could not say the name. He pronounced it Mirikowee. After he died, Pinnochio's became very special to us because of that. We began collecting them in his memory and when we go antiquing, we look for them in all sizes and shapes. The very first one in this group of pictures is the first one I got from my twin sister Barbie, and thus the collection has grown to 96!

The scaffolding project's end result

Here's what we were working on when we were up on the scafolding. We finally got the shelf brackets back up and then I announced to Nick that the wall color was TOO LIGHT - NOT A GOOD THING!

My girls!

I saw my girls updated their blogs, wanted to post some of them. Love seeing pics of those grandkids. Only a few more months and those 2 new ones will be here! Can't wait. Already looking at those boy clothes!

TWO SNOW DAYS IN A ROW

You're kidding! Yes I got up Friday the next day, drove into work and wondered why the bus cones weren't set up, my boss' truck wasn't in his usual spot and I was the only one there. NO SCHOOL AGAIN. I started to go back home but decided I could really use the peace and quiet to get some work done in the office. My boss did show up eventually but not long. I managed to log attendance and do a few things to prepare some projects to bring home to work on. Soooo, by 2 p.m. I was ready to go home and snuggle up and end the day. By the way, Mr. Snow man was all but melted come Friday night. Today he's gone, his stick arms are the only things left! Poor guy!

YES DEAR, TODAY IT'S REALLY A SNOW DAY!

We woke up today and we found this! Our first full snow day in our new home. I YELLED, GET THE CAMERA, ITS A BLOG MOMENT OUT THERE.

We've had snow before but nothing like this. We got 3 inches and school was closed. I had to get up and get my coffee in me and go out and make a snow man. Haven't done that since I was a kid. Felt like I was back in my home state of Wisconsin! (oh wait, I'm not from there) Gathered up a lonely hot dog for the nose, as we had no carrots, tried to use chocolate kisses (left over from Christmas cookies) for the mouth but that didn't work as the snow was so wet when you put them in, they went WAY in, so plan B was rocks. Nick found the sticks. We used his good bandanna from his motorcycle for the hat and rocks for eyes.

It was Nicks idea to put the Kawasaki next to him. Ulyses, Nick said he is waiting for a comment on the motorcycle being in the picture. Who knows why. Guess he figures you'd be the most likely to comment on that. Of course, he brings my cycle out, not his, in the rain, imagine that!

My hands were numb by the time he was built. Went back in and had more coffeeeee.

Just gonna enjoy the day off, catch up on some sewing projects and stay close to the fireplace.