Tuesday morning....the girls are all dressed and hair combed...hmmm I should take a picture of them together.... Pop pop would enjoy that. "Hey girls come sit on the steps and let me get your picture?". "Sit closer, no don't squash her, o k just act like you like each other for a second"...snap....
Okay now you can be silly! Like I have to encourage them or something.

We call him Mr. Bubble!

Last night Mike got some bubble gum from the candy jar and he was impressing the girls with his bubble blowing skills. Megan was cheering for him....bubble-bubble-bubble! Paige and Megan do not chew gum so they are kinda in awe of their dad blowing bubbles...playing with his gum. A few years ago Paige tried some gum...it lasted about a minute and she said this is all you do with it and I said yep. She spit it in the trash and never asked for another piece. Thank goodness too...can you imagine what would happen if she got it in all that hair of hers? Megan has not tried gum yet, and I know if she did she would love it. I was a big gum chewer when I was a kid.

Mine are turquoise what color are yours? I love these "Corning Ware" mixing bowls. I inherited mine from my mother -in-law Barb. I think my mom had turquoise ones too and we had a pink Corning baking dish also.


P.S. We will pretend this is my Monday post since I didn't get a chance to post last night...we were filing our taxes!

I couldn't think of anything to post today so I am sharing my kids artwork. My kids sleep beneath their creations....I am sure that is why they have such sweet dreams.Enjoy!

ROWDY Dog.... I caught him licking his lips... my dog is just too darn cute! If you have not had a chance to check out my sisters art and scrap blog please do so. She made a wonderful scrapbook page of me and Rowdy dog...I love it....it's the perfect page. My sister is so darn creative she just amazes me. So click on my sisters main blog (justmeshann) then go to her art & scrapbook blog from there. Enjoy!

Cheers to John !


After our neighbor John had his stroke he had a trech and was unable to eat or drink anything, but that did not stop him from craving a milkshake. He would say that is the first thing I want when I get this tube out. Well poor John never did get his milkshake so me and the girls made him one. We got a milkshake cup from Graeter's and filled it with silk carnations added a plastic cherry on top and a straw. Paige and Megan presented it to Linda last night at the viewing and it was a big hit. She was very touched that we remembered John in such a special way. They had planned to place a golf ball in his casket and some Krispy Kremes (another of John's passions) but she decided that the milkshake would be better since it was artificial. So John is taking our milkshake to the grave with him and we will never ever have another milkshake without thinking of our friend John.

Big Blues!


I made some big blueberry muffins a batch last night and a batch this a.m. I only have one pan, and I like the pan to be cool when I put the batter in. I will share the recipe but first you have to take the pledge....Put your right hand in the air and repeat these words....

I promise to only make the big blueberry muffins with fresh blueberries....NEVER frozen!


Got this recipe years and years ago from the last page of "Glamour " magazine...sounds baizzar but it is true.


BIG BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup (1 full stick) butter softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 cup FRESH not Frozen blueberries.


Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Combine flour and baking powder in medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar, add eggs and milk and mix well. Add flour mixture and mix in...it will be thick like brownie batter. Add FRESH blueberries and mix in without crushing the berries. Lightly spray the insides of a 6 cup Large muffin tin, place batter inside and sprinkle tops with sugar. Place in oven...I turn the oven off and after 5 mins. I turn back on but turn the temp. down to 375 degrees and bake another 25 to 30 minutes.

ENJOY! Before.....
and after....YUM-O!

This is the view from our front porch....we look across to John and Linda's home. There is a pond out back that the houses on that side of the street are built around. They have a lovely home and keep their yard nice and their gardens in bloom. We couldn't ask for nicer neighbors.
Six months ago John had a stroke in this home. He called the paramedics himself...it was a miracle. He has not been back to his home since...in the hospital at first fighting for life and then trying to recover and then onto a nursing home. This past Monday night we lost him. We all believe he is resting in a better place, taking care of his infant grandson that went to heaven a year ago. Please keep Linda in your thoughts and prayers at this time. She is a dear lady and a good friend.

P.S. I just realized all the snow in her driveway in this picture...not to worry we (Mike and I) cleared it all off. Didn't want you to think we were being neglectful.

Meet Maisy.....


This is Maisy she is the "Chief" of our block. She lives across the street and three houses down but she strolls around the neighborhood. She likes to go to the house over across the corner form us and check in with their Huskey. She also know's that the UPS man carries dog treats. He tosses her one when he pulls up...then she waits in front of the door to his truck for a 2nd treat before he gets back in the big brown truck. The other day when I was about to leave for work she was over next door. Mike told her to go home...she ignored him. Then I rolled down the window of the car and told her "Maisy get on home" and she trotted off home....she's a good ol dog, I kinda watch out for her.

Megan had a play date with her best friend Cameron today. So while Megan was at her pal's Paige and I ran some errands. We had some pants to return and exchange for her...all of a sudden size 7 is too small and she needs 8's! So after that we stopped at the Build A Bear store and (since we had a $10 off coupon) and she picked out this ice skating outfit for the poodle that she already had. We got Megan's 'Hello Kitty" a new shirt and skort too.

Mike just took these of Rebel a few minutes ago...hot off the press. He sits on the back of the sofa like he's a cat or something. I think he does it so he can see into the kitchen and the family room at the same time...doesn't want to miss any of the action.

Since I missed Saturday's posting here are two for Sunday! Sweet Puppy Dreams!


Friday night I went in to check on the girls before going to bed. When I opened the door to the guest room (that is their favorite place to sleep on the weekends) Rebel ran ahead and jumped up in bed with them. I had to run get the camera....he looks like he's grinning...silly puppy.And no he did not get to sleep there all night...I don't trust him with their stuffed animals.

I thought I would be creative today. This picture may be cute for a scrapbook page or card. This little "snow" sign usually hangs on my kitchen window above the sink with some of my snowmen collection on the ledge. Thought it would make a fun photo.

Paige made this fantastic fish picture today! Last night I stamped some fish, and sea life stamps on a piece of paper for her. She colored them in with chalks and then used my circle punches to punch them out. She had these other fancy fish stickers that she bought with her own money at a scrapbook store. She did a great job and I wanted to share her art with all of you...enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day to all! XOXOXO

My Valentine cake from my Sweetie Mike. It is an angel food cake with fresh strawberries between the layers and a tasty light almond flavored frosting...so pretty and it is yummy too!

LIFE IS GOOD!

Another snow day here in central Ohio. Paige sent Megan in to ask if they could play in the snow shortly before noon. I was the cool mom and said sure....I was surprised it took them that long to ask. I bundled them all up.....tights, undershirts, turtlenecks, fleece shirts, sweatpants, snow pants, coats, scarfs, gloves , snow boots and sent them out the back door. As you can see Rebel loves to chase them , they were throwing his ball and he would chase it and then dig for it. I will post some more pictures on my main blog later tonight...so check back for more snow photos.

Rebel waiting for the school bus to bring his girls home. He loves the school bus and all the kids that get off, but when Paige and Megan get off he goes into super silly wiggle mode.

Sometimes you need more than one picture to tell the whole story. Here are some shots of Rebel doing the "Rebel Wiggle". You can almost here James Brown singing "I Feel Good" in the background!

Me and Rowdy dog. He's my sweetie.This picture of the day is courtesy of Paige, she took this one.

The sun is always shining in my kitchen! This little guy sits next to my sink and makes me smile each time I see it. Paige made this in art class last year. I am so fortunate to have such talented daughters....makes me happy!

To the right is our icicle that is growing a little more each time our water heater runs. This is the vent that the exhaust comes out of . As tempting as it is to break it off I am letting it go to see how long it will grow.
Below is my shadow in the snow....Peace!

It started snowing at about 1:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon...took these photos around 9 p.m. With the porch light on the snow was very sparkley....looked like giant flakes of glitter and reminded me of my sister the queen of the glitter. That is what inspired me to stick the camera out the storm door and snap a few shots. It is sunny today and 16 degrees....it's a heatwave!

Here are my MILK CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!
Oh and it started snowing about and hour and a half ago...so now it is cold and snowy...wonder if we are going to have another day off school tomorrow? We had Cameron come play with Megan today...they have been best friends since they were 2...they go way back...ha ha:) Then we had Olivia come play with Paige. Olivia and Paige were in 2nd grade together, but Olivia had to change schools this year because they redrew the school boundaries. We miss her dearly, she is a sweet girl. So they were playing and I was baking and the snow was snowing.

No school today, oh yeah! Caught this scene after breakfast this a.m. Paige, and Megan sharing Rowdy's throne with him while they watch cartoons on the Disney channel.

BRRRRR! It's a little chilly here! As you can see it was 2.7 degrees F. at 8:30 a.m. when I took the dogs out. The sun is shining and it is all the way up to 7 degrees now at 10:30 a.m. BRRRR!

Thought I would share my pretty purple tulips that we got from Trader Joe's last week...they are still looking good...the stems are getting all wild but the flowers are still just as perfect!

They have been celebrating "No Name Calling Week" at Paige and Megan's school all week. Todays theme is "Citizenship-Too Cool to be Cruel".We shine with Character at ISE. Wear your sunglasses to school.

Here are Paige and Megan modeling their pink sunglasses....they look like rock stars!

What a little sweetheart!

I just took this picture of Paige this a.m. before the school bus came. This is the first time she is wearing her new puppy-heart t-shirt....she purchased it with part of her Target gift card from Ann & Jess.....her first fashion purchase. She is such a cute kid....if I do say so myself!!!
p.s. she had gotten a hole in her jeans so instead of just putting a jean's patch on it I placed a shiny pink heart on top...she love's that it matches her t-shirt.