What a Weekend!!!!

Saturday was Granny's Goombata. We were also celebrating Dori's 30th birthday and had planned a surprise party for her that evening. We went to Coastal Flats for lunch and then took Dori on a shopping spree for her b-day. She was kind-of tipped off about her party from a friend but we (the sisters) did our best and lied our faces off to persuade her that we had nothing planned that night. It worked!







This is Dori and her husband Brian at Clarendon Grille - where the surprise took place! We were very happy that we actually pulled it off!















This is Mandy and Dori - Mandy did most of the planning for the surprise party. She is very thoughtful that way.











Our brother Travis, his wife Shawnie, my mother and our sister Cammie.










Cammie with brother-in-law Brian. We love Brian - we could not have picked a better brother-in-law!










See what I mean?











Mandy, Dori, Cammie and Katie. Katie is like one of our sisters. She has been around since Mandy's Jr. High days and has seen our family through all of the ups and downs.











This was Mother's Day - after dinner the kids had DANCE DANCE U.S.A. HILARIOUS!!!!











More dancing - CeCe does quite well being the only girl with 5 boys. She definitely holds her own!











What is it with boys and their air guitars??? It's like they come out of the womb doing this! It cracks me up!











The clan - LOVE CeCe's face in this. Shane's is hilarious too!

I gave CeCe a lemon.

I absolutely love my family. We have so much fun and my nephews and

neices are amazing. I am truly happiest

when I am with them. I am so glad that we spend so much time together and are so close. This is truly what family is all about. I can't wait for Hannah and Sterling to come out here this summer. It will be fun to have ALL of my neices and nephews around for a while. I am very blessed to have the family I have - we have been through a lot but I think it has only made our bond stronger and our love for each other deeper.

"Country Feet"

So, one of my friends at work used the term "country feet" and I fell in love with it. It is the PERFECT description of what I am about to talk about.



Ladies: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not wear sandals or open-toed shoes without a proper pedicure. Don't wear sandals if your heels look like you have walked on a country road for more than 60 miles! Don't wear sandals if your toenails look like daggars. Don't wear sandals if your polish has worn off on ANY of your digits. Take care of your feet and they will take care of you! NO MORE "COUNTRY FEET"!!!!

Judy and Sheila

So I could not make it through my day at work without my dear friends Judy and Sheila. We eat lunch together every day at noon SHARP and then usually go for a stroll around D.C. We have seen some very interesting people and THINGS on our strolls - for instance, this rooster purse. Judy doesn't realize it but she's getting it for Mother's Day.





This is Sheila. She is jewish and has taught me a lot about the religion. Sheila cracks me up - she grew up NY and we are planning a weekend visit - I can't wait. This is not her hat, however, it is very becoming on her and I think we should go back and get it.

Judy was supposed to be kissing Elvis but it looks like she is blowing on his nose. Judy is one of the funniest people I know. Seriously, her life is a sit-com and I love to hear all of her stories.

This donkey is outside our club. We also have an elephant as we are a bi-partisan club! Sheila prefers donkeys to elephants and is whispering sweet nothings in his ear.
So, life at the club is never dull with these ladies. I hope everyone has friends at work that make their day go better. They have been the light at the end of my tunnel many times AND are so good to have for comic relief. I don't know what I would do without them!

Congratulations Sterling!

My nephew Sterling (9 years old) entered a drawing contest sponsored by the Idaho Statesman and won 3rd place for his entry!!! You can read about it below:

http://www.idahostatesman.com/greenmatters/story/367201.html

Great job Sterling!

The Keeper of My Heart

This past weekend was a special weekend for Robbie and me. He's growing up so fast......TOO FAST, so I asked his mother Dori if I could have a weekend with just me and Robbie. I wanted to make sure that Shane wouldn't get his feelings hurt if I only took Robbie because (almost) since Shane was born he has been spending the night when Robbie spends the night. I told Shane he gets a special weekend too.

So Robbie and I talked about this weekend for about 2 weeks and planned
everything we were going to do.

Dori came down early with the kids because she had a bunch of massages lined up. She dropped them off with Aunt Cammie and I left work early to pick them up. We were going to meet Dori at Chuck E. Cheese for dinner (Robbie's first request) This is what my back seat looked like when I arrived at Chuck E. Cheese. Can you tell they are related? This picture cracks me up. Chuck E. Cheese was a lot of fun...even CeCe ran around like she owned the place.

After dinner, Dori took Shane and CeCe home to Winchester and Robbie and I went to Blockbuster to get some video games and movies. (THANK YOU Daredevil for letting us use your Wii) So, $30 later with 2 games and 2 videos, 2 packs of microwave butter popcorn and 2 packs of Twizzlers we were on our way home. We watched The Golden Compass which I thought was an okay movie.

The next morning we met Granny at Silver Diner because Robbie wanted to eat a grilled cheese and french fries for breakfast. He is DEFINITELY my nephew. We decided to go see 'Nim's Island' - which I LOVED. It was a very cute movie. After the movie we went to the park because it was a BEAUTIFUL day. We only stayed at the park for about 30 minutes because Robbie was itching to get home to play TRANSFORMERS on the Wii. We played Transformers for about 20 minutes and Robbie asked if we could go to Target to get "something Speed Racer". So, since this was "his" weekend; off we went. We got him a couple 'Speed Racer' cars, and some pajamas and got a bite to eat on the way home at "donalds".

We were home for about 30 minutes and decided to go miniature golfing! Daredevil said she would go so I called Lettuce Wraps and he brought two of his nephews and we had a great time. The boys were crazy and all over the place! Lettuce Wraps kept up with them as much as possible and Daredevil and I played a fierce game of putt-putt.

After golfing, the boys, Lettuce Wraps and Daredevil played kickball in the backyard and then it was bath time. Lettuce Wraps' nephews came over after their bath and played Transformers for about an hour. After, Robbie and I started to watch 'Enchanted' but we both fell asleep EXHAUSTED!

The next day we went to church and then I took Robbie home. I ended up staying in Winchester for a while. Shane is excited to have his own weekend now! CeCe started screaming when I said I was going to leave and it took Dori a while to calm her down once I left. She is quickly challenging Robbie for my attention. I LOVE those kids. I am glad I was able to spend the weekend with Robbie - he truly is the keeper of my heart.

My favorite "quip" from the weekend:

Robbie: "Yaya.....I can't believe I'm your nephew!"

Me:"Why do you say that Robbie?"

Robbie: "because you are like Santa Claus' wife"
Me: thinking..oh great...where is this leading "why do you say that?"

Robbie: "because you give me lots of presents"

Little does he know, he is the "present" in my life.

Cinco de Mayo

So, I'm not Mexican. I'm not related to anyone Mexican (that I know of) however, I have been to Mexico several times. Today is the 5th of May and Mexico celebrates a victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862.



In honor of this splendid day, I am posting some Mexican things that I love.

Chips and Salsa - I could eat this every day. My favorite salsa is at the restaurant RIO GRANDE. It is really good. I know this is not "traditional" mexican food but I still love it just the same.







I love Mariachi music. Especially the ballads. Seriously, there is NOTHING more romantic than being serenaded by a Mariachi band.








Zorro - I love the movies - old and new. When I was little I used to daydream about Zorro....for real.


So, go eat some chips and salsa, put some mariachi music on and think of Zorro. I promise your day will be just swell!!!!

To my dear friend David