The Princess

Abigail is 4!

Words to describe Abi

fun

loving

happy

party

princess

party

beautiful

entertainer

confident

priss

strong-willed

determined

cheerful

creative

party

smart

opinionated

funny

captivating

bubbly

did I say party?

I can't imagine our family without my sweet Abi.

She has added so much joy to our family.

Happy Birthday baby girl.

MiMi loves you

It's The Great Pumpkin

Nothing better than a fun night

 of pumpkin decorating.

The kids arrived in their jammies.

Ready for bed since tomorrow is a school day.

It all began with dinner.

We ate mummy strips (fettucine alfredo).

Mark makes the best!

We had pond skum (piña coladas with green food coloring).

Sorry, no pics.

Publix provided dessert.

If you aren't from the east coast,

you are missing out on the best grocery store ever.

I considered letting my grandkids carve the pumpkins

but they love to paint so much that 

I decided that would work just fine.

I started by gathering my paints, 

brushes, stickers, markers and whatever else I could think of.

Mostly,

I already had an arsenal of supplies.

We love crafting!

Painting is serious business.

Eli was going for Frankenstein.

The pumpkin below really prefers that iPad.

Technobaby.

I think next year I will attempt to let them carve out their pumpkins.

I love being able to make memories with them.

Hope you are having a happy week!!

"Well, let's face it! 

Santa Claus has more publicity."

(Linus in his letter to the Great Pumpkin)

so true 

Silent Auction

The golf resort we are staying in this week 

hosted a charity event for

The Children's Miracle Network

this week.

We are residing in this hotel because 

my honey is working nearby.

We benefit from the many events taking place.

I'm not interested in most of them but when I heard 

there was a silent auction taking place,

count me in!

After all, it's for a good charity!

Some of the items being auctioned off...

Yankee Candle gift baskets.

2 Southwest tickets to anywhere in the US.

JW Marriott in NY.

Sports memorabilia. 

Home Depot gift cards & tools.

Restaurant gift cards. 

Golf.

Grocery.

Haircare.

Massage.

You see my dilemma?

I started bidding on everything.

Ha!

I started worrying that I would win too many items.

Thank goodness I was outbid on most everything.

The picture below is a gift package for the Red Door Spa.

I was trying to be incognito and my pictures proved it.

We really wanted those 2 Southwest tickets 

but these people were relentless.

It was so exciting to go around the room again and again 

to see if we had been outbid.

I ended up winning a beautiful basket of candy.

My grandkids are the ones who won!

Now to fit it all in my luggage.

Cranberry Festival

You heard me right. Cranberry Festival!

Who knew!?

We just don't have those in Florida.

When the sweet lady from the bagel shop recommended it,

I knew it was something I needed to attend.

Only because of the Ocean Spray commercial

did I know water was involved when harvesting cranberries.

Mark and I headed to Chatsworth, NJ.

We drove and drove and drove some more.

It was cool to see all the cranberry farms.

We finally arrived.

It was huge.
It's the 3rd largest cranberry festival in the US.

Thousands of people.
We learned a lot about harvesting & the use of cranberries.
It made me want to use them more often than just with my Thanksgiving turkey dinner. 

We were told that once the festival ended,

the town would be empty till next year.

We walked around for a few hours.

We sampled cranberries in everything.

Have you considered cranberry chili?

It's not bad.

How about chili hot sauce.

I'm a fan.

The weather was perfect.
I bought some treasures. 

It was a fun event.
Made for a lovely day.

We ended the day in a sports grill which we searched 
high and low for 
so we Mark could watch football.

Dolphins won (finally).

Jaguars lost (again).

Black Mountain Getaway

A couple weeks ago,

Mark needed to do a few repairs at our cabin in Black Mountain

so Abi & I volunteered to tag-along.

Abi made the trip a ball.

She is not your average 3 year old.

Party waiting to happen!

She is a delight to travel with.

Yes, I do sound like a MiMi.

The picture below is the view from our porch.

It was hazy so you can't see the mountains way out there

but you can see a little color was starting to show.

I forgot to bring my camera
so iPhone pics will have to do.

Abi posed for me at my beckoning requests.

 And there were more than a few.

 It is always so beautiful in North Carolina but especially during this time of year.

We did a little shopping and a little hiking 

but mostly just enjoyed being lazy at the cabin.

It was a quick weekend get-away

but I will take what I can get.

I hope you are having a beautiful day!

XO

Delightful Weekend

Early Saturday morning,

Mark & I hopped in our rented car and headed to New York City.

We are staying 90 minutes from the city so we knew we had to take advantage.

He always amazes me (scare the padootie out of me) as he drives down 7th Avenue. Craziness.

We saw 

I've seen it before but not in NY. 

It did not disappoint. 

We always get our tickets at TKTS.

It's the best place we have found to 

buy discounted tickets to all the plays.

We ended up just behind the orchestra.

Perfection!

We did some shopping and ate at the famous

2nd Avenue Deli.

It is one of my faves.

It reminds me of growing up in Miami and eating at Corky's.

Authentic kosher food.

Mark and I shared the best corned beef sandwich evah!

We enjoyed walking through the city

& spending the day together.

The Empire State Building 

is always impressive.

I was amazed how crowded the city was this weekend.

I may be getting old.

Ok, I AM getting old.

I walked around in Macy's for a couple floors 

and felt like a sardine. 

Just too many people so we left. 

It was a lovely day and I have a new appreciation 

for Siri as she guided us to and fro.

What would we do without our faithful friend?

Can't Fall Last Forever?

While be-boppin' through all the blogs I love,

I found so many beautiful ideas for Fall.

I have always loved flower boxes.

I share this one especially with you Mom.

Think we need to add some lights to your window box?

I do too.

source

Don't you love the sidewalk lined with pumpkins?

I just wanna be there.

source

I picked this up last night.

It's called A Womans Prague-ative.

I would have called it Glittery Fall.

I do adore this time of year.

I love all my boots and especially my Uggs.

It could be argued that they are ugly.

I don't think so but I've heard others say so.

Their comfort overrules that possibility.

Candy corn!

Apples!

Pumpkin Spice Latte!

(google images)

I could go on and on and on.

I won't.

At least, 

not for now.

Happy Fall to You!

Chicken Coop

Your first chickens are kinda like your first kid.

My first child, bless his heart,

had to teach me how to be a mom.

I had to learn on him.

He will always have a special place in my heart.

I truly didn't know anything about birthing babies.

Sorry to compare my Daniel to my first batch of chickens. Ha!

I'm really enjoying learning about chickens

and all that is involved in raising them.

After the first night of owning 5 chickens,

I jumped up early the next morning

and ran outside to see all 5 were still alive.

I knew then that 

I would be able to do this.

I wanted to share some pictures of our chicken coop.

 Mark cut out this window so the kids could look inside.

Abi has to stand on the block to be tall enough to peek in.

Kacey and Dani trying to coax them out.

Here is their laying boxes.

No eggs yet.

I really am attached to the chickens.

Red has a special place in my heart.

She will jump in my lap and eat from my hand.

Man I hope she is a she.

I am a far cry from a vegetarian but must admit

I have a hard time swallowing chicken now.

I just don't think about it.

It's been a learning process.

It is really easy.

I enjoy that they keep my flower beds weeded 

while they are searching for bugs.

Winner, winner chicken dinner.

Ok, maybe not dinner. 

Hopefully, we will be having fresh eggs soon.

You will be the first to know.

Ironing In New Jersey

Mark is working in NJ for a couple weeks. 

I came with him

 so I could keep his shirts ironed.

I need to be needed.

We are staying at the Marriott Fairway Villa in Absecon.

The resort is magnifiqué! 

For some reason, it is so nice 

that it pulls the Italian out of me.

I'm not a golfer.

I like golf carts. Does that count?

This place is a little too hoity-toity 

to allow me to rent a cart.

I did try.

I retrieved the photo below off their website. It's more up to date today but if I took a picture of our room, you might think I am a slob and I wouldn't want that.

The only difference in the kitchen is they changed the appliances to stainless.

This is the view just out our door.

It looks better in person.

I have walked to the Starbucks each morning. 

It's about 3 miles down the road.

I so enjoy walking to Starbucks.

The weather?

Glorious! Upper 60's.

Sweats baby!

All of a sudden,

my computer doesn't want to indent properly.

I could fight it but what they hay?

Hope you are having a glorious day!

Love to all!

Sweetest Grandkids

Chicken Love

source

Hey everyone! Don't you just love October?!!

I already feel better. It's still in the high 80's here in Florida.

Rain and mosquitos galore but let's don't be negative.

There is a hurricane on the outskirts of the Atlantic 

so we may have to enjoy a little more rain.

I keep reminding myself that just a few short months ago,

while I was still in Kansas,

I longed for rain.

It's all relative.

Ask me if I got chickens when I moved home.

Go ahead!

Yes!!

I had been planning on it for awhile.

I thought I would start with biddies but after some research,

I chose to get them a few weeks older.

Ask me if I love them.

Yes!!

It's therapeutic.

I sit out back in the evenings, coated in mosquito repellent,

and watch the girls run around the yard.

The photo below is when we first got them.

Each grandkid picked out their chicken 

and gave them names.

Kacey named hers Cookie.

After changing names several times,

Abi settled with naming hers

Tucker because she says,

"you tucker under your arm."

Dani named hers Cinderella.

Elijah got a Rhode Island Red and appropriately named her Red.

This sweet Austrolorp chicken below is mine.

I named her Gracie.

 I love her.

She is fretful and never leaves the coop area 

when I let them out for a few hours in the evenings.

Imagine my surprise when I looked out the window yesterday.

She is sitting on the stoop just a crowing.

What?!!

She is a He!

The lady I purchased them from bragged that she was good at telling which sex they were.

Oh well,

I already love her him.

If any of the others are male,

I'm going to have to swap out.

The girls chose Orpington chickens.

There are so many options and decisions.

I need more land.

They really are fun and I can't wait until the eggs start coming.

Hope you are having a great day!