Let's Go To The Circus!

Abigail made her dance debut tonight on

 The Florida Times Union

 stage in Jacksonville.

The circus theme could not have been any cuter.

How precious are little girls in tutu's?!

I was so proud of her keeping up with everyone on stage.

She did not get that talent from me.

It was such a treat to go back stage where previous productions had paintings on the wall to commemorate their shows on this stage, with autographs of the cast.

I was a little impressed.

Abigail is so patient with the gazillion pictures 

this MiMi had to take.

 This girl has a big fan club who came out to see her dance.

We love you Abigail and are so proud of you 

and all your hard work!

Who Needs Disney?

Don't you just love a hardware store?!!

Me too! 

Recently...

I had 3 of the munchimunchkins in Lowe's.

Do they ever outgrow the racing car shopping carts?

I hope not.

"MiMi! Are you sure these are free?"

"Look at me MiMi! Are you kidding me?

How many can I have?"

Within the last year,

I painted the kids room pink.

I wanted teal to go along with all the other teal in my house

but NO! Abi had to have pink.

 "MiMi, Pleeeeeeze let me have this color for my room!"

Educational reading materials while we wait for Pops.

I'm not kidding you.

This is late at night.

These kids were way passed their bedtimes 

and look how happy they are!

You just don't get that at Disney World!

Take my advice...

Take the kids to Lowe's.

This Girl

You go through life with high hopes and goals.

High School, college, marriage, babies, making your house a home and raising your kids.

It happens so quickly and it's over before you know it.

Then what?!!

That's where I found myself. 

Then came my first grandchild!

Life just keeps getting better.

Then came #2, #3...

All perfect, wonderful, precious kids.

Then came Abi!

What a beautiful baby.

There is no one like this girl.

She was the easiest baby.

She would lay happily on our 

bean-bag watching her siblings run around.

I scrolled through my photo library and chose at least 50 and finally narrowed it down to some of my faves. 

 Fast forward a few years later.

Yes! Abi is still happy and sweet

but she is much more.

She is the life of the party. 

You know it when she enters a room.

You know it if she is absent.

She is so fun and knows no strangers.

You know that awkward feeling when you run into someone and can't remember who they are or how you know them?

No worries when Abi is along.

She will get to the bottom of it 

before you embarrass yourself.

Oh how I love this girl.

One quick Abi story.

She and I tagged along with Mark this year while he was working in Miami. We stayed in a quaint little hotel that had a small pool.

A baldish man happened to be staying in the same hotel.

He came in the pool and she went right to him.

It wasn't weird, it was a really small pool.

Jumping to his arms and on his head.

She kept announcing, "I'm Abi!"

Finally, he announced, "I know, You are Abi."

Maybe he was a little annoyed?

Surely not!

Finally, the ladies around me told me he was Billy Joel.

I played her his video of singing Piano Man.

Made us a fun memory.

Fast forward to this present day.

Abi is celebrating her 6th birthday!

Abi loves riding her pony.

She plays soccer and is taking dance.

She loves playing with babydolls and 

spends many hours playing 

with her Barbie Dreamhouse.

She is smart, perspective, brutally honest,

opinionated, loves music and dancing.

She is sharp as a tack.

Blunt

and funny

and to narrow it all down...

she is just wonderful!

Here is her K-5 photo that we just received.

Happy Birthday Abigail!

Camp Stewart

 Before heading back to school,

we had our grandkids for a few days .

From the moment I found out they were coming.
I had been planning an exciting adventure.

So many plans, so little time.

I began by making lists and lists of ideas, 

places to go, food to eat 

and how to make each thing special for them.  

The challenge is the boy who a non-stop,
 always running 9 year old. 
The other extreme is a Miss Priss 

who is the baby and 5, 

who loves Barbie and snuggling.
The goal...
to make every one happy.

First and foremost,

every good party must have presents.

I filled a bag for each child.

I loved watching them dig through the bags 

about a second after they arrived.

I filled the bags with snacks, game books, toothbrushes,

and toys that I thought each of them would love.

I had Danielle cut out their monograms 

for new hair supplies.

I stocked the fridge.

I stocked the pantry.

Since I do not have enough extra rooms in the house,

I made a sleeping pallet for the girls.

I bought rectangle pool floats for mattresses.

I gathered every quilt I own to make it comfy.

It was like magic.

They all slept with me.

Ha!

On day 1

we had crafts. 

We painted zombies to hang around the house.

I was thinking of the boy

when I chose zombies.

He spent more time on his skateboard.

Us girls had a good time.

We designed and painted t-shirts the next day but apparently,

I was having so much fun that I forgot to get some pictures.

Duh!

We did our hair.

Sweetest thing

our Dani is.

Elijah made me a MiMi.

He has my heart.

We took the Ferry across the river for seafood.

Dani wanted fried fish.

She ordered chicken strips.

Go figure.

Kacey designed her shirt.

Mark came up with a scavenger hunt game.

He is so good at these things.

Thank you honey.

Here he is giving the instructions.

It was a close game but in the end,

Elijah was the winner.

We had several hours of fun by the pool.

I will tell you more in another blog.

It was so fun.

The key is to plan, plan, plan.

Mark always says, 

"if you fail to plan, plan to fail."

I think over planning is a good idea.

Watch for another episode of the fun we had

at Camp Stewart.

Until I see you again,

I'm going into my cocoon to recoup.

(google images)

Tampa Road Trip

On one of Mark's recent business trips to Tampa,

we decided to bring the girls with us.

I don't know who had more fun, the girls or this MiMi.

When we checked in,

they had a treasure box for kids to choose whatever they wanted.

What a great hotel!

The hotel was 8 stories and the inside was all open so you could see 

everywhere.

They enjoyed the freedom I gave them while I watched them roam around from floor to floor and especially the glass elevator.

We went shopping and I let them try on whatever clothes the wanted in TJMaxx for 2 hours.

Girls are so easy and fun. 

Abi HAD to have this Barbie.

Dani is such a great mother.

She got a new doll. 

She tended to her new baby every minute of the day.

The baby ate better than she did.

New goggles.

On our shopping day,

we also got hair cuts.

Talk about fun! 

I know it's a cliche 

but they are growing up way to quickly!!

What a gift I have been given!

In other news,

Enough already!!