Where were you 35 years ago?

It is so hard to believe that 35 years ago today, I was holding this little baby in my arms.

Courtney entered the world after a long, but very easy labor just after midnight on Feb. 28.

It is even harder to believe that I have a child that is 35 years old.  There are days when I barely feel 35 myself.  Where did the years go and when did I get old enough to have a baby this old?

Courtney has always brought so much joy into our lives.

As I look back over the years, they are filled with happy memories.

We are so blessed to have had two daughters that caused us no problems and that both turned into successful, happy adults.

I love watching Courtney with her won daughters.

Such happiness in that little family, too.

We are all truly blessed.

Happy Birthday to one of my favorite daughters.

Adventures in Babysitting, Another chapter

Way beck in early January, Courtney and Paul asked us to keep the girls on their birthday weekend so they could have a big party in Oshkosh.

Of course, we said, "Yes."

That seemed so far off and now as I write this, our big weekend with the girls is already over and it was so much fun.

We started out by celebrating Courtney and Paul's birthdays on Friday night at our house.

I baked them a coconut "mounds" cake from scratch and it was yummy.

I put a 75 on it because in order to save money I just combined their ages.

 On Saturday Courtney, Paul, Lissa, and Nathan left for Oshkosh to get ready for their big party.

Before the left the girls enjoyed some blanket time with Cheddah.

Here they are wrapped up as a black bean burrito.

 We took them to Dollar Tree to pick out some treasures.

$30.00 later, they had their fill of treasures.

We decided to take them over to my classroom since it would seem like a small Children's Museum to them and they did have fun.

Tiz just loves to play school with all my teaching items.  You can see her reading to her class in the above photo.

 Soli loved the water table.  She loves anything to do with water.

 Of course, there was time for a snack.

 Next on the agenda was shaving cream.  They both enjoyed that.

I love doing all these things in my classroom as opposed to here at home because the mess stays somewhat contained and is very easy to clean up.

 Tiz set up a drum set and played along with many of my CD's.

 Then both girls played the many rhythm instruments.

It was a fun way to spend the afternoon.

We ordered pizza for dinner, watched movies, and had a great night of sleep.

On Sunday, we went to church where both girls were so good.

It was so beautiful outside that we spent an hour and a half enjoying the  snow. 

 They ended their visit with treats from my Valentine candy bucket which  I saved  from all my kids at school.  They munched on candy while watching Sponge Bob.

Perfect way to end a vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's.

We took them back to Culver's, our halfway meeting spot in Waupan.

The house seems too quiet with them gone.

I miss them already.

Cannot wait for our next babysitting adventure.

This is the best part of being a grandparent for sure.

Looking forward to our weekend

 Looking so forward to a visit from these two little sweeties this weekend.

Courtney and Paul are celebrating their 35th and 40th birthdays on Saturday and we get to have these two.

There was lots of snow predicted for today, but so far, we have not been hit, so I am hopeful that all parties will still be able to get here tonight.

Lis and Nathan were hit with lots of snow yesterday, but they should be shoveled out today and able to travel up here to join in the fun.

They will continue on up to Oshkosh for the big birthday bash tomorrow night.

The girls are quite obsessed with mustaches, who isn't these days?  here they are sporting their new mustache shirts that we bought them for Christmas.

Soli always puts her little fingers under nose when she says "Bumpa"  Too cute.

 Here is our cute little Soli wearing the ever popular green wig.

Notice how she is carrying green yarn and wearing a green scarf to match.

She is the cutest little brown leprechaun.

 Here's Tiz modeling a mustache that she created in school.

Not sure how much learning is going on but the creating never stops.

And here is John and I after they leave on Sunday.

Actually it reminds me more of my dad.   He used to say the girls messed up the house so much before my mom got home from work.

Never mind that he just sat in his chair watching Hogan's Heroes while they made the messes.

Good memories and karma.

Painting project number two

 Tonight I have all the baseboards in the kitchen painted to match the walls,

 I have a newly painted hallway that now matches the tan of the kitchen,

 and I have a freshly painted playroom for the girls.

//All thanks to John who is really a very good painter.

It is amazing to me what one little coat of paint can do to a room.

Everything just looks so much cleaner and fresher now.

The next big project will be the counter tops. 

Courtney and Mallory will be doing those for us with a kit that will make them look like granite when they are finished.

Adventures in Babysitting

 John and I headed up to Oshkosh on Saturday to do our grandparent babysitting duty which we always do without any arm twisting or complaint.

In fact, this time I asked if Courtney and Paul wouldn't like to go out after her craft fair on Saturday.

Tizita is opening her big Valentine card.  I  found them at Walmart for only three dollars.

Both girls were excited with such a big card.

 Tiz was equally excited with her new diapers for her Baby Alive.

 After lunch we went over to Beckets for the craft show.

We easily spent two hours there visiting with Courtney at her booth, getting our photos taken with cute props, making valentines, and listening to and dancing to live music.

Here is Soli enjoying a sucker from the photo booth.  She is also sporting a headband that Courtney made..

 After the craft show and some playtime at home, we went to Cranky Pat's for pizza.  We all love Cranky Pat's, it's fun for kids and the pizza is very good.

Tiz ate seven pieces, a new record for her.

 Soli enjoyed four pieces.

A large pizza was just enough for the four of us.

 Tizita Turner decided she wanted to take up drumming, so she set up her own little drum set and used two knitting needles as her drumsticks.

 The green wig added to the whole rock scene.

That girl sure has rythmn and she can sing.

 After church, we had lunch and then snuggle time with both girls.

 Then is was time for a spin on Tiz'ita's little car.

It was Soli's first time as a passenger and she loved it.

 The best part was that Tiz loved making Soli laugh as much as Soli loved the ride.

 Then it was my turn.

I used to ride with Tiz when she was smaller and less capable of steering and working the car which runs by you turning and using your body weight.

Well, this time, we were really moving.

One minor mishap with a wall was the only casualty.

What a very fun weekend.

I love those girls and love being their gramdma.

The makeover has begun

 Awhile ago we had an estimate to completely remodel our kitchen.

The remodel plans included knocking out a wall to open up the kitchen and dining room area, getting rid of our hall, and gutting the kitchen.

We had hoped to get the money from the sale of John's folks condo, but Uncle Sam took all that money for the nursing home, so without any finances we could  not proceed with plan 1.

In all honesty, our Kia house does not need a cadillac kitchen anyway, it would be out of place.

I guess all the pressure from House Hunters for stainless steel and granite temporarily got to me.

We have been making some very small changes though and so far, we are very happy with the results.

 This is our old carpeting in the living/dining room area.

 We had to move all the furniture out of the kitchen, living, and dining room in prep for our new flooring.

Kev had his friend, Ben do the work for us at a fraction of the cost of  a larger company doing it.

 We chose a light laminate that looks like hardwood.

Here is the finished kitchen.

We took all the wallpaper down a few weeks ago and John painted it a very pretty light tan.

 Here is the living room before we moved the furniture back in.

 Last night e purchased an area carpet that looks very nice with the new colors.

 We kept the hallway and put new floor in there, too.

We also had a ceiling light put into the new dining room.

Small changes so far, but we have a few more ideas that will be coming soon.

We plan on buying a few new pieces of furniture in colors to better match the new living room.

We also are planning on redoing our kitchen counters with a do it yourself paint system that will make them look like granite, hopefully.

I like how a few inexpensive changes make everything look fresh and new.

It's not a cadillac, but maybe it is a Buick!

Celebrating my 60th birthday in the best way possible

 The house is quiet and rather empty again after having everyone home to celebrate my 60th birthday.

The girls planned the entire weekend so didn't have to worry about anything.  It was relaxing and enjoyable for me.

 On Friday night we had Little Ceasar's Pizzas for dinner.

I also had two cakes made by mom, an ice cream cake and an eau claire torte.

As you can see, there were 60 flaming candles on the cakes, too.

It was throwing off a lot of heat and light.

 After dinner, we moved the party downstairs, started a fire, and opened gifts.

Spending time with these two little sweethearts was the best part of the weekend.

They just make me smile and feel so good.

 I got a weekend in Galena as a gift from the girls as well as a beautiful book entitled 60 filled with pictures documenting my life through the years.

It was so much fun to look through and I know I will look at it often..

I got a gift card to Domani for my hair from Kev, Vikki, Mal, and Nic.

I also got the video in the last post from Mallory.

It was indeed a very special birthday.

 We ended Friday night with some dancing.

 On Saturday the ladies, Lis, Mal, Courtney, Tiz,, and I headed out for a Ladies day out.

We started our day with lunch at Noodles.

 After that we moved to a Touch of Glaze in Waukesha to paint pottery.

Now that was a fun thing for all of us.

 We were all a bit nervous to get started, but once we started we could not get enough of it.

 Here are our finished products.

Mal and I will go back and pick them up on Friday after they are fired.

We stopped for some coffees on the way home.

Perfect Ladies day out.

 We all went out to El Mariachi for dinner.

Nathan ordered the large margarita. 

Whoa!

After a delicious dinner, we retired to the basement for another fire and some test tube shots as well as a few beers.

It was a great weekend and it made turning 60 something so special.

Thanks family!