Happy 1st Birthday Ella Kay

I would like to introduce everyone to my niece Ella who will be turning 1 this Saturday. She is my brother Mark's and sister in-law (i hate that title) Kim's daughter. She is having her birthday party back in Belaire this weekend and since we could not travel back, we celebrated with her on Monday night at her house.

It is so much fun when we can get together. The kids love to play with her and the bigger she gets...the more fun it gets to spend time with her. To see her walk and hear her say her famous "Uh...Ohhhhhh" is just too much!

She is just the sweetest baby and that smile just melts your heart. I hope she has a great time at her first party and smashes all kinds of cake in her own face!! Have fun with grandma Kay Kay and grandpa Jim.

We love you.......

Welcome to the Big Dance....

Well, the selection for the NCAA tournament is all said and done and now the fun begins! Of course I have been running my mouth cause I beat my dad last year (which you still owe me!!!) My brother Todd thought that it would be fun to get the whole family involved so this is the way it is gonna play out:
Dad, Buzz, Don, Todd, Ryan, my friend Chris and myself are all on board to share our brackets with one another. The winner will receive 6 new shirts from The Buckeye Corner...one from each LOSER!! Of course those with bad taste (Buzz and Ryan) will get one from whatever loser team they choose. They both deserve to be in the same category since both of their teams are that ugly blue and gold..maize..whatever!!
So, I believe I will make something good to drink...sit in my nice chair and decide what new t-shirts I want cause I just got a new catalog!!!
So...BRING IT ON BOYS....and Chris too!!!!

Friends....

Well, tonight I was lucky enough to have one of my favorite Sister-chicks over for dinner. My friend Alison moved to WVa in December (trust me..this was not her choice!). They finally sold their house here in "the tucky" and are closing on it tomorrow. She has been busy at work all week packing boxes and moving furniture so I made a great dinner....even better dessert and we had lots of laughs..even if it was only for a short time.
I of all people understand how difficult it is to move. We have moved from family more than once and begun new lives. But ya know, when you put yourself out there, God can bless you in ways you never imagine. If He had not moved us from Florida, I would have never met Alison (and many others like her) and I would have missed out on some great friendships.
I am once again thanking and praising Him for the works He has done in my life.
I miss ya when your gone Alison and look forward to our time together again.......you get to bring the fruit loops!!

It's snowing.....STILL!!!!!!

Well, We have a little over 10 inches of snow in our back yard. With the snow drifts..probably 15 inches in some areas. This is Lu Lu out playing in it while Buzz and I shovel.

Our neighboors Dave and Valaire shoveling their driveway while Dave has two cracked ribs. You can also see poor Ben getting lost in the snow. He didn't think it was too bad till he got off the back porch and fell in to the snow. He could not walk. He had to jump to get through the snow.

The red coat is our neighbor Eddie. He drove in from Virginia in the wee hours of the morning to find his home snowed in. Andrea his wife stayed inside with little Jack. There is so much snow you can not even sled. We not only shoveled ourselves out, but our friend across the street. It was ALOT of snow!

Buzz is suppose to go to work this afternoon for a double. He is watching the news because all the counties around us are under a level 3 snow advisery which means you are not allowed on the roads. He is praying we go to it too so he can stay home.

It's snowing.....AGAIN!

Well, here it is ...March 7th and we are expecting a foot of snow over the next 20 hours. The kids rushed home from school to change clothes and get outside. This is us sliding down the front yard in tubes. Depending upon how well we can get out tomorrow, we are heading over to the bigger hills to tackle them and each other.
It is so cold here that about a half hour in the snow and they were ready to come in for hot cocoa. This will be a wonderful night to light the fireplace and snuggle under a warm blanket and enjoy the family that we have been blessed with.
Hope you all are keeping warm and having a wonderul night filled with love and family fun!!

Guess who came for dinner????????????

Well, everyone..no I have not lost my mind and got another animal in my home. This is "our nephew" Codey. He lives in Maryland with our sweet niece Lindsay and her mom & dad. He is staying with us until Easter weekend when he can go back home with them.

I thought our Ben was gonna have a heart attack the first day, but since then, he has gotten use to being smacked in the face with a huge tail! It is funny to watch him duck everytime Codey comes around him!!

The kids have loved having him here. He hates our wood floors and walks backwards on them. It is so funny to watch! We always called Ben the big dumb dog..well, these two are truely related!!

Oh yeah..Buzz has no idea I took this picture. I guess the "boys" were all pooped out and ready for bed!!

Sick and tired of being sick and tired.......

I hope that everyone else's winter has been healthier than ours. In the last week, we have had three doctors appointments ranging from strep to a sinus infection to a virus that landed Buzz in the ER at 4:30 this morning. Everyone has been ill in my house, including Ella Grace. I keep trying not to catch everything, and I am hoping that I have built enough resistance not to get it all. If all I have is a runny nose, than I guess I am good.
Please pray for all of us. It is a warm spring day here (which means it will probably snow tomorrow) and hopefully the weather will cooperate and help get rid of all this disease!
Also, my dad is having surgery this week to remove the cancerous growth. Please keep him in prayer on Thursday.
In the words of a great thinker.....TTFN........