Vacation photos!

                              We got home Saturday from our fun filled vacation week. This year we went to Virginia Beach.  We spent 5 days at the beach and then stopped over night in Washington D.C. on the way home. I have been to both places before but, I'm not sure if it counts if you're not old enough to remember being there. We had the best time! We all love the beach, so going was a blast and to go to D.C. was amazing. I think this may have been the best trip ever. Virginia Beach is beautiful. We went to a few other places while we were there. Let's see. The beach, obviously.  We went to downtown Norfolk to see a huge ship. We drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, both ways. We went to First Landing, were the first settlers landed. It was hard to believe we were standing in the same spot. I love stuff like that. We spent a whole lot of quality family time together, I love that best of all! Our visit to Washington DC was amazing as well. The buildings, memorials, and monuments are so much bigger than I realized. The day we went was the same day someone vandalized the Lincoln Memorial with paint. I will never understand what possesses some people and their actions. Thank goodness it is fixable. So without further delay here are some pictures. No groaning now. I won't bore you. Now remember this is just a sample of our pictures. I lost track of how many we actually took.



The beach

Cape Henry Lighthouse (new)



The beach



The beach



The beach



First Landing



Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (off the side)

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (inside)



The USS Wisconsin



My Boy



The Capitol Building

The Washington Monument (being repaired)



Lincoln Memorial ( with some paint still on it)



House where Lincoln died (duh)

King Neptune on the beach

All you need

                                          We had so much fun! It was an awesome trip! I must thank my hubby and my Boy. I love them so much. It's always nice to spend time together as a family. It really makes you appreciate things more when you can do it together. I hope you enjoyed my "little" picture presentation. Thanks for stopping by. Have you taken a trip this summer? Or are you going to? Well if you do, have fun and be safe. ENJOY!

Happy Monday

                                                  Surprise! it's Monday again already. That's what it looks like the Boy was saying. This picture is about 8 years old. Wow, time seems to fly sometimes. The weekends are never long enough are they?  We went on our first hike of the year on Saturday. The weather was beautiful. Sunny and warm. Everything is blooming nicely, too. Unfortunately, my poor Boy suffers from allergies, sometimes they are pretty bad. Lots of sneezing, itchy watery eyes, runny nose... the list goes on. He was trooper though, he toughed it out and once we got home he was much better. poor kid! You can't keep them in all the time. There are times in the spring he has to stay in. Sunday it rained all day. I don't complain too much about the rain, it helps relieve the allergies a bit. We hope you all have a wonderful Monday and an even better week. Be well!

New neighbors

                                                           Two mornings in a row I have seen this little bird on our back deck. She seemed to be checking out the bird house the Boy made with his Dad a few years ago. I couldn't get a picture of her going in or coming out. I could certainly hear them singing out there too. Daffie enjoys watching her hop around on the railing. I hope they like the neighborhood. Spring is coming! Thank goodness.

My happy Boy

The Boy

               This is my Boy. He was in Kindergarten in this picture ( 5 years ago ). I remember this day well. He was so excited because one of the first grade teachers took his picture for a display that was going in the hall at school. He came home and told me all about having his picture taken. He talked non-stop about this teacher. Funny how such a small exchange can have such a large impact.  Before the end of the conversation he told me he wanted her for his first grade teacher. Guess what?  He got her. This turned out to be one of my favorite pictures of him. Thanks Mrs. Rawson, for that and SO MUCH MORE!  She was the teacher that suggested we get him tested for the gifted program. I mean, everybody knows their kid is smart, right,  just ask I will tell you all about it. But, to have someone else recognize this in your child is fantastic. We are very proud of you Boy! Keep up the good work. By the way, doesn't he look happy?

Just a thought

I read the other day about someone taking their Christmas decorations down already, well it was the day after Christmas. I find this shocking. Don't get me wrong, you can do whatever you want. But I like to wait. I don't want the magic times over that soon. It always makes me sad to take them down. I have to wait until the Boy goes back to school. I don't want him to see me cry about it. Yes, I said I get sad. So this year let's try to keep the magic going all year. I normally don't do resolutions, maybe this year should be different. There are many things to consider. I mean there's a special feeling around the holidays, we should resolve to keep that feeling all year right?  So, I have some thinking to do about this. Resolutions or no resolutions. What do you do? I guess they can give you something to work for. Some motivation, I know I could use some of that right about now. I always looked at resolutions as a way of disappointing myself. You know if you fail. I need to think more positively. Which seems strange because I have always thought of myself as an optimist. Hmmm more to think about. Maybe we should call them something else. Something more,. oh I don't know, I can't quite put my finger on it yet, important maybe. Something that makes it seem more important than something you do this time of year just because. Your thoughts.....?

A little more Christmas

Okay maybe a lot more! I have said in the past how much I love Christmas.  Just some shots from around the house. I can't believe it is Christmas Eve already. Ask The Boy and he will say...already?! it has taken soo long to get here!  Enjoy this holiday season. Be safe. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I love these cakes in a jar!

                        The last one were so good I decided to make some more. These were pineapple coconut. I had never seen pineapple cake mix before. Have you? Well let me tell you,  YUMMY! I mixed the cake mix according to the instructions, but added 1 can crushed pineapple and about 3/4 of a cup of sweetened coconut flakes. I made my own vanilla butter cream icing. I added some toasted coconut on top to finish them off. I have to say we loved them. I can't wait to try some other flavor. I think I need more jars though! You have to try some! let me know! Have a sweet day

Christmas Past.....

We have just about finished our Christmas decorating. Just need to "tweak" a bit and add a little more here and there. I love Christmas!  We all love decorating for the Holidays here too.  We all help put all the pretties up. All three, oops I mean four, after all Daffie likes to "help" too!  So we spend the day together decorating, hanging out, and laughing, lots of laughing!  I thought I would share some things we used in our decorating.  The first picture is Hubby and Me,  from umm.......a long time ago. Mere babes I say. And of course we still look exactly the same. (wink)  The next picture is from The Boy's first Christmas. He is about 4 months old.  The things we put on our children, he was very cute in his Santa outfit, don't you agree?  In the third picture The Boy is about 2.  Look at those rosy cheeks! The last picture is of a wreath we made around the same time. We traced his little hands. I love to look at these kind of things! I wonder if he would let me trace them now to make another?! That wreath has been up every Christmas since we made it. Thanks for taking a walk down my memory lane with me. I will share some more later. Ahhh the magic of Christmas!

Sorry I haven't posted more......... blah blah blah

I seem to say that a lot, don't I ? Well, I sure don't have to worry about this blog taking over my life now do I ? Just kidding. Kinda. There are always things going on in life, that's the beauty of it. Some days you seem to be busy ALL day, but at the end of the day, you know, when you are laying there in bed trying to go to sleep and can't, you go back over your day and it seeems like nothing got done. I have a LOT of those days. Oh well.  Anyway, I just wanted let you know that things are good. Hubby is feeling better. Oh yea, he was in the hospital for a few days about 2 weeks ago. He is feeling better though, so that is good. My son was just getting comfortable in middle school, and I get a call from his 6th grade high math teacher telling me scored high on a test that said he knew everything he would learn through the end of the year. They decided to put him in 7th grade pre-algebra. Which is wonderful! Unless your schedule has to be rearranged and you really like your classes the way they are. He is doing well with changes. I am trying to get my self motivated to get some new Christmas things made to list in my Etsy store, but can't find the motivation need yet. I am working on it though. Hopefully I will be posting some finished things soon. If I can get moving. So we are doing well. Hope you are doing well also. Have a sweet day! Again soon.

At last.. some new things for Etsy! and stuff

I am happy to report that I have gotten my behind in gear and finally listed some new things on Etsy. ( insert  trumpets and confetti here!) I am currently working on more things to list. I have to say I have been somewhat of a slacker these days. No, I have been a complete slacker! Well, I don't have any more excuses now that the Boy is back in school. I really need to get it in gear and get everything going again! Unfortunately, summer is coming to an end but, That means maybe I can get back on track, in more ways than one, I might add. Have you ever noticed how summer break can side track things?  Happy little vacations from everyday stuff, and it's perfectly okay to have that happen. Funny how much time to myself I have once school starts. I still miss that booger though. I am not one of those moms who counts down the days til school starts, let me tell ya! I absolutely love being home with the Boy. I am always sad when school starts. And this year was no exception! I can't believe my baby started middle school this year. Wow, time flies, doesn't it? I am so excited for him though. So many new opportunities and things to experience. Still a little sad for me though. So, now I can use all this to inspire me to get more things done for Etsy and start listing on eBay again. if you have a few minutes and would like to , click on the etsy box and visit my little shop. Thanks! have a sweet day.

Ebay and Habitat for Humanity

Sometimes you love it, sometimes not so much. Well, I guess that's not quite true. It is more the folks on Ebay than Ebay. I love selling on Ebay. This week though I had to file 2 unpaid cases claims. I mean come on people, really?, if you're not going to pay for it ....why bid? That's what I want to know. So at least I will get my final value fees returned. Maybe I can relist my items and really sell them this time. Oh well. Enough ranting.

We made a visit to another cupcake shop but that's a post for a different day. In the same plaza there was a Habitat for Humanity Resale store. We decided to have a look inside. I have been to one before but it has been awhile. They are good places to visit. Unfortunately I didn't even think of bringing my camera in. I know right, bad blogger. They have all kinds of things in there for sale. Cabinet door knobs in case you are trying to match some you already have. They have paint, nails, shades, furniture, appliances, carpet, tubs, windows, doors, and sinks. I picked up a cabinet door I already have plans for. Yes, there is a repurpose in my future. I paid a whole $2.00 for this door. I can't wait to see how it turns out. It may be a little while. The weather here took a slight turn towards cold. So that makes it harder for me to spray paint. Maybe I will get to it if it decides to stay sunny next week. Check out the price tag on my cabinet door. Hope it turns out close to what I'm picturing in my head.

So, that's about it for now. Will post the next cupcake shop in the series soon. Oh by the way, The Boy did make this trip with us. He didn't have school today. We had fun!