"No Fuss Russ"

Meet Russell! I'm pretty sure I've blogged about my visits with him before but I wanted to do it again. This boy is simply amazing! The reason I called him no fuss Russ is exactly that. No fuss. Now I've been around my share of 16 year olds before. Heck I even was one a long time ago and I will assure you he is amazing. Maybe he was on his best behavior because the parentals weren't around (or maybe they threatened him), but he never once gave me a reason for concern. Never had to be asked to help. Did his homework and took care of all his responsibilities without anyone on his back. This to me is amazing. Not only is Russell no fuss. He's a great help with Emma, super funny, super smart and well.....pretty much amazing. I'm thankful for the time I had to spend with him and look forward to our next visit. I love you Russell. Keep smiling!

"Boosha Rump"

Meet Davis! Alright he's much to old to be called my little "Boosha Rump" but that is a name he acquired when he was my sweet little side kick. Let me tell you..... this guy is pretty much perfect. I can't believe what a smart, sweet, and sensitive young man he's turning out to be. All of my favorite things about him still ring true, and our relationship was as if he'd never moved away. Davis was a pleasure to spend time with and I looked forward to our mornings together, and also looked forward to picking him up from wrestling practice every afternoon. He was so protective of me and spent much time worrying himself about me and my well being. There's a new member in their family, a kitten named Luna ("Lunatic" as I lovingly referred to her) and Davis showed so much responsibility in loving and caring for her. It made me so proud. It was very hard to say goodbye to him and look forward to seeing him again soon. I love you Davis, my little "Boosha Rump".

"Emmalicious Angelface"

Meet Emma! I have tons of pictures of this little angel but for some reason I love this one! That sweet little crooked smile, when I look at it I can almost hear her voice. Emma will be three years old in January and I have only seen her twice. Once for a couple hours when she was nine months old and once last May for a few days in Minnesota at Samantha's graduation from college. Knowing how children can be I must admit I was a little worried at how Emma would take to me upon her parents departure, especially since they were leaving the country for two weeks. Well I only have two words to say....NO PROBLEM. From the minute they picked me up from the airport we had an instant bond. I really feel a connection with her and I am so thankful

we were able to spend this time together. The funny things she said to me. The sweet personality she has, along with some peculiar habits made me that much more in love with this sweet little angel. I want to sit and make a list of all the funny and cute things she did and said so that I'll never forget them.

There's a really neat Museum very close to her house called the Hand's On Children Museum. It's right by the Capitol and Emma and I went there several times. She loves this place and although I did think of it more as a "germ breading ground" I have to admit the place is brilliant. I did find myself secretly wishing I had some place like that to take my children when they were small. When I wasn't moving her away from coughing children or trying to sanitize everything she touched, It was a real pleasure to watch her imagination run wild with all the different exhibits. Even if her favorites things to do weren't what I would have liked it's a wonderful thing to not have to say, no you can't touch that, or you have to be quiet, or don't make a mess. You actually can encourage the opposite.
I can't wait to see her again and hope she will have fond memories of me. Every time I take a shower by myself it makes me miss her a little. Every time I sleep the whole night through with no bruises on my kidneys from the kick box champion of the world, I think of her. Even though I still hear in my sleep "I'm done....Wipe me up" it was a pleasure to help her out. And best of all now I know that watching Barney 5,000,000,000 times in a row will not make your head explode. I love you Emmalicious Angelface!

Whew...I'm home !

Washington was BEAUTIFUL!!! Everywhere you look it's another spectacular view. The pictures above were taking from the balcony of Kym's living room. The weather was nice some days, and other days it was rainy and cold, but I can't complain. I had a wonderful trip and look forward to visiting again, but man was I happy to get home. I missed Darin too much and won't be going anywhere without him again for that long. The driving out there absolutely petrified me. I was sure any minute the brakes or the transmission would fail and I would certainly have a horrible crash, and if it wasn't mechanical failure that would kill me the traffic definitely would. I promise I'll never complain about speed weeks traffic again. I was able to spend a few days with Kym and Jym when they returned from their trip before I came home so I did get to see alot of stuff and go alot of places with them driving. Whew!!

Olympia...here I come!

On Monday I will be flying to Washington State for 3 weeks to hang out with Kym's children while she and her hubby Jim go on a Mediterranean Cruise. I'm super anxious! I'm so excited to spend time with my niece and nephews. I was able to visit with them shortly last year in Minnesota for Samantha's graduation, but now we'll really have time to spend together. While I am there I will teach Emma to read and possibly speak a second language. I will teach Davis how to drive and take him skydiving. Russell will probably be teaching me some stuff, and perhaps we will get him a concealed weapons permit or maybe a couple tattoos. Who knows, we'll see.

I'm not quite sure how well I will sleep. I wonder who will tuck me in bed each night and bring me my night snack. Don't know who will rub my feet when they are tired. Been thinking who will screen my calls, and make me bust out laughing when I'm just about to cry. See as everyone should know now I am old, and I'm at the point in my life where I need some extra help.(Okay I've always been pampered). I'm sure I can bribe the little ones into catering to me, but no one does it better than Darin. Since we married we have never been apart for more than a week and I'm worried how he will do without me.(Sounds like it huh?)

Anyway I'm really excited to be going and a little anxious because....well I'm me. I'm happy to be able do this for them and really look forward to it. Not sure if I'll be blogging while I'm there, but I will be taking tons of pictures :) This is one of my favorite pictures of them, but it's super old so hopefully I can take one just as cute.

HUBBY TAG!

WHERE DID YOU MEET YOUR HUSBAND?
Church
HOW LONG DID YOU DATE BEFORE YOU GOT MARRIED?
On and off for about 6 years
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN MARRIED?
August 15,1987 - 21 years
WHAT DOES HE DO THAT SURPRISES YOU?
He learned long ago that I do NOT like surprises at all. So nothing really.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FEATURE OF HIS?
His personality, and his ability to make me laugh even when I don't want to.
WHAT IS HIS BEST QUALITY?
The way he loves and nutures his family.
DOES HE HAVE A NICKNAME FOR YOU?
Nothing out of the norm
WHAT IS HIS FAVORITE FOOD?
Not really one thing in particular. His favorite place to eat is Cracker Barrel
WHAT IS HIS FAVORITE SPORT?
Nascar
WHEN AND WHERE DID YOU FIRST KISS?
On the chair in my parents piano room after we had been "going together" for 6 months. Remember I was 12
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO AS A COUPLE?
Anything as long as we're together
DO YOU HAVE ANY CHILDREN?
A 22 year old daughter and a 18 year old son.
DOES HE HAVE ANY HIDDEN TALENTS?
He's actually super funny but people rarely see it because he's so quiet.
HOW OLD IS HE?
43
WHO SAID "I LOVE YOU" FIRST?
He did.
WHAT IS HIS FAVORITE MUSIC?
Classic Rock
WHAT DO YOU ADMIRE MOST ABOUT HIM?
His love and devotion has always made the kids and I feel like we are all that matters.
WHAT IS HIS FAVORITE COLOR?
I don't know his favorite but know he hates red and green!
WILL HE READ THIS?
Probably not
WHO DO YOU TAG?
Everyone who reads this

TAGGED!

6 Random Facts About Me!


1.) I was a speed skater when I was young. Skating was my passion, and I still skate everyday. (Well in my mind anyway)
2.) I have obsessive compulsive disorder, and certain things disturb me to the point of physical sickness and/or panic attacks.
3.) I love to eat, yet HATE to cook and find it to be gross waste of my time.
4.) I am germaphobic. I know better, and I know it's crazy, but can't stop it. Some days are better than others.
5.) I'm very shy, yet love to talk, yet hate to talk on the phone. I know it's very strange.
6.) I am fascinated with Asian babies (hope to have one one day of my own) and the Asian culture.

Okay, so now I'm supposed to tag some people. I tag everyone who reads this and will participate :)

Look who's 40, take 2

After work today Darin and I went out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. Woo Hoo ! There was a bunch of us and I had a wonderful time with my friends and family.

Richard & Amy Hill, Randy & Marie Child, Darin & I, Jordan & Michael Davis, Mom & Dad, Claire & Kevin, Wendy & Chris Allaway.

Mallory (Tabi's friend), Randy Child, Shalee Taylor(Behind Chris's head), Chris Phaffl and Tabitha Child.Kevin, Ralyn & Julynne Taylor.Meem & Amps (June & Jerry Edinger)This is a beautiful statue I received from the Taylor family. There's a story behind, and maybe I'll blog it one day.My beautiful flowers, cards, gifts and balloons. I had a wonderful birthday and will cherish all these memories forever. And 40 is great!!! I think I love it :)

Look who's 40

I awoke to the most beautiful roses from my wonderful husband for my 40th birthday with a sweet little tiny cake just for me.

This is close up of one of the roses because I have never seen any like it and thought they were gorgeous. They are red and pink variegated.
At work, my coworkers surprised me with a yummy chocolate fudge cake and even sang to me. Wish I would've taken pics of them but I forgot :( I am 40 you know. Beside the cake at work, I couldn't begin to tell the amount of messages, voicemail, texts, emails, and phone calls I received throughout the day from all my family and friends. I was really touched by every one's thoughtfulness and well wishes.

Then my wonderful friend Stacey took me out to lunch to my very favorite restaurant in the world, "Cracker Barrel". We had a great time even though our time together was short. This is a pic of Stacey and Corbin (a little guy Stacey babysits).Next is picture of me and sweet "LilaBeth". I love this kid and best of all she love me:) I had the best birthday ever and when it was time for bed I told Darin that I didn't want to go to sleep because I didn't want my birthday to be over, so he told me tomorrow could be my birthday too, so.........................

"They think his tractor's sexy"

Darin and I were sitting in the house relaxing over the weekend and heard a rumble coming from outside. Imagine our surprise to find this scene when we investigated further by going outside. Now don't ask me why I thought this was so funny, but I got the biggest kick out of it. (could be the size of our yard in comparison to the tractor, but it sure tickled me). Randy and his friend Chris were doing his Mother's yard, and decided to be nice and mow ours also. That's why I love this boy so much. Just when I'm so frustrated with him I want to torture him with some medieval torture device he does something like this. Randy was the sweetest, most giving, and helpful kid ever. He was always worried about everyone else and loved to take care of others. This just reaffirms to me that all is not lost. Even if Randy's reasoning for helping is that "Dad is way to old and crippled to take care of the lawn himself," we love him and appreciate his help. Thanks Randy !

Happy Birthday "Doll"

Today is my Tabitha's 22nd birthday. I wish I could say where the time has gone. I can remember the day she was born, and all the wonderful memories from then until now, just like the 22 years went by in a week. I'm so proud of what a beautiful woman she has become inside and out. She continues to amaze me day after day. I anxiously await her next move in life and feel blessed watching her make her way in this crazy world. Happy Birthday Doll Face :)

Her Heart is in Texas

I was without my camera for a week, I know, I can't believe it either.....Anyway look what I found when my camera was returned. Collin graduated from bootcamp and Tabitha traveled to San Antonio to attend the festivities. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these certainly do it for me. Nothing makes me happier than to see my family smile and Tabitha's sweet smile in these pics says it all. I'm not sure what the future holds for these two, but the I hope that smile never fades.

Babies, Babies and more Babies!

Today Mom and I attended another baby shower. This shower was for the little Aubree Elizabeth Morgan. The new arrival for Michelle (Coates) Morgan and her family is due to arrive next month. The shower was a lot of fun, there was a lot of great food, and the lucky little princess will be set with all the wonderful gifts they received. My camera went with Tabitha to Texas, so I didn't get any pictures, but I will have lots of great memories. There were sooooo many sweet little babies and old friends there to visit with, it was an awesome afternoon. Congratulations to the Morgan Family !!

Welcome to the Family !

This is my Uncle Mike and his beautiful new bride Sheila. I'm certain there are better pictures of the happy couple floating around somewhere but for now this is the only one I could dig up. Sheila really was already a part of our family, however now it's "official." I always new when Uncle Mike chose a bride she would be very special, and that she is! I've looked forward to Sheila joining our family, and I know she will be a wonderful addition. Welcome to the family Aunt Sheila :)

Grandparents Day!

Today is Grandparents Day! I know most of you probably didn't know there was such a thing but today is it. I haven't been blessed with grandchildren yet, but had a great day anyway. Tabitha and Randy are the luckiest kids ever. They have the very best grandparents in the world. After church today we had Grandma Child and Grandma & Grandpa Davis over for lunch. This is pretty amazing since entertaining, especially in my home is definitely not my thing. Way out of my comfort zone and usually ends up disastrous. Anyway, we had a wonderful time. It was so nice to sit and visit with each other. I only wish we would do it more often. How all of us were together and I never brought out my camera I can't understand but I do have the memories. We were so blessed to have had them as grandparents for our children and also to learn from their examples how to be wonderful grandparents when our turn comes.
Happy Grandparents Day !

I love Baby Showers!!

Tara (Tabi's BFF) flew in from Utah to visit, so her Mom (Julie) and Tabitha threw her an awesome baby shower. She's having a boy, so the family is ecstatic and she got lots of adorable boy stuff. There was way too many cute things to put pics of everything, but couldn't resist this adorable onesie from her little sister Ralyn. There were alot of fun games and lots of laughter, but my favorite part of the whole evening was seeing friends together, laughing and having a great time. Congratulations Tara & Ryan ! We can't wait to meet your sweet little one.
Tabitha Child, Tara Lobrot and Emily Layman

( Life long buds )

Happy 21st Anniversary !

Whew....... 21 years!! I'm barely 21 myself. I don't see how this could be. But it's true, Darin and I are celebrating our 21st Wedding Anniversary today. The picture below was taken in 1980 when I was 12 years old and Darin was 15. We were in the apartment of David and Robin Roberts. I lugged this snap shot around in my wallet folded in half so just Darin was showing for years. Mom found this picture and tried to have it restored and this is what we have now.

Priceless if I do say so myself :)

The following picture was our wedding

picture taken of course on August 15, 1987.

And this is Darin and I now. Still as in love

and as happy as we were as teeny boppers !

I cannot express how thankful I am and how blessed I am to have such a wonderful man in my life. After all these years he's still my very favorite person to be around, and my very best friend. He still makes me laugh and I still get butterflies in my stomach when I think of him. I do have a wonderful life and Darin and I are definitely perfect for each other. He's a perfect man, a perfect father, and a perfect husband. And well I'm just "PERFECT". And if you don't believe me just ask him ;) Thanks for 21 awesome years Darin, and Happy Anniversary !!

Update on "Lambchop"

Randy's leg is much better now. It was a pretty bad bite and required several trips to the Dr. Unfortunately he had an allergic reaction to one of the prescribed antibiotics and became covered in hives. Hopefully his last visit to the doctor was on Friday and he said one more week on the meds should take care of it. It turned into a big hole in his leg that turned black and then eventually started closing up. It's no longer red and swollen and seems to be healing nicely thanks to every one's thoughts and prayers.

"Nephew Time"

We were finally able to spend some time with Russell Jr. The fact that he lives in Washington State makes it a snippet difficult for a lot of bonding time. He's down for the summer with his father, so we got to steal him away for a couple days. It's pretty boring at our house so I thought we'd have some fun at the local water park. Wednesday evenings during the summer offer quite the bargain. Six dollars to get in after 5:00. So after work Darin and I ran to DeLand to pick him up and met Aunt Wendy and Uncle Chris along with a couple of their friends for an evening of fun. Sounds boring with a bunch of old people I know, but Jordan was away, and so were Nick and Josh. Bad timing...any way while Uncle Darin waited in line for tickets, Russell played some games while I snapped pictures and watched. He really was having fun even though his expression says different ;)

He won a bunch of tickets and ended up giving them to a little boy and his brother. Awwwwww !!! Other than that the evening was a bust. Not only are we feeling the crunch of this fallen economy, so were the other 2500 people in Daytona Beach looking for a "deal". After fighting the crowd for about three hours we headed across the street to the Cold Stone Creamery for some yummy, million dollar ice creams. It was my pleasure to provide the entertainment for the evening by having a bird crap on me as we walked. (Hey, I'll do anything to make Russell laugh, and laugh he did.)

After the water park we dropped him off to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa Davis. The following day after work Darin and I returned to play some games and have dinner before returning him to DeLand. We had a good time with Grandma and Grandpa, took some pics then off to take him home.

I was sad as I wanted to spend longer with him, but plan to hang out again before he goes home for school. This guy really makes me laugh.
And he's amazing as well, just look at those eyes!!

Call me the Dog Whisperer

These three beautiful little pups are my charge for the week. Karl and his family are spending the week over at Disney so Sam (multi colored),Venus (white) and Milo (black) are hanging out with Mercedes. Aside from the middle of the night bark fests, we are getting along just fine. Mercedes does not bark so when they hear a leaf fall in a backyard across town the frantic barking does give me quite a jolt. After I catch my breath, the dizziness, chest pains, and throbbing headache subside I can usually doze off for five or ten minutes, before the newspaper lands in the driveway of a house also across town, and so on and so forth. Anyway, they really are sweet dogs. Sam's visit so far has consisted of long naps and long nights of slumber interrupted by the twice daily feed and walking in the yard. His snore is very comical, however I can't seem to catch it on video as of yet. Venus has assumed her normal position on the back of the couch staring out the window anticipating the return of her humans. She hasn't eaten and is barely drinking, but will accept treats when offered. This was Milo's first ever visit at our house and he is learning that Darin belongs to Mercedes, and as long as he doesn't try any funny stuff he can hang around. He's tried to fit in best he can, but sadly has spent most of his time entertaining himself and wondering why no one will play. I know they are anxiously awaiting the return of their family, and even though they may not think so we really do love them ;)

Lambchop has a boo-boo :(

Randy, my wittle lambchop has a boo-boo. Yea....okay that's disgusting I know. You're supposed to talk sugary sweet about little babies and little grandbabies, but I have to work with what I've got here. Randy is my little lambchop, and always will be so he doomed to be embarrassed for life by me. He loves his Momma more than anything and not embarrassed about that so I can get away it, almost always. So Randy comes home on Saturday evening and says to Darin and I "I guess I got bit by something" while showing us a little black dot with surrounding redness about the size of a quarter on his right calf. My response to this is the usual bite remedy I think all Mom's use "Keep it clean, don't scratch it and take a benedryl". Sunday afternoon he informs us that it is worse. Getting redder, larger, more painful, and swollen. So I kick it up a notch with the standard "keep it clean, don't scratch it, maybe soak in some hot water, add some tylenol or motrin to the benedryl". Well Sunday night/Monday morning at 1:00 am I was awoke by Randy letting me know the pain is so bad he needs to go to the ER. Now it's the size of my fist. He cut it with a pocket knife to try and release the pressure himself however only made it bleed and hurt more, so I pick him up, threw him over my shoulder...........okay not really, he hobbled himself to the car and off we went. Now I love my guy to pieces, but I'm a little irritated. Apparently his girlfriend was telling him all evening he needed to go have it looked at. His Dad told him the same, but he thought the best thing would be to wait until the middle of the night and wake me up so I can be stared at like the mother of emo kid that cuts himself.
Anyway the doctor laughed at him cutting it himself. Actually he told us girls just come in crying, boys always come in after they try to cut it themselves. Still have no idea what bit him, he said this is Florida, your guess is as good as mine, but something got him. He was put on some antibiotics and we were sent on our way. Today is day #4. Looks a little better but still hurts terribly, so I think back to the doctor we go. (Too bad my "Sister Nurse" went home) :(

A time for laughs ?

With Momma being so sick we were able to see alot

of friends and family as they came to visit.
This is a picture of Karl's wife Pat, Sisters Anita

and Wendy, and Michael Kelly (a family friend).

Pamela "The Baby"Pat and Anita
Brother Bruce, wife Teresa, and their girls, Emily and Laura.
Anyone who knows my brother Mike will find this picture of

him some what normal. Now you know why we laugh so much,

even at inappropriate times.

Uncle Mike and Sheila

My friends and boss, Kevin and Julie Taylor. I see them all the time, but LOVE this picture of them so I thought I'd include it.
Mark & Kathy with their daughter Tiffany and granddaughter Stella.

Wendy, Me, Momma and Anita. Anita flew in from Utah to help out out with Mom and had to go home on Sunday. I was seriously scared for her to leave and considered calling for the other "Nurse Sister" Kim, but Mom is doing well enough that Kim can be spared the expense of the trip for now. I'm selfish and want to see her sooooo bad but pretty sure I can't make her come to help with Mom, without her actually checking to see if it's neccesary. My wheels are turning though so maybe I'll come up with something good.

These are my nephews Davis and Russell. Russell came to visit but somehow manage to slip off without me taking a picture with him. I loved hanging with him (he makes me laugh).
There were alot more visiters during this time but like Russell, managed to slip out without pictures and like I said, even though times were a little on the tense side it was awesome to see all the people we love. We're so happy Mom is feeling better and can't help but wonder if laughter really isn't the best medicine. Even if she wasn't the one laughing!