Is This Couch Taken?

Oh, my. What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had. We went to our daughters house. And had dinner with her, Haleigh, Jared, and Jared's parents, Tim and Lori. It was a nice RELAXING time. Add that to the 10 pounds of turkey, it seemed, I ate, and you have the makings of an afternoon delight called...NAPPIE time. Snoozie Land here I come. I was not the only one bitten by the snooze bug...









Haleigh kept all of us entertained, as she explored the house. OOOH, what is that...PEPSI!!!!!






Thank You Lord for my family...



Well, Saturday, Dan and I are delivering a birthday cake for our friend. It's a SURPRISE PARTY!!!!!YEAH!!!! SO, all week, we've been preparing and baking. Today, however, we put the fondant on the first layer....YEAH, it worked. No rips. PHEEEEWWWWWW!!!!! Dan has the cake topper spinning. He figured out how to make the topper rotate using a music box thingy majig. He's SOOOOOOO savy, cool, cute, dreamy, O.k. O.k. Moving on. Anyway, other than being in cake upto our elbows, not too much is going on. I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'm eagerly anticipating how this cake is going to turn out and if she likes it. We will see...

A Little Taste...

When I look at these pictures an old hymn comes to mind..."Just one glimpse of Him in glory, will the toils of life repay. When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be, when we all see Jesus, we'll sing and SHOUT the VICTORY!" Oh what a WONDERFUL time we had. Our time at the Historic Bok Tower was truly a time that the "toils" Dan and I we're dealing with that weekend, were indeed bareable. Being there, and seeing God's creativity in his creation was amazing. Looking at all the details was a much needed reminder, for me, of how God is in control and cares about every detail in our lives. It may not seem like it, but God really does have a plan. Our responsibility, my responsibility, is to TRUST and accept His will. Easier said then done, at times, but like my Granny Keenan always says, You have to take one day at a time. Thanks for that nugget of wisdom Granny.

Well, I have SO many pictures to share, I'm not sure which ones. Here are a few more of the Historic Bok Tower Gardens. And let me just add, I believe everyone should take time and bask in the beauty of God's creation, and that place is a unique and beautiful place to do just that...









Now, here's a few pictures from our camping trip, as well. The bike trails were AWESOME! However, I do believe that you would have to be declared clinicaly insane to bike some of them. We actually met two patients, I mean people who did Moonscape and the other EXTREME EXTREME trails. Yes, on a bike, of their own free will...WILLINGLY they took the lives in there own hands...CRAZY!!!!!

"Artsy-Fartsy" and other Firsts.

MEOW!!! Haleigh is dressed up in her cute little pink cat costume today. I took pictures for one of my customers who gave us money to spend on Haleigh's first Halloween. Well, Pop-Pop and I had a ball. We went to Walmart and found lots of yummy harvest vegetable babyfood, stuffed sqweeky kitty cat for nappie time, bubbles, juice, baby bottle candy and pacifer sucky thingy, and a cute little Dora T-shirt. Oh, and her new Disney Princess basket. What fun we had.








Well this week we are getting ready for our camping trip with our fantastic friends, the wild and crazy mountain biking crew, and family.. IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!YEAH!!!YIPPEEE!!!!HOORAY!!!! I'm ready, NOW to leave. There's still so much to prep and get ready for, but well worth the lack of sleep in preparing. This Saturday, Dan and I are going with two of our BFF's (Hee Hee) in the whole wide world (HAW HAW) to the Bok Tower Gardens to see the.....ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA!!!!! A dream come true for me. A first for Dan! I'm very thankful he wants to go. It was his idea two years ago. I have the best husband in all the world!!
We are camping at the Alafia River State Park in Lithia Florida. Anyone ever heard of Lithia? Anyway, it's suppose to have the best off-road biking trails in the state. The park's land is part of an old phosphate mining plant. We will get there on Friday afternoon after the boys get out of school. Then Saturday Dan and I are going to Lake Wales, kid free, for a day of fun. I know, you must be thinking an orchestra, classical music?...UEEWWWWWW!!! Artsy Fartsy stuff, NO THANK YOU!!!! Trust me when I say, there is not one ounce of artsy fartsy in Dan,
O.K. the fartsy, yes, but the artsy, NEVER, and he's still going. Just try and picture this. You're sitting outside in God's arena, among the beautiful gardens as the backdrop adding to the overwhelming anticipation of whats to come. Excitement coarsing through every part of your body , then the curtain begins to open. The excitement intensifies and the music begins to play......THEN!!!!!!! NO words are heard, No sighs are released. Just the sound of many different people, different instruments, all tuned to the one purpose they are their for... to present this beautiful meloudious symphonic story, told and played right before you. WOW!!! Simply breathtaking!! That's what I'm looking forward too. As for Dan, well, I guess he may have the same experience, or he'll just have to let his ears get the cultural shock "Artsy-Fartsy" workout. Either way, it's going to be a day I'll not soon forget.

LET THEM EAT CAKE!!!

Happy Birthday Kevin! What a great week it has been. Dan and I attempted our first themed birthday cake, together. Well? What do you think? We had such a blast from beginning to end. We are both pretty excited about our venture into the "Cake World". And both of us are eager to challenge each others skills and creativity. I was quite impressed with my "Maine Man, Dan". He came up with the idea of the castle, and made the cake from start to finish. Even the marshmallow walls. The only thing I did to the castle was spray color and make the flag. WOW!!! GO HONEY!! Anyway, it looks as if we may have our first customer. Our friends son is getting married in May, and while at a birthday party, we were approached about making the "WEDDING CAKE" UUUGGGGG!!!! OOOOHHHHHHH!!! They heard about our dragon cake, and the rest is history. Dan and I are VERY excited, and nervous. But it's not until May 2009, so that will give us both plenty of time to create. YEAH!!!
Finally, Thanks go out to the Cohen crew for letting Dan and I share in the family fun and excitment of Kevin's birthday. We had alot of fun, and the look on his face was priceless.











Thanks T-Rohey for taking the pics. Until next time! Oh, remember to BRUSH YOUR TEETH ALWAYS after eating creative concotions containing such sugary substances!

SURPRISE!!!! GREAT GRAMMY!!!!

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Happy Birthday Mom! This weekend, Kristen, Jared, Haleigh, Joanna(my sister), and I, surprised my mom for her birthday. We left Friday, and stayed at a motel overnight in Fort Myers, Florida. My mom had no idea we were down there.

My dad was in on the whole thing. Dad even came to the hotel and met Haleigh for the first time, and went out to dinner with us.
We had a wonderful time! On Saturday, we drove down to Naples to my mom's friend's house for the surprise party. Mom had NO IDEA! We were all hiding in the kitchen and mom was telling Christina how we could not make it down for the party. HILARIOUS!!! SURPRISE MOM!!!! After the party we drove back to Fort Myers and spent the remaining weekend at my parents house. On Sunday my mom, sister, and I decided to try and find an indian grocery store. She loves one of the dishes I make. I gave her the recipe, and we went on the hunt for the spices she would need. We found a wonderful Indian Grocery Store down there. I was like a little kid in a toy store. It was so organzied, and had such a variety. The people who owned the store were very nice and amuzed at the three white women squealing, giggling, and frolicking like little girls inside the store over all the possibilities of great new tempting dishes awaiting our creativity.SWEET!!!!!
Anyway, mom bought me a new chappati pan for my birthday. Dan was really excited to see that come home with me. He already has plans to use it to make some blackened chicken. YUMMMY! It was a great weekend, and I had fun with the family!It is also nice to be back home. Now I can rest. Do you ever do that. GO on vacation, and come back needing a vacation from your vacation? Oh well. We played hard, laughed hard, and enjoyed EVERY FUN-FILLED MINUTE!!!

Pick me up, and I'll be your best friend..Oh bring the turkey too!

Hi Uncle Alex! Well, it's been a busy past few weeks...work, family, fun, you know, the usual. Haleigh Bug is growing SO fast! Pop-Pop and I are having a ball watching her while mommy and daddy are at work. Her mommy and daddy have been introducing her to new foods...sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, pears, peas, and green beans. What a great variety. Kristen's really excited about feeding her turkey for Thanksgiving. Did you know that you can buy turkey and chicken in baby food jars now. Yes, it's already ground up and ready to go. Just heat and eat. WOW!! Yum, Yum. You try it first Pop-Pop!

Now, can you guess,besides eating, what one of the other FAVORITE activities Haleigh is beginning to enjoy?









HOLD ME, Here I am, Oh pick me up. Hello, I'm down here! Would someone please pick me up. Yep, ANd we do. Come on now...You would too! Would you be able to resist?...

I'm A Big Girl NOW!!!

YEAH!!!LOOK AT ME!!!!!I can sit-up and play with my toys ALL BY MYSELF!!! This has been a fun filled week with Haleigh Bug. She sits up now by herself. And she loves to throw her toys over the side when she's sitting in her walker. LOOK OUT BELOW!!!!


Well Haleigh decided this week to take a closer look at Gramzie's plant which was positioned strategically in-between her pack-n-play and the bookshelf. NO PROBLEM /> Look at that face...Oh my, what was that? How did that happen? That plant was there just a minute ago, it was the wind, No, Uncle Alex did it, maybe Uncle Sean.













O.k. I can't take the pressure. I DID IT!! IT WAS ME!!

The boys are back to routine with school. Sean went job hunting yesterday. He really wants to get his license and taste alittle open road freedom from Dan and I. However, he as to get a job in order to pay for his insurance. SO, he applied to a couple of places, and we'll see.
Not much is going on with Alex. Skateboarding, of course, and that's about it. Life over here has been pretty much routine. Kind of nice. No surprises, etc... Well, I did finally get some batteries for the camera, So here's Haleigh Bug...