~ i heart this place ~

One of my most favorite places to go & visit is SaMo *thats Santa Monica* for those who don't have a clue as to why Californians call it that. I specifically LOVE!!!! Pacific Park at the Santa Monica Pier. Its like a mini-fair/carnival place that is actually built on a pier. I love the rides, I love the food, I love the nostalgia of old timey fun. This was G-man's first visit. Bill & I came here a couple of years ago by ourselves. Anyway, Grant loved it. He was super excited to ride the West Coaster....even though I believe its thee s-l-o-w-e-s-s-t roller coaster on planet Earth, coming in at a roaring 35 mph, LOL! Its fun though b/c it goes over the surrounding rides and it provides an awesome view of the ocean. The Sig Cars is where i lost my iPhone....(scream) but luckily we were only apart for less than thirty minutes. The young man operating the ride returned it to my hubby after he called it. Thats the short story of it. Anyway, I can't wait to go back.....its so awesome there!

~wordless Wednesday~

~be still my heart~

Little Man was the ringbearer in a wedding recently! He looked so handsome! I look forward to his wedding day! He even promised me a dance......such a sweetie!

Dear Grant~

Dear Grant,
How do I even begin to tell you how much I love you & how your life in just six short years has changed me beyond my wildest dreams! Before you were even here, I dreamed of all the great things we would do together. I dreamed about being the kind of mom that God would be proud of. I dreamed of how you would be as a youngster. I dreamed of how your personality and your looks would be. I dreamed about how I wanted to be the first woman you ever loved. When I held you as a newborn, I would cry because I couldn't believe I finally had such a sweet and precious boy. It was easy for me to believe how GREAT our God really is! Now, you are six years old and still (by no fault of ours) the only one! Its okay though, I know that God ha a bigger plan for expanding our family! There are days that I am grateful I have just YOU. With your personality leaning strongly towards the "strong willed", it can be hard to like you at times. At other times, you are so funny & such a 'ham', you are fearless which is something I try to encourage with little control.
As you grow up, its my dream as your mommy that you become a man of character, a man who serves God and fears Him too, a man who keeps chivalry alive and yet knows how to be aggressive when need be. I pray often for your future, your days in school, your college years and eventually for the wife you will one day meet and continue on with your own family. I wanted you to know that because of you, I do my very best to show you and tell you that you mean the world to me. I love you Granty-delicious and your chinny-cake too!!! =D
p.s. I hope you had a spectacular birthday!

***Summer means....***

Summer means:

~waking up late, watching cartoons & eating breakfast in bed~
~getting to the Y pool early so we can get the best seats~
~hanging out with friends every other day~
~playing in the sprinkler.....for only 10 minutes~
~wearing sunscreen 24 hrs~
~waiting until 7:00pm to mow the yard~
~enjoying 2 or 3 or 5 Flavor Ice popsicles~
~going outside at 8pm to watch a firely show~
~eating ice cream for dinner~
~grilin' out burgers, dogs & kabobs~
~sun kissed noses with freckles~
~Lunzianne Sweet I ced tea madefresh from the sun~

What does summer mean to You?
Happy 1st day of Summer

~a day in this life~

WOW~ what a day I have had!!! I woke up way too late....8:30ish. I stayed up late last night working on this blog. This in and of itself can be exhausting when you're trying to change things around. I gave up the "ghost" around 11:30pm Back to the story.....I knew I HAD to get to the store, no matter what else I did to day, it was a must! I usually go w/o a list but there were things I knew I had to have & if I didn't have them written down then the chances of me forgetting them was really high! Made the short list, grabbed my 'green' bags, coupons, keys and was out the door when little man says, "wait Mom, can you check me when I'm done" which is code for "make sure I'm clean after I finish my business in the bathroom". Errr, I'm already behind but like a good Mommy, I did it. Finally, out the door and halfway down the street, I realize I don't have my phone. Now, I really could have done w/o it except for the fact that my mom was taking G-man to swim lessons & more than likely would be needing to ask me something or the bubs would be trying to locate me for some useless information. Turn around I did and retrieved the phone. Back out the door and to the store I go. I picked up what I needed. Thanks to the list, I spent less than what I anticipated. SCORE! Stopped at the house to unload the groceries, made sure that Grant got some lunch. So now my family won't starve.
On to the next task. I HAD to get my nails done. I think having acrylic nails is a double edged sword. I love that I have them for the simple fact that it prevents me from gnawing my fingernails down to the bone. But, it can get expensive and since I don't; really have a standing appointment, I have to show up & either wait or get right in depending on how busy they are. Luckily today, I got in quick. After this, I had to take my play sister Susan to the airport at 3pm so she could get back home to Cali. She called to tell me that she wanted to stop by Hobby Lobby. We spent too much time there. I was getting nervous about getting to the airport b/c with her physical disabilities, it takes a lot of work to get her checked in. I had to get her wheelchair out, re-do her carry on bag, grab the walker, make sure she had her purse & pushed her inside so she didn't die of heat. All the while, I'm dripping sweat like a whore in church! LOL So then I had to go park in short term, missed the entrance the first time, found a place to make a U-turn, took about 15 min. to find a parking spot which I almost had to fight over with another car. Opened the hatch to get her suitcase! OMG that thing almost took my back out. LOL! Struggling to get to her my phone is ringing which I can't get to. Get inside, push her to the kiosk to check in. Wait for the "bag drop" lady to tag her stuff. The big honkin' suitcase was over the weight limit, so I had to throw open the lid, take stuff out, put stuff in, rearrange, and finally got it down to a mere 51 lbs. Next up....security....oh what fun! The one good thing about escorting someone with a disability is that they get to skip line & go through w/o having to wait. Normally, Susan has to be patted down b/c she has a nerve stimulator in her back & it can set off the metal detector. This time she decided to walk through to save time. We were both dying of thirst by the time we got to the gate. She treated me to a frappacinno @ Starbucks. We sat for a bit, chatting about different things. Then, horror struck as I looked down at my nails and saw that the polish was totally messed up. Man! can't a girl get a break. Called the nail salon to let them know that I would be there @ 6pm for a redo on the polish. Left the airport at 5:45pm. I got the nails re-polished (learned that hand lotion can cause nail polish to "melt" b/c of some sort of chemical they put in it) and made plans to meet the guys for dinner. I was totally spent!! I had one more stop to make, a trip to Big Lots for two cricut cartridges that were on sale for a good price. Awww, relief came when I hit my front door and put my pj's on. What a DaY!!!!
Tomorrow, I get to chillax a bit with OBF at the Shores! Later Gators!

sunny CA

I'm here in the sunny state of CA. I came along with a close family friend & also to support a very special friend who is getting married in July. I haven't been away from my family by myself since 2002 when I quit a daycare job & went to visit my mom in Maryland over Memorial Day. That is the last time I went on a trip by myself. Now, I know some may be jealou b/c I don't have a child attached to my hip. YES! it is quite nice. I got to read 5 chapters of a book uninterrupted on the plane ride over here.It was wonderful. I have been doing a lot of reading lately. Mostly trying to read things that will help me listen to God's voice in my life. Currently I am reading "Thats my Son" by Rick Johnson. It is about raising a boy to be a man of character. Its really good@ Anyway, the bridal shower is tomorrow and then Sunday I am hoping to hook up with my cousins at the beach, hopefully in SaMo. Well, pictures will be later. I had hard time trying to decide if I wanted to bring my DSLR but I didn't b/c its quite bulky & I didn't want to fool with it. So I brought along my little handy Sony Cybershot. Okay, enough.....later!
~ard~