Back In The Pink!

Happy Pink Saturday, Ladies! It's been months since I participated in PS and I recently got a few new pink pretties to show you. Don't forget to visit our hostess, Beverly, How Sweet The Sound.

On Monday my sister-in-law Jeri and I had a great day out shopping after meeting our husbands at Bahama Breeze for lunch. It had been way too long since we'd had a girl's day out! Naturally, we simply had to go to Home Goods. I found this gorgeous pink mercury glass urn on a clearance shelf! It's about 20 inches high and maybe 12" across and there wasn't a chip or a mark on it. Don't you wonder why some things end up in clearance? I love it and I think it was a bargain at $15.00. I plan to put it in our family room, probably on the mantle or on the top of one of the bookshelves. Any ideas of anything I could put in it?

I just love these sentiment plaques! I found these at Kohl's in June when I was getting the house ready for the wedding. I especially like the words on these. They don't actually look as pink as they are in the pictures. The wall in this bathroom is raspberry!

What self respecting little princess can go to Disney World without some brand new pink panties sporting princesses and Mickey and Minnie? I found these darling panties for granddaughter Sydney at TJ Maxx this week. Aren't they darling?


What is this pink pillow thing?

Does it look more like something useful turned this side up?

It's a hot pink lap desk for my new lap top!

No News Like Paper News

Hello Blog Friends!

I hope you are all had a wonderful day and are looking forward to fun weekend plans. We had dinner out with some wonderful friends tonight and we definitely won't miss the very last concert in the park of the season on Friday night. We will be spending the rest of our weekend doing the mundane chores of life - lawn work, cleaning bathrooms, floor washing, dusting. But then we also have the fun job of packing for our trip on Tuesday to Disney World with our granddaughter! That's definitely not a mundane chore. It's going to be a short trip so we're not even checking bags.

I'm a true creature of habit. And I have always LOVED reading a good newspaper. Sadly, our major newspapers have all gone under, victims of the economy. We only get local news from the Internet Edition of a combined Detroit Free Press and Detroit News. These two papers used to be two separate power houses of the Detroit Metro area. First they combined forces, trying to save themselves. Now neither of them print a daily newspaper. I think it's terribly sad that kids will grow up without learning the pleasure of sitting down with an actual, physical, newsPAPER to hold in their hands to read from cover to cover. Our youngest generation will never know what it's like to wait for a bowl of popcorn or hot chocolate or a cup of soup - because they can have it heated and in front of them in 2 minutes. They won't learn how to tell time on those great old classroom clocks because the digital numbers flip in front of their little faces. Tie shoes? Not so much since most children's shoes close with Velcro. Knobs are pretty much unimportant since digital push buttons or remote controls take care of the job easy as can be. I know all these things are great time savers. My daughter thinks Velcro shoes for her girls are the greatest invention since sliced bread because it saves her a lot of time when they can put their own shoes on. I get that. I enjoy them as much as anybody, but would it hurt a kid to get up to turn the TV? And do we have to let all the good old traditions fall to the wayside? Come on, no newspaper? No COUPONS? Now I know the world is going to dickens in a hand basket!

Now that I have that little rant off my chest, I want to show you something that is in our online newspaper. It's a picture I took of our granddaughter when she was about two. Click on the link below and scroll down to see the picture entitled Garden Girl. That's my picture.

http://detnews.mycapture.com/mycapture/photos/FImage.aspx?ImageID=602138&EventID=353358&CategoryID=33737&CollectionID=0&Sort=

Have a beautiful weekend, girls!

Houdini Is Alive And Well In Michigan

Need a laugh? Read on. My daughter told me a story that every mother or grandmother will enjoy - and understand.

My daughter Julie and her husband live in a beautiful neighborhood. The homes are gorgeous and the neighbors are wonderful and friendly. They actually have a neighborhood summer block party like days long past. It's a young neighborhood, so there are lots of children. The block party this summer was on Saturday this last weekend. Julie and Mark have two little girls, whom, as you know by now if you have EVER read my blog, are the light of my life. Sydney is 5 and has blond hair long enough to sit on. She is a wild flower child, with plans to save the world and all animals and children in it and she has her own personal and quite vocal campaign against littering. She's kind and gentle, but no push over, thank you very much. She came in crying one day this summer because the senior neighborhood boys of 6 or 7 sent her home because she is still a "baby". Uh, probably won't happen again. She ripped into them with a lecture on how she "simply will not tolerate any boy treating her so disrespectfully". Did I say Sydney is 5 going on 25? And did I say Mimi is still trying not to break in to a full out cheer?

Little Gremlin...uh, I mean Isabelle, just turned 2. She is a short, stocky little body which is in a run at full speed about 99% of the time. She wobbles just a little as she rips around and ALWAYS has a HUGE smile plastered on, showing off a mouthful of adult sized teeth. It must be fun for her just thinking about what she's going to do next! Both of Julie's girls have more hair than the average 21 year old. As Izzy flies by, a thick mop of hair resembling an adult wig (because no 2 year old has that much hair) flips and flops up and down with every bounce. Now that you've got the appropriate visual I'll go back to the neighborhood block party. Julie was so excited to see all of her neighbors and she was thrilled to dress her little girls up and show them off. As always, Sydney and Isabelle looked like little dolls in their frilly outfits. Sydney pranced around with all the elegance a 5 year old can muster, ready to preach about her latest cause, fully prepared to snub the offensive boys. Isabelle sprinted with her typical joy, which simply oozes from the child's pores. Izzy was dressed in a one piece, shoulder to ankle outfit, with snaps up and down both legs. Did I mention that Isabelle has a propensity to remover her diaper? My daughter goes through more duct tape than Builder Bob. Yes, she duct tapes the child's diapers on. As the sweet little family walked along chatting with neighbors their eyes zeroed in on a site they dreaded, though one which had become all too common. A diaper was lying in the grass. Simultaneously, Mark, Julie, and Sydney all gasped and turned their heads toward Isabelle. Oh...what a relief. Nope, no humiliation on this fine sunny Saturday! A neighbor wonders aloud if the diaper could belong to Isabelle (evidently at some point they had seen her in action) and Julie answers with great pride, no ma'am, Isabelle's diaper is duct taped on and not even one snap is undone. No, not my baby, not this time! Izzy zipped out in front of them with her cute little outfit still fully closed, snapped up ankle to waist.

Julie's smile slowly faded as she sees a wet spot spreading down Isabelle's legs and something silver wadded up in her baby's hands. Duct tape. The child is a Houdini.

Julie called me this afternoon with her daily report of who'd fallen down a flight of stairs, who stayed awake until 2:00 am, or perhaps who forced the cat to suck a pacifier. Once in a while every mom just has to use the potty. For some time now Julie has dreaded the inevitable - Isabelle getting out of her crib. For months Isabelle has been able to leap out of her pack and play as soon as her feet hit the mattress with the dexterity of an Olympic track and field star. Today she was placed in her crib for a nap with a clean outfit, a duct taped diaper, a full tummy, a pacifier, and a blankie. Julie ran back downstairs to get a load of laundry out of the drier and ran back upstairs with it. When she carried the laundry in to the master bedroom, there was Isabelle. Stark naked, jumping up and down in the center of Julie and Mark's absolutely enormous bed - Izzy, grin intact. Her clothes and diaper had been thrown in the floor, and I might add it was not a pretty sight. After a three hour clean up, a shopping trip was in order. Have you ever heard of a crib tent? Izzy is sleeping under one tonight. Apparently it is a tent that Velcro attaches to the crib so a child cannot climb out. I'll let you know if Mini Houdini is able to prove a panel of childhood developers wrong.

Mimi and Papa Score Again!

Well, girls, Kathy and Sandy (aka Mimi and Papa) had an exciting week. We made some unexpected travel plans that we are just beside ourselves about! Before we had grandchildren Sandy and I decided we wanted to begin a tradition with the first grandchild and continue it with all to follow. We want to take each grandchild by themselves someplace special during the last year before they begin school. Our very first grandchild, Sydney, turned 5 in March and she will be a big girl kindergarten student on September 8th. We have been wracking our brains for months about where we could take Sydney for her special big girl trip. If you want to hike in a forest, climb a sand dune, sit in a deer blind, or swim in an ice cold lake - well, my friends, Michigan is your state. Since we didn't think any of those ideas were great options for a 5 year old girl, we had to think outside the box. But unfortunately, you can't get too far outside the box without spending a lot of money! What to do, what to do! Sandy and I decided we better get busy and make a decision since we only have two weeks before school starts. Cedar Point is in Ohio and is kind of a favorite for Michiganders so we checked out the rates for their hotel. $240 a night - for OHIO!!! Well, nothing against Ohio, but it seemed to us that those rates were a bit steep for a hotel unless drinks were going to be delivered to us as we languished on a white sand beach staring at a turquoise sea! I decided to check Spirit Airlines one last time to see if we had a chance at taking our girl to a place SHE would truly think exciting.

Oh. My. Goodness.

$54.00 to Orlando!!!

We had our little credit card out so fast you would have thought Zorro was signing out! So as it turns out, Mimi and Papa score once again! We will be taking our girl on her Big Girl Trip to see her man Mickey. Disney World is one of our favorite places on earth so Sandy and I are just so excited we can't stand it. We'll have one day to travel to Orlando and shop at Down Town Disney, which is a shopping mall owned by Disney right across from the park. It's lots of fun and we never leave without a stuffed animal or two for our girls. Then we'll have three days at the parks - 2 1/2 days at the Magic Kingdom and half a day at EPCOT. Then we will spend most of the last day swimming and resting and checking out our hotel, Disney's Music. That evening we have tickets for the first day of the Magic Kingdom's "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party". The kids dress up and trick or treat as they go into rides. There's special music and fireworks. We'll close the park down at midnight, then crash for a final night and fly home the next morning. Just 5 days, but a big memory in the making. CeeKay, your going to have to MAKE me create a scrapbook for Sydney (you know I won't do it if you don't keep nudging me). Sydney does not know about her trip yet. Her Mom and Dad are graciously waiting for us to be able to tell her. I had a bit of a bug this week so we will get to tell her tomorrow. Can't wait! You may be thinking that Disney World is not a very affordable place even with a $54 flight. Yup, you'd be right. Disney's ticket prices are really outrageous and unfortunately out prices a lot of families. But, YEA! We already have tickets! They're old ones, but Disney tickets are never outdated. And since we are staying at a Disney hotel they are picking us up at the airport and delivering us back at the end of our trip free of charge so we don't need to rent a car. We'll just ride the Disney transportation around the park for shopping and eating. Sandy got a great discount rate for the hotel too, since we're going at a time most of the country is already in school. So you see, it really will be a fairly affordable trip. Score!

I hope all of you had something exciting happen to you this week too!

2nd Hand Tuesday

Diane, A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words, is hosting "2nd Time Around Tuesday. Participants post things they have found at garage sales, flea markets, estate sales, thrift shops, etc. Make sure to stop by to see what wonderful things a lady with a thrifty, keen eye can find!

*****

I"d like to show you this pitcher I found at a thrift shop about 20 years ago. The shop was closing and almost everything had been sold. But this wonderful old pitcher was waiting for me!

My husband and I found this chair at a subdivision wide garage sale in the sub we live in. It was a hideous brown and the fabric and pad were awful! The people wanted to close up shop so they gave it to me for $5.00. I ripped the seat off and primed and painted the chair white, then covered new upholstery foam with this rose print. It's one of my favorite refurbishing projects!

Baby, I'm Back!

Oh, how I have missed blogging! In spite of the fact that I needed to eliminate the time it takes to consistently post for the last couple of months, I really missed it and all of you who faithfully read Mimi's Garden. I did steal a few minutes now and then to read some of your wonderful posts.

It's been an incredibly busy and though happy things have happened, stressful summer. I love summer and long for it so much over our long northern winters. I love sunning and walking and traveling and cooking out and just relaxing and enjoying our short window of summer. But life happens and you have to do what you have to do. Our sons wedding was wonderful but I was so exhausted by the time it was here that I was just ill. Everything was perfect and the reception was SO much fun! We danced and danced and just enjoyed being together for one of those rare family moments you know you will always treasure. I am incredibly proud of my son and daughter-in-law. They did created a fabulous wedding reception almost entirely on their own with great success! I posted pictures of the preparations, the wedding, and reception in early July but lots of you have asked to see wedding pictures so I re-posted them yesterday for those of you who missed them the first time. The kids left for their honeymoon several days after the wedding. They flew to Rome for several days of sightseeing and then took a week long Mediterranean cruise to Greece, Sicily, and Turkey. They had a fabulous time and did some wonderful shopping! While they were gone. Hubby and I still had my family visiting all week - my parents, my sister and brother. We were just thrilled that my parents could be here for their grandson's wedding, but it was just so sad for all of us to see my father so much worse than he was at Christmas. It was an ordeal that took us months to iron our the details for us to get them here with his medical needs (and gladly done I want to add) and a terrible ordeal for them to fly here alone. The day my family left to go home, Thursday after the wedding, I had a treatment. Hubby dropped me off at the chemo clinic and then went back to take them to the airport. I had a day or two to lay low, then we left on Sunday for Florida. Now this was definitely the highlight of the summer, as it always is for us. Sandy (Hubby) and I had a wonderful, wonderful three weeks on the beach. With none of our kids and grandkids with us, we walked on the beach and rested in the sun. It seemed so different than it usually is because we were alone. We missed our family and talked a lot about the things we have loved doing with the grandbabies, but it was wonderful and good for us to have this down time together. As they say, all good things must come to an end. We came home from Florida and barely had time to sort our mail and do our laundry before we left for Tennessee to spend about ten days with my parents. My father is in the final stages of pulmonary fibrosis - a terrible, terrible disease. Our daughter and granddaughters spent the time there with us. Our son-in-law had to drive home after the first weekend there in order to work. So Julie and the girls rode home with us usually an 8 1/2 - 9 hour trip which turned out to be 12 hideous hours! Little girls just need to stop a lot when traveling by car and then of the babies started throwing up about half way home. Oh, my gosh, what a trip! But we're all home now and everyone is well. We're full circle, back to treatment day today!

******************

I've gotten a few wonderful gifts this summer that I'm excited to show you:

During the winter Sandy and I joined a gym and he wanted an armband style radio to wear while exercising. I bought him one of these handy dandy little Sony numbers. He LOVED it. So just before we left for Florida he went out to do errands and came home with one to match for me! It is fabulous and we both used them a lot while on the beach and even at night in bed. We had to laugh at ourselves, finding good stations and telling each other "go to this station", "listen to this" every few minutes - while lying right next to each other!

***

While in Florida my sweet husband bought me this beautiful silver bracelet. It has lots of charms and glistening beads dangling from it.

***

When we were all home from our respective trips after the wedding our son and daughter-in-law gave us the gifts they brought us from the Mediterranean. A gorgeous watercolor of the Parthenon from Athens...

***

An pure white alabaster statue of the Athena, Goddess of Wisdom from Greece (wisdom...think they're trying to tell us something???)

***

This gorgeous plate came from Ephesus, Turkey. How did they know I just really NEEDED another plate for our lavender guest room!

***

An eyeglass case beautifully stitched with colorful and gold threads from Turkey for me...

***

While in Tennessee I needed to find a gift for one of our nephews who recently graduated from college. Right next to the leather store I was shopping in was a Coach store. Now I have never had a Coach product before but my friend CeeKay is a Coach magnet! She has encouraged me to join the club for years. So when I saw the store I immediately decided to treat myself to a replacement wallet for the one that was falling apart in my purse. I found a hot pink (what else?) wallet and withing 10 minutes I was back in the car with my wonderful purchase. Proud of me CeeKay?

***

Finally, what every blogger girl needs! My husband surprised me with a wireless laptop! Blogging joy everywhere I go!

***************************

Now that I am back home for the foreseeable future I plan to gradually get back into blogging. I need to do some serious cleaning up of my page and stop by to visit each of you!

May each of you have a perfectly wonderful new week!

Wedding Pictures

Lots of you have asked to see the wedding pictures from June. I posted them in early July but here they are again! I'll be back tomorrow afternoon with a new post. Until then...

Thursday, June 18, the work began! My faithful crew of helpers arrived at the church to decorate for the wedding early in the day and we worked all day, finally satisfied our magic was complete by 6:00 pm.

My mother works her pew bow magic...

My sister-in-law and brother-in-law help out...

I'm beginning to work on the arbor...phew!

My sweet hubby does everything he can to help out...

The groom stops by to check it all out...

Ahhh...my work is done!

Friday evening was the wedding rehearsal and then a wonderful Italian dinner at our favorite restaurant. A fabulous time was had by all!

Daughter Julie and her oldest daughter...

The wedding day was warm and beautiful. Our granddaughter Sydney was an excited little flower girl!

The ceremony and the happy bride and groom...the ceremony was beautiful.

Under my creation after the ceremony...

My side kick and best helper in the world, my sister-in-law Jeri and I.

The reception was SO much fun! The bride chose a darling little cake with a whimsical topper and gorgeous and delicious individual cakes covered in shaved white chocolate.

The centerpieces...

The grooms cake...

The first dance...

Mother and son...

Parents of the groom...

After all the official dances and cake cutting, fun was had by all!!!

Papa and granddaughter Izzy...

The groom shows off a little!

"Mimi" and Isabelle, our second granddaughter...

Our son-in-law Mark and his youngest have a dance...

"Papa" and Sydney twirl around the dance floor...

Good friends and good times...

At the end of the day, family memories were made and the bride and groom were off on a honeymoon to Rome and Greece. My out of town family, who had traveled to Michigan from California, Tennessee, and Florida stayed until Thursday. We had a wonderful Father's Day together, especially poignant since my father is quite ill. We were blessed to be together. Our prayers are that our son and brand new daughter-in-law have a long and happy marriage. May each of you and your families be blessed with special memories and wonderful occasions!