Sweetheart Turns 50

Sweetheart turned 50 last week and on Saturday I surprised him with a party. It was very small...just family, but boy, I got him good! That is not an easy feat! Our son had called him over to his house to work on the motorcycle (THAT is another post....my son's motorcycle!). Once he left, the kids and I got the decorations going and all the guests arrived.As he drove down the road, we were all standing on the corner with posters and banners waving and screaming....my mom even did a cheer!!! He was so shocked! It was awesome. His mom and I had been planning this for a few weeks. (A blow up walker for the aged!)

We cooked steaks on the grill. My mother in love (who somehow avoided the camera) made the best potato salad, I made macaroni salad and my sister made a hot potato dish to die for! We had baked beans, fruit, a watermelon, and German chocolate cake. Also, ice cream floats with root beer, orange soda or grape soda. All great food! My mom cooked on the grill so that was a blessing!We had all kinds of kids running around. What is a party without kids??I saw Zach and Casey out by the curb doing something that looked interesting. When I got out there I found out they were "burning an ant with a magnifier".Geez! That kid!!!

Sweetheart opened his gifts and read his funny cards.Yes....that is a mohawk on TJ's head. Don't ask. The reality is, he is still cute!

I did not do 50 candles....We would have had the fire dept. here!Notice who is in Zach's arms....he reminds me of that cartoon character on Tiny Toons...Elmira. She gets a hold of Bugs and holds him tight saying, "I'm gonna hug em and squeeze em and kiss em and pet em and love em......" Yep, that is Zach with Sassy.

It was a great day for Sweetheart.

My mom and Emmie stood out front waving goodbye to everyone.

By the end, we were all stuffed to the gills and tired. Everyone slept great last night!!

Even Sass was wiped out!!!!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day!!!

Folk Art Flowers

Rose Marie finally received her giveaway prize from me. It took about 6 weeks! Longer than I anticipated, but I put more into it than I expected also. It is hand appliqued and hand quilted with double crosshatching. I LOVE double crosshatching. Someday, I want to do an entire quilt with it....maybe my Masterpiece quilt will be double crosshatched!Anyway, it is done and received and I am happy.

Today we visited a private school for Zachary. We loved it and it is a pretty big certainty that he will attend in the fall. It is also connected with a home school co-op so one day a week Charlotte and I will go for a few hours and she will take some classes. They have a summer camp on Wednesdays throughout the summer and Zach will be attending that also. You should have seen him today when he walked into the full sized gym...."I never saw a real basketball court before." He was so excited. Both kids participated in the gym class....dodge ball, and also the little devotion they had before the class. I got to meet a couple of home school moms. That was thrilling since the only ones I know are online. I look forward to that one day a week there myself.

Charlotte is just about done with her 6th grade curriculum. Zach is just a tad behind in a couple of subjects, but I told him he could work til it was done and then his summer break would start. The private school is a year round program so he will go part time from 8-11 even in the summer starting next year.

My garden is looking good. I have watered it everyday except yesterday when it rained in the afternoon. I was not too clear (figure that!) about my soil. It is a rich, nice soil, but when I said it was like sand, I meant it was "like" sand.....so dry it was a powder. Once it was watered, it was like potting soil. We have great soil in Northern Illinois for growing gardens.....lots of great farms around here. Let's see if I can become one of those farmers!

Today I am getting caught up on housework. Washing rugs and hanging them out. I have the hardwood floor to wash. Tomorrow is Sweetheart's birthday. He will be 50!!! I told him I would officially be married to an old man! Of course I reminded him that I am still in my 40's for several months and he would have to wait to know what that feels like to be married to someone "old". I figured I would get all the housework done today, so tomorrow we could enjoy his birthday. Actually I am going grocery shopping tomorrow and have bunco tomorrow night. He would not let me change anything, but we are celebrating his day on Saturday with our kids, oldest son and the grandkids. I hope it is a nice day for him.

Well, I am off to get the floor done!! Have a blessed day!

Gardening?

Anyone who knows me a little bit, knows I am no gardener. I want to be one....desperately. In my zeal to be a gardener, Sweetheart gave me a piece of land behind the garage. It measures 14' 3" by 3' 10". Very long and narrow. A difficult plot to garden. I have repeatedly asked him to extend my garden. Imagine my thrill when he came home from his mom's house and had a rototiller in the back of the van. I was CERTAIN he was going to extend my garden out. No. Such. Luck. Why is he so hard on this? Well, because, like I said, I am not good at it. He did make me a deal. If I tend this little plot of land and do well at it, he will extend the garden NEXT year. You see, he ends up out there weeding and caring for it because, frankly, I lose interest. I know, I know...I've heard it all from him! So this year I am going to prove myself. I planted all my plants yesterday.

2 Better Boy Tomato plants, 1 Grape Tomato plant.....I thought I bought BIG boy, but read the tag wrong. Now I don't have a clue what a "Better Boy" is....

I also planted a cucumber plant. And 2 Bell Pepper plantsLet me say, when I started, that soil was so dry and hot, it was like sand. I gave it a really good soaking. I decided to wait until this morning to plant the seeds I bought, because the soaking may have washed the seeds away. I was glad I waited. This morning that moist soil was full of big fat earth worms. Perfect!! I let them know I was grateful they came to do their job! I planted 2 three foot long rows of lettuce..........and 2 rows of onions. I could not find onion sets ANYWHERE. I guess I was too late.So it is all in and ready to deliver some wonderful salads to our dinner table this summer.What will I get if I take care of it properly and become a REAL gardener???Sweetheart will extend the garden out to where the lattice ends.....that will make my garden 14' 3" by 10' 10". BIG difference. I am already planning it all out. I know I will want a raspberry bush in there!!!

Other than that, I am staying inside. It has been record breaking heat here the last couple of days. I am doing laundry and hand quilting this afternoon. I was able to sit out on the back deck and read my Bible with a cup of coffee before it got too bad out there. I love Proverbs....you just know God has some wit about Him. Sassy is staying cool too. She sits at the window when we are all outside and meows.....I am not sure any noise comes out, because she does her "silent cry" when she wants something. Full fledged meow, but no sound.She is such a dolly. For someone who is not a "cat person" I sure am crazy about her!

Thanks for visiting. I am off to switch the laundry around and grab my quilting!

Blogging

Things here are smoothing out a bit. Lots of "news". I will share that my son and his wife have put their divorce on "hold" for 6 months and will be seeking help to put their marriage back together. They are still separated, but working toward living under one roof again by August. No need to put the kids through it all over again if things are not repairable. I can't even talk about it anymore. It is such a roller coaster of emotions. *deep breath*

I have had readers from Pieces From Me asking other blog owners about me....4 in one week....so I decided to post on the old blog that I have a new address. If you came over from that, know if there was any way I could have let you know sooner, I would have. Again, dealing with so much loss....well I hope you understand. I hope you will like it here as much as I do.
I also started a whole new blog. It is called "The Face of Trauma" and is a private blog. If you wish to read it just throw me an email with a return email address and I will send you an invite IF I know who you are. If I do not know you, I would need to check out your blog if you have one and make sure you are trustworthy. There is much posted there that will be sensitive. EDIT: PLEASE mention The Face of Trauma blog by name in your email request, cause I have confused myself not knowing if people coming from Pieces From Me want the Life With A Little Sass address, or readers here wanting to be invited to the Trauma blog. Most emails are saying "I want to read your new blog"....see how I confused myself here??? LOL Thanks!!
I guess that is all for now. It is in the 90's here today and very humid. Our air conditioner is humming nicely and it is comfortable in the house. I plan to stay put today and get some more hand quilting done.
Have a blessed Lord's Day!!!!

Teen Heart Throbs

My daughter has a "heart throb". It is the same heart throb every other 13 year old American girl has right now. Justin Bieber. He reminds me so much of my own teen heart throb, Donny Osmond. Even their hit songs have the EXACT same message. A teen boy who wants back the girl he "loves".

And I HAD to share my ALL time favorite Donny song. I would lay on my bed and play this song over and over again.......sigh.

Who was your teen heart throb????

Quilting and Kids

The title of my post contains my 2 favorite things!! Quilting on the Hidden Star has started. I am afraid it will not be the enjoyable experience I anticipated. The quilting does not show up on the busy-ness of the fabric. Once it is finished the texture will be striking as it will be pretty heavily quilted, but during the process, there will not be much pay off.

I had the grandbabies over the weekend. They spent Friday night here and on Saturday, Bud took all the older kids (TJ, Kyle, Charlotte, and Zach) bowling while Emerson took her nap. We also did a bit of puppy sitting for the neighbor.
Lambeau is a boxer/beagle....a boogle. He is sitting so nice there waiting for TJ to throw that toy, but don't let that fool you! He is a bundle of energy. One of those pups that runs with his tongue hanging out and waving in the wind!! The kids enjoyed him for the afternoon.
The sandbox is a big hit here. I almost got rid of it this year but I am glad I didn't.TJ is doing great in baseball. I can not believe how big he is getting. He will start school in the fall.Emerson is talking like crazy. She calls me "ma". Too lazy to say Grandma. She kept saying, "mon ma, play." translated, "Come on Grandma, play with me." I could not resist her!I also debated on whether or not to move the swing set to my son's yard! Just when I think I should, this happens.Maybe next year.
I was able to finish Rose Marie's giveaway prize. Yes, it took a looong time. I pray she thinks it was worth the wait. I will show a picture after she gets it. It will go out tomorrow. I could not get a decent pic anyway. Look what happens when I lay it out......That is all for now. Have a blessed hump day!!!

Lunch at Anderson Gardens

Yesterday my mom took me to lunch at Anderson Japanese Gardens.
It is such a beautiful place. We had a table right next to a floor to ceiling window. This was our view while we ate lunch. Forgive the glare on the window.It was breathtaking and so peaceful! Diet coke in goblets and look at my Mandarin Salad.....It was HUGE and So good!!! Mom had the chicken salad on a croissant, which she said was just as good.It was such a treat to go there. One of my favorite lunches with mom to date!On the quilting front, I thought I would share a "peek" of the miniature I am getting ready to bind. Lots of quilting on this thing, but it was so worth it!I said a "peek".....;)
The grandkids come today for an overnight so not sure what else will be on the agenda....playing with TJ and Emerson is the priority!
Have a blessed weekend!!!