It's just a hop, skip and a jump....

From this:

kindergarten picture

To this:

28th birthday

Beth flew home for a visit and to celebrate her birthday. It was so great to see her and our little in utero granddaughter, who was just starting to make her appearance with a cute little baby bump. 

As usual, Bethy ordered NC barbecue and we had a mini feast to celebrate my oldest's birthday.

I made the cake to celebrate.

We all loved having Beth here, but we missed Greg and Bella, who were back in NY holding down the fort.

Elijah got some quality snuggle time.

Beth and Anna have grown extremely close,  partially due to the bonds of motherhood.

And, of course, I absolutely loved having her here!

It was her birthday, but we were the ones who were given the gift of her presence! I so treasure the times I get to see Beth. It's hard to have her in NY and going months without seeing her. That precious little one she's carrying is going to make it that much harder to be so far apart.  The visits pass by way too quickly for my liking. It's still not any easier to drop her off at the airport, it breaks my heart every time!

I love you, Barbara E! My baby you'll always be!

Me and my twin for a day

While digging in my upstairs hall closet a few weeks ago, I discovered a dress that Anna wore when she was little. I had a matching one. I showed it to Abbey and she was thrilled at the prospect of us wearing matching clothes. We wore them to church the other Sunday.

Pretty snazzy pose by Miss Priss

It's so much fun to walk through the stage where she thinks it's neat to dress like her Mom. I'm very much cognizant that the time is coming when she is going to believe it's not cool at all to look anything  remotely like your Mom, or even to be within a few feet of your Mom when in public.

But for now, I'll bask in her unbridled love and affection. I know deep down it will always be there, even when it's not apparent.

And I'll be able to look back to this day, and say, "I remember when!"

Mimi gets to bathe Layne

I had the pleasure of keeping Layne for an extended time while Anna and Jamie went to a concert. We got to bathe her before bedtime.

While Layne wasn't exactly thrilled with it, Abbey and I loved bathing the little cutie!

Close encounters of the scary kind....

Hmm, spring weather, nothing can beat it! I adore the warm, but not too hot, sun, the budding trees and flowers which invite me to stop and admire.

We ventured out to enjoy a lovely spring day with a few friends, a few weeks ago. We went to a nearby park and the kids had a great time playing at the "Castle park". This park has a beautiful lake with an elevated walkway winding over it. The kids made their way down to the lake. They were greatly enjoying the life within the pond. They were scooping tadpoles and other tiny water creatures up and placing them in a bucket. Even Elijah was enjoying himself.

Abbey, of course, inched her way closer and closer to the water.

I was thoroughly enjoying chatting with the other kids' mom, Jody. When Abbey, very calmly but loudly, exclaims, "Wow! There's a snake!" I immediately tell her to back away from the area and I go to investigate. Sure enough, this is what I see.

Abbey wasn't the least bit afraid,(big shock, huh?), but she did obey and back away. I couldn't tell if this bugger was poisonous or not. Needless to say, we all vacated the water and decided it was time to leave.

Checking out the "fishies"

This spring, the UNCW swim team parents held a season-end picnic to honor the team. We traveled to Wilmington to participate. It was supposed to be a fun-outdoor event, but the weather apparently didn't get that memo. It was boo-chilly! Because it was so cold outside, we decided to visit an indoor attraction--the aquarium.

The cake I made to celebrate the swim team.

Abbey was so excited to be able to touch sea creatures. The museum was quite crowded, so we went to the touch tank first.

Elijah, being Elijah, wasn't too keen on touching sea creatures. He's more of a look, but not touch, kind of guy.

up close and personal with an alligator

He did enjoy playing around with the fake crab claws

After the aquarium, we went for a short walk at the beach.

The best part of the whole day, of course, was getting to see and spend time with my D boy! He went with us to the aquarium, beach and then out to eat.

It was a good day!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day, my favorite kind of day!

This year John let me sleep in, and he and his two little helpers brought me breakfast in bed!

Not a very flattering picture of me, but I had just woken up! That's the beauty of being a Mom, kids don't see a haggard old woman, they see their Mommy!

Elijah made me a present in Awanas, along with a card. 

Abbey made me a card.

That's me and Abbey.

Daniel had been to Wilmington and left early in the morning in order to get home in time to go to church with me!

After church, John surprised me and took me to a restaurant that he had heard me say I wanted to go to.

When we got home, Anna, Jamie and this cutie-pie, came over.

They brought me beautiful flowers.

I really missed Beth, John and Greg, but the kids that were here certainly made me feel special. (As well as my sweet hubby!)

Crane perks

There's gotta be a perk or two to go along with your Dad being a crane salesman. Not that those perks are able to be used every day. Rarely do you get to spout your knowledge of the big machinery, thereby impressing folks with your discernment of the various types. Occasionally you get to correct less informed people. Beth was about 2 years old when she emphatically told an adult friend, "That's not a bulldozer, that's a woader!" Every now and again, you get to go with your Dad to a construction site, or another place that uses heavy equipment. But, you have to be careful when you tell one of your Dad's customers that his scrap yard is "dirty". (ahem...John, Jr)

Abbey and Elijah got to enjoy one of the perks a while ago. They got to see a crane up close and see how it worked.

At first, Elijah was afraid, but he quickly warmed up to the noise and enjoyed his perk.

Back in the office, Abbey wanted to try her photography skills.

Whenever we are out, we love to see cranes, especially the red and white kind. It means we will continue to eat and have a roof over our house, and that's my favorite perk!

Great lengths for a ping-pong ball

Early this year, Abbey, Elijah and I went with our homeschool group on a field trip to the Morehead Planetarium. We saw three shows about space. (big surprise, I know).  The shows were well done and kept all of the kids' attention. Afterward they announced that outside of the facility the staff of the planetarium were doing an experiment. It was "experi-minute".  All throughout the state, museums were doing scientific experiments at the same exact time. The planetarium's experiment involved dry ice and an explosion resulting in a projectile of several thousand ping-pong balls.

As soon as we got outside the building, the wind began to blow as the sky began to darken. You could tell the sky was about to fall. The guy demonstrated and talked about what he was going to do.

Abbey watched intently. Elijah, anticipating a loud noise, was secure in my arms.

The wind continued to pick up and it started to sprinkle. Finally they combined the chemicals and

boom! It was raining ping-pong balls.

Right at that moment, it not only rained ping-pong balls, the sky opened and the rain poured down. Not anywhere near a sprinkle, but a gully-washing downpour.

I grabbed Elijah and took off for shelter, figuring that Abbey would follow me. When I got under the porch of the planetarium, I looked behind me, and there was no Abbey. There were about 100 folks gathered on the porch and I didn't see Abbey anywhere. I began to panic, as a Mom does when she's in the middle of a bunch of humanity and can't find one of her little humans anywhere.  One of the Moms in our group noticed my panic. She told me that she saw Abbey down the steps. She yelled for Abbey and my wayward girl made her way to me. She had to walk a bit slow, because her shirt was folded up to make a basket. Inside this makeshift basket was about 30 ping-pong balls! The rain had not fazed her at all, she was all about getting some ping-pong balls. She was soaking wet, from head to toe, but she had her prizes, safe in the confines of her wet shirt!

Such typical Abbey. She knows what she wants and will go for it, no matter if the sky is falling all around her!