Catching Up

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May?  And now, it's almost September?  Really??  Yep.  That's what happens when this happens.

Add a lot of

, ~ a little and, unfortunately, a fair dose of

and wow, yep, it IS almost September!  I'm getting healthy and ready for fall - hope you are, too!  It will be a new season in many ways!

Mr. Matt Turns Three!

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A new month, another birthday to celebrate - yes, that's the way it is this time of year for Mimi.  Today is our Matthew's third birthday, and what a terrific three-year-old he is!  Again, I am amazed at how quickly the years are passing.

 

Happy, happy birthday, dear Matthew - you are our big boy, and we love you so very much!

And, a "birthday" poem for you, sweet Matt...

"Noise Day"

Let’s have one day for girls and boyses
When you can make the grandest noises.
Screech, scream, clang a bell,
Sneeze– – hiccup– – whistle– – shout,
Laugh until your lungs wear out,
Toot a whistle, kick a can,
Bang a spoon against a pan,
Sing, yodel, bellow, hum,
Blow a horn, beat a drum,
Rattle a window, slam a door,
Scrape a rake across the floor,

Use a drill, drive a nail,
Turn the hose on the garbage pail,
Shout Yahoo– – Hurrah– – Hooray,
Turn up the music all the way,
Try and bounce your bowling ball,
Ride a skateboard up the wall,
Chomp your food with a smack and a slurp,
Chew– – chomp– – hiccup– – burp.
One day a year do all of these,
The rest of the days– – be quiet please.
                --- Shel Silverstein

(Well, maybe not...) :)

Happy Birthday, Abbycadabra!

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It is so hard to believe that 5 years ago, I became a Mimi!  Yes, indeed, it is our dear Miss Abigail's 5th birthday!!  In the blink of an eye...

My sweet Abby - you and your "magic hugs" that are meant to last until we see each other again - bring to mind this poem which is a favorite of mine and is a "gift" to you today.  Happy birthday, Abby!  Mimi loves you :)

Hug-o'-War

I will not play at tug o' war.
I'd rather play at hug o' war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.

       --Shel Silverstein

If It's Monday, I Must Be in...

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I literally have been living out of a suitcase the last few weeks...well, ok, my Land's End totes.  It's soccer season; we have three adorable grandchildren; and our oldest daughter had to be hospitalized with an overlooked kidney infection.  From one day to the next, I have been swapping out hats - soccer Mom, Mimi, and Mom....hence, no time for this.  But here's a glimpse of what life has been like :)

One special little girl had her first day of Preschool Pre-K (I stand corrected - there is a big difference!). 

This little one melts my heart whenever she looks at me - as do her brother and sister, of course :)

Ladies, listen to your bodies and allow your bodies to override what doctors may try to tell you (my daughter was told for two days - and then into a weekend - that she had an ovarian cyst...and then a "very large" ovarian cyst when she tried to explain she was getting worse....real diagnosis ended up being a kidney infection which of course, was raging by the time it was caught so she ended up being hospitalized).  And moms, follow up on your gut instincts when you're in the ER with your daughter and son-in-law with a "breeze in and breeze out" ER doc and speak up if the diagnosis doesn't jive with the symptoms....believe me, it will save you a lot of mommy-guilt later on :/  Yes, mommy-guilt follows you no matter the age.

Ah, and take a look at this yummy dish.

And seems so easy-peasy, too.  And, I tried it out for hubby and myself - so, yes, it is pretty easy-peasy...I do recommend increasing the ricotta mixture a bit as even with measuring the 1/4 cup per noodle, there was not enough to do 8 roll-ups.  

HOWEVER, I do NOT recommend selecting this recipe to prepare for 36 college soccer players and their coach unless you are better at time management than I am....long story short:  one pan of roll-ups, 3 pans of caprese lasagna, dinner arrives 30 minutes late, team still delightfully happy and gracious.  Whew!

Soccer season is in full swing...

Making jewelry?  Must find time...must find time...

On the road again...

Monday Mail!

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I promised to explain why (well, at least one reason) I had been AWOL and there she is!  Our sweet, oldest granddaughter came to her very first "Grandparents' Summer Camp" - a whole week away from Mommy, Daddy, and her little brother and little sister and a whole week of fun with Mimi and Seanathair (Irish for "grandfather").  Abby is a very grown-up 4-years-old now, but we were all still a little tentative as to how the week would go as this was the longest she had ever been away from home - some overnights, of course, with her Grandma and Papa who live a few blocks away, but not a whole week - and "so far" away!  But, Miss Abby, except perhaps for this one "Kodak moment," was like the Energizer Bunny and kept us all going, going, going so we don't think she had time for any homesickness - that, and the wonder of Skype, of course!

And, I was so excited when the mail arrived today as I had made photo books of our camp week (one that I'll be taking down to Miss Abby this week!).  I think you can see how much fun we had :)

Click here to view this photo book larger

Build your own high-quality photo books at Shutterfly.com.

According to her Mommy, our camper is already planning her next summer!

 

Wordless Wednesday

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Nellie Bean!

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I've been a little busy lately - I think you can see why.  I am now officially "Mimi 3" as last Friday we welcomed little "Nellie Bean" into the family.  That's her nickname per her mommy and daddy (my oldest daughter and son-in-law) who, along with the rest of her doting relatives are mesmerized by her adorable petite self.  Nellie Edith really isn't that tiny of a baby, weighing in at 7 lbs., 2.6 oz. but on just 19" when compared with her "taller" siblings she does seem just a bit of a thing.

This amazing smile was captured by her daddy during their first night at the hospital -- they know it has to be just "gas" but still, isn't it absolutely precious?  And Nellie was so alert that first day (and night, according to her parents - no sleep for them!).  She finally decided that it was okay to enjoy peace on earth and take some zzz's her second day when she did sleep most of the day.

Nellie is a bright light to our family at this time of year, and her name especially tugs at my heart -- she is named after my father's mother.  Dad's birthday (and the four-year anniversary of his unexpected passing) was this past Sunday - just two days after Nellie's birth.  She  is welcomed at home by my other two precious grandchildren - Abby and Matthew who are already proving to be loving and helpful big sister and big brother.  I think you can tell I adore all of them so very much, but now, whenever, I look at Nellie, I will also be remembering treasured memories with my dad - what a joyful gift! 

Wordless Wednesday

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Ok...cheating because her writing is kind of faint, but this is Abby's pic of the three of us - Mimi, Abby, and Seanathair.  In the first draft, I didn't have any arms.  She showed it to her Mom and said, "Look, Mommy, this is Seanathair.  This is me. And this is Mimi. Oh, Mimi doesn't have any arms.  I have to fix that."  And off she ran, back to the drawing board, so to speak.  We received the finished masterpiece. :)

I often feel like I've lost my head...not my arms though.  Glad she put them back on.

Monday Mothers

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Thanks to the 'mother of technology,' I am writing this post from my questionably smart phone - which of course means it will take me longer to compose, even longer to proof, and an increased likelihood of errors upon publication. Let's just say autocorrect and I have a bad history.

As you know, I am a mom. This morning I am sitting at the hospital bedside of my oldest daughter, another mom. My sweet baby (because you Moms know they will always be our babies no matter how old they get and especially at their most vulnerable) has been here since yesterday morning, 33 weeks pregnant with baby #3. Dr. tells us baby is doing fine and labor does not appear to be the issue,  but my girl is having overwhelming waves of abdominal cramping (labor pain without the labor - which is a good thing as it is too early for this baby to be making an appearance, yet a 24 + hour round practice isn't doing my 'baby' any good).

As a Mom, I want to make this stop, I want the answers that aren't there (labs are good...maybe a kidney stone. ..maybe the baby in a position pushing on the wrong nerves...). As a Mom, my heart breaks for my child in pain, my daughter in frustration and exhaustion. But also as a Mom, I see the woman beside me as a strong mother herself, breathing through the pain, finding focus in her faith and in her family at home and in the strong heartbeat of the child within her.

2 mothers on a rainy Monday morning, hoping for a break in the clouds soon.

P.S.  Weather update: some sunshine ahead. Dr. says our girl is clear to go home this morning. As the experienced mom-to-be said,"I'm still miserable, but now that I know the baby is ok, I'd rather go home and be miserable."

Friday Feature - Happy Birthday, Matthew!

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This has been another birthday week in Mimi World - our "little" Matthew turned 2 - wow, where did the last two years go?  Matthew has been his own little man from day one as you can tell from his "newborn" photo shoot - take a look at these! 

We called him "little old man" from some of those looks.  Of course, now he's a big two-year-old and still has some favorite looks, but the one that melts my heart is the great "cheesy" smile.  I have a feeling that one will be around for a long time :)

We love you, Matthew! Happy birthday from Mimi and Seanathair!

Another Love Day

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The 14th of February isn't the only celebration of love in this month for our family.  Today is the birthday of our first and very special granddaughter, Miss Abigail Elizabeth - turning 4, going on 30 some days, insisting that she is turning 5.  We celebrated her birthday this past weekend with a big family party, a "Tangled" theme, based on the Disney movie version of Rapunzel.  Abby is very much "into" all of the Disney princesses at this point in her life....you can see she wears the part well as she is receiving her "princess chariot" from Seanathair (hubby) - her name for him (Irish for "grandfather").

I have to share the following the conversation which for me was the funniest part of the whole party, a big gathering with family members from both sides of the family tree.  Before the gift opening, I was sitting at a small table with hubby, my mother, and our youngest daughter.  Abby came over with her cousin (from the other side of the family tree) in tow, almost a year older who was saying, "Abby, I don't know these people."  Abby smiled, pointed around our table and introduced us to her cousin, "This is Mimi; this is Seanathair; this is Tia; and this is Gigi."  Cousin Ann quickly took Abby's hand again and said, "C'mon, Abby, let's go."  When they left, "Tia," (aka Soccer Girl, Goalie Daughter - Abby's Aunt) burst out laughing and said, "Do you realize how that probably sounded? Mimi, Seanathair, Tia, and Gigi? What kind of names are those?" By then we were all laughing, realizing why Ann had made a hasty retreat and I said, "Stranger danger, no doubt with those names!"  But then we decided we really like our special names, our "stand-out" titles -- and Abby was certainly very proud to introduce us.  Smiles all around.

Happy birthday, Abby!

THANKFUL THURSDAY

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Well, it's no secret what I'm giving thanks for today! :)  What a shower of blessings my dear granddaughter has been and continues to be every single day ~ I am amazed at how quickly the past year as gone by.  It really does seem like just yesterday that I was holding her in my arms, just hours after her birth, my heart filled with overwhelming joy and love.  That love and joy grows each day as I see her grow ~ and I celebrate her birthday today knowing that Abigail Elizabeth is a special, wonderful little girl, dearly loved by many.  Happy Birthday, Abby!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

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