Making Memories Weekend!

Hey everyone!  From what I've been seeing, this past weekend was a wonderful one for many -- celebrating and remembering our own fallen heroes and the ones we are lucky enough to still have with us, and making new family memories.  For our family, it was all about spending as much time as possible with our "soon-to-be-moving" son and family.  We had wonderful times and created some wonderful memories, and I tried to record as much of it as I could.  The children were pretty indulgent of Nana and her camera, but they got goofy here and there, but I was perfectly okay with them just being themselves.  Hope you don't mind if I share some of the sweetness.

Friday Nite Neighborhood Pizza Party!

Michael built a pizza oven in his backyard and has been the Pizza Man for many neighborhood parties.  He has always been very patient about allowing his children to help in the kitchen (from a very young age) and learn the correct way to do things.  Here are his older children, Parker & Phoebe, helping make the sauce for the pizzas.

Uh oh, Boppa is a horsey!

Chef Phoebe -- that rascally brother is up to something!

Hmmm.......Parker, the "Macho" chef!

Sunday was a barbecue at our house!

We went to the park and then to the pool!

The water was so refreshing!

Monkey see, monkey do!  I could wallpaper a room with this one -- I love it that much!

Memorial Day -- Chili and cornbread at our son's home.

Everyone was really humoring Nana's request for pictures for fear she might burst into tears 

at any moment!

Dad and his crew!  

This makes me so happy!  It will probably also make me cry, but for now, it makes me happy!

Just "chillaxing" after a fun, but very busy weekend.

Our son left early Tuesday morning and began his new job today.  Cannot wait to hear all about it!

Hope y'all are having a great week!

No, No, Not the Lemon!

Hey everyone and Happy Early Memorial Day Weekend!  We are off to a little party tonight and I made this recipe for Lemon Brownies and wanted to share.  They are so good and super-easy!  I think the reason they are called brownies is because they are kind of dense like a chocolate brownie.

The original source for this recipe is Rita May at Rita's Recipes.  I actually tripled the recipe, because there will be quite a crowd at this party.  The only thing I did differently was add just a pinch of salt to both the brownie batter and then also to the glaze.  I just think anything this sweet is enhanced with just a bit of salt.  I used a 12 x 16 cake pan (remember, I tripled the recipe) and lined it with parchment paper.  I didn't need to grease the pan or the paper and was able to simply lift the entire thing out of the pan when cool, glaze it and then cut into squares.

Just look at all that lemony goodness!

I hope everyone is having wonderful weather (ours is a tad warm but not too bad) and gearing up for great family memories this weekend.  Be safe, y'all, and remember what this holiday is all about.

California Cruising!

Hey everyone!  I'm back and feeling much better after a bit of a get-away with my sweetie.  We did a bit of "California Cruising" in the form of a road trip.  We only made one reservation ahead of time and that was for our first night.  We wanted to stay in Carpinteria, and it did not disappoint on the "cute and quaint" scale.  It's only about 15,000 population, but goes the extra mile in making your stay memorable and making you want to go back.

We typically look for Best Westerns, because they are generally clean and pretty well cared for, but this was definitely not your typical Best Western.  From the minute we entered to check in, we were made to feel so special and this place was oozing in charm.  We quickly booked another night!

My Reality Right Now is Bitter-Sweet

Hey everyone!  I truly hope every woman out there, whether you are a "Mother" or not, has had a wonderful Mother's Day.    My day was both happy and sad.  We had initially been invited to our son's home, and he would have cooked something fabulous and our sweet dil would have made a delicious dessert.  But then, almost in the blink of an eye, things changed.  They all came here, and I cooked a favorite family meal for them.  This is where the "bitter-sweet" comes into play.  This will probably be the last time for quite awhile, that I get to do this for them.  They are in the throes of packing and getting ready for a new adventure in their lives.  They will be leaving the AZ desert and moving to the East coast where "Chefy Son" has a new job.

The Man and I are proud of both of our children and have always wanted only the best for them.  As parents of adult children, you have no control (nor should you) and can only hope that you've given them good advice and guidance over the years.  We have been blessed over the last couple of years to have lived only forty minutes away from our children and have known the great joy of being able to spend many happy times with either or both of their families.  It's pretty easy to get in-a-rut and think everything will remain the same, but that is so unrealistic.

My reality right now is that I am going to miss this sweet family

 so much and ...........

these precious little ones more than I can express.

My reality right now is that I better get good at Face-Time because this 3-year old 

is changing almost daily, and .........

This 5 1/2 year old will need to show me more missing teeth in the near future!

My reality right now is "trying" to be unselfish in knowing the Littles' other grandmother is going to have them close now for awhile.

My reality right now is that even in the midst of his chaotic life, Michael was thinking about

his Momma and brought me these beauties.

My reality right now is being married to the sweetest and most generous man, who has already promised me lots of visits to the East coast.

I actually held up pretty well on a day that could have been rife with emotions and sadness.  Instead, we just enjoyed each other's company, discussed immediate and future plans, and were thoroughly entertained by Little Miss and Littlest Miss.  It was really a very nice Mother's Day.

However, my reality right now is telling me I need to take a "bloggy" break.  I'm very much in need of some down-time and an opportunity to recharge, but I will be back!  Take good care of

yourselves while I am away!

Pt.5 Oh Happy Day!

Hey everyone!  Breath deeply and sigh......this is the final post about my craft room!  Well, okay, I should maybe add, "unless I get some major hair-brained idea to make more changes down the road!"  Whew -- now I'm covered!  Once again, lots going on in this last and final area;  but before we get started, just in case you missed any of the others, they are:  HERE for Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3, and Pt.4.

I made a lot of changes to this Expedit, both in the cubbies and on top.

Cuteness & Sweetness, Oh My!

Hey everyone, and happy Saturday!  I just had to do a quick post and share.  Our son and his little daughter, aka: Little Miss, attended a "Daddy-Daughter Ball" last night.  It was an event created by Little Miss's Girl Scout Daisy group.  

All dressed up in her Cinderella Ball Gown!

Don't you just love those gold gloves?

Awww........can you stand it?

Love that corsage!

The perfect pair!

Thanks for letting me share some super-cuteness with y'all this morning.  Hope you have a

wonderful weekend.  We are due to hit "100" today or tomorrow -- YIKES!