Goodbye April

I can't believe it is April 30th.  I just realized that I forgot to post my goals for this April.  Oh well, maybe next month.  Today is my mother-in-law's 91 birthday.  Last year we had a big party for her 90th, but this year we just took her out to brunch with my brother in law.  We went to a cool place, Cafe Madeline in the Piper Palm House.  It's in Tower Grove Park here in St. Louis, and it is used for events and receptions, but it has a brunch on Sunday mornings.  She really liked it because she used to play in Tower Grove Park as a child.  Below is a picture of her meeting her new great granddaughter, and a couple of pictures of the Piper Palm House.

Another Pretty in Pink

Stephanie at 3 months in a new pink dress.

She seems to like her new dress.

It tastes good, too!

I'm linking up to Pink Saturday on How Sweet The Sound
 

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

Wordless Wednesday

Bloom!

We've had cooler weather and lots of rain for the past week, which has helped our yard green up and flowers bloom.

 I'm linking up to Mosaic Monday on Little Red House--still trying to figure out how to grab her button to lead people back to her blog.
 http://www.dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

Grand Girls in Pink

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

The top picture is of our newest grand baby in pink, then a picture of my grand kids waiting for dinner at Lulu's in Gulf Shores last May.  We will be vacationing there again in two weeks.  I am linking up to Pink Saturday on How Sweet the Sound.   

 

Men

 A friend e-mailed this to me this morning, and I thought it was pretty funny:

WHY MEN ARE NEVER DEPRESSED:   

Men Are Just Happier People --

What do you expect from such simple creatures?

Your last name stays put.

The garage is all yours.

Wedding plans take care of themselves.

Chocolate is just another snack...

You can be President.

You can never be pregnant.

You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park.

You can wear NO shirt to a water park.

Car mechanics tell you the truth.

The world is your urinal.

You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky.

You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.

Same work, more pay.

Wrinkles add character.

Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100.

People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.

New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.  

One mood all the  time.  

Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.

You know stuff about tanks.

A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.

You can open all your own  jars.

You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.

If someone forgets to invite you,

He or she can still be your friend.  

Your underwear is  $8.95 for a three-pack.

Three pairs of shoes are more than enough..

You almost never have strap problems in public.

You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes..

Everything on your face stays its original color.

The same hairstyle lasts for years, even decades.

You only have to shave your face and neck.  

You can play with toys all your life.

One wallet and one pair of shoes -- one color for all seasons.

You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.

You can 'do' your nails with a pocket knife.

You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.  

You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives

On December 24 in 25 minutes.

Wordless Wednesday

Love it or List it

My husband and I have gotten in to watching HGTV, getting ideas for decorating our house and tips on home improvements.  He likes Holmes on Homes because it gives him ideas and shows how to do home improvement projects.  I liked Holmes for awhile, but his whiny voice is getting to me.  He's so self-righteous.  My husband likes how the home owners always give him a hug at the end.  I guess I could hug him if he did all of that work on my house for free.


Both of us like Love it or List it, with new episodes on Monday evenings, and Property Virgins.  Hillary and David can be really dramatic, but that's what makes the show entertaining.  Hillary always finds major structural problems that will take her whole budget.  Then in the end the house looks like a totally brand new house, what would normally cost $100K, not $30K.  And David finds three houses for them to look at, in an attempt to get them to move, and gets disgusted with the clients every time.  They just don't seem to appreciate his hard work.

What gets us on both decorating shows is the young peoples' expectations.   They have to have an open floor plan, granite counter tops in the kitchen and bathrooms (at least 2 and a half), stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors and a double sink in the bathroom.  They also want a minimum of three bedrooms, and if they already have a kid they want four bedrooms.

First off,  I really don't understand everyone wanting an open floor plan.  I like having separate rooms and don't want to be able to see everyone in the family all the time.  To me that defeats the purpose of having a big house.  I went out with some friends and spouses after work today, all empty nesters, and we all realized we don't need separate rooms for one another, we need separate floors for ourselves and our husbands--forget the open floor plans.  And we wonder what happened to starter homes.  We started with a two bedroom, one bath home over forty years ago and after our third child we upgraded to a story and a half with one and a half baths and four small bedrooms.  We raised five kids there and didn't think anything of it.  

We bought our current house fifteen years ago, and it is over one hundred years old.  No such thing as an open floor plan.  No granite counter tops or double sinks.  One and a half baths.  It has hardwood floors, but they're about one hundred years old and creaky.  But our house has lots of character.  I love the built in cabinets and shelves in the living room, dining room and family room.  I love our big yard and all of our flower beds.


But getting back to HGTV.  What we really wonder is how they do it all so cheaply.  We got an estimate about five years ago for a wrap-around porch, and the bid was $35,000.  We didn't do it.  But on these shows they do a whole rehab for $30,000, including a new kitchen, bathrooms, maybe a new roof or a small room addition.  I know they don't include labor in their improvements, but I'd like to have them come to my house and do those improvements for $30,000.  I'm beginning to think we need to love or leave  HGTV.

Wordless Wednesday

A Pink Easter Collage

A Pink Easter

Happy Easter!

Warning...Picture Overload

Standing on the steps of the deck, waiting for the Easter Bunny.  Every year I make them stand on the steps and pose for a picture before they can hunt for eggs.

Grandson Jack and Granddaughter, Erin.

My great niece, Ellie.

Seven of my eight grandchildren--the oldest, Katie, was upstairs getting dressed as the Easter bunny.

Abbey and Corinne, cousins and best friends,  in the dresses I made them.

My great niece, Molly.

Granddaughter Katie dressed as Easter Bunny hunting for eggs.

Baby Stephanie stopping for a bottle.

Nephew Jack checking out his loot.

My oldest daughters' three children, Sara, Michael and Katie.

My great niece, Lila.

Stopping to compare their baskets.

Niece and nephew, Cece and Teddy.

Brother in law, Dave, with his granddaughter and my great niece, Marin.

Stephanie

Out of town grandkids--Stephanie from Cincinnati and Jack and Corinne from Boston.

My daughter, daughter in law, son and their daughter.

Jack and Corinne hunting for eggs Easter morning.

Waiting for guests to arrive.

Just a Little Bit Longer...

In less than 24 hours my son, d.i.l. and new grandbaby will be here.  I can hardly wait.  Friday morning my daughter and two grandchildren from Boston get in.  I don't know if I'll be able to sleep the next two nights.  I have to go to work tomorrow, but I'm taking off Friday.  I would have taken off tomorrow, too, but there is an award ceremony at school and I was nominated for an award.  I know I won't win, but it would look bad if I didn't show up.


Still working on the dresses for my two grand daughters.  I was going to make basket liners for all of the kids Easter baskets, and monogram them with their names, but there are sixteen of them and I don't think I'm going to get around to it.  I had to stop sewing last night and tonight to do some cleaning.  I got the two bedrooms where the guests will be staying in pretty good shape.  I just keep moving stuff to the attic, then to the basement, then to Good Will or Charity Clothing.  I've been really good at getting rid of stuff this spring.  I think I've given away close to 30 bags of stuff.  I've never watched that hoarders show, but I'm sure I would qualify.  I hope no one nominates me for that (like my kids).

Easter Mosaic

Family Easter

We're getting ready for our family Easter celebration on Sunday, so I pulled up some pictures from last year and made a collage.  I have a large family, so we should have over fifty people at our house.  I can hardly wait!