Mom's 85th Birthday!!

We had a nice breakfast this morning (well, this afternoon) with mom. She's 85 today!

We made Belgian waffles and topped them with strawberries and whipped cream. YUM! And then had chocolate cake. Talk about having a little bit of sugar ... yikes!

But it was all good. We enjoyed watching William play and entertain us as he showed us that he can find the letter "O", pick out the "owl" from amongst the pictures on the page and that he can actually say "owl" now! He's so advanced for his age :)

Can't believe I didn't take a picture of Dave and Mom together. That was my intention. I just got busy. But here are a couple pictures from the day ...

Daisy trying to give Grandma a birthday present.

Mommy whispering to William to go and tickle Daisy.

It's like looking at the past and the future at the same time.

Irresistible.

Playing with the See and Say ... fun!

P.S. Thanks for doing the egg run Bree! Couldn't have done waffles without you :)

No Pictures ... BUT ...

I'm kicking myself (ouch!) that I didn't think to bring my camera with me yesterday morning when I met Marilyn, Fay, and Jill for breakfast at the Hilton Diner. Talk about going back to happy times with some good friends ...

Fay was in town for the holiday and her 30th class reunion so we snagged her and made her get up early and meet us. Even though the waitress couldn't seem to get her order right (well, that first omelet was most certainly right. Unfortunately someone else got it who probably DID want mushrooms and peppers. The second attempt wasn't too difficult to maneuver was it? Picking the mushrooms and peppers out?) And at least the pie could be put in a box ...

Anyway, we had fun chatting for a few hours. We were so glad that Jill could get herself ready and to the diner lickety split after both Marilyn and I forgot to call her with the details. Oops. Sorry about the mix-up Jill!!

So after hearing all about what's been happening in Fay's life (she is very happy these days!) Marilyn dropped me off and I proceeded to accomplish a whole lot of nothing before going to Marilyn and Bill's house last night for snacks, Taboo, and Scrabble. After lots of laughs, too many snacks, and not enough sleep --

I am now getting ready for birthday waffle time. Still don't know if Josh and Jess will be joining us but hopefully we'll be able to celebrate Mom's birthday with a few of us here. We'd love to see William today.

I am planning on a full afternoon of laundry, shopping, and filling up garbage cans. Hopefully some cleaning will also get done. We had the piano tuned the other day and it sounds wonderful. Now we just have to figure out the best place to list it.

Enough of this for now. Maybe there will be some birthday pictures to post later :)

Let's Watch Football and Eat Chili ...

It totally amazes me (and everyone else I suspect) how the Bills can shoot themselves in the foot (feet?) week after week. Today was no exception as they managed to let Jacksonville score with only about a minute left in the fourth quarter.

Despite a less than exciting football game, we had lots of fun watching William play with his blocks and trucks. He munched on animal crackers and teddy grahams and even had a bowl of chili!

It's been a busy weekend ... I had to work Saturday until 1:00 and then came home to help with the window washing. We worked on it some more this morning and have the whole downstairs done. Last night we went to Lowes and looked into countertops and options for tub replacement. We picked up stain samples in hopes of getting the railings in the foyer taken care of. It won't be long before we're painting. I made arrangements to have the piano tuned so we can sell that ... all these little (and BIG) things to do!

Here are a few sweet pictures of William from today:

Playing the piano ... banging on those keys is so much fun!

Cheeks reading "That's Not My Snowman" ...

It's fun to climb on the table and knock all the blocks down!

Playing with the wooden car Poppy made for Josh 28 years ago.

Aunt Bree shared her Teddy Grahams and William was SO happy!

We bought Will's sweatshirt the day Josh graduated from Bonaventure!
I am certainly going to miss hanging with the family on Sunday afternoons when we move to Massachusetts!

Sorta Silly Stuff ... (Or Not)

Found this little cartoon online and it gave me a chuckle ... and a reminder to stick to driving when I'm driving :)

I'm Looking Forward To Thanksgiving ...

... and getting out of work early on Thanksgiving Eve ... it really feels like a holiday when they close the bank early.

... and making stuffing using mom's recipe. I almost always end up eating half of it (raw) on Thanksgiving morning ... to me that's the best part of the meal!

... and spending some time with Mom -- maybe I'll get out there early enough to see the Macy's Day Parade!

... dessert. Bree is making Apple Crisp!

... and cuddling with William again. Rocking him til he fell asleep Sunday evening was a little taste of heaven and who doesn't want a little taste of heaven on Thanksgiving?

Sometimes when there is so much "now" stuff happening, it's nice to look ahead to all the sweetness that's just around the corner.

Life is good.

William In The Fall -- Playing In The Leaves ...

We had some fun with William this morning. This time it was my chance to babysit as Papa was out with his buddies doing the GOBS thing ... (Grandfathers Only Breakfast Series.)

We started out a little rough with tears as Daddy left (we don't take it personally ... we know it's just a phase Will is going through) and while he wasn't *happy* -- we did manage to get him calmed down by putting on his favorite TV program (Super Why) and popping a donut hole in his hand. He snuggled with Grandma for an hour and then started playing with his blocks.


He loved his new book "That's Not My Snowman!" and had fun playing the piano. But a few too many passes through the foyer and seeing his coat and hat got him going again. He stood at the front door and was pulling on it while saying "Open!" (well, it started with O ... we think he was trying to say "open".)

So on went the coat and hat and William and I went outside for a walk. He loved being outside and we managed to take in quite a bit of the neighborhood. He met Mario but Bernie (the dog in the yard next door to Mario's) barked and scared Will. So we headed home just in time to find Papa. We decided to go back outside since we knew Daddy was coming soon and Will wouldn't let us take his hat off :)




Once Daddy arrived Will cheered up considerably and we had some fun playing in the leaves ...

No, no, no, no, no, no, no ... no

Sweet William.

He now says "No." Well, he said "No" before but now he says it repeatedly ... as in "No, no, no, no, no." And he means it.

It was not the best of mornings for our little guy. Mommy had stuff going on and Daddy wanted to play basketball with the guys so they thought it would be fun to have William come over and have breakfast with Papa, Auntie Bree, and GG-Paine. (Grandma Mema unfortunately had to work and was very sad that she could not join in the fun ...)

William, however, didn't think it was such a great idea. Even chocolate donut holes didn't help, although they were tasty and the crumbs stuck to his sweet little lips and cheeks long after the donut hole itself was gone.

According to his daddy, William was grumpy before he ever arrived at our house. He just wasn't happy and he wanted his mommy. So when daddy left he cried. He went and stood by the door. He put his bus by the door. He wanted his hat on ... (everyone knows that when it's time to leave you put your hat on.) And he pouted.


There were not a lot of smiles this morning. Papa captured a couple pictures of Will with his hat on, but they didn't include his cheerful grin.



Hopefully Josh will bring William with him tomorrow when he comes to help put up the shutters. And Mema will get to see him and love him up and maybe there will be a few smiles. We still have some donut holes after all.