Birthday

Tom ordered a birthday cake for Kimmy.

Some how, it didn't turn out the way he wanted.

Close enough.

We Love Kimmy and she turned 29.

 Table was set, dinner ready.

 Tom's sister Linda came.

We call her "Grandma" Aunt Linda because we love her and

she doesn't have any grandchildren.

So, when she moved back here,

we have adopted her, as another Grandma.

Lulu and Levi were so excited for the cake.

First we sang the traditional birthday song.

Then we sing different birthday song.

"It's Somebodies Birthday I Wonder For Who?"

The excitement was building.

Right after I snapped this picture,

Levi blew out all the candles.

He just couldn't hold back.

 Boy, does he have the wind power.

 Happy 29th Birthday

Kimmy!

Love Kimmy 29!

Popsicles Toes

~ Michael Franks ~

"Popsicle Toes"

 From the ablum, The Art of Tea.
Released in November 30, 1975

"Popsicle toes.

Popsicle toes are always froze.

Popsicle toes.

You're so brave to expose all those popsicle toes."

Betsy (her charming blog is called My Five Men)

has invited us to join her

Pedicure Party!

It's Spring and time to get those toes polished up.

BUT...

here in the cold, damp, Pacific Northwest,

 we still are scraping ice off our car windows...burrrr!

Being Betsy's friend, I bared all.

Do you find that pedicures tickle?

I do!

It takes me a lot of Will Power to not jerk my foot.

 The name of the polish is called, Flower to Flower.

Don't you love the names given to polish colors?

Now that would be a fun job.

 Braving the elements, I tried on a few sandles.

Being it's a party, 

 I needed to really dress up my toes.

I went to the store and found this:

Nail Art Pen

Just the thing I wanted to add to my toes.

Now I'm ready for

Betsy's Pedicure Party!

I exposed my Popsicles Toes today,

just for you Betsy!

Burrrr

Visiting Local Coffee Shops - #2 & #3

Today, I want to show you two more coffee shops.

They share the same parking lot!

Tom and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few items.

Inside the store is a Starbucks.

It's smaller then most.

I would of take a picture of the tables and

 chairs but they occupied.

The employees were a bit suspicious

when I took this picture.

(note to self...be discreet when taking pictures)

When we were finished shopping, we stepped out

the grocery door and there across the parking lot

 is the second Starbucks!

Personally, I never have found it enjoyable to "eat" in a grocery store where I do my shopping.

We chose this Starbucks to sit and enjoy the moment.
Normally, we would of parked in front of the coffee shop

but we walked!

This picture was taken from our table.
If you look hard you can see the other Starbucks.

Ahh...sipping a Chi Tea Latte.

These two Starbucks are just a five minute

walk from our front door.

Visiting Local Coffee Shops - #1

Tom and I thought it would be fun to check out each of the ten, (yes, I said ten),

 coffee shops, that are walking distance from our cottage.

And we want to take you along.

 Our first visit is a Starbucks.

It's in a grocery store, called Fred Meyer.

We sat on the second floor,

looking down on all food,

that was neatly stacked,

 up and down the store's isle.

Looking up, you can see where we sat.

I was amazed at how organized the shelves are.

I was even more amazed at all the stuff!

This Starbucks has lots of books and magazines for sale.

I was amazed again, at all the different kinds of magazines there are.

Magazines for everyone's interest.

Cooking healthy or for calories.

Flea Market magazines are really popular!

Getting ready for the garden.

These hair magazines caught my eye!

I thumbed through them looking

 to find a new style.

Hey, this looks familiar!

It's very similar to our kitchen.

Well, this is the first in a series of coffee shop visits.

By the way, this Starbucks was a

15 minute walk from our cottage.

Celebrating 33 Years

(Levi and Lulu colored a banner for us.)

Tom and I celebrated our

33rd Wedding Anniversary, this past week. 

Kimmy had a dinner party and invited

the family.

 We received the most precious gift.

After living in our home for 30 years,

 it was very hard to remove certain

 items when we moved, without tears.

The hardest were the pictures of our children growing up.

They lined both sides of our long hallway.

Being able to see how our kids grew up, through these pictures, was always fun. 

But, I just couldn't remove these pictures!

Because Kimmy and her family moved into our home,

I just left them.

I told her someday I would come and get them.

She knew how hard it was going to be for me to take them down.

 Mark and Kimmy had an idea.  As an anniversary gift,

 they removed all pictures, scanned each of them, and put them back.

 Then held onto their secret.

They made an album with all those precious pictures,

plus more!

There are pictures of our home, our backyard, the

Children's Garden and so many more great memories.

 Tom and Kimmy looking at the album.

Todd and Stephanie looking at the album.

See the baby bump?

This is Aunt Linda saying hello to Baby,

with new mom Stephanie looking on. 

Baby coming in August!

Aunt Tamar and Kimmy

 Aunt Bev (Tom's sister) tossing her famous salad

 

 Aunt Linda (Tom's sister) reading

Ila May is even enjoying the party. 

Here's Lulu looking at our wedding album,

which also showed up for our party

Wedding cake! 

Lulu decorated and it was GOOD!

And Kimmy came up with the craziest idea. 

"Hey mom ,try on your wedding dress!"

And, after all these years,

 I was able to put on my wedding dress.

And the moment was even more

special with Lulu and Levi.

 

More of My Kitchen...

Growing up, this little wall plaque hung in my Aunt Vivian's kitchen.

 I was ten years old when she died.

I don't remember how,

but I ended up with it.

When I played house with my dolls,

I would use it as a decoration.

 Now it hangs in my kitchen.

It's very special to me.

 

 French doors lead into our kitchen

(They are always open. This is just to show you the doors)

We took down the cold and impersonal
wire racks that were over the stove and along the wall.
Wall stills needs some paint.

I moved in the small bookcase.

But the room needed something more.

Then Tom got to work!

He added this shelf above the stove.

He also added a smaller shelf next to the stove,

for a lamp and a little extra counter space.

I'm beginning to LOVE my kitchen.

I'll keep adding and changing the room around.

But for now I'm happy.

Cookies anyone?

They are in the oven.