TGIF!

Just do NOT have any energy today! If I were really truthful.....I haven't felt like doing anything all week! I think I am still tired from vacation! It is a LOT of work getting everything ready the week before you leave and the day before.....it is like a marathon! Then while you are ON vacation.....you try to cram in as much as you can knowing that you only have a certain number of days there! We didn't really DO that much but I think all of the sun and fresh air and heat is just as tiring. THEN you have the last day of vacation where you are doing the laundry and packing to go home. Not to mention the feeling of sadness that the fun is about over and it is back to the real world! Not that the real world isn't fun but it was so nice being on the beach, lounging around the pool, spending time with family and laughing till you hurt! I think I need TWO weeks at the ocean next time! Then maybe, just MAYBE, I will be ready to come home!

Bud and I went to the casino with Mimi and Poppy last night. They had free rooms and it was Senior Night. Senior Night is for people 50 years and older and I'm not so sure how I feel about being in that 'elite' group now! Was really different gambling in that sea of wheelchairs, oxygen tanks and WHITE hair! I DID feel pretty young though! haha Bud left this morning at 7 a.m. for work.....I think he said it was about the same distance from Siloam to Rogers as from Springdale to Rogers. I know he has to be tired too so am thinking our weekend will be pretty low key with sleeping in and naps on the agenda! The temperatures are so much cooler now so will definitely be taking the jeep down on the jeep tomorrow! Haven't had many days where it was cool enough to do that this summer!

Last week this time, we were enjoying our last day at the ocean! We ordered pizza delivery and were doing laundry and packing. And some tears were shed as well.......I don't know if people who live on the ocean ever take it all for granted but I honestly don't think I would. Each day was filled with new things to see......sharks, rainbows, tar balls (not many though), owls, falling stars! I don't think you COULD take it for granted......and since we went later in the season than we normally do.....the kids were all back in school so we pretty much had the pool, beach and ocean to ourselves. And traffic was nothing! SO NICE!

Probably won't blog this weekend.....will take too much effort and I hope this post is appreciated since I had to move from the couch to the guest room to type this! ; )

Gigi

Hugs from Heaven

I was going to post some more about our vacation but instead I want to share something else. My heart has been heavy lately.....due to personal things as well as things going on in the lives of those that I love. I won't go into all of that but I have just felt overwhelmed at times and I know so many hearts that are troubled and that are hurting including my own. I had a very special relationship with my grandma........and since I've become a grandma......I feel an even closer bond with her. She was THE best! She always had time to laugh, to love, to play....to listen, to hug and she had a wonderful hug! When she died.....there was a special song that kept playing on the radio and for a few months after her death, I would occasionally hear it again and always when I needed to feel her hugs the most! I haven't heard the song in YEARS! Not that I haven't needed to feel her hugs but I just haven't heard it in a long, long time. Yesterday on my way to church for my hour of Adoration.....I gathered my Bible, jumped in my jeep and flipped on the radio which I seldom do and immediately 'the' song came on and I felt those arms hug me and I felt her love so clearly. I needed that more than I've ever needed it before! And during Adoration, I felt her presence like never before. I felt like she was sitting right beside me holding my hand and holding my heart. I miss her so much but I also see her in my mom and my aunts.....that same love, that same strength, that same love of life! I am so blessed.

Not only was she beautiful on the outside, but just as beautiful on the inside! She was a little woman but she had a BIG heart!

Gigi

Vacation anything but boring!

We are back from vacation! We had quite the adventure! I may have to post about our vacation in more than one post! We left Saturday morning at 4 a.m. on the dot! Mimi, Poppy, Albie and Carol picked us up in this!


This was RV's maiden voyage and we were all so excited to be a part of this adventure! We had watched the movie "RV" and knew that we were going to have an adventure for sure but didn't really plan on the adventure that we ended up having!!!! It started out great! We had loaded all of our luggage, food, etc. in the RV the night before so at 4 a.m. we just had to load our bodies and a few carry on bags! About halfway to Little Rock, Albie who was sitting at the table in the RV suddenly announced that she was going to faint! Well, that is exactly what she did! She was out cold! We pulled over a couple of different times.....once when she passed out and another time when Bud and Carol carried her and dumped her little body into the bed at the back of the RV. The little woman weighs as much as a hummingbird and they acted like she was a ton of bricks! They literally 'threw' her into the bed! We were hoping once she was in the bed and cooled off that she would feel better but she was sick and weak most of the trip to Florida! She didn't get vertical until we were in Florida! I think in Maumelle Rhyno started driving and we were driving either into or out of Pine Bluff when we heard this loud crashing sound. We all thought something had fallen over in the RV but Mimi and Poppy came up to the front of the RV and said we had blown a tire! Do you know how hard it is to find someone who will come and fix a flat tire on an RV on the side of a road!? Let me tell you, it is hard! It was an inside rear tire and we were all very lucky that Rhyno was able to keep control of the RV and we didn't crash! Here we are on the side of the interstate with a very sick woman and it is hot, hot, hot and we are waiting for someone to come and change the tire. Luckily we had a good spare tire but the guy said that the other rear tires were not in the best of shape so we needed to be careful! AND remember, we didn't have a spare now! We started calling places to try to find tires for the RV.....even made a couple of stops at tire places. In addition to it being impossible to find tires to fit the RV.....we were dealing with most tire places closing at noon on a Saturday and we were getting close to noon! We didn't find tires and prayed that we would make it to Florida safely! THEN the generator quit working! Did I tell you how hot it was?! No generator meant no air conditioning except for the very very front where the driver and passenger seats were and that wasn't that cold when it is that hot and you are trying to cool a big huge RV! And did I mention that we had a freezer and refrigerator full of food that we had to try to keep cool?! And did I mention how hot it was?! And that we were trying to keep Albie cool who was still feeling sick and weak?! We finally made it somewhere in Mississippi and all of a sudden, traffic came to a stop! No moving and did I mention how hot it was?! We saw some cars turning around so decided to take a short cut on some side roads and try to pass the accident ahead. We used Bud's iPhone.....google maps or something. Well, I guess people thought we knew what we were doing because they started following US! We were going down little country roads which probably had never had anything other than a tractor or pickup truck traveling on! I guess our convoy lost confidence in us because we were soon enough out there all by ourselves. Have you ever seen the movie "Deliverance"? Well, this was Deliverance in an RV! And guess what!? We ended up right at the accident and the police had our way blocked! There was a military truck that had turned over I guess and burned. It had to have been a very bad accident with injuries and we all thought that perhaps the fainting and blown tire had delayed us enough where we weren't involved in that accident! They had that side of the interstate closed down.....and were redirecting traffic on the other side of the interstate. We were able to merge in - thanks to a kind driver who surely felt sorry for this RV trying to get into traffic! We actually didn't merge.....we had to find an opening in traffic going the opposite direction and then find someone who would let us in going in the direction that we needed! Not as easy as it sounds and poor Rhyno was driving and this was his first time behind the wheel of an RV! The generator finally kicked on and we were getting cooler so thought we were on our way! Well, Mimi got up to do something and there is water in the kitchen area! We had sprung a leak in the hot water pipe under the kitchen counter! She and I used towels and after turning off the water, we sopped up the water under the bottom cabinets and floor. BUT we made it! Well, at this time Bud was driving and he turned off too soon so we took a LONG scenic route to our condo! Mimi and I kept telling them that we were turning off too soon but what do we know!? Apparently a lot! haha What should have been a 12 hour drive more or less ended up taking us 16 hours! But as Sonny Bono would say, "It's all good!" We made it safely and checked in! We didn't have to go out for food since we had turkey breasts that Mimi had baked before we left so we had sandwiches, grape cheese salad that I had made Friday night and a pasta salad that I had made Friday night also. Was so good to be able to just be 'there' and not have to go out for something to eat! Will post more tomorrow about the rest of the vacation! Here are a few pictures of our condo where we stayed. It was our second time to stay in this condo and it is our favorite one!


We stayed on the 14th floor. We were the second balcony from the top. Had a huge balcony where we spent a lot of time! If I ever win the lottery....I am so buying that condo and moving there! haha

More memory sharing tomorrow!

Gigi

Getting back to walking!

Got up at 6:15 a.m. and got dressed to go to Mom and Dad's to walk. Decided to check radar and make sure there wasn't rain in the immediate forecast. Well, lo and behold.....radar was showing rain! I decided to LOOK outside and sure enough, it was raining. Not a lot but enough. Took off my shoes and decided walking would not be happening today. Well, as quickly as the rain shower popped up, it pooped out! SO....got the shoes back on and headed out to walk. It had been over two weeks since I've walked. The week before last I had Chloe here and last week, I had a hurt back. I haven't had real shoes on in a long time so my feet were protesting as well as the rest of me! We were about half way into our walk when it started sprinkling. We decided to head back and just walk closer to home so in case of harder rain....we could make a run for it. We ended up walking about an hour and the rain fizzled out again. HOWEVER, on our way home from breakfast.....it started raining again and this time we got a pretty good shower!



Little Buddy is going on a road trip with some friends to Chicago....leaving Thursday. Since I was going to be filling up Little Buddy's car with gas (it was almost empty) Dad put some gas treatment in the gas tank and then I filled it up with gas. He then replaced the spark plugs so Little Buddy should be good to go. We just had the oil changed, tires rotated and balanced last month.



Little Buddy finally finished up his thank you notes for his graduation gifts. They will be in the mail tomorrow! After he finished, he decided it wasn't as difficult as he thought it would be! DUH!



Fixed fried chicken, baked some french fries in the oven and fixed some corn on the cob for supper. Now I am watching the Home Run Derby! I am missing my Cardinal games!



Can't post this without a picture so here you go! This is Bud riding his unicycle! He used to ride all of the time when he was a little boy and says he rode with his brother on his shoulders! He drags out his unicycle every now and then and brushes up on his riding skills!

I was teasing him that I was going to start renting him out for children's birthday parties! He just needs to get his juggling act perfected a little more!

Gigi

Enjoying the rain!

A good day to be indoors and read a book or watch a cardinal baseball game! It has been raining all afternoon and has been in the mid 70s. I have been watching the cardinal game on tv but again....it is not a fun game to watch. Looks like we will lose this one as well. Oh well.......guess I will find a good book to read!

My back was very stiff and sore when I first woke up this morning but once I moved around, it loosened up and I am feeling so much better. I still feel a little soreness but nothing like the last couple of days! Have taken it easy today.....not lifting anything and decided to not vacuum yet today. I think tomorrow I will be able to do anything that I want or need to do! Since we had rain today.....mowing was not even an option. I will definitely be more careful when I'm carrying the yard waste bags to the curb!

My upside down tomato plant is doing surprisingly better than I expected! I have I think 3 tomoatoes on it and several blooms now! It was a little slow going at first but seems to be taking off now! I will have to post a picture soon!

Wanted to post a picture of Chloe with her great-aunts and great-grandma!

Chloe is always so facinated with cameras! She will stop in her tracks to stare at the camera! Once you put the camera down....she is all smiles! When I am able to get a picture of her smiling, 9 times out of 10 she is a blur! She smiles from the tip of her head to the bottom of her toes! Thank goodness for digital cameras!!!!! And as you can see from the above photo, Mimi is also staring at the camera! Once I put the camera down, she and Chloe were all smiles! haha


One more picture of Chloe with Rhyno....she adores her uncles!

We were all sitting outside and it was raining. They look so serious, don't they?!

Gigi

A Busy Summer!

I always think that summer will be a time to catch up on some things, a time my life will slow down a little bit and a time to spend with friends and family. Why do I always think that!? It is already the 7th of July and I haven't caught up with anything----laundry is winning the race! As I said earlier, it is already the 7th of July and summer is flying by! I have spent more time visiting with family so I am happy about that! We also will be going with family to a Cardinal game soon and are heading to Gulf Shores as well with the same group of family.

Mom and I met Little Mama Wednesday morning at 6:30 a.m. in Clarksville so that we could get Chloe for a few days! I am very lucky that I've been able to spend as much time with her as I have. I treasure each and every minute. Every time I see her, she is doing something different and changing so much! She is five months old now and has four teeth! She is rolling over, reaching for anything and everything, loves to give kisses and love, is so close to crawling---scoots all over the place, still sleeping through the night, wrinkles her little nose, dances and brings so much joy and love into my life! There are no words to describe it!!!! Chloe is teaching me so much! I see things through her eyes now.....how you can splash water in the bathtub with your hand and when it splashes in your face, it is a surprise! Or feeling raindrops on your little face for the first time takes your breath away! Even something as simple as seeing a shadow move is facinating to you! And when you get out of the tub and see yourself in the bathroom mirror, the squeal of excitement at your reflection.....I treasure all of that! I never ever want to forget any of it. Even when you leave and go back home, the sadness and emptiness I feel.....I realize now how my grandparents felt when we would visit them and then leave. We always cried when we said our goodbyes but now I 'feel' what they felt and I don't think that I appreciated the depth of their love like I do now. I know that I loved them with all of my heart but don't think I really understood their love for me until now.....now that I am a grandma!

Here are a few pictures of Chloe taken recently!

The top picture shows her two little bottom teeth! The last couple of pictures show two of the men in her life that are so crazy in love with her! Will have to post more tomorrow!

Bud has been in Muskogee yesterday and today. He should be on his way home now. I think we have a quiet weekend planned this weekend so he should be able to catch up on his rest. I know he doesn't sleep very well in hotels....he misses his pillow!

Have a great evening!

Gigi

Catching up on life

Wow! I haven't blogged in awhile but have been very very busy with Little Buddy's graduation, Sonny Bono's birthday, yard work and Chloe time. Had a very busy weekend last weekend with Little Buddy's graduation.....our last one to graduate from high school. Of course, I cried when the graduates marched into the auditorium.....tears of happiness, tears of pride, tears of relief (haha), and tears of sadness. Happiness that my family was all together to share in this wonderful event. Proud that I survived getting that last one through 13 years of school and proud of Little Buddy as well! Relieved that I would no longer have to argue with him about skipping a day of school here and there! And sad.....because even though I have been through this twice before......this was my last one.......my little surprise baby. The first two were closer in age so my time was more divided with them. This one was kinda on his own with me......kind of like starting over. Here are some pictures of graduation!

Here are some pictures of our graduate with family. This is Little Buddy with Rhyno and my dad in the background. Love this picture!

Here are some pictures of our family. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get a family picture with Sonny Bono NOT on his cell phone!

Here are my boys with their 'great' aunt and she really is pretty great! She doesn't live very far from us.....about 90 miles so we were so happy that she was able to join us for the graduation/birthday celebrations. She is such an important part of our lives and it just would not have been the same if she were not a part of it all! Isn't she the cutest litte thing? I have to tell you that she is in her 70s and plays tennis as often as she can....she is happiest when she can play 3 times a week and on the other days she is doing aerobics!

Here are some pictures of little Chloe! She is the best baby. She never never cries. Sleeps all night long and was so good during graduation. She smiles all of the time and she was laughing so hard at my mom. She would get a funny look on her little face when she laughed like....did I do that? We all love her so very much and it is always so hard to watch her leave. It seriously feels like a part of my heart is leaving with her which I guess it does!

Here are some random photos of our backyard. We have a banana tree and this is our second year to have bananas!

And last but not least, some pictures of some flowers in my front yard.

I love this time of year when I can get out and work in my yard and flowers. My grandmother passed her love of working in the yard down to her daughters and to me and I'm so happy for that!!!! Sometimes when I am fiddling out there in the dirt....I feel like she is right there along side me and is ready for us to finish so we can have our beer and butter bread! That is something that she always did after working in the yard....would treat herself to a little glass of beer and some butter bread so that is a tradition that I am carrying on in her memory! ; )

Will have to post pictures of Sonny Bono's birthday and some backyard games we played in a later post!

Hugs!

Gigi

An Awesome Weekend

Little Mama ended up leaving Wednesday late afternoon. They were predicting storms for Thursday and she didn't want to be driving home in storms......and I didn't want her driving in bad weather either if she didn't have to. She decided to go home and surprise Sonny Bono and since she was leaving Chloe with me.....she and Sonny Bono were going to have TWO nights all to themselves! I had so much fun with Chloe. She is such a good baby. She never cries unless she is hungry or when she is getting tired....she will fuss a little but not much! Thursday was such a rainy, nasty day. Chloe actually napped quite a bit! She is sleeping pretty much through the night. She went to bed between 10 and 11 p.m. and then woke up between 4 and 5 a.m. She would go right back to sleep and sleep another 2 to 3 hours. Her mommy and daddy came up Friday night and spent the weekend with us. Her mommy and I did some major shopping Saturday. Little Mama needed some clothes......we found her a nice pair of slacks with a jacket and a couple of knit tops. They look really nice on her and we also found her a pair of jeans that look good on her too! We weren't really looking for clothes for Chloe (who am I kidding.....I am always looking for clothes for Chloe) but we found several cute summer dresses, her Easter dress, and some jammies for her. She has outgrown a lot of her clothes and her little closet and dresser drawers were empty!!!!! We went to Mass Sunday morning and left Chloe with Bud. It was so windy and damp so we really didn't want to have to get her out. Bud was getting ready for another trip out of town so he stayed home with Chloe and got packed while we were at Mass. Here are some pictures from our time with Chloe last week and over the weekend.

Not sure if she was super excited to be on Little Buddy's shoulders but Sonny Bono was hoping she would grab a hand full of hair!!!

She is always smiling and so happy!

Chloe with her Mimi!

Chloe with her Poppy!



Another picture of her sweet little face!

She loves to sleep with her little arms over her head! Her daddy always did that too!

I was so lonesome Sunday night. Sonny Bono, Little Mama and Chloe went back home.....left about noon I think. Bud left for Muskogee, OK about 2:00 and Little Buddy went to a movie with a friend so was gone all afternoon and evening. I guess it was nice to have the house to myself but it was sure quiet and empty! I ended up having a good cry......after having Chloe here for 4 1/2 days and having a house full of family all weekend to having nobody here on Sunday afternoon......just felt very sad and lonely. I guess I was just having a very emotional day! During Mass I was thinking about my family.....grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, husband, kids.....granddaughter.....I am so blessed. I have such happy memories of growing up with family always being so important. I want that for Chloe. I want her to grow up with so many happy memories of spending time with us and her other grandparents, etc. And I want her to always always always feel and know how loved she is. I had that growing up and I want her to have it too. And it was so neat to have our three generations at Mass together......my parents, myself and my son and daughter-in-law. If the weather had been better, we would have had FOUR generations there!

Rhyno was sick over the weekend so he wasn't able to spend time with us. Fiance was out of town over the weekend so we kept Olive here. Rhyno just wasn't able to take her out. He at one point had a temperature of 103 and Mimi and Little Buddy took him some Motrin and ibuprofen along with chicken noodle soup, crackers and Popsicles. We kept checking on him because if his fever didn't go down asap....we were going to take him to the ER. The Motrin/ibuprofen kicked in and his fever broke. I took him a Subway sandwich Sunday afternoon and he looked better but was still weak. He went to the doctor yesterday morning and they ran the strep test and it was negative. Said it was viral and not much that they could do but let it run its course.

The girls went to groomers this morning. My helper had out of town guests so was not able to come with me. I didn't have any trouble getting the girls INTO the jeep.....had put their bed inside of the jeep earlier so just had to carry Olive and since Allie was on her leash it wasn't too difficult. Now getting OUT of the jeep.......not so easy! At this point they are both shaking and panting and scared to death. I managed to get out with Olive first and had a death grip on her, grabbed Allie and her leash which at this time is all tangled up around her legs, neck, etc. I tried to get her untangled while keeping Olive in a death grip and trying to pick up their bed and my keys which had fallen in the parking lot......I'm sitting on the ground with Olive STILL in my death grip, working with Allie and her leash, bed and keys are on the ground somewhere! I finally got her leash untangled enough, had Olive in that death grip and ended up walking to the building with the leash tangled around Allie's short little legs barely hanging on to their bed and my keys but the girls were safe and we were mobile! Roger comes out and helps me get into the building. I'm sure I provided the morning entertainment for all of the groomers whose windows face the parking lot!!!! I miss my helper!!!!!

It is supposed to be a really nice, warm day so I am planning on getting some yard work done today! I want to move my plants back outdoors. Thinking that maybe the below freezing temperatures are behind us now?! Then will be able to clean out the garage and my jeep needs a bath too!

Hugs,

Gigi

The sunshine after the snow!

This is how we welcomed Spring! Nothing says Spring like 12 inches of snow! It was pretty watching it snow though! I've never seen such huge flakes! I tried to get a picture but my camera just isn't able to do that! Or maybe it is able to do that but I'm just not able to figure out how to make it do that! That could very well be the case! It was a good weekend to stay indoors by the fireplace and watch basketball games. Little Buddy was in Little Rock visiting friends since he was officially on his Spring Break so it was very quiet around here. To be honest though, Little Buddy really is pretty quiet even when he IS home. We usually only know he is around when he is eating or asking about dinner!

Sonny Bono, Little Mama and Chloe were supposed to come up for the weekend but after I saw the forecast Friday morning, I had to make that dreaded phone call and tell them that we were under a winter storm warning. I hated that they weren't able to come up but was also relieved that they didn't because I would not have wanted them to be on the roads Sunday trying to get back home! It is all working out even better because Little Mama and Chloe are coming up early in the morning and Little Mama is leaving her with me Thursday! Little Mama has an appointment in Little Rock on Friday so I get to have Chloe even longer!!!! Little Mama and Sonny Bono will come up to get her Friday night so I really won't have her as long as I would like to!!!!! : ) Well, they will spend the weekend so I really will get to have her quite a while! I just need to not be greedy! Need to get her bottles out this evening and get them sterilized and ready for her!!!!!! Will be so good to have the baby things out again!

Last Thursday night, Travis Tritt was at the Cherokee Casino in Siloam Springs, OK so Bud was determined that we were going to go. I KNEW that it was going to be so crowded and KNEW that we would be lucky if we could get close enough to SEE him BUT thought we would at least be able to HEAR him. NOT! He wasn't even there with his band. He just had his acoustic guitar and unless you were standing right in front of the stage.....not to the left or right.....but dead center and weren't more than 20 feet from the stage.......you could hear NOTHING! Bud was so disappointed! I think a lot of fans were disappointed. I was concerned about fire code violations! There were so many people in that place and so jammed up......if there had been a fire......it would have been disastrous. They had no idea how many people were coming in that door......so I don't know, maybe they don't have fire code restrictions but they should have! I personally stayed away from the crowds and as close to the doors as possible! We did end up eating in the buffet which was very good. Here is a picture of Bud with Travis.......or as close to Travis as we could get!

This was a little sign on our buffet table! Here is a picture of my mom playing one of her favorite slot machines. They had gotten there earlier and she and Dad ended up staying at the casino ALL NIGHT LONG! I told them that Bud and I had gotten up about 7:30 a.m. and she said that was about the time that she and Dad were just going to bed! Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

Can you put curfews on your parents!?! I do not think that I could have stayed awake all night long and I am 20 years younger! I'm sure that they were feeling it on Friday though!

It is a good thing that Chloe is coming tomorrow because I need new pictures to post!!!!!! I will sign off with a picture of Allie coming in after being out in the snow Sunday. She was not a happy girl!

Welcome Spring!

Gigi

Some more Chloe time!!!

I had to make a trip to Maumelle......was needing a little Chloe time!!!!! I actually had a baby shower to go to and since I was in town......decided it was a good idea to spend an extra night! I am so blessed that my son and daughter-in-love put up with me! I was able to persuade Chloe's mommy and daddy to let me get up with her the two nights that I was there! I love those 2 a.m. feedings! Such a sweet bonding and cuddle time! Sonny Bono grilled out the best pork chops Monday night. Oh.....my......word......they were so moist and had such a good flavor! Yummy! Little Mama fixed some fried potatoes which were so good. She just diced some potatoes, sprinkled with EVOO, Cavendars and Italian Seasoning! So good!!!!

I can't believe that I did not take one single picture of Chloe while I was there! I guess I just never want to put her down long enough!!!!! I did borrow a picture that shows her in her little outfit that she wore to the baby shower that Little Mama and I attended Sunday afternoon. Isn't she precious in her Spring outfit!?

The weather was perfect while I was there......we were in the upper 60s and low 70s with sunshine! AWESOME!

Friday morning Rhyno and Fiance took me to Panera Bread for breakfast. It was really good! I don't get to eat there as often as I would like! You just can't beat a good bagel and hot cup of coffee on a damp chilly morning! Here are my breakfast buddies!

I came home Tuesday late afternoon and got home about 5 p.m. We decided to pick up my parents and meet Little Buddy at US Pizza for supper. Rhyno got off work at 6:30 and met us there also. I love going to US Pizza.....good food and friendly people who work there and who treat us like family. Well, we see them about as often as we see family members so........

Chloe received the cutest little outfits from my cousin and his sweet wife over the weekend. I can't really share yet what they gave her until her mommy and daddy come up this weekend and see for themselves but I will tell you that she got the cutest, most perfect little outfits for this Gigi's granddaughter! You will understand more after I take some pictures of her this weekend!

I need to return to my basketball games......I have so far picked the first three winners of the March Madness games so I am winning in the brackets as of right now but we have a long, long way to go! They have been close and have gone into overtimes so it has been pretty stressful for me!!!!!

Wish me luck,

Gigi

A special visitor

I had a very special visitor this week! My sweet daughter-in-love brought Chloe up to see her Gigi! It was Chloe's first visit to Northwest Arkansas and our house! It was perfect!!!! Chloe was able to meet her Uncle Rhyno and Aunt Fiance for the first time and her Great-Aunt Albie who drove all the way from Branson, MO to meet little Chloe! As you can imagine.....I had a house FULL of people that I had to share Chloe with!!!! ; ) My parents were here ALL OF THE TIME !!!! haha It's all good.....I was very happy to share her because at night when everyone went to bed.......I had her all to myself!!!! I had Chloe's little pack 'n play in the living room and I slept on the couch so that I could take care of her and let her mommy get some much deserved sleep! Chloe only woke up at 2 a.m. and again at 5:30 a.m. I guess all of the visiting that she did wore her out! At 2 a.m. she barely woke up enough to have her bottle! She is such a good little baby! She is only 4 weeks and 5 days old and is already smiling and giggling! So much personality which makes me miss her all the more!!!! I really appreciated Little Mama making that three hour drive up here so that we could see Chloe! Rhyno has class 6 days a week so he hasn't even had a chance to meet her yet and Fiance works Saturdays as well so this was the only opportunity that they had to get to meet their new little niece!

My parents came by Thursday morning to see Chloe before she left for home. Little Mama and I took the opportunity to run out for a little breakfast at Susan's while they were at my house. Again.....had to do very little arm twisting! When we got back home.....my mom was sitting in the very same place and was still holding Chloe! Of course she was......did we really think that Chloe would be anywhere else!

Little Mama and Chloe left about 2 p.m. Thursday and I was so sad. I just could not bring myself to pack away her little pack 'n play or bottles or diapers.......just felt like if I had some of her stuff around......I wouldn't be quite as lonely. Didn't help much but maybe a little. I finally did pack the pack 'n play but it is still sitting in my living room! Maybe I will feel like moving it out of the living room tomorrow.....or maybe not! And something else that I discovered.......I totally love having that baby stuff out!!!! I feel all warm and fuzzy seeing the baby things laying around, the bottles in the kitchen, and even those dirty diapers are special in their own way! I miss Little Mama and Sonny Bono so much, too! I am so blessed that Sonny Bono and Rhyno both have found that special someone who give them so much happiness, joy and love. As well as bringing happiness, laughter and love into our lives as well. I love those girls so much and don't think I could love them any more if I had given birth to them myself......they have a huge part of my heart. I love the times that we are able to spend together and all of the memories that we are making! I am very very blessed!

This morning my sweet Rhyno and Fiance took me to Panera Bread for breakfast so that cheered me up a LOT! I love that place but Bud isn't really a bagel kind of guy so I don't go there as much as I would like to! I had the Everything Bagel with Fat-Free cream cheese and it was so good! Since I didn't walk this morning.......(walking buddies out of town) so thought I would be good with the Fat-Free cream cheese. Okay....the truth is......they were out of the regular stuff so I didn't have a choice! Sounded good though, didn't it!? haha

I love this picture! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Gigi

Where is the sunshine?!

We did NOT have sunshine nor did we have warmer temps today! When we left to take the girls to the groomers this morning at 7:45 a.m. it was SNOWING! Seriously? Snow in March? Just not lovin' it like I do in December or January or even in February. March, not so much ! And don't even get me started on that cold, blistery wind! Brrrrr! I always bribe my mom to go with me when it is time for the girls to go to the groomers. It is just so much easier to have the extra set of hands when I'm trying to carry in two dogs and a dog bed! I really don't HAVE to bribe her.....I know that she would go without the treat because that is just how she is. BUT I always treat her to a latte and danish at Pontiac Coffeehouse after we drop the girls off. It never disappoints! However, this morning we chose a cream cheese turnover which was fat-free. I mean, after all......we are trying to get our beach bods and are walking almost every day. And did I mention the latte with the whipped topping that we had with our turnover!? We tried to balance it out so that we wouldn't feel too guilty! Well, let me tell you this.......never, never, never again! My sweet mother complained and complained and complained about the lack of taste, didn't feel like she had even eaten, and on and on and on! haha I tried to remind her that the turnover was fat-free so really, what did she expect! I tell you what she expected......a fat-free cream cheese turnover that was yummy like the REAL ones but without the fat! Yeah, Mom, that would have been nice but it just didn't happen that way so GET OVER IT! haha I may be embellishing her whining a teeny tiny bit! We got my dad a cinnamon roll that looked really good and it was not fat-free so I'm notreally sure if my dad actually ever received that roll this morning! I'll have to ask him!

Last night, Bud, Little Buddy and I went to Louie's for dinner. Coach John Pelphrey was there doing a radio talk show. He is our Razorback basketball coach! I enjoyed listening to him and even talked Bud into sneaking a picture with his iPhone. We were trying to be discreet about it so in addition to it not being the best quality of picture do to usingBud's iPhone and not a real camera and being kinda hard to actually see Coach Pelphrey since we were sitting in a booth about midway.... I did get a picture and want to share it with you regardless! He is the guy on the far right.....he is to the right of the guy in white with head phones....can you see him? ; ) You can see a piece of his shoulder and the tip of his head!





While Little Buddy and I were in Barnes and Nobel this afternoon, I noticed Nolan Richardson's new book on display.....Forty Minutes of Hell. I picked up a copy and will go back Friday at 1 p.m. to get it autographed for Rhyno! How cool will that be!?


After our dinner at Louie's, we drove over to PetSmart to get some fish for our aquarium! It had filtered for 24 to 48 hours and was ready for fish! Unfortunately, PetSmart didn't have many to choose from. There were a lot of empty tanks! The little sales girl said that they would be getting a shipment of new fish in on Thursday. We ended up with a beta, a male and female guppy but upon looking at our sales receipt....I'm thinking we ended up with TWO males, and three of these little zippy fish. The guppies and zippy fish move too fast to get a decent picture but I did get an awesome picture of the beta. So far....so good. They are all alive 24 hours later and seem to be doing quite well! I wanted to post a picture while they are all alive!!!!



Bud, Rhyno and Little Buddy just headed to Petco to see about getting some more fish. They are wanting some neon fish and glo fish. No telling what they will be bringing home. I'm thinking now that maybe I should have gone with them! When they were walking out of the door, I heard words such as frogs, ghost shrimp, and sucker fish.......ugh! Will let you know tomorrow what they end up bringing home! Bud is going out of town tomorrow so the fish will be in my sole care! Last time that he left town, both guppies died. I may be out buying more fish before he gets home late Thursday night!

Have a great evening!

Gigi