Slumber Party!

Lilli spent the night at her Yaya and Cap'n's house on Saturday night. We had a lil slumber party, just the three of us! Whew.......can I just say how much I fall in love with her more and more everytime I'm with her? I took loads of pics and can't wait to show you, but it will have to wait till tomorrow. But look!! Her cap'n bought her a "Diva with Attitude" cap.......and she loved it! She never tried to take it off and wore it all day...........hmmmmmmmm, wonder where he's learned that Divas have Attitude?????

How do you spell Perfection??

L-I-L-L-I!!

Something to think about...

"One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching."

Whew. Sometimes life is sad. And hard to deal with. But we keep on going, scratching deep for strength....and go on. It's what we have to do. We all know it. We all do it. We all accept it.
And in between those times, we thank our lucky stars for all the wonderful things we have in our lives. And thank God for all of those things. Over and over again.

The day before our daughter in law's mom's funeral, a very good friend of our family lost his 25 yr. old son. And no one can understand why. Especially his young wife and 3 yr. old child. And most especially, his dad. Another one of life's mysteries. That we must accept. That we must find the strength to accept ... and go on.
So.............read the quote above again. And make yourself live every second to the fullest.
~~~ NEVAH LET A DAY GO BY................~~~

**back to add: I'm not meaning to write only gloom and doom on my blob. But, because this blog is a running diary of my family's lives, I feel it important to add both the happy and sad times. I do make this into a book at the end of the year for each of my children to keep as a treasure to one day show to their children... a written journal of events in our lives. Therefore; it all gets written about. But promise................tomorrow? What better way to brighten all of our worlds than to show the most recent, precious photos of ms. lillian leigh?!!!!!

The Circle of Life.........literally.

Piper Kate

Schwab!!

8lbs. 14 oz.!

Amy's sister delivered a beautiful babygirl in only a few hours this morning!! So yes, it can be said that when God takes one away, He rewards another............and they're all so happy. Clearly, they needed to feel happiness today. Amy even told me that someone said to her daddy that it must be bittersweet..........and his reply was Nah..........just sweet!! So cool. All their family is gathered together and as a unit, they watched Piper be born and now will bury Piper's granna together. The love will be abundant and the support neverending. Time will heal. Time will take away the sadness and replace it with heartwarming memories and millions of stories to tell ms. Lilli and ms. Piper!

The Circle of Life WILL go on!!

In Honor....

of a beautiful woman. A friend. A mom. A wife. A granna. A daughter.
My sweet daughter in law's mom walked into our heavenly Father's arms yesterday to light up heaven just a bit. She was a fighter...a very strong and brave fighter who gave it all she had, all the while leaving us with a heavy heart but also some very beautiful memories. She rocked Amy's world and was the best grandmother to Lilli ... always smiling, always happy and always loving. I could never walk in her shoes, but I am going to do my darndest to be there for amy and Lilli. Always and at every turn. To help her thru the dark days and help her find the sunny ones, for I know granna would only want sunny and happy times for her family now. Please send strength vibes for this family.........always appreciated!! (her oldest daughter is going to deliver a babygirl on Monday)Kathy, with her beautiful family that she is and always will be.. so proud of, at Lilli's christening.

Let Me Go

When I come to the end of the road And the sun has set for me, I want no rites in a gloom-filled room.Why cry for a soul set free?Miss me a little - but not for long And not with your head bowed low.

Remember the love that we once shared, Miss me, but let me go.For this journey that we all must take And each must go alone. It's all part of the Master's plan. A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick of heart go to the friends we know, and bury your sorrows in doing good deeds.

Miss me - but let me go.

Author Unknown

I will miss you, Kathy. And I will try to be the best mother to your little girl that I can be but I do let you go... to go have a blast in heaven! (and hey! can you put a few good words in for me up there?!!)

Greens that make me Smile!

I picked up some italian parsley instead of cilantro the other day. And since I don't really like cooking with the parsley, I put it in water beside the sink so I can see it while cleaning up the kitchen. It's so bright and cheery. And then when I noticed my meyer lemon tree plant, loaded with fruit that is still green, I picked some. To put with the parsley! I don't know.....just makes me happy! (see? doesn't take much!!)

Is Summer Over?

, Nah.........not according to the ducky duck who stands guard over the swimming pool! Since the temps have been in the triple digit numbers for the last two weeks....I would also say..NADA..summer is still around. Even tho the kids went back to school this week and LSU football is just weekends away.....we're still sweatin' and swimmin' and boyfriend is sailin', we're still enjoying every last day! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....sweet summer sunshine!!
p.s. ms. sophiejane is recovering very well and the good news is that sweet Dr. Dan got every last bit of the nasty tumor OUT!! She is A-OK!!

Best Movie EVAH!!!

saw Eat Pray Love this afternoon and I cannot stop thinking about it. Beautiful scenery. Awesome story. Julia Roberts deserves every award possible....she takes you to a special and comfortable place with such ease, that you truly feel like you've just eaten your way thru Italy and prayed yourself thru India!! The love story in Bali is great but I truly think the real love story revolved around knowing and allowing one to love oneself. ..for if you don't love yourself, how can you possibly offer love to another? Everyone -- take yourself to this movie. See it on the big screen. Take your friends with you or even go alone to give yourselves time to ponder and appreciate a very beautiful movie!!

"L'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle. The love that moves the sun and the other stars." —

Elizabeth Gilbert

Part 2 of Sophie's Story...

My little girl had to have surgery AGAIN today. :( The tumor that Dr. Dan removed last week came back with bad news. It was malignant. And even tho he feels like he really got all of it out with the first surgery, he wanted to get her back in to take a lil bit more of the cell area out. And he's a super vet and an even better friend, so I trust him completely. But now, we start all over for the next ten days with the collar to keep her from licking her wounds.....10.. TEN staples! So while I feel a million times better tonight than I did last night...........she's still getting lots of hugs and getting carried quite a bit! I have to just start facing the fact that she's older, 10 this Nov., and she won't always be that crazy lil puppy but kind of a lil ol' lady, like her mom!! But just look how cute she was on our boat in Roatan last year, helping the Cap'n sail the boat!!

The Essence of Summer

es·sence

n.
1. The intrinsic or indispensable properties that serve to characterize or identify something.

What better characterizes summer than SUNFLOWERS?!! Bright. Yellow. Happy. Huge. If you've never visited a sunflower field in full bloom...you should put that on your list of things to do! The beauty is overwhelming!

These pictures were taken at our family's hunting camp. My boys plant this field and watch it and watch it and watch it.........until it's time to announce: "Mom....they're ready!! Come take your pictures!!" It's an awesome site to see. In this last image, you can see one of their deer stands in the background. They have this one blown up and framed, hanging in the house at the deer camp! YES!!!! Sunflowers do make me feel Summer.............besides the triple digit temperatures we've had for the last full week!! Is it hot where you are?

Poor Baby.........

Ms. Sophiejane has had surgery. It was out patient surgery but still.................it was surgery. She is getting old and is having lil bumps form on her body. Most of them are small but some need to be checked out. And since the two that Dr. Dan removed this week are within scratching and licking distance, he put an elizabethan collar on her. WELL. Ms. sophiejane DOES NOT appreciate anyone making her life in any way........uncomfortable! And the first day, she was pitiful. Walking into walls. Not peeing or pooping. But it's been a couple days now and she's doing better. So sad...............so so sad............Poor Ms. SophieJane!!

Objects of Beauty..to me.

~~Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder~~

This wooden sculpture was found in a sweet shop in Roatan, Honduras by my boyfriend! Yep....he saw it. He knew I would love it. He came back to our boat, where I was at the time, and took me right back to the shop........to see if I would fall in love with it. Which I did! It sits in our lakehouse, where I can see it everyday and often remember that day. He was so proud that he found it. He makes me swoon!

And flowers........I do love flowers. Have you ever noticed how sensual roses are? To see them with the naked eye...it may only look like just another flower. But to examine them thru the artist's eye allows you to see the true beauty and delicacy of each petal.

"One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.”
~ Dale Carnegie