Here We Go Again!!!!!

....trying to get all those grandbabies to pose for beach pictures!  It's a YaYa thing.....I can't tell you how many times I've looked at last yrs pics that are framed on my kitchen counter .... so I knew I'd need some more!  Alot more!!
We spent all last week in Florida with our whole family....and oh! what a fun time we had!  Haven't had time yet to edit pictures and I've got two little girls coming to stay with me for some days so I'll do them when I can.  Until then.....here's how our early morning shoot began

Once again.........it was a hoot!!  And of course, the best ones are always the ones that are not posed or planned ~~

A foot to the back....the big one ready to hand off the baby...one's dress flying up in the breeze...and one booty in the air!!!!  and there are a million more like this!!

These two little boys had smiles on their faces for 7 days in a row!!!

Come back to join us on our magical trip to Perdido Key!!

Yeah Baby!!!!

                                              Sand.  Sunshine.  Sighs of calm and peacefulness!!

Coffee from here in the mornings??

Yeah, Baby!!

"There's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away." ~~ Sarah Kay

Dont You Just Love to Hit the Jackpot?!!!

Well, I sure did when I won a give-away by margieinitaly!!!!!  Margie Miklas has a wonderful blog about Italy....and for those who love Italy as I do, it's like walking into a candy store every time I read her words and drool over her photos!  Look what I won....

A book, written and photographed by Margie, about Naples and the Amalfi Coast.  Places I've not gone to YET but would love to visit.  I found her blog because of her first book, Memoirs of a Solo Traveler - My Love Affair with Italy.  Since I traveled solo to Italy a few years back, I'm always fascinated with others who travel alone too.

Once this little treasure arrived in the mail, I waited until I was alone and cuddled up in a cozy blanket to lose myself in this beautiful book.  I was not disappointed.  It will definitely have a place on my coffee table!!

Thank you Margie for this gift of the heart!!

"""""

Who Said "I Told Ya So?!!"

YaYa did!!!

I remember this day so vividly.....Ms. Lilli and her mom and I went to the azalea park one spring morning to take some pictures.  She was about 16 months old and I told her mom...."Before you know it, she will be in first grade".  Her mom kinda rolled her eyes and I could tell she was thinking.....OH CRAZY YAYA!!

Well, in the blink of an eye and so many memories later......guess what happened?

Kindergarten Graduation!

I bet this daddy thinks his eyes blinked too quickly too!!

ONWARD TO FIRST GRADE MS. LILLIAN LEIGH!!!

25 years?? 20 years??.....

The early weeks of May are a bit bittersweet for me.  Today, May 13 ... is the day my mom passed away.  And today marks 20 YEARS since that happened.  May 3 was the 25th anniversary of my daddy's death.  Where, oh where have those years gone?  They missed so much of my children's lives and so much of MY life.  But they taught me so much and molded me into the person I am today.  I thank them for raising me with discipline, integrity and love.
I only hope that I have done the same for my children...isn't it a scary thought at what kind of legacy we will leave behind for them?  My one hope is that they think of one particular thing in those days to come.................MAN, OH MAN....SHE HAD FUN!!!!

Ribs...Reading....Relaxation....on Mother's Day

All our lil chicks are out of town this weekend, so Mother's Day has been spent with just the boyfriend and me on our own private island.....heheheh!  That would be our flooded lake area.
As we drove,,,er....boated into the Mekong Delta, what is usually our yard...this was the view.

And Curtis, my lil concrete man that sits in a canoe filled to the brim with ferns that my first neighbor gave me many years ago, barely able to see above the waters!

But the rainbow here is that on the waaay other side of the yard, my jasmine is in full bloom on the pergola and it smells dee-lightful!!!

And because we really are surrounded by water, it's been an enjoyable weekend being verah verah lazy!

My Mother's Day began with this!

cooked by my boyfriend!

Then there was a little of this...

while mah boyfriend was doing this!

this black box?? the smoker? very magical things happen in there!

Oh yeah!!!!  Ribs...Chicken....lil potato salad?! 

Yes, I would say Mother's Day has been a really nice day!!

HOPE ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS HAD A GREAT DAY TOO!!!

The Lost Art of Hand Written Thank You Notes

EXCEPT IN MY FAMILY!!!

Every time my daughter in laws receive anything from us, whether it be material or non material, they ALWAYS write us a note.  And that just warms my heart in a million different ways. Not only is it just good etiquette.....their mothers did so well with them....but it is probably one of the nicest ways to show appreciation.  It's not only the words but it's the thought behind it. That they've taken time out of their day to pick up a pen, write their thoughts, put a stamp on it and put it in the mail.

I was taught to always write a warm note of thanks but that was in a day waaaay before email and texting. It would be so easy for them to just "phone" a thank you....but they never do. They always write a hand written note.  I find myself giddy at times when I see a familiar handwriting on an envelope in my mailbox....is that crazy?

And now they are teaching their children the same type of manners...

Below are two notes I recently received.  One was even from my 4yr old grandson as he dictated to his mom what to say. He can't write yet!!  Except for the green on the left!  I wish I had the one I received from my granddaughter, who is 6, a few weeks ago (it's at the lake house) thanking me for something and also apologizing for acting a wee bit naughty while she was with me........

Oh My!!  I cannot even put into words how proud I feel at the ways that my sons and their wives are raising their children. 

You know?  It really was worth the work and struggle all those years of teaching our children.

They are giving the pride back to us ten-fold!!

The art of the thank you note from them is always a gift to me!!

As Mother's Day approaches, I just have to say that I have the most kick-ass daugher in laws in all the land....

and the best MOMS any child could ever hope for!!

Lil Bit of Tuscany in Loosiana Today

**Sigh**.....Putting myself back into Italy this morning with a cappucino in a cup that was purchased with my BFF in Lucca, Italy.  Trying to escape.

IT'S FLOODING AGAIN....

Really?  Really?  C'mon, mother nature....how much can a lakehouse take??  Two 50 yr floods in the course of a month and a half???  ENOUGH ALREADY.
 On Friday night,it rained about 6 inches in the course of about 7 hrs along with 3 tornadoes in the area, which brought the lake levels back to flood level.
We had just about gotten it cleaned up from the March flood.  I had planted pretty lil blooms and the grass was actually growing back.  It was starting to look like "the camp" again.  No more.
When I left from there last night, by boat because that's the only way we can get to our house now, the water looked like it may not be rising anymore. But what?????  More rain last night and it's raining as I type this.
Global Warming??  El Nino??  All I know is that it needs to El Stop-o!

View from the middle of the street

Under the house where the outside fridge and freezer are being raised to the roof

Cap'n and Greg, the neighbor, towing a paddleboat back to its owner's house after it floated out of their boathouse and all the way down the river

So, as I sit here trying not to think about the work to come by remembering my adventures in Italy, I think of Portovenere and the Bay of Poets.

Because it was here where I saw the sculpture of Mother Nature herself!!

I sat with her.  Even wrote in my journal beside her.

So......come on Mother Nature.....remember me and give us a break, ok??!!!!