Eat, Drink & Be Scary IV! (along with some happy trees!)

Last year, right before Halloween, I was a bit busy; kiddo #1 was headed down the aisle, and I was plum tuckered out. So when the Dolce Girls inquired about a party this year, I was refreshed and ready to go! The costumes were trumped this time though, by our new-found passion...painting! (not the house walls, guys, don't get any ideas) I was invited by our friend Robin to a "Sip n' Paint" class a few weeks back...BYOB (yay!), follow along with the instructor, and simply paint! I loved it, and I thought, "Hey, I can do that!" (me and my big ideas!) The girlfriends were totally on board as their fearless (crazy) friend (me!) decided to teach a painting class! (this apparently is what all that art school tuition paid for)

Debbie was the Ethel to my Lucy, the Barney to my Fred; she found the picture to paint, watched the video with me, helped purchase supplies, and did a "practice run" with me the week before. And when it was time to set-up, Connie was here on a quick visit, and helped SO much in getting ready for the fourteen budding ar-teests that would show up Friday night!

Who better to dress as than THE master painter, Bob Ross! The ladies had the option to paint a "happy tree" (with cherry blossoms) or a "scary tree" with a lone bird. (Bob wouldn't have liked that; he liked all his birds to have a friend!)

Debbie was my faithful helper, giving assistance and guidance and being an all around cheerleader! (Ps. She was wearing labels with all the ladies' names, "social security" numbers and "bank info"...she was an IDENTITY THIEF! Ba-dum-bum!)

We had a blast, and these ladies were phenomenal! Look at all those great paintings!

Look out, Picasso, here come the Dolce Girls! ;)

Then later that weekend, I had a visit with the babe...he had had a virus for a few days and was quite under the weather, but was bouncing back...so I went over to snap a few pics!

  

Love. That's it. Just "love" ♥

It was so nice to see his smile again after a couple of rough days (according to his Mom & Dad; Nannys get the luxury of not having to always see when the lil nuggets are sick)

So, anyhow...Jack has been in North Dakota and comes back on Thursday. It's been a busy week and a half while he's been gone, and now I start gearing up to welcome him back home. (The "no cooking" part is always nice, but I miss him)

Ask me again on Friday, though. ;)

Grandparent Update...

Yep, it's still awesome! We had Zach for a sleepover last night, and had a wonderful time; it made me reflective of the year so far (he'll be 8 months old on Friday!), and how lucky we are to have this little guy in our lives. Every baby is a blessing, and this guy has blessed us more than we could have ever imagined!

The first 5 minutes...we had no idea what fun the next few months would be!

Zach made...Lindsay an aunt...Zach's ONLY aunt, which is pretty darn cool! We Facetime with her almost every time Zach comes over, so he always knows who she is and how much she loves him ♥

Jack...a Pap...the beginning of a beautiful (hunting, fishing, manly) friendship ♥

Alex...Uncle Al...who's gotten pretty darn comfy at holdin' a baby...he's a natural ♥

Us...the proud(est) grandparents. Ever ♥

And these guys...a loving family of three ♥

Four generations of Ehrig men on Father's Day. (I've come to know this is a VERY important namesake, passage thing) ♥

His first time at the bar where his grandparents met...who'da thunk almost 33 years ago that this li'l guy right here would be sharing the same barstool as his Pap?! ;)

In the last 8 months, he's...

amused us...

 with these ridiculous "baby crunches"; he tried the hard way to sit up for awhile, but he's got it now... 

& with funny faces when he eats...

he's melted our hearts...with gorgeous blue eyes every time we look at him...

and startled us with a squeal that will burst our eardrums, but make us laugh because our tickles it hearts ♥

amazed us with his feats of baby-ness...overnight, this guy went from a docile, chill, take-it-slow-kinda-guy, to a whirling dervish of non-stop action! He's sitting!

He's standing! 

He's SO funny! This morning, he giggled nervously as he sized up the Halloween skull I had put out...then he loved it and laughed at it!

He snuggled in bed with Pap and I this afternoon as we tried to get him down for a nap...Pap wanted to play "Who Can Fall Asleep the Fastest" (just like he did with our kids, and always WON)...I rubbed his back, tickled him, hugged and kissed him...NO sleep, but best part of my year so far ♥

We can't wait for more! (If you don't have one, you gotta get one of these! ;)

The Birthday Week Comes to a Close...

I say it every year. I have the best family & friends (co-workers, pals, drinkin' buddies, confidants,  sistas-from-anotha-motha & amigas) that a girl could ask for. You know I love attention, especially birthday attention...that's NOT a secret! This week I was indulged, showered & blessed with all the attention I could handle, and I'm so thankful (and spoiled)! It's been a hectic couple of weeks recently, but this "birthday week" has made me count every single blessing and remember how good God is once again!

These are just a few of the things that have made this week so special:

On Monday evening, a delicious, hot casserole was dropped off right at dinner time by our sweet Courtney from her Mom...how wonderful is that?!

(Tuesday was a blur, but it may have involved wine ;)

Wednesday: A Sponge Bob cake at work. "A big fan, eh, Terry?" you say? No, I am not. Thirty seconds of Sponge Bob makes my ears and stomach hurt. (the only choices at the bakery were this & Ironman) BUT, this made my birthday-workday SO much fun! Along with a sea-themed card and poem, with such good folks! 

Later, it was Wine-Wednesday-Girls'-Night-Out-Birthday-Fun! We were asked to "keep it down" by management. Ooops. C'mon, girls just wanna have fun! 

Part of the "haul" from dinner..lotsa booze-themed cards & gifts...go figure! I swear, it's not just me, these gals like to party too! 

Thursday belonged to me & my girl ♥ We met for shopping and lunch in Orlando, our middle of the state meeting spot. So lucky to have this thoughtful, kind, beautiful young woman as my daughter (and friend!) (and I think she photo-shopped this picture, yay!)

No better way to spend my Friday birthday lunch than with these two beauties at Leonito! We had to skip the margaritas, but it was still good fun!

The workday was finally over, and it was time to really celebrate! Half-priced martinis and blackened tilapia = heaven! Thanks, hon! Al got to come, too ♥

Flowers and more flowers were received, numerous bottles of wine, gift cards & girly gift certificates! Birthday kisses & hugs from baby boy Zach & his momma & daddy finished the day on a perfect note ♥

Cards full of love and fun and sincere wishes. 

This entry was not meant to be showy or boastful; I simply want to share how lucky I am, and to let my family & besties know how much they are loved and appreciated. 

Alright, 51...I'm hoping for a great year!

My Guy

For over 27 years, he's been a dad, and he's been a great one. I'm thankful every day that he's my hubby, my friend, and the father of our kiddos.

He's:

A play mate.

A role model.

A great son.

A grillmaster.

A knowledgeable shrimper. 

An expert turkey-carver.

A master chef (who can feed 275 people a delicious meal!)

A talented jack-of-all-trades. 

A fun vacation guy!

A lover of all things duck.

A very happy boat owner (many times over!).

A best friend.

A proud Pap.

A fantastic dad.

His cell phone rings. "Dad, quick question...how do I..." Then he answers every question like a pro: "why is my car doing..." "do you think I popped a breaker..." "how do I unclog a drain..." "what do termites look like..." "where can I buy a..." (he's not very good at the "what does mom want for her birthday" one, tho) I look at him with amazement most times, wondering how he knows so much about pretty much everything. (thankfully!) 

Happy Father's Day, hon, we love you.♥

My North Dakota Vacation

Ok, it's not really my vacation. My 'farmer' took off this morning to visit his brother-from-another-mother, Ty, and his family; ready to run a plow and deliver cows and get dirty. He was in heaven. And I kinda am too. I spent today paying bills, doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms and grocery shopping...getting things 'done'...so that for the next two weeks, I can PLAY!

I'm not gonna lie; during the two weeks that Jack is gone, the first week is fun. The girls and I go to dinner, shop, go to the movies, shop, drink wine, shop...you get the picture. I'm spending Mother's Day weekend in Tampa, hanging and eating with my girl. And I get to eat stuff that Jack doesn't care for, but that I love. FISH. A "super foods" salad. Beets. Green tea. Organic sweet potato chips (Late July brand, thank you, Connie!). Beans. Mmmmmm, good stuff. When I got to the checkout at Publix this afternoon, and put my multi-pack toilet paper, bottled water and kale on the conveyor belt, I reminded myself of the folks I look at and think, "What kind of weird conglomeration of food is that? That doesn't go together, what are they thinking?!" I guess either their spouses are on vacation too, or they're alone, or they just don't care and eat whatever they like.

This is my superfood salad: kale, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, chicken, pepitas and dried cranberries. Oh yeah...and wine.

But lemme tell ya...week two...it's kinda sad. I miss waking up to his snoring. I miss telling him all the things I thought of during the day that he would laugh about.  I miss him telling me about his day, and I miss watching Jeopardy with him. Yep, I just miss him. So for the next week, it'll all be good. But by week two, gimme a call. And on May 17th, after I pick him up and we get back home...don't call till Sunday ;)

A Week of Blessings Abound

Last Sunday, Jack and I were at a mystery dinner theater in Kissimmee with our K of C friends. When my phone rang during the show, I didn't recognize the number, so I let it go to voicemail. When I checked the message at intermission, I found it was from my brother-in-law, Gordon. He said, "I'm trying to put your sister in the car tomorrow, Monday, and show up at your house on Tuesday...if that's ok." Ummmm....heck yeah, come on down! So these nice people below came to escape the cold and visit, and we had a wonderful week of eating, drinking (I know, I know), and catching up!

Jack was headed out to shrimp the last night Connie & Gordon were here, but we managed to have some fun anyway ;) (notice the long clothes on the Floridians)

Lindsay came home to see our visitors on Thursday, so for fun, Con, Linds and I got tattoos and pedis! Ok...we all three got pedis, but only Lindsay got a tat! Three is a lucky number in our fam, and she'd been hankerin' for a tattoo for a long time. I totally "get it", I'm very happy with mine :)

Con and Gordon said goodbye by 6 am on Saturday, and their departure reminded me of my favorite children's book, (which you already know) When the Relatives Came.We crawled back in bed after they honked and drove away, but we were already missing them. 

Sunday brought us joy, however, as our beautiful boy was welcomed into the Church!

His momma and daddy sure were proud, as we all were. He didn't make a peep as he was baptized a child of God, cold water and all ♥ (look how BIG he's getting, he's 7 weeks old today!)

Yeah...we're not happy to be this guy's grandparents, huh?!

The. Sweetest. Face. Ever. 

I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it! ;)

And Then Came Zachary Taylor...

...and the world got a whole lot more beautiful ♥

Countless times during Samantha & Jackson's pregnancy, family and friends told us how much we would love being grandparents, and we knew it was going to be really sweet (the whole "spoil 'em and give 'em back" thing sounded like a great way to get back at your kid). Then came the time; as our champion of a daughter-in-law worked and pushed (literally uttering not one single word of complaint), and our own baby stood by her side telling her she was doing great, I sat and watched and smiled like an idiot and cried. I worried (like I always do) for Samantha's pain, for this new baby, for my son being a father, for Jack and I being grandparents...GRANDPARENTS?! Then this lil guy right here came squalling out into that labor room, and all of our lives were different: better, more tired, happier, broker, awe-struck, complete. Our child's child. God is good.

His hospital photo, all of 20 hours old. Laying in our boy's hands; hands that will guide him and protect him and encourage him.

Zach's first real photo shoot is below ☺ My extremely talented gal pal, Kristyn, 

(shameless plug here), captured these beautiful photos of our 5-day-old grandson (we have a grandson, I love to say it!) He was perfect for the whole hour as Kristyn gently undressed, re-dressed, shuffled, wrapped and propped him. He's gonna be a star! 

No words. Is it wrong to wanna cry when I look at him?!

Wish he was more alert ;) Jackson and Samantha are gonna have their hands full with this guy, I think!

Swaddled.

I'm starting to know this expression. It involves gas. Lots of it.

Squish face. I'm thinkin' more gas.

♥

Yep, the sonogram was right. He's a boy ☺

First fishin' outfit. All ready for Pap to take him out in the new boat.

Blue boy.

These guys right here = love.

Give your old man hell, Zach. He has it comin'.

Five days in, I'm thinkin' they all look pretty content.

Hold him tight, guys. Next time you look, he'll be all grown up.

This photo made the cut because Zach looks so big (and I think my face is airbrushed and I look about 5 years younger. Thank you, Kristyn)

That's it. He's perfectly wonderful, and we're keepin' him ♥