4.0000000000

My daughter is a genius. Kylie received her grades and she got a 4.0 this semester. So proud. I can barely pronounce her classes, let a lone get an A in one of them. She has a long road ahead of her but I think she is well on her way. Look out world ready or not.....here comes Dr. Heying!

Top 10 List

Top 10 List of Things I am Thankful for.....
10.) Lola
9.) My job
8.) Extended family.
7.) Our home.
6.) My friends.
5.) My grandparents.
4.) My parents.
3.) Our health.
2.) Mike
1.) My girls.

SO much to be thankful for. I'm a lucky girl. Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Growing Up Too Fast!

Today is my sweet, baby girls 9th birthday. There aren't words to describe the joy she has brought us. She's what made our family complete. Happy Birthday Kassidy Paige. I love you.

Annual Orearville Chili Supper

Last night was the famous "Orearville Chili Supper". This is a supper that is put on by the PTO and is the major fundraiser of the year. For this reason, I always feel the need to do my part, as I am both a teacher and a parent at this wonderful little school. The question that crops up in my head each year is, how do other parents think this supper happens? Do they ever stop and wonder:
How collects all the BINGO prizes?
Who sets up the BINGO game?
Who shops for all the supplies?
Who sets up all the tables and chairs?
Who decorates the gym?
Who makes the soup?
Who makes the chili?
Who prepares the drinks?
Who makes all those delicious desserts?
Who sends all those cakes for the "cake walk"?
Who washes all those dishes?
Who puts all those tables and chairs up?
Who cleans the gym floor?
Who gets there at 9:00am and walks out at 10:30pm?
Let me answer these questions... it's NOT you! It's us busting our a**es, while you are sitting on YOURS playing BINGO! (winning all the prizes that we collected!)
Glad I got that off my chest.
Hope everyone has a splendid week!

Birthday Girl

14 years ago today, at 8:27 pm and weighing in at 6 pounds 7 ounces....Karson Suzanne arrived. Since that very day, she has blessed me with much love, joy and laughter.
Happy Birthday Karson. I love you.

Farewell Johnny

I bet I have watched Dirty Dancing a million times, maybe even close to a billion, maybe even a trillion....anyway A LOT, no matter how you look at it. Goodness I love that movie. It was in this movie that I fell in love with Patrick Swayze. I have the DVD and can watch it anytime but let it be on TV and I just can't make myself change the channel. It was and still is something about that tough, dancer guy that tugs at my heart strings.

I was so sad to hear that he lost his battle to cancer. My prayers go out to his wife, Lisa. What a lucky lady, she could "dirty dance" with him everyday!

Labor Day At The Lake

Let me start off by apologizing to the world.....I am sorry for starting the tradition MANY years ago of spending Labor Day at lake. Why you ask? Well, I don't think that I can remember a Labor Day since we have been going that it has actually been "summer like". It might not always rain but it isn't typically great swimming, boating weather. So people, blame me! Still, each year, we keep going hoping that our year will finally come. We are such troopers!

We changed up our routine a little this year, you know, hoping that would finally bring about the nice weather that we always pray for, by staying at a different cabin. Even though our new destination didn't bring about the sun, it brought about a lot of laughs, food, games, drinks and memories that will last forever, especially for Macy (sorry I have been forbidden to give details).

Ride'm Cowgirl

Karson rode this past weekend at the NBHA spring district show in Columbia. It was just an all around awesome weekend for her. Saturday she placed on both Classy and Chance and became $75 richer. That's a lot of money to a 13 year old! She improved her times each day on the horses, so by Sunday, she and Chance (aka ole faithful) had their best run to date. We were all there cheering her on, as you will hear in the video! (we probably annoy so many people) By Sunday, we weren't sure how much more our rearends could take. My goodness those bleachers get hard after 3 days of barrel racing, but you know what, seeing Karson run a 15.2 was well worth it! We're so proud of her.

Happy Anniversary To Us

Yesterday, Mike and I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary. 22 years, oh how the time has flown by. I look at Kylie now, who will be 20 in March, and think about the fact that I had been married for almost 2 years when I was just 20. What the heck were our parents thinking, letting us get married? I'm sure they thought the odds were stacked against us, 18 & 19 years old, trekking off across the United States, no money, NO anything.....except this incredible love we shared. There isn't a person in the world that could have talked us out of it. I tell people all the time that God sent me Mike. I'm a lucky girl. Happy Anniversary babe, I love you. Thanks for marrying me!

A Room With A View

How about that view? That is what we woke up to all week in Tennessee. Aren't those mountains just beautiful? We had a really great time on vacation. For those of you who don't know, we went to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge and spent the week. We couldn't have asked for more perfect vacation weather, it was in the low 80's everyday we were there. We rented a cabin for the week, that we all fell in love with. It was our home-away-from-home. Kassidy said that she could move there (although after about 5 days, she began to change her tune, she thought she would miss Nanny and Regan too much). We had an action packed week that I promise to tell you all about in posts to come. I'll leave you with one little hint of just how fun our week was.....FINALLY got to the cabin, ready to take a shower and get all snuggled in for the night and guess what??? NO UNDERWEAR! Yep, that's right, of all things that I forgot to pack myself....bra's and underwear! Thank goodness for Walmart. I know you are cracking up but hey, I can't blame you, I laughed until I thought I would die!

I'm so thankful that the Lord has blessed Mike and I with the opportunities to make family vacations possible. I guarantee we have created many memories that will last a life time.

Yes, I'm Alive!

Just wanted to let everyone know (because I know that you are staying up worrying about me at night) that I am in fact alive, just very, very busy and I have not had a minute to sit down at the computer, let alone "blog".
It's fair week and for any of you old 4-Her's you know what that means....craziness! Good news is that Kassidy got blue ribbons on all her projects and Karson got 6 blues, one red and her inch worm cake is going to state. I will have to take a picture and upload it later. This cake is a blog in itself! I'm really proud of them, they have been working very hard.
I do have some catching up to do and I promise it will be coming to you soon. We are leaving tomorrow for vacation, so I'm hoping that in my down time I can catch up.
Happy Thursday to you!

Bachelorette

Is anyone else watching this crazy show? I swear, I can't for the life of me understand how I let myself get so wrapped up in reality TV! Anyway....Jillian is driving me NUTSO!!!!! Why, why, why does she keep making the wrong decisions? I hate the fact that she let Ed come back. You snooze, you lose dude. Should have thought it over more carefully before you chose work over your potential "perfect" match. I didn't think it was fair to the other guys either. Then to keep Wes. YUCK. He just creeps me out. Surely this week she will let that guy go. How many times does she have to hear that he's there for the wrong reasons and possibly with a girlfriend back home? I'll say this for him, he is one smooth talker. Then poor Jesse. I loved him. He and Kiptyn were my picks for the final rose ceremony. It broke my heart for him that Ed and Wes were chosen to stay and he got sent home. I did some major talking to my TV set and hopefully Jillian heard me! I'm praying for better decisions this week.

Our Little Ball Player

Have you ever seen a cuter ball player? Kassidy is playing softball this summer and loving every minute of it. We aren't talking the fake stuff, we are talking the real deal...slow pitch softball. She's done really well. She's had the opportunity of playing third base and even gets in some pitching, which she LOVES. (she needs a lot more practice in that area). Jeremy Deal is her coach and Mike is helping out and we are all so proud of how far the whole team has come since their first game. We have gone from getting our rears kicked to WINNING!!! She typically plays 2 games a week and she counts down the minutes until it's game time. Doesn't hurt any that her 3 "bestest" friends in the whole world are on the team---Regan, Katie and Kimmie. Go Rays!

Happy Fathers Day

People that don't know Mike see him as this big, scary man and I think they wonder about the kind of husband and father he is. It doesn't take long being around him before you see that he is great at both. I have been very blessed that he is such an awesome dad to the girls. He does it all.....he's changed diapers, given baths, cleaned up puke, read books, coached soccer, volunteered for 4-H, been to more basketball games, soccer games, softball games and swim meets then anyone could ever count, sits through every Christmas and Spring program, held baby dolls, painted nails....I'm telling you, there is nothing those 3 can't talk him into!

Happy Fathers Day Mike!

Faster By the Minute

Sunday Karson ran barrels in Odessa. She just keeps getting a little faster with each race. She actually ran a 16.2 on Chance in both the youth and the open. Besides that, she STAYED on him!! She placed 2nd in the 2D on Chance and 3rd in the 3D on Classy....she was in the money again! It's so fun to see her so excited.
You wanna know my favorite part about her being in Odessa on Sunday? Taco Johns! Gosh I love that place. I swear there are times that I would drive up there just to eat. I starved myself through that whole barrel run so that I would completely enjoy my TACO JOHNS. Everytime I see that a new business is coming to Marshall, I pray it's a Taco Johns. Why, oh why can't someone do that?? Maybe someday I will. Can't really see myself making tacos for a living though, so I will probably just have to keep driving to Odessa.
PS....Happy 15th Birthday Macy Lea. I love you.

Cowgirls DO Cry!

Karson's ringtone is "Cowgirls don't cry" and I think she's gonna have to change it. Poor thing, today she learned the hard way that cowgirls DO in fact cry! She and Melissa were riding in Garden City (a.k.a. the middle of no where). Karson rode Chance in the youth and had her best ride to date. She placed third in the 2D!!! Yes, it's not a typo, she placed in the 2D. Oh my goodness, were we ever excited. Not a lot of time to celebrate though because she and Chance were riding in the Open as well. Call it mother's intuition but right before she went into the arena for that run, I thought to myself, "please don't let Karson get hurt when she falls off Chance." (maybe I jinxed her). Another awesome run for them and a strong finish and BAM---Karson goes flying over Chance's head and onto the ground. Bless her little heart, she jumped right up, dusted herself off and got back on. Boy did the tears flow. Not from a broken bone but a VERY bruised pride. 3 positives to this story.... One (and most importantly), Karson didn't get hurt. Two, she fell AFTER her run, so she got a time (17.3) and Third, she still managed to place!!!

Goodbye Baby

Let me just say before reading any further....DON'T JUDGE ME!
Ok, Kassidy is 8 and her bedroom has remained the same since she was a baby. Nothing about her room has changed since the day we brought her home from the hospital except the bed. It wasn't really what I would call nursery decor, it was a dark taupe, navy and maroon...cute, cute, cute! She has been BEGGING for I don't know how long to change it.
Kassidy: "mom, PLEEEEEEAAAASSSEEEEEE can we paint my room pink?"
Me: "some day."
Kassidy: "mom, PLEEEEAAAASSSSEEEEE....I don't like having a baby room!!!"
Me: "Kassidy, I said someday."
Well, someday has gotten here. This past week I have been tearing down wallpaper border and painting that cute little room PINK. I have to admit that it's cute. It's a light pink on top, darker pink on bottom with a white chair rail. She is so excited. Those beautiful brown eyes just light up everytime she walks in her room. Now that it is almost done, I really wonder why I was dragging my feet about this transformation and then it hit me. Re-doing Kassidy's room was the last bit of "baby" that I was holding onto. She's my last baby and I'm finding it very hard to let her grow up!!
For those of you now worrying about Karson, you know, the forgotten middle child, stop worrying, her room is next!

Somebody's Three!

Happy Birthday Jordyn Renee! Our birthday wish list for Jordyn:

1. Waking up with dry "Dora" panties.

2. Disney Clubhouse Marathon on the Disney channel.

3. Hotdogs for lunch.

4. A nice nap.

5. A Dora puzzle.

6. Chinese for dinner.

7. Ratatouille before bed.

8. Her bed filled with Mickey and Minnie, books and paper plates of her choice for a good nights

sleep!

May all your wishes come true Jordyn. We love you.

Cowgirl Karson

Here's Karson with the first of her 2 checks from the weekend. She and Melissa rode in the state NBHA finals this weekend in Columbia. We started at 1:00 Friday and finally finished up around 2 today. Although it was a long weekend, we had a lot of fun and excitement. I made mention several times over the weekend that it's a good thing we all like each other because we sure have to spend a lot of time together with all this "horse" business. Unfortunately, Melissa didn't qualify for the finals but she had AWESOME runs all weekend, just happened to fall in those cracks between the "D's". Karson (somehow) qualified on BOTH horses. As of Saturday night, she was 1st on Chance and 6th on Classy in the 4D. She was beside herself with excitement. She (or us) never dreamed that would happen, seeing that her weekend started off with her falling OFF Chance at the 3rd barrel (she's fine). Needless to say, we were happy to make the trip back to Columbia to watch her run in the finals. Not sure who was more nervous, us or Karson. Anywho, 3rd barrel knocked over on Chance and good ole Classy pulled out a 3rd place for her. She came home with $125 and a bag of goodies (and a new sparkly belt that Uncle Lance bought her). We're so proud of her. She's a very lucky little girl to have an aunt that is so willing to help her with this new passion of hers. Melissa's her biggest cheerleader!

Holiday Weekends

Aren't three day weekends the best? Even though it's summer and everyday is the "weekend" for me, there is just something fun about holiday weekends. Saturday Karson rode in a fun show in Lexington. She did awesome. Took 1st in barrels, 2nd in key-hole and 3rd in flags. She couldn't wait to collect that big ole check...NOT! $14 for all those wins. I was sure that they had forgotten to add a zero to her check. That didn't even cover the entry fee. Oh well, she was happy with her titles and her winnings. Funny how entry fees come out of my pocket and winnings go into hers!
Sunday the girls and I went to church, while Mike stayed home and worked on putting up our new garage doors (that's a whole other blog in itself). That afternoon, the girls and I went to Grandma's and along with Melissa, Jackson and Alexis, we raked her entire yard. I'm not talking a typical yard, I'm talking what seemed like 5 acres. Took forever but we felt good doing it for her and she was so appreciative. She treated us with warm cookies and iced tea when we were all done.
Today the rain was a bummer but it didn't slow us down. We didn't set out for the cemeteries until late but we managed to get it done before the rain returned. Definitely a different feel this year without Grandpa with us but we all did well. His headstone looks so nice. This evening was suppose to be the annual memorial day BBQ at the Neff Ranch but the rain was set in. We decided to get a shelter house at the park. Mike went out early and built a nice big fire in the fireplace. We ate, it rained, we roasted marshmallows, it rained, the kids played on the swings and equipment, it rained some more, we sat by the fire, talked and laughed and it rained and rained some more. As a matter of a fact, it's still raining! But you know what? Didn't ruin our day! Holiday weekends are just the best.

And the winner is....

Yeah!! Our man won. We were so excited when we heard Ryan call Kris's name as the winner. The girls and I were jumping up and down, screaming with delight. We hollered downstairs to report to Mike that Kris had won and he said, "like I couldn't tell". I don't think he understood just how exciting this was. I'm still smiling thinking about it. He's just too cute.

Relaxing Weekend

The Heyings had an unusual weekend, we were home! Wasn't at all how we planned our weekend but that's the way it ended up and it was so nice. Kassidy was suppose to play in a basketball tournament and it got cancelled for lack of teams. Karson was suppose to ride her horse Saturday in Odessa and Sunday in Ashland, both cancelled because of rain. Needless to say, I didn't shed a tear over any of the cancellations.
Spent Saturday finding Kylie's floor. She's officially home for the summer, along with all her belongings and OMG that girl has more stuff. Didn't even shower until around 5 pm and then we headed out to the Allison's for Brittni's graduation party. Nice evening. Chilly, but nice. Kim and I were wondering how 2 young chicks, like ourselves, could have daughters that are now both graduated from high school. Huh?
Today, just hung out. Went to grandma's house late in the afternoon and visited with her. Have I mentioned how much I love that lady? We watched her hummingbirds (remember my fascination with those?), walked to the garden, cut some lettuce, looked at her flowers and somewhat planned our menu for next weekend. As always, an enjoyable visit with her.
Won't bore you any longer with my not so exciting weekend. Hope you had a nice weekend as well.
ps....only one and a half days of work for me! Summer vacation is about to begin!!!! (I know, now you really hate me.)

Reality TV

This is why I can't seem to get anything done at home---reality TV! Anyone watch American Idol last night? Did Kris Allen do an awesome job or what? Kassidy and I already had a plan to vote for Kris and Danny, hoping to get rid of Adam (and his tongue) no matter how well either of them did. We have loved Kris from the very beginning and have been pulling for him all along. Simon made the comment last night that if Adam didn't make it to the finals, it would be a huge upset. I PRAY we see that upset tonight and Kris is in the finals. He deserves it. I did my part. Voted like crazy for him.
Then Dancing With the Stars. Gosh darn it, I loved Ty. He was so NOT a good dancer but you just couldn't help but love him. He made many improvements along the way and I think he did "cowboys" proud. Such a gentlemen. Now who do I want to win? I think the 3 left are all great. I think I will leave this decision up to the rest of America. I just can't pick between them.
With both these shows ending soon, I was beginning to have a little panic attack about what I would have to watch and then what did I see was starting??? The Bachelorette! Great TV never ends.

Mother's Day

My 4 angels on earth. Mike, who made me a mom and Kylie, Karson and Kassidy, the 3 best gifts a girl could ever receive.

Hummingbirds

If you haven't gotten your hummingbird feeders out, do so NOW! Connie told me she put hers out and already had 2. Monday I was at Grandma's and saw one on her front porch. She went right upstairs, got hers and put it out. I made a mental to myself to get mine out the second I got home. Somehow I remembered. Feeder cleaned, red stuff made and poured in, feeder in place right outside my kitchen window. Now..... wait. I swear I didn't even have to wait 10 minutes and there the little fellow was. Eating away. I of course squealed with delight and encouraged everyone to come see. The first time I do this my family at least pretends to be as excited as I am about seeing one. For some silly reason though they get bored with it. Oh not me, every time I see one, ALL summer long, I give out the same squeal of delight and want everyone to come see. Of course they all ignore me. Party poopers. What can I say? Takes so little to amuse me. They just make me smile.
Hope you see your hummingbird soon!

Mint Makers

Grandma's older sister (she would want me to note that), Mabel is turning 90 this month. Way back before Christmas, she announced that she was having a 90th birthday party and SHE (mabel) was planning it.
Well, here it is time for the party and I have quickly learned that Mabel's idea of planning her own party is designating jobs to her 3 siblings to do. Poor grandma. She got put in charge of cups, plates, forks, napkins, nuts, mints, table cloth and centerpiece. We've gradually been working on getting things ready.

cups-check
plates-check
forks-check
napkins-check
nuts-check
table cloth-check
center piece-still working on it

Now mints. Grandma and I decided we would attempt to make them. Never done it before but how hard could it be??? Wednesday night we turned grandma's kitchen into a mint factory. Almost burned up her hand mixer getting the "stuff" to the consistency we wanted it but we were sure we had it perfect. Did we have enough? Doesn't look like much. Hope so. We don't have anymore ingredients. Mint making underway. Such a tiny little ball of "stuff" was needed to press into our five little molds. WAY too much "stuff"! We were going to be there all night.
I'm happy to report that after just ONE hour, grandma and I had whipped out 235 perfect little yellow mints. We were so proud of ourselves. Would have been 237 but we each had to try just one! Let me also say that we were happy to do it and we hope Mabel has a wonderful 90th!

mints-check!

A Tree To Remember

Dad, Grandma and I continue to be overwhelmed by the love and thoughtfulness shown to us by the Orearville community after having lost grandpa. The Orearville staff surprised us one afternoon by presenting the 3 of us with a lovely new bench, that now sits outside of dad's office, in grandpa's honor. Above it hangs the nicest plaque and picture of him. It's nice to walk into work each day and "see" him. We were so touched.

Then last Monday night, the Orearville 4-H purchased and planted a Blooming Pear tree in his honor. The tree was planted in the southeast corner of the school lot. They too put a plaque stating that the tree is there in honor of AW Neff.

I know he is smiling down from heaven for the acts of kindness done on his behalf. He would be so proud and so very honored.

He was such a good man and loved by so many. We miss you grandpa.

Cowgirl Karson

Yippee! Karson got first place yesterday in the 3D NBHA horse show at Thompson Stables! We are so proud of her. She has been working so hard with her horses and taking riding lessons at least once a week and it finally paid off. Her horse journey has been a long one but she has stuck with it and continued to work hard. She began this endeavor with Bailey. She has made a lot of progress with her but she just isn't "race" ready yet. Uncle Lance convinced her to try Classy. Classy has a little more attitude then Bailey but a lot more barrel experience. Karson was game, she'd try it. She's been riding Classy daily, taking her lessons and gaining confidence in herself and the horse. Feeling more confident about her riding ability she decided she would try Chance. Chance is Melissa's old barrel horse, that really hasn't been ridden in a long time. Chance quickly became apart of Karson's daily horse routine. Finally after all her hard work, lessons and even a couple butt chewings, she and Chance walked away winners yesterday. For winning she received a check and a bag of horse treats. To show Bailey and Classy how much she appreciated all their hard work, Karson shared the treats and gave them each one. However, Chance was the winner and he got TWO! Congratulations Karson and Chance.

Cajun Easter

The afternoon of Easter we went to Jerrie and Nelson's house for Easter lunch. The whole Neff gang was there. Boy did we have a smorgasbord. My mouth is watering just thinking back about it. Jerrie and Nelson fixed gumbo and etouffee that were both to DIE for. Wish I had some right now! My first experience with etouffee was in Mexico (I know a strange place to have my first encounter with cajun food). Nelson made it for us one night for dinner and I have been craving it ever since. They also made a small turkey and Robbie brought chicken. Was suppose to be fried but ended up being broasted. No one really minded expect Nelson, who had already feasted on his gumbo and etouffee the night before and was very much looking forward to fried chicken. Robbie's story was that Walmart was out of fried, but we girls (and Nelson) were thinking one of two things: 1) you didn't pay attention to what they asked you to bring or 2) you didn't pay attention to what you picked up at the store. Regardless it was good. Even Nelson had to admit to its yumminess. Then of course there was all the other dishes that we filled our plates with and ate ourselves into a food coma!

After lunch we hid a million eggs for the kids to find (I might have miss counted by a few but not many I promise). They had so much fun running around the backyard and looking anywhere and everywhere for those candy filled eggs. Their baskets were overflowing. Kassidy and Jackson even had to go in, dump their baskets and start again. Too fun!

It was an all around perfect Easter. Thanks for having us Aunt Jerrie and Uncle Nelson!

Easter Morning

It's a little late, but I wanted to get the Easter blogs in before they were long forgotten. Kassidy was the first to spring out of bed this year. She was quick to run through the house announcing that the Easter Bunny had been there and we should all quickly get up and see what he left. We all made our way out of bed and in to find the Easter baskets (not with the same enthusiasm as Kassidy). There, just like Kassidy had said, waited 3 overly full baskets. Kylie was thrilled to find "outside" her basket the cowgirl hat she had been wanting and Kassidy was equally thrilled to find "outside" her basket the boots that she had been begging for. Karson...nothing waiting outside her basket. Had the Easter bunny forgotten something BIG for her?? She said nothing about being disappointed and appeared to be excited for her sisters as she quietly began digging IN her basket...candy, sunglasses, dvd, more candy, earrings, more candy, what's this?? A black thing? Tears sprang into her eyes and the biggest squeal of delight we have ever heard when she discovered that the Easter Bunny had gone against everything that Mike and I had been telling her and brought her a CELL PHONE! To say that she has been begging for one is a bit of an understatement but we kept telling her she had to wait until she was a Freshman. That is when Kylie got hers and she would just have to wait, no ifs, ands or buts about it. For some silly reason the Easter Bunny decided to ignore Mike and I's rule about the phone, but after seeing and hearing her reaction, he's been completely forgiven! Such a smart bunny.

New Experience

After 22 years of marriage, Mike and I did something in bed that we have NEVER done. Get your minds out of the gutter right this minute, it has nothing to do with hanky panky! (sorry to disappoint you). Are you ready????
We slept on the opposite side of the bed. I always sleep on the left and Mike on the right. Doesn't matter what bed we are in....ours, hotel, etc., this is how we sleep.
I decided to take our comforter to the laundry mat and wash and dry it. Needed a little "freshing" up. One round in the washer---done! One round in the dryer---not done. Another round in the dryer---still not done. My final $1.25 and still not as dry as I would like but I figured it was dry enough to take home and put on the bed. It looked so pretty on the bed, all nice and clean.
Bed time....threw back the covers, jumped in and YUCK...damp sheets. Guess it was wetter than I thought. Reached over and felt Mike's side. Dry, dry, dry. He's still in the shower, maybe he won't notice that I'm on his side. He noticed and wondered why. He didn't notice however that the sheets were damp. Don't know how he didn't but he said it wasn't bothering him. Rolled over and he was quickly snoring. I on the other hand tossed and turned for what seemed like hours until I finally decided I would take a Tylenol PM to help with this uncomfortable situation.
Good news, I finally fell asleep. Better news, the sheets are now dry and I'm back on MY side. I'm such a creature of habit.

Scientific Process

Scientific Process is what I call "egg coloring" at our house. We had to wait until Friday night to color the eggs because Kylie couldn't miss out on all the fun. Mike and Kylie are the king and queen of crafts and they turn this simple project into quite the production. We don't do just the basic egg dye set, oh no, we do the camo eggs, the tye dye eggs, the glitter eggs and pastel and bright eggs, I think we had every dye set that Walmart had available. We had every coffee cup and anything that resembled a coffee cup filled with the water/vinegar mixture so that the fun could begin. This is why I leave these things to Mike. If it was up to me, we would do the simple 6 colors, dunk the egg and BAM...you're done! The house smelled of egg and vinegar for a while and I now have 4 dozen beautifully colored eggs sitting on my kitchen cabinet that will soon make their trek to the trash cans but I love the fact that this is something that the girls look forward to each Easter. It's an evening that they know dad is going to sit down with them, have fun, laugh and make a huge mess for mom to clean up!

Home Repair

Monday night the bottom wire of Karson's braces came loose. I'm not sure if a rubber band came off or a bracket broke but regardless, Karson had like 2 inches of wire hanging loose in her mouth. Her orthodontist is only in town on Thursdays, so I was hoping that with wax we could manage until then. Well, the inside of her poor cheek was just becoming more and more irriatated. She was beginning to have trouble even talking. Last night she just couldn't take it anymore and so we decided to have a make shift orthodontist appointment. With Uncle Lance holding his shop light up to her mouth and wiping his wire cutters on his jeans, he snipped the wire off. I'm not real sure how much this helped, she still had a sharp end but at least it wasn't so much in her mouth. We were trying to help!
This morning I call the doctor first thing so that she can get in. They were nice enough to say bring her right in, we will work her in. Karson was so relieved to be getting this fixed. Needless to say, Dr. Shultz was NOT impressed with our work. We got into trouble for cutting the wire. He said we did an awful job and just made the situation worse. I stood there and took it from him, he is the orthodontist but in my head I'm thinking "you know what mr.??? she was just here a week ago and it came off on Monday. Maybe you didn't do such a great job either and you're suppose to know what you are doing and you're getting paid the BIG BUCKS!" Guess next time this happens we will leave the wire hanging and let it continue to cut the inside of Karson's cheek. Not.

Uncle Dwight

You know how you have those people in your life (if you are lucky) that you can always count on and I mean always, always?? I have Uncle Dwight. Gosh I love him. He is my go to guy. Yes, I know that I have Mike and in most instances he can handle whatever crisis I might be dealing with at the time but then there are times when you need to call in the big guns and that means Uncle Dwight! I could never begin to count the things that he has done for me over the years or ever begin to repay him....the list is endless and the bill way too high!
We need to move...he moves us.
My van is broken...he fixes it.
Kylie is stuck in Columbia...he goes and gets her.
I'm telling you, he's the best.
Where are these thoughts coming from you ask....well yesterday Mike was out of town and when the girls and I got home from Columbia, we came home to a house with NO heat and my dryer stopped working. My first thought, call Dwight! After some deliberation (it wasn't freezing outside and I didn't have to do laundry), I waited for Mike. It was Sunday afternoon and I hated to bother him. But you know what? I could have made that call and he would have come to the house, lit the pilot light and would be seeing about my dryer today. He wouldn't think a thing about it.
I hope he knows how much I love and appreciate him.

Crash...A.K.A. Kylie

As soon as Kylie was old enough to "pretend" to have a car for whatever reason- house, barbies, etc. her car was always and I mean always a purple VW bug. It was her dream car. So, for her 16th birthday, Mike and I surprised her with a 1969 purple VW bug. I can not describe her excitement when she saw this car. There were tears and everything. I can't even remember what we gave for the car or what we spent fixing it up but realistically the cars value...NOT MUCH (no power steering, no air, no defrost) the only true value to the bug was the special place it held in Kylie's heart. She drove this car for 3 years. In those 3 years she didn't have ONE mishap. No fender benders, no nothing! Once she graduated from high school and was heading to MU, Mike and I wanted her to have a much more dependable and safer car to be driving on I70 with. After some searching, we found her a 2006 purple (again) Cobalt. Cutest car. We got a great deal on the car and after we paid down the bug money, she was driving a very nice car that we owed very little money on (thank you John). 2 weeks into college life we get the dreaded phone call, "mom, I've been in an accident". Most importantly, she was fine! The car however was totaled. She has to have a car to drive, so the search for a new car began. She's so spoiled. She is now driving a 2007 red G6. Not in the great place we were with the Cobalt but Kylie's fine and that is all that matters. The wreck really scared her and she is now an extra cautious driver (so I thought). Last Friday, phone rings, Kylie crying uncontrollably "mom, I just backed into a car at the mall". Just a fender bender. Kylie's car is fine but the other car has a dent in the door. I know it's just a car and Kylie wasn't hurt so it's not the end of the world but I want someone to remind me of that each month when I'm writing my check to the insurance company...OUCH!!!

Come Back QUEEN

Anybody watch Dancing with the Stars last night? Don't you know that Jason is just kicking himself when he sees Melissa shake that "booty" of hers on the dance floor! I'm sure that his precious Molly has forbid him to watch, but you know he is sneaking a peek....that is just the kind of creep he is. I thought she did awesome and I bet she ends up in the finals.
I taped it on the DVR and watched it in spurts because Kassidy and I were making "green" cupcakes for her class today. Just call us Betty Crocker and Betty Jr.. They are green cupcakes with green icing and green sprinkles. We are even serving them with green juice.
By the way, Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone. Hope you remembered your green!

Nail Salon Fiasco

Mike was doing a tile job last night and so the girls and I decided we would run to Sedalia for a girls night out. Get our nails done and eat out. I needed a fill and Karson has been begging to get a set of nails for forever and I told Kassidy that if she was good, she could get a manicure.
Here is how our "fun" night unfolded:
We arrive at the nail salon around 6:00. We all signed in. They called Karson and I to tables 4 and 5. Karson wanted a French set, so while they started on her, Kass and I went to pick out our colors. I of course picked a beautiful shade of red and Kass picked a sparkly pink. We placed our colors on the table and waited, as we watched little Miss Karson get her first set of nails. Kass was being SO good, just standing and watching. The next thing I know, I hear a crash on the floor. Kassidy had somehow knocked her bottle of nail polish on the floor, it broke into a million pieces and sparkly pink nail polish was EVERY WHERE! The 2 ladies immediately broke into their soft, yet high pitched gibber (I'm pretty sure that we were being cussed out in another language). I felt so bad for Kassidy, she was being so good and it was just an accident but she was so sad. She apologized to the ladies and we spent the next 20 minutes cleaning. Now, back to nails. The other lady moves to me, again gibber amongst one another.
Lady: Did you get your nails done here last time?
Me: No, Marshall.
More gibber
Lady: How long it been, you have new set?
Me: Not sure.
Lady: I think you need new set.
Me: Ok, if that is what you think.
She proceeds to "attempt" to get my nails off. Karson is now done. Both my hands are filled with sweat because she is causing me SO much pain.
Lady: Sorry, that hurt?
Me: YES!
She spends the next hour removing the set that she thought needed to come off. On my left hand she even tore a little hole in my nail that bled. Needless to say, when she finally got around to putting the product on my nails, that particular finger was on fire! We finally walked out of there at 8:00. Everyone had pretty nails but we couldn't enjoy them because we were STARVED to death!!
Check out this You Tube clip, I'm pretty sure that at some point in our 2 hours there, they were saying how pretty we looked as well!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsWrY77o77o

Super Daddy

I was looking back through my camera to see what pictures I could or should delete and I ran across something that I forgot to share with you guys. Most of you know that Mike is super, duper handy. What you might not know is how crafty he is (he would crap his pants if he knew I was sharing that with the world).

While I was with grandma, tending to grandpa, Mike was in complete control at home. He was doing it all with the girls...dinner, homework, baths, reading...you name it, he did it. For those couple of weeks, he served as mom and dad both. And somehow amongst all the chaos he managed to help the girls pull off 2 of the cutest Valentine boxes ever.

I bet you are wishing you had a Mike! Sorry he's all mine.

Bumps and Bruises

Bumps and bruises. This is what is all over my body after the annual mother/daughter basketball game. It's tradition that at the end of each basketball season we host a mother/daughter----father/son basketball game. Every year I pray with all my heart and I mean every single fiber of it, that they forget about it and NOT have it. Why can't someone say...oops, it slipped our minds. However, my girls would die if that happened, they love it.
You see, basketball has been and continues to be a HUGE part of all 3 of the girls lives. They love playing the game and are good at it. I of course am the perfect basketball mom. I never miss a game, I have team sweatshirts in every style and color and very happily wear them on game day. I sit in the crowd and hoop and holler for my girls like a crazy woman....."go after that ball! REBOUND!! Shoot the ball! Don't foul!" All looks so easy when I'm sitting in the stands.
Well, let me just say, the game of basketball is down right scary and hard too!!! I'm terrified when I'm under the basket trying to rebound. There are nine other people wanting that ball and I'm like "you can have it". It's hard to dribble that ball constantly and get yourself in perfect position to shoot. I need to walk (without dribbling) to my perfect spot. Trouble is, by the time I do get there (after I have just walked) there is a girl on me, jumping up and down in my face. Do you realize how far up that hoop is? A LONG ways. And finally, I can't run up and down the gym floor one time, let alone do it for 8 minutes without wearing my Depends!!
One thing for sure, the girls didn't get their basketball talent from me. Keep up the great work girls. You all 3 are my All-Stars!

Can you say JERK????

Watch the Bachelor last night? Oh my gosh, I'm so annoyed with Jason! He is just an all around JERK in my opinion. I was so anxious to watch the finale last night. My plan was to get home, walk on my treadmill, get dinner, baths, homework, everything out of the way so that come 7:00, I was ready to plop myself on the couch and watch the conclusion of the "Jason and Melissa love story". She was my pick from the very beginning. So cute!
I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw Molly's shoes step out of that first Limo. Yes, I was right, he picked the best girl...Melissa. She looked so pretty as she walked down to him and she was so happy to hear him say how he felt about her. Poor thing, if she had only known what lie ahead.
Here is why I'm annoyed:
1). He ended up breaking Melissa's heart in front of the world...said he had to because it was in the contract that he signed. Well, man up and do what's right. This is something that should have happened in private.
2). You don't call an engagement off one minute and then "suck face" with your second choice the next, PLEASE, how rude!!!
I can't believe that Molly would give him the time of day. Doesn't say much about her, if you ask me.
Anyway, I pray that Melissa goes on to find the most amazing man and ends up happier then she ever knew possible.
Remind me to never watch this show again!

Kylie

19 years ago today was probably one of the scariest and most exciting days of my life....Kylie was born at 4:13pm, weighing in at 6 pounds 15 ounces! Exciting because I was finally going to meet this precious baby that Mike and I had created and scariest because they were sending her home with us with NO instructions. We were kids ourselves. Did we know how to take care of a baby? We made our fair share of mistakes but somehow she turned out great! I would have her a million times over. She has been a joy and blessing to our lives. I can't even begin to think of a word or saying that describes this kind of love.

Happy Birthday Kylie.

Cookie Monsters

Has anyone else had their Girl Scout cookies delivered yet? I have mixed emotions about these wonderful treats. 1) Why, oh why do I have to wait a whole year to get a box of Thin Mints and then 2) I'm so thankful that I can only get Thin Mints once a year!
Didn't I mention a few blogs back that we are doing the Biggest Loser at school? What on earth was I thinking when I said I would do that? I suck at that game in general and then you add my girl scout cookie delivery to that and WELL, I just can't help myself!
I think that I ordered 7 boxes. I know that sounds like a lot but I'm already panicking about them being gone too soon. Do you guys understand what I'm saying here? There is nothing more yummy then frozen thin mint cookies. They are the perfect morning snack, mid-morning snack, dessert, afternoon snack and of course bed time snack. The way I'm looking at it right now is this.....they say if you want to lose weight, you should eat every couple of hours so that you don't get too hungry. I think I'm trying really hard to obey by that diet rule. Eat a couple of thin mints every couple of hours and watch the pounds just melt away! As a matter of a fact, I think it's time for my afternoon snack now.

Precious Memories

Grandmas. Aren't they the greatest? I love my grandma more than life itself. She is just the sweetest, funniest, most loving person in the world. I hope that everyone reading this is lucky enough to have a grandma like mine.

I have always been very close to my grandma so I know a lot about her and her daily routines. In spending so much time with her while grandpa was sick, I saw many of those routines put into play and learned things that I didn't know.

Here are things I knew:

1. Saturday cleaning day.

2. Sunday church.

3. Friday town (hair appointment at 1:00).

4. Monday wash.

5. Wash out your baggies, they can be used more then once.

6. Diary entry every night. (I pray someday these will be mine)

Here are things I learned:

1. Saturday evening: shower time

2. It's ok to spend 15 minutes looking for your dryer sheet because they are good for AT LEAST

TWO WEEKS!

3. When writing letters (no one but grandma's do this anymore) keep track of whose turn it is to

write. Cousin Betty sent her Christmas card and WROTE in it but grandma too sent a card

but after she received Betty's. Now, whose turn is it to write next? Grandma was the last

one to send anything but Betty was the last one to actually write!

4. Never and I mean NEVER throw any left over food away. Not even that 2 bites of green

beans. They can be heated up for dinner.

5. Lawerence Welk can still be found on TV.

This is just a tid bit of the info that I knew and learned about my precious grandma. I could probably come up with a million more things but I think you get the idea. I'm smiling now just thinking about her. I will cherish these memories about her forever! Call your grandma today and tell her how much you love her.

Sadness

No one has probably even noticed, but I have not blogged for almost 2 weeks. I had been spending every spare minute I had at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Over those 2 weeks, I sadly watched my dear Grandpa progressively become worse until on February 11th at 10:30am, the Lord called him home. It's strange because for the week that he was confined to a hospital bed, I stood at his bed and silently prayed that he would not have to suffer. When his suffering ended, I prayed for selfish reasons, that there was some way I could bring him back. Losing him was just too painful.
As much as I miss him and will continue to miss him, I think one of the hardest parts of this is watching grandma. The thought of her being without him is almost unbearable to me. They were married for 63 wonderful years and did everything together. Two peas in pod!
Please keep grandma and our family in your prayers as we adjust to life without this very special man.

Yummy to my tummy!

As of this past Monday we started our own version of the Biggest Loser here at school. We have played this game before and I STINK at it. At our final weigh-in, I end up weighing more! Yes, MORE, it wasn't a typo!
Well, we just wrapped up lunch and as I sit here with my very, very, uncomfortably full tummy, I just want to say for the record that it is not my fault that I stink at the Biggest Loser, it is all Ruth Marie Scherer's fault!
For those of you who don't know who Ruth is, she is our beloved cook here at Orearville. She has been here for a bazillion years. You wanna know why? Because she is SO good at her job. I tell her all the time, when she goes, I go! I always feel bad for those people that complain about their school's food because I'm telling you ours is wonderful. So much so, that Karson begged one year for Ruth to come to our house at Christmas to make the mashed potatoes!
I tell myself everyday that I can resist the temptation of her food and then the aroma gets the best of me and I cave! Telling myself that I'll start tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes. Tomorrow's menu is just as good as todays! We have homemade rolls, sausage, homemade biscuits, cinnamon rolls, pig in a blanket, chicken pot pie, pumpkin dessert....there is no way I can list it all, it just goes on and on.
Today's menu: Vegetable beef soup, grilled cheese sandwiches (she cooks mine in the oven because she knows that I love it that way), peaches and corn flake cookies.
See what I mean???
I know you are all jealous, but too bad, you can't have her, she's MINE!
I love you Ruthie for all your yummy food and special treats that you provide for us but most of all I love you for being you!

Sidenote: This pretty dress isn't something that Ruthie would typically wear, it was a "white elephant" gift at the school's Christmas party. Pretty huh??

AW

To most people the letters AW don't mean much and to me they mean everything.

For the past 87 years, this world has been blessed with a man by the name of AW Neff. A man I'm lucky enough to call grandpa.

This blog could go on and on about what a great grandpa he is and always has been. However, anyone that knows him, already knows that. So, I'll just keep it short and say, this world is a better place because he's in it. I love you grandpa!

Gambling Girls

Karson and I both had money on the Super Bowl. We bought these "squares". I put in 20 bucks, which bought me 8 squares on the grid and Karson had 4. Neither of us really understood how this was going to work but what we did know was that when it was all said and done, we had the possibility of winning $250. The game paid at the end of each quarter. $40.00 for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters and $130 at the end of the 4th quarter. First 3 quarters came and went and Karson and I didn't have squat! Now, for the big finale, in the 4th quarter, with less then 2 minutes to play, I'm winning, thanks to that wonderful safety...YEA Christy! No wait, Arizona scores again and now Karson is winning. Holy cow we are all about to pee our pants. There is now like a minute left to play. Karson can't decide, should she put her money in her saddle fund, should she get shoes for Bailey (the horse), oh decisions, decisions. Then can you believe those darn Steelers get the ball and score AGAIN?!? What does this mean in the end? It means that Christy and Karson didn't win &#@*! Notta, nothing. Then to rub salt in the wound, Arizona lost. What a way to start the week!

These Boots Were Made for Walking

Are these not the snazziest things you have ever seen???? They were a Christmas present from Mike.

Karson has a new found love for horses. It's all she wants to do and it's all she talks about. Every spare minute she has, she wants to be at Unlce Lance's with her horses. She has Bailey, which is actually Uncle Lance and Melissa's, but she claims her and then there is Paizley, the yearling that she bought with her very own money.

As you all know, when your kiddo takes a liking to something, you have to take on some interest in it as well. Well, my interest with the horses has been petting them thru a fence and watching Karson work with them from a distance. She has pleaded with me to brush them, feed them, ride them, etc. I kept telling her that I couldn't because I didn't have the "boots".

So, for Christmas, my list included a pair of boots, so that I could join Karson in the horse fun. I searched high and low for just the right pair. After a long while, I finally found the boots for me (see above picture). Trouble was, every cowgirl in America loved my boots, they were all but impossible to find. FINALLY, after many calls and lots of websites, my boots were on their way!

Well, now I have them and you know what? They are way to PRETTY for horse poop.......these boots are just for looking pretty! (on my feet that is)

Happy Birthday Mike!

41 years ago today the world welcomed....Michael Shane Heying! I have been fortunate enough to spend the majority of those years with him. Thank you for blessing me with this man that I'm lucky enough to call my husband, my friend, the father to my children, basically......my EVERYTHING!
Happy birthday Mike. I love you.

Sunday Already???

Where in the holy heck do weekends go? I swear one minute I'm walking out of school Friday excited about my 2 days off and the next minute it's Sunday and I'm rushing around like a mad woman trying to get everything done so that I can start the next week NOT behind...I'm tired just thinking about everything I still have to do before I go to bed tonight. Then why you ask, if I have so much to do, am I on the computer?? Well, that's part of the problem, I'm easily side-tracked!
Yesterday all 5 of us spent a fun family day together in the city. Kassidy had a Build-A-Bear gift card that was burning a hole in her pocket! So now we have "myles" added to our bear family. I think that makes like 8 build-a-bears for Kass. She LOVES those things. She is truly the one kid I know that actually "plays" with her stuffed animals. She sleeps with them, dresses them, talks to them, takes as many as I will let her, everywhere she goes...you get the picture!
I had 2 Gym Bucks from Gymboree that were only good thru the weekend, so of course who in their right mind can let $50 free dollars go to waste? Not me! Kass now has a start on spring and summer clothes.
Can't get anywhere with-in a 30 mile radius of a Bass Pro Shop that Mike doesn't think he needs to just "look around" in. Luckily, just he and Kass (and myles) went there. Kylie, Karson and I opted to stay at the mall. Worked out perfect for everyone.
Ate at Mongolian BBQ, one of Mike's very favorites. We let him pick, seeing that Tuesday is his birthday. That is the busiest restaurant in the world. We were smart and did call ahead seating at 7:00. I recommend everyone doing that if you are thinking of eating there. As we were waiting for our table, there were people coming in and they were telling them the wait would be an hour and a half! The silly thing is, is that they were waiting!! I don't think any food is worth waiting that long for.
Finally to end our action packed day, we all headed to the movies. Sidenote...isn't the price of the movies just down right stupid? It cost $40 for us all to get in. We could buy the dvd twice for that! Anyways, the girls saw Hotel for Dogs. Kylie was sweet enough to take the little girls to that because Mike wanted to see Gran Torino, the Clint Eastwood movie. Excellent movie. My only complaint is that we had to sit on the very FRONT row. It was the only place we could get 2 seats together. Why? Because Mike dropped us off at the door so that we wouldn't have to walk in the cold. Yes, I know sweet. The girls show started at 8:15, they went on in. Our show was to start at 8:30. I waited, waited, waited and waited some more and finally at 8:45, Mike came in! He had been trying to find a close parking space. For the love of pete, park the darn car and come in, I want my $40 worth!!! MEN!

Birthday Treat #2

I was holding out to blog about Birthday treat #2 until I could get my hands on some pictures but I have yet to make that happen and so I decided to go ahead without pictures. I know you are disappointed but if I do get any, I will put them up later.
Treat #2........
Once we got home from the spa on Saturday, our plan was to re-group, grab the boys and head to Columbia to eat at CC Broilers and catch a movie. After Eddie and Connie picked us up, she said that she needed to run by Orearville and pick up her ear looker into thing ( you know that thing that doctors and nurses use) because Taylee had an earache. Ok, lets get it then. In the parking lot of school, she asked me to come in with her because it was so dark and she wasn't sure where the lights were. True. So, being the nice friend that I am, I was glad to go in with her. Upon opening the front door of the school, I see a door moving ever so slightly and a little tiny red light coming at us! HELP...we are about to be murdered was what was going through my mind, when all the lights came on with a big SURPRISE and my Orearville family was all there waiting to help me celebrate. My goodness did they ever get me good. I had no clue, not one! I fell for all their lies hook, line and sinker!
We had good food, good card games and best of all lots of laughter!
Thank you guys again for making my birthday so memorable. You're the best!

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday to me,

Happy Birthday to me,

Happy Birthday dear Christy,

Happy Birthday to ME!

Anyone that knows me at all knows how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my birthday. It is a day I'm always ready to celebrate. I have always looked at my birthday as a blessing from God, another year that he has given me with family and friends. I would celebrate it all month if I could talk everyone into it. I usually do end up squeezing a good week or so out of it. Well, today is my 40th. Everyone has asked me all year long if I would be as excited about this birthday as I am all the rest and I kept assuring them I would be and guess what??? I was right, turning 40 hasn't bothered me one bit. I truly believe it's just a number. I'm as old as I act and feel. I DON'T feel forty and I sure don't act it.

I can not believe that I have lived "40" wonderful years. Where on earth have the years gone? I can remember sitting at Stephanie Bartlett's house with she and John Marsh, watching the Flintstones waiting for our drive into Kindergarten, all the fun Jeff and I had playing together as kids, the day that I entered Marshall High School as a scared, little freshmen girl, the day I met Mike, the day we got married, college graduation, getting my teaching job, giving birth to 3 beautiful little girls (thankfully not all at once), the day we bought our first house, my 21st birthday, my 30th birthday....the memories go on and on and all of them seem like just yesterday.

I have had a very blessed 40 years. My birthday wish is that I have another 40 years that are as happy and healthy as my past 40.

To anyone that is reading this, I'm sure that you have played some part in enriching my life and for that I thank you.

I'm off to do some more celebrating!

SMILE, it's my birthday!

Birthday Treat #1

Before reading this post, let me warn you, this may cause a SERIOUS case of jealousy. If you are willing to risk it, please continue reading.

Saturday was possibly one of the very best days I have had in a very, long time (not that most days of my life aren't great but this day was like a cupcake with lots of icing and sprinkles on top). My dear sweet sister, Jerrie, planned a TOTAL spa day for she and I and 2 of my very dear friends, Connie and Kim.

We started our day with a brunch at the Lodge of Four Seasons restaurant, Breezes. Yummy, yummy to my tummy( I think that mine tasted better then everyone else's because Kim paid for mine, thank you Kim). My only problem was that I was afraid that I had eaten so much that I would not be comfortable lying on my tummy for what was coming next.......

You guessed it, a 50 minute full body, swedish massage. HEAVEN! My, how that 50 minutes flew by. All four of us enjoyed it very much, however, none more than Kim. She had never had any kind of massage at all, I repeat none. As excited as I was about mine, I was equally excited for Kim. I wish there was some way for me to describe Kim when she was finished, unfortunately I didn't have my camera in hand. This might help you picture it, when the 3 of us went to track her down, we laughed so hard at the look on her face that we got in trouble with the "spa" ladies. We were politely asked to keep our voices down!

We sat in the hot tub, relaxed and read on lounges, sat in the steam sauna, got pedicures (thank you Jerrie), ate fresh fruit, had a slice of birthday cake that I was kind enough to ask for more silverware, so that I could share with my friends (you're welcome). It was just like on TV and better than I could ever have imagined. Are you jealous yet? Don't say I didn't warn you.

Thank you girls for spending the day with me. You made it extra special. You're the best and I love you all.

More birthday treats to follow....I'm telling you, I'm a lucky girl!