Another Birthday Past

And there was also Emily's 21st birthday - while she was biking in Australia for her interim. So we celebrated that after she came home. She has been so anxious for this birthday, when she can finally drink alcohol! She has been so good and patient about that - I am amazed - and proud of you Emily! She had a white Russian for one of her first drinks - mmmm, doesn't that sound good right now? So when she got home, her friend Lauren, from school, came for the weekend, and we also had Kathryn and her parents over too to celebrate. We had a wonderful time!

Of Birthdays Past

Well, where do ya start? I can't start out every post about being so behind, and apologizing - but here it is again...... oh well....... Time just does whiz bye these days! So, once again, playing a little catch up - here are pictures of our Birthday week!

The Carlson Family does it up big in mid January! DH's birthday is at the end of December, and then me and the kids have our birthdays January 13th, 15th & 17th!!! So when the kids were young, we would all get sick of cake that week, especially as our family all wants confetti Angel Food cake for their birthday. So this year, Ben was still in the U.P. (that is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan) for his 24th birthday, and Emily was in Australia for her 21st birthday! But I was home - and got to celebrate with my wonderful Birthday Babes at the local Chili's Restaurant. We go there for each of our birthdays, and usually sit there talking and catching up until hours later, and we always have a great time. We all have girls the same age, so we have been doing things like dance lessons, soccer games, tennis matches together for many years. And it is always comforting to find out that their girls are doing the same type of things as my girl is! We also like to come up with some goofy cards - and pictures get cut up, and heads get pasted on to new cards, but we are running out of cards that have pictures with five women on them. But anyway, here are a few of the cute one's that I got this round, along with pictures of the five of us.

A little shuffling here:

Look at me, kickin up my heels!

And hubby and I got to go out to eat at my fave restaurant later that week, thanks to another gift! It was a wonderful birthday!

Only a Little Late!

This weekend I have promised myself I WILL blog myself! And I WILL, but quickly tonight before I go to bed, I do want to quickly squeeze this one in. I have been cleaning boxes and crates filled with soot/wood bits/who knows that got all over (and in) everything in our tiny attic when we had our 150 year old farm house re-roofed last year. And tonight I came across a crate from a long time ago. Anyway, since it was just Valentine's Day I wanted to show you this vintage card, but not just any vintage card, but one that my dad sent to my mom many, many moons ago. They have both been gone for many years, but I am glad it was one of the things I saved! By the way, my dad's real name was Harold, but everyone called him "Friggy". So let's see if I can make this work...... (hint - if you click on the picture it becomes crystal clear!)




Isn't this just sweet? I think so!

Let it Snow!!!

Click on these pictures - you will be transported!

Here is the view out of my living room window, these are to block the noise of the rather busy street on the other side. You would never know would you...

Well, here is hoping for a few more inches, and maybe a snow day from school tomorrow - maybe then I would have time to catch up! My decorations are down, but I still have a few Christmas pictures to show everyone! So hang on/be patient! In the meantime pray for snow! I LOVE IT!
Everything looks so fluffy and white! We got twelve inches since yesterday, and it is snowing again tonight, so there is hope! But it has been coming down nice and gently, with no wind blowing it around, so we shall see. But here are a few pictures I just couldn't resist taking. I think this resident cardinal is starting to smile for me when he sees the camera coming out!



And hubby was even able to go cross country skiing today. When we moved here 30 years ago and bought cross country skis, we loved to go out along the trails along Lake Michigan. But we haven't hardly had sufficient snow the last fifteen twenty years, and now with my arthritis in my toes and knee, I really miss being so mobile! But I am glad DH got to go!

And here are a few Snow Flowers from my garden - through the living room window mind you. When I first saw these on blogs, it took me awhile to realize what they were - just flowers adorned with snow!




Oh, another neat thing about snow - in our old farmhouse we put in a sky light and it is right over our bed. Much to my hubbies chagrin, I like to have it just a little bit open year round (well lots open in the summer), but when there is snow all around like now, the sound is so cool. I even had hubby get up to listen last night - when you stick your head out the sky light, there is NO sound, it is like the snow has swallowed up all the sound! It is the strangest thing - the silence is very loud!

So snow - come on down!

Hugs from Michigan - Diane

Starting to Roll (into Christmas)

Okay, okay - it is three AM, but that is the time I work best! It is just who I am and have always been! Man, I love looking at blogs! There is just a ton of wonderfully interesting stuff out there! Wonderful crafts I want to try, great recipes I would love to try (or at least give to Clay to try!) and beautiful pictures, etc., etc. Anyway - and now I am listening to a very interesting interview with Charlie Rose and he is interviewing Bill Gates, so I might as well add a new blog! What the heck, it is vacation, and I don't have work tomorrow! Let's see what good pictures I can find!

You know - I need to tell a little grateful to God story here - See the picture of my family below?
Well, that wasn't always the way things were. For MANY years it seemed to me that God didn't want me to have a family. My father was killed in a car accident when I was in first grade, and my mom died when I was in college. Then several years later, when I was married, we were wanting to start a family. Ha, ha.... little did I know - I got pregnant the first month we tried, had a miscarriage, and thought, oh that was easy, I am sure I will be pregnant again soon. Ha, ha. Seven LONG years later - and after many, many pills, shots, surgery, etc., and much, much prayer and pleading with God, He blessed us with Ben and Emily. And you know if someone had told me, you will have a child in seven years that would have been so great, but you never know if that seven years is going to be seventeen years, or never. So anyway - before I get too too lengthy here, I am VERY GRATEFUL to God for my wonderful family, and I so look forward to being all together in a few days! My life is very blessed! (and if anyone needs Christian information/encouragement on infertillity, let me know!) Gee after all that I will have to include more kiddo pictures!



The angel below here was given to me by my mother-in-law many years ago. Isn't it just the most beautiful and sweet thing? It plays music too when you wind her up. This is one of my favorite decorations - I love it.

And here is a cardinal on our bird feeder, look at that red!
And here is Mo Mo (Mozart) our cat that we said we would babysit two years ago, and somehow ended up staying with us! We LOVE this cat - he just lives for us to pet him, and he is the softest thing ever! He looks like he is half asleep here, which I think he was until I had to get him to look at the camera for me!


And then here is one of my current/new decorations. I found this lovely bird cage at my neighbor's garage sale. I will have to show you the whole thing later, it has all hearts around it and my neighbor used it for envelopes at her wedding. She was glad I was taking it and giving it a good home. So, I first started putting in only gold and silver balls, then thought what the heck, maybe it needs some color, so I added some red ones too. Hmmmmm, don't know though yet!
Well, we are getting up early tomorrow to do some final shopping. Mostly for my daughter who is going on a bike trip in Australia in two weeks. We don't have any bike shops in town so have to go an hour north, east, or south to get to a bigger city. We are also supposed to be getting a new snow storm, so we will see which direction gets the least snow!

So good night everyone!

Hugs - Diane

This is the picture outside of our living room window. It has been snowing quite a bit lately, and is also quite cold! I LOVE it!