Check this out!

So, I wanted to post this right to my blog for you to see but Ronda says it will only let me give you the link. Well, sit back, relax, turn the volume up and enjoy. When I get my outfits back from the dry cleaners I will have Ronda video tape me in action so I can post the video right to my blog....until then.............

http://www.scroogeyourself.com/?id=1124862127

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1124301977

My little "Bell" of the Ball

Every day can be dress up day when you are a princess. Especially if you are Grandma's Princess. Christen bought Chelsea her costume for Halloween, and how appropriate that she bought her a Bell Princess Dress.

I turned around and looked at Chelsea and she had stripped down to her panties. I asked her what she was doing and she matter of fact told me she was putting on her princess dress.

Well, okay then, let me help and let me get my camera. Her shoes don't quite fit because they don't make them in size "extra wide" but I am going to see if I can alter them a bit.

Somewhere she must of seen a princess sit down on the ground and fluff her dress out because she was very adamant that she sit just so and that the dress be fluffed exactly right. Who am I to argue with that.

Every day is a new day with Chelsea, we never know what the day will bring, but we are sure to be entertained. And just when I think I can't take anymore she wraps her arms

around my neck and says "I love you Grandma!" It just doesn't get any better than that.

I Feel Pretty....Oh So Pretty!

I just don't think it gets any cuter than this. It is important to know that there is an art to applying ones make up, and I do believe she has it mastered. As you can see she is very proud of her accomplishments here. I think she is the most beautiful princess in the world.

Chelsea, Don't.............

Some battles are just not worth the effort so I chose to grab my camera and capture the moment instead. My children would probably not totally understand this concept as I was too busy being a mother, which is a lot different than being a Grandma I have found. I am sure that I would of insisted that my kids get down off the railing immediately before they got hurt.
Notice, she is posing for me, this doesn't happen often. I can't just turn down an opportunity like that, now can I? I will add that no one was injured in any way in the posing of these pictures. I was able to save the plant that was sitting on the rail post and the pictures on the piano remained upright. What more could I ask for?

He's My Best Friend

I will never forget the first time Chelsea wrapped her arms around my neck and said, "Grandma, you are my best friend." My heart melted. I don't know where she learned that line, but I think it will get her pretty much anything she wants.

The other day Buddy came over with Melisa for a visit. As you can see she is once again dressed in her princess tutu, I must make a note to buy her some more of these for Christmas.
On this day I guess it was Buddy's turn. She wrapped her arms around Buddy and told him he was her best friend. She found some books in my scrapbook room and sat on the stairs and read to Buddy. She had to lay the book down sometimes so Buddy could see all the pictures. He was a pretty good sport about it for the most part. When Buddy lost interest she just sat and read by herself. I hope she never loses her interest in reading her books. Have I mentioned before how much I love her?

Never Forgotten

It is hard to know where to start with this post as my heart is heavy and my eyes are filled with tears. This picture was taken at Jonathan and Adrian's graduation from Basic Training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina in the summer of 2001, right before they started their senior year.

Jonathan and Adrian have been friends for as long as I can remember. They went to the same schools together, were in scouts together, played sports together and shared the same obsessions with anything that involved the Great Outdoors.

One thing was for sure, if the two of them were together, there was sure to be laughter involved. Man they loved to laugh and make others laugh with and at them.

Adrian joined the National Guard and it wasn't long before Jonathan was signing up too. What a day it was when they left together for basic training. One of many emotional yet proud moments our families shared together.

In January of 2005 their unit was deployed to Afghanistan. Adrian was still in flight school but was able to catch up with them shortly after they arrived over there. I remember Adrian coming to the house to tell us goodbye right before he left and how excited he was to go. It was hard to not get caught up in his enthusiasm as he was so EXCITED to be heading over there and to get the chance to fly, you see, he was living his dream. If only I had known that would be the last hug I would ever get to give him. The boys were stationed in different places over there and didn't get to see each other too often, but they chatted often and when they were on base together they sure made up for lost time. Jonathan would call home and just laugh and the stunts they would pull together. They were so excited that they were going to get to come home together for Christmas for their leave..........................that would never happen.

September 25th, 2005. The phones began ringing early that day that a Chinook had gone down. All day we waited, making several calls to the Stumps and no one had heard anything. When we finally did get a call all they could tell us was that Jonathan was okay, and they couldn't tell us anything about anyone else. When we finally did get a call telling us that Adrian had been killed on the Chinook I remember getting mad at the person who called and telling them it was a lie. When she told me she heard it from his grandma I remember falling into Mark's arms and weeping uncontrollably....why? This wasn't suppose to happen, No! Not Adrian! And then the pain we felt for his family, and the pain we felt for our son, who we were not able to get in contact with for several days. So much of that time is a blur for us, yet the pain is so real, even today.

So today, on the second anniversary, we remember you Adrian. You will always be in our hearts and we will never forget you. It is still hard to find comfort and answers, but if there is one thing I know it is that Adrian was living his dream. I don't know how many of us can really say that.

I look at my own life and think about my own passions and dreams and if I am pursuing them in the same way. What am I waiting for? Maybe now is a good time to do some soul searching, to really reflect on who I am and what it is I want to be, what I want to accomplish, set goals and work towards them. Not just let life pass me by. And most importantly, neve wait until tomorrow to tell someone you love them. We never know how many tomorrows we really do have.

It really hit home with me.

Singin' in the Rain...

This was our first day of rain all summer. With temperatures reaching 100 for most of the summer it was quite a welcoming rain. There is nothing like the smells of a summer rain. Chelsea was here and decided she wanted to go outside and play. I told her no because it was raining. Her Papa looked at me and said, "Why not? Take her outside." (Notice he didn't volunteer for the duty but thought it would be a great idea for me.) As I pondered his wonderful idea I thought, Why Not! So we took our socks and shoes off, I grabbed the camera and away we went. Chelsea was in heaven running back and forth through the puddles. Neither one of us melted away from the rain, and we didn't catch a cold....

What we did create is another memory. She may be too little to remember this moment but I will always have it to hold on to. I don't remember if I ever let my kids go play in the rain like this, but I hope when Chelsea sees these pictures, and as my children look at them, they will remember to keep that childlike spirit within them and to take the time to dance in the rain. I love it when my own children tell me to "grow up", because that usually means that I have dared to be a child again.

So, to each of you I ask, "How can you dare to be a child again today?" Will you dance in the rain? Will you jump rope with your children? Jump in the pool with them? Slide down the slide with them?....why not? I think I will even eat dessert first and hide my peas in my napkin.
Here's to being a kid again.........................

Memories of the First Day of School

As we look toward another school year I can't help but think about all those "first days of school" with my own children. All the excitement of buying school supplies and new clothes. Believe it or not I still remember how I felt getting ready for school (now that is one heck of a memory). I could barely sleep the night before and it was probably the one day of the year that I didn't have to be drug out of bed in the morning.

I don't remember if my mom took pictures of us on our first day of school but I sure remember lining my own kids up on the front porch and taking several of them. Yes, I even followed them to school and took pictures in the classrooms, until they got to an age when that wasn't so cool anymore. At that point I was banned to the front porch and just had to wave to them as they headed off to school without me.

I miss those days with my children. For some reason they felt they needed to grow up and spread their own wings. The house seems to quiet without them yet the walls seem to echo their laughter. I love it when they all come home together. They fall right back into their same "pecking order". I enjoy just sitting back and listening to them.

So, as school begins again, I think of each of them. Gone are all their first days of school, only to be replaced by many other firsts, and many photo opportunities with memories to cherish.
To Sarah, Christen, Jonathan and David....I love you. Thank you for all the cherished memories that a mom holds so dear in her heart.

What Flower Are You?

I found this quite humorous today. Love these little quizzes you can take. So, they think I am an Iris? Well, they got the color right. What do you think? How do they know me so well. Most of these quizzes that I have taken really do seem to fit me. I will post more soon, maybe even today.

You Are An Iris

You are a unique person who seeks out novelty in life. An inspiration seeker, you often have to change scenery to recharge. You don't deal well with structure or rules. You need to do it your own way. Your ideal relationships are free and flowing. No one can tie you down.

What Flower Are You?

Lincoln City Get-A-Way

Mark and I only had about 4 days of vacation that overlapped so we decided to take advantage of it and go somewhere to rest. Well, let me tell you how much fun it is to find a motel with only a few days notice. After much searching we found a place in Lincoln City called The Starfish Manor. You can imagine our surprise when we walked in the room and this was the first thing we saw. Matching bathrobes, with rose petals all over the bed and chocolates on the pillows.

Facing the ocean was this jacuzzi bath tub, complete with a rubber duckie. We were on the 3rd floor so it was safe to open the curtains and watch the ocean while relaxing in the tub. I am sure they couldn't see me! And yes, I did put the rubber duckie in the tub with me and I even brought it home. Not sure if I was suppose to or not. Note to self: Be very careful when using bubble bath in a jacuzzi tub. I had a tub full of bubbles before I turned the jets on.....need I say more. I had over a foot of bubbles once I turned them on, they were everywhere. I was cracking up. Should of got a picture of that one!

We had a barbeque on our deck and a small kitchen area so we didn't have to go far. The best part, we didn't turn the tv on. Well, maybe that wasn't the best part but I can't give you all the details. I loved getting up and having my coffee on the deck, reading my book and listening to the ocean. The weather was beautiful and we both wanted to stay longer.

We walked on the beach one day for almost 4 hours. I am not totally sure how my shorts, jacket and shirt got so wet...maybe I got a little to close to the waves when I was looking for seashells. I told Mark that instead of having a "love fern" we had "love rocks and shells". I couldn't convince him to take his shoes off and walk in the water with me though...Pansy! And he didn't want to get a pail and shovel and build sandcastles on the beach. If I only had one more day at the beach I am pretty sure I could of convinced him though. Next time I will just have to do it anyway. I know once he sees how much fun it is he would want to join in. I think I would make him beg though.
We drove to Newport one day and walked down on the docks and through the shops. Went to Mo's for dinner one night and to The BlackFish Cafe another. The food was very good but something you would find in a high class restraunt.

It was everything we hoped it would be in a vacation. On our way home we stayed in Portland one night after touring the Street of Dreams with Tim and Val Pilch from Pendleton. If you have never done this I would recommend it. The homes were beautiful but a little bit out of my price range, starting at over 2 million and most with over 4-5,000 square feet of everything you could want in a home.
But when all is said and done, I love my home the best. It is where love is, where we have built memories that are priceless, and where friends and family are always welcome.

Pictures Not Allowed

For about the last year I have really had to work to get a picture of Chelsea. She sees the camera and swells up and turns away from me. I have just decided that I will have to take what I can get so I just snap away. Here is the same sweet girl, madder than a hornet at her Grandma and not about to look at me or smile. Well, for crimany sakes, I bought her a new outfit and had to take pictures of it, thats all.
I am guessing to avoid looking at me it helps to stick your pouty lips out and then take the sidewalk chalk and write all over your legs. Now, isn't that cute!
So now we have resorted to laying down on the sidewalk and only looking at Shrek and her princess Fiona. Thats okay, I think that is a cute picture too. I wonder who is more stubborn? I win, I got pictures.

So, how did I get her to look at me you ask. Well, she asked me to take a picture of Shrek, so I did. And it was so cute, I am sure she didn't realize that I was also getting a picture of her too. As soon as I took the picture she said to me, "Thank you Grandma" and went about her business. I love this Grandma business!

Man I love this girl!

Chelsea and I had another fun play day today. The only difference was Sarah was here to capture some pictures for me. I can count on one hand how many pictures I have with Grandma and the Princess. Here she is flying...now to get this shot you have to lay on the ground and put your feet on her tummy then lift her in the air. She thinks this is a blast, and look "No hands, she is flying" If only you could hear her laughing too, it is worth whatever my body has to go through. I am sure the neighbors loved the view also.


And here we are playing around. I have her in a death grip to get her to hold still for the picture and I am tickling her so she will laugh. Well, it worked. She thinks it is real fun to tackle Grandma and throw her to the ground, then full body slam her. Good thing I have lots of cushion to absorb the blows.

A Royally Wonderful Birthday

Birthdays are good for you...statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest!





I told the girls to leave the glasses alone and stop stacking them up before one of them break!

Ronda is such a dear friend, check out the bikini she knit for me. I can't wait to wear it!

I don't think I look a day over 29! I double dog dare you to say differently.

Kirsten and Melisa

Me (of course) Amy, and Kathleen

Melisa (again)and Trini, making a toast to me...I think.

What a fun time we had. We all met at GP to celebrate and boy were we in for a treat. They actually had a band there to entertain us, maybe they thought I wasn't entertainment enough. The music was, well should I say, interesting and for sure LOUD! The highlight was when they sang me Happy Birthday. I was a little shy but I did manage to stand up so no one would be confused as to who they were singing to. LOL.

Adventures in Womanhood

Time passes. Life happens. Distance separates. Children grow up. Jobs come and go. Love waxes and wanes. Men don't do what they're supposed to do (even though they say they do). Hearts break. Parents die. Colleagues forget favors. Careers end.

BUT.........

Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you.

A girl friend is never farther away than needing her can reach.

When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the valley's end. Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you (of course you know I never break any rules :-)...Or come in and carry you out.

Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters, daughters-in- law, sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers, Grandmothers, Auntie's, nieces, cousins, and extended family, all bless our life! The world wouldn't be the same without women, and neither would I.

When we began this adventure called Womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other.

Every day, we need each other still.

Thank you for the role you have played in my adventures. I am truly blessed.