Baby it's Cold Outside.........Really?

Summer is here,

not in full swing of course,

but here just the same. 

We are swimming, barbecuing,

having outdoor movies, pool parties of all shapes and sizes

and have even made a batch of homemade ice cream or two. 

 

I know when I say not in full swing...you say...are you kidding? 

The 4th of July has come & gone,

and school supplies

have begun showing up in the stores. 

We are a 

"WHISKER"

away from Fall for gosh sakes. 

What I really mean is we haven't quite hit the full "Summer Heat". 

Mornings are still a bit cool

and overcast and just the perfect time to putter in the garden.  

A couple of my favorite people spent the night this past weekend. 

It was spur of the moment,

so they didn't pack for the occasion.

(which is a post in itself) 

No one could accuse them of not coming prepared...

or overly prepared. 

This time however, it was just them, the clothes on their backs and a lot of enthusiasm.

On Sunday morning, after breakfast,

Pop Pop decided to head out to clean the pool. 

Well if someone is about to start a project you must expect some HELP...

and of course the HELPERS jumped at the chance.

But before they headed out to that cool overcast morning...they needed to prepare themselves.

Tim said they looked like Hobbits
(I can see it)

Adult supervision??

Well luckily the weather wasn't much of deterrent and the pool got cleaned, the plants got watered, and snacks were had. 

By the time all

the puttering was done, the sun came out

in all her glory and we enjoyed a little summer swimming.

All in all it was another perfect day!!

"So nice to be back!!"

Pixie Hollow

Yes, I do love a pixie...

Pixie Hollow is almost done, but since the houses are so fragile 

(I will re-do them as they fall apart)

I decided I better show it at it's newest,

even before the flowers and

ferns have had time to grow.

The girls and I decorated fairy houses 

a while back

for all of the fairies we know, 

I have

been told by more than one person

that Pixie Hollow is not for the 

grand girls but

for me....

and I must say there is more truth

in that statement then you know.  

I realized that I have

been decorating the play area 

as if I was going to

play there myself.  

I guess I must still be 

a little girl at heart.

Why is every little girl's favorite color Pink?

not orange....

not green...

...but pink!!

As I was taking a few pictures

of Pixie Hollow

a fairy flew by 

and offered to take this

picture 

of the new seating area for me.

A Fairies Eye View...

Some fairies don't like to have 

their houses in the

trees...

some just moved 

straight into the tree itself.

The little crocodile holding

the rose was my Grandmother Rose's.

My dad captured it from her yard after

she passed away.

He knew it would be perfect for me some day.

We have fun sparkling things hanging

from the branches...

and comfy pillowy places to sit

on butterfly shaped pillows...

 and little donkeys hiding behind trees...

This guy

was in my Grandma Mary's garden...

and now is in mine.

This little girl size bench was 

in my mom's garden 

as well as the

butterfly and dragonfly hanging on the trellis.

So you see this garden doesn't 

only welcome 

fairies...

it welcomes memories and holds treasures 

from all the little girls

in my life....

old and young....

but most importantly.....

forever young at heart....

and forever little girls.

My Rose Garden, the new sandbox and Oscar

Since the moment we moved into this house, Kevin has wanted to put in a rose garden for me.  

Last year

we actually had the brick retaining wall built, and it was just waiting for roses.  

Here is the original post
of "Unfinished Business" 
and after reading this post
I realized some of these projects
actually got done and I should
update them...future post...

So... I ordered some barefoot

from J&P 

(a little late, I guess you need to order in June for January/February delivery) 

but missed my opportunity to buy barefoot locally.  

I did make a trip over to a local nursery

and did I score!!!  

They had just planted their bare root roses,

so they pulled them out, wrapped them up and I brought them home.

I am still missing 15, but I am much closer to a rose garden.

I have a wide variety of types and colors.

The nurseryman said I should

be looking at blooms in 6 weeks.

all of my roses were planted

with TLC by
the master gardener.

I even have some famous roses

you may know.

Where there's Ronnie...

Nancy can't be far behind.

I have plans of inviting 

Cary Grant to my rose garden and I'm sure if he comes Grace Kelly and 

Audrey Hepburn would like

to be on either side of him.  

For that matter I need a 

nice white rose so I have invited JFK.  

He will be

flanked by Jackie and Marilyn Monroe.  

I'll have

my own little rose walk of fame.

Speaking of stars....I went to Katina's annual Oscar Party last Sunday.

As usual we had a great time.  

I didn't see any of the movies yet

this year, but I always enjoy seeing the dresses on the red carpet.

Katina is always such a splendid hostess!!

Katina is this Latte or Jasmine?

Our food was terrific and since everyone is on 

Weight Watchers, it was 

also WW friendly.

These ladies really know how

to put on a spread of delicious food.

They had pork tostadas, a pasta dish,

egg rolls, strawberry shortcake just to name

a few of the menu items.

and last but not least,

POP POP has been at it again.

Our little Madi is a bit

of a dirty girl.

She owns every piece of dirt

in our backyard.  Just ask her.

she tells us all the time 

that she loves her dirt.

So the girls sent POP POP this little

hint from Toys R Us.

of course Madi didn't really even know

what a sandbox was.

So after working on the rose garden, Pop Pop and I 

headed to Toys R Us to see what was

so special.

He loved it and carted it home, filled it with 

sand...and look what grew.

Another successful project by the 

Popster.

I'm working on the living room 

mantel and my office redo. 

Hopefully I will have some

pictures of these two projects soon.

Sean put up my new

sconces over the fireplace and it looks

so different.  

You know what happens when you change one thing though.  

My can of worms

is now open...

don't tell Pop Pop.

Kristi's Birthday Dinner

We had a very eventful weekend and part of that weekend was

celebrating Kristi's 30th

We started by having a delicious lunch and cocktail at Miguel's on Friday.

Riley calls it the purple restaurant

and has been wanting to go for weeks.

I think the girls just like to walk around the lake afterward. 

 We always

sit outside and the weather cooperated

beautifully. 

As we were walking around

the lake I was kicking myself for not

bringing my camera with me. 

Sean made it home for the weekend to enjoy the

birthday festivities. 

His birthday was on the 1st and

he couldn't make it home, so we all went down

to San Diego with a

birthday cake made by Kristi for his birthday.

Back to Kristi's birthday....

on Saturday we had her birthday dinner. 

She requested:

Steak

Shrimp

Salad - fashioned after BJ's barbecue chicken salad (so yummy)

Spinach Raviolis in Browned Butter

Asparagus

French Bread

I set the table in happy yellow and black

and got no pictures of anything that evening. 

We actually had a blast,

which is probably why

I took NO pictures

Notice the black marks on the tablecloth?

Kristi has a fear of bees...

so while I was setting the table

I was cracking myself up. 

The tablecloth and napkins

have an adorable bee embroidered on them.

So funny

Happy Birthday Kristi...

I

can't believe you turned

30.

Enjoy!

By the way...the rest of the weekend included

A Rose Garden

New sconces

and an Oscar Party!!!

and I did get pictures of those.

Happy Birthday Kristi!!!!!

 Dear Kristi,

Happy Birthday.  

I wrote you a one minute poem.  

My creative juices weren't flowing this morning 

but my heartfelt

birthday wishes are there just the same.  

Enjoy your day!

To Kristi:

You turned thirty today we need a massive celebration

Wonderful wife, mom, daughter and friend, 

wow, you also need a vacation

Thirty has come too quickly for me to digest

But upon reflection of you my darling, I am truly blessed

Your life, as I had hoped is filled with love and joy

Even though you haven’t yet decided on another baby (boy)

You have so many talents, I can't name them all

You are beautiful, creative, and I must mention tall.

I look forward to all the good things the future will hold

but please slow it down, you know I am getting old.

Have a great day, surrounded by those who care most

And I raise my glass and offer you a birthday toast. 

(maybe at lunch)

I love you and am very proud of the woman you are,

In my book you are the most shining star.

Love 

Mom

I Believe....

Since I was Riley's age I have

always loved fairies.

I know princesses are all the rage now,

and fairies are always playing second fiddle.

But really, it doesn' t get spunkier than a fairy

and they can fly too.

What princess can say that?

Princesses today have come a long way from the princesses of my day, but still....fairies are so fun.

Disney has done such an amazing job

bringing Tinker Bell to life....

bigger and better than just Peter Pan's sidekick.

And have you met her friends?

I play a game with my grand daughters

when I babysit,

before they go to sleep we go through the fairies.

I name the color of the fairy

and they tell me which fairy I'm thinking of.

It goes something like this.

Green - Tinker Bell (my favorite)

Blue - SilverMist

Pink - Rosetta

(it's always a toss up between SilverMist

and Rosetta as the favorite)

Yellow - Iridessa

Orange - Fawn

and like every group of characters

you need one a bit adversarial

with a bit more attitude than the rest.

Purple - Vidia

Since putting in the playground for the girls

I have always wanted one area

as my very own Pixie Hollow.

Pixie Hollow is the place that Never Fairies live.

I know, enough about the fairies already,

but hey I love em...

In fact, I love them so much I decided to make

fairy houses with the girls to hang in

my very own Pixie Hollow.

So with some paint and lost things

we assembled our fairy houses.

Riley decided she wanted to do a

house for Rosetta, and since

Rosetta is a flower fairy and is pink...

her house needed flowers and lots of pink.

Pop Pop, not being a fan of fairies but

definitely being a fan of the

girls decided to stop by and

see what we were doing.

That look on Riley's face is hysterical...

no telling what Pop Pop said.

Madi was in her own little world.

Do you know how

much bling can fit on a fairy house?

Just ask Madi....lots and lots and lots.

And we haven't even

put the pixie dust on yet.

Can you see the pixie dust in the picture,

glitter that comes in every fairy color

imaginable.

I think Madi wanted as much bling

on her house as was on Rileys outfit.

The houses turned out darling and we

had a great time making them.

As soon

as the weather gets a bit warmer,

the girls

and I will head out to Pixie Hollow and hang

them. I hope the fairies enjoy

them and visit often.

Because the fairies know, in this house

We believe!!!!