The Best Birthday Ever!!!

This was the best birthday ever. It seems that this one was VERY special. It actually lasted a couple of days. On Sunday...I had my birthday dinner with my family. William made me Chicken Cordon Blu...my favorite. Craig was feeling better after surgery and it was such a nice day.

On Wednesday, Erin Cummings arranged for me a luncheon at The Olive Garden and invited my favorite peeps. Erin, Carolyn, Mickey, Valerie, and Tammy came. It was fun and relaxing. Erin made me a special cupboard to carry meals on. It was so pretty AND I will get lots of use out of it as I am always burning myself on hot food that I am carrying somewhere or another. Mickey gave me a special book about nutrition. She is such a smarty.

On Thursday...my birthday and Halloween, it was a busy day. I got lots of phone calls from my favorite folks. Kathy, Craig's sister sent me flowers. Beautiful. Lisa Peart left an entire box of chocolate bars on my porch. (She knows that I like to give out full sized candy bars for Halloween).
She later came over and gave me a special hair-do and gave me a special hair clip. I got calls from my sister and mother. I had received a book that my sister wrote for me about our Canadian Vacation last year. She is so talented and the book is awesome. My mother sent me some picture is my niece's wedding and some fun jewlery.

That evening, my daughter Valerie and her family and William and his family came to my house for a Chili Cook Off. Michael came home from college to surprise me for my birthday and I WAS so surprised that it really took me to my knees. I can't believe that he would do that for me!!! AND All the Chili was great!!! Some great cooks in our family. Penny and Melvin (Christopher's parents) came too as they were here for Dallin's baptism on Saturday. It was such a treat to see them again. It had been a very long time.

Anyhow....the end to a wonderful day! A person that I hadn't seen for a long time came over for a minute and said....it looks like you are so happy with all your family here. And I could honestly say that I was. I am so very blessed to have my family near who really loves me and to have such wonderful friends. I got to see Heather Schorr and her kids as she came by trick-o-treating. Such a treat for me!!! I just love that family.

Thanks to all my family and friends, who love me and who I love so very much, for making my day so special!!!

What a wonderful day!

New Grand Piggies!

Yesterday Odet Valerie's Guinea Pig had three sweet little piggies. Odet and Bat Pig are proud parents. Odet is such a cute mother. Right away, those little darlings were taken care of with all the mothering in the world. She knew just what to do to get them ready for the world. So, Robin, the only little boy looks just like his mom with hair standing up everywhere. His name is only fitting since his dad's name is Bat Pig. The two little girls look  just like their dad and one is named spot (because of a giant tan spot on her back) and the other one is named Patience (because she was so patient with people wanting to pick her up). I was so surprised that guinea pigs come into the world with eyes wide open and fully clothed in fur looking just like their parents and capable of eating regular food. Odet makes sure that they get plenty of rest but these little darlings are ready to take on the world. What a sweet Christmas surprise!

Homework....friend or foe!!!

Tuesday, this past week was to be Kate's very first day of homework. We all knew this as the kindergarten teachers had sent home a note letting parents know what to expect. It just so happened that Tuesday, I went with Valerie to pick up the kids from school. Out bounces Kate from the school. She is so excited that she could barely contain herself. She said, "I have homework for the very first time in my entire life. This is the best day in my whole life. I am so excited, I can't wait"...all the while unzipping her backpack to pull out the proof of homework as she was still bouncing towards us. Not more than than a few seconds later, a young boy (it had to be a kindergartner and probably in the same class) came out of the school and collapsed onto the lawn in total agony with tears rolling down his face as he proclaimed to his mother, "I have homework and I don't want to do it. I don't know how to do it. This is the worst day in my entire life". Poor boy was scooped by his mother who gave him a big hug but is didn't seem to console him much.  Homework....friend or foe? I guess it depends on your perspective.

Labor Day and Birthdays!

Sunday, we celebrated our daughter Valerie's birthday with a family dinner at the house. Valerie was born on Labor Day, on a Sunday, 33 years ago. I can remember it like it was yesterday. Craig was the Ward Clerk at the time and needed to make sure that things were taken care of on that end. Meanwhile, Everyone kept checking in with us and it was the real buzz that I was in Labor ON Labor Day. It's funny but I remember every little detail about the day that she was born and even the day before. And now, she has three kids of her own and I bet that she remembers every little detail about their precious births as well. Children are such a blessing...and even after they grow up, they continue to be so.

"I got pulled over for picking up rocks"

Yep, it is true! Kate started Kindergarten this year. It is so fun to hear those first stories out of the mouths of the babes themselves. Kate has always had a fetish for picking up rocks and bringing them home. She has always done this and most recently after the passing of her bunny Peanut, she and her brother had painted rocks from their yard and put them on his little grave. Apparently it is a real "no no" at school to collect rocks on the playground. She was told by one of the teachers at recess to put the rocks down and when Kate didn't do it, she got in trouble. When relating the story to me she said "yep, Nana I got pulled over for picking up rocks at school". I laughed my head off...later of coarse!  Out of the mouths of babes.

Michael back to being a Red Raider

All to soon, the summer is over and Michael is off to Lubbock for his Junior year of college. It seems like this summer offered its share of challenges with Michael looking everywhere trying to find a job. He managed to find a one-day-at-a-time hard labor job which required him to show up each morning at 5:30 and hope to get picked to work that day at minimum wage and most of the time was sent home without a job for the day along with so many others. Many of these jobs requiring him to lift over 100 pounds by himself. He found himself working  for three different temp agencies. He felt fortunate to get a short term job at Wal-mart through one of the temp agencies.Then finally, he eventually landed a job the last 5 weeks of the summer for The Jewelry Channel. It was truly the easiest of all the jobs he had this summer and the one that he enjoyed the most. Hopefully he will be able to work for them when he comes home for Christmas Break. They really like his work and are open to the idea. We will sure miss Michael. With him here, the entire Sharp family has been within 5 miles of the house the whole summer. It was an awesome summer and one that I will always remember.

Pwew-fume

My daughter asked me to pick up her son Dallin from day camp today. I had been shopping to get Michael's back-to-school stuff and Dallin was "helping" unload the car. When I opened the trunk it smelled like the wood chips as Craig had used the car trunk to load yard supplies and had left the plastic bags in the back that had held the chips. Dallin said, "Nana, your car smells funny. It smells like Pwew-fume". Out of the mouths of babes. That was my laugh for the day.