How Long Since I Last Posted?

Whew! THAT long? Okay, so most of you have forgotten who I even am. Heck, Even *I* forget who *I* am most days but hey...

Just been crazy of late. Alright, so my life has stayed crazy for awhile now but you know what I mean. We all go through periods like this don't we? But soon school will be out (I am as happy about that as Grace is is believe me!), my Mom is feeling a bit better (Thank God!) and...wait. Did I say my life will get less crazy soon? Um, probably not! It may even get MORE wild but I miss you all and DO drop in to see you all from time to time. Even if you don;t see a comment from me, know I am thinking about you and love you all.

Just a quick summary of what I have been up to (Besides the usual house and yard work, helping Mom, homework with Gracie, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera...)

So get ready, you are about to get several posts all schmooshed into one...a months worth of fun all rolled into a single day! Did you take your vitamins today? I hope so...now off we go...

Helped with a Mother Daughter Tea at church. Such fun! I wanted to share a few of the photos with you here...

                                                        This is the table I designed...an

                                                                  English Garden tea...

                                     

All the tables were just so pretty and so much fun!

There was also a fashion show and guess who modeled? Uh huh. Miss Grace!

Two of my favorite girls...Grace and my Mom!

Now let's move on to Mother's Day!

After church Bill, Grace and I went to one of our favorite places, Wegerzyn Garden, to walk.

Then dinner at The Bonefish Grill!

With sweet treats for all the Moms!

5 people who have my heart...

Our daughter Grace, my sweetie Bill, my Mom, my brother Jim and our son Daniel.

Grace had her *end of the year* orchestra concert and the kids were amazing!

We also enjoyed a weekend in Owensboro, Kentucky with Bill's Mom's family to celebrate  a special cousin's birthday!

Here is Bill with his Aunt Ellen, his late mom's twin sister. She is such a blessing to all of us. I adore all of Bill's family and love them all.

The birthday boy with Grace and one of his beautiful granddaughters!

Handsome men run in this family...

Handsome men and beautiful ladies too!

Like I said...bee-yoo-tee-ful ladies!

Then there was a little surprise party I threw for Mr. Bill at one of our local Marion's Pizza restaurants. I decided to do it on a whim and only gave everyone 48 hours notice (or less!) yet many of our friends and family were able to come. Bill was shocked and had such a great time. I won't even try to add all the pictures but here is a sampling...

The bakery drew a picture of the plane in which Bill flew for many years...

I love this picture because these are great men who have been such a huge part of Bill's life for so long...

Rick (far right) and Sam (far left) have been Bill's friends for as long as I can remember. In fact, Rick was with Bill when I met him on a Spring vacation to Gatlinburg! And the man next to Bill is his brother Bob who Bill has known, well, since Bob was born! *grin*

Just a few of the dear friends and family members who were there to help Bill celebrate turning 55!

THEN there was our week long visit to Chicago...okay. Too much all at once? Alrighty then. I will save Chicago until the next post...a post I promise to have up before another month rolls around!

 As much joy as we experienced this month there was also pain. One of my cousins, just 53, died suddenly in May. Mom and I were able to head to Southern Ohio and attend a wonderful celebration of his life. He was a much beloved teacher and coach and it was so heart warming to see the outpouring of affection from the entire community. I humbly ask if each one of you will keep his immediate family, and close friends, in your prayers as they try to navigate this life without his every day presence. The real reason I mention this is this: None us of knows from one minute to the next when when our life will end. I don't say this to be maudlin at all..I say it to remind all of us, me included, to celebrate EVERY day. Tell those you love how much you care as often as you can. Call that friend you have not seen in awhile. Make peace with someone who angered you. Giggle with a child, hug a dog, smooch a cat, sing along loudly with the radio, dance no matter how silly you think you look! Try not to let the little things get under your skin (again, I am also reminding myself of this!), take joy in watching a chipmunk at play, a bird at flight, a warm breeze, the smell of a garden rose. Life is such a gift...be gentle with yourself and others.Do this for you and for my cousin Jim.

I love each one of you and have been blessed by your presence in my life. May God Bless you all.



Sweet Music

This week was the annual 4th and 5th grade student's strings concert. The children from all the elementary schools in town gather to play together...and play they did! What a joy to listen to these young people who have worked so hard to learn these songs.

Our Grace is in her 2nd year of violin and really enjoys it!

It is just wonderful to see the number of people who attend this concert to show their support for  the arts in our local school. Music is truly a gift from God!

I hope your Thanksgiving was a sweet one...Bill, Dan, Grace and I had dinner at my Mother's, sharing the day with my brother, sister in law and our nephew. We all contributed delicious dishes and oh how good it all was! The turkey was so, so good. There were green beans and green bean casserole, scalloped corn, glazed carrots, mashed potatoes, cranberries, yummy stuffing, rolls, crudités...

Then we finished dinner a liitle pumpkin and apple pie...oh yes. AND a decedent ice cream turtle cake from Kipper's favorite place, Ritter's! Oh was it gooooood.

And tellme. Am I the only adult woman who HAS to watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving for it to BE Thanksgiving? *grin* Well, that and our family's traditional Turkey Day movie, "Planes, Train and Automobiles". It is not the holiday without sharing it with John Candy!

There is something so special about this day...a day set aside to share a meal with loved ones and to count our blessings. I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday for just that fact...a quiet day to reflect on all the sweet things we have in our lives.

Tomorrow the lovely Fall decor will be put away for another year...but oh what a beautiful Autumn it was. That alone is something for which a say thanks!

And thanks to all of you who remain my friends even when I stay too long away from bloggy world...I am so, so blessed to have each one of you in my life.

Love and Hugs,

Susie Q

Oh My, Oh My, Oh, Kevin, Joe And Nick!

Yes, the big day arrived. Nooo. I don't mean Sue and Bill's anniversary. Okay, so it was THAT day too but even more importantly, it was Jonas Day!

The day of Grace's first concert! Whoo Hoo! Bill drove me, Grace, Grace's BFF Miss K and Miss K's mom to Columbus. He took a book and headed out to a quiet spot after dropping us off at the concert venue. Here are the girls in front of Nationwide Arena. The girls standing in front of The Jonas Brother's bus. Graffiti is encouraged and boy! There are layers upon layers of messages and names and, well, expressions of PURE devotion to the 3 Jonas boys. Grace points at her message... Miss K points at hers... The girls pose with a poster, standing along side their particular object of affection. Miss K with Nick, Grace with Joe. Sorry Kevin! *smile* Entering the arena...the excitement builds!

Grace had saved her money for months so she could buy a concert shirt.

Mom kicked in for the program...aw gee. It WAS her first concert and all...

How long now Mom? How long? HOW LONG?

The crowd has filed in and thousands of fans take their seats. Yes, it WAS a sell out!

Oh yes, we do, we truly DO! Ohio ROCKS!

I got this shot of Gracie just as the boys took the stage.

Is this a face of a young girl in complete and utter awe or what?

Then the reality set in and the SCREAMING began!

Oh Nick!

The brothers three...

Oh Joe!

Oh Kevin!

And, after 3 hours of music, dancing, screaming and singing, it came to an end.

2 very happy girls, 2 very happy moms...

Uh huh. The moms were happy too!

It was such fun. I felt so lucky to have had the chance to be a part of this with Grace.

It was a joy to share this special night. I have had a few people tell me they would have hated the experience. Phooey. These boys are good. Talented like crazy. The music was good, fun and

of the sort that can be shared with Grandmas, Moms, Dads, teenage sisters and little sisters alike.

To write these guys off as another silly *boy band* or *all bubble gum* is wrong. Oh so wrong!

Their music is clean but well done and on that note, just what is wrong with being CLEAN anyhoo?

The words CLEAN and talent are NOT mutually exclusive!

So thank you to our friends, the Marcum family, for helping us "live the dream" .

Thank you to The Jonas Brothers for such a wonderful night!

All of you made my little girl's dream come true...and with it, mine as well.

Why? Some of you know Grace's adoption story. She came to us at 6 1/2 and it took awhile before she would allow us to shower HER with affection. It was not something she was used to or was comfortable with. It was almost a year before she allowed us to hug her, another year before she didn't pull away when we tried to kiss her. She loved to cuddle and loved us, that we knew, and we were sure that, given time, our daughter would begin to return those hugs and kisses. Last year she began giving awesome hugs but those kisses still eluded us. On Wednesday night, as we tucked her into bed, both Bill and I got hugs AND kisses to go along with her sleepy, "Thank you for all of tonight...thank you SO much". Those sweet kisses have become a regular part of our good nights since then...and oh what a happy treat.

What was it about this concert that unlocked this ability? I don't know and I don't care! We are just relishing each hug, each kiss...

Wishing each one of you a sweet week...be good to yourselves!

Love and Hugs,

Susie Q