I Was EXCITED !

When I first looked at the clock this morning it had been around 4 am.  I could not go back to sleep so I got up, stoked the wood stove, had a cup of tea while updating Facebook Social Media pages, while patiently waiting for it to be a half descent hour to wake Rob up.  Once the hands of the clock got to 6 am, that was it, I could not wait any longer.  Rob was woke, the Aussies all looked after, and we were out the door by 7 am.  I was EXCITED !

Why all the excitement one might wonder for someone wanting to be out the door by 7 am on a cold blustery Sunday morning? what could cause more excitement for me then the prospect of seeing my grandchildren, I really don't know at this state in my life.  Our scheduled Christmas Dinner with them on January 5th had been cancelled due the beginning of a Blizzard, and nothing was stopping me from going this day.

We headed South ... by the time we had crossed over Hwy 86, and through Linwood, we had been passing by Church goers.

Rob had us in New Hamburg in record time !  even after we had made a quick stop in Wellesley to drop off a Apple Cinnamon Bread to our Insurance Broker (an nice young man who has been looking after us very well since his father passed on a few years back).  

Here is our "crew" having themselves a blast while I watched on on..  They were playing "keep away from the shark".  Josh this time around was the "shark" down in the water while the others tried their best not to dangle off their boat.  Oops Connor was not so lucky, being captured by the "shark".

When we had first arrived I had the biggest hug and kiss from Aiden, as we had not seen the boys for such a long time, that it brought tears to my eyes.  Connor took awhile to come around, but he did with lots of hugs later.

Poppa also had some "prime time" with Aiden too.  He obviously misses us as much as I miss him.  We have been having Aiden for weeks on end since he was barely 2 years old, so we have had more of a bond with him.  One Year when he was about 6 years old he had told his parents he didn't want to go to Grandma & Poppa's as we were "too old".  Well it took a bit of convincing that year for him to come, but after I told him how much we both needed his help, that sealed the deal and he was back here with us in a "blink of an eye".  Maybe he will be the one looking after Poppa & I in our elder years ... once can always hope.

I was enjoying being entertained by just sitting back and taking it all in.  I was in my glory this day !

There had even been "show & tell" with Briar & Connor showing me their tattoos.  Then Chloe & Connor had to show me their "tats" just like dad on the back of the legs.  Monkey see, Monkey do ... hahaha.

We were having our meal today at the Lunch Hour.  Our friend, Bob, showed up just in time to supervise the table being expanded to seat us all.  Paul, Liz and Rob managed to get it all sorted, while Bob watched on.

I love sitting all together at the table to have a meal.  This has always been the way I have done it with my boys when they were growing up, and still with the grandchildren.  It is nice to see Liz and Paul are doing the same with their children.  It is a time when everyone can be brought together to have quality time with each other.

Here is my Ham, our Connor.  He is the most lovable Ham I think I will have with Briar coming in at a close second.

Dinner was beyond AMAZING !  Thank You, Elizabeth, you out did yourself.   Your Lasagna with a "twist" like nothing I had ever had was a hit with Rob & I.  I can't wait until I get my hands on all the ingredients which made it so tasty.

I had brought dessert.  Some had "seconds".  Chocolate Arrowroot Bars with Vanilla Whipped Cream, thanks to Rock's Recipes.  

Recipe please?  Please *click* HERE.  For some reason my chocolate center was not as firm as shown in the Rock Recipe's photo, but really is was very very good.  I will definitely adding this recipe to my favourites.

Yes my Son, Paul, was taught at a very young age, how to clean, do laundry, shop, cook and wash dishes.  It is obviously paying off now for the little lady of the house.

Rob and I decided we would take off back home by 1:30 as we had been getting reports from back up North at home the weather had been very nasty.  Almost like the Blizzard we had experienced 2 weeks prior.

Rob & I had the pleasure of taking Aiden & Connor back along home to their Mother's this afternoon.  I was still being entertained on the way there.

The roads had been on and off all the way home.  We could not believe when we had seen this poor Soul out hitching in this bitter cold nasty weather ... hope they got a lift before frost bite..

With a bit of tension, on my part, we finally made it back home about 5 pm.  Home Sweet Home with lots of snow having had fallen since we had left so early this morning.  The drift Rob had to blast through to get in our driveway was well over 3 feet.  Our final excitement of the day for us.

A pleasant surprise was getting a Christmas Gift from Liz, Paul and the Children.  All the school photos, some treats and soaps from Bath & Body Works.  Thanks Gang, I was really happy about these gifts ... xoxoxo.

We had a wonderful day with our family.  I am EXCITED for many more days such as the one we had this day, in our future, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".

Family

Last night Rob and I really enjoyed our BBQ'd Dinner.  I had a $5.00 coupon off Butterball Turkey Burgers, so had picked up a box a week ago.

Moist, full of flavour and all around "good".  We are pretty certain we will be purchasing these again.  After checking around a few stores, I had found Walmart had been the least expensive to buy these.

This morning I was up and at it very early, as I had a big day planned ahead of me.  First thing, before it rained, I took everyone out, fed everyone and then cleaned the puppies inside pen before having a coffee.

Once I had updated the Wiarton & Crabby Cabbie Facebook pages, I got going on making the salad for today's lunch.

I had no problem putting this salad together.  It is not only one of my favourites, it is full of fibre goodness.  Black Bean & Feta Salad.

 Recipe please?  PRINTABLE RECIPE *CLICK* HERE.

At 11:30 our company arrived.  I served up lunch not too long after their arriving.

Lunch was Pickled Cauliflower, Dills, Egg Salad & Salmon Sandwiches, with Black Bean & Feta Salad and Grandma's Apple Cinnamon Cake for Dessert.

Special thanks to my Cousin Linda, who had gifted me the Pickled Cauliflower last Year for such a special occasion.  Linda they were out of this World, I will be making them myself this Year, and I was also asked for the recipe too.  Special thanks also to my friend Toni with an "i", as she had gifted me the Dill pickles at Christmas time ... yummy, as they were all ate up too.

Once lunch was cleaned up with, we headed on up to Gateway Haven, as today was going to not only be a surprise for my Mother, it was going to be a "special" day for myself and my siblings.

This is the first photograph my siblings & I had with our Mother in 6 years.  It will be one more to be cherished as a family.  Myself, my brother Allan, our Mother Stella, my sister Donna, and Sister Jeanne.

A very rare photo, if maybe the only one of myself and my siblings.  

Another first is one of brother Allan, Mother and my Great Nephew Riley (Allan's Grandon).  Geez Riley at 13 has gotten to be quite the tall one in the family.

My sister Jeanne, and her daughter Joanne.

Sisters Donna & Jeanne, with Jeanne's husband Cecil.

A switch up of sisters in this photo.

I am pretty sure this will be the last photo I take of Jeanne & Cecil before they head back home to Nfld. next Sunday.

We had a great visit as a family.  Mother was very surprised and happy.  Donna's husband Wayne, and my Rob stayed back at home to look after the doggies.

This is Donna & Wayne's newest addition to their family.  "Taz" is a minature Dapple Dachshund who is now 3 months old.  He really is sweet.

Bandit and Taz absolutely loved each other.  Bandit is pretty good with all doggies.

I was very happy today, however warm it had gotten, that the rain had held off for the remainder of the day after the shower we had first thing this morning.

I was very happy we were able to take advantage of our new deck today too.  Wayne and Rob had headed out there as soon as Donna and Wayne had arrived.

After we finished up our visit with Mother, Jeanne, Cecil and Joanne came back to our house for the afternoon of visiting with us, Donna and Wayne.  

Everyone even got themselves a little puppy love today.

 It was a GOOD DAY, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".

A Most Perfect Day !

How could a day not be perfect when it started with a kiss from my husband at 5 am to say good-bye before he left for work, when your almost 30 year old Son calls you at 6 am and sings Happy Birthday through the phone, giggling part way through, when your sisters, brother, step-daughter, sister-in-law and Auntie call to wish you a Happy Birthday, and the brother drops you off a large double cream Tim Hortons, when you get text messages from family members and friends, as well as over 200 Happy Birthdays between blog comments, personal emails and Facebook, when your husband shows up at lunch when you are not expecting him to bring you flowers and a Birthday Cake, when you get the most wonderful package in the mail you were not expecting from a Secret Sister, when a best friend shows up at your door with a Birthday Cake, when your husband takes you out for dinner.  And I just got off the phone from a call with our young friend, Nathan, all the way from Canberra, Australia ! who called to wish me a Happy Birthday.

"This was the very very BEST Birthday I have had in a long long time !"

It is late by the time we arrived home from a dinner of Chinese Buffet, cleaned out the puppies before their bedtime, and took all our adult "gang" out.  Tomorrow I will share some fantastic pictures from throughout my most wonderful Birthday, but in the meantime I would like to share this that my sister, Jeanne, had emailed me May 2011.  I LOVE it, even though it brings tears to my eyes each time I read it .....

PASS THE BISCUITS

When I was a kid, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work.. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage, and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his Biscuit, smile at my mom and ask me how my day was at school.

I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits.. And I'll never forget what he said: "Honey, I love burned biscuits."

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your momma put in a long hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides... a burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!"

You know, life is full of imperfect things... and imperfect people. I'm not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each others faults and choosing to celebrate each others differences, is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

So...please pass me a biscuit. And yes, the burned one will do just fine! And please pass this along to someone who has enriched your life... I just did!

Life is too short to wake up with regrets... Love the people who treat you right and forget about the ones who don't.


ENJOY LIFE NOW - IT HAS AN EXPIRATION DATE!

I do so LOVE the people who treat me right and would go to the Moon and Back for them.  On that note I am going to try to find me some Magic Star Dust to see it it will bring me a good nights sleep with dreams of the wonderful day, thanks to YOU, I just had, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard."