Our Visit To Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens.

Griffin and I went to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens with Carol, Hannah and Sam yesterday.

We had such a great time. The weather was perfect, the flowers were beautiful and we enjoyed seeing the Butterflies Live exhibit they are hosting.

This post consists of pictures of our group enjoying the gardens. I'm continuing with a second post about the flowers and finally the third post will be about the butterflies.

Sit back and enjoy our beautiful day ...


Look Mommy ... there's fish! Griffin discovered fish in the pond in the Japanese Garden.


Here we see Griffin and Sam feeding the fish.


Hannah, Griffin and Sam taking a little rest.


Carol and Hannah entering what we called "the secret garden".


In the Children's Garden they had huts and houses with different things the kids could do. Griffin loved playing the drums!


We climbed to the top of the tree house and I caught this cool picture of Griffin enjoying the view.


Our sweet boy butterflies!


They have a water area for the children to enjoy ... we made sure to pack their swimsuits for some water fun ... Griffin called it "the carwash".


Is there anything better than cooling down under the sprinklers on a hot summer day?

Continue reading the next two posts for pictures of the flowers and butterflies!

Lewis Ginter: The Flowers

Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens has THE most beautiful gardens I've seen.

I thought I would share a few pictures of some of the pretty flowers we saw.


I'm not sure what this is called ... but it is soooo pretty!! One of our neighbors actually has this plant growing up her mailbox. I wish I knew what it was called ... I would LOVE to have one of them!


The rose garden was HUGE ... here's a few blossoms ... they were so sweet smelling too!


Another plant I do not know the name of ... it was pretty though ... so I had to take a picture.


Okay ... so I know the name of this one ... bird of paradise. Growing up I remember this was one of my Momma's favorite plants. If I remember correctly we had one growing in our yard at one time.


And my favorite flower? The sunflower of course!! They were very tall and very pretty.

Keep reading for a tour of the Butterflies Live exhibit ...

Lewis Ginter: The Butterflies

Lewis Ginter is hosting a live butterfly exhibit through October.

It was amazing seeing all of the beautiful butteflies flying around, resting and even eating!


This is the first butterfly we happened upon ... we had no idea the treat we were in for!


Each one we saw was prettier than the next.


Who knew butterflies enjoyed citrus?


This was a gorgeous (huge!) blue butterfly. I could never capture his wings open on camera. Griffin got an up close look at him.


Another pretty butterfly


And even another pretty butterfly.

If you live locally and have a chance to visit Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens take the time to enjoy this absolutely gorgeous place!

Griffin Update.

Whewwwwwwwww ... that's me breathing a sigh of relief.

The prognosis from the doctor is constipation. All he saw on the x-ray was lots of stool packed in there ... gross I know ... but THANK GOODNESS!! He suggested an over-the-counter stool softener, Miralax. We are hoping that does the job.

I just wanted to let you all know how very much your kind words and prayers meant to us.

Griffin is such a great kid ... he's a rambuctious, full of life four-year-old boy. He surprises me everyday with the things he knows and the things he can do.

I'm so lucky to be his Mommy.

Griffin's Tummy X-Rays.

A couple of weeks ago I took Griffin to the doctor because he was complaining about a tummy ache. He complained for about a week before I actually took him to the doctor. His tummy would hurt at different times of the day. He wasn't trying to avoid eating or anything. He would scream and cry and say "my tummy not feel better Mommy".

The pediatrician felt he had gastroenteritis (sp?) and he prescribed Prevacid. It seemed to help a little bit, however he was still having tummy aches.

This past weekend it got worse. On the drive home from Washington, DC he cried for about an hour with a tummy ache.

I knew we were scheduled for his four-year-old wellness check-up on Tuesday and of course we wanted to have this problem checked out again.

The doctor said there were hundreds of different reasons to experience abdominal pain. He said most times in children it was due to constipation. He recommended Griffin have an X-Ray done on his abdomin and we will go from there.


Griffin was a very brave boy yesterday. After seeing the pediatrician and getting four (yes four!) shots ... we headed for the hospital for a "picture of his tummy".


The X-Ray technician was very nice and allowed me to take this picture of our brave little boy on the X-Ray table.

The doctor is supposed to call me tomorrow with the results. I am hoping it's something minor ... or better yet ... nothing at all. Can you please keep Griffin in your prayers. We pray his tummy aches go away.

After being such a big, brave boy we headed for Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then on to Walmart for a special John Deere tractor set.

I pray this is nothing serious.

I love my son and I just want everything to be okay.

John Deere Mom Give-A-Way!

John Deere Mom has another super cool give-a-way going on at her blog!

She is giving away these awesome John Deere action figures ...











Visit her blog by clicking HERE for your chance to win!

Fourth Of July In Washington, DC

We had the absolute pleasure of spending the Fourth of July in Washington, DC.

It was such an amazing trip and over the next few posts I would like to share our trip with you.

Hang on for a whirlwind visit in our nation's capital!

After arriving in Washington, DC on Friday evening we decided to first visit the Lincoln Memorial.

It is such a moving experience to be there ...


The Lincoln Memorial ... if you look closely at his hands folklore says his left hand is signing the letter A and his right hand is signing the letter L for Abraham Lincoln.


Such a beautiful message


A closer look ...


Our little family in front of the memorial


I love this picture of Mike and Griffin sitting under some of the inscribed words


I thought I would share a picture looking out from the Lincoln Memorial over the reflecting pond you can see the Washington Monument and the United States Capital. In this picture you can see some of the huge crowd that was there.


And a closer view of the same scene ...


Next we visited the Vietnam War Memorial Wall ...

The Vietnam War Memorial Wall

I'll be very honest ... the words to describe visiting the Vietname War Memorial Wall are very hard to find.

I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves ...











Visiting "The Wall" is something I wish you can all do in your lifetime ... it is such a moving experience.

We then headed to the World War II Memorial ...

The World War II Memorial.

Our Daddy was a veteran of World War II ... it's something he was very proud of.

The World War II Memorial is fairly new. This is the first time we have visited the memorial ... it was a must see for us this trip.


The memorial is absolutely beautiful


Just look how beautiful


Although Daddy lived in Florida for many, many years ... he was originally from Alabama and it was something he was very proud of as well. I had to have my picture taken by Alabama.


The seal that marks the memorial


If there is water ... Griffin is near it.

After The World War II Memorial visit we headed back to our hotel until Saturday morning.

The United States Capital.

We woke up bright and early Saturday, July 4th and filled our tummies with a hearty breakfast.

Our first stop of the day was the United States Capital ...


Mike, Griffin and me in front of the capital


Bett and Tony in front of the capital


Another view of the US Capital


We actually got to take a tour of the Capital ... it was wonderful! This is a picture of the painting at the top of the rotunda


The paintings throughout the rotunda are absolutely stunning!


This is a closeup of the painting at the very top. That is George Washington and I believe it is Liberty on one side and Justice on the other. I'm not 100% sure that's accurate but I think it is.


One of the paintings located in the capital


We moved into a second room filled with statues ... sorry I can't remember what it was called. There were marks on the floor where historical figures desks once sat. Just thinking about the people that had been there before us was incredible.


We left the United States Capital and headed for the Independence Day Parade. I did take some pictures ... but really they were just "parade like" and not very interesting. After the parade we went to the Air & Space Museum and then we went to our hotel for a rest before we ventured out again for the fireworks.

The White House.

We ventured out to that famous address ...


Guess who lives here!


Griffin, Mike and me in front of the White House


I stuck my camera between the gates ... I was afraid an alarm would sound or something ... it was okay!


This is the other side of the White House. Everyone was getting comfortable to watch the fireworks.

The Amazing 4th Of July Fireworks!

In my 41 years I have seen my fair share of firework displays ... but I have never, ever experienced the like of the 4th Of July Fireworks in Washington, DC.

It was great ....


It got better ...


and better ...


and better ...


and better ...


and even better with each one!


We were so very blessed to be able to spend our Fourth of July in Washington, DC this year!

Arlington National Cemetary.

Before leaving for home Sunday we visited Arlington National Cemetary.

It is always so moving when we visit.

I did take pictures of some of the graves such as John F. Kennedy, Jacquelyn Kennedy Onassis, the Space Shuttle Challenger memorial and the Space Shuttle Columbia memorial ... but I feel a little funny posting those here. I do want to say it was an incredibly moving experience to visit them.


This is the Amphi Theatre located at the cemetary.


This is The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It is guarded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.


We were lucky enough to see the changing of the guards ... the pride, the honor and the respect shown during this event is something I will remember forever.

We are so very blessed to live in this great country of ours.

We are blessed indeed to experience Washington, DC on the Fourth of July weekend.

Guess!

Anyone care to guess where we were for the Fourth of July weekend?

I'm in the process of resizing pictures and loading them (with my sloooow dial up internet connection).

C'mon guess ....

We Are A Lucky Bunch.

We are country folk and the simple things in life bring us the most joy.

Such as ....


Going for a walk ...


Meeting the new twin baby goats on the farm ...


Racing with a friend ...


Swinging ...


Taking a ride in the buggy ...


A little off roading ...


Some cool mushroom finding ...


A little pond viewing ...

And LOTS of family loving!!

We are a lucky bunch, indeed.

Bett & Tony Are Here!

We have family visiting with us for a few days ... Bett (Grandma) and Tony flew in from Florida last night.

We went to Bass Pro Shops after picking them up and then had dinner at the Islamorada Fish Company restaurant there at the store. It was delicious.

Can you believe I didn't take one single picture?

We have some fun plans for the next few days ... I promise to do better and take some pictures to share.

Since I do not have a picture of our first night with Bett & Tony how about I share something else?

The other day I was looking out the window at our bird feeder. I saw a bright yellow bird feeding there ... and then another one flew in. I tried taking pictures of them but my camera just couldn't do it through the window.

So ... I borrowed this picture from All About Birds


They are American Goldfinches ... it was amazing to see them. I've never in my life seen a bird (or two!) like these. As far as I know they have only visited the one time. We are keeping our eyes open for another visit from them.

Wishing you a happy Thursday ...

Good-Bye Grays!

Over the past several months I've allowed my hair to get way too gray.

Mike's mother is coming to visit and I wanted to make sure the grays were gone before she gets here.

I thought I would share a giggle with you this morning and share a picture of me that Mike took after he put the color on my hair. Yes ... my sweet husband is the one who colors my hair.


This is me in all my "get those grays out" glory ...

Mike and Griffin decided it would be funny to give me a mohawk. Griffin said I looked like a dinosaur. Then he started calling me Mrs. Lopart (from Handy Manny).


This is a picture of Mike I took after he gave me the mohawk. He was tickled and quite please with himself.


And finally ... the grays are all gone. I got a haircut the other day too. I feel so much better!

We Have A Winner!

Bright and early this morning I put everyone's name in a drawing and the winner of he $20.00 Target Gift Card goes to ...

Mandy

Mandy, please email me your mailing address and I will get your Gift Card out to you.

It warmed my heart to read your comments and it made me realize how very much you all mean to me. Many of you have shared with me that you followed my pregnancy and watched my little boy Griffin grow up. That just makes me happy. I've know many of you for SO many years ... and some of you are newer friends.

I am a lucky, lucky girl to have so many wonderful online friends.

Thank you for that.

Thank you for playing ... we'll do this again soon.

1000th Post Give-A-Way Celebration!

Today I am celebrating my 1,000th blog post with a fun give-a-way!


I have a $20.00 Target gift card to share with one lucky person!

This isn't just any 'ole gift card mind you ... it's an Owl Nighty Night Light gift card!

To be entered to win the $20.00 Target gift card all you have to do is leave a comment on THIS post.

In your comment please share with me how you found my blog.

That's it.
It's THAT easy!

I will accept comments through Monday, June 29th.

On Tuesday, June 30th we will put everyone's name in a hat that left a comment and choose ONE winner. The winner of the gift card will be announced right here on my blog.

If you would like to share this give-a-way with your blog readers please feel free to do so!!

Happy 1,000th Blog Post Day ...

Look What's New ~ Custom Teddy Bear Names!

Seems like I've been bitten by the creative bug ... and I hope it keeps biting!

Look what's new ... Custom Teddy Bear Names!

They can be found by CLICKING HERE

They are great for scrapbooking, card making, gift bags and you can even frame them!


Custom Teddy Bear Name ~ Ladybug

This is what the completed project looks like. You will receive the individual pieces you see below to make the completed project. It's easy ... all you have to do is assemble the pieces on your page as you wish and voila ... instant cuteness!


The pieces come individually so you can place them on your page as you wish

I have several to choose from ...


Custom Tear Bear Name ~ Bumble Bee


Custom Tear Bear Name ~ Pink Ladybug


Custom Tear Bear Name ~ Butterfly


Custom Tear Bear Name ~ Purple Ladybug

If interested please visit MY EBAY STORE to find them!

It's A Sweet Sweet Summer.

Griffin is attending Vacation Bible School this week at his preschool.

He enjoyed the first day very much. He came home with a big stack of art projects ... he LOVES doing art!

We were thrilled to see our friends Keisha and Darius there. We invited them over for lunch and a little playtime at our house and happily they said they would like to come.


Although in this picture you can not really tell, Griffin was playing "helicopter" with the swing.


Darius mastered the circle swing ...


And we all took a little buggy ride down to the farm.

It was a GREAT day ... we are definitely having a sweet, sweet summer.

We Have ...

Yesterday when we went outside we discovered we have hundred and hundreds of "froggy fish" ... otherwise known as tadpoles!



Take a look at this cute video to see Griffin discovering them for the first time.

Happy Father's Day!

I would like to wish all of the Daddy's out there a Happy Father's Day!


This is a picture of the day Mike became a father to our sweet Griffin, February 7, 2005.

Happy Father's Day!

My Squash Is Prettier.

I was able to pick two squash from our little garden ... it wasn't quite enough to serve for dinner so I decided to pick two more up from the grocery store for a family sized portion of sauteed squash and onions.


When I got home and looked at the two I purchased ... I realized our two home grown squash were much prettier than the two I purchased from the store.

Maybe I'm a little biased ... what do you think?

Our home grown squash are on the left.

Griffin & The Girls.

We enjoyed a fabulous day at the pool yesterday ... the sun was shining, the birds were singing and the kids were splashing.

Griffin enjoyed playing with friends from preschool, he had a blast!


Griffin with Megan and Anna ... they played together for hours.


Here they are playing follow the leader.


After playing so hard ... it was time for a rest so they decided to sun themselves on the side of the pool.

Enjoy your Friday!

Thursday Challenge.

I have a challenge for you this morning ...

Go to your refrigerator, open the door, take a picture exactly as your refrigerator looks right now. Don't move anything around. Post your picture and share what's in there.

Here's mine ...



Top Shelf:
Two gallons of milk and two gallons of brewed iced tea

Second Shelf:
Country Crock, Griffin's juice boxes, sugar free pudding, leftover pasta shells, baked beans that I picked up from Walmart so we can BBQ later this week

Deli Drawer:
Lots of cold cuts, cheeses and alot of cheese sticks. Mike worked at a plant and they sent a whole case of cheese sticks home with him.

Third Shelf:
Grapes, leftover chicken casserole, cut up apples, leftover steamed broccoli, and leftover shrimp pasta sauce

Fourth Shelf:
Lettuce, Leftover taco fixings (we had that for dinner last night), leftover yellow rice, and our bread. I've been keeping the bread in the refrigerator lately because it tends to mold easily during the summer months.

Drawers:
Where I keep our onions, potatos and water bottles

Shelving to the side:
Condiments, our creams, a 3rd (yes 3rd! gallon of milk), Diet Pepsi, Diet Sierra Mist and Apple Juice that Griffin will not drink.

That's it folks ... are you up for the challenge?

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

The past couple of weeks at Mommy & Me Griffin has been working on a sweet surprise for Daddy for Father's Day ...


The first week they created these cute little pictures using their fingerprints.

Yesterday they painted frames to put the little pictures in.

And on Sunday Griffin will be able to proudly share his handmade gift with Daddy.

He's so excited!

Handmade gifts are just the BEST!!

Happy Birthday Momma.

June 16, 1933 - September 7, 1976

Today is my Momma's birthday ...

It didn't dawn on me that it was her birthday until I visited my sister-in-law Bonnie's Blog. Thanks for the reminder Bonnie!

My Momma (Syble) died far too young. She was able to celebrate 43 birthdays ... I wish she were still here today to celebrate her 76th birthday with us.

I miss her so much.

Sweet Paper Flowers.

Sometimes in life God surprises us with a gift that is unexpected ...

One day last week I was sitting at my scrapbook table and a new line of paper piecings just "came" to me. I sat there and created my new Teddy Bear Scallops Paper Piecing line.

{You can see mini pictures of them just below my header above}

It was if they were meant to be!

Today I am so, so happy to be able to share with you my newest venture ... my Sweet Paper Flowers Blog!

You can see some of my newest items including my brand new Teddy Bear Scallops and some of my most popular paper flowers!

I plan to add more to my Sweet Paper Flowers as time allows.

Today if you have a moment, won't you please stop by to see what I have available?

Just CLICK HERE to go there!

Happy Day ...

I'm A Celebrity ...

Did my blog title get your attention?

LOL ... no silly ... I'm not the celebrity ... but I am watching this show on NBC called "I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here". I can't believe I'm admitting to watching this show ... but hey, a girl has to have something to blog about right?


This is probably one of the silliest show I've ever seen. It's one of those things that SO bad I just can't turn it off.

Let's start with a list of the "celebrities":

Heidi & Spencer from The Hills

Janice Dickinson the "first supermodel"

Lou Diamond Phillips one of the only REAL celebrities in my book

John Salley former NBA star

Daniel Baldwin of the "Baldwin" acting family

Stephen Baldwin another of the "Baldwin" brother

Patti Blogojevich former first lady of Illinois, Ron's wife

Holly Montag of The Hills, Heidi's NICE sister

Sanjaya formerly on American Idol

Torrie Wilson from the WWE Wrestling (I think)

Frangela a duo stand up comedy team

The celebrities are in the Costa Rican jungle for three weeks. They have challenges such as eating bugs and looking for stars in snake/alligator/varmint infested waters. They are doing this all in the name of charity.

It's so crazy!!

It's one of those shows that I watch by myself because Mike doesn't like it.

Will anyone else admit to watching it?

Finally ... A Haircut!

Griffin has avoided getting a "real" haircut for a couple of months.

The last time we trimmed his bangs and around his ears was Easter Sunday.


He was beginning to look a little bit like Shaggy ... so Sunday night Mike whipped out the clippers to give him a trim.


Well ... we decided to go all out and give him a new, fresh summer 'do!

He has very thick, straight hair. I always like when he has longer hair ... but I tell you ... with this new haircut ... I'm thinking shorter is better!

The BEST Cake Ever!

I haven't been the best blogger lately ... seems like I've had less time to blog, visit other blogs and even leave comments. I miss it.

So, today ... I'm back to blogging. A "real" post, if you will.

Oops ... after loading all of my pictures I realized I did them small instead of large.

The other day our friends Carol, Hannah and Sam came over.

The kids decided to make a cake ... and Griffin declared it "The Best Cake EVER".

It was definitely good!


Carol and Sam ...


Hannah, Griffin and Sam mixing up the cake


It was time to ice the cake. The boys quickly tired of that and decided to clean their butter knives.


Then they had to add some sprinkles ...


A little icing on the nose ...


What's a cake without candles?


And finally ... we got to eat the BEST CAKE EVER!

Cute ... Cute ... Cuteness!

I actually do have some things to blog about ... but I wanted to share just a few more of my new Teddy Bear Scallops With Paper Flowers with you.

These can all be found at my Ebay Store and all you have to do is CLICK HERE to go there!


I love all things Americana and the red, white and blue. This sweet American Flag Teddy Bear Scallop is my new favorite!!


It's watermelon time ya'll ... loving that the summer is here and it's time to enjoy this delectable, sweet treat!


Okay ... so most of you know fall is my absolute favorite time of year. Even though it's summer I *had* to make an Autumn Pumpkin Teddy Bear Scallop.

Please pop on over to MY EBAY STORE to see these and many, many more cute items!!

New Missy Made It! Paper Piecings.

Good Morning ...

Look what's new at Missy Made It!

If you see something you like ... you can find them in my Ebay Store!

For All You Locals ... A Yard Sale!

Do you enjoy yard sales, garage sales, tag sales, treasure sales?

Well ... if you live locally we are having a HUGE multi-family YARD SALE this coming weekend!

Housewares, Furniture, Children's Stuff, Clothing, Toys & More ... we really have alot of stuff to offer!

When:
Saturday, June 6th

Where:
Goochland Recreation Center

Location:
The white building on Route 522 between Sandy Hook & Goochland

Hours:
8:00 am - ??

If you have any questions please feel to email me at mgmh@aol.com.

Suffolk County Fly-In

This past weekend Mike volunteered as the Aircraft Parking Chair at the Suffolk Country Festival of Flight Fly-In.

Griffin and I drove over on Sunday for a few hours to spend some time with Daddy.

I took only a few pictures ... I decided to put my camera away and enjoy myself.


Mike and Griffin checking out the airplanes


This is a picture of one of our favorite airplanes


Griffin LOVES these little remote control model airplanes. He said ... Daddy can fly the big airplanes and I can fly the little airplanes. LOL ... such a sweet boy.

It was fun ... can't wait until next year.

Friendly Fun.

We love spending time with our friends Heidi, Ryan and Evan.

Since they have moved away we do not get to see them nearly enough. We are so happy they were able to come for a visit last week.

We went to the Children's Museum (my camera died so no pictures from there), went to the YMCA for a delightful swim and then we went to a park that Griffin and I had never been to before.

Heidi and I watched chick flicks after the boys went to bed ... Marley & Me and Bride Wars were very good.


My little water boy enjoying the pool ...


Ryan and Evan catching a ride on their Mommy Mobile ...


Griffin at the park ...


The park we went to have some wonderful hiking trails. Here we see the boys taking a little break ...


Well ... looky there ... it's me and Griffin!


They met a sweet little furry friend along the trail ...


Taking a rest along one of the many bridges along the trail ...


And finally back to the playground for more fun!!

We love our friends ... can't wait to see them again.

Just Checking In.

Good Morning ...

Just taking a moment to check in.

I will be back tomorrow with a real blog.

We had alot of fun with our friends over the weekend and we went to visit Mike at the fly-in.

I'll share all of that and more beginning tomorrow.

Happy Day ...

Fabulous Friends!

Look who's here ...

Our friends Heidi, Ryan and Evan are with us for a few days and we couldn't be happier!


This is the only picture I got yesterday because my camera battery died.

We went to the Children's Museum and the boys had a good time discovering, playing and getting wet and sandy in the "Back Yard".

It was great fun!

Can't wait to see what adventure we get into today.

Look What's Blooming ...

... at Missy Made It!

It seems I have a little gardening theme going on at my blog this week ... so today I will continue with a little gardening ... but this time it's paper gardening ... as in ... Paper Flowers!


I love these white paper flowers with a touch of butter yellow on them. I don't know why ... maybe it's the southern girl in me ... but they remind me of grits and butter.


Here's a closer look ... they are a little bit dimensional.

My paper flowers can be used in scrapbooking, cardmaking, place cards, gift bags & tags ... you could even give them as a gift!!

How about checking them out by clicking here ... where you can find them in my Ebay Store.

A little look at what's blooming over there ...



Wishing you a happy, happy day!