Desktop Delight!!

So ... these are the desktop collages that I have gazed at for the past 18 months. (That last one was created just today.)

No wonder I spend so much time at my computer.

Sigh.

Li'l Mr. Gee turns Five!

So ... it may or may not come as a surprise to you that Li'l Mr. Gee is "Li'l" no longer. He's old, he's smart and he is ... cool.

He likes to play T-ball.

He likes to ride his bike.

He really likes to play with Legos ... and on them.

His Li'l Sis is just dreaming of the day she turns 16 and can turn a lot of heads ... with hers.

Happy Birthday to my favorite (and at this point ... only) grandson.

Nanny is very proud of you!

Bi-Annual Update

So ... I'm not gonna lie. In my head I think my simplehappy home blog is kaput, just when one of my children reminds me that they have "people" who count on me for updates. So here I am again ... not really with apologies ... but with a new crop of photos of my brood.
I just came back from a trip to the Dubs where Miss Dub1 showed off her skills on a musical instrument sent by fave aunt and uncle, Sonny Boy and Mrs. Boy, from Cancun. The band-aid on her head hides a very ugly puncture wound (pulled together by 6 stitches) that was inflicted by a plastic golf club ... at golf class. No lie.

Here is Miss Dub2 showing off her spunky attitude on the playground. If there was a Spunk-O-Meter, she would be off the charts.

Miss Dub3 provides us with pure and simple scrumptiousness. Seriously, it is hard not to want to eat her whole.

Mr. Gee is honing is baseball skills ... and a lot of other skills that involve a lot of movement and very loud noise. He's a charmer, that Mr. Gee.

L'il Sis ... the "Sweet Pea" ... is oozing with charm also. Most of it oozes out of her head in the form of hair. Beautiful, curly hair. I'm pretty certain if you watched closely enough, you could see it grow.

Last but not least (actually, I had other pics of Sonny & Mrs. Boy's spectacular Cancun vistas, but Blogger ate them ... this will force me to do more posts. I swear) is Ms. Gee's baby boy, Morrissey. Also ranking high on the Cute-O-Meter. You want to meet him in person, admit it.

That's it. I actually DO apologize and will try to do better.

Seriously, I will.

HEY! Blogger did come through! Enjoy this vicariously ... just as I had to. Sonny Boy and the Mrs. are spectacular photographers!

West Coast Winter

So ... now that The Dub's are in the Northwest ... relatively close to the coast ... I like to think that if I went to the beach and looked to my right, I could wave to them. You know, because we are now pretty much on the same street. These beautiful Dubbies warmed my heart this season when we Skyped/Face-timed with them on Christmas night. In fact the whole family was united through technology ... West Coast to East. I realize that this picture doesn't include Baby Sis, but I will not forget her in my next post.

Here are the local sweeties. I can't believe how excited they are to see Santa. Mr. Gee there could not be smiling any harder and the li'l sweet pea practiced her "ho, ho, ho"s all season long. As an after-Christmas present to her mom, she finally started walking.

I missed out on that big moment because I was "up the street" in the SF Bay Area with Ms. Gee and her pup.

I hope your Christmas was this lovely and that you are smiling just as earnestly as Li'l Mr. Gee.

Smart or Smart Aleck??

Recently Miss Dub1, pictured above, was watching "Annie" with her family. She made the following observation (and I quote ...)

"Those orphans think life with parents makes life perfect. That's pretty naive."

Yeah ... she turned FIVE less than two months ago.

I. Am. Giddy.

So ... it IS the most wonderful time of the year. I will refrain from singing the rest of that song, but trust me ... I am beyond ecstatic.

I think it's because Christmas was almost non-existent to me last year due to the fact that I moved out of my house on December 29th. This year I have been consumed with Christmas for a few months now. First off was making a stocking for Miss Dub3 (even though she won't be here and that's okay.)

I don't have all of my Christmas shopping done, but you had better believe that I am ready to wrap those babies once they are purchased.

I don't have a mantle but I had a wonderful time figuring out what to do with my pseudo-mantle.

My living room is complete with treats. Pretzel M&M's to be exact and I refuse to say how many I have already eaten.

My trees are up inside and out but I don't have decent pictures of them yet. I will try to post those before New Years.

Oh ... it IS the most wonderful time of the year, don't you agree?

Pumpkin + Orange = Yum

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So ... take your pick. You can have a lovely, albeit fake pumpkin ...

Or some honest-to-goodness Pumpkin Bread.

This is the recipe I used to make the latter. It. Was. Yum.

Libby's Pumpkin Cranberry Bread (printed from Cooks.com)

3 C flour
1 T + 2 t pumpkin pie spice
2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t salt
3 C granulated sugar (you could possibly reduce that a smidge)
1 15 ounce can LIBBY's pure pumpkin
4 large eggs
1 C vegetable oil
1/2 C orange juice
1 C Craisins

Preheat over to 350. Grease and flour two 9X5 inch loaf pans.

Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil and juice in large mixer bowl; beat unti just blended Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Fold in craisins. Spoon batter into pans.

Bake for 60-65 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to racks to cool completely.

Have a delicious Thanksgiving!

The Pleasantest Thing

"Oh ... how I love to go up in a swing,

Up in the air so blue.

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing,

Ever a child can do."

With thanks to Robert Louis Stevenson and four of the most joyful faces on the planet.

No Tricks, Only Treats

So ... this is the last of the Halloween celebrating I plan to do this year. Here are the Grandkids Five in all of their costume glory. I did have the privilege of accompanying the Race Car Driver and the USC Cheerleader to a Trunk or Treat and witnessed their glee over the fact that people were just randomly handing them candy.

I didn't get to see the Ballerinas in actions however I heard all about it. They are SO excited to be settled into their home in the Northwest. However on Halloween night they had some serious coats on over their costumes, so I chose to show you these pictures where they were first trying out/on their costumes.

Oh boy do I love these guys.

Spooky: The Sequel

So ... just when you thought that the spooky creepiness of Halloween was over ... think again. I woke up to this eerie blanket of fog this morning. Loved every minute of it.

I came home from my walk and was greeted by these guys. They are actually my close personal friends and these homes and their orange residents are rampant where I live. My Bug Man assures me that they are not only harmless, but helpful.

Not so much in the creepy category are the Granddogs, all decked out in their Halloween regalia. Asher went as a (very large) pumpkin and ...

Morrissey went as a bumblebee. I sure do love these guys.

Also left over from Halloween? Candy. Since my home is not easily accessible from the street, I only had one group of trick-or-treaters. I was so excited when they came to my door that I am sure they left thinking I was the creepy one.

Anyone for some Mike 'n Ikes??

Mickey knows the answer ...

So ... one more time people: What did the butcher say when he handed the customer the empty frankfurter?

(If you are new here, you should know that I ask my children this question every single year. I can honestly say that they are losing interest in answering. I'm over it, really I am.)

I wish you an evening full of candy, lots of doorbell rings and the best prize of all ...

Permission to start thinking about Christmas with abandon.

Miss DubONE turns FIVE!!

So ... tomorrow (the 25th) is the 5th birthday of my oldest grandchild ... Miss Dub1. This also means that I have held the title of "Nanny" for five whole years. I love that title.

This sweet, beautiful and very smart granddaughter is such a joy. Since I was a newbie at the grandmother thing, she was extremely patient and guided me along, step by step.

Her birthday this year falls in the midst of a move. She has actually been moving (and shaking) all summer long, but in less than a week she will be in her new home (in the Great Northwest.)

I could not be more proud of this young lady. I can NOT believe it's been five whole years! This picture above is her latest, proudly showing off her new 'do.

Kind of reminds of this picture. Kind of makes me sad she is growing so, so fast. Kind of makes me want to seriously cast a spell and hold her back.

Yeah ... that would be kind of bad, huh?