A totally unexpected box of bright, sunny, "smiles" arrived in my mailbox yesterday.
It's contents convinced me that the upcoming event of turning "60" might not be so bad.

When the box came in from the mailbox, I had five little ones surrounding me, as
I eagerly opened it.

I have placed these little guys at fun places in my kitchen, reminding me of a dear friend,
thousands of miles away.

 

 

The box was oozing with creativity, kindness, and sunshine, in the middle of a cloudy, overcast
Tuesday.

"All the statistics in the world can't measure the warmth of a smile."  ~Chris Hart

"One smile can't change the world, but your smile changes mine."  ~Author unknown

Another very special smile that arrived via email yesterday. 

I hope these smiles help to brighten your day, in some small way today.  I know first hand,
that many tears have overtaken smiles in people's lives. Many times the burdens we carry
of our own, and from those we love, do not bring on smiles.  When that happens,
one needs a smile from someone else.

Prayers prayed for each other,
and smiles shared with each other, help to make life easier to bear.  Both are gifts that
last, and are gifts we treasure.

I discovered this salad in one of my visits to "Fresh Market".  The flavors of the edamame,
cranberry, and feta cheese tasted so good to me.

Recently, my sister discovered the recipe for the salad, on this blog;
Kristina shares it on  -  www.loveandzest.com/   Click on recipe box, and then on
salads for the recipe.

Now I can make my own salad and do so often.  I thought you might want to try it
also.   The last time I made it, I added sunflower seeds and I found that it was a
tasty addition.  The next time I might add pine nuts.

Just a touch of green, from me to you.  Happy St. Patrick's Day to each of you!

I need to add a picture of what is covering all the green around here today.   Snow is falling.

 

But, Spring will soon be here.  This is the week.

Thank you for stopping by.

Do you need a "pick-up" today?

Could it be that everything seems to be wrong with life?

Could it be that you are facing earth shattering happenings like having to wear bib
coveralls when you like to wear knit athletic pants instead?

Whatever you are facing today, whether it involves huge hurdles, waiting room
answers, or just strength for the moment... I want to share a little something to brighten
your day.

 

 

Here .......... these are just for you!

Happy Saturday dear friends!

 

 

 Joy...it can mean many things to people.

But to this little one, it meant;

~a hand-me-down purple princess dress.

~finally a warm enough day to be out on the porch again, after a very long winter.

~bubbles...lots of bubbles and all one needed to do is pull on the handle to get more.

~having a friend to share the bubbles with.

~having bare feet, even if it might not have been warm enough to do so.

Endless bubbles on a Saturday afternoon in March.

 And even more reason for joy, is having cousins to hang out with.  What could be better!

"The best way to cheer yourself up is to cheer someone else up."  Mark Twain

Wishing you some moments of unexpected joy today!  Joy to lift your spirits, to give you
hope, and someone to share it all with.

"Even in the winter, even in the midst of the storm, the sun is still up there.  Somewhere,
up above the clouds, it still shines and warms and pulls at the life buried deep inside the
brown branches and frozen earth.  The sun is still there!  Spring will come!  The clouds
cannot stay forever!"    ~ Gloria Gaither


Thanks for stopping by!

My daughters wanted to treat me to a large, well known flower show in a nearby city.
It was the way they chose to celebrate my upcoming(not for a while though) 60th birthday.
They asked my mother, sisters, and nieces to join us.  Rented a 15 passenger van, talked
their father into driving it, and off we went for the day's excursion.

Everyone was asked to come to our home at 9:00am, to start off the day with coffee,
muffins, and fruit.  My middle daughter took ordinary paper coffee cups and dressed
them up with flowers.  I was impressed with her creativity and must admit, my
coffee never looked so good!

Cup before...

Cup after...looking pretty with the Martha Stewart flower

stickers on the pastel colored papers, hot glued over each cup. 

 

 My oldest daughter baked "apple butter streusel" muffins and dressed

them up with flower tags.

The kitchen island looked so festive and Spring like, making

all of us eager to see more flowers at the upcoming show.

 

Our handsome van driver:)

Two of my daughters and me, at the arrival to the Flower Show.  We were disappointed that
their sister was unable to join us for the day.

The displays of flowers almost took one's breath away, with their beauty and artistic displays.
I am sharing only a few of the many pictures I took throughout my hours walking through
the show.

At this orchid display, I was reminded of one of my blogging friends who so skillfully raises
orchids and shared them recently with us, at www.gratefulprayerthankfulheart.com/   I was
sure she would have been thrilled to see this display.

One could not adequately express what one felt when viewing all the colors, flowers, designs,
and variations on saw with each step that was taken.

Flowers and lighting went into each display.

 

My daughters and nieces taking a coffee break together.

 

 

The niece in the white jacket, is the one who creates

and designs faux flower pins, and thanks to her,

we each got to wear one of her lovely flower pins.

Another niece and one of my sister-in-laws shown here

waiting for a van driver, at the end of our time in the city. 

 

 

We piled back in the van, and headed home.

What a fun way and most memorable way for me to celebrate

a milestone birthday.

 

 

 

And, thankfully, I have one of these bouquets sitting on my kitchen table as I

share this post, due to my sister's generosity.

 

Approaching age 60 is not so bad after all.

 

 

Thanks to Target's dollar bin, and the Fold 'N Fly box purchased there, we made 18 "cool"
airplanes, as we passed a few hours of time during the weekend.

 

Thanks to our favorite breakfast café, and the containers of crayons and paper menus
they offered upon arrival, we passed some more time.

And yes, this grandma allowed two of them to order their favorite "Lucky Charms" cereal
as their breakfast choice.  Eggs and French toast were choices of the other ones.

But, as their grandma, a favorite baked oatmeal, "mixed berry" with skim
milk, was my choice.  I can't tell you how delicious it tasted!

Saturday afternoon snack was provided by their mother.  I was told it is their favorite snack now.

She was exactly right!  They were thrilled with the snack.  You would be too,

if you tasted the combination.

 

Because of a massive ice storm a few weeks ago, and to alleviate the energy levels
within the children, we had them pick up as many sticks as they could find out
back, on Saturday morning.   I must say, they accumulated quite a huge pile.  Hence,
this "tree gift" for their parents.

We lined the kitchen table with newspaper.  We took a packet of wooden clothes pins,
some white glue, fine colored glitter, and some Q tips.  They (each one of the children),
painted the glue on the one side of the clothes pin, then sprinkled it with glitter, and
let it dry.  It did make me grateful for my trusty vacuum cleaner:)

What fun it was for me to see how much they enjoyed this simple homemade craft.

When the glue dried, they were given choices of stickers to decorate the pins.

Strategically, they placed each clothes pin onto their retrieved sticks tree.

I copied favorite pictures from their weekend stay for them to place on the tree.  Notice the
paper airplane creations they made on the above picture.

We took white tags, and asked each child what they most appreciated about their mom and
dad, and hung them on the tree.  The honesty of these little ones, still has me smiling.

  

The game of Jenga, provided suspense for the young and old alike.

 

Chocolate milk for a snack, thanks to a visit from our dairy farming friend.  They
voted it "the best" chocolate milk ever!

An afternoon reading session, kept the children spellbound:)

A memorable weekend for this set of grandparents, and definitely we were given a new
appreciation and admiration for the role of parenting.

Thanks for stopping by for the little something I had to share today.