Happy Birthday, Donna!

"R", "D", "S", and I wish you a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! 

From "R"

From "D"

And "S".... well we are trying to keep her out of the cupcakes and soda....

We Love you!!

Enjoy the day!!

Love,

"Hubbie"

Our Birthday Boy!

Happy Happy Birthday to our seven year old son~

We love you, "D", and are so proud of you! You are:

• caring
• thoughtful
• almost always smiling
• tender-hearted
• compassionate
• smart
• loving
• giving

Daddy and I and your sisters are so very thankful that God gave you to us seven years ago! You have brought us so much joy and happiness. We look forward to seeing how God uses you in the coming year!

Love,
Daddy and Mommy

~Happy 7th Birthday!~

HAPPY 15TH ANNIVERSARY!

It's been a wonderful 15 years...you are the perfect man for me! Happy Anniversary, Hubbie! I love being your wife and look forward to at least 100 more years together!

Happy 11th Birthday!

To our oldest daughter, "R"~

Today, December 15th, we celebrate your life! We had a party for you with some of your sweetest and best friends. You had lots of fun making jewelry, eating, talking, laughing, and opening gifts, of course!

You will never know how much joy you have brought to Daddy and I...since the day you were born, I have believed that God has great and wonderful plans for you. Our prayer is that you will follow Him and always do what He tells you to do.

The card we gave you today at your party describes you perfectly~

Caring~

Wonderful~

Thoughtful~

Remarkable~

Beautiful~

Fun~

Warmhearted~

Gifted~

and most of all...

Loved~very, very much!

We love you, Sweet Girl! We are so blessed to have you in our family...

Happy 11th Birthday!

Love,
Daddy and Mommy

~a day at American Girl~

~a day at the church fall festival~

~at Montpelier~

~digging for that perfect Lego piece in NYC~

~dinner out with Daddy~

~October, 2011~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

TO MY

HUBBIE!

I LOVE YOU AND HOPE

YOU HAVE HAD A GREAT DAY!

My First Diaper Cake

In honor of a sweet friend's baby shower, I decided to do something non-traditional. She is having her second son (actually at the hospital right now!) and had saved a lot of things from her firstborn. She did not need a lot of items...and did not register for gifts. I thought and thought about doing a diaper cake but had no idea how to assemble one.

Enter: "Google" and you know the rest of the story...oodles of pictures, videos, and I was all set! So, here's my version of a diaper cake.

Items needed:

tray (I used one that came from some take-out from Famous Dave's)

one box of small plastic hair bands (find them in the girl's section of Target or Wal-Mart)

about 60 diapers (I used some that were left over from "S")

wide ribbon (I bought two spools)

thin ribbon (1/8" or even 1/16" to coordinate with the wide ribbon)

one corsage pin

goodies for the cake

• teddy bear for the top
• pacifiers
• travel-size items (baby powder, baby soap, lotion, etc.)
• small baby bottle
• rattles

~the supplies~

~I started by rolling each diaper~ 

~from the open ends to the fold~

 ~then securing it with a plastic band~

~stand diapers on end on the tray (about 36) and tie with ribbon

around the center of the diapers~

~after you secure the diapers with ribbon and

pin it at the back of the cake,

take out a few and replace it with some

of the travel-size bottles (this picture

shows the bottle in the middle, but I ended up

using that on the top

and putting a bottle of lotion on the bottom layer)~

~the top layer is about 28 diapers, filled in with different items...

I opened the pacifiers and tied them onto the cake with ribbon~

~and the finished product~

~here he is on the table at the shower~ 

I had a lot of fun making this...thank you for stopping by today!

Happy Birthday, Donna Lynn!!

"R", "D", "S", and I would like to wish you a "Happy Birthday"!! 

We hope you enjoyed yourself so far this Birthday week and enjoy the Big Day!

 



And back again, Presenting the "Gallagher Family Trio" and a tribute to Mommy!!

 We Love You!

Love,

"Hubbie," "R," "D," and "S"

St. Patrick's Day~2011

I hope everyone had a nice Saint Patrick's Day! Did you know Saint Patrick was a missionary to Ireland? His story is a very fascinating one if you ever get the chance to read it. You can find his story just by typing "Saint Patrick" in your search engine.  :)

With Irish ancestry in both my family and in Hubbie's family, we usually wear green and have some sort of decorations in the house. Here's a picture of our dessert tonight. Everyone agreed~it was yummy (and it was sugar-free)!

~what's under that lid?~

~a shamrock cake, of course!~

I hope each of you has a wonderful Friday and a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by today!

Valentine's Day and a few other days

Happy Wednesday to you! I cannot believe it has been two weeks since I last blogged! Life is certainly busy enough, but I need to do better at recording my family's memories every day! Here's a quick recap so I don't forget...

On Friday, 2/4, we met my parents at a fun country market and did some shopping, and then went out to dinner together.

Saturday, 2/5, we had several activities at church so we stayed busy. We had our visitation program and basketball league for "R".

On Monday, 2/7, I spent getting our house ready for guests the next day. That evening, I attended my Ladies' Group meeting...and had Mexican food...we all brought something to the meal to share. We had chicken enchiladas and beef enchiladas, spanish rice, a delicious soup, 7 layer dip, and Pioneer Woman's tres leches cake.

Tuesday, 2/8, we were busy with our homeschool Valentine party! What fun we had and there were 32 of us in the house! Some of the kids participated in a valentine exchange and that was a lot of fun for them. There was lots of food. I am a planner, so we had party food--bbq meatballs, two different types of chips and dip, fruit with dip, cupcakes, brownies, fudge cake, cookies, candy, and drinks. Everyone seemed to have a good time! The kids all did really well with their "literary" presentations. Moms and kids alike had lots of good fellowship!

Wednesday, 2/9, my sister-in-law came over for lunch and brought her two little ones with her. We had a good time of talking and the kids played well together. My youngest cut her fingernail about halfway down into her nail, so she and I spent an hour or so at the doctor's office while Hubbie took "R" and "D" to church that night...

Thursday, 2/10, my youngest niece came over for a few hours while her parents ran an errand. What fun to watch my oldest learning how to take care of others...she does well with the little ones!

Then, Friday, 2/11, Hubbie had off and we worked on our bedroom some, went out to eat, and "S" went to Grandma's for the night.

Saturday, 2/12, was another basketball league day...the red and blue teams were tied until the very last seconds of the game...and the blue team came away with the win. The girls (and their parents) were so very excited! Go BLUE!

On Sunday, 2/13, our church celebrated "Sweetheart Sunday" and the messages in the AM and PM service were both on "The Invisible Part of Marriage", based on Psalm 1:1-3. I came away from those messages encouraged and challenged to not listen to the world about how my marriage should be...not to listen to ungodly counsel...it was good! After the PM service, we had a dessert fellowship and all the men were supposed to make the desserts! There were some really yummy things! Hubbie made brownies, then covered them with a layer of cream cheese (mixed with crushed Mint Oreo cookies), then chocolate pudding on top of that, followed by a layer of whipped topping...it was delicious!

Then our Valentine's Day~I'll show you in pictures.  :) I think we would all agree~we had a very lovely day!

~breakfast~

pancakes with valentine sprinkles

sausage cut in the shape of hearts

pink milk

 ~pink milk was a definite "hit"~

 ~for a more grown-up palette~  ;)

 ~Valentine's table~

~a dozen roses from my sweetheart~

 ~enjoying breakfast~

~excited about his meal~

~she loved her pink milk~

~one of the valentine decorations and kid's cards~

 ~new Valentine's apron~

~bag full of my favorite scent from Bath & Body~

japanese cherry blossom  :)

~huge rose from Hubbie~

over three feet tall!

 ~Grandma came over after breakfast,

Hubbie and I went out for some shopping,

talking, and fun together! We ate an early Valentine's dinner

at The Cheesecake Factory~

cajun chicken littles

~orange chicken~

 ~we ended our day with a slice of

Reese's chocolate peanut butter cheesecake~

delicious!

But, most of all, I thoroughly enjoyed spending the day with my sweetheart! I hope you enjoyed your day!



December, 2010

Hello, Blogging Friends! The new year has come...the old year has gone...and it seems like it was quick! I haven't been blogging for a while, but I appreciate your sweet comments when I do post something!

Our Decembers are always busy~but whose isn't?  :)

Here's a quick re-cap of some of our events:

7th~Ladies Bible Study
10th~Hubbie's birthday
11th~"R" had a Sunday School party
12th~Christmas program for our Bus Ministry in the morning service
12th~Christmas Cantata in the evening service
14th~Christmas Caroling with our school group, then a quick overnight trip since Hubbie was taking a class, and a 10th birthday celebration at a delicious BBQ restaurant
15th~"R" turned 10! On our way home, we stopped for some shopping and eating, and after church, we had 1/2 price appetizers at Applebee's~yummy!
16th~snow  :)
18th~Cookie Day at Grandma and Grandpa's house (and we were thankful for all-wheel drive!)
21st~birthday breakfast for Grandpa and Poppy
21st~our 14th anniversary and a trip to The Cheesecake Factory!
24th~Christmas Eve brunch at Grandma and Grandpa's house (with all the kids and grandkids)
24th~Christmas Eve service at church
25th~Christmas Day dinner at Nanny and Poppy's house
26th~"D" turned 6!
26th~combined birthday party for "R" and "D" with some sweet friends; then the kids slept over til after dinner on the 27th
28th~trip to Granny's house
30th~came back home
31st~attended a beautiful wedding at our church, then rang in the New Year with my family by eating at Silver Diner (and saved over $30 with birthday coupons) and driving around looking at Christmas lights

Whew! While we were busy, we made a real effort this year to get all the shopping, wrapping, and baking done early so that we wouldn't be stressed...I think we were onto something! :)

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog...I hope each of you has a very safe, healthy, and blessed 2011!

Christmas Day~2010~

We wish you a Merry Christmas,

We wish you a Merry Christmas,

We wish you a Merry Christmas,

and a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!