Gommy's Gang!

Jesse James had a gang, Bonnie and Clyde had a gang, well I decided I needed a gang also, so here they are. My little partners in crime, my grandbabies, Maddie(the ring leader), Cameron(her accomplice) and Sydney(who watches the other two).
We went over to visit my grandson Cameron the other day and I had this idea of getting a photo of me with all the grandkids and using it as my profile photo. Hahahaha...........Not going to happen anytime soon. When we asked Maddie(the oldest grandbaby) to be in the photo, she just looked at us and said"no thanks". hahaha...... So this is our pathetic efforts. This top photo is of me, Maddie and Cameron. Cameron just started to walk and he really wants to follow Maddie everywhere.

The little ones were more willing to pose with Gommy. This is Cameron and Sydney with me.

I don't have any photos of just me and Cameron. Isn't he a cutie?

And one last photo of Cameron. He loves to pose for the camera but I have a feeling that one day soon he'll be saying "no thanks" to me when I ask him if I can take some photos of him too. At least Maddie is very polite when she tells you no.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I think we are going to our favorite restaurant (where I always get the wood grilled salmon)tonight and it just so happens there's a Barnes and Noble(is there a photoshop for dummies book because I need it for our next photo challenge) right next to it with a Starbucks in the store and to top it off we have gift cards to use for the restaurant. Yea! Tomorrow night we are going to celebrate my sweet son-in-law's birthday at our home and grill out. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. Okay that was alot to say in one paragraph. LOL Have a wonderful last weekend in February!

A few Goodies and Awards!

I am so behind in acknowledging a few gifts and awards. So please forgive me for not posting these sooner but sometimes life just gets so dang gone busy......... First off I have to show you these two necklaces that I got from Leslie from Glitter and Bliss. I had seen the ones she did for Jules at The Roost and knew just what I wanted to order when I seen her work. These photos really do not do these beauties justice, they are so much prettier in person. One of the necklaces says "Gommy" with a leopard background. I love leopard print anything and "Gommy" is what my grandbabies call me. And the other necklace is a photo of all three of my grandbabies in the crystal. I keep this one hanging in my car and look at it when I drive all around Cincinnati. I love them both Leslie and go here to check out her blog and necklaces!

And look at what I received in the mail from my good buddy Donna from Cottage Days and Journeys. She made these cute kleenex holders and she designed this gorgeous card. I have the blue and pretty flower one in my purse Donna and I have to tell you it's so much nicer to have this pretty holder than to have kleenex thrown all around in my purse. Thank you so much. This was part of her pay it forward post and I love them!

And I am behind in posting awards that you guys have been so kind in giving me. I received this one from Kat at Just a Beach Kat last week. Thanks so much Kat! I like the name of this award, the honest scrap award!

And I received these three wonderful awards from Wibeche at Beautiful Days a little while ago. I love these three awards especially the "faithful servant award" Thank you so much Wibeche and I hope you are feeling better. I've not been feeling all that great myself the past few days, can't really put my finger on it but I am praying it goes away soon. So if I seem out of sorts it's just because I am not feeling like my ready to go peppy self this week. Thanks for the wonderful awards and I am passing them on to all of my blogging friends! Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Some Java Love.............

Can you be in love with a machine? Because I think I am in love with this little guy! And my sweetie loves him too. LOL I picked this up for Valentine's Day as a gift for the both of us. We usually don't do the whole Valentine's Day thing but I had used this coffeemaker when I went to visit my friend Sherra a few weeks ago and just loved it. We have been using it now for a little over a week and it is wonderful and so easy. Just turn it on and pop a little coffee pod in it and you have a cup of java in less then a minute. And it makes the most wonderful lattes and cappuccinos. It's great for us because my sweetie gets up early for work everyday and he can easily make a big cup to go and I can make one when I get up. On the weekends I use our big coffeemaker. I got ours at Bed, Bath and Beyond but I have also seen them at Target and the best part is if you love lattes and cappuccinos like I do you will save some money in the long run by not going to Starbucks as much. :-)

Cappuccinos, yum..........this comes with it's own milk pod..........so easy..........

Lattes..............my favorite.................this also has a milk pod...........

I have not tried the hot chocolate one yet but will keep a few on hand for the grandbabies. It even makes tea if you are a tea drinker.

Yea, I think I am in love.............LOL You can go here and learn all about the Tassimo hot beverage maker. I bought the Tassimo one but there are others out there. Happy Monday and happy coffee drinking!

Brenda's Photo Challenge ~ Signs of Spring~

The theme for Brenda's Photo Challenge today is "Signs of Spring." Oh how I wish there were "Signs of Spring" here in Ohio right now but the forecast is calling for some more snow this weekend. I have seen some signs of the Robins getting ready to nest but no signs yet of any new growth on the ground so I am pulling some old photos out of my files for this one. Joy from Shuttershy is our hostess today. Thanks Joy and go to Brenda's Photo Challenge to see who's playing this week!

This first photo is of the clock that sits right outside of Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati. I love how they put all the flowers around it in the Spring.

This is my pretty little Magnolia tree that used to be in my backyard and flowered every Spring. We had to take it down this past Fall when we started the work in our backyard. We are going to start working on that project again as soon as Spring gets here so I'll be posting about that in the coming months.

This just reminds me of what we have to look forward to this Spring. I love all the trees when they have these beautiful flowers on them. Don't they make you smile just looking at them? I can't wait!

This photo is one I took when we were in Florida last month. I am using it as my banner because it reminds me of Spring.

This photo reminds me of Spring because every Spring these crazy ducks return to our swimming pool and think it is their personal home. They drive us crazy because they leave such a mess and then they bring back their babies who we have to rescue from the pool because they can't get out. I really hope they don't return this Spring. LOL I think I took this through a window.

And the number one sign of Spring...........................wearing my sandals/flip flops again. I was just trying these guys on at TJ Maxx, these particular ones didn't feel so great on the feet. My flip/flops will be on my feet as soon as the temps hit 60 degrees. I love my flip/flops..........LOL Thanks Joy, this made me think of Spring and how much I am looking forward to it. Hope everyone is having a great weekend and I can't wait to see all of your Spring photos!

Why Worry

I am by nature a worrier, it is the one thing I constantly have to work on. I have a little devotional that I read everyday and yesterday's topic was "why worry". Here's part of what it said "Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not!"(Matt. 6:27) It alters nothing. Worry changes nothing. You don't add one day to your life or one bit of life to your day by worrying. Your anxiety earns you heartburn(which I know alot about :-), nothing more......

First I came across this painting and verse which if you cannot see it, it says, "I will lie down and sleep in peace because You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety". Psalm 4:8 I love this, both the painting and the verse..........

And then I came across something that Max Lucado wrote in the back of one of his books which he wrote about himself but I think we could each put our own names in this. I hope you don't mind me using this Max. :-) This is what he said but I am putting my own blessings in place of his.

Joan has a blessed calling:
Mike calls her sweetie.
Melissa, Jimmy, Christina and Jamiel(my son in law) call her Mom.
Maddie, Cameron and Sydney call her Gommy(grandma).
And God calls her His.
Not bad, huh?

I will remember this when I start to worry again.....................

Weekend Fun!

This weekend we celebrated my Dad's 84th birthday. All of his kids and most of his grandkids and great grandkids were there. The best gift we could have gave him was just everyone getting together, he had the best time. We had pulled pork barbecue, coleslaw and deviled eggs and let's not forget the cake that Maddie and my niece Allison made for the party. It was a fun family time and here's a few photos.

Here's the birthday boy opening up a card with my brother in law Bill sitting next to him.

This is Collin, my great nephew. He has a twin sister named Casey but Collin is a little monkey, he has a gold medal in speed crawling. LOL

Here's another photo of my Dad just enjoying himself.

My little granddaughter Sas (aka Sydney)and the youngest great grandchild until my niece has another baby in April and then my Dad will have seven great grand babies!

Maddie and Sas(aka Sydney) before the party started. Maddie was very excited about having a party.

Right before we started singing Happy Birthday! We all are blessed with a great Dad, Grandfather and Great Grandfather! Hope you had a wonderful day Dad!

I had to add this last photo because while everyone was over my house for the party my niece Allison helped me with this photo. I know how to do one thing in photoshop and that is to make one item colored and the rest black and white. I took this photo last week of my grandson Cameron and noticed how gorgeous his blue eyes were but didn't know how to do two items colored and the rest black and white in photoshop. Thanks to my sweet niece Allison for fixing this for me. I have not done anything to make his eyes more blue(wouldn't even know where to start), these are his natural Paul Newman to die for eyes. Click on the photo to see it better. So do you think he might be a little heartbreaker someday? LOL That's it for me today, hope everyone is doing well. Happy Tuesday!

Happy Valentine's Day (a day early)!

Happy Valentine's Day from my little sweethearts! That's Cameron on the left, then Maddie and then little Sydney. All three are my precious little love grandbabies! We went over to visit my son and Cameron the other day. They live on the other side of town here in Cincy so I don't get to see Cameron as much as I do the girls because the girls only live a few miles away. But it's so much fun when all three of the grandbabies get together. Maddie is the oldest and has become very protective of the two younger ones, she loves her sister and cousin and was very sad when we had to go home. She kept crying Camron(she drops the er from his name when she says it). And she calls my son Uncle Dimmy instead of Jimmy, it's so cute. So here's a few photos of all three of them together.

Cameron sees his chance for a graham cracker and goes in to get it.

Maddie is looking at Sas(Sydney) like don't you see this coming? Sas has eyes only for the graham cracker.

Cameron says "I got it!" and little Sas just is happy licking her fingers(that really is the way she rolls, so easy going and sweet).

Maddie thinks the whole thing was funny and I think Sas(Sydney) just realized that her cookie is gone. I love these three little guys and they keep me constantly entertained. They are the best Valentines ever!

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day. I am posting early because we have a busy weekend. We are having a little party at our house for my Dad's 84th birthday tomorrow. We never forget his birthday because it falls on Valentines Day. All his kids and most of his grandchildren and great grandchildren will be there so I know he is looking forward to it. Happy Birthday Dad!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I am hopelessly behind in visiting everyone. It's just been one of those busy weeks but I hope to catch up with all of you within the next week. Oh and if any of my bloggy friends belong to Facebook, let me know or email me @ joansjourneys@yahoo.com because I would love to add you to my list of friends. Like I need something else to be addicted too. LOL Happy Valentines Day!

I'm Back!!

I'm back from my girls weekend in Hilton Head. I had a great time with my friend Sherra this weekend. We went to see a fun movie(He's Just not that into You), went shopping, to art galleries and the beach. She would not let me take any photos of her but you can go here and see a photo of the both of us when we went on an Alaska cruise. LOL So here's just a few of my photos. I have lots to do today, grocery shop, some work and an appointment so I'll be around as soon as I can to visit and see everyone's Brenda's Photo Challenge photos! Hope everyone is doing well.

Don't you just love the Spanish moss and beautiful homes in the South?

Couldn't you just sit here with a book all day?

My toes wanted to stay here forever......................

This cute little guy was chasing birds all over the beach.

I will post more photos of this church later on because it is so pretty and sits right on the water.

A short and quick post for me but I'll be around as soon as I catch up with everything! Happy Tuesday!

P.S. Happy Birthday to my sister Gail! Yea, I have alot of sisters and yes they all seem to have birthdays this month! :-) Hope you have a great day Gail!