March Madness

Another month has come and gone, but so many memories were made in the month of March. Why am I calling it March Madness, then? I assure you, it has nothing to do with basketball. And, near as I can tell, there were no moments of anger, dementia, insanity or lunacy (some folks may want to debate that). However, one of the choices for madness, defined by Webster's dictionary, is wild excitement! That's what we experience almost anytime our grandchildren are involved. Spring break week brought a tidal wave of wild excitement, but I must not get ahead of myself. So . . . . I'll start from the beginning . . . . of the month of March, that is . . . . with our beautiful daughter's birthday! It was March 3rd, and we (Cathy, Emma, Lincoln & I) celebrated by having lunch at Chipotle Grill - Cathy's choice. Our family celebration couldn't take place until the following weekend, but I couldn't let my daughter's birthday go by without doing something special for her. She is beautiful on the inside, as well as on the outside, and her Dad & I are very proud of her and the woman she has become. Believe it or not, Emma took this first picture of her Mama and her Mimi. She may become our family's next great photographer!

We had some really good food and a great time.

Five days later, on Sunday, March 8th (same year, of course), our family celebration took place at our house. The entire menu was Cathy's choice: fried chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn on the cob, and Marie Calendar's Razzleberry pie (with ice cream) for dessert. We had to wait about three hours to have dessert (because we were all so full from dinner - well, at least the adults were), but it was worth the wait! Our grandson, Will, didn't think we would ever have dessert :) Three hours was way too long for him!

So, obviously this is Cathy, our beautiful birthday girl!

And, this is her whole beautiful/handsome family. What a good looking group, eh?

March 15th - my Mama's birthday! She turned 76, and the highlight of her day (I think) was getting an evening phone call from her very first grandchild (our son). She called me the next day to tell me all about it (for those of you who don't know this, she lives about 2,000 miles away from us). Since I wasn't there to spend her birthday with her, I couldn't take a picture. When she comes here for a three week visit in late April, I will be sure to snap several photos of her then.

Now . . . . for the infamous Spring break week! March 23rd - 27th was full of wild excitement! Well, it actually started out with some extra sleep (much needed), a few chores (not so exciting) and some planning for how to make the most of what was left. In the middle of the week, I enjoyed an all day girlfriend day with my best friend. Corinna picked me up at 9 am, and here's how the day progressed: Coffee, talking, an errand here and there, talking, visiting with her great aunt, talking, lunch at our favorite place (Love Love's Teriyaki), talking, visiting with her sister-in-law & my friend, talking, back to my house for tea and more talking. It was a great day and a great time, and it may not have been the wildest time we've ever spent, but it certainly was an exciting time. We loved having the whole day together! And . . . . as I promised back in January, when I didn't take a current picture of my best girlfriend on her birthday, here is a picture of Corinna Jean, actually taken on our very special girlfriend day.

On the next day, I accompanied our kids & grandkids to the Gilbert House. Most of my pictures here did not turn out so great, but they sure had a fun time!

Exploring

Swinging

Smiling :)

On Friday/Saturday (yes, overnight, too!) is when the really wild exciting times began. Papa had Friday off, so it was just the two of us and our three wild sweet grandchildren! There was some backyard play . . . . with an occasional pose for a picture.

The two older ones would stop and pose, but the youngest . . . . well, sometimes, we just had to take what we could get, because when he's outside . . . . posing for pictures is a waste of time!

Inside play took on a different theme this time around, as the characters of the Chronicles of Narnia came to life in our living room. We had to have two kings and a princess, and homemade crowns were just the ticket.

And like any obedient Papa would do, he let his granddaughter dress him up too!

By this time, we must have been too tired to take pictures of the balloon batting/blowing contests, they had on Saturday afternoon. Other special events, on this two day adventure, included baking & eating chocolate chip cookies, lots of coloring, and of course, taking baths! Some day that is likely to change, at least for the boys, but for now they all love their bath times, especially at Papa & Mimi's house. We think they had a fun time, and they went home about bed time Satuday night. Needless to say, Papa & I slept in on Sunday morning and went to the second service (something we rarely do). But you know what? We asked for this - for those two days with an overnighter. It was actually our idea! And that is what's so good about it. While we're in recovery, we're already putting together a plan to request an overnighter with just Will. He wanted to watch Prince Caspian, and we were afraid it would be too scary for Emma and Lincoln. So . . . we're thinking that would be a great way for us to have some special one-on-one time with Will, and of course, we'll make popcorn!

Until next month, I pray for sunshine and warmth and that the Lord our God will shower you all with His most magnificent blessings and that April will be absolutely awesome! I know it will be for me - with my Mama's coming visit! Maranatha!