Firefighter Mason is turning ONE!

With no time to even breathe, another grand baby is turning one!

Just as I did for Haylee, I took a day off to bake a cake and some cupcakes. With daddy being a firefighter, what other theme could we go with? Here are a few pictures of the cake and cupcakes that I made.....

Mason is not big at eating sweets, so he was not very happy with the thought of eating or even touching the cake. We tried; but it just wasn't happening. That's okay, Mason; Mimi had fun making it for you, anyway!

You had presents galore and let me tell you; if you keep getting things to ride and drive, you will need your own garage. Here you are nice enough to let your cousin, Haylee, do the driving. Let's see if you do that when you get a real vehicle.......

Of course, since you liked Haylee's pink coupe so much, (see below) Mimi had to buy you a fire engine coupe. Your daddy wouldn't have liked it very much if I bought you a "pink" one!

So, little man....... sound the alarm; grab your firedog, Louie and hurry to those fires! You have some big shoes to fill to be like your daddy! Wooooo.....wooooo Mimi loves you!

Our little Haylee is turning One!

It is hard to believe, but, Haylee is one year old! She had a birthday fit for a princess! On Friday, I took a vacation day and worked hard at baking cupcakes, cakes and sewing a tutu for her highchair. On Saturday morning, Aunt Jo Jo and Mason came over to decorate the cupcakes while I decorated the Princess Bear cake. Thanks, Joanne, I couldn't have done it without you! Afterwards, it was off to the Robertson Castle to set up the display of cakes and to decorate the highchair before the guests arrived.

Haylee was so excited to see the cake. She wanted to attack it right away! Hold on Hay Hay, you have to wait a little longer! Mitch and Amy were expecting 60 guests and had prepared a feast fit for a king...... wait...... a princess!

Once all of the people came, Haylee went into her shy self and did not want anything to do with anyone! She does not like to be center of attention.... at least with strangers. Once we started to sing Happy Birthday to her she quickly hid her face. I think that she was probably praying for us all to disappear when she lifted her head back up.




Daddy helped her to start eating her cake. And being the daddy that he is, he let big sister, Rylee, help out. With mostly pink and white icing, wouldn't you know that she would go for the black eyes and nose. What a mess!




Pop Pop was a willing participant. Haylee enjoyed feeding the icing to him and he enjoyed seeing her have fun!

All that work........ and this is what was left of my masterpiece!

But, it was all worth it! And just to make it more exciting for her, Mimi and Pop Pop bought her a little pink coupe; which she loved! Happy Birthday, Baby Girl! Vroom... Vroom...

Night out for Rylee, Mimi, PopPop

Here we come, Elmo.....

Rylee has always loved Elmo. For one of Rylee's birthday presents, I bought tickets to the King Center in Melbourne for the Sesame Street Lives performance of.........

I got off early from work and went and picked both girls up from daycare. Rylee was very excited to tell all of her friends at daycare that we were going to see Elmo. I don't think that she really understood that we were "really" going to see Elmo. We dropped Haylee off with Mitch and picked up Pop Pop from work. Our first stop was dinner at Cracker Barrel. She ate good and spent a little time rocking in the rockers on the front porch. Then, it was off to see Elmo.....

No cameras or camcorders were allowed. Darn it!!! What's the harm in taking a couple of pictures?

When we got inside, we had front row seats. Actually, they were second row, but, no one was sitting in the front row. So, our seats were great! The show had just started and Elmo was onstage with the other Sesame Street characters. Rylee could not believe her eyes, she told me the names of some of the characters as they came onstage. (PopPop and Mimi aren't up on all of that) It was fun to watch her, watch them. Pop Pop pointed out to me that she was doing the hand motions to the Itsy Bitsy Spider as they sang it. She loved it!

I did not know it, but, Elmo is only 3 years old and the performance was about what he wanted to be when he grew up. Maybe he would be a fireman....... (Like Uncle Michael, Oh wait, is that Uncle Michael driving the firetruck?)

At intermission, we did a "potty run" and of course had to hit the Sesame Street souvenir stand. Rylee picked out an Elmo hat that had Elmo's face on the front. The lines were long, so, we rushed back in just as they were about to take the stage again. Pop Pop said that he knew Mimi would come back with something...... Does he know me or what??? I did manage a couple of pictures at home with Rylee and the hat. Don't mind the oreo cookies, but it made it all the better!

After the show was over we stopped to buy her an Elmo mylar balloon. It was actually only the head of Elmo. On the way home, we had the radio off and playing with her. The traffic backed up and Gary and I were talking to one another. Then, we heard her saying something. I looked back to her car seat and she was holding Elmo's face up to her face and saying......

Elmo, look at me.........You are not listening........

Do you want to go to the corner?

Gary and I about died. I guess we know what her mommy and daddy say to her! Watch out Mitch and Amy, once you have kids...... anything you say can come back to bite you!

All in all, it was a terrific night out for us all. And here's to hoping that we are around for many more nights like that! It's great being a Mimi and Pop Pop!

Our "little girl" is turning 2!

Can you believe it?? Our "little girl" is turning 2! It is so hard to imagine that two years have passed since the arrival of our first grandchild. And what is even harder to believe is how smart she has become during those two years!

Today, Rylee had her 2nd birthday party at a bounce house in Clermont. She loved going on all of the slides, eating pizza, popcorn & cake, having fun with her friends and really enjoyed opening all of her presents. At first, I think that she was a little "shy" (being the center of attention) while everyone sung Happy Birthday to her. But, she soon got over that!

It was exciting to see her open up each gift and show just as much excitement whether the present was a toy, shoes or a new dress! It was cute to see her hand the "special" gifts to her Pop Pop for safe keeping! For our present to her; we got her a few outfits and Pop Pop bought her some light up sandals where the heels light up when you stand on them. She calls them her "flashy" shoes.

Also, this week, we are taking her to have a night out with Mimi and Pop Pop. She loves Elmo, so we purchased tickets to see Sesame Street Live in Melbourne, Florida. The show is called "When Elmo Grows Up".

I can't imagine my life without our grandchildren! Here are Mason & Haylee about to turn 8 months old.

We had a great time at the bounce house and even Mimi went down the slide a few times. But, most of all it was fun to see how happy she was. At only 2 years old, she has experienced so many joys. And just think how many more are headed her way? When we asked her how old she was, She would say; "I, Five".

Slow down, my sweet little girl, before you know it, you will be 50 and wondering where the years went???