The cutest puppies in the world

I entered my puppies in a photo contest today!!  At the time of entry there were already over 11,000 entries HOWEVER I do believe, in my honest and never so humble opinion, that there were NO puppies cuter than my precious girls.

I mean, I don't want to come across as a big fat bragger saying nanny-nanny boo-boo or anything, but just deal with it. You're strong. You can handle the truth. 

Can't you?

CLEARLY  these are the cutest puppies in the world.

Just ask me, I'll tell you.

Here is their official photo contest entry.

Here are my girls among the masses of entries...wow, I realized today that I can't draw a straight arrow. But that's a subject for another day & another blog.

Yes, I'm confident that my little sweethearts ARE the cutest puppies in the world.

Just ask me, I'll tell you.

Snow blower try outs - Meet HELGA

What an eventful weekend!  My Johnny decided to get to know "HELGA" (this is what he named his new boy snowblower.....don't ask me, I just report the news....)

I don't think he realizes the boy part is pointed right at his face. But I love this man so much I don't have the heart to tell him. He just keeps smiling because he's a proud papa. Daddy proud of his Helga.

HI! I'm John and did you know that I have a new snow blower?

Well...the whole court will know very shortly!!

Let me just try her out on this big pile of snow....Holy Cow! I can shoot snow/ice violently...(that's the word he used) violently up to the 2nd story of our townhouse! Pretty darn cool....(He was still smiling)



Lets see if I can shoot snow all over the neighbors driveway & cars. CHECK!  (smiling)



.....And then all over OUR driveway. CHECK!  (look at that grin)



.....now to cover our driveway, the neighbors driveway and on the plowed street.  CHECK!

(I'm thinking "oh boy, our neighbors are going to love us...."  P.S. Can you see Johnny is still smiling as he's chasing his run-away Helga?)

"Control your woman, Johnny!"



Now to plow through this waist high mountain to make a sidewalk. Why? BECAUSE I CAN!!  {{evil laugh}} Oh....and to cover the street with even more snow..... CHECK!  (not smiling as much now)



....oops....shooting ice chunks & snow at all of the cars across the street. That can't be good. CHECK!  (Not smiling at all right now).

(By the way....OUR two cars are parked across the street - He hasn't quite learned how to control Helga's boy part yet. And can he hear me screaming? Nope. Can the neighbors hear me? Most likely.)



"A-hem....I'm quite the laidies man in the neighborhood now.....must be my big, shiny, manly, new snow blower....."



Puuuuuuuuush! Almost through. Still shooting ice chunks at the cars across the street. CHECK!

(At this point our next door neighbor is getting kind of worried about his new Rav4 that Johnny is pushing towards.)



Ta-Daaa!!! All the way through. I'm a freaking hero!! I'm a snow blower god! Honey, bring me a beer! I need to scratch and grunt out here for awhile!

Ok, maybe not a beer. How about a hot cocoa? With marshmallows?

(Right after this photo was snapped our neighbor came out and moved his new Rav4 to the other side of the court. And Johnny? Still smiling! And all that snow? Out in the plowed street. Yes, our neighbors are going to love us.)

My Johnny is so happy with Helga. I don't know the last time he's giggled so much! What? Tough Navy men giggle! Yes, they do  :o)

Poor guy has no idea that me and all of our neighbors are praying that there won't be any snow for 2 years. And if we do get snow, I can assure you that all of our cars will be parked in the next neighborhood over - and Johnny won't even notice. He'll be smiling....because he's a proud Papa.



For some reason the link (above) to this video keeps breaking ~ but here's a direct link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcUjDdFmXLU

All I know for certain is: "I will never, ever, ever, EVER in my lifetime have to shovel snow again, even if it means that I have to move my car to another neighborhood." <------ and you can quote me on that. There, I did it for you. 

~Amen.



P.S. Is there anything cuter than a little Chihuahua? Oh my dear God, my heart is going pitter-patter. I just want to have 30 more.....But not all at once, like Johnny wants to do.



All I want to do is have this mans puppies. But we'll have to space them out for the next 45 years.



He's such a great daddy. This was after supper last night and I don't know who looks more full, daddy or puppy. Peanuts eyes are glazed over from her chicken supper and Johnny is about to go flat and enjoy his wine. This is my favorite time of the evening.

What was for supper? Lemon pepper talapia, Italian cole slaw (italian dressing instead of a mayo dressing), and roasted itty bitty baby potatoes & brussel sprouts.
I wasn't going to include the photo but Johnny said to. He loves food. I mean really loves food. I just don't get it {wink}. Good night friends & family. Lots of love.

It's Monday morning & I'm off to book club! I can't believe it's been a month already, yikes. We'll be having lunch at the Blue Iguana in Fairfax. Mmmm..... Oh, yeah, and discussing "Sarah's Key."

But before I head out, I wanted to post this beautiful picture of my mother. It was taken on Valentine's Day before my parents went out to dinner. She looks so pretty! Mom had just had cataract surgery the week prior and she's doing great!  I am excited that we'll be able to go jewelry shopping soon :o)  My trip to TX is coming up soon!!

Lookin' good Mama!

Spring Break plans

Guess who I'm going to visit in Texas over Spring Break?

And guess who has me wrapped around their little fingers?

I.....can't.....wait....to....see.....my.....girls!!

Pinkadilly Tea House, Fredericksburg, VA

Yesterday was my Navy Wives monthly field trip. Every February we do a "High Tea" and this year Pam planned for us to drive to Virginias #1 tea house "PINKADILLY" in the historic district of Fredericksburg, Virginia, about 45 miles South.


All of the ladies met at my house to carpool. We usually go to tea locally, in the D.C. area, but this was a special treat. We've been so cooped up lately it was great to bust out of town.


The tea house was so cute ~ "darling," actually.


There's my Mama Kay arriving in style, as usual  :o)


Lynn was saving us a large table, we were going to need it!


Is this place not so stinkin cute? No wonder it's voted Virginia's #1 tea house. I can't wait for my niece Madison to visit me, we are definitely coming back here. She and I love to go to tea together ~ She's 6 & I'm training her well.  :o) 

That reminds me to post some pictures of the tea that Madison, Shelby and I went to at the Four Seasons hotel this past summer.....I'll have to get on that. I carry that experience with my girls very close to my heart.


There was a room full of hats, gloves and scarves to wear. It really got us in the  mood. This pic of me is, unfortunately, a bit blurry. But that's OK...it somehow makes me look better in the hat. (I NEVER, EVER, EVER wear hats). So get a good look now because you won't see this again for, well.....NEVER.


Mama Kay wanted to try it on, it matched her sweater. She looks so pretty!


Don't I look like The Cat in the Hat? "I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them Sam I am!" I started to think we were in an old black and white movie or in an old time saloon. We had so much fun playing dress up!


Mama Kay.


It took awhile, but eventually everyone found a hat to match their personality. Pam looking mighty fine!


I think a black hat with lots of pink feathers is TOTALLY me, don't you think? Pam needs to switch back to the blue one. It was screaming her name.


It was a dreamy trip to the past. Out of nowhere I saw Scarlett O'Hara, and she was in quite a tizzy ~ "Oh, Rhett! Please, don't go! You can't leave me! Please! I'll never forgive you!"  ....Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.


I was instantly transported to the set of Moulin Rouge. I felt like a middle aged, fatter "bigger boned" version of Satine ~ "I don't need you anymore! All my life you made believe I was only worth what someone would pay for me! But Christian loves me. He loves me! He loves me, Harold. And that is worth everything! We're going away from you, away from the Duke, away from the Moulin Rouge!"

Nothing like 3 plates of food to remind me that I'm not a smoldering temptress in a Hollywood movie. Loosen the corset, ladies, and dig in! You didn't think I'd get through this blog without showing you some deliciousness, did you?


Bread pudding, truffles, cakes....the dessert with the cherry on top ~ it is filled in a little cup made out of chocolate. So cute.

I would like to go on record and tell you that this entire upper tier of "sweets" I boxed up and took home to my sweetheart. Sweets for my sweetheart....awww....


But not this. I ate every crumb of it and I licked the bowl of my tomato bisque soup. I've always been dainty like that.


And not this either. I ate every last crumb also. Sorry, Johnny. I love you. But not this much. Please don't ever make me choose between you and goat cheese puffs. Or bruchetta. Or tiny cucumber cream cheese sandwiches. It would be a very painful experience for both of us.


We sassy saloon girls are nothing but trouble! "Candy is dandy, but liquer is quicker!" I don't know why I say these things sometimes.


Pam was wearing Jack's hand made icicle earrings! She looked so cute :o)


The Burke/Springfield Navy Wives Club ~ well, about 1/3 of us.


After our tea, we did what we do best ~ SHOPPING!!


The tea house had quite an impressive private collection of tea pots & accessories. It put my little collection to shame, big time.


The store sold such cute girly-girl things. I wanted to take one of everything home.


But I didn't. I used extreme will power. The fact that we just bought a 3 million dollar snow blower was still in the back of my mind. Thanks, Johnny. Because of you we won't have one of those pretty lantern thingys in our kitchen  {{sniffle}}  Please don't start dancing.

But I did find one small thing to add to our kitchen. It pegged my cute meter.


These are the sweetest little measuring spoons EVER!  Here's the front of them.


They are the same ones that Paula Dean uses in her kitchen. Here's the back of them.


And now they'll hang in my kitchen, too!  I'm throwing away my ugly plastic ones right now. So there. Amen.

                                            PINKADILLY TEA HOUSE

It was another fun day out on the town with some of my girlfriends & I'd say a perfect place to come have tea any time of the year. I can't wait to come back with Miss Madison  XOXOXO 

Of course I had to make a scrap book picture for my album ~

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On a different note, Josh has lost 5 pounds!! Yay! So he's that much closer to getting his Marine Corps waiver.

Also, we made over $2,000 on the Chinese New Year auction! Way to go, girls! Every bit helps when we go to award scholarships this coming May.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I'll see you next week ~ on Monday I have Book Club, has it been a month already?! I'm going to relax and at least go see a movie with my hunny and hopefully hit the gym with Josh.

Johnny is still praying for snow, haha, but I don't think God thinks that's in our best interest right now....or for the next 2 years. I even stopped the snow on our blog just to tease him, haha!