Happy Birthday to YOU!

**Updated for Winner** R'sRue is the winner**


Well I had another birthday this past week and realized I was a year younger than I thought I was going to be.  Isn't that funny?

  This is the second time I have done this to myself and it's a great feeling to get to live a year younger than I had planned for another  whole year.  :-))

My birthday was quiet; no big celebrations, no hoopla.  I received a few phone calls, several texts, and lots of facebook greetings.

We had a busy week with appointments and we ate out one day and hubby bought my favorite milkshake from Cook Out on the way home.  I bought myself a few birthday gifts from Amazon.  :-))

My birthday was spent at the vet's office with one of my geriatric dogs who has a massive tumor that is growing like crazy.  It has been removed once , but has come back with a vengeance.  The vet felt with the malignant diagnosis and his age, it is best to just keep him comfortable.  Thankfully, he is in no pain, but he did break out in a weird itchy rash a few days ago.  I think we have it under control now.  We discussed euthanasia on my birthday, which we both agreed, my dog isn't ready for just yet.  However, I had a breakdown and cried my way out of the vet's office.  *sigh*

My mom died four days after my birthday in 2015.  I now have this looming sense of sadness around my birthday and not to mention, we lost our precious dog, Tumpy, last year this time.

I've got to snap out of it  and I will.  Life is still good! God is always good!

I won a couple of give aways recently.  One from Sluggy at DON' T  READ THIS blog and one from Belinda at Frugal Workshop.   Coming from a family of non gift givers, it's always fun to get a little surprise for myself.

Since it's so much fun, I have decided to share the fun with you.  I'm hosting a give away of this cute little gingham journal, one of my favorite writing pens, and a couple of blank gift cards for YOU.  I want one of you to have a fun mailbox surprise and hope it makes you smile, too.

Just leave a comment if you are interested in winning, and I'll pick a random winner on July 31st.  Please make sure I can contact you.  (USA only due to high shipping costs) Happy Birthday!

Me and my precious pooch snapped by Chandler

January Birthdays

Happy Birthday to Will and Ashley this month.  (Ash is 28, Will is 30!!)  Oh my, my baby boy is 30 years old!  

I asked them to choose their birthday meal, and this is what we came up with:

Will's plate

Yes, we had a carb feast!  The kids chose chicken casserole, mashed potatoes, and lima beans .  I added broccoli casserole and creamed corn.   Oh, and biscuits... Will had forgotten his biscuit when this pic was taken.

A surprise shot of the boys, while eating at the bar.  Avery will turn his head EVERYTIME, if he knows you are taking a pic. :)

And then there was birthday pie... chocolate pie with the only three candles I had in the house.  This is the original pic of the candles being blown out.  It was too dark, so we did a couple of re-do's:

Re-do #1 with no fire.  Brinley is paying attention; she will have a birthday in a few months!

Re-do # 2:  Can you see Chan's foot in the air?   A little Chandler slobber just made the pie a little bit sweeter!

Happy Birthday to Will and Ashley.  We  are very proud of you both!