My Son Michael-- 31 Years..

Those of you who know Mike personally know that his birthday is not today. I don't always get to things on my blog right away. And, I am not going to give identity thieves information that might aid in their cowardly and dastardly deeds. :-)

Mike is my firstborn son who recently turned thirty-one years old. He is three in the picture below.

I believe he specially liked that shirt. (But maybe it was I who especially liked it.)

Mike's favorite color when he was about that age was orange. Yes, orange. He was a lively guy.

Never stopped moving from the moment he was conceived, I am sure. Before birth it was constant movement. Same thing after birth.

Mike lifted his head and looked forward while still in the hospital. I am not kidding. The nurses were flabbergasted. They had never seen that before. Two nurses were walking down the hall wanting to check something from the window. They stopped at our room and said, "Oh, this is Michael's room. We can look out his window." I guess he was already making friends in the nursery. Yes, that's Mike. Now he knows people everywhere. In Europe he would run into people he knew. It was incredible. The man has probably more friends than anyone else I know.

As a toddler Mike never stopped moving. Never. Not for a second.

I suppose that explains the energy he now has for dancing, oh, maybe four or five hours without a break at weddings?

So here he is at thirty-one with his lovely fiance Esther.

The photo below is minutes after they met for the very first time. Good move, Mike, asking Esther to dance. Very good move.

I think Esther has the energy and stamina to keep up with Mike. And that's a good thing. She has many other good qualities as well, which I will probably go into another time.

So Mike is thirty-one years old. It doesn't quite seem like yesterday that he was born, but it sure doesn't feel like thirty-one years.

My life was forever changed on that day and all for the better. (Motherhood is my favorite writing topic.)

Mike, may God bless you today and all the days of your life. May all your prayers be answered, and may you be rewarded for all the joy and love you have brought to our family these thirty-one years.

My Son Is Getting Married!!!

My oldest son is engaged to a lovely woman named Esther. Yes, Esther. How cool a name is that?

So my daughters and I put on a shower for Esther.

Anne and Esther with the food all ready to be eaten. The flourless chocolate cake in front of them is Esther's favorite and Anne's work of art.

The buffet table. I know my mother was surely pleased that we were using her punch bowl! (OK, I know, I'm hopelessly sentimental.

Esther's mom, Esther, and me. 

It was delightful to be able to have Esther's mother join us, all the way from Alabama!

Daughter Mary, Esther, and daughters Anne and Liz

So pleased to have my favorite niece Monique and Jim's girlfriend Elle also join us. They were also an enormous help.

The mothers with the daughters!!

It was a lovely day. Here are my two dear friends Ann and Sally together with Elle and Monique.

I loved that there were four of my friends attending, together with their daughter-in-laws!

Esther with her mom (and empty boxes from the already opened gifts. :-)

Mary gathered all the bows together to serve as the bouquet at the rehearsal.

Esther and Patti share a light hearted moment.

Here are Esther and Mary with the bow bouquet.

My daughters worked so hard on this shower. May I brag about them? They were amazing. They were leading. I was doing what they were telling me. It was so delightful to see them in charge of a lovely event. (And I kind of liked not being the one in charge. I really did.)

When You Have Procrastinated Getting Your Hair Cut Forever

So....I tend to procrastinate when it comes to getting my hair cut. Maybe it's because I'm cheap. Maybe I'm distracted. Maybe my attention is just usually focused on other things. Maybe I'm lazy. Whatever.

Several months ago I realized it was high time for a haircut. But I measured my tresses and realized they were almost long enough to donate to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to disadvantaged children under age 21, suffering from long term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. You need to be able to put your hair in ten inch ponytail/s to donate.

Well, since I was almost there I decided to grow it a little longer. After all, at my age, very soon no one is going to want my hair. And why not let something good come from my lack of diligence, whatever the cause, in tending to my hair.

Here I was the morning of my appointment.

Definitely had the ten inch minimum.

And here I am after a sweet haircut from Anastasia Sendo at You Only Better Salon in Ypsilanti.

It's not too as short I thought it would need to be. And some dear child gets to use my hair. Win-win.

Independence Day!

 I would like to be able to claim that I have instilled in my daughters a profound awareness of the privilege of being an American.  I'm hoping that they are proud to be citizens of the greatest country in the world and that they thank God every day for the freedom that is theirs.

 But it may just be that they have a flair for the dramatic. :-)

Not sure. But, without question, they were certainly displaying some national pride this Fourth of July.  And I would be less than honest if I didn't acknowledge that I'm very proud of them and that I got quite a kick out of their fashion choices in celebration of this year's Independence Day.

In the evening there were the necessary sparklers and mild fireworks. (Mild, at our house. The rest of the neighborhood sounded like a war zone.)

Elle (Jim's girlfriend) giving some serious instructions about the sparklers while Mary poses for the picture. :-)

God bless America, land that I love...