I love a baby story!

My favorite Seth Meyer and his wife had a baby on Sunday.  Here is the well told, funny baby story!

The happiest days are when babies are born!


Encourage one another,
Donna

We already love ourselves plenty.

Hi Friends,

I hope you had a lovely Easter! 

Katie is slowly recovering from the flu.  She missed all four days of school last week. ( I fortunately missed out on the flu and just got a terrible cough.)

While Katie did not have the throwing up kind of flu...she at this point feels well, but can not eat without feeling nauseous.  She has always had a sensitive tummy and she feel ill even eating her Easter candy.  That is the real test of illness right there!

She is shocked by how big her pants are on her...

I guess five days of no food will do that to an already tiny girl.

Fortunately we have spring break to get her tummy acclimated to eating again.

****

Janice and Janet turned 50 yesterday!  They had lots of parties and lots of fun celebrating this great achievement!  Turning 50!  I remember when they were excited to be a decade!

I have always loved this picture of them.

Cute. Cute.

*****

When Katie was sick I bought her a bunny to cuddle.

It worked.

Yesterday after church....proudly wearing her 'I worshiped' sticker.

Did you know worshiped can be spelled with one or two 'p's?

We learned that yesterday because Katie did not think it looked right with one.

worshipped....more British I guess.

Over the weekend Katie and I heard Oprah and Joel Osteen telling a story about a woman who looked at herself in the mirror every morning and told herself that she was beautiful...and they both thought that was the coolest thing to do.

And I thought it was shallow and narcissistic.

IMHO

haha

And I said to Katie...

well...let's just say I went on and on in a typical Donna-Mom fashion.

I said.

You should look in the mirror and say,

You are loved.

And.

You were created to go out there and love others.

And then, of course, I said....God doesn't care how beautiful you are!

To which Katie said,

That should be your thing mom.  You should tell people that...and I think she meant...it should be my Ted talk.  hahaha

And I said.

Yeah.

So.  Don't forget it.

You are loved.

You were created to go out there and love others.

Encourage one another,

Donna

p.s.  We did not watch any more of the joel and oprah show.

p.p.s.  My blog title is a thought from Elisabeth Elliot....she thought we loved ourselves plenty...as evidenced by how much we put ourselves first, feed ourselves, thought about ourselves...

I think she was right.

Chick Peas are all the rage.

Every where you go you can find chick peas, garbanzo beans, hummus....falafel.
It's all the same thing and it's big foodie news.  Right up there with ...icky kale.

But I have a recipe from about 1990.
You know.  Last century.

When we lived in Marinette, when the children were young, my next door neighbor for the first few years was a young mom named Ann.  Ann went to kindergarten with Patrick.  She and Tom had children about the same age as ours.  In fact Erin and Emma are only two weeks apart.

For a while there, Ann and I would get together for lunch.  We would make recipes we found in magazines and in the newspaper.

Ann made this Greek Chick Pea salad and wrote out the card for me.  I loved it right away.

Greek Chick Pea Salad

 2 cans chick peas- rinse and drain

2 med. tomatoes, cored, chopped

1/2 cup red pepper

(green pepper too...but I hate it)

4 scallions - trimmed and chopped

1/4 cup Greek olives- halved

1/4 C. chopped parsley

1 T. chopped fresh oregano

1/2 c. olive oil

3 T. balsamic vinegar

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Good and good for you.

Encourage one another,

Donna

p.s.  I told Emma that chick peas make 'one' gassy.

She said, they make everyone gassy.

Dancing with the Stars stunner.

Okay.
Now that you have watched that....

The male dancer is Nyle DiMarco.  He is profoundly deaf.
He does not hear at all.

It makes me think about where dance comes from?
Many people who hear can not feel or move to the music.

So where does it come from?

Nyle says he just follows Peta.  Well.
Well done, Nyle!!


*****






I really loved meeting and watching Superbowl MVP Von Miller and Whitney dance.

AS usual I thought I was going to hate the 'stars'....but I like many of them.

Len (the judge) was mean to Mischa Barton from the OC TV show.  She almost cried.
It's the first week...give them a break Len!


*****

Hearing about the news from Brussels in the background as I type...
it's so crazy,
this world.

Mad world.


Be careful out there friends.
I am grateful that where I live, it is safe
 and
I am grieve the loss of security and life in so many places
on this planet.

God bless them all.

 Encourage one another,
Donna

Happy St. Patty's Day

I'm not sure how much Irish there is in our children.  I guess I should ask someone.  My husband isn't the best on family history.  

But we have red hair on both sides and my mom's red hair came from Denmark.... Probably Eric the Red or something.  :o)

And methinks....there is a bit of the green going on with the Booshay clan.

And even if it's not much....

our lass 

Katie Grace O'Boucher would fit in no doubt.

A wee bit of Irish,

I suspect.

Beautiful quotes from Irish writers. buzzfeed

I think you will enjoy that link above.

Encourage one another,

Donna

Volleyball jones.

So sleepy.
Is anyone else sleepy?

Katie had a big volleyball tournament on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Getting up and going was not too bad.  But by the end of the day on Sunday I was fading fast.

I went to bed at 8:30...
which was really....
7:30.


And yet, still sleepy.


Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Exhausted from playing.

Exhausted from cheering.

Katie has been playing back row and right side hitter.  Hitters are Middles are usually the tallest girls.

Her team is only seven players so the girls do it all...it's a little like beach volleyball.  

She loves to play.

Look who came to Milwaukee to watch her little sister play volleyball.

It was so nice.  

xoxo

This neat place is in Milwaukee.  Inside are many different places to eat.  It's like a food court but it hip.

Katie hurt her thumb.  We went to the doctor's this morning and it is not broken.

We are very happy about that.

I hope you are all doing well.

Anything new happening in your lives?

Encourage one another,

Donna

You make me feel so young.

Good morning,

I've been working at a local elementary school for the past few mornings.
Yesterday as I was helping in a kindergarten art class, I asked the children how old they were.
They were very happy to tell me.

I said, you were all so nice not to ask how old I am.

Which meant of course they asked.

I said, I'm not telling.

One little girl said,  "Are you in the hundreds?"

Which is the funniest thing I've ever heard.

Happy Friday all you spring chickens!

Donna

Who would you like to have dinner with?

XOXO
Donna

Farewell Downton Abbey

I truly feel the finale was a masterpiece.
Mr. Fellows didn't shy away from the happy ending.
He gave us the very happiest ending of all...
the singing of Auld Lang Syne...with kissing....and a quip from Violet.

But that was not her best quip of the night.  There were a few others that were wonderful.

Violet and Mrs. Crawley barging into the home of Lord Merton...to rescue him!
I loved it so much.


Amelia: "Mrs. Crawley wants to take you away from your son and your
family and kidnap you into marriage.  What do you say?"

Lord Merton: "How perfectly marvelous."


***

Rosamund: What do you think makes the English the way we are?
Violet: I don't know. Opinions differ. Some say our history, but I blame the weather.

****

My other favorite line of the night was when Cora says something like,
"Edith is going to be happy."  Can any of you remember it?  It was so sweet.


****

Please feel free to post them. I'd love to re-read them and I didn't find much online this morning.

Happy, happy all around.  Just like I wanted it.  The good parts version.
Why not?

And was it ever beautiful?!?

I liked Edith's blue dress and Violet's blue dress coat.
Everything was spectacular.
Love stories for everyone, except Thomas, but he got respect and friendship and a place.

I hung on every word and I honestly felt it was so cleverly and perfectly written.

Name dropping included.
Charlie and Elsie  :o)

Oh I just love them all.
I love everybody.

:o)


I just read this and thought I would share it;


Q.  What was the last scene that you filmed for the finale?

 A. It was Edith and Bertie’s reconciliation dinner at the Ritz. We had to shoot from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. when the dining room was closed. It was the crew’s final scene too, and a lot of them played waiters and diners which made the whole thing like a very glamorous, joyous party. It was quite emotional. Julian came, and at about 3 a.m. we went outside to do an exterior shot. They shut down Piccadilly for us so that we could put in period cars and taxis. Julian looked around and said, “There really are worse jobs in the world.”

Then Michelle and some of the other actors came to the Ritz at 4 a.m. so that we could all be together, and we had a Champagne toast. Our final cast party was at the Ivy restaurant and John Lunn, who composed the "Downton" music,  sat down and played it on the piano. Everyone fell silent. It was the music of our story, and of their lives for six years. It was the most stirring, moving moment.

~Director, Michael Engler

How interesting.

I want to hear from you most of all.

Tell me what you loved? and share you favorite moments and quotes!!

Thank you for watching along and enjoying Downton with me.  

It's been so much fun.

Donna Elsie :o)

Some good songs.

I like all sorts of music.
Here are some favorites for a Friday afternoon!




No male voice has ever or will ever sound better to me than Frank's.



Happy Weekending,
Donna

These two months.

Two months.  These two months.
These horrific two months.

With our parents.  It's one day. One year to remember.
But with Sue, it's these two months.

There is so much to remember, so much to mourn.
But there was love and levity and togetherness also.

The love was so big.
The tumor so terrible.

I remember them equally.

Devastation.
Love.

I don't sob nearly as often but
I still think about her every single day.

And especially these two months when we all walked Susie 'home'.

I was looking at my blog from March 2010 this  morning because it came up on my memories on Facebook.  Today is the day I shared just a little bit about what was happening in Sue's life...our lives.

Sue had commented the previous day on the blog...and said she had a brain defect.
She concluded,

Love you.
Mean it.


The following picture and quote are from that time.  (And from my blog posts)
Those first days of March when I went to Missouri to love my sister.

""Don't you think it's rather nice to think that we're in a book that God's writing? If I were writing a book, I might make mistakes. But God knows how to make the story end just right--in the way that's best for us." 
"Do you really believe that, Mother?" Peter asked quietly. 
"Yes," she said, "I do believe it--almost always--except when I'm so sad that I can't believe anything. But even when I don't believe it, I know it's true--and I try to believe it.'" 
— Edith Nesbit


Still trying to believe it,
Donna Elsie

March

March is here...
Our winter has been mild and I'm not going to complain about that!
This morning we got a few inches of snow. No biggie really.
Because it is March!
The days are longer.
The snow will melt.

I feel like we have dogged a bullet.
Free pass.

Four months of winter are in the past....
Spring is on the way!

John Updike is my fave.

Encourage one another,

Donna Elsie

I met a little girl at school named Elsie.  

It made me happy.