Wednesday, May 30, 2007


Thank you Mimi & Papa!


Zane and I enjoyed breakfast yesterday morning on our new picnic table gifted to us from Mimi & Papa. It is so nice! We will eventually put a finish on it.


Make Levees, Baby!
Not War.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

How sweet it is to be loved...

This last weekend was such a wonderful one. Not only was it my birthday weekend but I got to spend it with so much family and we had such a good and relaxing time! I feel completely spoiled, lucky and well taken care of...
We had a cook-out at our house Saturday night with some family and friends to celebrate my birthday. We grilled brats and tuna steaks (YUM!!) and had lots of other really yum food and my wonderful Mom baked me my favorite carrot cake! It was spectacular! After we dined and I was lavished with WAY TOO MANY gifts and Pete sang me a song he wrote (all about me!) we moved ourselves over to one of my very favorite Naples, Florida attractions. The local (literally right around the corner from our house) Quality Inn. Oh yea, The Quality Inn. They have karaoke on Friday & Saturday nights and it is fun for all. No, I do not sing karaoke, but Paul & Pete take part most of the time. But, the place is the best entertainment in town with real people hangin' out havin' a good ol' time! If anyone out there would like to join us on our next visit, please let us know. We love showing new folks the way to quality entertainment at the local Quality Inn!
Happy Birthday!!
(The best wrapped present I have ever seen with beautiful flower stickers and specially hand-picked ribbons from my wonderful mother-in-law, Christy. Thank you!!!)

Nona & Zane

The sweetest moment that happened that evening is when Zane fell sound asleep on Auntie Margaret. So sweet you just have to sigh!


Yummy carrot cake and Zane helping Mommy open her gifts (he took a long time with the ribbon!).


Pete singing my birthday song...
I love it; it is by far the most humorous song I have known Pete to write (and there are many from him which are full of great laughs!).

Sung to the tune of "Michelle" by The Beatles...
Danielle
Danielle, you're swell. I just can't believe you're 30 now, Holy cow.
Danielle, oh well. You are still the youngest adult here, by many a year.
We love you, we love you, we love you. That's all we want to say.
And that we're glad you're not gay.
'Cause you wouldn't have met Paul and on top of it all, there wouldn't be a Baby Zane.
Danielle, pray tell, how did you get such a rock star kid? Look what you did.
He needs you, he needs you, he needs you. He needs breast milk, you know.
It really helps him grow.
And by his size and thunderous thighs, you've done a hell of a job.

You're 30, you're 30, you're 30. You think that's old? It's not.
And Paul still thinks you're hot.
So if you will, stay off the pill, and make a friend for Zane.
Danielle you've done well. 30 years and look at all you've got, sure is a lot.
With an awesome mate, and a son so great, ... and a home in Golden Gate, our Danielle.

(Fun stuff, heh?!?!)

Many enjoying the karaoke jams...
(Zane was such a rock star kid and was so good at being out so late!)

Then... (yes, there is more!) on Sunday we went over to Aunt Rae & Uncle Bob's and got Zane in the pool for a dip. He just loved being in the water and splashed and splashed!



After swimming it was snooze time for Zane & Uncle Bob...

and hang out time for the rest of us and puppies!
... AND THEN... (yes, there is more!) Paul surprised me with new fish for the aquarium AND he fixed up the old tandem bike...
Christy & Paul taking a cruise....
I know it has been a long one, but I just had so much to say and so much to share about the best weekend EVER! To those of you who made it through all of this... thank you for humoring me!
Signing off with a pic of our little cherub...

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Fluffy

What a cute, fluffy & fun boy we have...

Fresh out of the bath all cute and snugglie...


Helping Mommy get the bed ready for Nona's visit...


"Oh yeah, I'm cute all sportin' my new bib Momma made me!"

Monday, May 21, 2007

Time to slow down...

We had a great weekend in Naples (FINALLY! - we have been traveling too much!). We stuck around the house most of the time but Saturday we went over to Grandad's pool with Mimi and took Zane for a swim (no pictures of the pool fun because we forgot the camera!). We went and got him a little floaty ladybug he sits in and he loved it but he kept trying to bite the water! He got really excited in the pool though so Daddy has decided he is taking him to swim lessons this summer! Good Daddy time for Zane...

We discovered two new teeth coming in on the top (two front)! He had a rough morning Sunday but he recovered and he has been snoozing a lot (although fitfully).

Also on Sunday we decided to take the bike to do our grocery shopping! This time we hooked up the trailer to Paul's bike...





"Brought you groceries, Mommy!"


Owl Bib

Also, I started making a couple bibs for Zane (more photos to follow at a later date) because I am frustrated with the little size of the ones we have an we are not really into the plasticy ones. I also can not believe the price of a simple thing like a bib... so I made some out of one of our old towels!


This morning I found Jazmin taking the Bumbo for a sit. She looks good, heh?

ALSO, we LOVE comments so if you feel inspired, please drop us a hello!

Just a little bit of braggin'...

I just wanted to post a little bit of braggin' about the Mother's Day song I mentioned that Paul wrote for me. It is so sweet I had to have him perform it again the next day. So I wanted to share the sweet lyrics with all who were interested...
---------------------------------------------------
“happy mother’s day, darlin’”

i’ve seen cairo and paris, chicago at night
seen brussels and bangkok, and rome’s city lights
but all the girls in those towns seemed to all fade from sight
when i met my danielle on that warm august night

we hit the ground runnin’, never asked for advice
two kids outta college makin’ some kinda life
took i-75 up to westbound i-10
looked for trouble in baton rouge and found it again

chorus

happy mother’s day darlin’, you’re sexy and kind
happy mother’s day, darlin’, it’s your time to shine
jazimin, chloe, and dylan, zane, and spivey are fine
happy mother’s day, darlin’, have a good time

tied the knot in punta gorda, a midsummer night’s dream
there was laughter and dancin’ ‘neath the shadowy trees
spent a week in the rockies in a cabin for two
we did all of the things that newlyweds do

chorus

solo

now the zanester’s arrived, the third time was a charm
they struggled all through the night, he was born in my arms
little buddha incarnate, all giggles and thighs,
such a beautiful boy with his mama’s blue eyes

chorus
-------------------------------------------------

how awesome is that???

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

My Sweet Score on My Sweet Ride!!

On Monday after recovering from our crazy busy weekend I sat down at the computer and began checking craigslist.org like I always do for a bike trailer. I have been searching for a used one for a couple months now and they are rarely found and when they are they go fast. Well, I found one!!! Mom went with me up to Ft. Myers to pick it up with her mighty truck. What a mad score this baby was! My new toy rocks! I cleaned it up last night (Pete helped me pump up those tires) and today Paul helped me hook this baby up! We took Zane on a little spin in it and he was so relaxed! It is so cool... it has a canopy over his head so it will keep the sun off of him and a tarp to close if it rains -- so he will stay ray-free and dry. It also has some 'trunk space' behind the seat (which, by the way, seats 2 kids so if any of his friends want to come take a spin, please do...). The big handle along the back of it lets you use it as a stroller too if you want, but that may not be quite that handy.
So it is happy cruisin' for us! We can take it to the grocery store, the post office, hardware store, pharmacy, and best of all for the little man... the park to swing!


Daddy is makin' sure he is sittin' pretty!

Let's go Mamma!

The first cruise.

Happy kiddo!

Yee-Haw, Giddy-up!!

Happy Mother's Day!

We had a great Mother's Day. We started out Sunday morning with the James family and although Sara woke up sick it was awesome to be able to share a Mother's Day morning with my favorite new Mom. We then headed back to Naples and got ready for dinner at my Mom's house. She made a fabulous meal of yummy fillets and orzo salad. We were serenaded by Paul & Pete with a full music set-up outside and my wonderful Mother's Day gift was that Paul wrote me a song! It was so sweet and beautiful!!! It couldn't dream of a better first Mother's Day!!


Zane loves his Aunt Margaret...

Great Gradeaux dons her new bag that I made (one of my first attempts since pulling my sewing machine out of the closet!).

Pete & Paul singin' us some tunes...

Mom joined in for a song with a lot of coaxing from the boys! She did a fantastic job! Go Ma!

I love my Daddy!


Happy Birthday Maya!!


This last weekend we went to Sam, Sara & Maya's house to celebrate Maya's first birthday. They had a party Saturday night with lots of friends to enjoy yummy tubouli, falafel, hummus & oatmeal cake with toasted coconut on top. She was such a star and we all had so much fun!


Babies, babies EVERYEHERE!

She slept right through us singing her "Happy Birthday."

Maya in the center of the world!

Paul wrote a song based on "Yellow Submarine" for Maya --
"On the day that you were born,
Mom & Daddy were filled with glee.
And they told us of a life that they were calling Maya Norine.
So we chased the rising sun,
till we found a joyful scene.
And we celebrate you, the coolest ever, Maya Norine.
We all love our little Maya Norine, little Maya Norine, little Maya Norine....."


Rachel, Raina & Sagen

Raina wanted to help Paul look a little brighter.

SO CUTE!!!


I keep so busy!


We put together the highchair and he is sitting up in it great! He is just chowing down and loving it!


So many toys, so little time!


I am scooting into funny places! (I have mastered the backwards scoot can't quite motor forward yet)

Fun in Lakeland (Weekend of May 3rd)



I had fun playing with my Aunt Lala (it looks like I am tickling her brain)!!!