Gee Thanks!

I met so many great bloggers through the A to Z Challenge back in April. One lovely writer is Claudia over at The story. I always look forward to seeing a new post from her. She writes about her life and she writes for us to enjoy. And I always do enjoy!

And just last week, Claudia gave me an award. I love it and I thank Claudia from the bottom of my heart!

 It means Sweetheart Blog in German!

So here we go:
The Liebster Award is meant to connect us even more and spotlight new bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

Here are the rules:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the Internet – other writers.
5. And best of all – have fun and spread the karma!

I never enjoy the choosing part! I've decided to choose some blogs of five women who are very dear to me, even outside of the blog world, and they are all wonderful writers. They are five Sweethearts to me!

I love these blogs and want to share them with you!
The Fragrance of Sweetgrass - Rebecca hasn't been writing on her blog a whole lot lately, but she's a great writer of life, a great writer of books (she's written two!), and a great friend . Plus she's an expert on all things Laura (Ingalls Wilder).
I'm That Mom - My niece and a mom of six. And that's what she writes about. She's good at the writing and the being a mom of six!
Jasper's Cottage - My friend Jonni, who also started out as a Laura (Ingalls Wilder) friend and means much more to me now. I hope she keeps writing because she always puts a smile on my face (even when I have tear in my eye).
From My Classroom Window - My daughter! I'm hoping that she keeps up with her blog now that she has a new job that I know will keep her very busy. She's good at telling her story and she'll have even more to say now that she has her own classroom!
Single In The Suburbs - Lauri writes about life (and sometimes video blogs!) and mostly her pup. She's a good friend who also started of as a Laura (Ingalls Wilder) friend, but is so much more than that now.

This, That. and The Other

And that's exactly what I'm talking about today --

• My chicks are growing like crazy and they give me a chuckle each and every day. I never thought having chickens would bring me a little joy (and a lot of stink) but they do.
• We spent the evening last night at our son's house. Just the five of us celebrating Brittany's (Jon's girlfriend) birthday. She's a Fourth of July baby. Chinese take-out, birthday cake and nursing school bday presents for Brittany (we're happy that she's starting nursing school this fall☺). We're a kind of low-key family, not overly demonstrative, but I hope Brittany knows that we do love her!
• One year ago today (well tomorrow if you go by the date, but it was Tuesday), we left to head to Mankato, Minnesota and LauraPalooza. Beyond Little House is having a LauraPalooza event this week into next, looking back at last year's LauraPalooza and forward to next year's. I will be sharing a memory or two next week over there and a little more in depth right here (because I may tend to go on and on☺)
• Also on Beyond Little House last week, I posed a question: "What kind of fan are you?" regarding what, as a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan, might you collect, if anything besides the "Little House" books. My collecting has evolved over the years from books, to knickknacks, to antiques of items mentioned in the books or that Laura, herself, may have had. I have a hankering to talk about it more in depth here because, as I mentioned above, I tend to go on when in comes to LIW. Is anyone interested in seeing and hearing more about my collection here on this blog?
• Every year wrens nest in the same birdhouse in our backyard. They are my very favorite birdsong to listen to and one of the reasons I don't have a/c, so that I can have my windows open...especially early in the morning when all the birds are greeting the new day with their beautiful song.
• Call me crazy, but I've decided that my beloved pup, Duke, has enough to say that I'm devoting a day a week here to him. He'll share pictures, his thoughts, maybe a short (or long) story. It'll be every Saturday, but we're calling it...Duker-day!

I thinks that's it for the This and That. So, here The Other:

 Jamie, from From My Classroom Window (who also happens to be my daughter☺) tagged me and gave me two awards. Thanks Jamie! I already have one of them and here's the other:

I'm supposed to tell you seven random facts about myself, tag people and pass the award onto five people. Let's see...can I think of seven random facts that I haven't already talked about here:

1. Daisies are my favorite flower.
2. I can count on one hand the number of nights Jim and I were away from our kids while they were growing up. I don't regret it, but now that they're adults I'm cherishing the times Jim and I can get away on our own for a weekend.
3. I wonder why, at 50, I know what I want and I can get there, but I just don't...(I know what I mean!)
4. It's easier to think of seven negative facts about myself than it is the more random or positive ones I'm trying to come up with. And it's taking waaaay too long to think of them!
5. I wrestle with the fact that, for the first time in over 25 years, I don't volunteer for anything. I enjoy the freedom, but feel a little empty.
6. I feel my children are my greatest accomplishment. Other than that, I often feel that I have failed in most other aspects of my life.
7. I used to be a cat person, but then Duke came along.

Okay...who to tag and pass the award to?

1. Debbie at Debbie's Digest
2. Retired Knitter at My Next 20 Years of Living
3. Delores at thefeatherednest
4. Julie at Empty Nest Insider
5. Just Stuff From A Boomer

You know I hate picking people. Maybe that should be another random fact about me...

It was a very good day!

Yesterday was a good day. A really good day, actually. The weather was beautiful and I spent the day with family. What more could I need?

Pictures. I forgot to take a single picture...

However, my daughter made something special for me. She has a blog over at From My Classroom Window (I may have mentioned that a time or two☺)

Isn't this awesome (daisies are my favorite...and hers)? I ♥ you, Jamie!

We also all went out to an early dinner yesterday - Jim and I, along with our kids, Jamie and Jon (we missed Brittany :(), my brother and my mother-in-law. The service was slow (restaurant was busier than they had expected to be), but the food was good and I enjoyed our time together!
My kids gave me a new thistle bird feeder and a lovely spa/pedicure kit which I love! And my son came over before we were leaving to go to dinner and brought a cake with him. He didn't make it, but he did pick it up at the store (impressive) and he wrote "Happy M-Day" (funny and impressive, especially if you know my son!) The "M-Day" were written in blue frosting. Those were the two pieces that my brother and I got. My brother started laughing at me because my lips and tongue had turned a lovely shade of blue...until I started laughing at him because his lips and tongue were also a lovely shade of blue. For a very long time!

And there are definitely no pictures of that! ☺

I'm slowly trying to do a bloggy catch up, as I've spent the last couple of days trying to catch up on other things (not totally successful there ☺).

I received an award this week from the wonderful Julie over at What Else Is Possible?, one of my new favorite blogs.

Thanks Julie!

The rules for this blog state that I need to tell you seven things about myself and award this to 10-15 other blogs...
Here's seven things:

1. I used to be a morning person, but my husband isn't. While our kids were growing up, in order to spend time with him, I learned to adjust more to his schedule. Well, that's not true. I would stay up late to see him (after a full day of work he would have to work in his shop most every night) and still get up early with the kids.
2. I hate it when people use the word retard in a derogatory manner.
3. I don't like reality tv.
4. We didn't get cable till our daughter was in college and got rid of it over a year ago (for a total of about 10 years). Don't miss it.
5. I'm a nerd and I'm proud of it.
6. I take too much everything personally, therefore my feelings are easily hurt.
7. I can't pick just 10-15 blogs to pass this award to.

So, this is the deal...if you follow me and we did the A - Z Challenge together, then I choose YOU for this award! ♥

T-hank you!

While I was not feeling well, I received an award! I wanted to post about it right away, but really needed to wait until my mind was less fuzzy so that I could properly post the award itself. :-)

So...a Big Thank You to Jenny at The Pearson Report for this Classy Blogger Award! I love it!

I met Jenny through the A - Z Challenge. I've started following several new blogs that have been happily discovered through this challenge. The Pearson Report is waaaay up there on the list! I love the friends I have made along the way, on this blogger journey! I ♥ YOU!

An award for me? ☺

Thank you, Jamie over at From My Classroom Window for this lovely award!

 
So, here are the rules:

1. Link back to the person who gave you the award. √
2. Tell 10 facts about myself... √
1. I have the greatest family. Ever!
2. I love Laura Ingalls Wilder...but if you look around here you already know that!
3. I recently discovered that I love flea markets and antique stores.
4. I'm a dork. I've always been a dork, but for a short time, back in my younger days, I tried to be cool. It didn't work out so well. I embrace my dorkiness.
5. I love to write. It's therapeutic for me.
6. My favorite color is pink. Soft pink.
7. I strive to be the person that I know I should be.
8. I like Chinese food and I like pasta. That's not necessarily a good thing.
9. I've been my husband's business partner for almost 20 years and I'm looking for an outside the business job for the first time in 22 years.
10. I really wanted to give this award to all of my regular followers and commenters. I don't like to hurt feelings...
3. Give this award to others. √

1. Hen Scratches
2. Net on the Net 
3. The Old Weather Vane
4. Debbie's Digest
5. "Hold my hand" A social worker's blog

A surprise (for me!)

I was really surprised and honored to have received an award. I certainly never got into this blogging world for any awards or to count followers, but it sure makes you feel good, doesn't it?

Thank you so much to Deirdra at A Storybook World!