Happy 41st Birthday, my Skippy Man!

"At the age of 20, we don't care what the world thinks of us; at 30, we worry about what it is thinking of us; after 40, we discover that it wasn't thinking of us at all." By Anonymous

I LOVE YOU!

During our 22 years of marriage, there have been some challenges, some good, some bad, some devastating. Things haven’t exactly been easy for us. Frustrations have been the name of the game lately. We’ve made it through but not without some bruises and scars. We know that God can and does perform miracles. We have Kiddo as a constant reminder of that. (Thank you Jesus!) We know that with God, anything and everything is POSSIBLE!!! You have a lot of great qualities which I admire. You are faithful, loyal, considerate, gentle, caring, devoted, understanding, gracious, and F U N N Y !!!! I could go on forever. I know I tell you every day that I love you, and sometimes it must seem like every five minutes, but every time I say it, I mean it with all of my heart. I wanted you to know that not just on your birthday, but EVERYDAY for me, is full of thoughts of everything you’ve done for me and our family. I can never truly express how much you mean to me. You work two, sometimes three jobs so I can be able to stay home and teach Kiddo. It has also given me the opportunity to spend time with the girls as they will be starting lives of their own soon. Being able to make some more beautiful memories with them is something I will cherish forever and which YOU have made possible. I just wish that you could be here with us. You will never know just how much that means to all of us. As the years go by, I stop and think about all the memories we've made together. You are not only my husband, but my best friend and soul mate. You are a blessing from above - one that I will not take for granted. Not only are you a wonderful husband, you're a terrific father, provider and caregiver. You give so freely to all those you know in such a loving way. Your generosity is inspiring! IYOU, Skippy Man ... more than words, more than life. I'm forever grateful for your love and proud to be your wife. I LOVE YOU!!!!

Life has been quite busy here today. We have had school, done laundry, have almost completed mowing the back 40, moved a lot of brush from the grass (thank you, Kiddo), cleared out and weed wacked around the pool and yard, watered and weeded the vegetable beds, and now we are getting ready to prepare a dinner of pizza bagels and salad fresh from the garden. Mmmm...I can't wait!

In our garden we have: lettuce, carrots, peas, peppers, broccoli, onions, tomatoes, acorn squash, cucumbers, and corn. We also have a seperate bed for strawberries. We started with one plant 2 years ago and now almost the entire bed is FULL of plants. This will be the first year we will be getting any kind of harvest from them since the birds usually beat us to them. Skippy enclosed the part of the bed where the plants are with netting so WE will be able to enjoy the fruits of our labors and NOT THE BIRDS!!! I know they have to eat too so we will be feeding them some bird seed in place of the berries. I am on the desktop at the moment posting this so I can't upload any picturess, but I will try and add a few later from the laptop.

Yesterday, as I was mowing the front yard and down by the road I decided to do a little detour. We have part of our property that we don't use because it is on the other side of a huge row of cedar trees. We have always just used that as a natural privacy hedge from our neighbors (who are wonderful people by the way) and just mow up to the bottom of the trees. Well, while I was mowing I thought I would surprise Skippy and make a path that the two of us could walk through during the hot part of the day, it's shaded, or for an evening hand-in-hand stroll and peek up at the stars through the branches. As I was mowing I thought, "Hmmmm....why does a lot of this grass look shorter than the rest of it?", but kept on my way blazing a path. Well, when Skippy got home, I walked him down to the road and around past the trees to show him what I had done. I was so excited about this surprise I had for him.

He looked around and said, "I'm so glad you came down here and mowed again. I wasn't sure when I would be able to get around to it. I did it so we could go walking through here and enjoy flowers and pick berries."

"You have mowed down through here before?" I asked.

"Yes!", he said. "Why do you think the grass was shorter here than over there? It was a surprise!" ROFLOL!!

I guess I was the one who got surprised!!!

I MY SKIPPY MAN!

Blessings~