Birthday Goodness...

First off....
a BIG "thank you" for all your birthday wishes to me :) Wow! astounding...thank you :) Each one sent by comment, by e-mail or by facebook has really made me smile. I'm flabbergasted at the kindness each one of you have shown to me. I'm am humbled. Thank you!


Now....
Let me show you what my good friend and bestest bud sent me... Marie P sent a lovely, gorgeous and beautiful gift made especially for me:

The Whitman Sampler Tin Sewing Set

Isn't that.....

GORGEOUS?! I cried when I opened it up because I have this pattern and I have these tins saved back to make for my girls and I've never gotten around to making them, let alone having one for myself. So THANK YOU Marie for taking all the time you did for stitching, finishing and making this set especially for me. THANK YOU! And thanks for those sweet stacked patriotic pillows and all of the COOL extras :) Hugs my friend....you are a star! Everytime my eyes alight on this beauty, I smile thinking about my friend Marie (who is a friend to all)!

Next up....

so sweetly knitted patriotic kitchen cotton dish rags from dear Pam (a.k.a. pjstitcher). Pam doesn't have a blog, but she's a faithful follower of many blogs. She's a real sweetie too and I have enjoyed a friendship with her by e-mail for the last several months. Thank you Pam for your sweet generosity and for remembering my birthday! You are a dear, dear lady and friend :) THANK YOU!

On July 3rd....

I was still sitting in my nightgown at 10 a.m. stitching away because I didn't have to work, my kids were occupied by the television and I thought what the "hay" its a holiday! Then the doorbell rang. I thought it was most likely the neighbor kids since none of our families live close and I wasn't expecting any friends to drop by...so I told my kids to go get the door bell. Well they walked to the door, opened it and said, "What are you doing here?!" Then I heard my 5 year old nephew shout, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT VONNIE!" My Mom, brother, sister-in-law, nephews and a dear family friend, drove 2 hours up to surprise me for my birthday. They brought me flowers and a cake and took me out to eat for lunch. We visited a few hours in the afternoon and then they drove back home. I sure was surprised and so happy that they came to see us! Thank you to my family who drove over 4 hours on Saturday to surprise me! :) That was so much fun!

Here I am...

with my flowers and birthday cake from my extended family:

Bring on the cake!

And here I am with....

my Godson and newest nephew Benjamin! See he already only has eyes for Aunt Vonnie ;o) He thinks Aunt Vonnie rocks!

Aunt Vonnie and Benjamin

July 4th....

was spent at the pool during the day and spent in our driveway shooting off firework during the evening :)

July 5th....

my actual "birth day" started off with being awakened by a little bunny that was crying. She was sick (I thought she'd been coming down with something last Wednesday), by yesterday morning she was full blown sick. So I threw on some clothes, pulled a brush through my hair and we went to the Promptcare Clinic at 8 a.m. She has bronchitis and the Doctor said another day more and she most likely would have had pneumonia....so here's the little bunny Ellie doing what she did all day yesterday:

Sick Ellie

What did I do on my birthday?

My husband took me out to lunch to Cracker Barrel for one of their Country Chef Salads (love those things) then we came back home to this (another cake)....please excuse my hag lady look...this is sans makeup...as I never got around to it after my rousing from bed:

40th Birthday cake (I'm thinking...."I'm sick of cake")

Birthday Wishes...

The afternoon....

was spent cleaning our basement as we had gotten to an "intervention hoarding" level. So we made Keep Piles and Donate Piles all afternoon. We loaded up the van and Keith took the donates to Goodwill....where the man in the donations place said to him, "You're donating all this?" Yep, it was that bad.... But NOW I have a clean basement. So Keith (who just turned 40 on May 14th) and I can start our 40's out with a clean slate!

Again...

my many thanks for your visits and comments, your well wishes and words of wisdom, and everything you share with me!

Until next time...

I'll be keeping my hands to work and heart to God!

Love and hugs,