Saturday = DATE NIGHT!

Yep, you heard me right, TONIGHT IS DATE NIGHT!


Now, for those of you who know me, you know I have been single now for the past ten years...
dates here & there but nothing to write home about, ya know?



Well, all that has changed as I'm now seeing a wonderful guy who not only seems smitten on me, but on Ruby as well.


It's still early but he's taken me out on his sailboat, met my parents & vice versa.


It's fun, Ruby loves him & we laugh together, which to me is pretty priceless.


From now on, Saturday night is going to be our STANDING DATE NIGHT!


Every saturday night, Scott will be taking out his 'two best girls', new restaurant every time, wherever we wish to go. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? I NEVER GO OUT! THIS IS WILD!


I think he's a doll & Ruby and I are all DOLLED UP ourselves for tonight's date,
the first of many to come!

YIPPEE FOR DATE NIGHT!!!!!!!

(aren't we cute?)



(C'mon... you KNEW Ruby's dress had a LADYBUG on it!)

I got this for her off ebay way back before I ever saw even her sweet little face & those glorious cheeks... I just now did a search on ebay to see if I could find another like it & I found this: Sophie Rose Black & White Gingham Ladybug Dress
So, if you're looking to grab one in a size 12mo. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! An amazing lot of adorable girls clothes that is sure to doll up your precious little one, whether she's here already or you're excited & waiting... like I was when I bought this for Ruby.)
*smile*

Rainy Day SURPRISES!!!

Look what arrived today in our mail!!!

Our dear friends Julie & Tess COMPLETELY SURPRISED US! (Not to mention scared the shit'outta my Mother when the HUGE package came tumbling into the hallway as she opened the front door to get the mail- hehehe), when she sent us this GORGEOUS WALL HANGING THAT TRULY SUMS UP MY FEELINGS FOR MY DAUGHTER, RUBY!

For now we've put it on top of the book shelf but it will soon be hung properly ( by my Dad, Ruby's Nonno) above her crib on the wall.
IT'S JUST GORGEOUS JULIE!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUCH A GREAT RAINY DAY SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!
WE LOVE YOU GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!
(& Tess too!)

Love,

-Amy & Ruby Cate
XoXoXo

Best Friends...

... Always & Forever!
XoXoXoXo

Finally!

So, every night now since that awful day back on May 3rd, I'd crawl into bed at night & say, out loud, "Ebby, come visit Momma tonight in my sleep buddy, come say hi to me cuz I miss you SO MUCH and I just want to hold you & hug you one more time...".

And every night, I had high hopes, but every morning, I'd wake & nothing. Oh, I had dreams, silly ones of ridiculous stuff that made no sense, as most dreams usually are... but no Ebby.
No Ebby that is, until this past Tuesday Night when, again... upon crawling into bed, I asked him 'again' to "...come visit me in my dreams, please... I just missed him SO MUCH!"

My dream that night was the most vivid ever, and it was one of those dreams that I knew he had already passed & KNEW it was a dream, but was so happy that he had heard me & stopped by for a snuggle.

I was downstairs at my parents house doing something in the kitchen, (my parents were both in the yard doing yard work as it was a beautiful day and Ruby was sound asleep in her pack & play for a nap so, why was I in my Mom's kitchen? Don't ask... )

So, I'm there & I hear the ever familiar SCRATCH SCRATCH at the back hall door.... 'OMG WHAT THE HELL IS OUT THERE!?#$%#" I thought there's a critter or something, holy crap! I was TERRIFIED to open the door cuz my first thought was "it CAN'T be Ebby, he's gone so what the HELL is scratching at the door?"

I gently & hesitantly open the door & who should come bounding in, but Ebenezer. I was dumbstruck!
"OMG EBENEZER!! IS IT REALLY YOU? IT CAN'T BE BUDDY! OMG!"
I immediately dropped to the floor & scooped him up in my arms to make sure, yes it really WAS Ebby! I inspected his ears, his face, that pink spot on his bottom lip that was uniquely him... and after doing a thorough 'once over' OMG IT REALLY IS YOU EBBY! OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!! OMG!
"OMG BUDDY THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FINALLY VISITING ME IN MY DREAMS! I'VE MISSED YOU SOOOOO MUCH PAL! OMG LET ME JUST HOLD YOU BUDDY, COME HERE TO MOMMA!"
and he came & curled right up in my lap like he always used to whenever I sat indian style on the floor... and I was in heaven.
I scratched his ears, and they were solid & real & fuzzy & soft & smelled so familiar and I loved every second of this dream!
I held him so close & told him over and over and over and over how much I loved him & would always love him & that he can visit me anytime he wants in my dreams, cuz he made a wish come true that night. I woke up with tears in my eyes, but they were HAPPY tears.
Yes I'm sad I miss him, yes as I type this tears are streaming down my face, but I know I did right by my boy and I know he knows that too and now I know he LISTENS to me cuz he made a special trip to visit his Momma who had a hole in her heart.
And for just a short while tuesday night, as my physical body slept, my spiritual energy got to snuggle once more with my best friend, my fuzzy son... my four legged soulmate... and that has got to be the definition of 'HEAVEN ON EARTH!' It HAS to be!

Dreams are amazing things... I didn't have another one of him last night, and I wanted to share this with everyone right after it happened but life got in the way for a bit, you all know how that goes.

So, there you have it, my precious little friend finally stopped by for what I can only hope will be the FIRST OF MANY visits to me while the moon & stars light up the sky.

Thank you Ebenezer for knowing how much that meant to Momma... I miss you more than I have words to describe it here but it was so good to get to hold you again buddy, you felt so warm & solid & soft and I will hold that dream so close to my heart until you visit again old friend.

I love you!

PS. Just now after I thought I had finished with this post, I called Ruby over up into my lap to look at the picture of Ebby. I asked her " Who'se that baby girl, who is that? Is that Ebenezer?..." then I said to her "I'm sorry that you probably won't remember him, it makes me so sad that you'll never know what a great Dog he was..." and as I sat there with my Daughter on my lap, she looked at the picture quite seriously & started (on her own, with NO prompting from me) to howl. She knows! She remembers! OMG! You think the tears were streaming down my face when I first typed this thing, OMG NOTHING compared to the crying I just did upon the realization that my little girl, as young as she is (21 months yesterday) REMEMBERS HER FRIEND EBBY WHO TAUGHT HER HOW TO HOWL! I said to her, through shuddering/shaking tears, "OMG BABY, EBBY IS SO PROUD OF YOU RIGHT NOW, YOU REMEMBER! YOU HOWLED BABY, YOU REMEMBER YOUR EBBY!!!"
And that's about all I can type now cuz I just honestly can't see the screen & want to go snuggle with my smart, beautiful little girl who I don't nearly give enough credit to. I love you Ruby!

Love,

-Momma
XoXoXoXo

Scenes from a Sailboat...

Look closely, can you see the puppy playing in the water at the beach?
SO CUTE! THAT ONE'S FOR YOU EBBY!!

Again, look very close... can you see the little black duck swimming in the upper left hand corner of the image by the white mooring?
He was cute & quick, I'm so psyched I actually snapped his pic!

A beautiful overpriced home on Beverly's Sea Coast...
(don't even want to THINK about the property tax on this bad boy!)

A SEASIDE VIEW of Salem Willow's dock in Salem, MA...
(so DIFFERENT to see it from this point of view, rather than being the one sitting ON the dock looking at the boats passing by me... LOVED IT!)

I'm sure you can all see why I LOVE living here, it's just breathtakingly beautiful!

Sailboats patiently waiting for their owners to return & take them out to play...

Sleeping boats dying to be woken up by a strong wind...


Beverly's Hospital Point Lighthouse...


A Seagull's view of Beverly's Lynch Park...
(that blue building is where, when you're a kid, you BEGGED your parents to stop so you could get some YUMMY ICE CREAM! Hell, who am I kiddin, even as an ADULT I STILL LOVE THAT BLUE SLICE OF CHILLED HEAVEN!)


More houses I could never afford...

This house was just so pretty with all those windows,
I could not resist day dreaming a bit as my finger snapped the shutter...

Maybe I should rob a bank? LOL

Oh My God, can you imagine waking up every morning
to such a glorious view from your window?

... beautiful, isn't it?

Thank you so much Scott for taking me out today on your beautiful sailboat...
and for your patience in trying to teach me how to sail!
(aw, ok let's get real- so I just held the steering thingie but hell, it was harder than it looks AND LOTS OF FUN TOO!)

Thanks for an amazing day, I can't wait to do it again real soon.

XoXo...

-Amy

Cheeks the RED Monkey!

To your right, you will notice our new little friend:

CHEEKS the RED MONKEY!

Ruby & I felt that since she was born the year of the Monkey & since losing our dear pal Ebenezer... that we needed a new little friend 'hanging around'.

So, although he's virtual, he's ours and Ruby is tickled pink that her new friend is:

"RED MOMMA, RED, RED!!"

Perhaps in time we may venture into the 3 dimentional fuzzy friends again, but for now Cheeks is gonna have to do.

To adopt your own little friend, click on the link & enjoy!
(be sure to share with us if you adopt any of those fun little friends...
we'd love to meet them all!)

Day of the Dead...

... they say that 6-6-06 or '666' is the day of the dead.
(I always thought it was Halloween... but what the hell do I know?)

Anyway, so if that's true, what better day than today to have myself looking like some freak show from a bad 80's horror flick after having just had my annual eye exam where my pupils get dialated. That's right, check em' out... they're like FIVE ZILLION TIMES THE SIZE THEY NORMALLY ARE & IT'S JUST WEIRD LOOKING! Thank christ I have 'transitions lenses' for my glasses, they automatically turn into sunglasses cuz I can't see A DAMN THING!


It's just SO FREAKY to actually SEE what my eyes LOOK LIKE!!!
Taking this picture of them with my cam was my only way for me to see them cuz I can't see in a mirror right now, anything that close is all just a blur. Far away stuff? No problem... so I'm sitting like 8 FEET away from the computer & I can so see that I look like a FREAK OF NATURE!
Saucers for EYES! hehehe Oh well, they say it'll wear off in about three hours, which is good since I'm going out on a sailboat today with Scott.
Little Miss Ruby will be home enjoying her afternoon nap while in the care of her Nanna.

More later after the sail, I'll bring my camera, don't worry... pictures will follow. ;)



CREEPY ASS SHIT!

So, I guess I fit RIGHT IN on 6-6-06...

Maybe tonight I'll pull out the old 'OUIJA' board for shits & giggles ;)

JUST KIDDING MA!

*grin*

STOP...

... & PHOTOGRAPH the FLOWERS!
hee hee


Ruby & I just went for another lovely walk to the library and saw
many beautiful flowers along the way.


Lots of pretty colors, although Ruby loves 'RED, RED MOMMA, RED!"


Here's some of what makes Beverly, MA. a Beautiful place to live:










While at the library, there was a stack of 'books for sale', many just 50cents or a dollar.
I stumbled across this one book that caught my eye & had me smiling from ear to ear...


It's a collection various answers from children of all ages concerning 'love'... all aspects of it.

The following are just a few of my favorites:

Concerning How to Tell if Love is Real...

"Love is real if you and the other person stick together like peanut butter and jelly."
-Janet, age 10

On What Falling in Love Is Like...

"If falling in love is anything like learning how to spell, I don't want to do it. It takes too long."
-Glenn, age 7

Reflections On The Nature Of Love...

"Love is like a crayon because it comes in all colors."
-Janet, age 10


Confidential Opinions About Love...

"Love will find you, even if you are trying to hide from it. I been trying to hide from it since I was five, but the girls keep finding me."
-Dave, age 8

Some Surefire Ways to Make a Person Fall in Love with You...

" Tell them that you own a whole bunch of candy stores."
-Del, age 6

There's a TON more in here but those are just a few of my favorites...

If you are all in the mood for a smile or two, I suggest picking up this book & reading till your face hurts from smiling. It's wild, kids are alot smarter than we adults give them credit for.

~*~

Ruby's got a NEW RIDE!

Introducing Ruby's New Go & Grow Rider by Little Tykes.


It was only 24.99 and SUPER EASY TO PUT TOGETHER!
Momma did it ALL BY HERSELF!
*grin*

And let me tell you, this thing is REALLY ROCKIN'!

Ruby & Bear give it 2 PAWS UP!

And Nonno just can't get ENOUGH of his GIRL on her new wheels!

My little girl...

... who thinks she's a doll.
At least, that's what I'm guessing seeing as how she's thrown EVERYTHING out of this little doll crib that my father made for me many years ago & was mine as a child, and has decided that SHE'D look much better laying in it than any cabbage patch kid.
What do you think?
LOL

How do I look Momma?

Ruby in Pictures...

Wooooo Hoooooooo!
I love this wooden horse!

Me playing at Great Grandma's house,
she's got some REALLY FUN TOYS THERE!

Me and Momma visiting at her good friend Erik's house...
(She says I get to call him Uncle Erik!)
I was busy chewing on my blanket,
and Erik was super nice & put on Noggin for me
and even let me play on his WATER BED!
THANKS UNCLE ERIK!

After all our visiting... Momma said that I was such a good girl that we'd stop at Toys R' Us and get me a 'ride on toy' for inside our little apartment.
After we picked the one we wanted, we paid for everything & Momma ALWAYS lets me ride the mexican donkey ride before leaving, it's SO MUCH FUN!

Oh, we even got MOON PAJAMAS for me at the toy store, can you BELIEVE IT?
Momma saw them & screeched, showed me & then I was yelling
"OOOOH IT'S DA BOOON MOMMA, IT'S DA BOOOOOON!!!!"
Aren't they cute?
hee hee

I LOVE MY BOON JAMMERS MOMMA!
THANK YOU!!!

Ebenezer's Last Howl...

One month ago today was the day before I did the hardest thing imaginable... out of love & respect for my best friend, I was selfless & said goodbye.

One of our favorite things to do was howl whenever we heard the 'meow' of a kitty, even a 'fake' kitty... didn't matter, "MEOW" = HOOOOWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! Every time, without fail.

So, one month ago, knowing that my time with Ebenezer was coming to it's end, I wanted to capture his glorious voice forever, so I called into my own voice mail, and Ebby, Ruby and Me all made our last 'howl' together & captured it forever.

I hope hearing my beautiful fuzzy son and my adorable daughter Ruby HOWL together, makes you smile just as much as it does me.

I miss you Ebenezer, we all do.

*tears*

CRAZY is as NANNY does!

Yep, that's right, my house right now?

C-R-A-Z-Y!

First, there's my precious little weasel, Ruby Cate. Always toddling around everywhere and having herself a GRAND OLD TIME regardless of where we are or what we're doing.
She thought life was grand but little did she know that things were going to get a WHOLE LOT MORE INTERESTING!

She's now joined, every day, by her short loud cohorts who we'll call A. and O.!


A. is a FIESTY little cracker, she is LOUD & IN CHARGE!
(oh, and just in case you didn't hear her the first time,
SHE'LL TELL YOU A SECOND TIME EVEN LOUDER
JUST TO BE SURE WE'RE CLEAR ON THE MATTER!)

Her twin O. is more of a laid back fellow, very much an easy going guy, just wants his bottles, the occasional handfull of 'puffs' and he's good to go.
What's that Amy? What? You want me to smile? NO PROBLEM!
*imagine huge cheezy grin here*
HOW'S THAT? Thought you'd like that one...

Anyhoo... so let's do a little math shall we?

Ruby + A. + O. = ONE BUSY NANNY!

It's fun, it's tough work, it's lots of patience & love & the biggest key to it all is to have a HUGE SENSE OF HUMOR because if you are the type to sweat the small stuff in life, you'll never make it as a Nanny, ever.

LOL

So, with that said, my days are great here, BUSY, but great!
I love that I can be home with Ruby & that she's getting the social interaction of two very different, very cute little babies who happen to be LEO'S!
*God BLESS their mother!* LOL

It's cute but it'll be cuter next year when they are nearly two and Ruby will be nearly 3...

... A WHOLE NEW BALL GAME!

But I say, PLAY BALL!!!!

=)

(Someone wanna send some chocolate my way? I think I'm gonna need it!)