Happy 40th Mike!

To Mike Holland on his 40th birthday

 

Born to Jeff and Ruby Holland on their 5th wedding anniversary, February 28th, 1974 

 

With fiery red hair and the cutest grin to match,

your wit and sense of humor were larger than life.

 

On your first day of school when asked how you're day went, you answered with a big grin, "Everybody likes me because I'm SOOOOO funny!" 

 

You were athletic, smart and well liked, the guy that everyone wanted to be friends with. 

 

All these years later, you're still the guy who can make others laugh.  Your sense of humor can sometimes get you into trouble, but at least it's always entertaining when you're around. 

 

 

You're an amazing husband and father.  Henry and I have been so blessed by you.  I'm so proud to be your wife.  You've accomplished so much and yet you still have so many dreams. 

 

I'm so glad that I get to share the next 40 years with you, honey.  Happy Birthday! 

 

 

 

 

 

Flashbask Friday - Swimming

These pics were taken July 2011 at Nana and Papa's house one night after family dinner.  It was "cool" enough for Henry to play outside in the pool.  He had so much fun that night.

Happy Boy!

Baby Hulk

I remember him getting so mad right after this picture was taken, because he had so much water in the bucket, it was too heavy to pick up.  He definitely has an Ament temper!

 

I sure miss how cute Henry was at this age, but honestly, the toddler years were the toughest and I'm ok that they are behind us.

 

Flashback Friday - Grandparent Edition

I thought for this Flashback Friday, I'd pull recent/old pics of my grandparents.  I'm so very blessed to have all 4 of grandparents and even better, all 4 of them are within a half hour drive from my house.  I know I'm not old by any means, but I also know that there aren't too many people who can make this same claim.  Nikki can too, but I don't think I know anyone else who can.

Granddaddy and Granny

D-Dad and Ge-Gee

 When Henry was born, my goodness how blessed was he to have 4 grandparents AND 4 great-grandparents.  A very loved little boy to say the least.

"Granddaddy" - not only do they color coordinate their clothes, they share names; Thomas Henry and our Henry Thomas.  Total coincidence as I didn't know that my grandfather's middle name was Henry before picking his name.  Granddaddy is a great story teller.  He always tells a joke when you see him, some of them will make you turn a shade of maroon.

 

"Granny" - you've probably seen a FB post or two from me about this precious woman.  She recently turned 91 and she's one of the strongest women I know.  Over the years, she's made countless afghans and hats for her kids, grandkids and great grandkids.  One of my most prized possessions is the yellow blanket that she made for "Baby Holland" when I was pregnant. 

 

 "D-Dad" - this man, you have to watch out for him.  He's observant and quiet and you know what they say about the quiet ones.  He's got a soft spot for his family but the first time I ever saw him cry was at my sister's wedding.  He would do anything for his "kids" and the same for our kids too.

 

"Ge-Gee" - she's the one to go to for spoiling.  When we were kids, she would keep me and Nikki for a week and indulge us on dessert, movies and new school clothes.  She let us watch Dirty Dancing, but made us bury our heads in our hands during the kissing scenes.  Now, she keeps our kiddos when school is closed or if I or Nikki is caught up at work.  She loves to go to the movies and makes a mean chicken fried steak.

 

We our so very blessed to have our family, including our precious grandparents

Reflection

Sunday after church, we were in the car and I was looking the Timehop app on my phone.  If you don't know what that is, it's an app that shows you the posts and pics that you posted on social media on this day in history for the last 7 years.  This time of year is fun because I'm seeing posts leading up to the days before Henry was born.   Crazy to see my (almost) weekly maternity shots and how big I got.

 

This is one of the pics we showed Henry.  He said "Look Daddy! This was when I was in Mommy's belly. And I was black!"  I thought Mike and I were going to die laughing.  Out of the mouth of babes.

 

 

Trashy

So, this morning started off fairly eventful, especially since I thought it would be a quiet work day at home.  Mike and Henry were leaving for work and school and I walked outside to help get HH in the car.  I turned toward the sidewalk to check that the trash and recycle bins were on the curb as pick up is usually early in the day.  Much to my surprise, both cans and all of its contents were burned to the ground.  Yep. Scorched. Fried. Toast. Nothing left but a heap of smoldering ashes. 

Of course the panic in me said that someone did it intentionally, but there stood my husband in a heap of guilt.  He immediately apologized and confessed that he put what he thought were cold ashes in the trash cans last night.  I almost started to cry, thinking of the reality that could have been had the cans been in the garage or just outside the door like they usually are.  My anxieties quickly turned to praise for provision, thank God it was trash day! 

I felt bad for Mike but the jokes have been non-stop today.  My Daddy even said "Tell Mike it's illegal to burn trash in city limits." Ha!  Yep.  Oh and Waste Management even had to get their digs in.

Thinking I should send them a letter and ask what happened to our garbage cans.

Again, we are thankful that we can laugh about it.  Apologies to the neighbors for the eyesore and I promise the grass will grow back.  And Mike learned a valuable lesson and we're thankful it didn't do any major damage.  And thankfully the fire department didn't have to bang on our door in the middle of the night. Although that would have made today even more eventful.

On the flipside, we're getting a new trash can tonight and I've always heard that grass grows back after it's been burned.