Happy Colintine's Day

 As y’all know, 

today is Valentine’s Day

and if ya forgot…

for the love of Pete… 

quick

grab a card. candy. flowers. a reservation.

However, for our Fam 

today is

Colintine’s Day.

It was only perfect that Colin was born on Valentine’s Day.

He has always been a 

sweetheart of a son....

and the 5th Ninja Turtle.

Check out the little surprise he made for me back in the day...

with his toys and clothes.

So sweet.

Inside the bubble, it says "HI MOM."

I love his creativeness, sweetness, and him.

                                        

Colin...

an amazing and loving young boy

also grew into a sweetheart of a person…

a kind-hearted, 

fun, 

easy to be around, 

all around great guy

aka

“Duuuude”

as Ansley loves to call him.

lucky lil cowgirl at sound check

Colin the ultimate

 dude with a Big Heart….

 has followed his heart 

down the yellow brick road...

and this Kat is his Number ONE fan forever.

Today. Tomorrow. And Beyonce.

(I threw in a little Queen Bey

 to see if you were still reading.)

Ansley is a close #2 Fan...

Anywhoooo

When you have a bday on Valentines Day (or any holiday) 

you end up sharing the day with other Valentines out there 

starting with the ones you grew up with…

                                             let alone with the rest of the country.

So

with Colintine’s Day,

we break the rules…

 instead of candy, it’s ice cream pie...

instead of doves, its cardinals ...

(born in St. Louis)

and

instead of cherubs, it’s confetti...

but it is still 

a day 

about love.

💗

In a blink of an eyelash 

the years have blown by and I have loved every one of them… 

watching Colin 

then 

and now.

From the bottom of my heart

 

I wish Colin 

all the love and happiness…

that he has given us every day 

since our First Colintine’s Day...

then

and now.

OG Chelsea's Birthday

Happy Birthday to 

OG Chelsea... 

our 

first born...

1st of 3 gangstas.

Today we give 

 Chelsea the mad respect and admiration…

that an OG deserves.

 Chelsea may not be 

70’s OG - crips style… 

but she is 

OG-crib syle.

As a mother of 2, 

she knows her way around cribs.

 

 Chelsea is also our OG Manomet girl. 

She’s passing along her love for Manomet 

and Mano traditions 

to her kids…

which were passed down to her 

from her Dad 

and her OG Nana Lenore. 

Ansley and Presley are closely following

in their 

sandy footsteps

and are well on their beach walk

to becoming 

Manomet girls. 

 I can't help but remember an OGManomet Chelsea story.

Before we bought our home in Manomet… 

we rented the same house every year for 20 years…

so basically it was ours. 

At the end of 3 weeks…

Chelsea would write down 

a list of things we did, 

date it, 

and then tape it to the back of the owner’s framed pictures. 

 When we would arrive the next summer

she would check the back of every picture 

to make sure they were still taped there. 

 One year the owner told us 

that she noticed 

paper hanging down from behind 

one of her framed pictures.

 She turned it over to find Chlesea’s written notes. 

 She thought it was sweet, so she re-taped it 

and hung the picture back on the wall. 

 If she checked the rest of her pictures 

hanging in her house…

she would have also found 

“Chelsea was here." 

 That’s how OG’s operate. 

 Anywhoooo…… 

 When I remember Chelsea 

at the ages her girls are now…

I can clearly “sea” in my mind,

clear as a Manomet beach day… 

 Chelsea on the jetties jumping from rock to rock. 

 Chelsea swimming to Flat Rock. 

 Chelsea on a sea glass walk 

looking for a “Grand Slam”…for the win. 

Chelsea's last day ritual of flapping her arms 

and jumping at the sugar shack. 

Chelsea bringing home a bag of sand from the beach.

I will always treasure my early Manomet memories of 

no tv, no internet, no cell phones...

untethered by time.

Blissful days of

Chelsea 

playing on the beach

with her brother and sister with that 

devil-may-care,

wind in their hair,

forever unaware

youthful innocence.

Nothin' compares.

 How perfect was this year's Christmas gift 

from OG PaulA 

to his Manomet girls?

 A t-shirt that he designed... 

 cleverly made 

With Love.

 Today we celebrate Chelsea …

our first born 

 (who despite being the guinea pig 

1st test child) 

grew into an amazing woman 

 with immeasurable love

for her family 

and 

all things tradition.

 

 Chelsea, 

may you always let your inner

OG shine.

Wearing Out "Biggest T-Shirt"

 

I'm wearing out the new song

"biggest t-shirt"

by Avery Anna

written by

Avery Anna, Lori McKenna, Chris McKenna, Colin Healy

                                                                

woo hoo

It’s a song that allows you to “sit in your feelings”…

but I suppose you could also drive.

  Sometimes driving and reflecting is cool too.

As I listened to “biggest t-Shirt”…

it made me reflect on daze gone by.

anywhooo…

My roommate my freshman year of college and I were the byproduct of 

an “arranged match.”  

We  were put together by our parents. 

My parents had good friends whose relatives 

were her parents and so 

instead of rolling the random roommate dice…

we hedged our bets and went for the safest roll.  

At least she was vetted.

We didn't have the luxury of checking each other out on Facebook.

Instead, we met face-to-face on move-in day in our dorm room.  

We were a good match, 

as far as roommates go.  

We got along….

no problems…no issues.

We were friendly…

studied in the room together, 

chatted about our day and 

occasionally went to the dining hall together. 

  I had made friends with other girls on my floor and 

I assumed she did too.  

She often talked about high school and her friends and family from home.  

She started going home on weekends… 

I looked at it as time that I had the room to myself.

After class she would come back to the room and put on her bathrobe.  

I don’t always notice things…

but I I did take note that it was the afternoon and 

she was walking around in her fuzzy pink bathrobe.  

It was a cute robe…

but it was also the middle of the day.

After her freshman year she left college and 

went to a school closer to her home.  

Looking back now after decades of life…

I’m pretty sure she was extremely homesick and 

didn’t feel comfortable being at school.

Her fuzzy pink bathrobe was her 

“biggest t-shirt."

It was her refuge…

her safe space;

a place to hide from her insecurities.

I’m guessing her bathrobe gave her the 

big warm hug

that she needed.   

If I was smarter back then and 

not the clueless freshman that I was….

I would have given her a big hug. 

I could have given her that big hug.

 I wish I was smarter.

Sometimes songs make us think…

and this song did that for me

and

thanks to you 

Avery Anna 

I’m wearing out… 

"biggest t-shirt."

PaluA + Kat = 40 +1

 41 is an EXTRA special anniversary.  

You would think EXTRA special 

might involve an anniversary ending in a 0 or a 5…

but every year for us past number 40 

is BEYOND special.

40 + 1

Anywhooo…

Last year we were excited about celebrating our Big 4-0 anniversary in Asheville, NC.  

The plan was to take in the mountains, breweries, 

restaurants, Biltmore tours, foliage…

maybe even stop in Pigeon Forge on the way.  

(My idea…Love Dolly…hehe) 

Instead, 

the venue where we ended up 

celebrating our 40 years 

was very sterile,  

and 

 the food was a tad on the bland and boring side 

with a sprinkle of blah.

But 

it was a hospital 

and as hospitals go…

Vanderbilt EXCELLED

 with its wonderful docs and nurses.  

Go Vandy.

Although I wasn’t able to wear my wedding dress 

(which if you know, you know...

 is my anniversary tradition) 

and dance to our song...

at least one of us 

was wearing 

a gown.  

Sorry, PaulA

Thankfully we were able to dance to our song....

at Brianna and Christian’s wedding

3 weeks later. 

It’s a blessing to be able to grow old together …

and watch the years roll by...

waves roll by…

low tide to high tide…

flat rock appearing and disappearing. 

I am so grateful.  

Happy Anniversary to 

the curly haired boy... 

                                                                     (my semi-formal college date 😂)

I married 41 years ago.

PaulA + Kat

40 + 1

Happy 5th Birthday Ansley, our Whole Hand Girl

 Ansley is FIVE today.

She is a whopping whole hand.

applause, applause

No more show of fingers for Ansley 

to show her age...

Anywhoooo....

I'm not sure how a whole hand has passed already.  

BOOM, she's five.

We've watched our lil grand baby girl grow and

grow into the sweetest

little girl.

Our lil Miss who

  loves to dress up…

and who

ALWAYS appreciates a Princess dress.

Ansley telling Brianna 

she loves her dress and she "looks like Elsa."

But Ansley will also get down on the ground;

pick up bugs and ants and

make homes for them.

No problem getting her hands dirty.

ummm...please keep your little friends outside, Ans.

Ansley is always ready to 

give a helping hand in the kitchen

and be the Big Sis...

ready to hold her sweet lil sissy's hand.

We thank the dear Lord for Ansley and putting Ansley 

in the BESTest of hands.

Let’s give Ansley a hand on her 

5th birthday.

👏

You are so loved 

(whole-handedly)

my sweet Whole Hand Girl.

You won MeMe and Hop over 

the day you were born.