What a Weekend!

My hubby was feeling good enough that we took off for the weekend. Our 2nd oldest grand daughter turned 14 and was being confirmed all in the same week and we didn't want to miss it! Off to St. Pete we went. We had some much needed rain on Saturday and it brought in the most glorious weather we have had in a long time. It was cool in the evening and then hovering around 70 degrees with a mild breeze all day long. The sky was the purist blue without one cloud. It was the kind of weather where you truly couldn't get enough!!!!

On Saturday we celebrated Caitlin's birthday. Now that the girls are older, money is always the gift of choice. They are always saving for something special and it is really what they prefer. In the olden days, I always thought money was a "thoughtless" gift. A gift where you might not have taken the time to come up with something the recipient might really want. I NO LONGER feel that way but I like to come up with a fun way to present the money if I can.

Enter Pinterest. I saw a pin for this Kleenex box gift of money and knew it would be perfect for a teenager. I taped all of the bills together and then attached them to a note that said "don"t BLOW it all in one place". Here Caitlin is just reading the note and trying to think what may come next.


Here she has started to pull out the bills and has caught on to what is happening.


And here she is with all of her loot. It was a fun way to present a gift and I think Caitlin would agree, a fun way to receive a gift. This lucky girl was getting confirmed the next day so when her "birthday" was over, we went on to gift her for confirmation as well.

Here she is with her confirmation class, both pastors and class sponsors. It was a beautiful service. The confirmands and their families were called up on the altar one by one where the ceremony took place. Believe me, more than one of us people in heels wondered how we would do on those steps, but the service went off without a hitch-or a tumble thank goodness!

Caitlin surrounded by one proud family. And, once again I am reminded of the tradition of these things. My husband and I did this same thing so many years ago as did Caitlin's mom and dad and in four more years, so will her sister, Olivia. Once again, another tie that binds. It was a wonderful day-I love tradition!

After the ceremony we headed to an eclectic restaurant in Gulfport. I have blogged about Gulfport before. I love that little town. It is very artsy-very old Florida. We had a wonderful brunch and then headed home for a relaxing day of doing nothing! We did fit in a movie or two but the weather was so gorgeous that we spent much of the day watching the sea life in the water from the second story screen porch.

And that is where hubby and I spent a good bit of Monday as well until we finally pried ourselves out of there and headed home.

We did take a bit of a detour and stopped at my new favorite shopping destination, The Shoppes at Wiregrass for a lovely lunch (outdoors of course) and a visit to a few of my favorite stores! Isn't it great when days come together like this! Guess I had better get back to reality. The house is decorated for spring and I will get busy showing you what I have done soon-I promise. Stay tuned.