Until further notice.........

Gotta show you my super,duper, fantastic, awesome

birthday gift.......

My family got it for me. TOTAL Surprise !!

I'm studying my manual, playing with the settings,

taking a few pictures.....and I LOVE IT !!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you my sweet family!Last Friday night we went out to dinner with two couples who are some of

our dearest friends --- yet over the past few months/years

we've spent less and less time with them as life

has become busier and crazier for us all.

How DOES that happen???

Anyway, had a delicious dinner at The Wharf,

complete with birthday cheesecake -

soooo good!, then went to one of their homes

for coffee and dessert and visiting.

This sweet little "stash" of fun was given

me by my friends.

Little did Mendi know that I was about to re-do my kitchen

with a 1940's, old-fashioned feel.

The cute towels fit in perfectly.

And Jill gave me the Hobby Lobby card.

Always the right color, size and fit.

Love it! Thanks friends.

We all need to just STOP and smell the...........
a little more often. Just kickin' back and visiting was the best.

My mother always gives each of us $$$$ for birthdays.
That way we can use it for what we need or something
we've really been wanting.

Weeeellllllll -
I've really been wanting my pre-pregnancy waistline
back, but I'm told they don't sell those in stores,
else we'd ALL have one.
Sooooo looks like I'm gonna have to work for it.
With one of these ---
The Abcircle (as seen on TV) is really a very fun
workout. Once I tried it, I was hooked.
AND that's saying something.
I am not easily impressed with forms of exercise.
Found it at Bed, Bath and Beyond
of all places.


Also - found this.....sitting there at Ross
the very last one of it's kind
just waiting patiently for me to find
it, love it and take it home with me.

Funny enough, William and I have been talking a lot lately
about this very sentiment. We don't want to just
celebrate the big occasions of life, but also
celebrate the everyday ones.

This sentiment pretty much summed it all up.
It's become our new motto.
Our words to live by.

"Until further notice,
Celebrate
Everything !!!!"

Gwynie Pie

"Fancy" Chandelier

We needed a "fancy" drippy chandelier to hang in the big backyard tree for Lily Kate's birthday party a couple weekends ago.

Sooooo- I set out to make one. I remembered an old black iron candle-lier that had been put away in the barn. So, I dug that out and
spray painted it Heritage White, a can of paint I already had in my paint stash.

Next, I hot glued 3 strands of crystally Christmas garland. This part was amazingly easy. The only hard part was making sure each "drip" was equal. I bought these garlands at Hobby Lobby 1/2 price, spending a total of $3.00.

Then, I looked at small canning jars, Dollar Tree glasses and teacups to glue on each arm and hold a candle. However, teacups would cost too much. And I couldn't stand to ruin a teacup like that anyway.

My friend Elaine came to the rescue with 5 mis-matched clear punch cups. And my daughter, Dana had 5 sweet old china saucers without any cups. Soooo

the saucers glued upside down onto the arms and the punch cups glued onto the bottom side of the saucers.

I found a box of vanilla scented tealights on sale at Target and voila !!!

Fancy, Drippy, Crystally Birthday Chandelier !!!!

And I love it so much hanging in my living room.

It was a "Fancy" birthday !

A perfect Sunday afternoon.
Mama and Daddy
Uncle Toot
Aunt Ronnie and Uncle Roos
GG
Chris, Charla and Cora
Pops and Pie
And everyone dressed up "fancy".
Pink sparkly cupcakes
Drippy chandeliers hanging from the trees
Jigs even dressed up "fancy" in a pink princess crown and a feather boa
What more could a girl want for a
beautiful and fun 3rd birthday party???

What??? My baby is HOW old?????

Dana, Colin and Devin --- a couple years ago. And still one of my very favorite pictures of my three kids. They love each other. It makes a momma happy.................

Sweet picture of "Uncle Hoot" and his niece Lily Kate. Lily didn't feel good that day so Devin just sat and held her while she slept.

A friend of ours used to refer to Devin as a real "Opie-boy". Is this the cutest picture or what?!?!?

Brothers !!!

Darlin' boy!!!

I pray for God's very best blessings in your life!

I love you, Devin!

Happy, happy 28th birthday !!!

xoxo

Mom

Happy Birthday Grammy !!!

Today is my mother-in-law's

birthday!

She is 84!

Some of the family took her out to

Cheddar's last night for

her birthday dinner.

It's always fun to get together

and

just get to hang out

and

visit with the family !

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth !

We love you !!!

Feed On The Word

I love, love, love these dishes!! My kids gave them to me this past weekend for my birthday. I have long admired the entire set of this very beautiful china. Every piece, and there are many pieces, is an off-white with scripture in black around the edge. Every piece has a different scripture. And there are many scripture "themes" to choose from -- Faith, Prayer, Heritage, Children, Family, Country -- lots more.
There in the background to the side you can see the footed cake stand that was given to me on another occasion. The cake stand has held beautiful cakes and pies year-round as well as floral arrangements in the Fall and big chunky red candles at Christmas. I love it!! The kids also gave me the big fruit/pasta bowl with the fruits of the spirit written around the inside edge. It's filled with apples today but in the future I'm seeing maybe chicken fettucini alfredo or maybe a huge green salad.

Anyway, I love them! Just wanted you to see them. I figure you might love them too. And if you are interested, you can see the entire collection on the web at feedontheword.com.

It's My Birthday!!!

Goodness, I can sure relate to that old line that goes "If I'd known I was gonna live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself!" HA! It is amazing for me to realize I am 57 years old today! Just a couple months ago I was 40. Time just moves on -- waaaaay too fast!

I've had a few phone calls and some Facebook birthday good wishes. That's been fun. Birthdays are funny things for me....I don't know if it's just me or if everyone is this way. I just remember very, very few of my birthdays. I know they come and go but very few have been noteworthy.

My parents never made a really huge deal of birthdays. They were always acknowledged with a special meal and a gift when I was younger. Then after I married, the gift turned into money. Great with me! Money is always the right color and always fits!! And every single birthday that I lived at home, my parents would come into my room to wake me up singing "Happy Birthday!" Even after I got marrried, my parents would always call, usually early in the morning, and sing to me over the phone . Never did they miss or forget, not once.

That is why I so vividly remember my 50th birthday. Six months earlier, my Daddy died in a car accident. So on that morning of my 50th birthday, my mom called to say "Happy Birthday", but there was no singing and there hasn't been any singing since. Until-------------last night!

The phone rang, it was Dana . She and Lily Kate were driving home from Fort Worth. Lily Kate wanted to talk and as soon as she got the phone she said "Happy Birthday, Pie". Soooo sweet! My heart just melts when she calls me "Pie". She chatted a bit and then gave the phone back to her mom. Dana explained that Lily wanted to sing "Happy Birthday" to me, but was saving it for my actual birth day. As Dana and I continued to talk, I could hear Lily Kate singing it out in the background.....just tuning up for today! So, later tonight, when they get home, I'm looking forward to that sweet little voice singing "Happy Birthday" to me!!

God is so good! He gives and He takes away....blessed be the name of the LORD. My life has been blessed beyond measure. Never did I, in my wildest dreams, ever imagine a life so sweet as the one I am living. I'm thankful for my 57 years -- every wrinkle and every gray hair that living has brought me. It is my prayer that I live another many, many decades and get to see what else the LORD will do in my life and in the lives of those I love. It just gets sweeter and sweeter!

Living out Loud!!!

Gwynie Pie

SPRING CLEANING

After a long and especially dirty Fall and Winter, I am so ready for a clean house!!! We live less than a quarter mile from a big ol' cotton gin and man, is it ever dirty around here. Cotton harvesting season begins early September and goes until it's all done, this year it was finished late January. That means the gin roars and belches dirt, dust and fibers into the air for almost half a year. Seven days a week, 24 hours a day......it runs. Fortunately, unless a real "norther" comes through (and we had a few this year) we are usually spared being covered up with the fall-out. Why don't we just move??? You know why!!! This is home -- for better or worse. AND the better is sooooo good, we can put up with the worse.

Anyway, it's time to Spring Clean!! I love it! Always have! Spring cleaning, done correctly, is quite a process. I don't take down and wash the curtains. And I don't dismantle the blinds and haul them out to the yard to wash them off. I've been involved in that kind of spring cleaning with my mother and Mamaw and, well....my "abbreviated" style will just have to do.

I cleaned my bedroom Monday, top to bottom. The above picture is of the sitting area end of the room, with everything dusted and swept and mopped and straightened......ahhhhhhhhh! I can breathe easier now -- literally --- I can breathe easier. You should have seen the pile!!! of dust bunnies and dirt I hauled out of there! And NO I didn't take a picture of that.....maybe I should have? No! No one needs to see that! You might never ever come to my house again....................