Decorating Hints & Saying I love YOU daily...

I love to find ways to tell my husband that I love him. Some have been sweet, I love you on the bathroom mirror and some have been quirky.... He gets onto me for not replacing the toilet paper, I write I love him on the finished roll so that when he throws it away, he knows how much I appreciate him. But, for a chance to say I love You and have it permanent, use scrabble tiles. I made this little shelf from a Hobby Lobby shelf, paint and scrapbook paper. It is in our bathroom between our two mirrors. I surprised my husband one morning by placing the scrabble tile piece in front of the cross. In turn he surprised me with a little love note that sits there until this day. We may have been married for 25+ years, but we still realize the importance of letting each other know that we love them!

Advice for the day.... Don't worry about what others think about having your love notes out for each other. Daily working on YOUR marriage is much more important!

P.S. These little love notes can be made for your children also!

Happy Valentines Day!

Our Science Lab....

If you had ask me yesterday after Church if we would be able to have Halloween the way that we like to have, I would have said, "No Way can we pull this off". This past month has been so wild and hectic with my DAD being so sick and Halloween was the last thing on my mind. But with DAD coming home this past week things have been looking up for our family. After Church Sunday, the children showed up and the decorations came out. Jackie help me to finish 140 goody bags (not near enough for our 200+ trick or treaters), Whit made costumes for her daddy, JD and herself. Chase and Reid hung the decorations. JD and Whit carved the pumpkin. Finally, Jackie and Whit put the final decorating touches to the house! I was so proud of how everyone pulled together to keep our tradition alive. And I forgot.... I made two pots of soup and a pot of Velveeta cheese dip... My sister also made a pot of her wonderful chili. We have so many family members come to our home for trick or treating and they are one hungry bunch when they finish roaming the neighborhood! I have to say that Lakeshore Estates has to be the best place to trick or treat for families!!! It is a blessing to see our streets full of families on golf carts, hay rides and just walking around!


Reid roasting pumpkin seeds.....


Whit painted our Welcome sign.....

JD with two of our favorite trick or treaters!

Jackie and our goody bags.... We always try to put scripture with our theme!

One pot of soup finished!

Reid's Science project for the kids tonight!

Jackie and Chase!

Whit, Yvette, Betty and Taylor... My dear sweet neighbors!

The Girls!

JD and Whit..... smelling the brains and heart they will be sharing with the kids.

Reagan, my sweet niece with her magic wand.... She kept the pot going for us all night with her wand... Toooooo Sweeet!

Yvette and Chase!!! I love this boy!

Science project for the kids!

Vintage photo of the old family lake house.....

My husband's cousins wife just posted some old pictures of the old family vacation home on Lake Rabun. My husband's grandparents owned the home with their sister and brother (who married each other) and all of the double first cousins. The home still exist beautifully on Lake Rabun. For anyone familiar with Lake Rabun , the house sits on the hill almost across from the boat house. My husband's aunt now is owns the home and takes care of it. The home sits on a a peninsula with a hidden tunnel below the house that leads to one side of the lake. It is one awesome house that probably could not be built today the way it was in the past. My husband's parents own a 100 year old home that sits across from the boathouse. To build the home, the previous owners had to barge the materials across the lake. That was the only access to the home. I remember when we were first married, we would start at the bottom of the hill praying to make it up to the top. Sometimes it took many trys to make it to the top with us laughing all the way and hoping that we did not meet a car coming in the opposite direction. For years we spent our anniversary in May at the home. I miss it and the views! The home is full of history and ghost stories. Reid's Aunt Neta owns a home further down the lake. It is also just gorgeous! Maybe I need to take a photo tour of the lake and share it with my blogging friends? Thanks Tara for taking me back.......

Artsy Girls Day and YES JD cut his hair.....

First of ALL............. YES, JD got a haircut!

Neither Whit or JD wanted it cut, but he needs a job and the interviews hopefully will be starting soon. I think that if the company he is hired for will allow him to have long hair. he will.

Do you like it longer???

Jackie's first day of playing in the Studio...... I think she did an incredible job!!!

The top of Jackie's pieces....

Whitney's day in the studio... She is giving this as a wedding gift to a very dear friend this weekend in Alabama!

Our day (Jackie, Whitney and I) in the art studio Saturday was so incredible. I was able to teach the girls a few new techniques, we bonded even more and we all went home with completed projects! The only problem we had was one young man and two even younger men checking in with us all the time (Reid, Chase and JD). These young men are so funny..... We just had to see that everything was going fine (and of course many stolen kisses were taken). It was a day that I consider a true blessing. I would have never imagined that having Jackie and JD in our family would be so awesome. How blessed I am......

Also.....

JD and Whit have started their new blog Jitney's Journeys!http://jitneysjourneys.blogspot.com/

It basically is about their daily walk with Christ and the journey He is taking them on.

They love to video, so get ready to smile and laugh a little!

Ring Bearer Nest for the Wedding.....

The Ring Bearer's Nest

Well, by the time this post is up, Whit's wedding day will be here and gone! While writing this post I thought ~Everything I create (invitations, programs, I mean everything) has to tell a story. Maybe that is the artist in me. When we create we are constantly thinking about the story of the piece. When making this piece I found that the bird represents me..... The two eggs, my children JD (son-in-love to be) and Whit (our daughter). I thought about how hard it is for a MOM and DAD to let go of our children, to let them create and feather their own nest. The shredded vintage paper represents how as individuals, we can take anything and everything and use it to Glorify God! I loaded the nest with feathers~ Whitney loves to use feathers in her art. I can't believe that I am sitting here crying.... They are tears of JOY for my children. Children that have taken their stand in the Lord! I think I may create my own little nest, with two birds (Reid and I) and four little eggs (Jackie and Chase & Whitney and JD)~ Our Nest....

Thank Goodness.... Halloween is over!!

Halloween at our house starts with Whitney and Reid carving "THEIR" pumpkin!
JD cannot be part of this father/daughter tradition.... So he has to sit and wait!

Glamour Shot before the night starts!

The Captain and the love of my life!

Chase, my son, who wanted to pass on this years theme!

"Bear" always has to be a part of all celebrations!

Whit and JD ~ Whit made their costumes!

My sister, Sonya, bringing food!

We are so ready for our trick or treaters!

The first and my favorite~ Emma Katrice! Also her mommy and daddy, my niece and nephew!

Whit and Daddy with their pumpkin!

Showing off his pirate shirt!

Someone took my camera!

Taylor and Whitney!

Halloween was so awesome this year! We thought the rain was going to put a damper on everything, but the KIDS proved us wrong! We had a record high of 180 kids this year, gave out of candy and had to turn out the lights and shut-down! We had so many cute costumes that were made at home! It was a perfect night!

Spook City at Our Home.....

We love Halloween!!! We love the fact that children come to our home and get excited about our decorations, our goody bags and well.... I guess you could say the whole atmosphere! Last year we had over a 125 children come to our home! For Reid and I, that is so awesome! It is a chance to visit with the neighbors, see all our friends and just fellowship with each other!

This year with Pirates being so "hot", we choice to be a Pirate house. This was easy seeing that I had collected Pirate "stuff" for our Beach House. Did you know that you can get fish nets really cheap after they get holes in them from the docks? And I found a great place in Apalachicola to get old flags and other Pirate items!

When I was younger, I remember neighbors doing special things for us! Thinking back, I bet they enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed them! That's what I want to create for all my visitors, a great and safe memory of Halloween as I had!

Hope you enjoy the video!!!

Lakewood Antique Market, Part I Yahoo.....

After having an exhausting week, I wanted to cancel my plans to take the one hour trip across town to the Lakewood Antique Market. This is something I had always dreamed of doing..... Yes, dreamed! When one is stricken with the roller coaster ride of health problems and depends on meds to make their monthly calendars, dreams become easily broken. But for some reason, Reid was going to make sure that this dream came true for me.

I was emotionally tired therefore crying most of the way there because of my grandmother having to go into a nursing home, complained of joints hurting and basically wanted Reid to turn Old Nellie around and head back to Monroe. But no, he just listened, smiled and kept going. He knows me too well. We get there, pull in, I sit up straight in my seat with head trying hard to see what in the world was going on everywhere and then it happens, JUNKING starts running in my veins, I can't get to each booth fast enough. I leave Reid at one booth paying for it, while I run to the next to see what treasure I can find!

My best medicine, my husband!

He always knows what I need......

I hope you enjoy Part I and Can't wait for Part II....I spent way too much money at the Grosgrain Annie's Ribbon Emporium........ She had the most beautiful hand dyed vintage ribbon that I fell in love with. What a treat!!!! I thought it was so sweet that she had named her shop after her Mother that was there working. JoAnn also was so sweet to walk me around and introduce me to many of the women that I blog with weekly!!! That was worth the trip to Lakewood just to meet blogging friends!

Thanks JoAnn!!

Sassy Trash~ I could not wait to see this exhibit!

Her store is located about 20 minutes from my home and

I plan on making it one of my favorites!

It was so beautifully set-up!

So Creative......

The Painted Fern - WOW - It was so easy to take pictures......

Maybe because this was My KIND OF STUFF!

I also purchased lavender and roses potpourri, the smell is so wonderful!

I loved the tutu on the dress form.... If only I had a dress form!