Monday, August 31, 2009


It's a porch day for me!


You see these french doors...well I'm about to walk through them onto the porch and here is where I will spend most of my day!
After a very busy week and weekend I will "hibernate" here for the day....my Bible, journal,
and a few good books.....ahhhhh......

Sunday, August 30, 2009




Makenna's Birthday Tea


What a lovely tea party we had on Saturday!

Here's Makenna and pictures of our tea will follow.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

The Night Before....

Twas the night before the Birthday Tea and all through the house
there was so much action...too much for the mouse!

The "grands" watched their movie, in and out of the den, while
Bonnie , Mom and Granggie worked as in a spin.

The Dad and the Papa went about here and there watching over the festivities
without nary a care!

The kitchen was a buzzing...the eating area too as Bonnie the Party planner
showed what she could do!

We worked for several hours until we were exhausted then one by one
departed leaving us quiet and voiceless.

Ahhhhh, the bed it was so comfortable, our muscles pained and stretched
for Papa and the Granggie had worked and hauled and carried
pavers, mulch, and brick.....

All this before the Tea work night and were pretty well spent!

Now we're counting hours and we've so much work to do but Papa will do the dusting and the vacuuming too!!!

No more time for blogging for there's much to be done and we can hardly wait
for the Birthday Tea fun!

Friday, August 28, 2009

"Granggie-rella"

"Granggie-rella, Granggie-rella, all I hear is Granggie-rella...get the flowers and the shrubbery, clear the weeds out, now the housework, dust and vacuum, do the mopping, clean those bathrooms, clear the stairway, wash those windows, sweep those porches, cook the dinner, do the kitchen, get the groceries, fix the table, arrange the flowers,etc..." Thank goodness the china's clean!

Well, there is no wicked stepmother ( I know that all stepmothers aren't wicked but did Disney ever know it?) telling me what to do! It's all in my mind! It's me!

Why is it that when we're preparing our homes for an "occasion" we see all these other things we would like done...before?

For example...the porch and deck have been finished for months now and all of a sudden I'm doing landscaping!!!! I've been to Home Depot two days in a row and will be going again in a little while! I've hauled bushes, plants, flowers, brick and will go back this morning for mulch and possibly more brick. It tires me out just thinking about it!
I still have to dig up grass and do the brick and repot flowers before I even work on the house!

Oh well, here I go! No more time for blogging!

Hey, I just thought of something....where are all the mice and the birds and the rabbits that helped Cinderella! I sure could use a few of them today! :)

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

"Oh my goodness!"

Oh my goodness! The excitement is mounting as we prepare for this special birthday tea!
Now April's childhood best friend, Bonnie is coming alongside to help make this event
even MORE special! She has "scathingly brilliant ideas" and with all our creative minds...well, all I can say is "WOW"!

I do believe we are all becoming quite "giddy"!

And today is Makenna's official birthday..."Happy Birthday" my beautiful brown-eyed
princess! You are greatly loved...especially by Papa and Granggie!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Party Planning/Housecleaning!

This Saturday our oldest granddaughter will be having a Birthday Tea Party, inviting 12 of her friends and girl cousins (who are friends too!)
The Moms are also invited but no boys allowed! (Sorry Papa...you have to stay upstairs or go to a movie with Uncle Bill since Aunt Brittany is coming too!)

So April and I have our work cut out for us! I will clean, clean, clean...
polish silver, iron the "Tea" tablecloth, help with the goodies to eat, arrange the flowers and play hostess. And I am actually looking forward to it!

Friday, August 21, 2009

Treasure Day!

Yesterday our Pastors, some Moms, Grandmothers, children and Teens- a total of 16 of us
hosted a "craft/ice cream sundae" party for over 30 Treasures at Weddington Park
Assisted Living.
It was a blast!

The residents made Fall door hangers;some jumped in there, gluing, sticking, creating
and a few others had to be coerced, telling us that they weren't crafty! Oh but they were and then were so proud of their creations!

Then came the ICE CREAM SUNDAES! YUMMY! We had toppings galore- fresh peaches with blueberries, fresh strawberries, sprinkles, syrups, whipped cream and cherries.
Some only wanted a bit of chocolate syrup, others wanted the works and some just said
"surprise me"!

There were hugs and laughter, "good conversation" (for you Brian!), walkers and wheelchairs, smiles and frowns when some wanted to eat too much and we had to say,
very politely "no more".

Some came early and some came late....even when all was put away but our ladies just
jumped in there pulling it all out again...such gracious servers!

We came away "richer" and incredibly blessed with full hearts and warm memories AND
new found friends!
What priceless treasure!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Tuesday's musings

Quote of the day:

"Some books should be tasted
some devoured,
but only a few
should be chewed and digested thoroughly."

from the book, Inkheart

Several books I chew and thoroughly digest...over and over again...
the Bible, Christ the Healer,
The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge, Jan Karon's Mitford series...

There are more but these were the first to "pop" into my head!

I love books that encourage me, books that make me cry, books that make me laugh outloud, books that make me think, books that whisk me away from the "things of man", mystery books, cook books, books, books, books!

Oh yes and the smell of books and bookstores...yummy!

Monday, August 17, 2009

A "revealing" weekend!

I welcome correction...well actually I welcome correction from the Lord but it doesn't make me feel good! (All other is not quite so welcomed...working on that too)
Well, it does make me feel good to know that He loves me too much to let me remain
as I am.

That's the kind of weekend I had. It really WAS a good weekend...Mike came home on Wednesday night rather than Thursday; He had a good Dr.'s visit...had "beautiful"
blood pressure-a first for him and inspite of the stressful project he's on...prayer works and the Word makes medicine work even better!...on Saturday the girls and I, along with Kellan, went to a lovely bridal shower luncheon...Saturday evening found a great Cajun restaurant with Mike...
The Cajun Yard Dog...wonderful shrimp creole...YUM!(at the Arboretum)

Then the Lord spoke to me through His Word, Message Bible that I am reading for fun!
"You start, you stop.....you need humility and discipline". YIKES! OUCH! Sure didn't see that one coming...but He's right....ummmmm....

And then Sunday afternoon....BAM! My Mom had given me a sweet little rocker, have had it for almost two years...had painted it a beautiful olive green and was using it on our porch and she called to say she wanted it back. I was not happy about it but I was not rude to my mom. BUT after I got off the phone, I was angry..really angry and kept rehearsing my "mistreatment"!

Well, my anger turned into a bad mood...yes I was praying or trying to...then I got Mike in a bad mood...then I was mad at myself for acting the way I was acting...
"out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks"---SLAMMED!
All that junk...right there in me! Boy did I feel rotten, am sure I was beginning to "smell" a bit rotten to the Lord too...

Confessed my faults and let all the junk go and came out a much sweeter fragrance to the Lord! Took me several hours to get there but I did!

A bit wiser...a bit more more mature...I'm now on the "alert" so I can behave more Christ-like in this new week.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Summer Evening Serenade

Candlelight....tealight....and our own private serenade...

We sat on the porch tonight enjoying quiet conversation, the glow of candlelight
and a symphony performed by tree frogs, cicadas and various other winged creatures.

On the edge of our woods, with our neighbor's light breaking through, several deer passed, continuing their nightly trek between our houses. They had been in our backyard several times today- morning and afternoon.

Such a magical, holy night..."This is my Father's world and to my listening ear all nature sings and 'round me rings the music of the spheres".

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Love a rainy day!

What a wonderful rainy day we've had!

Loved driving in it!
Loved sitting on the porch surrounded by it!
AND...loved curling up with a blanket and watching an old Clark Gable movie-
looking from the inside out...watching the leaves trying to catch each drop!

Now I've begun to turn on lamplight...how cozy on a cloudy, rainy day.

Soon Mike will be home and I can curl up with him! Just doesn't get much better than this!
It's the simple things that bring so much pleasure.......selah....

Monday, August 10, 2009

Day's ending

How I love "looking" back over the day's activities and reviewing my accomplishments!

Makes me feel so good... ahhhhhh....

Of course there are days when I seem to run in circles, accomplishing very little.

Our Pastor has been teaching on leadership for several weeks now and one of the aspects was on "Vision". "Write the vision...make it plain" Habakkuk 2:2
The second part of that tells us "so the reader can run with it."

His teaching has encouraged me to "write" the vision...my goals, daily and for seasons in my life. It gives me something to aim for...lest I aim at nothing
for that is what I will get... nothing.

I'm preparing a binder with dividers for my personal goals, spiritual goals,
household goals, etc. I am also writing my goals for the day and checking them off as I do them! How I love CHECKING them off!

Okay...truthfully...some I don't get to and most of the time it's because I didn't want to do it- not because I ran out of time! It is something I am working on.

Like I put down "exercise" but my flesh keeps me busy with other things and then it's too late. I definitely need to work on this one!

I still have time to make that happen today and since I shared all this, I do believe my blog is going to hold me accountable!

Wow! Can a blog really do that?

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Back from my Sabbatical!

Here I go again... am returning to the wonderful world of blogging!
I will never Twitter or Facebook..that's just not me! I'm just a blogger!

I am returning a bit older and wiser and more secure in who I am...thank you Jesus for that!

Am having a very nice summer enjoying the "Grands", the porch and the wildlife.
We now have deer that come daily to eat the corn I put out and our apples and drink from our birdbath. They seem quite comfortable with us and watch us watch them!

I love finding leaves that have put off their new green "clothes" for those more colorful... everyone whispering "the promise of Fall...."
I collect them and keep them until they dry up and then I find more. I put them on the window sill at the kitchen sink where I can enjoy them. Sometimes I even put one under the back wiper of my car and drive all over, silently announcing "the promise of Fall" to anyone who may notice.

I'm off to enjoy my husband and the day...nothing planned but spontaneous!

I leave you with this:

Quote of the day....
"What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?"
George Eliot