Baby & Booties

Miss me?  Guess where I have been!  Getting ready to be a grandparent!  My first grandchild is finally here!  This little angel was born September 12 at 1:26 pm.  She was a whopping 7.13 lbs, 21 inches a long!   It has been some kind of a experience!  I'm looking forward to all the joy this little person will bring us.  We couldn't feel more blessed right now.  

As for the booties, her daddy requested me to make her these little Mary Jane booties you see above. I worked hard at the last minute to get them done for her arrival! I followed the newborn pattern anticipating they would still be big on her, but to our surprise, her feet were to big for the booties! Guess I'll be working on making her another pair the next size up!! 

Blessings Always

Diaper Cake

Couldn't wait to show off my first attempt at a diaper cake!  I'm also working on some table banners to match.  I'm giving my son and his fiance a baby shower next week and decided to make all the decorations myself. I love having the chance to try something new. I didn't take pictures, but I think I can break down really quick the steps I took to make this cake.

I basically took new born diapers, rolled each one individually long ways and placed them standing up on a 10 inch cake cardboard cake plate.  Once I had enough rolled up to fill the plate, I cut my ribbon, used a straight pin to pin it in a diaper, then wrapped it around all of them right in the center to hide the rubber bands and joined the ribbon together tightly in the back with another straight pin.  Keep your ribbon tight so the diapers won't move.  I then took the pink ribbon and did the same think over the top part of the chevron ribbon.  Then took a piece of white stretch lace ribbon and put it around the bottom.  I then started rolling the diapers for the second tier.  I just made it a little smaller.  I then proceeded and did the same thing with the ribbon for the second and third tier.  I did not attach the tiers, they sit nicely on top of each other and should be able to be transported fine.  I then topped off the cake with the pink ribbon in a bow and I stuck three of the cupcake toppers in the top, so it would match the cupcakes I'm making! Viola!  Turned out pretty good for the first time!  The green you see is part of the diapers when I rolled that them up.  If you had all white diapers, there wouldn't be any color showing like mine.  I just used what we had already bought and they worked fine.  I think the green actually gives it a little pop of color!  I'll post more pics of the baby shower soon!

Blessings Always!

Mini Vacay to Savannah!

Savannah sunsets are the best!!!

I walk these streets for days!!

Seriously, could you imagine stepping into your backyard and seeing this every morning?  This is to die for!

I picked this one out as my dream retirement home!  Perfect size and a picket fence people!

Best pizza I have ever had!  Vinnie Van GoGo's!! 

We finally escaped for a mini vacay!  Boy did we ever need a few days away from our everyday rut! We have a lot going on in our lives right now and trying to escape for a few days almost seemed impossible, but we did it!  This is the third time we have visited Savannah!  I fell in love with the charm of Savannah on our first visit. The people in Savannah just make you feel right at home. The history is so fascinating that you feel like you go back in time.  I get lost in all the history, legends, and stories you come to know when you visit. The trolley ride of the city is fantastic and the ghost tours are a hoot too!  Did I say creepy! Not to mention they have the best pizza I have ever ate at Vinnie Van GoGo's!  If you visit you have to try it!  It is right on City Market where all the shopping happens and I guarantee if you like New York Style pizza, you will love it!  So schedule a few days and go back in time and visit this city of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen!  We came back so refreshed!  

Blessings always

Besties

My daughter on the left, her bestie on the right, 

and her bestie's daughter in the middle

These two girls have been best friends since the age of 5 years old.  What began as a friendship between two, has turned into a friendship between three.  I am so proud of the women and mother these two young ladies have become. Real friendships last a life time.  Keep your friends close and cherish each and every one of them.  I am 51 years old and have already lost two of my closest best friends.  I think of them everyday.  Life is short.  Take nothing for granted. Besties are the best!!

Blessings always

I't's a Homecoming!!!!

She's home!!!

Daddy gets the first hug!

Then mama! With my frozen mt dew on stand by! Ha!

Hugs for brothers,aunts and uncles

Grandma gets her hug

Grandpa snags his

Grandma #2 grabbing her hug

The whole welcoming home crew!

These are our kiddos, our pride and joy!

She's finally home!  After being in Afghanistan for a year, she is finally home!  I can say that there is no part of being a parent that is easy, but I think not being able to physically see one of your children for a long amount of time is one of the hardest challenges of parenthood.  I think we got to actually Skype two times during her deployment.  So to say the least, when we saw this precious face for the first time in a year, there was a whole lot of praise going up to our Lord!!  Amen!

We have 10 days to squeeze in as much as possible, then she is back to Ft. Carson in Colorado!  We got a whole lot of hugging and catching up to do!!!  

Blessings always

If Tomorrow Never Comes

Do you ever ask yourself, what IF tomorrow never comes?  Do you? Do you reflect back on your life and think, have I really been all that I can be? Have I really loved with all my heart?  Have I really followed through with all my big dreams? Yeah, well, I do and then I start to hyperventilate!

Seriously though, I think we all can say that we do think about it, at some point.  As a wife, mother, daughter, sister, niece, co-worker, friend, the list goes on, I feel that I have tried to be my best in each of these roles!  I know there are things I could have done better, but overall, I think I did a pretty good job at fulfilling all these roles over the years!

The thing is, while we were busy trying to be out best in all these roles, did we do the best at following our own dreams?  If tomorrow never comes, would you fill like you chased after your biggest dreams?

I'm as guilty as they come.  I AM A BIG DREAMER!!!  It just takes me a while to chase those dreams.  I started reading blogs over 5 years ago!  I was so hooked and wanted to start my own blog, just as a journal, to have one for myself!  You know how long it took me to start this blog? About 4 years!  It took me one day to start this blog a year ago.  It took 4 years to get my courage up to start it!  The thing is, I know God wants us to succeed! He wants us to follow our dreams! He wants us to have faith over fear and accomplish all our hearts desires!  We are His children! He wants to bless us!  We have to be willing to take those risks!  If it doesn't work out, know that God will open another door!  I am not usually a risk taker, but I made the decision to step out of my comfort zone and start taking risks!   If tomorrow never comes, I want to know that I did follow my dreams!  That I did take risks and put my faith over fear!  I get excited just thinking about it!  I have been praying for a long time that I can step out of my normal and start working on some of my biggest dreams!  Will you join me?  Let's do this!

Blessings always,

DIY Lace Shorts

It's amazing that I will go weeks without having time to post, then all of sudden, BAM!  I have lots of time to post! This will be my third time posting this week, thank you!

Anyway, today I am showing you my version of a pair of DIY Lace Shorts I made for my 51 year old self.  I have seen them in all the stores and magazines. I had to have a pair.  I also wanted a pair that wasn't going to cost a fortune and a pair that would work on this half a century old body! Gasp!

So while cleaning out my closets (ugh!) I found a pair of my favorite worn out jeans.  I love the way they fit, but they were about worn out, so I decided to upcycle them into my version of lace shorts!  Here's how it went down.

I measured down from the inseam 2 inches and cut the legs off with my scissors.  I purchased a roll of white lace at my Wal-Mart for $2.97 and pinned the lace around each leg, beginning and ending at the inseam on the inside leg.  I pinned this to the raw edge of where I cut the legs off, because I want that part to still ravel a little when they are washed next time.  I then sewed the lace on with my sewing machine, unpinned and there you have it, awesome lace shorts!

Total project $2.97 plus tax! I'm happy!

(Please excuse my Tennessee orange tee and my 100 year old mirror, the reflection is pretty dingy and I'm suppose to be working on my closets!)

Blessings Always

Coming Home

Four years ago this August, my only baby girl joined the US Army!  I can't even explain how proud we are of her!  Even though It seems like that time has flown by for us, I'm sure for her it's not gone by as fast.  She has been stationed at Ft Carson in Colorado Springs, CO the past four years.  That is exactly 23 hours away from home.  Definitely not a quick trip.  She has been in Afghanistan for the past year and is on her way home this week!  We are so proud of her and all the other soldiers that serve this country of ours!  These young adults fight for our freedom everyday!  I have prayed for her and all the other soldiers everyday since she deployed.  My heart has been at peace the entire time.  It's amazing how God gets us through the hardest seasons in our life.  When people would ask me if I was afraid for her, I always said, I have a peace that she will return home safely.

I want to thank all our troops and all the other soldiers that serve our country in all the armed forces!  We thank you for all you do!  I am happy to say that in March of 2015 this Sgt has orders to be transferred to Ft. Stewart in Savannah, GA!  Woo Hoo!  Prayers answered again!  She will only be 7 hours away from home now!  God is so good!

Blessings always

A Blessed Day

This is my little, my youngest, my last born, my baby.  He is the youngest, he will be 24 this year.

This one has always been, all over the place.  All over the map, as most people would say.  He is full of energy, always has to be doing something, never still, always making people laugh, the list goes on.  This one also has a heart of gold.  He would give you the shirt off his back.  To sum it up, he's pretty special.  But being special does not mean being perfect.  There is no such thing as perfect.  Not in human eyes anyway, but I think God see's us as perfect. Each of us is His masterpiece.

My little let the teenage years consume him, as soon as he turned 18.  We had always told all three of our children, once you turn 18, your an adult, you will be treated as an adult if you were ever to get into any trouble.  We warned all three of them, please be careful, walk the right path, always keep moving forward.

A month after he turned 18, ONE MONTH, our little got in some trouble and was arrested.  Someday I will go into details, but for now, he was arrested and taken to jail.  We did what we thought was best and decided that tough love was the best way to go.  He remained in jail for three months. One of the hardest things as a parent I have ever done.

Three months later, came his court date, then he was released, then he was sentenced to four years probation, since it was his first offense.

Four years is a long time.  Four years of not making one mistake to violate your probation.  You could violate your probation, by missing just one appointment.  He could not even go out of the state, unless pre-approved a month in advance.  It was a long four years.  Four years of praying everyday that God would see him through this.  I'm telling you it wasn't easy.  He was still young, still trying to find his place in society, still growing into a young man.  Four years is a LONG TIME.

Fast forward to today!  TODAY was his last day of probation! Praise the Lord!!!  I literally cried, when he text me and told me he had been released!  What an accomplishment!  God has seen him through this and is showing him what kind of man he can become!

For all of you mothers (and fathers) out there!  Keep those prayers strong!  It's just amazing to see how God works in their lives and molds them into the adults he wants them to be!  Even though he made mistakes, in God's eyes, he is His masterpiece!  He will never be done forming us into the masterpiece that He is creating us to be!

Today was a blessed day!

(P.S.  God has also blessed him with the gift to paint.  He is a talented house painter, like his dad)

Blessings Always

Historic Westwood

Good Friday to all!  I wanted to share some pictures that I took last weekend of Historic Westwood, in Knoxville, Tn.  My photography group was invited to take photos of this gorgeous historic home that has been hidden behind a stone wall for years.  You can read all about the history of the house here in this article I found History of Westwood.  I hope you find it as intriguing as I did.  Enjoy!!

May you and yours have a blessed Easter!

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.

1 Corinthians 15:16-20