Autumn

Decided I'd share a few photos of our home and what's going on inside. My husband carved the PEACE pumpkin.....he's always been a little different. Table decorations.....Tom, my fancy turkey.....and my pumpkin friends:)

Corn Hole

There really is an art to this game. It's similar to horse shoes, but different. Of course, the "corn bags" are lighter than the horse shoes, which is nice. But that is just the beginning. The whole scoring thing is different too.
My mother and my sisters are pretty good at this game, but it's my baby brother and his wife who are the pros. They go to actual "corn hole tournaments!" Imagine that! They even have special corn hole boards, bags...even t-shirts! No wonder they're good. They also have something else that's pretty special....
I thoroughly enjoy having this little guy around.
Nothing like a new baby.....one of God's "most
special" blessings. Even though I may not be any
good at corn hole...I am very good at smootchin
on sweet smelling babies. Corn hole is also good
for family gatherings....just because...I LOVE
family gatherings. So.....bring on the corn hole
competition! I'm up for the playin!!

Sweet Sisters

Ahhhh... I do have the sweetest sisters you know.
Every year we do a "sister night". Well we should really say sister week now. It actually did start out just one night, but now we're up to about a week together. As we get older, we treasure these getaways more and more. We all look so forward to this time. A time to let our hair down and be ourselves like we can around no-one else. We always sing....dance....and act just a little crazy. That's OK though cause it's just us and we all understand. It's helpful too that our mother always comes with us. Our first retreat, we climbed Mt. LeConte! Mom was 68 at the time and she did GREAT! Now, she's 74, and although she doesn't want to climb any mountains, she still hangs pretty well with us girls! We've been to the mountains...to the beach. On a cruise...and one year back to the place we were all born. Where all our relatives still live. Special and sweet. We may live far apart, but our hearts have never been closer.

Circle of Friends

I hope that anyone who might read this has been as blessed with their "circle of friends" as I have. Over the years, God has sent a great many awesome ladies into my life. I have indeed been blessed. I have two very special friends I have known for almost two decades by now. When we were younger, they were always there for me. Having baby showers for me, fixing meals for my family when I was sick. Making fabulous gowns, quilts and countless other gift items for me. When my children were young and I was in the middle of 'baby survival", I always had good intentions to do nice things for them...but never had the time. Nowadays, although life is still incredibly busy, I've found that I am better able to make a moment or two to do a nice thing once in a while. I saw this pattern in a book called "Circle of Friends" and I immediately wanted to make it for the three of us. I had a deadline when I needed to have them completed, but as the deadline drew closer, it didn't look like I was going to make it. Originally, I was going to make three of these into pillow form. It just couldn't happen. I did however manage to get the tops cut out and all sewn together. So on my deadline date, which was the Fourth of July, I rolled them up with some extra coordinating fabric and gave them to my dearies as they were. They loved them! These ladies are super talented and insisted they were happy I didn't make them into pillows....they wanted to use them for table runners! So....here's mine, all completed and looking cute as can be. I love the imperfectness of it! Just like the three of us! Imperfect...oh yes...but choosing to "bloom where we were planted"! Cindy and Theresa....thank you so much for all the years of friendship and fun. Looking forward to at least a couple more good decades!!

Midsummer's Eve

This was the night Anna and I had been waiting for, for months! All day we flitted about reading fairy books and looking for "fairy things". After all, this was THE night, the night you were more likely to see a fairy than any other night of the year. We rounded up all our wind chimes and hung them up close by. We set out lots and lots of candles and strung other lights about just so the fairies would know we were waiting for them! We set out yummy treats, ate our dinner and waited. We said our prayers and hoped that surely, the fairies might come see us. All through the night we listened closely and thought several times we heard suspicious noises. We never actually saw a fairy face to face that night, but we saw small sparkling streaks that could very well have been a fairy buzzing by at record speed. We saw where they nibbled on their treats we left for them, and we even believe that we found what may be a fairy wing. (poor little thing!) But the reason we know they were there really was because they brought Anna a sweet book. They knew she believed in fairies! If you've never celebrated Midsummer's Eve with your daughter, you shoud do some reading and give it a try. One day, a year or so ago, I told Anna, "Now Anna dear, you know there is really no giant bunny that goes around at Easter". She held a brave face and said "Yes mommy, I know." Later, I said "Anna, we need to talk about Santa...and fairies." She said to me, "Mommy, I am not a silly girl, but really, please, let me be a child!" Since that day, we always get ready for Santa...and the Easter Bunny....and Fairies too! Midsummer's Eve is a lovely occasion to celebrate with a child. Give it a try...the fairies just might come see you too!!

It's the simple things

The itty bitty things in life that can make you smile from ear to ear. Like this awesome cake Anna made for me from moon sand. I love it! The girl definitely has her father's artistic abilities. Also....I learned how to put music on my blog!!! How cool is that! Just a simple girl at heart I guess:)

My brain is still on vacation

I keep trying to come back to the real world, but I'm having a hard time. Thinking about the beach...cool breezes...family fun, new friends and shrimp and grits! That was the life! The Hominy Grill in Charleston definitely has the best shrimp and grits by the way.
My brother just adopted a yellow lab from the
lab rescue in Charleston. His name is Beau and we are all in love!!

We had a family reunion. A celebration. My nephew

graduated from The Citadel and made us all so proud!

Can you believe that head dress they wear!

Nothing like

getting away for a few days. Just need to do it more often!