It's SASS! (Success At Sunday Shower)...

Ladies discussing the size of Nicole's belly...

Everybody has an idea...

She's actually using her own body to measure an estimate...

The beautiful, sweet face of mommy-to-be...

This one must have said, "I love my mommy"...

There are much more cute clothes for boys these days, available than back when I was expecting...many, many moons ago!

Guests signing a hooded towel for baby's keepsake...

Me and my precious mom...I just love this little woman!

After all the guests had autographed the towel...

Ok, we're just getting started here and the mommy-to-be already looks pooped...

Now, that's more like it...she's had a few sips of punch and she's coming back to life!

The refreshment table and banner...sorry the punch had not been poured yet.

Cake squares, raw veggies w/dip, peanuts and mints...yum. The punch wasn't bad, either!

The famous diaper cake I made for the shower centerpiece...ta dah! Nicole loves the brown and baby blue together, so I focused on those colors. She's using these colors in the nursery, also.

I had a wonderful, short trip to NC, and though its always great to get back home...I miss my family. The baby shower went well and I think all the guests had fun. While Nicole opened gifts, we laughed...ate...drank...played games(there were door prizes)...exchanged childbirth stories...and laughed some more. If you ever want some good , clean entertainment, then get a large group of women together, play a game where a door prize is offered, then sit back and watch the competition begin. It's hilarious to watch women compete when the word "prize" is mentioned. It doesn't have to be an expensive item. It could be worth a dollar, but you would think that they were vieing for a hundred dollar bill! It was fun. The most enjoyable game, I think, was the guessing of the mother to be's girth. I took a ball of yarn and measured Nicole in front of everyone. I then, passed the yarn and scissors around the room, each guest cutting a string, for their guess at the appropriate size. When everyone had done this, I took Nicole's string around and compared it to the ladies' strings. Whoever came closest, won. Another game was the 'stinky' diaper game. I had rolled diapers up and tied them with ribbon and placed them in a basket. Two of the diapers contained an unwrapped hershey's kiss. Whoever unwrapped the stinky diapers, won. And though I'm still recuperating from all the excitement this past weekend(my body doesn't respond well to fun), I had a blast planning this shower and being assistant host.(Thanks Mom!) Now, I can relax until the little prince arrives, then it's more fun, fun, fun. Til next time, blessings!

Countdown to shower...

Just a short post today..you know how I can get long-winded...lol. I'm very excited about Nicole's baby shower tomorrow afternoon. I'll be leaving here in a few hours to head down to NC. I'll return back to VA tomorrow night. A quick trip, but a fun one, I'm sure. Another good friend of mine(another Nicole), is visiting her family in NC this weekend also. If you happen to read this, Nikki, I wish you a safe a happy trip, girlfriend. If my trip wasn't so short and jammed full of activities, I would have loved to have met with you in Madison, for a visit. Oh, well...maybe another time, in the future. Everybody have a great weekend...get out and enjoy this beautiful 'summer' weather, we're having...and til next time, blessings!

Hurry up and wait!!...

I can't believe its Thursday already. Seems like I just posted a few minutes ago and it was Monday, but I've been busy and this is a good thing. The goodies for the baby shower this weekend are almost finished. I'll finish the 'diaper' cake today that will be the centerpiece for the food table. It's soooooooo cute, and I'll post a pic of it next week...if I do it now, Nicole will see it, 'cause she's checking this blog everyday(I know she is), knowing that I usually post pics of 'cuties'. (Sorry Nicole...guess I'm just a tad sneakier than you! ) I talked with her last night and she'd had a bad day yesterday. With a little over 3 weeks left til her due date, she's getting pretty miserable. All of us ladies who have given birth, can sympathize with her. I reminded her of that sweet little bundle of joy, that will emerge from all of her discomfort. He will be wrapped in a swaddling BLUE baby blanket and they will call him Bryson! Oh, I can't wait! Til next time, blessings!

Rainy days and Mondays...

It's pouring rain in central Virginia...I mean literally pouring. There's water standing everywhere, because the rain is falling so hard, that it has nowhere to go. It's kinda odd looking...to look out and see so much water. And today I must get out in all this gloom and run errands. It's going to be a very busy week around here. I'm going to Lynchburg today, shopping for fun baby shower stuff. Nicole's shower is on Sunday in NC. We're having it at my parents home. I'll go down late Saturday afternoon, spend the night...have the shower on Sunday afternoon, then I'll travel back up the road to VA. Tomorrow, the central air people come to service the unit for the season. That usually takes half of the day. On Thursday, I have an IEP meeting at the school, to get Zach set up for his studies for next year. He'll be a junior...where does the time go?? And on Friday...well, hopefully...Rhonda (dear friend) and I have a 'date'. You know the kind, right?...girls day out? It's been a while, and I'm sure we both could use one. She's busting her butt, working full time, working parttime(yep, she's CRAZY!), going to school(to be medical assistant), being a wife and mother, and trying to have another child.(told ya she's a nut!) And bless her heart...she is having some health issues and going through numerous tests right now, but thankfully, the doctors have ruled out Lupus, which was suspected at first. The Lord is so good!! So, if you're reading this, please include her in your prayers. We could all use an extra one or two of those, don't you think? Now...I'm off to tackle these rain showers, so til next time, blessings!

Happy Birthday, DH...

Yesterday was my DH's birthday, and though he's turned another year wiser(oh, God...please help us), he likes for his birthdays to remain low key. As for being the wiser...he says there's still knowledge 'up there' that he hasn't used yet! So, we wait...never knowing when he will spring something odd and unusual(to us) on us. I've learned the hardway, not to research, or 'check up on' the info that he shares with us...turns out, he's ALWAYS right! No matter how odd or corny it may sound to us, he doesn't talk 'to hear his head rattle'...he does know what he's talking about. Getting back to his birthday...when asked what he wanted for his big day, he replied, "nothing...I don't need a thing". It used to bother me that he never wanted anything and that I could never seem to surprise him with anything spectacular. I've now come to realize, he's just a simple man, one who has everything he needs and is comfortable with what he does have. I did, however, finally get out of him, that he needed some aftershave lotion. So he got that, and his favorite meal...pot roast, cabbage, white beans and corn muffins. Oh, and his favorite cake...fresh apple. Now how humbling is that? Til next time...blessings!

more pics from NC...

Gourds 'hanging by a thread' in the seed room at the Garden Center.

Seed potatoes, corn, beans...even an old timey scales.

And what flavor of bean is your pleasure?

My 'little boy' and my little mom!

Dad always has his thinking cap on!

Mom weighing out seeds for a customer.

Another view of the country church...you can see the pulpit, with 'bible pages'.

Front view of church.

Nicole taking Dallas and Nora down memory lane through a family scrapbook. You can see how amused they are...ok, now Nicole...really??
I really want to thank my Mom...for as long as I can remember...she has kept the tradition of family and holidays together. I cannot recall an Easter, Thanksgiving, nor Christmas that we didn't gather at 'home' to celebrate. We have an awesome family and she is the Rock!

NC trip...

My niece, Nicole (she's preggers) playing peekaboo behind a huge fern.

Aren't these pieris' bushes gorgeous?

This particular azaelea color is so pretty. It reminded me of antiques or vintage. It is off white with pale streaks of pink.

Nicole and I posing.

This is Nicole and my cuz, Mark, on the back of Dad's plant hauling trailor. Sorry Mark...I must have been trying to catch your better side! I forgot to turn the pic, too.

Veggie plants and sweet potato vines in the hanging baskets.

Ferns, ferns, and more ferns.

Fresh herb plants.

Assorted azaelea bushes.

This is my favorite hanging basket this year. Loads of jews and begonias.

Monkey grass and hostas.

Geraniums and million bells.

Mom, Dad, and Donna.

This is the sign I made for Dad to advertise their seed dept.

Mom and Dad posing under the new sign.

Closeup of an old country log church that DH made for my parents. Looking through the front door, you can see the pews, and through the left window...an old wood stove, used to heat the church.

This is my 'sister'(in heart) and Frank ( an 'ole mutual, dear friend of ours). It was a major surprise to see him pull up behind me at Sister's. I had not seen him in several years.

The 3 of us.

My nephew, Nick, and his new gal pal, Nora.

Nicole and Dallas.



Though the weather was rainy and cool, we had a great time with family and friends. Til next time, blessings!

Holiday...

I am certainly busy as a little bee, as I get ready to flee to NC for a visit. We plan to return back home on Wednesday, so this will be my last post until then. I wish everyone a safe and Happy Easter. Let us not forget the true meaning behind this holiday, as we all celebrate in our own different ways. Remember..." HE IS RISEN "!
Til next time, blessings!

Project overload...

I know you've heard the phrase "getting all your ducks in a row". This is what my ducks look like at the moment.( ~sigh~ ) My projects are scattered all over and there are many of them going on, all at once.

This is what my (very small) work area looks like at the moment. I gave up a much larger craft area at the shop, so I could work from the house. What was I thinking??? Actually all that sawdust was not a good thing to be in, with emphysema.

I know, I know...it's a teenager, you're thinking...but he is still a 'project' of mine! He's hogging the computer as usual while chatting away on his cell phone. You'd think he would consider having his conversations in another spot, right?..........Not!!

I found these neat little metal planters (plastic liner included) at Walmart, on the clearance shelf for 75 cents each. I bought 5 of them and have started painting pics on them. Cute, eh?

Here's another metal planter pic...I should of bought more than five, 'cause when I went back, they were all gone.

This is a sign/plaque I'm working on...as you can see, its not finished. It will say something like, "I'm in the garden", or, ...well, I don't know yet!

Tom's been busy in the shop, recently. He spends so much time on the road, though, that he only has Saturdays to 'play'. He made these outhouses, in a couple of different sizes and then brought them to me, to paint, and 'age'. I just had to spruce up the inside of one by painting a rug on the floor, in front of the potty.

This outhouse is mustard colored, trimmed in terra cotta and green, then stained here and there, to 'rusticate' it.

A smaller outhouse painted in a dark wine color and trimmed in black.

Remember I said I have a hard time keeping my hands still?(Never had this problem when I smoked) Anytime there is a program on the tube that I'm interested in, I crochet while watching. Since I started crocheting again...around the 1st of the year...I have crocheted 3 baby blankets(for my neice), 3 afghans, 2 lap blankets, 4 scarves, 2 purses, and ump'teen' of these dish cloths, or dish'rags', as we say in the south!

Crocheting relaxes me and I have found that it helps with the stiffness and pain in my hands and fingers, so I do keep yarn and needles closeby my favorite chair.

So, there you have it...my project overload! I will post a pic of the large sign I'm making for my Dad's Garden Center, after the Easter holiday. He asked me to make it, but he doesn't know what it looks like...and he reads my blog, therefore, I'm not giving him any sneak peaks! ( Sorry Dad! ) I'm sending him a Smoooooch, though. Til next time, blessings!