A final farewell....

After three years and eight months, after much laughter, fun and happy times I have decided to bid blog world adieu. 

I have enjoyed sharing little tidbits of my life with you and visiting with you to learn more about what you do. I have enjoyed the camaraderie, the friendships made, the treasures shared. 

I have enjoyed your comments, your link ups, your blog hops. Your emails and kind words have always touched my heart. 

My blog has grown a mind of it's own and over the years it has changed directions many times, yet my followers never stray. You have been faithful. You have been kind. You have shared your life with me as I have shared mine with you. 

When writing a blog becomes more work than it does fun, it is time to step away. I have debated and debated for many months about taking a short break. But I realize I need to make a clean break. I know if it is still here, I will continue to feel obligated to post every day. 

Thank you all for everything and for being so supportive through out my blog career. I wish you each the best. I am going to leave it up for the remainder of this week since I want to save my thoughts and pictures that I have shared. Once that is done, I will be signing off. 

Craft Ideas ....

I am loving this little box and the coasters to go with it.

I may have to make a set of these. I checked through my drawers of yarn and found these colors that might work. What do you think?

This little table mat is cute but I don't usually undertake anything this major. But I do like it. And this picture makes me want a red, white and blue mug.

I make little birdhouses out of plastic canvas. They are so easy and very fun to make. It only takes about an hour to make one.



I think I'm going to make some and make a Chevron pattern on them. I think that will be cute. Here is some more yarn I pulled from my stash that I think I'll make my first one in. I have so much yarn that I just shop my own house when I need yarn.

And while I am on the subject of crafts, I found some burlap for just $3.99 and I have some material and buttons I had bought a while back that I think I will use to make the patriotic banners I saw on Pinterest.

I've got an idea of something else to make that will use up some of the patriotic scrapbook paper I have. 

Since I won't need my whole yard of burlap, I dug through my material to find some to try an idea I have. 

Have you seen the new felt that Hobby Lobby is carrying? Instead of solid colors, they have patterns. They are just .50 cents each. Don't know what you would do with them, but I loved them. 

I'm going to cut out my birdhouses and coasters and get started working on them soon. 

Weekend Wrap Up & Pyrex Pleasures

I got a package from my sister last week and she had sent me a couple more of the crochet dishcloths I adore. I love the colors in these. 

I am not a NASCAR fan but while I was stopped at a gas station I noticed this racing semi that had the back doors open, so I snapped a pic just for fun. Not even sure who's truck this is. 

I had some Mother's Day money so I took myself to a store that has tons of booths in it. It is not an antique store so the prices were very reasonable. I am in love with the 401 mixing bowls. They are the smallest in the nesting bowls. I have a divided serving dish in the Americana so this is my second piece in that pattern. 

I do not have any yellows. When I spotted this baby sitting on the shelf, I knew it had to come home with me. I thought it might be part of the daisy Cinderella, but one of my Facebook groups thinks it is the Town and Country solid yellow. It is a soft shade of yellow, not bright. Any experts know for sure which set? I just know I adore it. 

But the one that made my day was my very first piece of turquoise. I am beyond thrilled. I have this in the flamingo pink so I have been looking everywhere for the turquoise. 

Aren't my solids pretty all stacked together? I just know hubby is going to claim the yellow for when he makes country steak and gravy. It is the perfect size. 

I also got this cool plate. It says British Bread and Cheese plate. It is made by John Buck in England. I don't have a clue if it is vintage or not, but I fell in love with it. 

Not a bad haul for less than $20 including tax. Made for a great Mother's Day gift. And the great part is...I haven't even washed them up yet. They looked this good right off the shelf. SCORE!

Happy Mother's Day, Mommy

Happy Mother's Day to the best Mother in the world. She has been there for us through good times and through bad. Through laughter and tears. Through joy and sorrow and through heartaches and pain. She has stood by and let us leave the nest with tears in her eyes and hugged us with love when we come back to visit. 

She is my hero. She is my best friend, my confidant. The one I turn to when I need assurance, when I need to share a funny story, when I need to shed a tear or just when I need to talk.

She has bandaged many a boo boo and wiped many a tear. She has laughed with us at our antics on those times when words just don't cover how funny we could be. She filled our world with love. She made us chocolate cakes and oatmeal cookies and homemade biscuits. She taught us how to sew and how to knit and crochet. She taught us how to love and how to raise our children to say please, thank you, your welcome. She taught us how to enjoy life. She taught us how to keep a clean house and how to hang out clothes. She taught us how to make sweet tea and homemade cornbread. 

She taught us to wash behind our ears and to always wear clean underwear. She taught us how to brush our teeth and say our prayers. She taught us the wonder of Christmas, the excitement of birthdays and the joy of spending time outside. She taught us how to say "Goodnight, I love you." to the whole family before you go to bed at night. 

She taught us that when we disobeyed there was a price to pay. She taught us how that price was to have to stay inside and set one on a couch and one on a chair and not get down till she told us to. And we knew to obey the command. 

She taught us not to go in the big ditch and not to play in the middle of  the road. She taught us to be home by curfew. She taught us to take long walks on Sunday. She taught us the beauty and peace to be found the quiet woods. 

She taught us to share our toys and play well with others. She taught us to jump rope and how to play jacks. She taught us to love a good book and to do our homework. She taught us to play Rook and Scrabble and to just enjoy spending time together. 

She taught us so many things throughout our life, but the greatest gift of all was that she taught us how to love. 

Thank you Mom for dedicating your life to being the best Mommy in the world. We love you. Happy Mother's Day from Rachel, Brenda, Jack and Andy. 

The funniest hubby story ever...

A funny story to tell on my hubby. He knows I love watching the Big Bang Theory. I had mentioned months ago that I would like to find a DVD of the first season. But I never thought any more about it. He has to work on Mother's Day so we celebrated it last night. I came home and walked into the kitchen where he was fixing one of my favorite meals and there, on the kitchen table, lay a DVD of the first season of Big Bang Theory. I screamed. I ran to him and gave him a big hug and kiss and told him he was the best hubby ever. I just kept saying I can't believe you remembered me wanting this. I was so surprised and so excited. He is SO awesome.

He just smiled and looked at me and said "I don't know why you are surprised. You left me a note to get it for you for Mother's Day." I blankly looked at him and asked him what he was talking about. He said "You wrote it at the top of your list on the refrigerator." I walked over to see what in the world I wrote. 

Here was the list:

Yes, he was right. There it was at the top of the list...DVD for Mother's Day. However, that note was to remind me to buy a package of blank DVD's because I needed to burn something 0n DVD to use in Pre-K class for Sunday School. It was NOT a note telling him to get me a DVD for Mother's Day. I couldn't stop laughing. We both got a kick out of it. Only my hubby would put a note to myself together with a comment made months ago and get me the perfect gift. 

But it had a happy ending. I got my DVD and he gave me Mother's Day money to go buy me some white flip flops like these black ones today since they were also on my list. 

I just love this man of mine!

The road to happiness...

Ever wonder what the road to happiness looks like. Well, here it is. It's an old country road nestled in the outskirts of the little village I grew up in. 

Why is it the road to happiness? Because I can always take my memories of the old home place out and think about those days of growing up in the old house. I remember laughter and joy and smiles and happiness. 

I remember family love and gatherings. I remember us growing up in that old home place. I remember us coming back every year for birthdays, summer cookouts, Christmas parties and just to get together and have fun. 

I remember bringing our kids back and watching them play in the same places we played when we were growing up. 

I remember ice cream on the back patio. Little boys and little girls being outside in the summer and just having fun. Not worrying about what was on TV or what video game to play. 

I remember Mom posing us to take our pictures on that old block wall out back. Yes, that's me with my curly hair. 

I remember the old well house and how we could only run our bath water until the well light came on. The next person would have to wait awhile so the pump could build back up before we ran more water. I remember city water coming up that old country road back in the late 80's or early 90's and how heart broken I was when Mom said Dad was tearing the well house down.

I remember cheers and little girls running freely and creating dances and routines to Hank Jr.'s All My Rowdy Friends and I remember them performing with all their heart as they used the old picnic table in the yard as their stage. 

I remember boys and baseball and being careful not to let the ball go over the hill. I spent many a trips up and down the path by the old oak tree when it was my turn to go get the ball because somebody knocked it over the hill. 

But most importantly, I remember the love and the happiness that being at that old house up that old country road brought to our lives.

Just a flippin' and a floppin'

Some of my favorite pairs of flip flops are wearing out and it looks like it time to go flop shoppin'. I went on line to check out Belk specials and found a lot of flops that would be perfect for summer. 

I love turquoise/aqua this year and these are really cute. 

I also go nuts over anything nautical and I would love to have a pair of these. 

I just love the single little jewel tone that is added on these to dress them up a little. These really look summery.

Perfect for a picnic since the insole reminds me of a picnic tablecloth.

You can't go wrong with pastel plaids. These are too cute for words.

The older I get the more 'bling' I like. And gold tone flops fall under my bling category. 

These pink was are really precious. 

But the pair that really caught my eye was the Croc jelly flip flop in aqua. Be still my heart!