An enjoyable mini-vacation...

I just took a four day weekend to enjoy some family time. What a wonderful four days it was.

Day 1 my sister and her husband came to town. We started off our day by visiting two of the local antique shops and spend a good deal of time browsing the stores looking for bargains we couldn't live without. As you know, I'm looking for vintage Pyrex bowls. I found a couple to add to my collection that I was thrilled to get.

This little bowl was a bargain at just $3.50. This is the perfect size for a casserole or baked beans.

And a price tag of $3.00 on this one lured me in. It is just right to mix up a small skillet of cornbread in.

I was looking for a set of green Pyrex bowls in the spring blossom crazy daisy pattern. When my sister saw what I was looking for, she realized a friend of hers had them for sale in her antique shop in Milton, WV. She called her and checked and the price for all three bowls.....$10.00 total!!! So now, I'll have those coming this way one day this week. I saw some of the exact same bowls in other antique stores for $35.00 for the set. I just love a good bargain.

But my favorite find of the day, was a new cup for my hot chocolate. I was very specific about what I was looking for. It had to hold 2 cups of hot chocolate and be oversize for the coffee house look. It had to look great and be something that shows a little of my personality. When I spotted this one I knew it was destiny. What better cup for me, the queen of chocolate, to drink her morning hot chocolate out of. It was $5.00 and that may be steep for a used coffee cup, but it was so "me" I just couldn't pass it up. 

I fixed my first cup of hot chocolate in it this morning. Once I had it made, I broke off a piece of candy cane and stirred it up in it to give it a peppermint flavoring. Then I topped it with marshmallow cream. I took a small grader and graded the rest of the broken candy cane on top of that and finished it off with a candy cane stuck in for decoration. It is delicious. This is a great idea for a quiet evening in front of the fire on cold winter evenings or for those cozy dinner parties with just a few friends. 

After shopping a couple of hours, we drove down to Parris Island, SC to spend the night. The next morning we attended our nephew's graduation from USMC. What an experience that was. Words could never convey how proud we were of him.

Friday, after graduation, we headed back home. Visit mine and Rachel's blog, Piggy and Wiggy's Place to see more about the graduation.

Saturday morning, I picked up my granddaughter Alexis and met up with my daughter and two more of my grandchildren, Shelby and Caleb, and we headed out to Disney on Ice 100 Years of Magic. But that's a blog for another day.

Then it was a late lunch and a little shopping with the kids. Alexis spent the night with me and we had a great time.

Sunday morning, Alexis and I picked up Caleb and Shelby and I took the three of them with me to Burger King for breakfast. Then we met my daughter and headed to Sunday School and Church.

 Then Alexis and I went out to eat after church at Pizza Hut's buffet bar. We did some window shopping at Belks, TJ Maxx and Walmart. She is quite the clothes guru. I know we spent almost an hour looking at clothes she liked so she could give some Christmas ideas. This was one of my favorites.

I got home from our shopping expedition around 4:15 and had to be back to church for choir practice. We are working on our Christmas program, The Name Jesus. It is going to be fabulous. There are some awesome solos in it.

Then it was home for a quick bite of supper, a bubble bath and then crashing for 9 hours of sleep. I needed every minute of that sleep, but all the activities of the past four days has been absolutely divine and I wouldn't have missed a minute of it for the world.