Remembering a Friend.......

This is a post I don't even know how to begin. I lost a dear friend today. One I've known my whole life. One I grew up with. One I laughed with. One I cried with. One who went to school with me. One who I graduated with. One I enjoyed life with. One I will never forget.

I cannot begin to imagine what her family is facing at this point in time. I cry for the daughter who will never know her mother and can only pray that we show little Maddy how much love we have for her--

I found TONS of pictures of Tiffany in all my albums, but picked out 2 that I liked--

Tiff (as her friends called her)--I love you girl! I will always remember you--

Shopping, T-Ball, and Teenage Boys!

Yes, again. Three "posts" in one! It's all I have time for, but I promise, I'll try to get better about posting more than once per week!

Friday, two of my best friends and I went shopping at a HUGE outlet mall, in Ellenton! We LOVE it down there (we usually go 2-3 times per year) and spent many many hours just shopping, chatting and having an enjoyable day! We were all shopping for school clothes for our kids and we found some great bargains!

Here's what my kids got--


...and...two of my favorite finds today....these adorable shirts!



Did someone say shopping? I went this afternoon and got this stuff....wonder what it will turn in to? Annie and Carrie have inspired me to get back in touch with my creative side, so......you'll have to check back in a few days to see what I come up with!!



Today was also another t-ball game--Nolan did okay--he got a hit the first at bat and then had to hit off the tee the second at-bat. I get frustrated when he has to hit off the tee, but Cecil actually prefers Nolan to hit off the tee because it teaches him to swing level (apparently--say the guys). Trust me, they say--I guess I'll have to cause I for SURE don't know anything about all that boy stuff!

This is Nolan running from third base to home--look at the excitement on his face! Oh to be that carefree again.........



............Speaking of carefree, Nolan's little preschool class walked to the elementary school last week for the Kindergarten program and all Nolan could talk about when he got home was that he got to be LINE LEADER!! (apparently that's a big deal at that age!) I just laughed and said, "that is wonderful Nolan!" and then thought to myself--I wish I could go back to the days of having no worries other than who is line leader!!

Some of you know that this past week, we had a teenager staying with us for about a week and a half--his parents were out of town and he was entrusted to our care (scary!). I realized what was in store for me in many years (of which will arrive quickly, I have no doubt)! Messy bedrooms, dirty clothes, staying up and making sure he makes curfew--whew! It was work! We LOVED every minute of it though! He is a respectful youngin' and it was a joy to have him here! On Thursday, after ball practice (oh yes, did I mention he plays baseball and thus, I had to get clay out of pants and wash uniforms, etc.? ha-ha)--he drives up to the house and BOTH doors open on his truck--he's brought a friend home with him to eat!! Good thing I had 2 pizzas!! ha-ha-ha; no big deal, I'd much rather them be here eating pizza and running around outside my house than who knows where......here's the boys eating dinner on Friday night.......
(shout out to "D" --we had a blast with you here!!)



Check back soon, cause I'll show you what I made with the stuff I bought at Michael's and the Easter baskets I'm putting together, etc.!

Play Ball!

It's that time of year (again). Baseball season. No, I'm not using exclamation marks because I am not really "into" baseball (or any sport for that matter). I just don't like the outdoors too much, and I sure don't like the heat, but Cecil is quick to remind me that we have at least 15 years of this left. REALLY? 15? sigh. BIG sigh. Maybe they'll take up golf. I like riding in the golf cart.

Nolan's first t-ball game was today and he did so good! He is on the Royals, the same team he was on last year. We have some of the best coaches ever! They are so laid back and just go with the flow! I hate it when I see coaches screaming at the kids during t-ball, I mean these kids are 4 and 5 years old people! Do you really think screaming at them is going to do any good when it comes to t-ball? Sheesh.

Here's my little slugger (who by the way got a hit BOTH times he was at bat!)--


Today was also picture day, and while I did not buy any individual pictures of him, I did manage to take some for myself--and a few shots of he and his little friends......Aren't they cute?

Michael, Nolan, & Coye

Spring Cleaning, Cake Decorating, and Bridal Luncheons!

No, the three things don't go together. I know. BUT, it beats trying to post three entries to my blog!

I usually try to stay somewhat organized, but when it's SPRING, I try to do a few projects around the house. This spring, my goals are to clean out my pantry and bakers pantry, dresser drawers (hello--I can't even fit into half my clothes), kids clothes and "junk", my kitchen, my bathroom cabinets, and the shed (that's really if I get some serious time on my hands, which is NOT likely!) More pictures to follow for organization projects, but here's the "new" pantry! It's not perfect, but it's a good start.


In one of my previous posts, I said that I was a self-taught cake decorator and someone emailed me from that and asked what other types of cakes I had done. I've done a camo cake, dinosaur, treasure chest, snake, peace cake, tiki man, monkey, John Deere, little girl polka dot cupcakes, and probably one of my favorites, a 3-tier polka dot bright colored cake! Here's a few pics!














Speaking of spring....aren't these flowers gorgeous?!?! I hostessed a Bridal Luncheon at my house this past weekend, with a few other girlfriends, and I whipped up these flower arrangements for the tables--it's azaleas! Someone commented to me that they had never thought to cut azaleas and put them in a vase, but let me tell you, these were GORGEOUS! I added some green/clear/white decorative flat marbles to the bottom of one of the vases and everyone thought it was too cute!


Then, I cut some of the azaleas off at the base of the flower and put them in my green depression glass dessert dishes and came up with........sorry the picture is a little blurry, but you get the idea.....



Alright, I figure this long post makes up for at least a whole week, so maybe one of my spring goals should be to post more often? Oh wait....that takes time.....LOL

HAPPY SPRING!

O Beautiful for Spacious Skies.....and amber waves of grain on the farm!

I have to admit that since I've gotten older I am becoming more patriotic! I get chills when I hear certain renditions of "O Beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain........for purple mountains majesties, above the fruited plain......America, America, God shed his grace on thee.....and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea."

We watched the shuttle launch tonight from our field of amber grain (which was actually green rye grass--did I tell you one of the baby names on our list for Carter was Rye?, anyhow, that's another story). I got chills as I watched the shuttle launch! Look at these awesome pictures I captured from our field!







I just can't help but feeling nostalgic about the whole American Dream and what it really means to be a farmer. Cecil works SO HARD day in and day out and many people never truly realize what a sacrifice he makes--farmers truly do feed America. No Farmers, No Food. While we were gathering up our "stuff" (i.e. the kids) to head back to the house for bedtime, I grabbed these few shots of our fields of rye grass....gorgeous if you ask me.....






....Oh Beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain...........

Just call me Betty (Crocker that is)

Just call me Betty Crocker! or Martha Stewart (without the jail time of course)! It's my niece's 13th Birthday and she asked me (yes, me!) to make her cake. For those of you that don't know, I am a self-taught cake decorator. Not that I'm the best, cause I am surely NOT (hello? Have you seen some of Annie's creations?) but......I "ain't" half bad either!

Here's few pictures of Taylor's cake:

"Peace"

And another view.....


Happy 13th Birthday Taylor! Peace!