FRIDAY THIS & THAT- SOMEONE IS GETTING MARRIED! A SWEET CHEEKS TAKE ON CHURCH CEREMONIES

 I wrote this down a long time ago and want to post it here for the kids to read "someday".This is a long read from the time SweetCheeks was little and Lulu was about to make her first communion. It would take 2 hours to read the whole thing so I will keep it as short as I can here.  

This is the soon-to-be-bride, Lulu (our Alana Lauren)

Ready? Here we go-the story as I wrote it way back then (2010)

The first mistake of the day was getting SweetCheeks (Age 3) dressed early.

As soon as her dress was on she ran outside. 

Me: Where are you going? 

SC: I gonna descerate the fwront porch-dat's where! 

Me: Hmmm.. What?

SC: I gonna put sum plantds in da pots das out heah. 

Ummm...

Me: Maybe you shouldn't do that with your good church dress on.

SC: Noooo-dat's OK, Nanee, Mama dusn't care if I dooed it. I just gonna put dese here!

As she says this she is waving sticks and then shoving them down into the winter dirt pots on the front porch. Oh- and because she doesn't want to get into too much trouble she is recruiting Ria to do the actual "planting" (also in a matching church dress)

I finally coaxed the girls inside to watch Lulu get ready for her first communion.She had a beautiful simple white dress on and her veil. (Lord forgive me for the curse words as I sewed the lace on the veil for the THIRD time so it would lay right). 

Today it hangs nicely.

SC: Arhe you gettin murried today, Lulu?

Luly: NO! (All embarrassed because at this age liking boys is akin to saying you have cooties) 

Lulu: I'm making my first communion.

SC: Wahl- I haffing MY furst communion, too!

Lulu: NO! You are not! You aren't old enough and you don't even know what it's about.

SC: YESSS I do!!Iss putting a dwress on and going to church and then eating sumthin'. See! I telled you I knowed whut isss wus!

Lulu: (eyes rolling & starts giggling) 

SC: ISSS NOT funny eifther, Lulu, and I not goin now cuz I hates Church!

Mama: Admonishes Sweet Cheeks in 'that' tone.

SC: Pfffftttt (her favorite noise to show her disdain)  I ridin to church wiff you, Naneee, and we can gets a steamah or sumthin at Starbucks beforah we goes to church!

That sounds good to me I say under my breath.

As I am buckling her into her car seat she looks at me and very sweetly says in her nicest voice-

Naneee- I really do hates church!

I start praying not to commit Holy Murder 

before we get to church.

It was all good once we got there..but notice the expression on SC's face.

Those were certainly the days of laughter and tears and 

I treasured every moment with those girls.

Now they are grown and working and/or in college.

Lulu will soon be dressed in white once again and I can't wait to see that and hear

Sweet Cheeks opinion about that ceremony.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Love you guys and so many of you have followed along since SC was a little girl. 

I may have to follow up with the actual church experience. It is giggle worthy.

Thanks for riding along down 

Memory Lane~

FRIDAY THIS AND THAT- FOOD FROM THE 60s and 70s

I thought it might be fun to 

visit the 

FOODS SOME OF US  MIGHT REMEMBER.

Let's start with breakfast.

Any of you ever eat these?

OR

Notice how they proudly displayed the word

SUGAR?

LOL-That's a definite NO NO in today's cereal aisle.

After a nice bowl of cereal swimming in

WHOLE MILK

did you wash it down with

OR 

one of these?

Maybe mom was downing a quick cup of this-

You went off to school and came home.

Did you have this for an after school snack?

Or maybe this?

CHUCKLES!!!!

Did your mom make this for dinner?

SPAM THE ALMOST HAM

It might have been served with side of this:

Or maybe you were from a modern family

and ate these?

And what did you have for dessert?

After a nice dinner did you sit around and watch

Did you snack on these while watching 

the old black and white TV shows?

Or maybe you had a box of 

CRACKER JACK

back when they had 

REAL PRIZES!

Maybe you washed those down with this...

While mom, being ever weight conscious,

poured this over a glass of ice...

And..sometimes a little milk got heated up

and you drank a cup of this before

going off to bed in a sugar coma.

Feel free to share your own wonderful

food memories!

I will tell you one little 'story'

that I am NOT proud of----

When MAGIC CHARMS came out 

I WAS CHARMED!

I ate so many of them at one sitting

that I was sick for 2 days...

yes-indeedy---

To this day I cannot even think about

eating them

without feeling slightly nauseous.

I now call them 

YUCKY CHARMS!

So, if that is on your morning breakfast menu,

please take me off the guest list.

Because 

TRUST ME-

It will not be pretty if I show up!

image

Have a great day-

fill it with 

GOOD MEMORIES

not like the one I have of 

LUCKY CHARMS!

Leave your own memories 

in a comment and tell me

what I missed!

HAPPY HEAVENLY 21st BIRTHDAY ANNA BELLA

 

 Today our sweet 

ANNA BELLA

would be

21 years old.

WHERE have the years gone?

We held her for moments

in our arms but she is

forever in our heart.

Would she have a special "guy" 

in her life that would make her

shyly smile and say

"No, Nana!  I am NOT getting married! "....

Would she be bucking 

Mom and Dad

about knowing enough

to make her own decisions?

Sadly, we will never know.

We do believe that she is

in Heaven with other

angel babies sharing

sweet, happy moments.

That is what keeps us going. 

On earth

she would be nestled in between

three special girls

They would champion her causes

and fight over who would

get Nana's special gold bracelet

"someday"........ 

You are loved and missed,

ANNA BELLA!

Hold every child/grandchild

tightly because you never

know how long they will

be yours -they are just

in the world

on loan.

~Blessings~

Mama Tara has a special car

and guess what that car is called?

More about that in a future post.

FRIDAY THIS AND THAT---THE NEXT SURPRISE?

 This surprise

comes with 

just

one 

word!

DAISY

More to come

in a few days!

Pinky Promise!

Have a wonderful weekend~

I am on the island this weekend

with no internet.

Will catch up with you the first of the week.

FRIDAY-THIS & THAT- HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE OLD BOY (FORMERLY MY HERO)

 

There are lots of birthdays

and lots of days to celebrate

in July for our family.

However----

Today is 

Hubby's  Birthday!

Yep!

I let him live another year!

TODAY he hits the 

BIG 76!!!

Dat be soooo old

This was taken a few years ago

before cancer exacted its toll.

Today he is still dealing with some health issues.

So far, they have ruled out

just about everything.

We have seen several specialists and

been at Mayo for a week's worth of tests.

No real answers.

ANYWAY-------

Happy Birthday, My Hero-

I love you

like 99% of the time-

the rest of the time?

Well, we just won't talk about that

now, will we?

Wait till he sees the 

SURPRISE I have in

store for the Old Boy!

-yeah-baby-

It's COOL-

That's a hint....

It may or may not be this....

We are in a place this weekend

where we have very

LIMITED PHONE SERVICE

and 

NO INTERNET

so bear with me 

as I try to answer any comments

or make visits.

Have a wonderful weekend 

AND

Be Good.

If

YOU ARE GOOD

that kind of allows me to 

BE BAD.

Another little surprise coming up

as soon as I am allowed to

post it.

You will die  smile!

FRIDAY AND FERRY TALE #1

AH! YES!

You know that not all 

Fairy Tales

happen magically, right?

To see the 'real' cottage as we 

are getting started-

click here.

Well,

MY FERRY TALE

is going to be one of unrelenting work

and projects for the rest of this season.

#1-Water Heater!

The one is (was) in a little side room

and had actually caused damage to the floor.

Deep Damage!

So, now the old water heater is sitting

outside waiting to be hauled away.

We have to get a new one and then

find someone to install it!

Whooppeee.

Island time to get'er'done

is different than mainland time.

Trust me.

So, either showers are COLD water

or 

I heat up water for sponge bathing

standing in the shower.

Nothing like camping in a cottage!

I think we should put an outside shower

in while we are doing it.

That way when anyone gets done swimming

they can shower outside!

I'll give you a little progress

report as we go along

and address other

things that need fixing

as the weeks fly by.

Speaking of flying....

I have been considering it-

Never too early to start planning ahead-

just ask Hobby Lobby!

Have a wickedly wonderful weekend.

I'll be scrubbing and cleaning....

or maybe taking a little

fly-by.

FRIDAY THIS AND THAT--HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

 It is a day for celebration

for most of us.

We wave our flags 

and grill our burgers

and wolf down our hot dogs.

We stand in line for dripping

ice cream cones

and we stare at the sky

in awe as fireworks

feed us a feast for our eyes.

We are free.

What a blessing to be free.

But that freedom comes at a cost.

A big cost.

I saw it every day when I worked at the VA.

I saw the sacrifices made

 by men and women

to ensure our freedom.

So, take just a moment today

and whisper a

THANK YOU

to all those that fought for us

on this, and foreign, land.

Wing a prayer up 

for those families left behind

when their sons and daughters,

husbands and wives,

gave their lives for all of us.

Say a prayer, too,

for all those who served

and whose lives are forever altered.

Prayers, too, for those in

ACTIVE SERVICE.

I am so in debt to all of you!

I will leave you with one of my

very favorite photos

of SweetCheeks.

This was taken on our dock

about 15 years ago when the

fireworks were

bursting in the air at our

house on the  bay.

THAT is 

WONDER & AWE

I hope I never lose that

WONDER & AWE

and I hope I never lose

my appreciation for this

GREAT COUNTRY.

GOD BLESS THE USA!

For our 4th of July

I will be on

THE ISLAND

at

FERRY TALE COTTAGE

slaving away to make it

our own little 

SAFE HAVEN.

What a blessing!