Easter Blessings

From My Family

To Yours

God Bless You

today and always-

I will be taking the 

Easter weekend off-

away from the computer.

-See you Monday-

The Dollywood Mafia

You know that my family

invaded 

DOLLYWOOD 

this week.

It will probably never be the same.

I mean-

look at this ornery character.

Does she look dangerous, or what?

I wouldn't want to meet these 

guys in a dark alley, would you?

I guess there is safety in numbers

and they have promised to protect

BigBoyE.

However, he managed to dump them

so he could get on stage

front and center all by himself.

Yes...Good old 

DOLLYWOOD

will probably never be the same

after BigBoyE and SweetCheeks

have made their rounds.

I wonder what SweetCheeks will have to say

about Dollywood now?

I'll let you know....

Uh-Oh

Let's hope she doesn't leave 

BigBoyE

"sleeping with da fishes"

Southern Living March 2013

You know my heart is in the South.

Even though I was born in PA

and now live in the Midwest

I was smitten with the South

when I lived there in my 20's,

before marrying MyHero,

a Wisconsinite.

If you remember I talked about 

giving up just about all of my

magazine subscriptions.

Well,  I kept two.

One is Romantic Homes

and the other one is

I grab the magazine as soon as it comes 

and immediately fly through its pages

at a fast pace.

Later,  I go back and study every page.

Look what I found this month.

How about some

Marbled Eggs for Easter Morning?

click on image for recipe

Are those cute or what?

Hmmmm...wonder what kinda chicken

lays THOSE eggs?

I'm thinking they look like this....

but you know how gullible I am.

click on image for link

Has Angel Food Cake EVER looked so Heavenly?

click on image for recipe

So,  While I am covering my eyes so I am not

tempted by the cake

 I am peeking through my fingers and 

yearning to see this.....

click on image for link

However, while I am dreaming of the South

  I look out and see this-

Not a dream at all-

It's a nightmare.

Someone wake me up when

Spring hits, will ya?

oh-yeah- wake the old boy up, too.

Tell him it is time to come out

of hibernation.

Fluffed and Stuffed

Chickens For Sale Today!

Chickens For Sale Today!

They are colored and dyed

And my Mother lied

Cuz she said they were born that way.

Yes-It's true.

I grew up in the land of make-believe.

When Easter rolled around on the farm

we were presented with 

rainbow colored chickens.
They came kind of ratty looking but
after a bath they looked like this.

We were told they came from 

colored Easter eggs.

I believed it.

I believed it long past the early 

years of gullibility.

I guess  I thought they came from
eggs like these.

My brother, Charlie, and I each

picked a color and those were the 
chickens we called ours.

I always counted to make sure 

that "my color" covered the 

most chickens.

Yes.I.Did.

After a few weeks their color wore off....

but by then so had our interest in them

and they went into the hen house.

I teach my grandchildren the same thing.

But they are all "onto" me.

How did today's kids get so smart?
Hmmmmm....
So......do you think if I left these 
silk dyed eggs
lying around 
(click on image for link)

the kids might think these hatched?
(click on image for link)

Oh- yes- to be able to go back in time
and believe in the unbelievable again.
But...reality being what it is....
I now know what happened
to those sweet little
FLUFFED COLORED CHICKENS
that I cuddled and loved.

Yep- From Fluffed To Stuffed.
Chicken Anyone?

A SWEET MEET MATE

As you know

I am not a big promoter

I don't advertise on my blog.

I don't sell things.

I don't join link parties.

I am just kind of a dinosaur

in a road runner world. 

I will sometimes put out

prayer requests and 

 I do believe in helping and

growing people.

That is why I want you to

take a little trip over 

to this blog if you have the time.

Laura has quite a story...

we are bound together by 

many things including the

loss of a child in the family.

Her son.

Her Sam.

Her angel.

Her life has been lived in a different way

than she ever expected.

 Laura is a strong woman

and has moved forward.

She went back to school to

get her degree and is now

in the business of 

Interiors and Floral Design.

She had an earlier blog that she

gave up when she went back to 

school.  

I think you will love her style.

  I know I do.

So, if you can spare a moment

please sign up as a follower and

help her grow her blog.

She will appreciate it and you will

be the one that reaps the rewards

of being a follower.

Oh- Yeah-

One other thing?

She is from Australia.

You know, the land 

DOWN UNDER..

So make sure you use the words

G'DAY MATE  and maybe, just maybe,

she will invite us all over for a

BARBIE with all the other COBBERS.

We'll have a nice YABBER and

I expect she'll be serving CHOOK!

(translation-

Good Day, friend.  We'll be invited to 

the BBQ with her other FRIENDS. We'll 

have a nice chat

and find some CHICKEN on our plate);>)

She'll be STOKED!

No-Not STROKED, silly-

STOKED- ya know- PLEASED!

......and I will be, too!

The Sweet Cheeks Show

People have asked me for
MORE SWEET CHEEKS STORIES.
While she is away this week
I wanted to post one special
little story that I had written
down 3 years ago so I would
remember it.

It is an older story that

I documented for our family

but have not shared here.

It is one of the highlights

of SweetCheeks 

acting career.

She got this outfit for Christmas

and the flamboyant style
well suits her personality.
Sorry for the poor quality picture
this was BB (before blogging)

Here, for your reading pleasure,

is her "show"

First, she makes everyone take a seat.

We have to leave spaces for her

nvinclible invisible friends.

They get the primo seats

for some strange reason.

The ticket collector 

SweetCheeks takes our tickets

and tells us to 

"fahsten yoah seatbehlts".

I guess this is a show AND an

amusement park ride combined.

This is a one man child show here.

Wadies & Guntlesmuns.

Wewcum to da shohw.

Now I gonna dance and sing opuhrah.

I can't wait.  I am already laughing.

MyHero has that "Oh-No-Not-Again" look.

Buck up buddy-this will be over before

you know it. 

Jowly Ohld Santa Nicklus 

floats toward us.

I am suffused with laughter.

The show comes to a screeching halt.

Thisss is NOHT a funnhy show, Nana,

stohp laffing.

Now-stahy in yoah seats and I gonna

hafta starht all ovehr again.
Papa-Isss youhr seat-behlt still
fahstened? 
Yep
Noh-Isss noht!  (big sigh)
Fahssen it up pleahse!
Papa scrambles to fasten his
seat belt while SweetCheeks
watches to make sure he
does it right.
I, meanwhile, am getting the
stink eye for continuing to laugh.
I squelch my laughter.

Dramatic sigh and arm across the brow

and the show resumes.

MyHero whispers out of the side of his mouth.

I can't wait for the intermission.

SweetCheeks glares and makes one more

announcement.

NO TAHLKING!

Whew- Shoulda asked

for balcony seating.

That was the day I think 
we knew what high entertainment
she was going to be in our lives. And where was that darned
video recorder when we needed it?

There Are A Lot Of Boobs In Our Family

Good Morning!

You can take my title

any way you want.

However, I am NOT talking

about any of the geniuses in

our family.

No. I. Am. Not.

What AM I talking about?

Guess where the kids are on

Spring Break?

Does the word BOOBS in the

title give it away?

I don't know about you but I

still think she is a pretty danged cute

personality.

MyHero likes her for her

boobly bubbly personality, too.

Anyway,

SweetCheeks found out they were

going to Dollywood.

Mom!  I thought YOU had big boobs

but did you see Dolly Parton's boobs?

They are REALLY big!

snicker-snicker-snort

Mom- Guess what this is.....

snicker-snicker-snort

It's the roller coaster ride

at Dollywood.

snicker-snicker-snort
Look, Nana!

Do ya GET IT, Nana?

uh-huh

I think you're gonna "get it" one of these

days, too-
and
 I'm not talking jokes.
You're gonna "get it" had a whole other
meaning when I was a kid!

These Things Are Multiplying Like Rabbits

I was gone all day yesterday
and had company until
11pm last night-
so bear with me while I
catch up on your blogs today.

Well, last week I showed you

a few of my bunnies.

Today,

I find that they are multiplying

whilst I sleep.

Yes.They.Are.

Here is the threesome

that is on my dining room mantle.

As you can see, I startled them so....

they are running away.

Then Miss Rosie Rabbit 

made her way up the steps

and tried to hide under the plants 

in the corner.

I call her Miss Rosy cuz of the sweet little blush

on her cheeks.

She came to life on my sewing machine

in 1988.

She had about 100 brothers and sisters

and they were all adopted out except

Rosie and her brother, Rex.

Rex is still sleeping but Rosie is

moving around....

As she got braver she moved to

her favorite chair in the family room window.

Hmmmm...these bunnies look like
they have had
HARE RAISING NEWS

Yes-indeedy....
They heard their cousins were
coming to visit.

Why is that so scary?
Well...this is all they have left for lunch....

Kind of like inviting my two 
son-in-laws over when I only have
ONE Key Lime Pie.  Scary...

Hi Ho Hi Ho It Is Off To School We Go

Get your coffee.

This is the longest conversation

I have ever posted  I think.

I am writing it so the girls

can read it someday.

The girls don't often spend the night 

at my house when they have school

the next day.

However,

the other night was an exception

and SweetCheeks ended up 

spending the night by herself.

She did her

 " Kiddygarden homework"

sitting at the island.

She ate dinner, took a bubble bath

and went off to bed early.

I had to wash her clothes so she could wear

her same school uniform the next day.

She was up early, ate a good breakfast,

brushed her teeth, got dressed and 

was ready to go.

As we are walking out of the house

the phone rang.

Ria:  Tell SweetCheeks today is dress down day.

She's supposed to wear something besides

her uniform.

(The catch is you "buy" the right to do that 

by bringing a non-perishable food item

for those in need)-great idea, huh

uh-oh-here is "the look"

after getting that news.

Too late to change now-

we are 60 steps from the car

and will be late if we stop now.

I pick up Ria & Lulu at their house to drop

all three of them off at school.

Conversation in the car as we drive away.

Ria:  SCheeks- I brought you an outfit you can 

change in the bathroom.

SC:  R-I-A.....What outfit did you get?

Ria:  A nice one-you can change in the bathroom.

SC:  Did you bring me a can of food?

Ria:  Yep!

Me:  Did you bring one for yourself, too?

Ria:  Nana!  Stop- Go back-I forgot one

for myself.

We back up about a city block

(they live on a cul de sac-no traffic)

Ria runs in and gets a can of food.

Seat belt buckled we start for school again.

Lulu- SCheeks! Do have the scrip money?

SC:  Yup!

Lulu-Let me see it!

SC: (scrambling madly in her back pack)

Here it is!

Lulu:  That's not it, SCheeks.

SC:  Wehll, Sorrhee, Lulu- I don't know what it is anyways!

Lulu:  Nana- Stop- We have to go back

and get the scrip money.

This time we back up TWO city blocks.

Lulu runs in house-and can't find the

scrip envelope anywhere.

Back in the car -seat belts all buckled.

Me:  Lulu- what are you going to do if

you don't have your scrip envelope?

Lulu:  Nothing- we don't need it today anyway.

SC:  Who's gonna help me change in the bathroom?

Ria:  Lulu will.  I'm supposed to see my friends.

SC:  Lulu- will you help me?

Lulu:  (big sigh)   Yeah- I guess so.

SC:  I hate this world!

We get to school.

We hold the drop off line up for

a full three minutes while we unload

three backpacks,

a bag of SCheek's clothes..

SCheek's snow pants, mittens and hat,

and the package that drops out the door

when they get out.

Me:  Bye, girls-Love you-Have a good day.

SCheeks:  Pffffttt....It's already a bad day!

And that folks, is why I ordered a 

TRIPLE shot at Starbucks before 

I headed home.

The First Day Of Spring-WHAT???SERIOUSLY

Most of you know that we live

on the Bay.

What you may not know is that

when storms move in across

the Bay they often bring

straightline winds.

They are powerful,

sometimes damaging,

and sometimes just plain annoying.

We have to go out our back

garage door to get our newspaper.

This has been plowed-

Thank Goodness!

Yes- Yes-that is our neighbor's house

on the other side of the 

PILE OF SNOW.

Guess I won't be hanging any clothes out on that line.

Walking back towards the garage

I see this.

Turning around....

It is 12º as I type this- 

Minus 8º with wind chill factored in.

Pop over for a cup of coffee

later today- 

I'm clearing a path to the front door
for you right now......

Happy Belated First Day Of Spring!

Romantic Homes April 2013 Review

As many of you know I gave up most of

my magazine subscriptions.

However, I could NOT part

with this one.

Every month I pull out a few

of the blogs that I visit

that have been featured in some way.

First up this month:

Martina @ Northern Nesting

(I always think of her with a 

MARTINI in hand-must be the name!;>)

She is just a lovely lady with a

lovely blog and lots of hands on

projects.

Then there is 

Trish @Trouvais.

A beautiful blog of found French decor.

French not your "thing"?

Well how about some of

 Lynn Miller's Shabbystory 

goodness?

There is a tutorial on making these

bottles on pages 18 & 19.

There is a 16 page spread on 

Nina Hartmann

and among her beautiful whites are 

sprinkles of pink like this-

I know many of you don't buy magazines

like you used to.

Pinterest and blogging give us lots of 

beauty to look at online.

However, for me, there is great

satisfaction in sitting down with a 

cup of coffee and leafing through

a magazine and dreaming a bit.

You might want to join me this month.