WHAT A WEEKEND

Well, here I am!

I made it through the weekend!

You want to know if it was busy?

Funny you should ask.

This is a longer post than I usually do.

So-heat your coffee, grab some strawberries
 and sit a spell.

Friday night MyHero and I went to see

Lulu & SweetCheeks play-

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever....

and BOY was it!

Here are the girls  with Mom all ready for 

Scene I on stage.

Lulu played the part of 

Little Miss Self Righteous.

It was a good sized part and 

she did a GREAT job.

SweetCheeks was the youngest player

in the play-age 6.

She ad-libbed her way to 

front and center stage.

The director let her add two lines  

that she "wrote in".

No one was allowed to take pictures

of them on stage or during the play.

I only got pictures in the hallways

behind the scenes.

Here is middle sister, Ria,

caught in a pensive moment.

I think she was feeling a tad sad that

she didn't try out for the play.

She has beautiful hair-

I told her I would show everyone how

pretty it looked all pulled up in back..

So, Friday night was a busy one!

And~

Daughter Mimi, hubby and two boys

showed up to spend the night and go to

Saturday's show.

Saturday I went to TWO PERFORMANCES

back to back.  

At the 2nd show we had 21 family members

in the audience.

We ALL went to SweetCheeks' house for

pizza and Charlie's birthday cake.

When I got ready to leave

SweetCheeks begged her way into the backseat

and spent the night at my house.

If you have 15 seconds here she is

"relaxing" and telling me that she was

The Star and that "the spotlight loves me".

Sunday I went to the afternoon matinee.

This was the last performance of the season.

I now know every line by heart just in case

I want to try out to be 

THE NAUGHTY ANGEL

next year.

Wonder if they could stretch that costume to fit me?

Naaaaah!

Think that was the end of the weekend?

Nope!

Throw a wedding in there, too.

If you are REALLY GOOD 

I might tell you about

THE WEDDING

tomorrow.

Here's a sneak peek-

I will try to get around to visit later today-

bear with me if I am a little late.

Happy Second Birthday Charles In Charge

He was born 2 years ago

by emergency C section.

He was a big boy and weighed in at over

TEN POUNDS!

Yes-it's the nameless 
CRAYON BOY
from yesterday's post.

He was a  sweet little baby

and I got to spend the first few weeks

of his life living with him 

to help Mom and Dad out.

Is there anything cuter than baby toes?

Well, maybe that sweet little baby face.

You were a pretty baby and you 

were so sweet when you were baptized wearing

the family baptismal gown.

In the past year you have gotten even cuter and

I love all the many faces of you!

Happy 2nd Birthday

Charles In Charge.

I love you to the moon and back!

I have a houseful of company today

and we are going to see the play that

SweetCheeks & Lulu are in.

I'll catch up as I can.

 

source

Romantic Homes -Fall Issue

I am sorry this is so late.

It is the October Issue of  

Romantic Homes.

I was going to skip October's issue and go to

November's issue.

However, 

the November issue is all about Christmas

and I like to celebrate  

ONE HOLIDAY AT A TIME!

There are some great bloggers featured

in the October issue.

First up is Bernideens Tea Time

It is always a lovely, romantic  place to visit.

2nd on the Romantic Homes' roster is

Becky from Buckets of Burlap.

Becky has a simple, sweet approach to everything.

You will love visiting her.

I have followed Gina from

The Shabby Creek Cottage 

for a long time.

She is one of those people that can do anything!

And, I found a blogger I didn't know this time.

Julia's blog is Vintage With Laces

She uses lace in marvelous ways.

So, ladies, if you love

Romantic Homes

pop by any of the above blogs for a visit.

As for me?

Well, today I'll be 

cleaning the crayon off my 

WHITE SOFA

that someone who shall remain nameless

left his mark on.

This is the nameless one with his

WHO ME look!

God bless his sweet little soul!

My Internet Is Not Working I Will Be Back As Soon As I Can

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MY BLOGGER INTERNET IS NOT WORKING- I CAN ONLY TYPE A TITLE- I WILL BE BACK AS SOON AS I CAN GET IT FIXED

God Bless Our Veterans Today And Everyday

I am ashamed that I don't

always think about what the cost

is for my freedom.

source

I don't always think about

the person that laid

down their life so that

I can enjoy the freedoms

this country allows.

I don't always think about

the day-to-day struggles that

some of our veterans must deal with...

the physical, emotional, spiritual end

of it.

I do think about my Father,

a vet of WWI (yes-WWI)-

He was a young man in the service

and an old man when I was born (53).

I do think about my Uncle Samuel,

that fought in the Korean War~

but I don't ever remember him

mentioning it.

I do think about my foster brother, Gene,

that was part of the Vietnam war years...

the war that wasn't a war,

or so they say.

I do think about my nephew, Scott,

that suffered permanent damage

when he was fired on as

he guarded one of

Sadam's palaces.

And, I do think about a man

that has a blog..

A man that I met in my blog travels...

you know when you hit that

Next Blog button on the top..

This is a man that gave it all

for his country...

and is now but a shadow

of his former self, on the outside..

Inside- he is a fighter of the

greatest magnitude.

I have a soft spot for 

Kurt The Krippled Warrior.

He lives a hard life but asks

for no pity or sympathy.

Today, I hope  to

raise a salute to every man or woman

that fights for all of us.

God Bless Our Veterans

and those that are serving

our country today.

 source

Without you- we have no hope.

Shipping And Sitting And Sipping

One of the best parts of waking up in

the morning is looking out my 

window towards the 

Bay of Green Bay.

Shipping:

This time of year the shipping lanes

have slowed down.

Soon the channel will be closed for the winter

but right now the freighters are coming in

and going out.

Isn't she a beauty?

She is riding low in the water laden down

with salt for the icy roads this winter

or she's laden with coal.

It's hard to get a good picture of  her.

The rising sun shines on her hard and bright.

The old boat on shore is no longer water worthy

but she is a fun place to sit and jump on.

I sip my coffee and stroll down to the 

cold beach.

Sitting:

There is someone else here to keep me company

this morning.

Do you see them?

They blend right in with the shore, don't they?

Sipping:

Here is what I am sipping on this morning.

I am driving to Madison, WI for a seminar

and I won't be home until  

3 or 4 am Sunday morning.

So be nice to me if I don't get to visit you until

late tomorrow sometime and 

please pray  that I don't fall asleep

driving home.

I am taking a couple of these along just in case

I need them to hold my eyes open.

I get to use them first an then I will pass

them along to MyHero.

My motto is-what he doesn't know won't hurt him (much)

image

Have a good day-see ya tomorrow!

Be My Guest- Be My Guest- Put Your Bottom Down To Rest

Did you notice I didn't say

Put Your Butt Down To Rest?

I do have a FEW things that are off-limits, 

you know!

Anyway,

On Tuesday I posted a choice of

SEVEN different ways to dine alfresco here!

Your NUMBER ONE PICK 

to plunk yourself down at is

NUMBER ONE!

How funny is THAT?

Slightly behind with about 2/3 of the vote of Number 1 is

NUMBER TWO

Again-How funny is that?!?!

What is REALLY FUNNY is the fact that

EVEN SOME OF THOSE ALL-WHITE LOVERS

picked Number 2!

C'mon--You're screwing up my 

"I can guess which one you'll pick"

when you go for COLOR!

That STINKS!

You know what ELSE stinks?

A Skunk!

Pretty cute little stinker, huh?

Oh-Wait!

There's one more- 

I guess I'd be LION if I didn't say

he was a pretty cute little stinker, too.

-It's Big Boy E & CharlesInCharge-

Feel free to groan over the LION line!

SWEET CHEEKS IS A STAR-ON STAGE (AND OFF)

Have you heard about

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever?

This is kind of a long post for me

because I included a brief synopsis of the play.

Quit your whining and grab your coffee...m'kay?

If you don't know the book-

Here is a synopsis:

The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world. 

They lie, steal, smoke cigars, swear, and hit little kids. 

So no one is prepared when this outlaw family 

invades church one Sunday 

and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant.

None of the Herdmans has ever heard the Christmas story before. 

Their interpretation of the tale — 

the Wise Men are a bunch of dirty spies and Herod needs a good beating — 

has a lot of people up in arms. 

But it will make this year's pageant the most unusual anyone has seen 

and, just possibly, the best one ever.

Our Lulu went to the local theater group

to try out for the play...open from

ages EIGHT and up.

She is 11.

She read and got a part.

SweetCheeks age SIX

is sitting off to one side.

The director looks her over and asks if

she wants to try out.

She shyly nods her head yes.

Director doesn't hold out much hope

because she is very soft-spoken

AND only SIX.

She tells SweetCheeks to 

"imagine that you are getting ready for

school and can't find your backpack-

ONLY you are an ANGEL

and you can't

find your HALO.

Got it?"

SweetCheeks quietly nods yes-

she understands.

Director says Okay...

let me know when you are ready.

SweetCheeks goes up on stage

quietly bows her head

and closes her eyes.

(director is regretting asking her

because she seems so shy)

She looks up and says- 

OK- I'm ready now.

Here is her interpretation of the line.

This is less than 20 seconds long...

please excuse our "hair do".....

 After a couple of play practices

Sweet Cheeks also wrote her

OWN LINE and asked if it could be added.

"OOOOOH- Alice is MAAAAD"

The director added it.

Last week she told me she was going to add

ONE MORE LINE.

She did!

She now closes the play with

"Peace On Earth Good Will Towards Men"

Now why doesn't that surprise me?

Next year she will be sitting in the

director's chair!

The Center Of My Table and a Weight Loss Plan

Sometimes I go for 

ELEGANT

and sometimes I go for 

Simple, Homey and a tad Rustic

when I decorate for Fall

and Thanksgiving.

Here is what sits in

the center of my 

dining room table right now.

I threw it together in a 

large rectangular basket with a wood bottom,

some over sized faux acrons,

some mini pumpkins,

some cinnamon sticks.

Then I added some leaves gathered here and there.

I have family heirloom sterling silver

candlesticks on either side.

There is a piece of bark cloth underneath

the basket that I have

had for about 15 years and STILL love.

The MIX sign is from a closed down,

abandoned stockyard 

and stolen by my girls when we went

home when my brother died.  

Shhhh- I would hate to see them arrested 

although it would probably serve them right.

It was  given  to me for Mother's Day.

It brings back bittersweet memories of times

 I spent with my Dad in the little office above

the stockyard floor with the owner of the place.

I have plaid napkins on the table that coordinates with the bark cloth.

You can just see the edge of one napkin the the 

center of the picture.

I think it would be fun to serve

this cake along with pumpkin

and pecan pie.

source

It is either the cake above or the one below.

source

Yes- That is a real cake.
(for those that want to know it is supposed to be
a skinned mole rat)-Imagine serving THAT!!!

The dilemma is 

Which one matches my centerpiece the best?

The weight loss plan I promised?

This is a FREE plan!

No need to use PayPal or your

credit card for this one.

Try to imagine a piece of that last cake

on a plate in front of you.

I guarantee that will curb your appetite.

You're welcome!

Catch you a bit later this morning!

I Won ANOTHER Giveaway!

I am almost embarrassed to tell you 

I WON ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!

A few weeks ago I signed up

to win a WREATH over at

Andrea's OPULENT COTTAGE.
Here is the one the company sent to her.

Of course,
THAT one is all sold out!!!!
BUT

I could pick out ANY of the wreaths.from 

BALSAM HILL 

I chose this one because it was listed as 

REALISTIC.

Boy!  Is it!!!!

It also reminds me of the mountains of 

Pennsylvania where I grew up.

It came pre-lit.

It is gorgeous and I can see it taking me 

from late Fall into Winter.

I will show you a picture of it again
when I get it hung up somewhere.

If you don't know Andrea over at

Opulent Cottage 

you are missing someone special.

Thank you, Andrea!

I. LOVE. IT.

Bear with me as I get caught up after
being away for the weekend!

Happy Happy Birthday To Big J-Our Son-In-Law

Please help me wish our 

Son-In-Law, BIG J,

Happy Birthday!

He is married to our youngest daughter

and they live in Milwaukee,

about 100 miles South of us.

He will be here later today

so that we can all celebrate together.

We didn't know him when he was young

so I don't have early pictures of him

but he grew up to be a pretty handsome man,

didn't he?

Birthday Blessings, 

Big J.

We love you!

You are a good dad

And husband and a good provider.

We are glad to have you as a 

Son-In-Law!

Happy Happy Birthday, Big J.

ps. See y'all on Monday-
I've got a houseful for the weekend!