A VALENTINE'S DAY TUTORIAL TO MAKING VALENTINES--A BLAST FROM THE PAST

With Valentine's Day coming up

I thought it would be fun

 (kinda like poking my eye out

with a stick)

to craft a few Valentines

with my grandgirls when they 

were little.

This, of course, involved

GLUE & GLITTER,

the bane of my existence.

I set up "stations" before

they arrived at my house.

Look how handy these sweet

chalkboard plates
(that my daughter-in-love made me)
 came in!

Station One:

Station Two:

Station Three:

This involves scissors & a hole punch

AND a paper cutter which the girls

are NOT ALLOWED to use.

I gave them a very sweet, gentle reminder

about "HANDS OFF" the slicer/dicer.

SweetCheeks said:

Yohu wouldn't do that enyways, Nana.

That is a stooopid sighn.

Hmmmm...That kid was smart even

when she was little.

Choosing materials each girl started

crafting. 

Thing One

Thing Two

And, last but not least,

Thing Three

How did everything turn out?

How much glitter was spilled in the process?

How many fingers were glued to eyeballs?

How many scraps of paper were

glued to the floor?

Maybe at some point

in the future when I

TRULY RECOVER

maybe all your pressing questions

will be answered.......maybe.....

This post will make SweetCheeks

smile as she continues to recover

from her surgery.

She is getting as spoiled today

as she was back then.

She is doing really well-

in some pain but is managing

it like a trooper.

HAVE A WONDERFUL

VALENTINE'S DAY
from our little 
Bright Eyes!

ps- please forgive the quality of those old pictures.

To tell the truth, I am not much better

at photography now.....

SWEETCHEEKS SURGERY RESULTS- PRAYER REQUEST UPDATE!

THANK YOU!

THANK YOU!

THANK YOU!

Thank you for all the prayers,

well-wishes and good thoughts

winged our way.

SweetCheeks went into surgery

this morning. 

We were prepared that she might

have to have a small surgery today

with a big one to follow on Monday.

Thank the good Lord,

she will only need the one surgery.

I don't want to get too technical

so I will just say that 

she had a VERY LARGE CYST

with a 'tether' 

on it that was removed and 

she will soon be home recovering.

She bore up like a trooper

but is still in quite a bit of pain.

SO---Your praying and/or healing thoughts

are still needed!

Please pray for relief from pain

and a fast healing.

Thank you and Amen!

I can't tell you how blessed I feel

to have a blog community that 

supports each other like you have

just supported me(us).

I know where to come when I need help!!

Soon our dancer will be

treading those boards again!

Have a wonderful weekend

(or what's left of it).....

UPDATE & CONTINUED PRAYER REQUEST-SURGERY SCHEDULED

Good Morning~

We don't have a lot of answers yet.

I can't give you many details

because we don't know exactly 

WHAT is going on.

There is an exploratory surgery

scheduled for today.

Depending on what they find,

there may be a more extensive surgery

on Monday.

We are hoping/praying that

doesn't happen.

Please pray for this girl.

She talks like a walking

MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

and is fully informed as to her condition.

Pray for peace of mind for all of us,

a surgery that gives finite answers,

and a relief from pain and for our 

SweetCheek's peace of mind.

I won't have my computer with me today,

so I won't respond until tonight or tomorrow.

When WE know more, 

I will tell YOU more.

Pray our little dancer is soon 

back to dancing again!

Thank you for all your prayers,

healing thoughts and 

well-wishes.

If you are part of a prayer chain,

please add her to the list.

Love you all-

Bloggers and blog readers are

THE BEST!!!!

PLEASE PRAY FOR MY SWEETCHEEKS

Please pray for our Julia.

I know many of you remember our

SweetCheeks from the time she

was a little girl.

I posted this plea on Facebook

but I know not everyone

visits there.

In the middle of a snowstorm

yesterday my daughter took

SweetCheeks to the ER.

She is in a lot of pain and

they cannot figure out what is wrong.

They have ruled out several of 

the big things.

She has a really high pain tolerance level

so for her to be feeling this bad

is kind of scary.

Pray they can at least figure out 

the source of her pain today.

I will keep you posted when

we know more.

If you are not a "pray-er"

please wing healing thoughts

and wishes her way.

Love my little girlie!!!

REMEMBERING MY BROTHER -SMILING THROUGH THE HEARTACHE

Six years  ago this week

my brother, Charlie,

walked into the hospital ER

because he wasn't feeling well.

On February 5th,  2013,

 4:04 pm he left the hospital.

He didn't leave the way we hoped,

nor the way we expected.

He went to a different home

than the one he left that last Tuesday.

He developed a very rare cancer

that affects less than 1% of

cancer patients.  It is fast moving

and there is less than a 1% chance

of survival.

I  struggled trying to figure

out why this has happened.

Then a peaceful thought came to me.

Our little granddaughter,

Anna Bella,  who would be THIRTEEN now,

needed an Uncle

to keep her company.

A great-uncle.

Great in more ways than one.

Wasn't he a cute little boy?

We knew that last morning that his

time to be with us was to be

short-lived.

They put him on a morphine drip

and he gently drifted away

without pain.

What you don't know about

my brother is that he was a 

joker-He loved to make

people laugh.

He was the "smiliest" person

I ever knew and he

dearly loved a good joke.

You know, even in moments of 

blinding pain there are

sparks of laughter,

After we said our good-byes and 

gave him permission to go "home",

we were all sobbing.

I told him: "You are so, so loved here

and Mom & Dad

and our grandparents and 

uncles and cousins and family

are all waiting for you-waiting to

welcome you to Heaven".

My sister-in-law added...

"And Snow White".

What? I asked.

Maybe you read a different

Bible than I do cuz I don't

think Snow White is in Heaven.

Everyone in the room erupted

in laughter.

In the burst of laughter

my brother, Charlie,

took his last breath of

life on this Earth.

We knew then that he 

was free to go because

in spite of our sadness

there was one last smile for him.

I'm betting that right now,

up in Heaven,

he is setting our little Anna Bella

up to some mischief

just like  I my father used to 

set him up.

He passed so-so peacefully,

with nary a complaint.

You did good, Charlie,

very, very good.

Now I feel like I have a 

GUARDIAN ANGEL

that watches over me.

As a family, we have moved on,

walking different paths than the ones 

we were on and that is okay.

Happy memories keep us company

on those days when we mourn

our earthly loss.

Take a moment today to 

tell someone you love them.

If there are rifts in your family,

mend them while you have time

for tomorrow is never guaranteed

and there are no "do-overs"

when death comes to visit.

Have a wonderful, blessed day.

I hope YOU have a 

GUARDIAN ANGEL

in your life!

ps.  Snow White?  She was Charlie's cat.

FAIRIES IN FEBRUARY~

As you know,

I believe in fairies...

I think they are some of

God's little angels...

although I couldn't find

that part in the Bible....

One morning~

we awoke to a world kissed by

Fairy Dust

~some of you may call it snow~

Looking out the window I saw this...

(the blue vertical line holds a

bird feeder at the end)

And this....

And this....

The Cherub-Before And After 

THE BIG SNOW

Do you see the cherub there...

surrounded by snow

and lit by sparkling lights?

He's way at the base

hidden in his little snow world.

The fairies will visit this 

sweet little place when

Spring comes to Green Bay.

I will sure miss this little playhouse

in all the seasons as we move.

It's a cold beauty right now but the 

Winter Fairies love it....

I see them flitting around

out there from time to time.

Yes. I. Do.

The other "fairy" that has been

visiting grandkids lately is the

Tooth Fairy.

Here is the one I have.....

He is a Mark Roberts fairy.

He's darling, isn't he?

He's the one that comes to visit

in the depths of night when you

lose a tooth....

IF YOU ARE GOOD.

Of course this is

NOT GOOD 

if you are over the age of 12

AND even worse 

if you have dentures!

Yes, indeedy!

Are you not so good?

Well- HERE is YOUR tooth fairy!

Makes you want to stay on the

Straight and Narrow,

doesn't it????

Have a fairy nice Sunday!!!!

NEVER FAIL CARAMELS ON A SNOWY DAY!

There's a storm brewing here today.

We have 3-5" of snow coming

this morning- 

downgraded from 6-7".

I love to putz in the kitchen

on days like this, don't you?

You are in for a treat today!!!

When I was a kid,

 my mother

often whipped up a batch 

of fudge from scratch

after the chores were done

on a snowy Pennsylvania night.

I make caramels instead.

As you can tell, I love to bake

and make candy.

I don't know how many 

caramel recipes I have tried

over the years.

Some of them called for

stirring for what seemed hours

and then...

they might or might not

"turn out".

These are quick!

Less than 10 minutes from

start to finish AND they

NEVER FAIL 

to set up properly.

Ready?

Get yourself a nice big 

microwave measuring cup.

Make sure it is microwave safe.

Everything that is measured out

is in 1/2 cup increments.

Melt 1/2 cup butter.

Remove from microwave.

Add 1/2 cup Karo syrup,

1/2 cup light brown sugar,

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup sweetened CONDENSED MILK

(not evaporated milk)

Stir until mixed and dissolved.

Microwave on high 3-1/2 minutes.

Stir down.

Microwave on high 3-1/2 more minutes.

Remove from mic.  Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts-if desired- I don't.

Stir until few air bubbles remain.

Pour into 8x8 buttered dish.

Refrigerate until set.

Cut into squares.

You can wrap these if they last long enough.

Ours never seem to make it to the

wrapped stage!

Serve these to your husband.

Make sure he eats twice as many

as you do.

Remember- the fatter he gets

the skinnier you look

standing next to him!;>)

Happy Wednesday!!!!

ANNA IRELAND BUILDS A SHELF

If you have 2-1/2 minutes

this is 

THE BEST TUTORIAL

on building a shelf

I have ever seen.

If nothing else,

you will get your laugh 

for the day.

Featuring Anna & Peggy Sue the dog!

CLICK HERE!

See you in a day or so with the

PICK YOUR FAVORITE  RESULTS!