Happy Birthday, My Sweet Mary

I have to give a big Happy Birthday to my precious, sweet friend Mary.

Mary, I want you to know that I love you with all my heart. You truly are the sister that I never had. Nine years ago God brought you into my life and gave me a friend that would forever change my life. You have been to me exactly who God wanted you to be. Let me explain...You have been honest with me when I probably would have rather heard something else. You have opened my eyes to truths that I had never thought of. You have held me in check and kept me accountable. You have cried with me when I thought my heart was going to break into little bitty pieces. You helped keep me strong through the absolute hardest time in my life. You were there for me every step of the way. And then, when my world seemed to be caving in a second time, there you were again. Remember the day when I called and told you what had broken loose that day? Yes, yet again, you listened to my cries as my heart was torn apart. You were there all those many miles away, yet you seemed like you were in the same room. Your prayers have seen me through so much. How wonderful it is to know that no matter what is going on in my life, I can call on you to listen, give advice or simply pray for me. And to know that you will pray and not just say you will, means the world to me. Thank you for that. And thank you for being one of the most straight forward, real, honest people that I have ever known. You are who you are and I love you for that. You are also one of the funniest people I know. You can tell stories like nobody's business. I love to laugh with you. (fried rice, white rice)

You will forever be my sweet Mary, because you, sweet Mary, have made my life better. You are my sister, my friend, my confidant.

Happy Birthday. I love you so much.

Ornament Swap

Every year at Christmas I host an Ornament Swap. This has become an annual event that I so look forward to. It is my one time a year to have a "ladies" party. There are no men invited and only ladies can come except for my two daughters. This year I also asked the ladies I invited to invite someone themselves. Bring a snack, an ornament, and a friend. I figured this would be a great way to meet new people that I would not know to invite. It was a great idea, if I must say so myself, and I loved meeting and visiting with new friends. We even had a precious lady here from Ireland. How neat that was.

It's always fun to see different personalities at work. You have the ever so sweet ladies who would never "steal" an ornament from someone and the other ever so sweet ladies who come up with sneaky little plans to get the ornaments they want. Little plans were devised that night, that's for sure.

We had great food and plenty of it. Beth fixed a wonderful Christmas punch that she fixes every year and great White Christmas coffee that I got at TJ Maxx. Yummy!! I love me some good coffee and the more choice of desserts, the better.

I was lucky this year because I got two beautiful ornaments. I won a pretty red ornament that now lays on my mantle and a sweet friend left me the Jim Shore snowman ornament that she won because she knew how fond I am of Jim Shore's work. I truly didn't mean for her to leave her ornament here, but how sweet it was that she did. She even hung it on my tree for me. What a nice surprise. What a nice evening.

Sweet ladies who came from near and far to "swap ornaments" and fellowship with friends.

Watching as gifts are unwrapped. Plans are being formulated already as to how to take home the ornament they wanted.

Karla, a sweet friend of mine in the red, brought a visiting friend who was here from Ireland. I loved listening to her talk. She probably likes our southern accents as well.

Faith had a ball being a "big girl" and getting to party with the ladies.

This was the lovely red ornament that I won fair and square. Isn't it pretty? Thanks, Kim.

And, this is the awesome Jim Shore ornament that my friend, Lee, left hanging on my tree just as a nice surprise. I love surprises!

Redneck Wishes

One of the Christmas wishes I had this year was to buy a real Christmas tree, tie it to the top of the van, and then ride around town watching everyone smile as we passed by. You see, it thrills me to see this very thing when other people do it, and I always honk and smile at them. Silly, little girl things make me happy.


Well, I got my wish. Donnie, I and the kids went to a tree farm and bought a live Christmas tree. We noticed when we got there, however, that they didn't seem to be exactly the kind of tree we wanted and really looked like they would be extremely difficult to decorate. It was a White Pine, by the way. Most of you are probably saying that I should have known better and not gotten it, but here I was, caught up in the moment and so looking forward to the tieing down on the van part. We tried very hard to pick out the fullest, fluffiest tree we could find. And, we thought we had done pretty good, until...we got it home and got it inside.


Let me back up a little bit. We did tie it down and we did drive all around town with our tree on top. I even rolled the windows down so that I could see the smiles on the passers by. You know what, I really don't think I saw one person smiling. I don't think it made anyone else as happy as what it always makes me. Am I weird, or what? Nobody even honked their horn and gave us a thumbs up. Yes, I have done that too. You know what, it really doesn't matter what others thought, because I had an absolute ball making my "redneck" (what my family calls it) wish come true. It made my day and that's what matters, right?


Now back to the pine. When we got it inside and tried to determine which side to put in the front, we (the girls and I) realized there was not a good side. This was not a pretty tree. No bones about it. But, we tried. We wrapped lights and more lights. We put ornaments all over it. We even put ones way down deep inside to try to make it look fuller. We tried our hardest to make this tree work. And, then you know what we did. We took it down. Yes, my friends, we decorated it and undecorated it all within a matter of an hour or so. Then, after explaining to my sweet laid back husband what had just taken place, we went upstairs and brought down the artificial tree. The girls and I were so happy to get our old faithful tree set up and decorated. Donnie thought I had lost my mind. I must say that he wasn't very happy about my decision, but he never gets really mad, only a little disturbed.


Let me add that the tree only cost $12. Very inexpensive. Thank goodness the cost made it not be so bad that I had completely changed my mind. And, I have to say that the joy I got from riding around town with that Christmas tree on top was absolutley worth $12. No doubt.


Where is the live tree now, you might ask. Well, today Donnie and Faith took it to the front yard, right beside my sidewalk at my front porch steps, and strung lights all over it. They also placed some of Faith's toys all around it. Okay, it's not the exact place I would want it to be, but I cannot and will not complain. Faith is thrilled to have decorated it with her daddy and loves exactly where it is and how it looks.



I'm not sure if we are redneck because of the whole tree on top of the van or not, but we might just be with this tree right in my front yard. Who cares, right? Not me. :)

Beth started chopping down our tree.



Beth finished chopping down our tree. Yes, except for a few swings by the rest of us just so we could say we tried, Beth chopped down this tree. Swinging her softball bat certainly prepared her for this job.




The part I had been wishing for. Maybe, dreaming of. Yes, Donnie got out in the parking lot of Kroger and took pictures of me driving so I could always remember this moment in case he never let me do it again. :)


Almost entirely decorated. We actually got it all the way done minus a few ornaments and the star on top.


Now it's undecorated and waiting to be taken outside.

Here we are putting together the artificial tree. Major fluffing has to go on here. We have had this tree for many many years, but it still looks good to us.










Second time is a charm. The star wasn't on yet, but oh happy day, the second Christmas tree is doneDad and Faith decorating the tree outside. Isn't that a sad little tree?The finished tree right outside my front entryway. Faith even put toys around it to look like Santa had been here. And, yes, Donnie and Faith informed me that it is all staying. Do you think I could sneak it away for a few hours on Monday night for my party? No, I don't think so either. A child's wishes....very important. A mommy's decorating pride....not so much.

Yes, We Believe

Our home is full of believers. Yes, we do believe in Santa Claus and the Polar Express 4D Adventure in Dollywood was great, but that's not what I am talking about.

We believe in God the Father, we believe in Christ the Son, we believe in the Holy Spirit, Trinity, Three in One. (this is from a song we learned from a Christmas musical last year) We believe that God sent His son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. We believe in eternal life and that we will spend eternity in heaven because of our belief in Him.

Yes, we do believe!!

Our First Snow

We had our first snow of the season this past Saturday and, of course, we were all so excited. There is no doubt who gets the most excited though.

Faith wanted to build snowmen, have snowball fights, and make snowcream. About the only thing she could actually do was to make snow angels on the deck. It wasn't a lot of snow, but sure enough to make a little girl very happy. And, if Faith is happy, mommy is happy.

The New (Snow) Man In My Life

I absolutely love snowmen. They always look so happy and fun. I also like that I can leave them out for awhile after Christmas is over.

I also like a woodsy, natural look. A little subdued yet great looking is what I like to go for. Well, I found the most wonderful snowman ever. Maybe not ever to most people, but oh how I love this snowman. He is woodsy, natural, handsome, glittery, and he is now mine. This snowman makes me happy.

He has taken a prominent position in our family room and will remain there as long as I can possibly allow him to. He just fits.

I got him when we were on a family vacation in Pigeon Forge this week. He was at one of my favorite stores, Kirklands. Thanks, Kirklands, for the new (snow)man in my life. He's a keeper.

Rocketts In Music City

Man have we been busy these last couple of weeks. We traveled to Kingsport for Thanksgiving with my in-laws and then went to beautiful Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg for a few days after that. We have had so much fun just playing.

Last night, Donnie took me and the kids, my mom and his parents to see the Rocketts in Nashville. It was just as the title says, "Spectacular"! Let me tell you how amazing these dancers are. What precision and flexibility these ladies have. Oh, if only....

Not only was the dancing and singing incredible, but at the end was an amazing live Nativity. That just completed the night for us.

This year makes the second time that the girls and I have gone to the Christmas Spectacular with the Rocketts. I took them last year by myself and we had second floor balcony seats. Good seats, but a long way away from the stage. This year, Donnie had different plans for our seating arrangements. He purchased tickets on the floor, second row from the stage. We were so close that not much was left unseen. "I'm just sayin"..... My kids were afraid that their Papaw was gonna have a heart attack sitting that close.

No heart attacks were had and I am so glad we got to go again. I love taking my girls to stuff like that and it was great having my mom with us this year. If you ever have a chance to go, make sure you do. It will be well worth your time.

I would love to share photos of the show, but picture taking was not allowed. We did get a few photos afterwards though.