A game for all you Foodie Friends!

So...............there is a new blog out there called Foodie Fans of the Pioneer Woman..http://pioneerwomancooksfans.blogspot.com/.
It's a fun site and they have a lil challenge AND a book giveaway going on there. All you have to do is cook one of Ree's Thanksgiving dishes or prolly just any of her recipes from her site and then post about it on your blog. Easy enough? And yeah.....I know I'm late with this but maybe some of you already have some of her stuff in your arsenal and you can get in in time to get your name thrown into the hat!

I made her Crazy, oops...Lazy Chili Rellenos to take to the deer camp for part of our turkey day treats. Just to have in the fridge as a filler for when they come in "s-t-a-r-v-i-n-g.....as boys do every other hour! It was tasty and would be really good as game day snacks!!
And sorry.........I forgot to take a pic of the finished, cooked product! Mah bad. But Ree has a photo of it on her blog and mine looked exactly like hers!!! hahahahahaha......well, ok. Kinda like hers!
So, if you like the Pioneer Woman and her blog, visit this new fan site of hers..http://pioneerwomancooksfans.blogspot.com/ Looks like it's gonna be fun!!

(p.s...........I'm going over to Dallas for a few days of girlfriend road trip time AND to Ree's book signing!! I'm gonna hype a lil idea to her about a photography seminar. Wish me luck!!)

It's all about the ......PIE!!

We love chocolate pie. Alot. When I took the first pic up there, there was steam piping from it after I poured it into the crust. Didn't show up but it was a beautiful sight!! There were other desserts but it always comes back to the pie!
Proof: I "made" these two eat a piece this morning before dinner was even finished....for photo purposes. Do they look like they hated the job????? Not.

And I didn't get a pic of the finished, cooked turkey( it was quite bootiful, if I do say so myownself!) because you know how it goes....when the meal is finally finished, it's like an Olympic race to see who can get to it first. Pics? I don't think so!
But, chuckling as we're cleaning up, I had to show you what a Martha Stewart "perfect" turkey eating crew we are!! Nice!





I will admit, we had a pretty cute turkey carver...who picks out the most tender pieces when he's cutting and stashes them under Tom Turkey so he can go back to it when he's fixing his plate! Matt caught him today, tho....BUSTED!

A few yrs back, my sons talked me into bringing the Thanksgiving meal to the deer camp. Would be so much easier...for them...they said. Because they hunt early in the morning and all they'd have to do is come back to the house to eat, only to go back out in the afternoon. And because I spoil them rotten and love every minute of it, I do most of the cooking at home and pack it all up and haul it up to Arkansas to the deer camp. It makes them happy and 'that' makes me happy. Win, Win. Because, you see....they stay for the rest of the weekend and mama comes home to a nice quiet house and spends her days shopping and sleeping and well.....anything mama wants to do!! Heh. See what I mean??....win, win!

Look at this little man waiting for his daddy to come in from hunting! He sits in this window all the while he's gone, pouting because he didn't get to go. Hilarious!

It's nighttime now and everyone has a full belly. We've all had naps and there is some serious male bonding going on. Dad........sons..........friends......dogs........outside campfire.

Yep, I'd say we had a perfecto Thanksgiving Day!!

And now........................Black Friday Here I Come!!!! Move over Santas...mama is on the move!!

Happy Thanksgiving! and Turkey Day too!!

"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." Epictetus

I rejoice. I am thankful. For ALL that I have been lucky enough to have been given and achieved in my life. I'm also thankful that I appreciate all of my bounty, not only at Thanksgiving, but just about every day of my life. I know how lucky I am and if you've got a few hours, I'll tell ya all about it! But I do have to say that almost all of my girlhood dreams of the fairytale life have materialized. Not to say there haven't been bumps in the road...but I have drawn strength from those and grown into a better person thru those experiences. From a wonderful boyfriend to the most amazing children that make my heart bleed with pride every single day....to a lil fuzzy sophiejane....to a treasure chest of true, true friends.....I am so blessed.

Have a wonderful holiday doing just what makes your heart happy and do take a moment in this time of economic woe and scary political decision-making to appreciate good health, good times and lots and lots of laughter. Smiling faces are contagious!!

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.-- Marcel Proust

The Red Swing.

The lettering at the bottom right of this picture reads: Sophie's Sassy Swing. Why, you ask?
Well, let me tell you a little story................
This tree sits out in the pasture, right beside the pond. It's huge, that tree. Beautiful. You can see it from the driveway as you drive into our property, with two graceful limbs spreading out like two long arms, ready to wrap themselves around you for protection. Arms perfect for hanging a swing from. And well....it's a swing tree. You know the kind. Strong, large trunk and tree limbs that just beg for a swing to be hung from them.
My boyfriend hung a swing from that tree for me. He's cool like that. He's always thinking of thoughtful, neat things to do for me. And this thoughtful thing rocked my world!
It's way out in the pasture and you can daydream till the cows come home there. Swingin' and swangin' in that swing with warmth of the ol' tree in its glory.
So.........this afternoon, sophiejane and I went to the tree to watch the afternoon light fade away.
She usually just walks around, sniffin' and smellin' everything on the ground but today a bird fluttered thru the weeds and she was scared a bit. She jumped up into the swing! I laughed and waited for her to jump back down, but she didn't. I got up. She stayed. I called her. She stayed.
It was almost as tho she was telling me to 'back off'...she was swingin' in her sassy swing!
Doesn't she look sassy here?













Soon, she was telling me that she had found what we came out this day to see:

























~~Sigh~~what a beautiful sight!!

Up, Up and Away?? In a Sleigh??

So here's da ting..........

My friend and I were waiting for some other friends to show up at a Christmas/Holiday thingy. Ya know...a shopping extravaganza, for lack of a better word. A red sleigh was part of their props for decorating and we figured what better way to wait for our buddies than to hang out a bit in the prop. And of course, if you're just sitting around, what better thing to do than take your own pics?? So since we're not supposed to be in the thing anyway and we're drawing a crowd around us wanting us to take THEIR pics in the forbidden sleigh.....I realize I should have hung my shingle there to take some cheesy holiday pics. Which I did for one sweet lil ol' lady, just cuz I'm all nice like that! Anyway....long story short, we had a blast this day and here's just a lil proof of it!

How cheesy is this???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And no! We will NOT be sending this out as a Christmas card.And then, of course, this is the way MOST of our afternoons together end!!

My junkin' habit....

My name is Crazy and I'm addicted to junkin'!! 12 step program should be put in place soon.

Seriously. And the even crazier thing? I probably never buy anything over 20 bucks at one place. But man, oh man....do I ever love finding that really old piece that feels special to me for cheap price. heheheheheh...the old saying, "one man's garbage is another man's treasure"???.....yeah, I would be THAT man!!!

SO................my girls and I found a new junkin' place in our town and we hit them up this week. No lie...we didn't even see all of it and we were in there for at least 2 hrs. I will be back in there soon. Old good stuff, old junk, new junk. Junk, Junk Everywhere!!! and I had to share what I got! For $5. Remember that iron grate that I found and hung in the sunroom? Decorated with some of my mom's old stuff? Well, looky what else went up there? Just look at the face on this lil sophiejane!!!and in her place of honor!

A Wonderful Pink Fairyland.....

~~Sigh~~......what a magical day it was!! The bebe shower, that was held at my home this past weekend, was just pure magic!! The day was sunny and warm. My living room was filled to the brim with family and friends. The food was fun. And talk of warm, fuzzy bebe girls was all around us!! The smile on my daughter-in-laws face was infectious and the proud looks on her mom and dad's faces were even more so. And the loot? OMG...she got so many wonderful gifts that she told me last night if the baby came today, she'd be ready for her. And it makes it so special that all the nice thoughts and gifts were from family and her good friends who traveled many miles to get here. Not to mention my buddies who traveled lots of roads, as well, to share the day with me. That meant alot. A whole lot. And then, they stayed the night for a slumber party where we had more good food and good vino and laughing so deep that our bellies hurt!

So..........enough with the words and onward to the pics. Will add to this thoughout the day as I get them downloaded...

The entrance "funny" beside the front door. When you squeezed the baby's belly, she laughed out loud so much that it automatically made you laugh too....great way to begin a party....with laughter!!

the clothesline full of bebe lovelys!

The main food table (before most of the food was on it!)

The smaller table in the sunroom....

Various areas of table.

these are kinda my signature party foods...sandwich loaves filled with tuna, chicken & pimento cheese and iced with cream cheese.
Yum....

Jenny from Lollipop workshop made these adorable cupcake toppers for me as well as the little doll above.

BabyMama lookin' at her loot!!

....and the slumber party food!

All I can say is that we are so blessed. To have this opportunity to have so many special people share with us this oh, so precious ocassion, is truly a blessing. And knowing that Matt & Amy's sweet daughter will be welcomed with so much love is truly amazing.

I simply call it "LILLI LOVE"!!

Oh MY!!

I really AM going to be a grandmother...
I guess you really have to see something like this for it to really hit home, ya know?

Introducing Ms. Lillian Leigh!! And she won't even be born for 10 more weeks!

Amazing. Truly amazing!!

A fun lil project!

So, I've been playing a little.
HA.........I hear my rl friends saying, "what else is new" right now. Ok. Admittedly, I play alot. But hey....isn't that what you're supposed to do when you get old?? With obvious signs of alzheimers, creakin' bones, loss of eyesight and laziness? I play and I love life!

On my junkin' jaunt thru east texas a few weeks ago, I saw an iron grate hanging from a ceiling somewhere and thought, hmmmmmmmm.....I could do that. They were using it as a display area for their wares but I just thought it looked interesting and would add another dimension to my sunroom. I just so happened to come across a perfect piece for 10 bucks and brought it home for further hmmmmming. Got my boyfriend to help me with the logistics of actually hanging it and then I hit the road again in search of what I wanted to put on it. Had to be light weight because of the 'dangle' factor! And of course, there HAD to be some photographic images up there somewhere!! Kim, from http://deardaisycottage.typepad.com/daisy_cottage/ gave me the idea of vintage cups hanging on the iron and I had the most adorable puppy cup that came from my mom's house that I love and never had a place to display it. And I hung some crystals for the bling factor and voila!! I love it! Looky:

Busy...

as a bee!!

A PINK bee, at that! You see? My DIL's sisters and friends are hosting a bebe shower this Saturday at MY house........so well, I'm busy. As a bee! Because well, you know, I'M ALL ABOUT DECORATING FOR A PARTY!!!!!

So...............I'm getting all my pink ducks in a row and decorating 'vintage' style for the weekend.

Plus, some of my fave gal pals from outa town are coming and spending the night with me.

So what more could a girl want? Pink, Vintage, my FIRST grandbebe GIRL having a party AND a slumber party!!!!! It's going to be a verah fun weekend!! I'll take loads of pics of everything!

I've got visions of cupcakes, pink "Lilli's", ruffles and teddy bears dancin' around in this ol' head of mine!!

Girls just wanna have fun!!!!!!!!!!

Don't we?
Isn't it just always a blast to have a bunch of your best gal pals together, laughing & talking & sharing and laughing some more?? Even tho some of your friends sip their margaritas thru their nose as well as their mouth and even tho you somtimes have to drive your friends home at 2 in the afternoon after said margaritas.........it sure as hell is fun!!

I love hanging with my gal pals!!!!

(she put all those straws in the glass to make it look like we were ALL drinking out of that one drink.........yeah, right. hmmmmm....how many of those little bitty drinks did you have ms.S??

Good Times!!

Grandmother, mother, daughters, grandbaby girl............ahhhhhh, the circle of life!!

Presents. Pink. Proud. Proud of my boy and his wife.

What a wonderful day it was.............my heart is full. So very, very full!

And the icing on the cake?? A scene from http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

The hostesses were so cool with it and everyone got a chuckle out of this!!

Life is continuing to speed by....

It's already November! "November's sky is chill and drear, November's leaf is red and sear."
-Scott, Sir WalterNovember outside the lakehouse window.