Onward to the next event!!!

Anyone feeling a lil dirty? Like they maybe need a shower??!!!A camoflaged bebe shower?? Why, of course!! His daddy just spent the last 8 days hunting so you can be assured this lil guy will be doing the same. Speaking of the little guy....
Isn't today's technology cool? He's still got 2 more months to cook!

So Thankful for my Family...

...and for such a fun Turkey Day with them!!Ya know what's really funny? I like 'em!! All of 'em! I really really like 'em! I have so much fun when we're all together. Strange phenomenom, eh? We do stuff like this:and this:Lilli and I went for a walk to collect things for a centerpiece on the table. We were at the deer camp so it has to stay natural and easy. SO wish I'd had my camera on our walk for she made me laugh so much. She had a Wal Mart sack and she picked leaves and pine straw and smelled each one, saying "YaYa, mmmmm....smells goooood!" Then we went back to house and made it together. That one will become a memory!

Cap'n provided a new toy for the boys.....ya know, so they wouldn't get stuck out in the duck fields...

which he took all his girls for a ride in!

in beautiful fields like this:

I loved these kids when they were kids and I think I love them even more, if that's possible, as adults. They are just so much fun to hang with!!!

Smilin' Down at Me Today!

Nothing makes me smile with loving memories more than cooking foods that I associate with my loved ones! So today's post is for Mommy Boo and Papaw.....my mom and my father in law! As I'm mixing my dressing together this morning, the smells take me right back to standing beside my mom at the kitchen counter as she mixed this same recipe together...with me hoping by some small chance that I'd get to have a leetle taste. I laugh remembering her saying to me, "Nope, we've got alot of people coming and we don't have any to waste right now", (always the one to conserve and make a little go a long way!) as she would pile a spoonful as big as she could make it and slip it to me. Yet, if she was alive today and I reminded her about that, she would swear that I never had a bite of it before it was on the Thanksgiving table!! HAHAHA.....oh Mommy Boo, you were such a character!! So, I'm feeling so much joy this morning, surrounded by the smells in my kitchen andthat I have such fun memories of her.....and I KNOW she'd be so proud that I make my dressing exactly the same way she made hers!!Then, there was Papaw! My father in law, whom I adored! He loved me with all of his heart and was the most generous, caring and loving man around. I can count on one hand how many times I saw him in 27 yrs when he DIDN'T have a smile on his face. And he loved deviled eggs! Every yr on Thanksgiving and Christmas I always made them for him. Can remember yrs when the last thing I had time for was boiling, peeling and stuffing eggs....but I did. And he always hugged my neck and thanked me for bringing them for him. It made him happy.! And honestly? my youngest boy AND I love them too so it was win-win!! Once again this morning, I've been thinking of him and remembering and missing him while stuffing these eggs. So, this one's for you, Papaw!!!Dressing is done, eggs are stuffed, pecan caramel sweet potatoes are ready for oven, corn and onion dish is done, homemade cranberry sauce is chilling, a pan of smashed taters big enough to feed an army is ready to go. Mr. Tom Turkey is waiting for me to season him along with the ham. Fresh asparagas is waiting for a lemon pepper swirling of sauce and my next job is the famous chocolate pies!! Since all my family is at the deer camp for the whole weekend....and we're all very happy about that...heheheh......I'm packing up the car and taking the whole dinner to them. It makes them so happy that they can hunt early on Thanksgiving morning and come in to the smells of home.....at their deer camp with all the brothers, wives and friends!!! Which, of course, makes me a very happy and lucky mama!!!HOPING EVERYONE HAS A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY TOMORROW AND THAT YOU TAKE THE TIME TO TRULY REALIZE HOW LUCKY WE ALL ARE TO BE HEALTHY, HAPPY AND SAFE. Why don't you actually "tell" someone just how thankful you are to have them in your life?? Sure would make a great memory.....I plan to!!!.......now, where is that duck blind??!!!!!!!!!

Mamas got a brand new kitchen!!

As I posted a few months ago, we've gutted the kitchen at the lakehouse. It was built in the 70's by some men who did it together after they got thru with their real jobs for the day. In other words.....at the lake, after work, men... and prolly a leetle beer in the mix....but we fell in love with it when we passed by and saw the little For Sale by Owner sign on a tree. And even tho alot of months we wondered if we'd be able to make the housenote, we also knew that if we couldn't, the previous months we did get to stay there were worth all the memories made there with three sons!!! That was in 1996 and 15 yrs later, we're still loving every dingle dangle minute of it!! So, back in late August the hammers and drills and WORKMEN showed up. And it went on and on and on.........they just kept on coming.....(and they were kinda smelly) but as of last Tuesday, it is finished. Done. Finito! Because it is a camphouse, I wanted to keep it informal. I loved the original retro look because of the sweet neighbor from next door who helped build it and has since passed away. I'm sentimental like that. :) and I wanted to keep it light and "lakey"! If that's even a word..... Before: Do realize that we'd already painted the cabinets once since we bought the house. They used to be that dark, old paneled material. And a sidenote: first we were just going to replace the cabinet fronts. But because of the beer-filled afternoons by builders mentioned above, not one single cabinet was level or a standard size! hahaha...gotta love that! So, what began as "let's build a dishwasher in" cuz yeah....I've been dragging a portable dishwasher around for 15 yrs....turned into a full blown re-model!

Top cabinets off. Top and bottom cabinets off. Thought I was just going to leave existing backsplash but it was discontinued and what I found to match it just didn't really match at all. Here are the deets: I love, love, love blue/turquoise. And it's perfect for a home on the lake. So, I kept the color scheme. Amaretto glazed cabinets, a newly built beadboard turquoise island with beige ceramic on top.(needed this for more storage and workspace) Newly built bench under the window that serves for more storage space and a nice space for chatting with friends while we're cooking!

cabinet style and countertop. color didn't really come thru on image but there is a blue/aqua streak running thru countertop.

new sink and faucet, that I love!

new backsplash that is a mix of marble, stone and glass. the glass pieces exactly match the color of the island. woop, woop!!

storage bench and built in pantry that I thought no way would hold all my um....stuff. Wrong! It holds everything I had in old one plus you can see everything that you've got. Nothing is pushed to the back and gets lost!! Whimsical knobs for pantry door and island! And finally....cabinets that are neat and easy to find everything!

We in the south can hardly blink an eye.....

....before the beauty of our fall colors.... turns into this!!!

Time to get the recipes out and plan the menus! Yet today? I have on shorts and it's 81 degrees outside. Our leaves just recently started changing colors here and now it's TURKEY DAY time. Hmmmmmmm......me thinks time is going by just a bit too quickly.

And a little lagnaippe for you today! (which would mean "a little something extra") For those of you who live in the countryside or the boonies, as I do, you probably already know that a water well is a neccesity since "city water" doesn't run this far out. So, 26 yrs ago, when we built our house, my father-in-law had a well drilled on our back property. Bless his heart......he told me that day, that there would never be a day when his babygirl (me!--he loved me so!) wouldn't have water. That he was drilling it so deep, we'd have water for the next 100 yrs! And we have so far.....but the pump needed replacing. And in the steps of that sweet man, my youngest son built a frame to pull off the top of the well house and pull the pipe out of the ground and replaced the pump. Stuff wears out after 26 yrs...hahahaha. As I watched them work, I was taken back in time, to that very day when my 5 & 6 yr old boys were running circles around that water well being drilled! And the very son that did the work for me last week hadn't even been born yet!!!!!



ME DEFINITELY THINKS TIME IS GOING BY TOO QUICKLY!!!

Rock n' Roll......Babee!!

When a certain babymama is over the moon crazy for "retro"........what is the perfect decor and theme for her baby shower? And for some of the decor in new baby's nursery??
PEACE.....LOVE.......ROCK N' ROLL!!!

A sign made for her by one of her bestest peeps! Her shower was given by her girlfriends and it couldn't have been any cuter! Invitations were record themed and table setting reflected that as well...

A precious idea.....the cookies on left were iced with white icing and the first letter of baby's name. They were placed on 1/2 pint mason jars filled with milk......cookies and milk!!! So cute! Next idea was to iron-on transfers of her fave songs to onesies...Ms. Lilli and Ms. Lilah Jane were among the "girls" attending!!

Good Friends as Hostesses! and a babymama who just can't get that smile off of her face!!

...sigh...nothing like LSU game day!!!

LSU whups Alabama 9-6!!! And where does a football team fall in the rankings after it remains unbeaten AND whups somebody's (bama's) ass????? Numberal Uno!!!!!! #1.......heheh!! (this lil guy kicked the game winning field goal in overtime.....don'tcha know his mama is happy?? and his coach??!!!) And what does a Crazy Cruisin' Chick's family do on game day while getting mentally prepared for our tigers to play? Why..........we have target practice, that's what!! Had the whole crew, cept for babymama, at the deer camp for the weekend.....laughing, eating, drinkin just a leetle bit and cheering on LSU. Mah boyfriend made the best, biggest pot of gumbo that was deeeelish!! My girlfriend loved it too!

Ms Lilli even had her ear plugs in!

the newlywed, and Dixie, waited her turn!

Even ol' mom got some pointers from babyboy!

Ya know? It doesn't really matter WHAT we do as long as we're all together when we do it!!

and HOW 'BOUT THEM TIGERS?!!!!