Who doesn't love Dolly???

I love Dolly Parton.  She is such a great singer/songwriter.  She is a super talented musician too.  This is one of my favorite Christmas songs by her.  I have a friend at work who tells me when I say that song is my favorite...Janet says, "All Christmas songs are your favorite!!"  She's right!!!

Six Months Old!!

Over Thanksgiving weekend sweet Savannah turned 6 months old.  I cannot believe that precious little baby is already half a year old!  She is such a cutie-pie!  Here are some photos from the weekend.

Aunt Megan loves her little Savannah!  And Savannah loves her Aunt Megan!  So sweet!!

First Thanksgiving meal!  She did get a taste of mashed potatoes but this little chunker hasn't missed too many meals!!

Hey Mr Frog!  I didn't think I would see you today.  Don't look, but Mimi has out that black thing that makes us go blind.

Wait!!  I'm not ready....I need to fix my hair!!!

There, I fixed it.  Does it look better Mr. Frog??

I think I will just wear a hat....some days it just doesn't pay to wash and fix your hair...does it girls??

Savannah you weigh 18 lbs and 3 oz and are 26 inches long.  You are cutting teeth but none have popped through yet.  You can roll over both ways and can sit up pretty good.  Sometimes your belly topples you over though!!!  You have the biggest eyes and the sweetest cheeks that I could just kiss all day long.  You sleep really good but you still have eyes only for mommy.    You have started really noticing Piper and you reach for her and watch everything she does.  I think in a year or so the two of you are going to give your daddy and mommy some great tag-team action!!  I love you more and more each day ladybug!

Kickin' Off The Season.....

I packed up my pumpkins.  Put away my fall garland. Washed and put away all my fall dishes.  Put the wreaths on my windows.  Put new lights on my outdoor trees (only cussed once...sorry, just keepin' it real).  Hauled up two trees.  Rearranged my furniture.  Hauled up a dozen totes.  To set the mood for the day....one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs!!

Merry Christmas Season!!!  Let's get the decorating started!

Givingthanks

the tables are set.  sweet potatoes cooling.  gone with the wind is on the tv in the background.  scarlet is crying...rhett just left.  i am sitting here pondering....what am i truly, truly thankful for???  so many things.  i could list hundreds if i sit here and think for a while.  to me, thanksgiving is a state of the heart.  not an emotion but a way of life.  being thankful.  grateful.  to show appreciation.  for things, people, relationships, places....on and on and  on.

my children, whom i love to pieces.
my grandchildren, if my daughters are the best meal i ever had...grandbabies are my dessert.
my parents,  they are so supportive.
my friends,  bonds there are so strong. cannot imagine life without dear, dear friends.
family, like lighthouses in storms...always there and visible to help.
my church, how i love my church.  corporate worship at its finest.
my job.  the children there touch my heart so deeply.
my community.  small, close-knit...people you can count on.
the south, the region of this nation i love with all my heart.  traditions run deep here.
my country.  as troubled as it is...i love this land.
conveniences.  running water, electricity, heat in winter, coolness in summer.
food.  i can lay my hands on dozens of food items right this minute and can run to the store any time.
my savior...Jesus Christ......for this i am so deeply and truly thankful.

these are just a few.  what a blessed place i live in.  what a blessed life i have.  God is so gracious and loving towards me an mine.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Col. 2:6-7).

happy, happy thanksgiving.....

Prep Work

I went to the grocery store yesterday to gather up all the things I will need to prepare Thanksgiving dishes for Thursday.  I will not go into great detail because I went to ...you...know...where!!!!!  Needless to say I informed a check out guy that the young errr...lady??? that checked me out was rude and needed to stop watching the cute guy that works in the bank at ...you...know...where.  He had to flag me down in the parking lot to give me my bananas.  Anyway,  I thought I got everything and when I got home I remembered that I forgot (?) raisins.  Will I ever learn to take a list!!!  No, probably not.  But guess what people?  We are not gonna have raisins in my Waldorf Salad.  I have dried cranberries and dried dates so I will mix it up a bit.  I love Thanksgiving.  It is my favorite holiday by far.  I love the baking and cooking and the eating of all the traditional foods.  I have so many things to be thankful for this year.  New babies, new family members...so many blessings.  Tonight I will start getting ready by cleaning the house and setting up tables for Thursday.  Washing dishes and setting tables.  I have about 19 -22 people coming over for Thanksgiving this year.  My sister and her boyfriend are coming.  He has two boys that will be a welcome addition to our large family of females.  Sweet Savannah will be sitting in the high chair this year.  No doubt that round little one will be hoping for a bite or two to come her way!  Pretty soon I will need to set up a kids table!!  Yes, a lot of work goes into preparing this holiday dinner.  Lots.  But i love it and am so thankful for a large family.  We are loud and boisterous hillbilly people but I love them!  My heart goes out to those who are alone or have suffered losses or because of other circumstances do not have their families close to them this year.  We should be so thankful for filled seats in our homes.  Thanksgiving is a matter of the heart.  I may not have the finest or the brightest but I know that the Lord loves me and He provides so graciously for me and for that I am truly thankful.

I Need A Laugh...Do You??

I don't know about anyone else but right now...today...I am a little stressed.  A little weary, a little tired and a whole bunch in need of a laugh.  So I was sitting here thinking about things that make me laugh and what I really think is funny.  One of the funniest things to me ever was "The Carol Burnett Show".  Her clips are pretty long so I didn't post any but go to you-tube and watch a few...hilarious.  With the Christmas season coming up I thought of two shows/movies I always try to catch.  One is "Designing Women"  where the character Bernice wears her "tree-skirt".  I laughed so hard the first time I watched it I honestly could not breathe.  It struck me that funny.  I can promise you that I am sure many women put theirs around their waist every Christmas before they throw it around their tree....and smile.  I know I do!!!   I even wore one to work a few years ago on the last day before our Christmas break.  The kids didn't get it but all the teachers did!  Bernice just cracks me up anyway.  The episodes she was on were always my favorites.  She did the quirkiest things that in an odd way made alot of sense!!  She could be me in about 30 years!!!

The second thing I watch over and over is the movie "Elf" with Will Ferrell.  While I am not a huge fan of his, this movie is just funny.  The first time I watched it I thought it was hysterical and I still do.  Megan and I watch 20 times each Christmas season.  This clip is my favorite part.....I need to make "smiling" my favorite too!

A teeny-tiny peek.....

Last night my sweet friend, Tracy, and I went to see Chris Tomlin in concert.  So good!!!  He is one of our favorites in the Christian singing world.  Such a cutie-pie and such a worshipful singer.  The concert was wonderful.  Everyone was singing their heads off.  Tracy and I are both similar in our observing skills (among other things) and we were both people-watching.  On my left were two teenage boys.  One was a little standoffish and a little self conscious.  Probably about 14 years old.  the other one was right beside me.  He was so sweet.  He offered me a bite of his nachos!!  He sang and worshipped Jesus with pure abandon.  I often heard him say, "Thank you, Jesus,  Thank you"  So sweet.  On Tracy's right was a guy who sat in the "football" stance.  Poor thing had some crutches so he really could nor help but squish Tracy a little.  Four seats to my left were two young men.  To say they were handsome was an understatement.  Both were really good looking guys.  The really ministered to me by their praise and worship.  Such a real joy to watch.  Completely unashamed to keep their hands up.  Sing loudly.  One of them wept openly while singing.  They raised their hands when Chris asked if anyone was involved in youth ministry.  I need to really be praying for Godly young men to help lead in this world.  Such a difficult time we live in but last night showed me one thing.  God reigns.  He Reigns!  All those people together.  White people, black people, Asians, young, old, really old!, men, women....all of them worshipping together.  I really believe that events like that.  Where you truly feel the Holy Spirit in the room are little glimpses of heaven.  Where worship is not something we go to or something we do....but something we are.  The angels in heaven are right now singing "Holy, holy, holy".  All the time to God.  Since there is no time in heaven it is just constant.  Never-ending.  Unspeakable joy.  Chris Tomlin's songs are really so full of God's Word.  The concert was like a continual reading of God's Word set to music.  That teeny-tiny peek of heaven just did my weary heart something so good.

Oh, The Places You'll Go!!!

This past week-end I went with my sweet friend, Kelley, to visit her daughter Molly in Ohio.  I have never been up there and it was really super fun.  She lives in Toledo, Ohio in a little suburb called Oregon.  Isn't that funny...I went to Oregon in Ohio!  Anyway they had a bad rainstorm on Wednesday night from the hurricane and so they celebrated Halloween on Saturday night.  It was handsdown the best Halloween of my life!  There neighborhoods all sit on their driveways and porches with fires in those little firepits and pass out the greatest candy and were so nice!  People dress up and decorate out the wazoo.  So fun.  Molly's children had a blast.  The next day Molly took us up to Michigan to "Frankenmuth".  this is a Christmas shopping village that is the largest in the world.  It was supposed to be 45 minutes away but it turned out to be 2 hours and 30 minutes away!!!  But the drive was nice and I saw so much of this country that I will probably never see again.  We even got kind of lost on the East side of Detroit........very scary.  When we got to the Bronners Christmas Store in Frankenmuth,  Kelley, Molly, her daughter Macy and I stood slack-jawed like Will Ferrell in the mailroom on Elf.  To say we were overwhelmed was the least.  I have never in my life seen so much Christmas stuff.  Ah-may-zing!!!  We did not even make a dent before we had to leave.  I would love to go back there and spend about a week.  We also got to visit their church up there in Toledo and it was so nice.  Molly's husband, Dan, is the youth ministries pastor and he is really a great guy.  He loves the Lord, his wife and his children and it was so obvious.  Wonderful family.  I am really grateful to my friend for asking me to go with her.  I really did have a great time.

Now, this Friday I am going to see Chris Tomlin with my other dear friend, Tracy.  I cannot wait.  He is one of my favorites!!!  I love this busy time of the year!!!