"Tis Better...

To give than to receive!! But today I am doing both!!

I have a couple of special bloggy friends I want you to go meet if you haven't met them yet!

First is Debbie from There's An Angel On My Front Porch.

Debbie has such a sweet heart, and is a real encourgement to me, and others she knows in blogland. She received these awards and then gave them to me.

Thank you so much, Debbie!!

First COWGIRL UP!! for anyone who has a little COWGIRL in them!!(or wants to think so anyway!!) Well, I do...I married me a guy who is mostly cowboy!!



And I definitely qualify for being a G.R.I.T.S. gal...Girls raised in the south!! Plus...I love creamy grits, too!! I've convinced myself!!

Thanks you so much Debbie!! So very glad we're bloggy friends!!

I would like to give this award to:

Liesa at Life By George...A sweet southern gal who is sparkly, joyful, and a lovely woman of God

Sue at Beautiful Pear Tree Lane...A charming southern lady who spreads love and encouragement throughout blogland.



The Marie Antionette award is for people who are perceived to be "real" in who they are. You know...what is the point of trying to be someone you're not??


The very first people I thought about for this award were:

Lois at Walking on Sunshine
Linnea at Neabear and B-Daddy's Nest

They are two of my first blogging buddies, and they have shown themselves to be consistent, loving, giving, down to earth, encouraging and so much fun!!

I'm also giving this award to:
Lady Katherine
Fiona
Elena
Denise
Tami
Roberta Anne
Schotzy
Sue
Monica
Lilly
Liesa
Liz
Linda C
Edie

YOU ALL ARE GEMS IN THE TREASURE CHEST OF MY LIFE!!





If The Shoe Fits is an award for those enthusiastic people who just bubble over!!

Be warned: The following people are contagious!! You just might catch what they have!!

Danette
Fiona
Lois
Sara
Deby
Belinda
Jaime
Sheila
Just a Gal




Just so you know...I don't believe in award "rules"...I think you should be free to do what you want with whatever award you receive!!

ONE MORE AWARD!!


The sisterhood award I received from Cass at That Old House
I hope you will go visit her. Her blog is lovely and she loves to share ideas, decorate, and writes in a fun, enthusiastic way!! Thank you Cass!!

If you are reading this...this award is yours!! Please take it and share it!!

This is for all of my blogging SISTAS out there who make this blogging thing so much fun for me!!

Have a glorious weekend!!
HUGS!!!
Becky

Spring Fe-fe-fe-Ver!!!

La-Tea-Dah at Gracious Hospitality inspired this post on SPRING!


It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want-oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache you want it so!! ~~Mark Twain

The year's at the spring

And day's at the morn;

Morning's at seven;

The hillside dew-pearled;

The lark's on the wing;

The snail's on the thorn;

God's in His heaven-

All's right with the world! ~~Robert Browning

If you have never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.

~~Audra Foveo

Spring has returned! The earth is like a child that knows poems.

~~Rainer Maria Rilke

That God once loved a garden we learn in Holy writ.

And seeing gardens in the spring I well can credit it.

~~Winifred Mary Letts

At the sea's shore, where I long to be

The sand and the waves they beckon me.

~~the Sunshine Girl (me, silly!)



Hope you feel the refreshing breath of spring blowing your way!!

Joyful blessings,
Becky

GRANDKID CAM!!!

Ya'll remember my sweet little Emily twirling in her dress at the beach, right??


Well, we had our Keeper's at Home Valentine's party (and we had a BLAST!!)


Li'l Miss Emily showed up for some after the partay fun!!


"Uh-Oh!!", she said, "One of the hearts fell down, Nana!!"
(Mallory at the computer... our soon to be 23 yo that is living here temporarily because her car was totalled recently and she needs some wheels!!)

Don't even look at my unfinished breakfast nook...I said don't!! It will be a makeover post real soon! OK then pretend you didn't see it!!

Well, Li'l Miss Emily found the perfect spot to rehang it!! "Nana, where's your camera?", "I want to take a picture of it!" she said.






Who could resist this face??? I mean really??!! SO....SNAP SHE DID!!




So...more grandkid cam!!


She REALLY liked where she hung it !! Had to get another shot of it!! It just really complements the power outlet, doesn't it??


Of course she has to make the rounds, and get some candid shots!! Yes this is me ...I got my hair cut...and my oldest Sam, Li'l Miss Emily's Mommy!!



A snippet of Brittany's room (our 20 yo's vibrant, messy, cluttered, heap of clothes on the floor room that I just keep the door closed to) She was kind here...you really wouldn't want to see more!!!


Cooper's ear and gumline!! Fascinating, huh?



A view of retreating Penelope!! I always thought her tushy was cute, but never thought of photographing it!! LOL

And one more of Cooper...his nose and pearly whites!!

Someone somewhere in blogland has a meme called give a kid a camera, but I never got around to looking at it, and can't find it now. If you know the link, please comment and leave it.

Hope your day is full of sunshine!!

Blessings,

Becky

We Did It! Wednesday~~A Hunting We will Go!!

WELCOME TO THE 3RD WE DID IT! WEDNESDAY!!!

If you are new, this is a fun event that promotes and encourages quality one-on-one time with our children and grandchildren (small or grown!) and is a way for us to share some of our ideas, and build into our family's rich heritage.

If you would like to join in, please comment and I will include your first name and the link to your post. Be sure to link back here so people can see what others are doing!!

1. Sue

2. Elena

3. Lois

4. Just a Gal

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As some of you know, Me and Maddy went hunting with my hubby a couple of months ago.

It was about 27 degrees outside, and we were in this box tree stand now known to us as "The Cozy Condo" . The only window is the one you see here.

I couldn't see the area where the deer should come through, but they could. I spent 3 1/2 hours in here the first day being quiet, still, and staring into the same patch of woods the whole time!! What we won't do for love, huh?




This is where we "should" have seen deer, with the emphasis on "should"!! It was very peaceful and serene out there, one of the things hubby enjoys most! (guess so he lives with chatty Becky!!)

This is the view if I leaned a couple of feet to my left

Here is the bleary-eyed trio the next morning inside the cozy condo seizing a Kodak moment. I can't even tell you how many layers of clothes this "sunshine gal" had on, but I needed every one of them to stay warm.


We did see two does and a buck the second day towards the very end of the hunt, but none close enough for a shot.

Maddy absolutely loved this time with us! We had a blast mocking the way Tiffany (from a hunting show called Up Close With Lee and Tiffany that my hubby watches) whispers when she's hunting...we can imitate her perfectly!!

We couldn't stop laughing a couple of times, and Randy just turned and would stare at us!! Oh MYLANTA !!! It was so funny!!

This is Maddy going into the woods a bit to look at a trickle of a creek

A light rain began as we left, and I took this pic of Florida Holly Tree berries with raindrops on them. Couldn't get close enough because of the briars

We ate at the hunting camp Saturday night, and met some wonderful people. We will be joining this camp this year, and we can't wait. It's a real family atmosphere, and we just love that!!

Ya'll are the BEST!!

Have a joyful day!

Becky

Heart of the Home-Linkiness

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH for all of your encouraging words on yesterday's post. You all are such wonderful friends, and as I have said before, I appreciate you all more than you know!!



Today for Heart of the Home I am linking to the post at The Nesting Place.
It's awesome and the title is "Ten Ways to Avoid Having a Home You'll Love".

This is a great piece, and addresses a couple of things we've covered here on Tuesdays. Hope you'll go check her out! Her blog is chockful of inspiration and ideas for beautifying and simplifying our homes.


****Sweet friends, I am praying about and evaluating some things with regards to my blog, it's direction, my time constraints and goals. For the time being I am going to cease to have regular Tuesday Heart of the Home posts.

As this is near and dear to my heart, I will still have posts that center around this theme, they just will not be on a specified day.

I am having so much fun, and feel that I need to continue to have some freedom and creativity in my blog, rather than too many set things.

Hope you'll continue to hang with me as I seek to honor God in all areas of my life, including this amazing invention called a blog!!


WE DID IT ! WEDNESDAY is tomorrow!! Please comment on this post and I'll post your link as a participant!!

I simply haven't had time to address Mr. Linky issues!! Edie is going to help me...just need some time!!

Bloggy hugs, smiles, and love to you all!!
Becky

JOY For Our Journey--Up on a Limb!

Have you ever experienced the joy of climbing a tree??



When I was a young girl, we lived in a small home on an acre of property with quite a few trees. One of my favorite things to do was to climb them.

Many times it would just be for fun and to hide, and other times it would be to just get away from everything...to have a sense of being above all the cares of my little world. The above photo is a Ficus tree similar to one I climbed in my front yard, but a good bit larger.

Last week was not an easy one for a few different reasons. How I longed to be up in a tree...the branches swaying in the breeze... and me far above all that concerned my heart; up where the squirrels scamper and play, the birds sing, and everything is right with the world...at least while I'm there.

Over the weekend, in search of some encouragement for myself, I purchased a little book about encouragement. However, the book was about giving it rather than receiving it. OR WAS IT???

Hmm...could it be that in order to get my eyes off of my concerns, I could encourage someone else, and we would both be blessed and encouraged?? That was exactly the point this book made!!!

One of my strengths is that of an encourager...I knew that already, so it was time to snap out of it and get to encouraging...so I did.

I bought my 20 yo some ice cream from her favorite shop which she drove 20 minutes to get to the night before, but they changed their hours and were closed. She's had a rough time and was really counting on that ice cream cone!!

I took my niece, Maddy and her best friend to an RV show and we had a blast climbing in and out of all of the vehicles, campers, and amazing coaches. Their smiles and enthusiasm were priceless!!

I gave my husband some extra loving and compliments on how great he's looking with his weight loss, and offered to rub his sore muscles. He was delighted and showered me with lovin'!!

There were a few more, but you get the idea.

Mark Twain stated it very simply:

The best way to cheer yourself up is to cheer everybody else up!!

It is almost impossible to think of yourself when you're encouraging someone else. Of course, God knew that!! And how gracious of Him to remind me when I needed it most!!



Isn't this one a beauty??

Well, as appealing as a good climbing tree is to get away from it all, how much more wonderful is it to help someone else feel better and be doubly blessed and encouraged yourself??!!

Spread some encouragement and joy, and watch it boomerang right back atcha!! :)

Have a delightful week!!!

HUGS,
Becky

Show and Tell Friday! Lucky Me!!

It's Show and Tell Friday at Kellishouse!! Drop on by and see what everyone is talking about today!!

I recently had the pleasure of winning some bloggy drawings and thought I'd share them with you!!

Angie, over at The American Homemaker is so creative! Hope you'll pay her a visit! She sent me this adorable card with these rubber stamped tickets in it! The designs are all different and she included a few holidays. I will incorporate some of these into one of my cards designs and post it on a future Paper Crafting Thursday!

Thank you, Angie!! You are so creative and original!!

I also won a drawing from Liz at Rose Vignettes!! This is just too much fun!!

Liz is delightful and so is her blog, so please click on her blog's name above and visit her!!

Is there anything more fun than getting a great gift from someone you haven't even met?? A box full of...

Say, Cooper, what do suppose we got?? He was watching me unpack it!!

Adorable vintage Valentine cards with a pretty red bow!!

And all this neat birdy stuff!!! (except the nest, I bought that!!) If you don't know yet...I have a passion for birdies, so I was ecstatic when I won this!!

This birdy planter is so cute!! Just popped in this coleus plant!! Love it!

And there's more...An amazing home decor book (yummy) and these adorable striped cross-stitched kitchen towels!!

the detail

Thanks so much Liz for this gracious giveaway!!

I'll be putting up my drawing soon for my 100 post giveaway!! Don't miss tossing your name in!! It's gonna be good!!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by for a visit!!

Blessings,

Becky

Thankful Thursday!! I Sometimes Forget To Be Thankful For

Rhondi at Rose Colored Glasses hosts this event so hop on over to visit other grateful hearted folks!

I am thankful for things I sometimes forget to be thankful for...

~~~ Clean air to breathe

~~~ Clean water to drink

~~~ The sun that always rises

~~~ Gravity...that I just don't get launched into space!

~~~ Gas for my car, so I can go, see, do!!

~~~ My PC!! What delight and inspiration my bloggy friends add to my life!!

~~~ The beautiful fingerprint of God Almighty in the petals of a flower

~~~ Waking to birds singing "good morning" each day

~~~ Watching a butterfly flutter by!!

~~~ Toys scattered around...the children who play with them

Hope your Thursday is a thankful, joyful one!!

Blessings,

Becky

We Did It! Wednesday-Strike a Pose!!

WELCOME TO THE 2nd WE DID IT! WEDNESDAY!!!

This is a new event and it's purpose is to promote quality one-on-one time with children and grandchildren, no matter their age, and to share ideas of fun things to do together!!

Some examples are an outing, crafts, cooking, literally anything you do for fun with the little people and not so little people in your family!

If you would like to participate, please leave a comment with your first name, and I will add your name with a link to your blog. Be sure to link back to here, so visitors can see what everyone else did, too!! Hope you'll join in!!

Please feel free to take the button in my sidebar to add to yours!!

1. Sue

2.Edie

3.Jaime

4. Lilly

5.You're next!!!

A couple of days ago Maddy and I picked up her cousin Kristina to come over for a visit. These two were born 3 weeks apart, and are as close as sisters!! It is just so cute!!

I had some chores to finish, but told them when I was done, we'd go somewhere they wanted to go. They chose Target!!

Maddy is the youngest of our four daughters, and has 2 older sisters (20 & 23) that are quite the fashionistas!! She has this thing for fidoras (is that how you spell it?)

Here they are just a hammin' and glammin'!! We had a blast!! They totally cracked me up!! This is my Maddy!

and Kristina!!

They love playing dress up! Maddy has a wig collection and they dream up characters to play. My favorites are Wanda and Indiana. I'll have to do a post on those two characters next time they visit!! I'll give you a little preview...Wanda is an elderly, gum crackin' southerner who can never find her ointment!! It is a HOOT!!! Quite the imaginations!!

But back to the Tar-jay Divas!!

Can't you just feel the fun they had??

Kristina sporting "shutter shades" that match her shirt!!

That was all of the hammin', but I just made it their time and took them around to whatever they wanted to look at!! No purchases were made except my new ergonomic mouse pad!! (LOVE IT) But a good time was had by all!!

Hope this made you smile!! What have you guys been up to?

Blessings,

Becky

Heart of the Home Tuesday / Clutter Busters Part 2

The Clutter Personality Test (click here if you missed it) last week revealed that most of you have the same issue as me...perfectionism...that paralyzes us because we don't want to take on anything unless we KNOW we have the time to do it properly and finish it.

How do you climb a mountain? One step at a time...

Just beginning is the hardest part...once we get started, gratification will take over, and we will get a deep sense of pleasure in how much more smoothly our days will unfold.

Here are some multi-tasking ideas that help us take small steps toward managing clutter and achieving the organized home we desire!!

(excerpts One Minute Organizer/Donna Smallin)



While cookies are baking---12 minutes in the kitchen :
~~Plan dinners for the week and write a grocery shopping list.

~~Organize your junk drawer. Toss the stuff that's really garbage, like toys from fast-food restaurants, dusty plastic silverware and wrappers from used packs of batteries. Then use a compartmentalized plastic tray to separate loose stamps, paper clips, coins and things that aren't really junk.

Here are pics of one of my utensil drawers I organized:

before (bleh!)

after: (Ahhh!)

(white tray from WalMart)

~~Organize your pantry: throw out expired cans, stale bread and cereal boxes with only crumbs left.

~~Spruce up your spice drawer or cabinet: put the spices you use most toward the front, and throw out "mystery" spices without labels.

~~Chop up some fruit and make a fruit salad for tomorrow.

During TV commercials---4 minutes in the family room

~~Organize a DVD shelf or book shelf, and make a donation pile of movies your kids have outgrown and books you won't read again.

~~Venture under the couch to hunt dust bunnies.

~~Put all toys (including the dog's) in a toy box or basket in the corner of the room.

~~Recycle old magazines, and put those you intend to read in the magazine rack.

While the kids are brushing their teeth---5 minutes in their bedroom

***You may want to wait to do these things with your kids***

~~Organize the sock and underwear drawer, tossing anything that no longer fits or just doesn't look wearable anymore.

~~Put all stray stuffed animals into baskets.

~~Turn down the bed, pull down the shade and turn on a lamp. You're all ready for bedtime stories.

~~Put all stray tapes and CDs into their cases. To get your child involved, buy a colorful plastic carrying case for him to store his lullaby and playtime music in.

~~Lay out an outfit for the next day.

I'll be sharing more personal pics in the next few weeks...junk drawers, video/dvd storage, closets, bedrooms etc...

I have always had the "bones" of organization, but it can get easily out of hand with our busy lives!!

I am actively implementing these strategies, so join me each Tuesday for the next few weeks as my home becomes an "Oasis of Organization"!!

Joyful blessings,

Becky