Proof!

Screenshot of a text from my girl!!

Zoey

My Yorkie LOVES my lab! She thinks he is her daddy!

Solar System Project

And this is why I love homeschooling! Getting to do fun projects that my kids can't wait to get out of bed for! Getting to do this shirtless and in our jammies is just a bonus! We have been studying the Solar System for about a month now and decided to make one of our own!

First the "planets" had to be painted...

Then, gluing the yarn down for the "orbits". This was the most time-consuming part!

The "planets" had to be glued on the orbits next.

Admiring his work half-way through....

A steady hand was needed!

Finished product!

So proud!

Drawing and explanation of the solar and lunar eclipses.

Happiness is an Organized Craft Closet!

It Ain't East Being Cheesy!

My orange boy "Cheddar".

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Here are some fall decor that I have sprinkled throughout our home. I can't figure out why I am so into fall this year? I have always loved it, as most of us do. But, this year is it such a welcomed season. I am on a venture to find an heirloom Cinderella Pumpkin. (See the pictures in my header...) But, in Florida, not sure if that is a possibility. In the meantime, I will make do and be happy with what I've got! Here are a few photos...

My little raffia pumpkins! I love everything in groups of three...

My daughter insisted we decorate our front porch. This was all I could muster up since it was 95 degrees when we did this! I almost passed out potting the mums!

These two little pumpkins are my favs because I got them at CVS for $3 and $4! Who knew CVS had such cute fall decor??

Found this little planter (?) at a thrift store for $7. Threw a couple of pumpkins in and voilà! Instant fall decor!

Love my oversized acorns!

Foam (yes foam!) corn tied in raffia hangs from my grandmother's china cabinet...

Simple and understated. The frame is simply propped up around a hanging wreath of cranberries.

Close up of the cranberry wreath...

Ceramic Cinderella Pumpkins.

Beaded straw in a tin on my island.

Sidebar in my dinning room.

My daughter found just the thing to top off our "fall pumpkin evergreen" that she wrapped with orange lights.

Gourds resting on my sidebar...

This medium-sized pumpkin gets a place of honor on a Southern Living pedestal.

Fall basket. Bought pre-made at Sam's club for $25!! Success!

Pumpkin-full-o-mums on our breakfast table.

Little whitey!

Indian corn and potpourri in metal baskets.

A fiber optic scarecrow. Really cute at night!

My daughter Landyn made this last year to decorate for fall! Mr. Scarecrow made it to our "family command center" again this year!

Landyn's bathroom got a hanging scarecrow too!

Seems to be a scarecrow theme!

Hung big orange light-up lanterns on the edge of our lanai. Throws just the right glow when we sit poolside at night.

Did I mention how much I love pumpkins? These sit on top of a bookcase in our living room.

This is "Scarecrow Tucker" and "Scarecrow Landyn". THAT is why I bought them...they looked like brother and sister!

My Nene

Ella Kate Willingham born January 1, 1913. She is mother to four. Grandmother to eight. Great Grandmother to 12. Cook extraordinaire. Remarkable seamstress. Mover. Shaker. She is extremely proud of the fact that she has shaken more hands at First Baptist Church than anybody else in the history of the world. She has happily greeted there for too many years to count.

When I was a child she was my connection to church. She would pick my cousins and me up in her green car and chauffeur us like a taxi. We would squeeze in, take turns in the front seat, and go to church. I love her for instilling in me that church was so important.

We loved spending the night with her because we knew breakfast would be a feast. She, perhaps, made the best oatmeal with crumbled up bacon there was. I remember her almond crescent cookies that she "hid" under the sink to the left in a tupperware container. Now if you ate at Nene's, you cleaned your plate. Period. She was a hound dog in this area!

She loved to sew all 8 of us grandchildren matching outfits for Christmas. One year she made us all denim pantsuits that were covered with embroidered designs. I have no idea where she found the time. Another Christmas she made these plaid dresses out of the scratchiest material I had ever felt. It was so uncomfortable and all of us wondered why she would use such an awful fabric. It was taffeta. I had zero appreciation for fine fabric then, however.

It is heartbreaking to see her in this position now. She is 96 1/2 years old. She is growing weaker and weaker. Her memory is fading and she remembers less and less. She said to me just yesterday, "I can't believe this is how it is going to end. I can't believe it has come to this." The time my children and I are spending with her now is precious. I, now, can fully appreciate all those things that make her "Nene." And though her hair no longer shows signs of red, she will always be a redhead to me.

Nene Kate at my house for Tucker's 11th birthday 6/09. She had fallen and broken her arm, but that wouldn't keep her away!!!

Tucker with his Nene 6-23-09

Johnny and Nene.

Nene surrounded with some of her Great Grandbabies- Lily, Tucker, Reid and Landyn.

Landyn Olivia and her Nene

Tucker taking Nene for a walk at the nursing home

My Nene and me at the hospital

Nene and Landyn

Tucker and Nene

Ella Kate Willingham, my vibrantly red-headed Nene! This was taken in 1929. She was 16 years old.

Full of life!

Nene always had a sense of style!

Nene and Papa. He died in 1977. She has been a widow for 32 years.

Posing in Aunt Annie's car in Birmingham.

What a beauty!

I told you she had style!

And glam...