And again and again and again

Well...today was Vacation Bible School Day at our church. We were supposed to have it last night also, but due to the death of one of our members and the funeral, we cancelled last night and had today only. It was supposed to last from 9 to 3.
When they announced that VBS was coming and asked for teachers I jumped at the chance to teach Lil' R's class. CAN SOMEBODY TELL ME WHAT I WAS THINKING? I had to entertain 4 two year olds for 3 hours--FOR REAL??!!
Anyway---turns out it wasn't THAT bad. I had 3 other "helpers" so things went well. He did NOT want to get out of the bed and go this morning. It was a major fiasco just waking him up, getting his bath, and getting him out the door. Once we got there, he would NOT let go of me, he cried loudly when we said the pledge to the flags and Bible, he kept saying, "HOLD ME, HOLD ME," all day, and he didn't want to color our little fish. It was fun though. I did learn a major lesson. I will help in VBS, I just won't help in his class. He is so clingy, which I adore, but he does much better when he's not up my rear-end! hahaha
We left at 12:00, because honestly-I was pooped. They had hot dogs for lunch and were having games from 1 to 3. I couldn't take one more minute of it, so we came on home. As soon as I got in the door, I called Big R to tell him that we were home. I didn't even get off the phone good and I heard a knock on my door.
It was my precious daddy with two 5 gallon buckets of fresh green beans he'd just picked from his garden. He also had a big bucket of corn. When Big R got home, him and daddy shucked the corn while I got Lil R down for his nap and lit in on the beans.
Now I'm done--ended up this time canning 27 quarts of green beans (which totals 97 thus far) and I put up 33 ears of corn in the freezer!
I'll put a VBS picture of Lil R here another time. I'm honestly too tired to go to the car and get my camera.
Have a great rest of the weekend!

Okrie-Dokie

Mmm! Mama brought me a half of a bushel of okra and a half of a bushel of tomatoes from Mr. Avery Holland's little carport produce stand yesterday.


I have been trying to decide if I want to freeze the okra or can it with the tomatoes. During washing and cutting the okra, I realized that I hadn't had anything to eat all day and it was 2:00 PM.


So--you KNOW I had to fry me some of the okra for lunch. Lil R and I really enjoyed it and it made me miss my mammaw's cookin'! That chick could fry her some okrie anyday and it'd always be gone. I still thank God for her everytime I break out my cast iron frying pan that she bought me a long time ago! Doesn't this make your mouth water?

(Below) Okra--fresh and raw

(Below)
A LOT of cutting went into this!

Now...what am I gonna do with all THESE?

Have a wonderful day!

Today was YARD SALE DAY!

Oh how I love me some yard sale Saturday mornings! Big R and I decided that we'd get up early and take Lil R and go to some sales.

I got:
1. a 2GB MP4 Player that holds pictures, ebooks, videos, songs, etc. for $10.00 and it's hot pink!
(This was my favorite buy of the day)

2. A Cheeseburger McDonald's glass and a Winnie the Pooh glass. Both are vintage and both were 50 cents each!

3. 10 Dr. Seuss books that Lil R doesn't have. They're hardback and they were 50 cents each.

4. A pair of alligator shortalls for Lil R for church--they're super cute. $0.50

5. A Christmas sweater vest with reindeer on it for me for $0.50. Oh how I love to see me some big girl clothing at a yard sale!

6. Some little toy connecting thingamahbobs and a spiderman bag to put them in for $0.50 for Lil R.

7. Big R found a plastic shotgun case for $5.00 He says it was a great deal--who cares, right? haha

Then--as luck would have it, we happened upon the MOTHER of all sales! This place in Ranlo/Lowell makes comforters, curtains, pillows, sheets, etc. and they were having a yard sale in the parking lot. I had to squeal my tires and turn around!

I bought 3 queen sized comforters, two sheet sets, 4 pillows to match the comforters. You ready for the price? All of this for $35.00!!!!!!! And they're all new and gorgeous!!!

My mammaw always said it's nobody's business how much you paid for something, but I am so proud of myself that I had to share!

Big R's mom made supper for us tonight as a late birthday present for me. We had cubed steak and gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet peas, corn, mac n cheese (mainly for Lil R, but I found it was SCRUMPTIOUS!), slaw, and biscuits. All wrapped up with a chocolate cake and chocolate icing!

She bought me some silver jewelry and I adore it!

Lil R is spending the night with her tonight so I'm going to get in the bed and curl up and try to read a little while Big R serenades me to sleep with his snoring!

Be good to each other!

Whew---all done; for now

Well...I finally finished with the green bean canning. Ended up with 70 quarts of pure summer lovin' in a quart jar to be enjoyed during the winter.
Have you ever had a situation occur and you say to yourself, "Dang..I should have had my camera!" ??
Today was one of those days. As I was finishing up the green beans, daddy came by to make sure I was being productive, hahaha, and decided to play with Lil R outside for a bit.
See...I bought this blow up pool last year, at the end of summer, for Lil R to enjoy this summer. Big R hauled the air compressor up the hill from the shed, hooked it up, drug up a chair, and began to blow this thing up. I was watching from the living room window and was amazed how many nozzles, gadgets, and gizmo thingamuhbobs it takes to blow up a dern pool. Anway..after what seemed like forever, it was done. Until....Big R notices that there's two large holes for a PUMP on the side of the pool. Since I have no PUMP, he props it up on the chair he used to sit in while blowing up the pool and says, (and I swear he was serious), "Well...those two holes are for a pump and it's too expensive to buy a pump, so we'll just prop up the pool on this chair here and he can swim like that."
Say what? For real? Oh...ok!
So the next day, we dumped the water out of it and I bought another one for $8.00.
Yesterday daddy said that the little pool was not worth messing with and since I'd already bought the other one, he could rig something up!
So he did! hahaha
He took pipes and clamps and tape and whatever else, and now Lil R can enjoy the sunny day tomorrow in his high dollar, much loved by his Papa, POOL!
And in comes the part where I wish I'd have had my camera...
Today as daddy and Lil R are outside, all my daddy could do was chase him away from the pool. He wore himself out and ended up letting Lil R chase him around and around and around the pool until he was so dizzy that he (daddy) fell IN the pool! Why wasn't I looking out the kitchen window then? It never ceases to amaze me the things Papa does for Lil R. This story shall be told down the road at daddy's expense.
I'll be sure to post the pictures tomorrow evening!
This should be FUN since I'm done with the beans, to enjoy the time with him. I think I'll put on my string bikini and work on my lucious tan! Bahh hahahahahahhaha--if only!
Enjoy yourself!

Eees a bit green!

(Left) BEFORE---------------(RIGHT) AFTER

Man oh Man! I'm sooo pooped!

I canned 50 quarts of green beans today and have about 30 to go for tomorrow. Does anybody in the world do this anymore??!!

First of all...let me begin by saying that I love my daddy. He has worked so hard all of my life to make sure that I have plenty. Plenty clothes, plenty food, plenty roof over my head, plenty lessons learned that I appreciate now that I'm a parent, and plenty memories to laugh and cry over now that I'm older. He loves making a garden. My daddy doesn't know how to just plant a little "sissy" garden--hunh-uhh! He goes ALL out!

As a matter of fact, the day after we buried my Pappaw Fred, my daddy made the whole family plant a garden. His exact words were, "Now THIS is redneck therapy!" We all laughed, but we knew seriously that we could all get down in the bottoms, at least a mile off the road, and work through our grief by working our backs, hands, and minds while in the garden.

I HATE, loathe, despise, cringe at the thought of, (you get the point?) picking beans. My blood pressure increases dramatically at the mere consideration of doing this! Thank GOD I didn't have to pick all of those beans! Daddy, Doodah, Puddin, Hoss, Sarge, and D.A. all picked them and brought them here last night. They also strung and broke most of them!

Anyway--I love canning! Even if it set me back $120.00 for supplies today! Does this family really even eat that much in green beans in one year? I seriously doubt it, but it's so nice to open one of those jars and enjoy a great pot of green beans during the dead of winter...so again...thanks daddy--for the beans and for so much more!

Welcome Home

and just like THAT...our vacation's over. We had a wonderful trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We also rode through Cherokee on our way to visit some relatives in Robbinsville. I can't wait until next year's vacation. Lil R will be old enough not to scream at riding baby motorcycles that are bolted to the floor of a very slow moving carousel.
We did some shopping, went to see Cade's Cove, did a lot of eating, and lots more stuff. The worst part of coming home was trying to get Lil R back in his bed. Since he slept with us every night, he still thinks he is supposed to do that now at home. For the past few nights at bedtime all I hear is, "I get in mama bed". This makes me laugh hard. Wonder why he doesn't say mama and daddy's bed? If it were up to me, he'd sleep with us every night, but Big R says his back can't take two little feet digging in it every night. Last night I was up with Lil R until 12:30 and the whole time he was wanting to go to "mama bed'.
That made me remember when I was a little girl and would have bad dreams. I would go to my mama and daddy's bed and want to get in it with them. Since my daddy wouldn't let that happen, we'd make a pallet and lay beside their bed in the floor. My brother did this. My sister did it too.
I just think it's amazing that even when we're adults and are faced with scary situations, we still go to mama and daddy for comfort. Hopefully we'll all remember to go to Our Heavenly Father too. Since He's in control and loves us more than we can ever understand, I imagine he has our backs!
Have a great day!

Twice in One Day?!

Good Lord. The world may be coming to an end if I'm actually posting twice in one day!

When we finally left the doublewide around 4 today and headed out to get outta here, we ended up going to Sonic and eating a late lunch. Afterwards we headed to The Dollar Tree! It's mine and Little R's favorite place to hang out.

Here's what I don't understand...

How are those buggies made? The past two times we've gone in there he pees and it runs EVERYWHERE. In the floor splashing up on my feet making a clear little puddle. I was like, "What in the world?" and me and Big R just busted out laughing. I sent Big R to the car for diapers and wipes and after a quick change, while he was standing up in the pee pee buggy, we were off to shop!

I don't get it! I mean pee was EVERYWHERE--do you hear me? It was so embarrassing just to have to stand there and watch it splat the floor. I'm sure I am the ONLY one this happens to!

We bought Little R some toys and puzzles and I hit the craft aisle. I love their craft stuff and I crave to stand in the aisle and just drool over it all!

Afterwards we drove out to the park in Lincolnton. It was much smaller than I remembered while going there as a child. Mama paid for us to go swimming there a lot and that's where I learned how to swim. Robbie loved the one little slide they had there. I enjoyed watching him, being afraid of absolutely NOTHING, climb up that dern 10 foot tall ladder and hearing, "Mama, I swing". He evidently got swing and slide mixed up, but it was so cute who could correct him?

After that we went to Family Dollar and then to Wal-Mart!

We're headed out on a family vacation Monday so we bit the bullet and bought one of those in the car DVD players. I had SWORE I would NEVER be so lazy and trifflin' as to keep my child in a daze by purchasing and installing one of those things! Hmmm...crow is tastin' pretty nasty right now! I know how he is and I know how I need my sanity on a 3-4 hour drive in the mountains, so yep--we did it. WE joined the ranks of sane parents nationwide!

Enjoy some of my favorite pictures from today!

Ohh I'm So Crafty Today!

Good afternoon y'all!

I woke up in a crafty mood today and I've been wanting to get myself busy on some projects!

So I took a little mushroom can, covered it in fabric and lace and Wah-Lah! I have me a new rubber band holder for my teacher desk when school starts! Now trust me--I ain't ready for the summer to be over, but I sure am ready to get in there and get my room decorated up! I'll be posting before and after pictures because boy do I have some ideas floatin'!

I also made a new bible cover for my bible. Mine was getting pretty ragged so I made me a new one!

It is 2:35 PM and I am still in my nightgown. Is this the life or what?
Here's my craft room--at least the part you are allowed to see! I got this old cabinet from someone on Craigslist for 75 bucks. With a little lace and trim and a LOT of glue dots, she's a gem in my book!

And finally, a picture of my little mason jar lamp! I wrapped ruffles around it and placed it on an old silver serving tray. I need to do something with the shade, but that's for another day.

As soon as Lil R wakes up from his nap, we're off to get outta the house! I'm probably headed off to spend my Hobby Lobby gift card and hit The Dollar Tree! Have a great weekend!

Zippuh-Dee-Doo-Dah

Today's my birthday--I'm 37 years YOUNG and I have a 2 year old. It just hit me that I'll be working LONG after folks my age retire just to put him through college.
My big boy and my little boy woke me up this morning and I went to make my coffee. Upon arriving at the coffee pot, I found 2 cards and my coffee was already made and waiting on me with a mug and my french vanilla creamer already out on the countertop! How's that for service?!
My cards were so sweet! Little R actually drew me a heart on the inside of the card his daddy bought me from him. It was so cute!
I laid around in the house all day--we all three did! I didn't even take my nightgown off until 5:30 to take a shower. When I got out of the shower I decided to give myself another haircut! I did this about a month ago, but I miss that "stick up all over the back" look, so I took those scissors and went to town! I think I did pretty good considering I've never stepped foot in a beauty school! hahaha
We all went out to eat with my family to celebrate me getting OLDER!
Tomorrow we will be attending a 4th of July cookout and pool party at my sister's mother in law's. There are going to be lots of folks there and my brother in law is grilling!
I hope you all enjoy your day tomorrow, however you spend it!