{Taking a Break}

I am counting down days before our Family Beach vacation and I am making a list. A list for things to NOT forget, you know, like my beach chair, book...that important stuff! Matter of fact I have already started packing. I just don't want to get left behind. LOL! 

 Seven days of beach time will fly so fast so I hope to savor every moment. We laugh a lot...a whole lot, eat a lot, play a lot and most often do CRAZY stuff! Maybe this year I won't wear a strapless bathing suit top while catching a wave!!!!!!  Our family always has such a good time.

I even found a cute new luggage tag!  I will plan on being back in blogging mode with lots of pictures the end of July or first of August. I've so much to do this week just to prepare to be gone seven days. Between working a few days, grandbabies, and errands, this week will be full steam ahead for me.  I am not leaving until Saturday of this week so I will be popping in to visit with my friends. 

I want to share a few fun pictures with you this week of my little 8 year old granddaughter. My daughter chaperoned a trip with our 11 year old granddaughter with our church and her daddy had to work so this sweet girl stayed with Nana and Papa. Our first outing was shopping and a drive through lunch so we could go to our local park to eat our lunch and play on the playground. Well, the ducks apparently have been fed so much there that they are NOT SHY at all.

Of course we had a crafting time and she decided to make sea shell necklaces for all the girls that would be at the beach. I just so happened to have a stash of sea shells in my little She-Shed from precious beach trips so Sea Shell necklaces it was . A little bling was added to some. 

She had so much fun doing this craft.

Of course Papa helped her with the finishing touches after the shells had dried by drilling holes in the shells for ribbon to go through. We ended the night with a bath bomb bath. 

Part of our shopping trip consisted of buying a few school supplies for a couple of kids that has a need for the new school year so home we came to sort our goodies out. Then we decided to bake bread pudding. Oh my! It smelled so good baking.

Back to the sea shell project we went because she wanted each necklace to be wrapped and boxed for the family beach trip. Y'all....Nana was beginning to wonder if this project was going to end! LOL!  

And Papa had to ride her around the yard 100 times but she made him his very own sea shell to sit on his night stand. (Smiles) 

Needless to say she was ready to see her mama and sister after a weekend with Centri-Kids and her daddy since he had to work.  God is so good to my family and I am grateful to make such wonderful memories with my grandchildren. As a friend told me, "The memories will last much longer than the necklaces".  

I hope to be doing lots of this next week! 

 I hope that you make some memories this week of your own. You know, we don't have to travel too far to make memories that last for a life time.  Sometimes a memory making moment is right there in front of us.

Hugs and blessings, Cindy

 

{The Birthday Girl}

Hey everybody! I hope that you all had a great 4th of July. Our day was low key. Well, sorta....We cleaned out kitchen cabinets and kitchen drawers and re-organized and tossed stuff out. So I worked more than I wanted too. But, we ended the day with grilled ribs, salad, fresh banana peppers and cherry tomatoes from my little garden, BBQ bread and chocolate chip cookies. YUM!

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One of my daughter's sent this to me and I thought, Oh my mercy! I will be Christmas shopping before long! I see Thanksgiving items out already. Time sure does seem to fly by.

Speaking of "time"....it doesn't seem too long ago that I was holding this girl in my arms as a new born baby and here she is celebrating her 35th birthday.

We celebrated her birthday yesterday with a hamburger and hot dog cookout and homemade ice cream with all the toppings. Melissa is my 2nd born child. She came into this world full speed ahead 7 minutes after I got to the hospital and she hasn't slowed down since!  She's the organizer in our family. The best party planner ever! Loves her some glitter and bling and the bossiest child I have. But, as my motherinlove used to say, "Everyone needs a boss". She keeps us all on tract. And, the older I get the more ON TRACT I need to be! 

 She and her sisters are the best friends ever! Makes this mama "smile big". They are in each other's business as I call it...daily! Well, we are all in each other's business daily....UMPTEEN dozen times a day texting! She thinks she is her daddy's favorite daughter. He let's her believe her that too. But then all our girls think they are his favorite. Hee-hee!

Bless her heart...she tries and I said tries.... to keep me straight in different areas of life...too many to list.....but praise the Lord she does let me know when there is  a hole in the back of my hair!

 She likes to have fun where ever she goes and doesn't mind one bit what that might entail.

Whether it's on a ball field at the end of a season with all the other mama's celebrating...

Dressing the part with office staff....

Deer hunting with the family...and yes, she's harvested several nice deer...

Sipping a cup of hot chocolate and making it look and sound "better" than it is really is...I mean even making the "YUM" sounds and LOUD....

Or teaching Sunday school or Vacation Bible Study...SHE HAS FUN WHERE EVER SHE GOES AND WHATEVER SHE DOES.

She is an amazing woman. So proud she's mine.

I hope that you all enjoy your week and even on a rough day may we be thankful for the gift of life and enjoy it to the fullest.

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Hugs and blessings, Cindy

{Happy 4th Of July and Musings}

Happy 4th of July!

WOW! Where did the month of June go? Matter of fact, where did half a year go already? We will be celebrating July 4th this week and I'm just curious. How do you celebrate? Fireworks? Picnic? Beach trip? Yard and home decorated with red, white and blue? Family and friends? Or simply quiet time?

As most of you know I am a coffee drinker in the mornings. Oh I must have COFFEE!  But, sometimes in the afternoons I simply want a cup a tea. If you are a tea drinker and have never tried Vanilla Bean Macaroon then it's a must try. Taste like dessert! YUM! I must admit that 4th of July decor for me was not on the table this year. I've been too busy doing other things and just haven't taken the time to get my decor out. I do keep flags out all year round that stick in various plants I have outside but I did decide to do a little vignette for my looking pleasure.  Maybe on July 4th I will be inspired to at least set a table. LOL!
 

However you celebrate I do hope that you have a wonderful July 4th celebration and a safe one. 

My middle daughter Melissa recently bought herself a nice camera and is in photograph mode. Her oldest daughter has shown an interest in photography and my oldest granddaughter will be taking a photography class. Needless to say this make ME SO HAPPY as I have always enjoyed photography. Though now I only shoot pictures for my grands but I still enjoy it from time to time. I had fun watching my girl snap pictures of her girls.

I can't wait to see how her pictures turn out. Her girls are involved in various activities so now she has a good camera to catch those special moments.

BUT....you know me...NANA couldn't stand it so I had to snap just a couple of pictures of the girls. Our Mallory Grace just got braces. Of course Nana had to make her some potato soup to help that sore mouth you know....
 

Kyleigh got new glasses this week so she will be sporting those in her next pictures I am sure. Don't you just adore the girls tops?

Do any of you have or use an Instapot? When they first came out I was hesitant but then my daughter's bought me one for a gift a few years ago. I am truly the CROCK POT QUEEN because I love slow cooking.  But, the Instapot sure helps out when I am in a hurry. Or when I want to boil peanuts! YES!  BEST boiled peanuts ever! I have made lots of things in my Instapot but recently whipped up a cabbage, sausage and potato dish. I added a few carrots and peppers and needless to say my husband loved it. 
 

I was raised with a pressure cooker so the Instapot doesn't frightened me in the least. 
Mine is a large one so I keep it in the cabinet and pull it out when I use it. But, then the only appliance I leave out on the counter is my COFFEE POT! LOL!
I have made all sorts of things in the Instapot. It just takes a little time to learn it.

These three sweet girls surprised Nana one day by coming by my office to see me. Sure made me smile.

I made a pineapple upside cake for a dear friend recently who started chemo on Thursday of last week. I added a dollop of butter cream icing with pineapple juice to the top of the cherries and around the cake and made a few pieces of dark chocolate just because I wanted too. LOL! YEP, I kept a bowl of the dark chocolate for myself....After all, dark chocolate is good for you. RIGHT?

Well I will end today with this. 4th of July is a great time to celebrate with fireworks, maybe hamburgers, hot dogs or grilled ribs and let's don't forget, that patriotic dessert. It's a time to for us to display our red, white and blue flags proudly and I do because Old Glory is a beautiful sight to me. Maybe even wear our patriotic shirts and who knows, I might even get up singing the National Anthem! Well, chances of that happening before coffee is like ZERO! Or in front of anyone either......LOL! 
But with all that....FREEDOM is what comes to mind for me. And Freedom to me means my freedom in Christ Jesus.  

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Happy 4th of July to you all. 

Hugs and blessings, Cindy