Life Overflows

Oh my! Where on earth have I been? I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've posted. Well, let's see. I've been busy making Halloween ATC's for my ATC Club.

Rachel had Homecoming.

We had fun shopping for the dress and shoes. I used to look like this . . . well, maybe not with the 5 inch heels, but the rest of it. Ah, youth!

And Rachel got hurt on a stupid ride at the Homecoming Carnival! It was a "slingshot-type" ride where she got flung and snapped her neck. It didn't hurt at first, but by this past Monday, we were at the doctor and then the hospital for a cervical spine x-ray.

All turned out fine, but Rachel was and still is sore and recovering. Unfortunately this caused her to miss the last cross country meet for the season. It will be time for Track before you know it.

I've been busy keeping up with my work-out regimen. I've lost about ten pounds so far and am feeling pretty good. I shared a pix of my hunky personal trainer on Facebook, so thought I'd include here as well. This is Matt on the left with my nephew, Kyle. Hey, if you gotta sweat your butt off, might as well have something decent to look at, right?

Since I spend a lot of time talking about Rachel and all the activities of her life and how it amazingly intermingles with mine, just wanted to share a picture of my other child, my firstborn, Logan. His calm, cool demeanor is always so refreshing in the chaos of Rachel's drama.

My kids. The lights of my life.

Hmmm. What else has been going on? Think that's about it! Now I must go see what all of you have been up to.

Show and Tell Friday

It is my pleasure to participate again in Show and Tell Friday. This event is graciously hosted by Cindy from My Romantic Home. My contribution this week is something very special to me.

I love dolls. I have always loved dolls. When I was a little girl, my grandmother gave me this doll. She didn't have much money to spend on fluffy things for little girls, but she had a talent for sewing, knitting and crocheting. This little doll is wearing an outfit totally handmade by my dear grandmother. She stitched every detail on this pretty blue dress and lovingly did her needlework magic to create the little sweater, bonnet and booties.

This little doll, named Irene, which is also my beloved grandmother's name, sits in a corner of my room watching over me. My grandmother passed away before I truly got to know her as I was only seven years old. Her legacy to me - a doll beautifully wardrobed in an outfit created by hand, always my treasure.

I can't wait to visit all of the other Show and Tell participants to see what treasure they selected to share this week. Thanks so much for coming by to visit with me!!

A New Apron

Look what I bought from Connie at Living Beautifully . . .

I love it! Connie did such a beautiful job crafting this apron and I was so very impressed when it arrived today. I thought it looked beautiful when I saw it on her blog about a week ago and I knew I had to have it. It is even more beautiful in person and the fabric is a very nice quality. I couldn't be happier. I have to find a pretty little hook to hang in my kitchen for this apron as I certainly will not wear it, lest I get one single evidence of cooking on it. Thanks Connie!!

Winter Whites

I stopped at Joann's on my way home from work tonight to pick up some embellishments for the Winter White Fat Book Swap I'm participating in. Look at these pretties . . .

Gorgeous fabric remnants from the designer vault . . .

Look at the detail . . .

And the trims . . .

It was hard to pick and choose when there were so many beautiful things. I cannot wait to start this new project.

Robin from Thrifty Miss Prissy is hosting this swap where we each have to make 14 pages that Robin will divide up and make into Fat Books for us. The theme is "Winter Whites" and I have so many ideas of pages I want to do. Let's just hope my hands can create the visions in my brain!

A Rose Is A Rose

I had a great weekend. Rachel and I had a baby shower to attend Saturday afternoon which was lots of fun. Then we went to City Place in downtown West Palm Beach. It has the aura of a city, yet a hometown feel. The night was comfortable with a warm breeze, a nice band to listen to and lots of people watching. We did a little shopping, a little relaxing and a lot of enjoying.

Today we went to Home Depot and I bought some yellow and purple mums, a pink hibiscus tree and two beautiful rose bushes. When I was a little girl, we lived out in the country and I planted hundreds of tulips under our plum tree. I started out with red tulips and as the chipmunks scavenged the bulbs each winter, I added yellow. The plum tree was beautiful with white blossoms and a sea of red and yellow tulips below. It was a truly beautiful thing to see whenever you walked out our back door.

I also started a small rose garden, which my dad and grandfather added on to. We had every color rose bush imagineable and they were all so pretty. I've always loved flowers. I love to walk outside and be greeted with flowers. That is one of the main reasons I love living in Florida - I can have flowers outside my door year round. It's a beautiful thing.

Show and Tell Friday

I am joining Cindy from My Romantic Home for her first Show and Tell Friday. I always loved show and tell as a child, so I'm sure I'll be loving it again now. I'm so excited to share with you my cameo's. I love cameo's. This first one was my grandmother's. It can be worn as either a brooch or as a necklace. I really don't know how old this beautiful piece is, but my "nana" died in 1984 at the age of 84 and I know she had it for years. I would imagine it's at least 60 years old, if not more.



This second cameo is a ring that I bought for myself when I was working at a jewelry store shortly after high school so this ring is pretty darn old also!! I bought it to wear on my index finger as I always loved the look of a large ring on that finger. It's interesting how this ring and my grandmothers brooch are very similar.



This last cameo I bought through a catalog just a couple of years ago. I usually wear it with a white lace top and it always looks so pretty.

Be sure to visit other participants in Show and Tell Friday and let us all recapture our show and tell youth as we gaze upon everyone's pretties. Thanks for stopping by!! Leave me a comment so I can visit you too!