I Need A Little Rest

I felt fine yesterday ~ shopping and lunch with friends even in the midst of a snowstorm!! The light dusting that was forecast turned out to be several inches of fluffy snow.

In spite of that ~ we had a great time. We always do! Our shopping trip ended a little earlier than we planned because the roads were pretty bad. I headed home, made dinner, did a little cleaning and I felt fine ~ until about 9pm.

It's been all downhill since then.

Stuffy nose
Itchy throat
Cough
Congestion
Body aches

Headache
Sneezing
Watery eyes
And I'm just plain tired.......

I hope your week is starting off better than mine.

I'm going to get another cup of tea and then off to sleep for me! I'll be back when I feel better...

Diane Knott's Giveaway

Diane is hosting a wondeful Valentine's Day giveaway.

Take a peek at her blog for a better look at the goodies!

Sticky Notes ....

Remember my cute little calendar?

Well here's the note for this weekend ~ and it's a good one!

And, it's exactly what I'm going to be doing! I'll be hanging out with these two....we're doing our Christmas! Yes....our Christmas! It's the first chance we've had to spend some time with each other since November. We were going to go to Williamsburg, VA and it was going to be an overnight trip...but some nasty old snow storm messed up those plans. But that's okay! We're moving to Plan B (not that we had a Plan B ~ but we made one up Friday afternoon!) We're heading for here and here and who knows where else. We talked about going here, but I'd really like to go here. We'll just have to see what the day brings! (Besides this)

Yes ~ it's gonna be a chilly one!

But FOOD, FUN & FRIENDSHIP is sure to keep us warm!

Valentine Swap

Today I'm mailing out my partner's swap package ~ this swap is part of A Swap For All Seasons, and it's hosted by Linda of Grace Filled Moments.

This is what Linda has to say about our seasonal swaps:

"A Swap For All Seasons has been a little idea of mine that has just kept growing... I envision celebrating each season with a delightful, high quality swap, that will bring joy to all who participate! I hope that this blog will be one you will want to visit often for ongoing seasonal inspiration and that you'll join in on one or all 4 of the swaps this next year."

This is the fourth swap I've participated in with this group and every one has been such fun. Linda posts the swap info, tips and inspiration on The Swap For All Seasons blog and she also has giveaways for each of the swaps. Visit if you get a chance and checkout all the fun we have.

Here's a peek (for my partner Kathy) at the things I'm mailing off to her this afternoon. I had such fun putting this one together.

Here it is all packed up ~ just waiting to be sealed and sent on it's way!
Swaps are fun!!

Make Up Your Mind

So......are you going to be happy today?

I am!
The picture is a scan of one of the very cute notecards I bought at Michaels ~ eight in a pack for one dollar!

Fun Stuff for the Little People

Look what Gramma found on Etsy today! Don't these things look like fun!

Charlotte seems kind of indifferent about the whole thing BUT Elijah is obviously VERY happy! Penelope seemed kind of pleased too ~ until Elijah got a little bit TOO excited!

Aren't the colors fabulous!?

The Tic Tac Toe is my favorite!

Visit Evgie's shop on Etsy and see all these wonderful, handmade learning toys, games and gifts.

I think the little people would really enjoy playing with all these very fun felt toys!

Images to Share

A lot of the blogs I visit share beautiful images with others. I have so many of those pretty pictures in my files. I'd like to reciprocate a little by sharing several today.
I found some old notecards at the thrift store recently ~ aren't the birds sweet?!
Enjoy using the images in your artwork!

I may frame these and hang them in my bathroom next to the

large one that's already there.

Random Monday Memory

How many of you Girl Scouts remember these clever items?

That's right! It's a Sit-upon! We made these for our camping trips and bonfires. They worked well, if this memory serves me correctly!

Visit basketmakers.org for instructions on how to make your own.
Just think about those cold metal benches you have to sit on if you attend any children/grandchildren sporting events! One of these would be great to have along!!


Many thanks to Jacqueline at Once Upon a Fairyland for her post The Perfect Sit-Upon.

It inspired this one.

Valentine Giveaway

Jill of Balliwick Studio wants to know if you'd like to be her Valentine....and she'd like to know by February 1st! Visit her today for a sweet chance for this pretty package! Doesn't that ribbon look luscious?! The package is full of some lovely goodies too!

Grateful ~ for learning new things

I got this very cute little desk calendar for 50% off at Books-A-Million. I looked around on the web to see if I could find it anywhere, but it looks like it's sold out. I'll save the notes as I tear them of and scan some of them to share on my blog...so far I'm loving them all!

Here's a peek at today's "sticky note".

click photo for a better look

I also bought a skein of yarn and a little "I Taught Myself Knitting" booklet that came with needles too. It's a good thing my sticky note reminded me about being grateful. After speading about 30 minutes trying to teach myself to knit ~ well, let's just say I wasn't feeling real grateful about owning the booklet, the yarn & the needles!

But that's okay ~ because in about 8 days I will be heading off to Williamsburg for two days, with my friends Tisha & Patricia. I will be bringing along the booklet, the yarn & the needles ~ and Tisha will be teaching me how to knit. Okay Tisha?? Please!

Of course if Tisha does teach me to knit I will change the name of the little booklet to:

"Tisha Taught Me to Knit"

Rest

But I don't have to feel this way......there is a solution.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30

He calls out to people who are running in circles, weary from trying to be all and do all, burdened by the effort of living in this broken world by our own inadequate resources. He invites us to come to Him and learn from Him. That's where we find rest for our souls. I really want to dig deep and explore this aspect as I focus on this one little word......

Look here for more about my word

one little word 2010

Look here for some great info.

Grandbabies

Celebrities born in 1918

Here's some celebrities who were born in 1918.

There are many more and they can all be found listed here or here or here if you'd like.

Abigail Van Buren, Allen Ludden, Ann Landers, Anwar Sadat, Art Carney, Billy Graham, Bobby Riggs, Claude Akins, Eddy Arnold, Efrem Zimbalist, Ella Fitzgerald, Howard Cosell, Ida Lupino, Ingmar Bergman, Jack Elam, Joey Bishop, John Forsythe, Leonard Bernstein, Marjorie Lord, Mary Kay Ash, Mickey Spillane, Nelson Mandela, Nipsey Russell, Oral Roberts, Paul Harvey, Pearl Bailey, Ray Charles, Rita Hayworth, Sam Walton, Sebastian Cabot, Sid Abel, Spiro T. Agnew, Susan Hayward, Ted Williams, William Holden.

But the most important celebrity born in 1918 was this guy ~ my father-in-law. Also known as Bud, Dad, Grandpa, the Gpap and Super Grandpa. What a blessing it is to have him living with us. What a blessing to regularly have four generations of family together!

Today is his birthday.

January 19, 1918

He's lived life for 92 years!

The above photo was taken about a year before he moved from Florida to live with us in Maryland - he was only 88 1/2 years young in it!

The next two are from this past Christmas....opening his present from Charlotte ~ a Super Grandpa sweatshirt made for him by Katie.

Happy Birthday to You!!

Random Monday Memories

Late sixties, early seventies ~

Go-Go Boots!  Okay, admit it ~ who had these?

I didn't but I wanted them REAL bad!

Sanctity of Human Life Sunday

Today, praise God for the miracle of life. Today ~ a day set aside to recognize the sanctity of human life, from conception to natural death.

“For You formed my inward parts;You wove me in my mother’s womb.I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;Wonderful are Your works,And my soul knows it very well.”Psalm 139:13-14

Taking Down the Tree

That's what I'm doing today. But I get easily side-tracked. By chats with my daughter, the newspaper, lunch, a hockey game on TV, my laptop, taking pictures in my yard, a coffee break, the mail, a juicy honeycrisp apple (my current favorite kind ~ so yummy!)....hopefully I'll be able to stay on task long enough to get it all done today!

Evening Sky

When I left work Wednesday evening, the sky was amazing ~ pinks, oranges, yellows, blues, purples & grays. So beautiful! I took my camera out of my purse that morning and forgot to put it back in. Then I remembered that my cell phone had a camera.

The first two photos were taken with my cell phone.

As soon as I finished taking my photos I called my husband and asked him how the sky looked outside our house. He said it was pink & blue. I told him where my camera was and he took the next photos with it. He got some good shots!

(Those Oak trees hang onto their leaves forever!)

The heavens declare the

glory of God
and the firmament shows His handiwork.
Psalm 19:1

Health...ier Plans

WDW trip 2005

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is

manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

I was visiting Cobblestone Farms the other day and read these 10 health tips. These are just part of The 2010 Handbook that Cathy shared on this post. I plan on focusing on these ten....there are 29 more. It's a good list.

Sweet Treats for My Sweets

This year I have three little Valentines to give goodies to ~ and look at the fun treats I picked up for them at Michael's today ~ in the $ section!! They're BUBBLES!

These babies love bubbles!!

"Gramma! I'm not a baby....I'm 2 now!!

"Too busy right now!"

"Why can't they just let me sleep?"

Sunday's Brunch

I went here Sunday afternoon.

I went with this great group of people ~ my daughters and a dear friend.

Sorry guys ~ I know the sun is shining directly into your eyes and I know it's very cold, but I need a photo!

Aren't the door handles neat!

I ate an omelet, potatos and some fried green tomatos!

The menu is amazing.

The atmosphere is fun!

The wine rack is crazy!

It was a wonderful afternoon!
There are only three franchises in the USA.
Two in Maryland and one in Virginia!
Visit one if you're in the area.


Eggspectation Restaurants — Much More Than Eggs — is one of America’s most innovative upscale casual dining restaurant companies. It was founded in 1993 in Montreal, Canada as a breakfast, lunch and brunch strategy. The concept was expanded in 2002 when the first U.S. location opened in Ellicott City, Maryland which included an expansive dinner menu and full service coffee and beverage bar.
from the website

I Heart This Face

The theme for this week at
isBest Face Photo

With three grandbabies around, there are a whole lot of best faces going on in my life! When I saw this shot of Charlotte my immediate thought was "what a great face!" So, I thought I'd share it on iheartfaces.

The photo was taken on January 6, 2010. Charlotte was sharing Grandpa's very milky, sugary coffee. She's got a pretty good grip on the mug handle! Looks like she's thinking, "Hmmmmm, this stuff isn't bad!" But she won't be having more anytime soon ~ she threw it all up about 5 minutes after this was taken!

Besides the subject, the only thing special about this photo is that it was taken with my new camera. I'm definitely a beginner when it comes to photography but I'm having fun trying to learn new things!

Stop by Wednesday for a peek at my other two cuties.