I Miss Them!

Our two youngest boys were invited to go with Brooke and Ricky and family last Thursday to the Smokey Mountains to see SNOW!! Monroe and I had planned to take a short family trip up to Tennessee to see some snow this winter but Monroe's back is not doing too well since his back surgery in October. It is just too painful for him to sit more than 30 minutes at a time. So, to say the boys were elated with this invitation would be putting in mildly!

Brent and Bradley are not home much with school and jobs so our house has been extremely quiet the past 4 days and I hate it! I miss the antics of the two younger ones, like this for example:

I even miss the gross surprises when I turn around to see this:

And the times when they are so bored that they get creative and make paper clothes....LOL!

And I do so miss these 3 lovies!!!

Oh. I miss Brooke and Ricky too ;-)

My dear family is on the way home. They had such adventures! I can't wait to hear all their stories. Most importantly they got to see SNOW and lots of it! They got to spend every day playing in the snow. I let Brandon take my camera so I will have pictures to show soon. I will keep you posted....

Nonna's Baby Girl Is Sick

Let me just begin by saying that girls are most assuredly different than boys!! Oh the drama and emotions this little darling displays!! Reese or Reesie Pie as I call her, has been feeling bad the past few days. Brooke gave her medicine and watched her for a few days to see if she would begin to feel better (I can tell she is the third child because Mom and Dad didn't head to the Doc right away!).

After about 3 days of Reese moaning as she walked around the house, Brooke said if she wasn't moaning she had her little bottom lip poked out(ok I can't handle the pouty lip, it melts Nonna's heart)-Mom decided to let the Doc take a look and see what was causing all the fuss.

Brooke was expecting some sort of terrible infection somewhere by the way Reese had been behaving. As it turns out, the Doctor couldn't find anything wrong except the very beginning of ear infection. Thankfully, Reese has not been very sick for the past year and I suppose she just couldn't figure out what was wrong with herself!

Oh. My. Goodness. What is she going to do when she loses her first tooth???

I must confess something. All the pictures above were taken by Brooke except the last one. I only wish I could take such nice pictures..... Brooke keep your opinions to yourself!

The "Fire Camp"

Our grandsons, Parker and Luke, are growing up so fast. One of their very favorite things to do is to come over to Nonna and Poppa's house. Brooke says the boys get so excited when they find out they are coming for a visit. She will not even stop by to drop something off to me if she can not stay because they will cry all the way home. Of course this just makes Nonna and Poppa over-joyed!
Lately we have been enjoying the cold (not freezing!) nights outdoors by having a cookout/campfire. Parker and Luke unintentionally have named this outing a firecamp! They absolutely love to have their firecamp in the evenings whenever they possibly can.

Even little Reese gets in on the fun. This is the rare occasion that she is not dressed in something girly! Don't tell her mother but she kinda likes getting dirty too (tee...heee...heee!)

Monroe and the boys have built an open fire stove pit for us to cook on. We have tried stew and chili and both were delicious. Love that cast iron!! Why is it that food tastes so much better when it is cooked outdoors?

Tonight as Poppa and Parker were putting out the "fire camp" with the water hose Parker told Poppa he wanted to make a wish before they put it out. After they finished dousing the fire Parker told Poppa what he wished for. Would you like to know his wish? Because I was dying to know what my four year old grandson would make a wish for. This is so cute. He wished that Parker, Poppa and Daddy could all go hunting and get a deer. Ain't that just precious!

It's Almost Christmas!

Once again the Christmas Season is fast approaching. It seems that no matter how hard I try to slow down and enjoy the days with my family and friends I find myself out of breath and rushing to finish last minute plans. With money in short supply this year I can't even say I spent a lot of time waiting in lines and/or waiting in traffic. Where has the time gone? I don't know!

It doesn't dampen my holiday spirit though. I love, love, love Christmas time!! Tomorrow I plan to spend the day prepping the food and beginning to bake for Christmas day. Our family will be attending the candlelight Christmas Eve Service at our church. This is such a sweet and special service we have every Christmas Eve. I will also make time to play Rokenbok with Bryce and Brandon too. The Rokenbok set is only played with during our Christmas break. The boys look forward to setting it up each year. I try to add a new piece to the collection each year as well. The set has grown so big that this year we assembled it in the garage. Here it is still in the set up stage. If you are not familiar with Rokenbok you should go to the website. They have some great video of the set in action. Just go to Rokenbok.com

Brooke, Ricky and the little ones will be spending Christmas day at our house. I am so very glad that they still enjoy coming over on Christmas morning. We always wait for them to come over before we open our gifts. I hope my older boys are making a mental note of their sister's holiday rituals ;-) I would love to have all of my future daughter-in-laws and grandchildren at my house on Christmas Day!!

I wanted to share a few of my Christmas decorations and crafts I have out this year. I decided to have a more "natural-rustic" tree. It just seems to fit with our lifestyle. I have tried having a more sparkly, glittery tree but it never looked right. So, I put together this garland on burlap to decorate the tree and I love it! The ornaments are rustic looking as well.

We are working on this Christmas puzzle. It is fun to watch the puzzle come together as different ones stop and work on it.

I am proud of my garage sale find a few weeks ago! Isn't this pillow adorable? It cost me $2.00!

Bradley helped a friend of his move a couple of weeks ago. The day after the move I saw this little Christmas tree lying haphazardly in the back seat of my truck. I am not a big fan of ceramics but I picked this little tree up to keep it from getting broken and.......

look what I found on the underside....
Yep! It's a real McCoy!!! We researched it on the internet and discovered that it has a base that it sits on. I asked Bradley if he remembered seeing a green base to match. Of course he paid no attention to that type of thing. I could not find the value of this tree and it may not be worth very much without the base. I would love to find out more about it.

I also found this little tart burner at the same yard sale that I mentioned earlier. It was brand new!

And I saved the best for last. My precious nativity scene. I have had this set for about 20 years and I still love it as much as the first day I got it. It is a Fontanini collection so I have been able to slowly add pieces to it through the years. Believe it or not, I have actually found a couple of pieces at garage sales and clearance shelves! One of the things I love about this set is that my children and grandchildren can set it up and move the pieces around as much as they like because it is unbreakable. Helping Mom/Nonna set up the nativity scene is a memory I would like for them to keep in their heart forever!
To all of my dear family and friends I pray you all have a blessed and Holy Christmas Day!!

Guess Who Turned One Year Old?

I'll give you one clue: All I saw in my house was Pink! Yes, our Little Reesie Pie is one year old. I can hardly believe it has already been a year since I held the first little girl to be born in our family in 27 years. And she has definitely been worth the wait! She is such a girly-girl already, however she gets pretty feisty with her brothers and can hold her own ground!

This little darling has been such a blessing to our entire family. But she holds a special place in my heart. Not just because I finally get to have my little girl to enjoy. You see, Reese has always looked just like her mommy did. I mean from the moment she was born I told Brooke, "Oh my goodness, she looks JUST LIKE you!" Not only does Reese look like Brooke but she feels like Brooke felt when I hold her. I made that comment to someone the other day and they looked at me funny and told me all babies feel the same. Oh, no they do not. All of my babies felt different in my arms. Do any of you other mothers out there know what I mean?

Well, I of course have to share the pictures from Reese's first birthday party. Doesn't she look like she is "Queen For A Day?"
I love this shot. There hasn't been a baby doll in our house in years. Parker and Luke look as if they are not sure what to do with this baby!

Here Reese, you take care of this baby!

Having two photographers in the family can be a bit trying at times. While we were decorating for the party Brooke kept saying she wanted the food table here, the gift table there, etc. Then she would say, "I know you are going to roll your eyes at me Mom but the lighting is going to be so much better here (or there) for pictures."

Well. I didn't let her see me roll my eyes, I just smiled and moved stuff from here to there...but maybe I was rolling my eyes in my mind...just a little bit ;-)

As it turned out, though, she was right. The pictures look like they are straight from "Martha Stewart Living".

By the way, all the pictures in this blog were taken by Brent. Brooke did all of the decorating. They work pretty good together. They have done photography for a few weddings together. Who knew?

The ice cream cones you see in the background here are actually pieces of paper twisted into the shape of a cone and filled with cotton candy. The stand for the cones is simply a cardboard box wrapped in gift wrap with holes cut in it for the cones. It was so pretty and Brooke said it cost approximately $3.00! Note to self (and anyone interested): Do not put cotton candy in cones until ready to eat...it evaporates!!

Reese is a natural born mommy already. That amazes me! God puts those instincts in little girls to be nurturing but at one year old? Brooke told me that Reese now has about six baby dolls and she tries to carry them around throughout the day, keeping them all together and feeding them with her little bottle.

She also called me one day to say that Reese was so mad she was screaming/growling! Her brothers had taken her baby dolls, stripped them of their clothes and wouldn't give them back to her. They were playing pirates. Brooke-please do not share the rest of this story. It is too gruesome!

Finally, the pirates...errr...brothers get a turn to open a gift.

Time for some birthday cake!!
A girl doesn't have to eat like a lady on her birthday does she?

This picture says it all!
End of the party and time to get cleaned up! Did I mention that Reese looks like Brooke? This picture is a perfect example! Spittin' image!

Happy Birthday Reesie-pie, Cuppy, Reesie Cup, Cupcake, Princess...

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Now somebody has done my Baby Girl wrong!! Just look at that little face!! I can see real tears!! All I can say is it's a good thing this Nonna (Grandma) wasn't around. If you look closely you can see a tiny earring in Reese's right ear. Yep, Mommy went and had my baby... errr....her baby's ears pierced. Brooke has been talking about doing it for a while. I thought this picture sums up Reese's opinion of the whole ordeal. Actually, she only cried for a minute and then she was fine. I really can't complain too much. After all, I did the same thing to Brooke when she was 3 months old. Funny how time changes things though. At my age now, I wouldn't be able to take my baby to get her ears pierced. I just couldn't stand it. I guess that means I am "mellowing" doesn't it? That is the great thing about Grand-parenthood. Monroe and I don't have to do the discipline. Brooke and Ricky are awesome parents and they do not shy away from correcting their little ones. Luke, however, loves a good challenge and somedays (I think Brooke would say most days) Mom and Dad are so happy when bedtime rolls around!

It will be okay Reesie Cup. Nonna will take you out for an ice cream and make it all better!!

A Few Thoughts For The Day

I had my camera with me at church a few weeks ago and got some really cute pictures of my grandbabies. Here is Reese looking all grown-up. I think these little sandals are about the most adorable things I have seen! Too cute!

And Nonna just happened to have a couple of lollipops in her purse for these two sweeties!

I wanted to share is a few thoughts for the day. These thoughts come from Don Wildmon, founder of The American Family Association. I receive his monthly magazine and in the January issue his employees wrote down sayings they have heard Mr. Wildmon quote frequently. I thought they were very encouraging and I want to pass them along.

1. If you don't have anything to say, then don't.

2. Love the little ones in our lives with reckless abandon! (This one is easy to do!)

3. Hold earthly treasures with an open hand.

4. Dispense much grace to others, much has been dispensed to you.

5. Time to go home; the work will be here tomorrow.

6. God never called me to be successful, just faithful.

7 Give people a chance, even when there may be no reason to do so.

8. The goal of life is not happiness but holiness.

9. Make sure you have the facts right and then tell the truth.

10. Expect the unexpected and deal with it with grace.

And last but not least!

11. Nursery duty is ministry, not drudgery. (Hmmmm... I found this one rather interesting coming from a male-very observant!)

I think Mr. Wildmon is a wise and Godly man. We are very fortunate to have him in our society fighting for the good of the American family. I pray for his health as he has been battling encephalitis since August of last year. I am sure he would appreciate your prayers as well.

Have a blessed day and remember: "The goal of life is not happiness but holiness."

My Guys in Camo

This is a rare moment. I just had to make them pose for me. As you can tell, Bradley (with his head turned) is none too happy to be caught wearing camo! That is why it was a rare moment! This is damaging to his skater- dude reputation so don't tell anyone...chuckle, chuckle. In the end, he had to obey his Mother and face the camera. I think I forgot to tell them to smile! Aren't they handsome Southern Gentlemen-well except for Bryce with the banana hanging out of his mouth!
Yep,we have our work cut out for us with the youngest.

And here is my little princess, Reese. WHAT? Is she in camo too? Shhh....don't tell her MOTHER!

Now that Uncle "B" will have her in camo AND out hunting with him soon. We are going to have to keep an eye out on those two.

A Thanksgiving Chuckle

After spending two days preparing and cooking for Thanksgiving Day the moment finally arrived....Lunchtime! We had all the traditional fixins, you know- turkey,ham, sweet potato casserole, dressing, mashed potatoes, squash, pumpkin rolls, pie, etc. While everyone was busy making their plates and having a great time talking and laughing together, Uncle Brent was busy helping Parker make his Thanksgiving lunch plate. After Brent went through the entire menu of choices to eat, this is what Paker wanted...




Ha! Ha! What a hoot! I thought that was so funny I just had to share it with everyone! I just love two-year olds with a mind of their own!!

How was your Thanksgiving?

Good News!

I am so happy and excited for my niece, Rhonda and her husband, Neal. I got a phone call a few weeks ago from Rhonda. It was a phone call I have been waiting to receive for a long time. Rhonda has been very patient in waiting on the Lord to bring the right man into her life and her dreams have come true. I have not had the privilege of meeting Neal yet but I hope to get to see both of them during the Christmas holidays! And now for the long awaited news....they are having a baby!!! We are so very happy for the newlyweds!!

And more good news from the Castleberry family. My nephew, John and his sweet wife, Veronica are also having a baby!!! This is such exciting news as well!! I know my brother and sister-in-law are just as excited as these two couples. They will be blessed with not one but two precious grandbabies to hold in just a few short months!

Children are a blessing and gift from the Lord!

I'm A Little Scared!

Not of these two sweetie pies. Yes, I am a little scared of this little sweetie pie!

Let me explain. You see, Brooke has a photo shoot this morning at a local private school and she needs me to babysit for her. I love to keep my grandbabies but I have never kept Reese for more than a couple of hours because she is a baby that will only take her Mommy's "nursie". She will not even take Mommy's pumped milk in a bottle. And we have tried all types of bottles! This girl knows what she wants!! Funny thing is her Mommy was just the same way!

So, I have this.....

And an assortment of food....

I'll let you know how it went! Yikes!

Well, everything went great today. Reese slept all morning. When Brooke came back Reese was STILL asleep. I was busy keeping up with two little guys, however. Whew, bedtime will be early for me tonight!

Too Cute!

How about this little face to brighten your day? This should bring a smile to anyone! I made Luke a peanut butter and marshmallow (fluff) sandwich and then I went about my chores in the kitchen. A few moments later I turned around and this is what I saw. I had a good laugh and ran to get the camera! I believe he really enjoyed that snack! It was the first time he had ever had a peanut butter and fluff sandwich and if his Mommy has any say-so in the matter it will be his last for a long time.

However, when he is at Nonna's house he can have a peanut butter and fluff sandwich anytime he likes ;-)

And that, dear friends, is what Nonna's (Grandmothers) are for, RIGHT???

Camping at the Springs

We took a long weekend and went to the local springs for camping and swimming. This is a favorite camping spot for our family. Isn't the water beautiful? In winter months you can come here and see the manatee. This spring is a refuge for them.


This is what I love about camping. Getting away from the phones, tvs, etc. See what happens? I looked out the camper window and Brandon had made himself a bow and arrow. I am not so sure he could provide the family with dinner from that bow and arrow but it did shoot!

Roasted marshamallows are so delicious when you cook them over an open flame. Personally, I like mine burnt!

Don't they look like they belong on the show, Survivor?

A rare photo moment!

Swimming at the spring. Actually, this swimming area is a little ways down from the spring. We swam up river to the spring and the guys loved diving down to see the open spring below. I watched nervously from the surface (with my trusty raft) as they got braver and deeper with each dive. There was a huge fallen tree covering the spring and they would dive down and swim under the tree!!

We had a visit from Brooke and family on Saturday! Of course, I was so excited to see them.....okay to see my grandbabies! Here is the famous Lukie face. Such a cutie! I love it when he makes this face.

Reese's first outing at a state park. She seems to be taking it all in stride. By the way, she looks EXACTLY like Brooke's baby pictures in this shot!

Parker is enjoying the remaining honeydew from lunch.

Just relaxing and enjoying each other.

Poppa and Parker taking a walk to find wild grapes they saw earlier. They were very TART!

Well, we had a great summer! Now back to the daily routine of school, work and university life.

God is so good!