Could it be.......

Blue sky and a perfect breeze? What a beautiful day.

Perfect Sunday afternoon....

Perfect for running after church. Perfect for putting out pumpkins and some more outdoor fall decor.

The results of yesterday's raininess........................

And these.....another reason to run today (or jog, rather, at a turtle's pace). But hey, even that was better than running in the rain last weekend in Marion.

Have a good week, everybody!

HAPPY FALL, YA'LL!!!

Today is the first day of fall....my very favorite time of the year. Although ask me at the beginning of each season, and I probably say the same thing three other times. Thank goodness we live where we can experience the beauty of them all.

A true sign of Fall....Thomas aeriating the yard. Quite entertaining too, I might add. Thomas is a pretty strong dude, but put this thing in a yard with some hills and ditches and it is hilarious to watch him control the yard monster.

This is one of my favorite planters. Got it in Blowing Rock a while back. Of course, I have lots of mums around my house. They remind me of my Daddy....he loved them so.

Best Buddies...Cammie and Madi.

More best Buddies....Brookie and Savannah.

Moi.....watching the yard monster!

Happy 70th!

Another decade starting, Nana!! Woohoo......Happy Birthday. We celebrated Nana's birthday this weekend in Marion. She turned 70 on September 18th. She's lookin' good!

Nana's babies

Friday night, Nana opened her gifts, but we waited until Saturday to cook for her. We went to watch the Titans play Friday night and enjoyed it. Brooke cooked potato soup for her birthday lunch. She had taken a cooking camp this summer and this was one of her recipes.

YYUUUUMMMYY!!

Now, I promise my Mom and Dad raised us with manners, dignity, and proper etiquette, but sometimes......things just happen. This happened to be one of those evenings. She would pop my behind right now if she could get to me for putting these on my blog!!!!!!

The mature one.........................

The mature one's son................

One of us (her) likes garden fresh greens and one of us (me) absolutely does not. I'm just waiting for dessert.

Okay, Mom............we'll straighten up......maybe....at least until we can get some of this..........

Coconut cake and several hundred calories. Oh goodie, a 2-fer-one deal!!! Enjoyed it anyway!

Happy Birthday, Nana. We love you!!

Amanda's Birthday Celebration

Okay, so Amanda turned the big 40 on September 2nd, and we decided to celebrate in a very classy setting. She chose to go to The Spa at the Grove Park Inn. She's been there before but I haven't and oh my.....I was almost intimidated just walking into the place. It is absolutely beautiful with stone and rocks everywhere. Simply breathtaking. They allowed no cameras except for a couple of places, but I snuck mine around just a little....still didn't get shots of the inside of the place. This was a true day of relaxation. All of us (6 ladies) had massages scheduled and after that we got full use of all the pools, hot tubs, fire places, saunas, etc., etc. The only problem was that the place required extreme quietness everywhere....this would be a problem. My big mouth and Mom's and Shirley's giggles (especially after mojitos) probably could have had us thrown out.

The three amigos!

Shirley, Mom, Sharon, me, Amanda, and MaryJo right outside the spa at another sitting, resting area.

Amanda and her sister.

These pictures, by the way, were taken after we had been rubbed with oils, extracts, lotions, etc.

Everywhere you went, there were gigantic pots of flowering plants. Beautiful, to say the least.

These were Amanda's birthday napkins...because we both like Grey's Anatomy.....the other part would have probably been okay too.

Amanda and her cake...made by Demetria, of course. Chocolate cake with coffee buttercream icing....extreme deliciousness!

A margarita glass decorated with beachy stuff....check out the turtle.

This is Herbert the Turtle....a sentimental touch from Jr. High and High School beach trips. We had a huge 'turtle' float for several trips and used it endlessly. Needless to say, he appeared again on her cake!

Had fun!! Happy Birthday, Amanda Jane! MaryJo and I both have birthdays in November....could we possibly...........................

The Week In Review....

Actually, it's been almost two weeks since I've posted anything. We've been very busy with parties and projects. After all the girls left from Brooke's sleepover a couple of weekends ago, we tore apart her room in order to paint. Her room 'makeover' was her birthday present. It is so cute. Check it out!

Raspberry pink paint on opposite walls and an apple green on the other two....

American Girl corner....this was a necessity!

Window toppers in the perfect colors...except on opposite walls.

We are extremely partial to PB Teen for the girls' quilts and comforters...and PB Teen is extremely proud of their products!

Next on the project list was this for Thomas.....

cleaning out the garage....which he's still working on as I type this.

I continuously have small projects going on, so I began working on my pictures. Our beach portraits came back and I had alot of frames to fill. The largest one is being framed for us, but below, you'll see some of the shots taken in Cherry Grove in July. I know these are blurry, but you can still get an idea. They turned out great.

There are about a trabillion more. This one was an expensive project, but oooohhhh, so worth it!

UHHHH... MOM, can I pleeeease have some of that popcorn while you're taking more stupid pictures of the pictures?

And last but definitely not least, Camryn decided to run Cross Country this year for Lakeshore. I am so proud of her. She has moderate asthma, so running/stamina hasn't always been her thing. She has done well and practiced alot. I have run with her on occasion and I was able to help the coach at practice yesterday....even ran with the little girl who was running in last place, way behind her teammates. I also helped at the meet today, which I loved.Check out this baby getting ready for her first meet. Go Cammie!

Cammie and all her buddies!

Tired, sweaty, and happy.

Happy September!