Sully time is always the best time!

My great nephew Sullivan Dorrell Lynch came visiting on Thanksgiving day and decided to spend the night at my house.

You will never hear me complain when someone suggests that I spend more time with Sully-bear. He is the sweetest baby boy and never fusses or complains.

He was born on March 10th and weighs about 23 lbs. He has 4 teeth now and is working on more - and even during the days of cutting teeth, his fussing is at a minimum.

I got this high chair at a garage sale for $10 and holy smokes, he LOVED spending time in it. He would sit for hours as everyone oooh'd and aaaah'd over him on Thanksgiving day. Next morning, the story was the same - I think he really liked being eye level with everyone else and being able to see all that was going on! Best 10 bucks I've spent in a very long time :)

Looks like someone had some stories to tell Aunt Cookie!

Bathing was so much fun on Friday morning ... he sure does love his bath time !!

Sully is getting so strong - he would pull himself up in the tub and actually stood without hanging onto the sides for several seconds. It wont be long now till he is moving and groovin all over the house!

Hanging onto Uncle Marty ♥

I love this sweet little boy so much and can't wait for the next time he comes to Aunt Cookie's house ♥

Hurry Down the Chimney Tonight!

I've been busy in the dungeon getting my Father Christmas and olde fashioned reindeer ready for the December TDIPT Mercantile!

I do hope you will stop by Tuesday evening to see all of the wonderful offerings!

Christmas is a wonderful, magical time of year -

anything can happen when you believe ♥

Happy Thanksgiving

Every year, a custom carries on that was started by my dear Mother-in-Law years ago: we wake on Thanksgiving morning and flip on CBS to watch the Macy's Day parade as we busy ourselves in the kitchen, preparing a family feast.

Several years ago, I was half watching The Morning Show with Harry Smith, who narrated a segment with Anne Graham.

Anne read a prayer from her father, the Reverend Billy Graham.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing on television... it moved me to the very core of everything I believe, and I wanted to share it here with you again this year.
Each year, I come back to this post and each year, it's as poignant and real for me as ever it was.... it goes like this:

“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.

We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

Amen.”

As families gather for the holiday, please remember there is no reason to have a holiday called Thanksgiving unless there is Someone to thank.

Thanks to God and Jesus Christ His Son for all the blessings on our fair land.

Take CHRIST out of Christmas?

Not if I can help it.... this is such a clever idea!
Want to have some fun this CHRISTMAS?

Send the ACLU a CHRISTMAS CARD this year.

As they are working so very hard to get rid of the CHRISTMAS part of this holiday, we should all send them a nice card to brighten up their dark sad little world. Make sure it says "Merry Christmas" on it.

For those of you who aren't aware of them, the ACLU,

(the American Civil Liberties Union)

is the one suing the U.S. Government to take God, Christmas or anything religious away from us. They represent the atheists and others in this war.

Help put Christ back in Christmas!

Here's the address, just don't be rude or crude:


ACLU
125 Broad Street , 18th Floor
New York , NY 10004


Two tons of Christmas cards would freeze their operations because they wouldn't know if any were regular mail containing contributions. So spend 44 cents and tell the ACLU to leave Christmas alone. Also tell them that there is no such thing as a "Holiday Tree". It's always been called a CHRISTMAS TREE!

We really want to communicate with the ACLU!

They really DESERVE us!!

For those of you who aren't aware of them, the ACLU (the American Civil Liberties Union) is the one suing the U.S. Government to take God, Christmas or anything religious away from us. They represent the atheists and others in this war. Help put Christ back in Christmas!

As a footnote, huge kudos to Dick's Sporting Goods!!

Dick's Sporting Goods has told American Family Association that "Christmas" will become a huge part of their advertising beginning November 28.

Vice-Chairman Bill Columbo told the AFA that "We have made significant changes from past years, when 'holiday' was the dominant theme of our advertising."
~ Beginning November 28, Sunday newspaper inserts will read "Christmas 2010." It will continue each Sunday through Christmas.
~ Dick's website will display the Christmas message prior to the first insert (next week) in time for Thanksgiving day.
~ Television commercials running after November 28th will also refer to Christmas season

Think I'll pay a visit to Dick's this holiday season to show my deep appreciation for taking a stand on this !

♥ The History of APRONS ♥

I don't think our kids know what an apron is!

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few.

It was also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons used less material.

But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids..
And when the weather was cold Grandma wrapped it around her arms.


Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.
After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace
that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.


REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool.
Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out
how many germs were on that apron.

I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron – but

LOVE !

HONORING OUR VETS

“Hon-or: n. 1. High respect; esteem; a person or thing that brings credit.”

My dad was a veteran to our country and a hero to me.

He served our great country during World War II
and these photos were taken on his first trip home in 1944 from fighting.

Dad was the youngest of 11 children and is shown here
surrounded by nieces, nephews and siblings.

We all loved Elmer dearly - he was a genuine man
with a huge and tender heart and I miss him everyday.

His parents, Miss Minnie and Daniel O are shown here with dad as a youngun. Elmer was as ornery as he was cute... and I believe it was shortly after this photo was taken that he fell in a water well and broke his arm.

To honor all our veterans, this poem seemed perfect to post.... thank you for your sacrifice!

They Did Their Share

On Veteran’s Day we honor
Soldiers who protect our nation.
For their service as our warriors,
They deserve our admiration.


Some of them were drafted;
Some were volunteers;
For some it was just yesterday;
For some it’s been many years;


In the jungle or the desert,
On land or on the sea,
They did whatever was assigned
To produce a victory.


Some came back; some didn’t.
They defended us everywhere.
Some saw combat; some rode a desk;
All of them did their share.


No matter what the duty,
For low pay and little glory,
These soldiers gave up normal lives,
For duties mundane and gory.


Let every veteran be honored;
Don’t let politics get in the way.
Without them, freedom would have died;
What they did, we can’t repay.


We owe so much to them,
Who kept us safe from terror,
So when we see a uniform,
Let’s say "thank you" to every wearer.


By Joanna Fuchs

Sully came visiting last Saturday....

and stole my heart when he left to go home.

He was dressed up as a Sock Monkey and couldn't have been more precious!

Let me just share a few of my favorite pics with you here - he is such a happy boy and I love him to pieces :)

Mercy, I love that boy ♥

He Looks up to His Daddy....

He tried some rice... didnt like it -

then Mom gave him some sweet potatoes ... at first, he wasn't sure -

but quickly decided they weren't too bad!

Sullivan has 4 teeth now: 2 upper and 2 lower ♥

My o my... that boy loves his mama!

Happy November!

I dont know how it was at your house, but in my neighborhood, we had a record number of kids on Halloween! It was a little chilly out but hubs and I sat in lawn chairs out in the driveway, passing out candy to all the the kids dressed up in some pretty creative costumes. I was very glad to see many parents accompany their children through the neighborhood this year – and it just made for a great night or safe fun!

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We have some exciting news to share from the TDIPT Mercantile!
We are hosting our 3rd Annual Open House and celebrating all month long with a Colonial Christmas theme. As in past years, we will be offering wonderful giveaways by the talented TDIPT artists as well!

To qualify simply sign up for the TDIPT Mercantile newsletter here:
http://www.tdiptmercantile.com/
You will also receive an entry for each item that you purchase from TDIPT from October 31st through November 20th.

So be sure to check out all the lovely offerings from the TDIPT artists and start your Christmas shopping from the comfort of your own home! What better gift than a handmade one of a kind artist creation…

In honor of the Colonial Christmas celebration, I have created a clay and paper mache Belsnickle Santa – he stands 17” tall and comes complete with flowing lined robe and primitive star in hand.

Please stop by my page and check him out in more detail~
and be sure to join us in the festivities!