Out With the Old, In With the New!

      How are ya'll doing? I'm still recuperating from Christmas! And not in a good way! I think I have some sort of crud. It's in my throat and I sound funny when I talk. I feel OK, just throaty. There has been so much sickness everywhere; it's hard to avoid it! I have been around very sick children lately, so I hope I don't get what they had! I just can't turn away a child when they're sick! I try to avoid the mouth as much as possible. The doctor said it would have to 'run it's course'. I hope it's not a long course!

      I have enjoyed getting to know all of you this past year! I have lots of new followers that haven't ever commented so I hope that changes in the near future. My blog is not a fancy blog as you can see. I probably won't ever try to turn it into a money maker. Those sort of things never seem to work out for me anyway. I enjoy reading other blogs that are more professionally done, however; and I have learned a lot from them. I'd just rather spend my time doing the things that make me and my family happy and then write about them here. I love to share photos; and I've recently joined Instagram under my name. I am also on Facebook under my name so if you would like to friend me, please send a friend request. I'm also on Google+ but I don't visit there very often. Most of the blogs I follow there show up in my blogger feed or FB. If you know of some simple improvements that I could apply to my blog, please let me know in the comments. If it doesn't take a lot of time to do, or show ads, I will give it a try. I  have the word verification on cause when I turn it off, I get spammers. I don't like them, so I keep the word verification turned on.

      I love cooking and crafting, and working on the house. I hope to share more of that in the coming year. I am working on a project now and I need some advice. It is a banner for a Hispanic baby whose name is Julian. I can't decide what color to paint the letters in his name. I will have photos below; your opinions are greatly appreciated! 

       I have been so blessed this year but I've been through struggles too. I don't talk about those here as I want the blog to be up-lifting. God has worked those things out and I'm so thankful to Him! I know He has good things ahead for you and for me! I can hardly wait to see what lies ahead! Thanks for reading and commenting! Have a wonderful and prosperous New Year! Blessings from Bama!  

Skylar made egg-drop soup!

Enjoy the video!

He also made noodles with peanut sauce.

Here he is cooking.

My girls napping at Aunt FeFe's!

Riley was the sick baby with 104 fever! We knew she was feverish but not that hot!

A day in the life at Aunt Fefe's!

I've been wanting this book for a long time. Thank you Randy!

I'm thinking white.

What do

You think?

Back to Our Regular Programming!

      After the whirlwind of seasonal activities, I'm trying to get back my sense of 'normal'! Since I wrote my last post, I've celebrated a birthday, gone camping, made holiday goodies, wrapped presents, been to family gatherings, celebrated Christmas! And the girls have been here several times. I'm sure you all have done the same! I just can't seem to write blog posts when I'm so busy, like most of you all do. I'm not that talented, I guess. There were some whirlwinds around here, in the natural too. We had severe storms one day when I was driving to a Christmas lunch, and the sky was so dark at 11:00 in the morning! It immediately gave way to light and hard rain! The wind was so strong, I thought I might have to pull off to the side of the road so I wouldn't be blown away! That subsided quickly, thank God! Now the weather is so nice with sun, clouds, and fifty something. We have such variable weather here!

      I exchanged gifts with my longest follower, Jacky, from http://dickybirdsnest.blogspot.com/2014/12/thank-you-felicia.html. She sent me so many nice things, that I'll show you in a photo below. Randy got me a Smartphone, so now I can keep up with things better. I am writing this from the laptop since it's easier to see, but the phone makes better photos than my camera so I hope to be able to download those here. I'm really slow at learning tech things, so it might take awhile to change my ways! (I didn't get the photos downloaded from my phone!)

      I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones, and staying safe and warm! I send you hugs, warm thoughts, and Blessings from Bama!

A wreath I made for my Mom.

Ornaments for others.

This tool helped to make the ornaments a lot easier.

Animated lights we took the girls to see.

This tree was so pretty in motion.

The girls were in awe of the beauty!

The alligator's head moved as did the dinosaur's head.

Sweet girls and guy!

The dinosaur.

The turtle snapped it's mouth all of a sudden and made the girls scream!

The Ferris wheel at the Island in Pigeon Forge.

Isn't this a beautiful carousel?

These are puzzles at a puzzle store at the Island.

Paula Deen's restaurant is coming to the Island, yay!

Me and Randy at a restaurant.

The Smoky Mountain Opry. We didn't go this time.

Wonderworks Mansion. We didn't go there either.

Dolly's Dixie Stampede. A great place for entertainment, but we didn't go there this time.

This is why they call them the Smoky Mountains!

Up here at Newfound Gap, it was a winter wonderland of ice!

Another beautiful view!

Skylar leading the way up the icy trail.

It was so pretty here!

I enjoyed visiting this place.

It was fascinating watching them throw the clay!

He made an apple baker.

I love the rivers here!

At the other end of the bridge, there was a sign warning about not feeding the bears. It was surreal thinking we might actually see one!

My Mom and Dad went on a short hike with us.

These rocks are ginormous!

Look how water cut these rocks after flowing over them for many years. The river doesn't flow through them now. 

One of our favorite restaurants.

I like this photo except for my chub. I hope Zumba takes care of this soon!

Another potter performing his magic.

It will be a nice bowl after being fired.

Here are the items my friend sent me: a bottle of maple syrup, a beautiful angel pic, a tree she made, angels, hankies, a felted pin made by Jacky, and local snacks from her state of Wisconsin!

I finally got a pic of Skylar showing his beautiful teeth!

Yasmine and Layla put the puzzle together.

We made cookies for Santa.

Winterlynne.

Riley.

I couldn't resist adding more photos! I love this one! These are from my phone.

They love Skylar!

Such a sweet baby!

My little drama queen!