Everyday Living

Tablescape Tuesday: The Sweet Smell Of Magnolia

~ Food & Entertaining, Tablescape Tuesday

“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119:11‬ 

Hello sweet friends, the weather has been perfect and I had the most beautiful weekend!  We celebrated our sweet Ella Mae’s first birthday on Saturday morning with a delicious brunch, birthday cake, fun presents, and lots of laughter.  She definitely kept us entertained!  Mother’s Day couldn’t have been more perfect…we had our family for late lunch and had the best time!  Butch planned and orchestrated it all…what a sweet man he is! We had his famous grilled burgers, baked beans, broccoli salad, and a yummy Oreo pie!  And yes, I had to contribute…I made my very favorite cake – hummingbird!  It was a special day for many reasons, and we were thrilled to have the newest member of our family, two week-old Gideon with us. My niece, Hannah and her husband, Ryan are the new proud parents! What a gift he is!

I am sure you think today’s tablescape was used for Sunday’s lunch…but no, it wasn’t. Actually, Sunday was a first…shhh, please don’t tell!  We used paper products! Now I must explain, since it was Mother’s Day, I let Butch take control of everything…and he wanted me to enjoy our family, just relax and not worry with clean-up.  Guess what?  I survived and no one but me was bothered…and a good time was had by all!  

So this week’s tablescape was just fun for me to create!  Since spring is here and all is blooming, I thought we could all enjoy the sweet smell of magnolia blooming here at our house!

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 The tablecloth was my inspiration…I found it at TJ Maxx last week…I love all its color!
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Simple Southern Sunday No. 132 Happy Mother’s Day

~ Simple + Southern Sunday

“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭31:30‬ ‭
  I am forever grateful for my Godly Mother who loved our Lord, her family, and her friends.  She was the epitome of a beautiful Southern lady who knew the joy of serving and giving her life away!  Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her and wish she was here with us…but she is living in eternal joy with our Father, and I rejoice in that!  It has been ten years and I still miss her more than I could ever say.  This Simple Southern Sunday is in memory of the greatest lady I have ever known, my Mother.

 Our sweet Ella Mae turned one on Friday and we got to celebrate her yesterday! Oh what a great time we had!  She opened gifts, laughed, and had the best time!  My sweet Mother did not live to see her three grandchildren married, but she would have been so proud of them.  Oh she would be bursting with joy at the lives they live!  There are now 5 great-grandchildren…four cute boys and our little princess.  I cannot even imagine how she would have loved them!
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Music & Memories

~ Everyday Living, Music

 A song can paint a picture, and transform our thoughts, attitudes, and feelings like nothing else.  Music has the ability to take us to another time and another place instantly as the first notes reach our ears.  We are suddenly back into our own unique story, briefly experiencing something special, and for a few moments it’s yesterday once more. We all probably have hundreds of songs that carry us away to the land of memories.

We live in a wonderful time where if a song has been recorded and we want it, we can usually get it easily! ITunes, Youtube,…you name it and it’s probably there!  As fortunate as we are to have the ability to have thousands of recordings on the device of our choice, there’s still nothing quite like a live performance.

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A few weeks ago, Butch and I took a little road trip to Nashville, the music capital of the US.  We often go for business, but this trip was for the sole purpose of seeing a singer/songwriter that we began listening to in our early teens…one that I first saw perform as a starry-eyed 13 year-old in Birmingham, AL.
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