HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Today is my Dad's birthday. He is the young man on the left in this picture. We took this at Christmas with all of his grandchildren. The beautiful baby is his great-grandchild. How quickly time flies. He is my hero. I admire his faith, commitment and relationship with God. He is the 5th of 6 sons. I realize I am biased but I think my dad is special. He is the head you want in an emergency situation. He worked for the state of KY for years in the mining division of first aid and safety. While he is officially retired from the state department, he continues to consult and teach when he finds the time.

He still lives on the farm that he grew up on. The house is different, he built a new house across the garden from the old when I was in middle school. He and his wife Pat work in their church, they keep an eye on their 101 year old neighbor (who still lives in her home), they garden, and when the grass growing season is upon us you can not believe how much grass they keep mowed. He has been a deacon in that church for more than 40 years. He is a perfect example of the Biblical "Deacon".

My sisters and I consider ourselves "Daddy's girls". He has given us unconditional love and as a testimony to his life all three of us and our families are active in our local churches. Again, he provided the role model. I love you Dad. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

So Proud!

This past week was an extremely busy one. For those of you that I've talked with, you realize I felt extreme pressure waiting for the UPS man. He was suppose to deliver FCCLA items 2 weeks ago. Circumstances being what they were, he brought my package at 1:00 on Thursday afternoon. That was the deadline. A cheer went up by myself and students when the secretary announced over the intercom that my package was in. You had to be there.
In case you were wondering what FCCLA stands for: Family, Career, Community Leaders of America. The name was FHA prior to 1997 or so. This organization has a long tradition of preparing young people for leadership roles in their community and families. As a part of this leadership experience students can participate in many different events, called STAR events. I had 10 students to take on this challenge. My daughter, her roommate and my dh all volunteered to be judges for the category I was responsible for(thank you!). Hence, the above picture. My sweetheart of a daughter took that photo as I was giving a pep talk to my students.
The above young ladies are the BEST! I am so PROUD of them! They rose to the challenge and met high expectations. I am hoping to raise enough $$ to take the entire group to Nashville, to the state leadership meeting. It is a wonderful experience and I don't want them to miss out.
As much "fun" as I had last week preparing for that huge event, I was completely worn out by the time I arrived home on Friday afternoon. I walked into the house and immediately put on my pj's. It was so nice! The house was quiet. Our church had D-Now for our youth and all of my crew was involved with that activity. I took the opportunity to recoup from my week, do laundry ( I even did the kids since they were busy with church), and learn to make hearts. My dh asked me last night what I was going to do with all those hearts and I told him, at the moment it was the challenge of learning to read a pattern. I was quiet proud of myself!

On a prayerful note, the daughter of my friend left this earth yesterday morning. Please pray for her family. Jesus, please send comfort and peace to Terri's family as they adjust to the loss of their daughter, mother and grandmother. In Jesus name, Amen.

XOXO Theresa

The Cold Wind Doth Blow!

A cold front is moving through NETN. It is soooooo cold! We took the momma van to the fix it shop this morning. She was abused by another driver not too long ago. Poor thing. Yesterday was over 60 degrees so I only wore a light jacket this morning. Not Smart! I nearly froze. I was glad to come back home and stay in where it is warm. Thank you for electricity!
This is a close up of the chest in the entry way. The plate was a gift from my children a few years ago. We change the ribbon and message often. It is the cutest thing!
This gorgeous handmade crochet lace was given to me several years ago by a dear lady in our church. I love it! Her handwork is exquisite.

I have a prayer request. A dear lady in my life is sitting with her daughter in the hospital. The daughter is in the last stage of what began as lung cancer and now it is in her brain. This is a very difficult time for them and I ask that you join me in praying for peace and comfort and strength. Amen

True Love

Last Tuesday my darling H. went to the dentist ( he is going to have an implant). While there the dentist shared with H. that he recommends his patients use water piks instead of dental floss. Less stress on the gums. With that information, I decided it would be a "perfect" gift for my honey for valentines. LOL Our daughter was appalled that I would consider that a romantic gift. I told her I was concerned about her Daddy's health and this was the "perfect" gift. On valentine's evening, H. gave me my gift to open and inside the package, yep, you guessed it was a water pik! I had a stunned look on my face and he began immediately saying that A(daughter) tried to talk him out of it, that she thought it was a sad romantic gift. He said it was only part of the gift, the other was pieces of a dish set I have been admiring whenever I walk into Belk's. This is the first time in all of our years of marriage that we have gotten each other the same gift and had no clue that we had. True Love!

P.S. I'm not wild about it, but he loves his. LOL

We had the opportunity to entertain friends this weekend. It was so much fun! It reminded me of when I was in college and had to prepare appetizers as well as the meal. I decided to have a small appetizer (seen above). It was pretty good. Simple but tasty.
A.'s boyfriend arrived before our other guests so I put him to work. I gave him the camera and asked him to please take pictures. A was still upstairs getting ready. LOL He was a good sport. He always is! I found those pink placemats and napkins at TJ Maxx our first summer here. I loved them immediately and the price was right! The plates are white and I used the pink tulip shaped glasses I found at Belks's last year.
This vase belonged to my mother. I love the simple pink roses in that odd shaped vase.
You can't really see the "pagan" tree. I bought this white feather tree our first spring here in TN. I decorated it for Easter. My minister H. immediately titled it "pagan" and the name has stuck. I used it in the dining room at Christmas and moved it to the entry hall for February. I found vintage valentines at Hobby Lobby and placed them on the tree. It looks so sweet. I love that little tree!

I am headed to watch "Extreme Home Makeover". The story is about a young blind, multi disability young man in Louisville, KY. He plays the trumpet in the marching band for the University of Louisville. It is an incredible story. The courier journal has this story on their web page. Go check it out!

xoxo Theresa

The Greatest of these is LOVE

Beautiful, Beautiful Valentine!

My darling daughter and a gift she made. From scratch red velvet cupcakes. I made the icing for her. She was rushed. LOL I hope your evening made your wishes come true. I love you!
I had a hair appointment this afternoon and when I walked into the house, this was my welcome! My darling H prepared the most delicious and beautiful dinner. He had grilled steak, baked potatoes, ss rolls, and vegetables. It was a good thing!
The heart shaped cupcake behind the candle was what he made for dessert! He really was thoughtful and romantic. I love you darling! XOXO

To the other 2 young men in my life, A & A. I hope your day was great. I love you both bunches. I wish you were here, I understand you are where God wants you to be. Thank you for being responsible and Christian young men. Some young lady will be blessed!

To all my family in Kentucky, IN & IL. I pray you had a beautiful day. I miss you and pray for you daily. God Bless you All.

We Made the Front Page!

The newspaper article was fabulous! I wish you could read it. Those are my kids on the front page of that paper. I am so proud! Another proud moment. The above picture is the stage at the KY Center for the ARTS. I have had several opportunities over the years to attend Broadway plays and concerts in this center. Our oldest son was chosen to be in the all-state choir his junior and senior year of high school. If I didn't have to grade papers I would dig through photos and post those. LOL Our middle child was also a member of the all-state high school choir his senior year of high school. I am a proud mother! I thought those days would be behind me. I was pleased when my middle child, who is a Junior at Alice Lloyd College, e-mailed me that he had been chosen by his choir director to be a part of the all-state collegiate choir! I realize you can't pick him out from the above picture, but with a wonderful zoom lens on my camera you can see his smiling face below.
God has blessed both of my boys with musical talent. OS(oldest son) teaches guitar and voice lessons in the evenings and sings regularly. MS(middle son) joined the choir at ALC and is thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to study music and sing. Their sister has talent as well, but doesn't enjoy the performing aspect. That's ok, she is creative, smart and a beautiful young woman. I love all three of you! XOXO Theresa

Did you Vote?

Did you vote today?

I had my patience tested, and I truly debated in my head whither it was worth it or not, but I DID vote! I happen to live in a state that had primary elections today. While I am not always pleased with the choices, I realize that as a citizen of this great country, it is my responsibility to vote.

The weather here was so beautiful that I enjoyed being out and about. I had a few appointments I had to meet and then I took the opportunity to stop at a few of my favorite stores. I was very careful in my selection of merchandise, which should thrill my checkbook. I picked up construction paper and stencils for school. I'm always running out of school supplies.

The above bear is what I had planned on doing today, but... I think I will do that another day. That adorable clip art is found here.

She has the most precious free clip art. You should drop over and see her selection. I envy her skills.

It was Beautiful!

Students designed this board as a welcome to the guests that had been invited.
Dessert. YUM! It was a chocolate gooey cake with peanut butter. They swirled caramel for the garnish. It was perfect!
The main course, well part of it. Guests had a choice of Taco Soup, or Loaded Potato Soup or a sampler plate. This is a picture of the LPS. They also had a choice of grilled cheese, chicken salad croissant, or egg salad croissant sandwiches.
This was taken as you enter the door into my new room. There are almost 20 students working down this line as a perfect team. The front group is making the croissant sandwiches. Can you see the slice of tomato for a garnish?
The appetizer salad. I'm afraid you can't see the beautiful garnish, but they made lemon curls, jello salad on lettuce. The salad was sitting on the table waiting for the guests as they arrived. I have more pictures, but the site won't allow me to upload more than this at a time. I will show you more tomorrow. I really wish you could have been there! We evaluated the event today, the students and I, they want uniforms (or t-shirts) and want to give our team a name. I can't wait to see what they come up with. The newsman told the students that they planned on running the article in Sunday's paper. This has been a hectic but rewarding week for me. Thank you for your prayers. I felt them!

XOXO Theresa