Dear Parents

That is how my morning began today!!  Bru-to-tha-Tal.  Yesterday was the last "real" day of school before our long awaited and very much needed Thanksgiving holiday.  Because of that we didn't have homework and to be perfectly honest, enjoyed the evening beginning with slamming the book sacks down at the back door and forgetting about them until this morning when I went through the girls' book sacks to clean out any papers and notes from the day before and found what, to me, might has well have been a sentence to life in prison...

Dear Parents, 

As you all know tomorrow is our school wide Thanksgiving feast.  Your child needs to wear a fall shirt and blue jeans or khaki pants because there will be a picture back drop set up and we will be taking class and family pictures at our feast.  Thank you and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Elementary Teachers

Okay, seriously!!  Shouldn't this have been a note that maybe would have been better going home last Thursday so that Mom could run to the mall and BUY a fall shirt like a mad, deranged, psycho woman so that my precious babies could be all festive for the big feast?

Am I the only mom out there who doesn't decorate her kids for fall?

I mean come on, Ive got the pumpkins, the wreath on the door, the Indian corn on my table, the pine cones in their jar, but NO...I have not decorated my children!!  And its 1 hour until departure.  And we don't have a fall shirt, and we don't wear khaki pants because we are girls.  And everything cute they own that may work is in the dirty clothes. And I haven't even had my first sip of coffee yet.

Please someone tell me that it isn't just me.  


We have pumpkin shirts (but that would not be fall, that would be Halloween).  And we have Christmas shirts (again not fall but they better look out come Christmas because I am ready). But we have no shirts with turkeys or pilgrims or Indians or even fall leaves.  I mean really... excuse me if I don't have just the cutest shirt you have ever seen that says, "Gobble til you Wobble" on the front with a big plump juicy turkey and some leaves appliqued to the sleeves.  WHO DOES??  Or, since its "family pictures" would they like me to sport my knitted sweater complete with the Indian feathers...seriously??  Do they really think I own fall attire!!

Why do schools insist on making our lives difficult??  My kids go to private school so I basically pay them each month to torture me!!

So this morning, I poured my coffee and stood...dazing aimlessly in the girls' closets...dazing aimlessly, hoping for just brown or cream for goodness sakes.  Something that may be mistaken for fall attire.  Dazing aimlessly, just hoping it would jump out at me.  Nothing!

The ride to school went something like this (oh and please tell me you have had one of these mornings too).

Woot:  Mommy, she said FALL.  Mommy FALL!!  This isn't FALL this is just a plain old boring white shirt. 

Mom:  Honey that is too fall.  And its not white, its cream.  Now come on, you look beautiful!  And you have on your brown boots with the fringe so you look like and Indian.  I bet nobody else will be more fall than you!

Wami:  Mom, really, they didn't say to wear fall BOOTS, they said to wear a fall SHIRT!  And anyway, at least your shirt is white.  My shirt has polka dots all over it.  That surely isn't fall.

Mom:  Guys, come on.  Y'all look great.  And Wami, your shirt came from the FALL CLEARANCE SALE at The Children's Place, how much more fall can you get?  Here just put on your jackets and nobody will ever know.

I dropped them off, gave them each their hugs and kisses and hollered out the window as I drove away, 

Now remember, don't take your jackets off...
ITS COLD and we don't want to be sick for the holidays.  (*wink wink*)

As I drove away I thought to myself, 70 degrees is cold.  Isn't it?  Sure it is.  And we definitely don't want to be sick for the holidays, do we?  No, but what we really don't want is for someone to realize that those shirts so aren't fall.   Im just sayin'...

***Edited to add that NOBODY at the feast had fall get ups on...unless you count the boy in his

Indian costume and the LSU shirts...football is fall right??***

The Simple Woman's Daybook

This is such a great series, stop by Peggy's and see all of the other entries in the 

Simple Woman's Daybook today...

Outside my window... I see a beautiful fall morning and watch the wind blow the tall grass in the field.

I am thinking... how much I wish my kids were here with me to enjoy the day.

I am thankful for... my church family and the many ways the Lord has blessed our church this year.

I am wearing... a long sleeve shirt and blue jeans with brown Volotile flip flops (my fave).

I am remembering... all of the wonderful Thanksgiving memories I have had over the years.

I am going... to the kids' school later to distribute fund raiser products that were delivered today.

I am reading... 501 Old Fashioned Ideas to Simplify Your Life by Susan Wagoneer and its great!!

I am hoping... to finalize plans for the upcoming holidays today.

On my mind... a personal dilema I have been struggling with lately.

From the learning rooms... just finished reading Genesis 17-20 and learned that God is in complete control of our every move.  He may allow us to do what we think is right from time to time, but He is still in total control.

Noticing that... I really miss my kids when they are away from me all day.

Pondering these words... Where were you when I created the foundation of the world?

From the kitchen... Seafood Gumbo for the first cold night of the year.

Around the house... everything is surprisingly clean...for a Monday.

One of my favorite things... knowing all of my tasks are complete ahead of schedule.

From my picture journal...

oh the lazy days of summer...

Thankful Thursdays

I love Thankful Thursdays hosted by Sonya over at Truth 4 the Journey.  Today, like every day that I wake up breathing the fresh air and seeing the sunshine I have so much to be thankful for.  Here are just a few of them today!  Join us at Truth 4 the Journey and tell everyone all that you have to be thankful for!

I am thankful for my wonderful mom who celebrated her birthday Monday.  She has been through the wringer and never complains.  She considers herself blessed when most people would consider her cursed.  She knows the Sovereignty of God and has instilled that in me my entire life.  I could not be more thankful to her for all that she has taught me.
I am thankful for our Bible believing church with God fearing Christian men and women who love the Lord and die to self each and every day and pick up their crosses and follow Him.  A church like that is hard to find, and I am truly thankful that God has placed us in ours.
I am thankful for my healthy children.  There are so many families struggling with infertility, sickness, drug addictions, and all sorts of trials relating to children from pregnancy to teenagers.  It makes me realize how grateful I should be that my children are healthy and created by God for His own glory.  What a blessing we all have as parents, even in the trials.  I am going to kiss my babies today because today I am thankful for them.
I am thankful for the thorns.  Thorns?  Yes, thorns.  Last Thanksgiving our ladies thanksgiving dinner at our church was wonderful and Kayce, you can visit her here, our Pastor's wife and hostess with the mostess, always does such a great job.  She gave each lady a rose stem...no rose...just a stem.  It was quite puzzling, but after she read the story below, I realized that I too will be thankful for the thorns.  Now, each year at Thanksgiving I make sure that I have a vase of thorns as my centerpiece for our dinner, hoping that the Lord leads someone to ask me why?

Sandra felt as low as the heels of her Birkenstocks as she pushed against a November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a minor automobile accident stole her ease. During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss. As if that weren't enough, her husband's company threatened a transfer. Then her sister, whose holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come. What's worse, Sandra's friend infuriated her by suggesting her grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. 

 "She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder. 

Thanksgiving? Thankful for what? She wondered. For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an air bag that saved her life but took that of her child? 

"Good afternoon, may I help you?" The shop clerk's approach startled her. 

"I....I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra. 

"For Thanksgiving? Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the Thanksgiving "Special?" asked the shop clerk. "I'm convinced that flowers tell stories," she continued. "Looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving?" 

"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong." 

Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the shop clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you." 

Then the door's small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, "Hi, Barbara...let me get your order."

She politely excused herself and walked toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses; Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped: there were no flowers.

"Want this in a box?" asked the clerk. 

Sandra watched for the customer's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed.

"Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile. "You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again," she said as she gently tapped her chest. 

"Uh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uh....she just left with no flowers!" 

"Right, said the clerk, "I cut off the flowers. That's the Special. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet." 

"Oh, come on, you can't tell me someone is willing to pay for that!" exclaimed Sandra. 

"Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling much like you feel today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into drugs, and she was facing major surgery." 

"That same year I had lost my husband," continued the clerk, "and for the first time in my life, had just spent the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a debt to allow any travel."

"So what did you do?" asked Sandra. 

"I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly. "I've always thanked God for good things in life and never to ask Him why those good things happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time for me to learn that dark times are important. I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of life, but it took thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort. You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others."

Sandra sucked in her breath as she thought about the very thing her friend had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God." 

Just then someone else walked in the shop. 

"Hey, Phil!" shouted the clerk to the balding, rotund man. 

"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement...twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems," laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator. 

"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind me asking why she wants something that looks like that?" 

"No...I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. "Four years ago my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we slogged through problem after problem. He rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she learned from "thorny" times, and that was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanks for what that problem taught us." 

As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special."

I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life," Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all too...fresh." 

"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that thorns make roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember, it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns." 

Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on resentment. 

"I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out.

"I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute." 

"Thank you. What do I owe you?" Sarah asked.

"Nothing; nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me." The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first." 

It read: 

"My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the life I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant.  

 Help me to praise you for your roses, and thank you for your thorns.

Thank you Sonya for this great series!!  What are you thankful for on this beautiful Thursday morning?

Coasters, Coasters, and More Coasters

I am so thrilled to share with yall a blog that I just found about a month ago.  Instantly I must say that Edie at Life In Grace is my new BFF (sorry Kelly Ripa).  I did the classic "I found a new blog to stalk" and went all the way back to her first post because I have to know every single thing about her right??  Can't do it just half way...oh no!  So as I have been stalking along she comes up with this 

12 days of {handmade} Christmas 

series in which she is going to have fabu-lo-so bloggers sharing how to make spectacular things for Christmas gifts and for fun!!  So, of course as any good blogger should do, I tell everyone I know to rush over and check Edie out.  Well, instantly all of my blogging church ladies fall in love  with all of the great crafty {handmade} Christmas tutorials.  Anyway, long story not short, we had our annual Ladies Thanksgiving dinner Monday night and all made Day 3's Coasters!!  It was so easy and so much fun, I just had to post some pics.  My girls were even able to do this.  So, needless to say, I will be running to Lowe's before the holidays to get coasters for every person we know!!!  Here are the pics...

Of course before any coasters can be made, we must eat!!  Its the South...all we do is eat!!  Kayce (you can visit her here and you will LOVE her) prepared a feast for her favorite ladies in all the world.  Shrimp, Crab, and Corn Soup to be exact with Taco Soup in case you weren't feeling seafood-y.  And all of our favorite chips, dips, and of course sweet tea. 

Here are some of our ladies hard at work.  We used "practice plates" and stamped on them like crazy people until we were sure we were ready for the real thing.

What a great idea to put a scripture verse on them.  Like this...

And this...

And initials...oooh la la!

After a long evening of stamping and a bunch of inky hands...here is what was left.  So fun!

Here is me and little Wootie with our creations...I totally swiped my friend Katie's "faux toile" look and then I got super creative and added initials to the center, but of course I didn't get any snapshots of those!  Just know it was supa cute!!  And Wootie played the game of let me see exactly how many stamps I can possibly put on one 4x4 tile.  She broke some records I'm sure of it!!  It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful was the motto of the night.  And you know what, the Nester is right...it doesn't have to be.  It was a great night of giving thanks to the Lord and digging deep inside ourselves to really put thought into "giving thanks" and trying to find things that we so arrogantly overlook sometimes.  What a great time! And the coaster were a hit!! Thank you Edie!!

More than you ever wanted to know about me

Hi, Im Kellye, a 30 year old (with gray hair like Im 50) , mom of 2 beautiful (if I do say so myself) little girls and wife to the love of my life for 11 years.   I am a true Southern gal, born in raised in the deep South...Louisiana to exact, who loves Community coffee and sweet tea.  If you have never had REAL sweet tea I encourage you right now to venture to Walmart, get Community tea bags, come home and put them to boil on the stove in a pot of water,  pour the tea into a pitcher with about half a pound of sugar, fill your glass with ice, pour the hot tea in the glass and drink immediately!!  Nothing is better than freshly made tea that is still hot on the rocks...ooooh weee!!


I am a shift worker's wife and I am not afraid to say that it is brutal at times, but very much has its benefits. I love being able to go to the movies with my husband in the middle of the day in the middle of the week, but the possibility of him working Christmas will never get easy.  My husband and I were high school sweet hearts and are more in love now than ever before.  I often wonder how I ever snagged him at 17 when I was the train wreck that I was.  By the grace of God is all I know.  And speaking of the creator of the entire universe and all that is in it...I am an undeserving Christian saved by God's infinite mercy.  We go to a wonderful church that we have been members of for the last 10 years.  Its a great place with Bible believing, God fearing Christians, who are like family to us.  Our closest friends are those that we go to church with and I truly don't know what I would do without them.  Being a mom and wife is the greatest gift the Lord could ever give me apart from salvation, and I strive every day to prove myself worthy of the job.  


I am obsessed with houses and decorating, am absolutely "frugalicious" and pride myself on filling my home with as much "decorational clutter" as possible (I made that word up but it is defined as clutter that is used for decorational purposes...not to be confused with clutter such as leftover Halloween wrappers and empty cereal bowls that I also show off daily, but the layered use of many "cheap" and meaningful items that when combined properly create the perfect ensemble for any area of the home...how ya like that??).  Clutter makes me happy as does garage sale finds that just beg me to take them home and love them, which I do, and seeing their little smiling faces all over my house makes my decorational clutter rescue organization I got going on over here worth all of my hard work and paint brushes.


I love MAC makeup and often wonder why people wear anything else, my hair is still big like it was in the 90's because I LOVE IT, my shoe of choice is flip flops, and this season I will be rocking the scarves, ya hear me?  


I hope you come to visit often and enjoy the time you spend here.  I am very much a beginner blogger but have "met" so many friends in blog land (some who don't even know they are my friend...can you say stalker) that i often wonder what on earth I would do if I didn't blog.  


Well, that's all I have to say about me...so tell me about you!!  I would love to hear!!

Thankful Thursday

Hey everybody!!  Im excited to have linked up with Sonya at Truth 4 the Journey with her series "Thankful Thursday".  What a great way to share with each other the wonderful things that the Lord is doing in each of our lives and to help us to remember all of our blessings!

I am thankful for my Grandmother that turned 80 years old last week and is one of my closest friends.  I am so thankful to have her still and to be able to spend the time with her that I am, I feel so blessed!

I am thankful that God has trusted me with the job of being the keeper of my home.  It means so much to me to be able to take care for my family.

I am thankful for the gorgeous weather that we have been blessed with this week.  It has been so nice to enjoy the fall weather this week!

I am thankful that the Lord stirs my heart and keeps me humbled and convicted with his Holy Spirit.  What a blessing that I so often overlook!

I am thankful that my husband is my best friend and soul mate. I am thankful that he provides for our family and protects us.  I love him more than anything in this world!

So what are you thankful for??  
Join the Thankful Thursday link up by clicking here.

I found the Perfect Pumpkin Patch

I couldn't resist sharing a few snapshots of our Halloween weekend.  Now, let me just say that my title might have been a little bit misleading...and that while everyone else was out enjoying the weekend and I am sure beautiful weather...we were inside with a sorta kinda flu bug and the big daddy boy was working nights.  Oh and did I mention it was STORMING!!  So while I had really hoped our perfect Halloween pumpkin patch, pick the perfect pumpkin, hayride experience and...of course...photo shoot (would you expect any less from your Mom-a-razzi friend??) would end up with some awesome black and whites where just the pumpkins would be in color or the girls contemplating which pumpkin to choose in their perfect fall dresses and the wind blowing in their beautiful non-tangled hair...our weekend actually ended up like this...

Yeah, I must confess...that is us in WALMART buying rotten pumpkins the night before Halloween.  And before I go any further, I would just like to ask the question, 

"Who are those people in Walmart on Friday night??"  

Can someone please tell me!!

Anyway, we searched through the empty cardboard boxes to find just the right imported pumpkin...

Here is mine...

And then we did what any perfect, Betty Crocker family would do...

(Hint: please check the background here)

We hit the toy aisle!!!

Now, I am very ashamed to say that is what we did, but it was STORMING, and it was the night before Halloween, did I mention that??  And the guilt just absolutely took me over.  And my big daddy boy was working, and it was just me and the girls, and so we invited a friend to come along because I'm not fun.  And the pumpkins were rotten, and it was too late to carve them because we didn't even get to Walmart (aka the Pumpkin Patch) until like 8:00pm (which might I add goes against everything I believe).  And did I mention that all of my plans for Halloween weekend were RUINED!!!   Aaaahhhh.  I feel so much better.  

 So, because clearance pumpkins were not enough we go to see what the toy section has in store.  

Surely we will be able to find something there right???

Hmmmm....are we really debating on which toy to buy at our 
Walmart, Super Saver, Indoor Pumpkin Heaven??  
Yes, I truly think we are!!

I knew my girls wouldn't let me down.  

While I joke of this ridiculous night, I really did learn something which is the whole reason I am going through this embarrassment.  Moms, don't wait until the last minute to make your plans.  It happens every time.  I make the best plans and then something happens that is out of my control, like rain and my big daddy having to work, that ruins everything.  Next year we will be at the pumpkin patch on opening weekend so that I have time to edit the pics, get them made into greeting cards, and have them sent out to everyone I know with a slice of pumpkin pie 2 weeks before Halloween...How ya like that???  Well maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration, but this won't happen again...I hope!!


I hope y'all had a safe and Happy Halloween!!  Because as crazy as this idea was...we had a great time!!