Precious Pink Pig

It was about this time last year that several weeks of silliness began. It is a tradition in my Stitchin' B group that all birthday's are very special, but the 50th is one that is celebrated with much enthusiasm...... This pink pig was part of the celebrating, along with many other little piggies used for a scavenger hunt at our victims, I mean birthday celebrants home. Just in case you want to make this little cutie, all you need is an old Clorox bottle, be sure to rinse it out. I painted the pig with brush on craft paint, but spray would work great too. I glued on some button eyes, painted little black dots on the nose, and added a tulle bow with black ribbon. There is also a pink curly tail made out of pink fuzzy pipe cleaner. I glued spools of thread on for the legs. My husband says that when he was in grade school, he made a "piggy bank" out of a Clorox bottle, so he gave me lots of ideas. I don't think his piggy bank looked as pretty though!!!

So I guess you could say "party till the pigs come home" if it's your birthday!!!

Red Headed Chicks

This picture makes me chuckle because it's a fib!!! Neither my Mom or I are red headed Chics! A little computer enhancement made us both red heads so that we would fit in with our little granddaughters red head..our little miss has wonderful red curls. Today I dedicate my post to my Mom who celebrates 79 years of wonderful life memories. How can time fly away so fast? It pains me to see my Mom aging before my eyes. She has taught me many things through my life. She has the wonderful ability to see the good in just about any one. It always amazes me. She does not "judge a book by it's cover". She is wonderful at avoiding any topic she does not want to talk about...like the fact that smoking has bad health side affects, but she will tell you just about any bad side affect of anything on the market today. She loves her kids and grand kids and her face lights up when she talks about them. I remember what a hard working farm wife she was. We always had a very, very large garden, and she was responsible for canning the produce from it. Oh the wonderful aromas that used to come from that kitchen. She never complained that I ever remember ...about the fact that we lived in a house with no running water, and no telephone. Many times we did not have a tv. We spent a lot of time playing outside with our parents sitting on the front steps watching us. We played lot's of games and cards...Parcheesi, Rummy, Slap Jack, war, checkers, Monopoly, and many more. I credit her with my love for reading. She was always reading a book, and never said lights out when I stayed up late reading. She always encouraged my brother and I to read, and we both still love to read.

My Mom always was there when I needed her, especially through the pregnancy of my 3 girls, very difficult pregnancies. But she came and took care of me, and never complained about it. I LOVED going shopping with her. We usually went once or twice a month to Fremont, and sometimes Omaha. We would "shop, til we drop". It was some of the most enjoyable shopping. So, a big Happy Birthday MOM...Love you so much, and thanks for everything.

Reflections

Lunch at the park was such a uplift for me today. Puzzling over some life situations in my mind. Because there was not much of a breeze, there were beautiful reflections in the lake. I love trying to capture reflections with my camera. I even tried my timer on my camera to take a picture of myself. I'm not very brave about taking pictures of myself, but my daughter Kristin has shown me what fun that can be. She has a great eye for photography. She is of course, a much better subject for photo's than I am!!!

Back to Reflections, in life...BE FEARLESS, DON'T LET YOUR FEAR HOLD YOU BACK FROM TRYING TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL. There may be ups and downs along the way, but hang onto the Up moments to get through the Down moments. There is a quote by Teddy Roosevelt "We have nothing to Fear, but Fear itself. " and he is so right. We create so much fear in our mind that it makes us not capable of keeping oneself free to move forward. So I am working on letting go of my fears, and working on positive thoughts for what I want.

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow."

"Life is Tough, but I'm tougher"

Ok enough quotes..but that's how I roll, quotes and sayings help motivate me!

Hollyhocks

I'm wishing these Hollyhocks were in my yard. I took this photo at a wonderful Garden/shop called TLC by Hooper Ne. My hollyhocks did not do very well this year. I need to start a new patch in a different location. My yard needs so much attention. I have a railroad tie big square flower bed that needs to be taken out. The RR ties are falling out of position. I have decided I want to do a landscaping brick circular design, maybe a different location, just need TIME. Hollyhocks have always been a favorite of mine. They were a favorite of my Grandmother Mary Westerman's too.

I had many wonderful times staying with my Grandparents. We would go for walks, hunt for "pretty rocks" enjoy the flowers, make just about anything possible with apples from their apple trees. I peeled so many apples back then. I wish I would have had my Pampered Chef apple peeler/corer back then!!!. We also played Rummy a lot. Grandma would get annoyed when Grandpa would help me out. Grandma was also the first person to get me interested in sewing. I am still looking for a sewing machine like hers. It was a New Home in a wooden treadle cabinet. She used to let me sit on the floor beside her and use my hands to run the treadle while she was sewing.

Enjoy all the wonderful rich colored fall flowers and foliage. Beautiful photo and memory opportunities outside right now.

"Memories are the heart strings that keep us connected to our past."

My Peace

I found this bookmark in a local bookstore and liked the prayer. I would like to share .

Oh, Dear God I am so stressed.

It has been such a long time since I've felt your peace.

Come into my heart and warm my soul.

Like a soft glowing light release all my tension.

Help me find you again, Lord that I may feel true serenity.

Willow Creek

Cousins....Amber and Jodie with Kaiya at Willow Creek. Great fun!

We had a wonderful surprise when we got inside the first building at Ashfalls...there was our niece with her boyfriend. So we toured together, and actually went to the Willow Creek Lake and picnicked and relaxed together also! Willow Creek is an amazing, restful lake. We spent a lot of time sitting on the rocks out on the jetty and just visiting and relaxing. Kaiya enjoyed the beach area and walking in the sand. Great place for a family picnic !

Ashfalls Fossil Beds

A little restful bench to view the scenery

WOW...this was an awesome fossil

Lonnie visiting with the paneologist that actually discovered the fossil beds

Little Miss Kaiya enjoying walking around on her own

Off the the dig!

Scenic backgrounds!

A man, that from far, and from the back looked similar to Lonnie! or so we thought! haha

A Family Outstanding in a Field

Native Nebraska Grasslands, Ashfalls Fossil Park, Willow Creek Lake Park, 2 parks, one day, lots of driving, lots of visiting, food, and fun. We headed up to Ashfalls Fossil Park by Royal first. I made sandwiches and Kristin made snacks, so we picnicked at the park before visiting the fossil beds. It is a really neat place to see. The small world is what we all said when we discovered our niece Jodie and her boyfriend Austin there also. After checking out all we could there we decided to head to Willow Creek by Pierce NE, with Jodie and Austin in tow...right behind us. We picnicked there also, and walked along the jetty, sat by the waves on some rock banks, and walked in the sand by the beach. All in all a wonderful day, but there is more to the story...continued next post!