LET IT SNOW

Watching the snow fall outside, as the redbirds busy themselves. I enjoy watching the redbirds when the snow has blanketed the ground. What a wonderful day.

Brag post

Time

BLESSINGS

After all that my family has been through and all we have lost, I guess we could just lay down and give up and nobody would blame us. But I come from a family with deep roots, roots that reach far above my imagination. But I see them, I hear them, I feel them. They were present even before this country was founded. They were the courage that stood against the enemy in the Revolutionary War with my GGGGGGrandfather Edward Polly, and even another grandfather and some uncles. They were the strength that my Great Grandparents used as they lived through the Great Depression. The wisdom of my Grandparents who knew how to prepare for future generations. And love, the love of my parents. Love and hope they shared with us. A love so great that it brings with it, the courage, the strength, and the wisdom from past generations, that bind together this present generation. I grew up watching the grandest love story ever told. My Dad and Mom is and will always be the greatest and purest influence in my life. The love they shared is still, even in my moms absence, so sweet and gentle, tender and beautiful. I was taught the importance of tradition, commitment, family, honesty, the blessings of simply living and loving. Our house was and still is filled with laughter, tears, memories, and many many stories. When I say "our house", I am referring to our family structure. Their are many of us, but we are a single unit. And I am proud of that fact. You've heard the saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going"??? Well, around here when the going gets tough, we were already going. Standing together, hand in hand, a wall of love and strength, courage and wisdom, and hope with a foundation already set and unmoveable with the roots of generations past, and built upon the rock. That rock is Christ. So, after all we've been through, all we've lost. We stand strong in the promise of Christ, and life everlasting. I'm thankful for such a wonderful family. In the past four years we have lost my grandfather, my uncle James, my uncle Frankie, a dear family friend Virl, my Mom Sally, my uncle Silas, and my aunt Norma. We have so much to look forward to.

Precious Stones

The tiny stones in these old glass bottles are more precious by far than any rubies, diamonds, or pearls. These old glass bottles contain tiny stones of wisdom, strength, and hope. This is their story. My grandpa would gather the eggs each day from the barn, and he would be to get each one so as not to be wasteful, and it didn't matter what nook or cranny near or far, he'd find the very last egg. He was a strong willed man, and would not admit that at his age he shouldn't be climbing. As he climbed up to the barn loft he lost his footing and fell backwards out of the loft. After awhile, realizing he couldn't make it to the house, he crawled to the fence row. Every car that passed he tried to get their attention by waving. Finally about 2 hours later a car stopped. The man ran up to the house to call an ambulance. After sometime, the paramedics finally got inside the gate to him, grandpa's horse was bucking and pawing at them. In his horse mind, he was protecting my grandpa. It turned out grandpa had a badly broken hip. In his late 70's this was a dangerous break. After surgery and a long recovery, my grandpa was back on his feet. He knew he would have to exercise and take care of himself if he was ever to gain his strength back. Years later, I found shelves overstuffed with big bottles, little bottles, fat ones and skinny ones. Each bottle filled to the top with tiny stones. There was probably up to 70 bottles or more. I asked about these bottles filled with tiny pebbles. My grandpa began to explain to me how everyday he walked the edge of the creek bed, and every step or two he'd bend to pick up two or three tiny stones. He went on to explain how that was his way of exercising, strengthening his hip and the muscles that had grown weak. It may not have seemed like such a great feat, had there not been soooo many bottles filled with so many of these tiny stones. What I seen was wisdom, strength, and hope for the future. Each one of my family members have their own bottle of precious stones. When I look at mine, I see the strong loving hands of my grandpa. The heart of a man that held on to hope. And the simple wisdom, that made all the difference.

Rain Rain Go Away

I sure wish the rain would go away and some sweet Spring Sunshine would come. It's another dreary lazy day outside! Where are you Spring?

Mom's Coverlet

My mother has woven threads of love, strength, strong traditions and faithfulness that has knit our family together with ties that can never be broken. She is a strong, confident, and beautiful woman, and my best friend. She is very creative and I am sooooo proud of this coverlet that she crafted on her loom. The pattern is unbelievably gorgeous. I just can't say enough about it, and the picture really doesn't do it justice. Now, if I could just be patient enough to let her teach me.

Donations Drawing GIVEAWAY

I am Team Captain of our Relay For Life team "The Handmaiden's". My sister and I joined Relay For Life last year right after Mom passed away. It has been a very hard road and I still miss my mother sooo much. She was diagnosed with lung cancer and 5 weeks later she was gone. She was an amazing woman and my best friend. The photo's above were taken only days apart, and she passed away only a few days after these pictures were taken. My Mom and Dad still have a beautiful relationship, even though she's gone. We speak of her every day, and celebrate her life. We are accepting donations for our Relay For Life event, handmade item's for our Relay event auction, or an item donation of your choosing or monetary donations. After donating we will have a drawing and the winner will win an item or items from our Antique Store at "Ye Olde Homeplace". We greatly appreciate your help. You can reach my personal page by clicking the Relay For Life button on the left of this page or copy and paste this web address http://main.acsevents.org/goto/iloveyoumom and our team page with this web address http://main.acsevents.org/goto/sallymaepolly Please hurry!!! Relay is just around the corner! If you don't know what Relay For Life is you can read more about it on my Relay page. You can give monetary donations thru this link also, or email me for my address for item donations. Make all checks payable to the American Cancer Society. Thanks in advance for your help!!! Blessings to you all!

Spring in the Air

What a wonderful time of year. We're having a hint of Springtime. I can't wait to see and hear Spring all around. Such a time of renewal it offers us. Pray for us as we begin our fundraising for our Relay For Life event. Our team name is "The Handmaidens". We have a lot of good fundraising ideas we're throwing around. If you have any good ideas feel free to share them with me here! Thanks so much!!!

My Sweet Grandson

Meet my sweety-pie! He's 4 months old now. He's absolutely beautiful!!! He has such a personality. He's a tiny one but starting to grow now. He loves to talk to us and laughs all the time. What a gift from God our little ones are. My daughter was upset because my Mom had passed away only two weeks before we found out about the baby coming, Mom would have been thrilled. But I believe she knows. Our cousin told my daughter, "Your Mama had to go to heaven to pick out your sweet little bundle." I believe she did see this little gift before we received him. She is with God now, so she sees things thru His eyes and God said "I knew you before you were even formed in the womb." Therefore, Mom knows him too. Isn't that wonderful!