Look What Came in the Mail!!!(aka the post in which I throw in a lot of exclamation points)

Okay, this post is waaayyy overdue. But I have been waaayyy busy. Or lazy. Or unwilling to retrieve the pictures from my camera. Take your pick. It’s your call. Anyway, a couple weeks ago, or as John-Heath would say, a long time ago when I was in kindergarten, I was one of the lucky winners of a Halloween giveaway held by Carrot Jello over at Oinkle Doinkle. The day the package arrived you would have thought Ed McMahon had shown up with an oversize check and a bunch of balloons, at least by my son’s reaction. He was thrilled!!! What kid wouldn’t be thrilled at a box full of candy!!! (yes, I know that was a question) And spider rings!!! And masks!!! And pens and pencils!!! And a Casper DVD!!! And bunches and bunches of other good stuff!!!

His favorite? Eyeballs. He was even more impressed when he found out they were made of CANDY!!! Could he be any luckier!!!

My favorite? The card. Hilarious!!! I only know Carrot from her blog but if we lived closer I would most definitely want to be her friend. She is too funny!!! So, thanks for the goodies, Carrot. You made our night!!!

An Award - Plus My Nephew, the Souvenir

I came home this past Friday night to the nicest surprise. My friend Kate over at Southern Belle Simple had bestowed upon me a blogging award. If you have not had the chance to visit with Kate you really should. She is the sweetest gal and, best of all, a Tennessean like myself.

Do you remember what it was like when, as a student in grade school, you were assigned a pen pal from another school, city or state and you would anxiously await letters from them. Well, that's a little what it's like meeting new friends through blogging, except that you aren't graded on the 5 parts of the friendly letter, which is waaayy better.

To thank Kate and honor my award, I am passing it along to a couple other gals. If you get the chance stop by and check them out. I think you'll be glad you did.

Angela @ SlaughterHouse Rules
These are just some of the sweetest posts you'll ever read. They'll bring a smile to your face and, possibly, tears to your eyes. A case in point is her post from today about a special locket.

Vanessa @ Southern in My Heart
I've just recently begun stalking Vanessa but one pretty neat thing about this gal is she married a homeless guy who proposed to her. Just kidding. It was actually her boyfriend dressed as a homeless man holding a sign that read "Wifeless - will work for marriage". How cool is that?

Ladies, according to instructions from Kate, you are free to pass this along or keep it all to yourself.

This past Sunday after a family lunch my husband took the boys (my son and two nephews, ages 5, 6, and 9) on a hike around the farm. This has become almost tradition. Anytime they are all together here they must go on a hike, an adventure always. This time as they walked they were listening to stories about pioneers, settlers, cowboys and Indians and each chose what he would want to be. After one boy proclaimed he was a pioneer the six-year-old proudly stated "Well, I'll be a souvenir then."

White Party 2010

Labor Day, or as I was brought up to know as The Last Day to Wear White for a While Day, will soon be upon us. Now, I have to admit something. There are times I’ve worn white well into September. When it’s 95 degrees outside it’s hard to remember such a rule. Anyway, to kick off the end to our official season of white I’m joining in on the fun of posting a White Party started over at DSS. Enjoy this somewhat wordy Wordless Wednesday!

Images via

Meet Some Amazing, Versatile Bloggers

As promised here is a list of some of my favorite blogs. I check in with these gals just about every day. If you get a chance you'll want to stop by and visit with them too. Because they are so fantastic, I am forwarding The Versatile Blogger Award to them.

Kate

Southern Belle Simple

(A fellow Tennessean with whom I share my tomato woes. Check her out. Everyone loves a belle.)

Omgirl

Little Pink Houses

(Lives, well use to live, in the cutest little pink house. I am a sucker for old homes. They have such character and charm. I can say that because I once lived in a very old home myself)

Carrot Jello

Oinkle Doinkle

(I was sold the first time I visited her site and saw a couple dancing to the Beatles' Ob La Di Ob La Da. Funny stuff)

Trish

Pink Preppy Lilly Lover

(Just lovely. She posts the most amazing pictures)

The Redhead Riter

(I could spend hours on her site alone. Currently, though, she is facing a sad situation with her dad. If you are a person of prayer please say one for her. I know this is for someone you don't know but I believe it really doesn't matter if we know a person. God knows them.)

Stephanie

NieNieDialogues

(The very first blog I ever had the pleasure of reading and the catalyst for my own blogging adventure. A truly inspirational story!)

I think you'll really enjoy their blogs and come to see very quickly just how inadequate mine is. Happy reading, ya'll.

And the Winner Is...

Good morning, everyone. It’s the moment you’ve all been eagerly awaiting - announcing the winner of our first little contest. I can only imagine the pins and needles on which you’ve been these past four days. I truly hope it hasn’t been too painful for you. For me, it’s been a lot of fun - makes me want to find another reason to celebrate so we can have another giveaway. I’m working on that as we speak.

Before broadcasting the good news I would like to thank each of you for entering. I very much enjoyed reading your comments. I hope you’ll stop by to visit with me again soon. And if you just stopped by to visit and didn’t enter? Well, I want to thank you too. Come back anytime.

Now, drum roll please...

Congratulations, Kate (Southern-Belle-Simple)! I'll be in touch shortly and your gift card will be on its way. Thanks for the comment and for following.

True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 26 Result: 7 Powered by RANDOM.ORG
Each of your entries was assigned a #. Kate had entries 6,7,8.

Well, this is my last day off before heading back to begin another school year. We teachers start tomorrow and the students show up Friday for their first full day.

If you have school-age children I hope your year is wonderful and as stress-free as possible. I have one child who we be in high school and one in kindergarten. Pray for me.

Ren and I are going to “do lunch” today. I have wanted to try out the Chocolate Covered Strawberry all summer long.



P.S. In honor of our contest question, here's what kept me up late last night...I was searching online for a little cassette of lullabies we used with Ren when she was a baby. Our copy of the tape is now lost. It had a sweet little song on it about fireflies that she loved to hear. I have been desperate to remember all the words to this lullaby for some time and have searched for it on different occasions. Finally, at 2:42 this morning, a breakthrough. I think I may have found the song and its writer. Now I just need to do a lyric search to verify.