He got what he wished for!

Our son Clifton turned 30 years old yesterday & he received a birthday gift that thrilled him to pieces. He won his very first fishing tournament w/ a 52 lb catfish! It was just one lb short of Lake Worth's record! And not only did he win the prize for biggest fish, he made it a clean sweep by winning biggest stringer category too. And that was w/out adding in the 52 lb cat! I am soo happy for him (I must admit I shed tears of joy!).

The cat was too heavy for the guy, who weighs them, to hold up....

so Clifton had to do it. ;) At 6'6" there's not a whole lot of fish too heavy for him to lift.

Here he is releasing teh big cat ....

free to swim & grow bigger & maybe next time, Clifton'll break that lake record.

Clifton with his winnings...the day was such a special one for him. And I can't think of anyone who deserves to attain their dreams more than Clifton. Most of you know about his accident & his miraculous, incredible recovery so you know what I mean.

After his tournament, we had a small family get -together to celebrate. LOVE this shot w/ Clifton & all the kids swarming him. They sure think a lot of their Uncle Clifton & Daddy Clifton (it's what his son Noah calls him...drives Clifton nuts! but he's just copying what he hears his cousins say. LOL)

Father & son w/ the banana cheesecake I made for his 30th birthday. (lucky for me, him winning the tournament took some of the sting out of it for me...but good grief, how can my babies be that old?????)

Your father & I are so proud of you, Son & we couldn't be happier for you. I hope every birthday gifts you with all that you wish for!

Happy birthday Cutie Rudy!

Our Rudy is 2 years old today! I can't believe it's been that long already! He is such a sweet, gentle-natured dog (never one sign of aggression...not a single growl or nip!) but a model he is not! I made him a birthday hat last year but never got a pic because he was so uncooperative. He yawns, licks his lips, looks away or simply lays down...all the while, w/ the saddest hang-dog, "why you doing this to me?" look on his face.


But this year I was determined & 50 pictures later ...I have a couple of decent pics of a very unhappy dog. *grins*


Here's the hat I made him last year. I plan on making coordinating ones for Baby & Sonny.

Here he is completely fed up w/ the whole picture taking process. LOL But I'll make it up to him w/ cake & a steak dinner tonight...complete w/ mashed potatoes & peas.

Speaking of Sonny, he is 8 mos old already! Talk about time flying! He soo LOVED the recent snows we've had here in Texas!

And 2 closer buds you'll never see than Rudy & Sonny....we call them Frick & Frack. They haven't gotten into a single fight! Not one! Although our chi, Baby & Sonny have tassled on many occasions. Baby sometimes attacks for no reason ...Rudy has always put up w/ it but Sonny tazzes out when she does. But never any tussles between the boys.

You know what's cuter than a shih tzu? Two shihts! ;) Here's the boys playing King of the Pot. They wrestle & bump each other & literally try to push the other out of the big whiskey barrel, that is empty for the winter. I spend a lot of time watching them chase each other & play...they're so much fun!

Hope everyone spent Valentine's with a loved one, even if it wasn't w/ a sweetheart. Hubby & I fondued....shrimp, chicken, scallops, mushrooms & onions but we did it in a jazzed-up pinot grigio instead of the typical oil. FANTASTIC! We also served buttered egg noodles w/ parmesan slivers, garlic toast & a salad...what a fun meal!

Before you go, I'd like to share the Valentine cake balls I made for the family. A photographer I'm not but I'm very proud of this shot. Beautiful & delish!

I made the grands' cake balls into cake pops.

Hubby made me chocolate strawberries. We served them w/ a chocolate wine called Dark Obsession. I'm obsessed all right!

But the sweetest Valentine's of all were the ones the kids made for their mom, last week when we were cooped up on a snow day. I piled the table high w/ supplies & gave them tips before they began (like layering, edging images w/ glitter glue, etc) but all the cards were designed by the kids themselves. I'm so proud!

This one is Connor's....

Caeden's....

Caralyn's.....(cannot wait for her to get a bit older....I see a budding artist here y'all! She's only 5 years old & look at the instinct for layering!)

And sweet Coleson's.....he include a piece of candy w/ his Valentine.

One of these days maybe I'll do a blog post that doesn't have a cajillion pictures in it but probably not. I never have the time to blog as much as I want & I always have so much to share. Oh well.....until next time!

Good to be back online!

Golly! I can't believe I have posted in almost 2 months...that's a new record for even a slacker blogger like me! I have a multitude of reasons why...first & foremost, I've been w/out my puter. *sniff sniff* I've had trojan after trojan...that my virus ware couldn't get rid of. It turned out to be a trojan that got past my virus ware, then disabled the virus ware & left me wide open for any other trojans that wanted to come in. I finally got my puter back but I'm still having issues w/ it...it might be time to buy a new one. :(

I was too busy to post most of my Christmas decor so I'm determined to share my winter decor w/ y'all...even though it's all down & packed away & Valentine's has taken it's place.

My winter wish for all of you is that you stay safe, warm & happy! Hang on! Spring is right around the corner!

I LOVE the all white Christmas decor that is so popular right now but I've been collecting vintage Christmas "stuff" for many years & it's almost all in the traditional red & green. I know that as soon as I get rid of it, I'll tire of the all white & wish I had it all back. I also have a large collection of snow peeps & when I tried to fit it in w/ all my Christmas stuff it was wayyyyy, wayyyyy too much stuff. Drove me nuts trying to display it all & have it look good too! The solution to both problems is to decorate separately for Christmas & winter...I've been doing it for several years now. So as soon as Jan 2nd rolls around, I put up most of the Christmas stuff (pine sprigs, etc stay out for both seasons) & replace it w/ my winter white lovelies.

Not sure I'm as happy w/ my decor this year as I was w/ last year's. (you can see last year's here) I've been able to take pictures but had no puter to upload them to & pictures always enable me to fine-tune my work. I have the ability to see things as I envision them, not as they are. A big aid in being happy w/ what you got but a huge hindrance for decorating. ;) Pictures force me to take off those rose-colored glasses & see things as they are. I almost always take pics, load them view them; rearrange & fine tune & take pictures again to blog.

This is my faux mantel.

One of the tags I made last year. LOVE it's quote, "Kindness is like snow...it beautifies everything it covers".

My blinged out wire snow princess (made her a couple years ago).

Another tag I made last year.

The china cabinet in my living room. (I don't usually do seasonal decor in any rooms but the big main room downstairs...used to but with as much as I do, it takes FOREVER)

Thsi was a project from Beth & Karla's Romantic White Christmas tut. I didn't make any of them for Christmas (no time!) but did convert several into winter projects. This one was meant to be for winter anyway, wasn't it?

Beth shows how to make these rolled "roses" in the tut.

I covered my "mitten" w/ lace from a tattered tablecloth instead of using cardstock or decorative paper & I used a sweet, wintry image instead of the Christmas one Beth used.

This was my coffee table arrangement.

Remember this snow peep doll I made last year? You can see my post about it here.

The top hats I made last year made a reappearance. (I don't know what those purplish spots are)

And this hutch was my Christmas present....2 years in a row! LOL We bought it off craigslist right before Thanksgiving, year before last. But it was dark mahogany w/ scratches all over it (got a deal on it!). I really, really, really wanted it painted before Christmas but of course, didn't. When Christmas rolled around again & it was still in the garage, I decided "nuh-uh! I WILL get it painted before this Christmas. And I did...just in the nick of time. ;) Spent all day on Dec 22nd & 23rd painting & all Christmas Eve, putting it in place & decorating it but I got 'er done before Christmas. Now I just need to paint the table & chairs.

This is another project from teh Romantic Christmas tut...a sweet tag made from an old picture frame border.

Beth & Karla give lots of tips...like shadowing the image w/ a marker (or brown map pencil, like I used)

The winter cottage I made last year.

I filled this tiered wire basket w/ lace, brush trees, snowbabies, old baby shoes & tiaras. Say "Hi!" to Sonny! ;)

This feather wreath is yet another project from the Romantic Christmas tut. I've replaced the wintry image w/ a Valentine one & it's still hanging up. (The wreath is hung on an iron piece that I use as a room divider over my sofa.)

I'm really not at all happy w/ the centerpiece on my table. I still ADORE the snow peeps I made last year but I think the arrangement itself needs some fouf'ing. The candy jar was full of silver-wrapped chocolates but those didn't last too long & I smartly decided not to refill it. LOL

LOVE my snowmans on a stick! Still can't believe I made them myself! You can see the post about them here.

Inevitably, I'm asked for an image when I share projects I make so I'll share the images I used now. The picture frame border that I used on the tag was from Karla & Beth's tut though so I can't share it w/ you. You'll have to sign up for the tut yourself to get it but I promise you won't be sorry!

I don't remember where I got any of the images but would like to give credit where credit is due, so if it was your's or you know whose it was, let me know & I'll be happy to give credit!

I'll share my Valentine's decor this week. I know most of y'all will be taking it down by then but I leave mine up all during the month of February. Have a happy Valentine's day everybody!