Slipping Through My Fingers

Come With Me . . . and You'll See . . .

2012-02-06T18:48:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed Laura Beth's book club so much the other night. We have not met since the first of November because of the holidays, so we chose a longer book for the girls to read, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I had a great time planning this one, but wish I had had a little more time (and energy) to put into this one. I had ideas brimming over!!!! Here is a look at the night . . .

I used odds and ends from party supplies in the party supply closet to create the table. I thought it turned out so cute. The girls LOVED the different colors of plates, napkins and silverware. Each place also had a box of Wonka candy (of course) and Fizzy Lifting Drink (which actually isn't in the book but HAD to have it!) - aka Sierra Mist.

No Wonka party is complete without candy EVERYWHERE!!!! I used ice cream sundae dishes that were filled with Nerds, Gobstoppers, and Sweet Tarts. In each dish were Wonka (or Ronald Dahl) quotes that I loved.

Vases filled with Wonka candy also graced the table.

The girls and the table

For our menu, I wanted to get as close to Wonka world as possible, so we had a fondue night. Cherri was a great help with the food for the night. Here she is explaining to the girls what would take place.

Wonka Menu

Cheese Fondue

Served with:

French Bread cubes, broccoli, carrots,

pretzel rods and apple slices

Chocolate Fondue
(Grease pot with butter. Add 6 oz. of choc. chips and 1 cup of marshmallows and 2 tbsp of milk.
Heat until melted on med-low heat. Stir constantly to make sure it does not burn on the bottom.
When it is melted, add 1/3 cup whipping cream.)

Served with:

pretzel rods, apple slices, bananas,

marshmallows, and brownies

Fizzy Lifting Drinks

We had a wonderful, magical night filled with sweetness on EVERY level.
We are excited about our next book that takes us to Paris!
The Family Under the Bridge

Happy Birthday to YOU - times two!

2012-02-04T08:04:00.000-06:00

To say we love our college kids is a MAJOR understatement!! We love celebrating with them in any form or fashion. This celebration was brought about by TWO birthdays within weeks of each other. Being such wonderful friends and roommates, they decided to share their birthday dinner together - Thank you, girls!!!!

Anyways, Hayley and Amber invited some of their friends over for a Friday night full of Mexican foods, Just Dance and basketball (which I am sure they are sick of since they came from basketball practice). Carter was NOT thrilled with it being an all girl night (Damon was even gone), but wound up declaring it "not that bad."

My sweet birthday girls - Amber and Hayley

My precious girls!

Carter "gave" Amber his Kobe jersey - she got it on, but
almost had to keep it on!!!!!

LOVE!

Carter and Cynthia representing blue shirts -
Cynthia's being Kentucky -
Carter's being as close to Kentucky as he will EVER get!

Thanks for coming over, girls!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

HAYLEY and AMBER!!!

We love you!

Bring It On: LSU/BAMA Edition

2012-01-28T00:00:00.002-06:00

How lucky are we? Our principal is a HUGE Bama fan and so for the National Championship game, we got to wear jeans to school!!!! (a very big deal) Now, I am team teaching this year with Jill - who is great, but she is an LSU fan (for those of you who don't know - I am a BAMA fan). We have already had one go at it this year and got to have another. She got some girls on her side and I had my crew. We took these pics before school that morning, and I just love them!!! We really were nice to each other!

FRIENDS - despite the shirts!

Just BRING IT!!!!

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!!

I was a good winner and wore my houndstooth with pride

for the rest of the week!

They're Baaaccckkk!!!!!!!

2012-01-27T20:37:00.000-06:00

Jessica and Anna Catherine (along with their parents) took off for a few months on a European semester abroad. We missed them oh so much, so when they came back, we planned a "Welcome Home" dinner for them!

The day they came home we HAD to go over to see them.
The kids sporting SOME of the souvenirs they brought back for them.

My friend, Jennifer Hart, designed all the paper decorations you see for our Night in Paris theme. I thought it was just the right touch.

I found 2 Eiffel Towers at Hobby Lobby that turn into
photo holders to use as our centerpieces.
At JoAnn's I found a slew of Paris inspired products that I got for the girls to take home
with them (as well as the Eiffel Towers).

We dined on chicken and rice, green beans, salad, and southern sweet tea! It was so great to be with the girls again. We are thankful they had this chance to go, but are so glad they are back in our world again!
I hate that I don't have any more pictures. BOTH of my cameras died Christmas morning, so I am struggling in more than one way without a camera at the moment.

Getting My Life Back In Order

2012-01-27T20:18:00.000-06:00

Many of you may not realize that I was hired as a new third grade teacher 1 week or so into the school year this past August. One reason I am SO behind on my blogging. Needless to say, the whole house has been thrown into a tizzy. I have felt like I have been running 2 weeks behind since August and the house - bless the house - has taken a HUGE hit. So, over Christmas I tried to get some things back in order. I made this board to help with meals, schedules and notes. I found a bulletin board (in the clearance section at Wal-Mart - score!) and covered it with wrapping paper. I mod-podged clothespins with scrapbook paper to make my kitchen and made days of the week labels with my cricut and my Creative Memories circle punch. I glued the days of the week to the clothespins and then glued the clothespins to the board. The cards hooked to the clothespins hold an index card that tells us what each child is having for lunch at school each day as well as what is for supper that night. I use one card for 2 weeks - front one week; back, the next.

I just pinned the calendar to the bottom of the board and, since then, I have pinned all kinds of notes to it as well. It is working so well, and I love having it all together in the kitchen where we are so much of the time!!! YAY for OCDness!!!!! Can't wait to see what else I can come up with!!!

Family Faces During Christmas

2012-01-27T20:09:00.000-06:00

This would be LB's bike helmet.

So This Is Christmas . . .

2012-01-27T19:50:00.000-06:00

What a Christmas we had this year!! We enjoyed the WHOLE family being at Mom and Dad's for the big morning. Santa did come for Walker . . .

for LB . . .

for Carter . . .

The kids enjoyed playing with all their gifts throughout the morning and the day.

The reaction to getting the Boys II Men CD for Christmas!
Yes, we are raising our kids RIGHT!!!!

The best present ever - I don't think this hat has left her head.
Seriously!

I LOVE this picture of Damon and Carter looking at baseball cards that were
in Carter's stocking.
Like Father . . . Like Son . . .

Walker loved my Coca-Cola tin!

What 8 year old gets excited about a suit?
MINE!!!!

We had a great Christmas! We are most blessed beyond measure!

My Favorite Night of the Year

2012-01-27T19:37:00.001-06:00

Twas the Night Before Christmas . . .

and the story needed to be read . . .

stockings placed with care . . .

and treats left for the Big Man himself!!

(with the carrots for the reindeer!)

I love Christmas Eve! This year we ALL stayed over at Mom and Dad's since Richard, Amy and Walker were in town. It was fun to have the cousins all together for the big morning, and it was fun to be with the brothers as well!!!!

Special Delivery from the North Pole

2011-12-24T16:01:00.000-06:00

This morning when Carter woke up, he ran into a trail of paper scraps out of his room and into the dining room. There was a note attached from Jolly, our elf, telling Carter that Jolly had left Momma all kinds of food for her to cook everyone for a special North Pole breakfast.

The scraps led to the table where Carter saw this. I really wish I had a picture of his face when he saw the table. It was PRICELESS!!!! The next note was found with Jolly telling Carter to call Gran and Grandad's house to get LB (who had spent the night) and everyone else over for breakfast.

Jolly left each kid a Santa mug for them to drink hot chocolate. They thought this was great. Damon and his brother had Santa mugs growing up, so I guess Jolly thought these Welch kids needed to continue the tradition!

Here's the table!!! Jolly did a pretty good job decorating I thought. He got my friend, Jennifer Hart, to make the paper decorations we used. They included the notecards, napkin rings, cupcake wrappers and Ho Ho Ho signs that hung from the ceiling fan.

Jolly must love Pinterest because he left me instructions to make these chocolate reindeer . . .

and these snowmen (did not turn out as well as Jolly would have liked, but they worked) . . .

North Pole Breakfast Menu

chocolate reindeer doughnut holes

snowmen doughnut holes

North Pole blankets

(pigs in a blanket)

North Pole cupcakes

(chocolate chip and blueberry muffins)

snowmen bottled milk

hot chocolate with marshmallows

We had a great time and I hope this becomes a tradition in our family!!!

Christmas Spectacular!!!!!!

2011-12-24T15:40:00.000-06:00

Every year when we get together with the Welch family, we try to do something special. This year, we took the whole family to see the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes Christmas Spectacular show at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN. We all dressed up in our finest and were ready to get in the Christmas spirit!

Doing the famous leg kicks outside the Opry House

These next pictures are not so good. I used my instagram app on my phone, and, well . . . .

In the seats!!!

With my honey!

Addison and LB

My babies!

These two . . . they are always like this when they are together.

Carter and Johnathan

The show was a HUGE hit with the kids. They are still talking about it and what was their favorite part. So glad we were able to experience a little New York City in Nashville!

Welch Family Christmas

2011-12-24T10:28:00.000-06:00

We took off Monday morning to Nashville to spend Christmas with Damon's family. His parents came in from Texas and we all had a great few days together. The cousins, as always, had a wonderful time together . . .

Don't ask me WHY Carter is wearing that red wig . . .

Monday night, we went ahead and did Christmas with everyone. Everyone loaded up on wonderful presents . . .

Opening Wipeout!

Johanthan got lost AGAIN in Lego books we gave him.

Addison loved the penguin hat we gave her.

LB got the same book as Johnathan!!

Someone found a Kinsler jersey!!!
Whoo Hoo!!!

Carter and Papa John

We had a wonderful time celebrating the holiday season together eating, playing cards, and just being together.

Meet Jolly, Our Elf (that is suppose to be) on the Shelf . . .

2011-12-13T00:00:00.000-06:00

This year we had a special friend come to join our little family at Christmas - our own Elf on the Shelf!! After much and much and much deliberation over what his name should be, Jolly was named and he has been a source of jolly since his arrival. We have found in him each morning in the some of the most unusual places . . . in Momma's CocaCola utensil bucket, riding our Rudolph stuffed reindeer (a common mistake, I am sure!) and countless others. Here are a few peeks at where Jolly has been discovered . . . .

taking Sharpay for a spin in the Barbie car . . .
LB said he must have thought Sharpay was HOT!!!!

Playing basketball . . .

Sleeping in the Kleenex box . . .

Jolly has some great adventures in store for the kids so I am sure we will be seeing more from him before the big day arrives and he has to go back to the North Pole.

Fun at Cookie Swap 2011

2011-12-12T16:39:00.000-06:00

We had a lovely day for the Cookie Swap this year. After all the girls arrived, we gathered them around the table to make their goody bags that they would deliver later in the afternoon. Thanks to my awesome sister in law who found an awesome end of the season sale, we had the most precious gingerbread house invites, gingerbread man recipe cards, and goody bags (along with the labels you see in the below post). The girls had a great time making sure their bag was "just right."

What a precious group of young ladies and their mothers that joined us for an afternoon of fun, fellowship and service!

After we made goody bags to deliver, we enjoyed our own treats of all kinds. Many eyes were bigger than stomachs, but most platters with the cookies were practically empty, so any extras got to go home. After we enjoyed our treats and talking, we broke into groups to deliver the cookie goody bags to special older friends who live around us. It is sad to see that each year our list changes a bit with the passing on of some of our dear older friends. I always think about them as we pass their houses . . . . We had such a big group this year, we broke into 3 different groups to deliver.

Group 1 making their way down the road to deliver to the
Pevahouses, Swift sisters and Mr. Kirby.

Group #2 stopping at the Robinsons after seeing Mr. Cole
(who, by the way, ate some of the cookies before Mrs. Cole got a chance to have any!!)

Group 2 walking down the hill on their way back to Gran's house after delivering.

Group 3 stopping to sing and share with sweet Mrs. Hogan.
They also visited the Yates and the Gilliams.

This is one of my favorite days of the year! I am so glad that Laura Beth loves to cook and wants to spend time with me and her gran!!! Can't wait till more fun next year!

The Cookies of Cookie Swap 2011

2011-12-07T00:00:00.000-06:00

Saturday, Laura Beth's precious friends and their mothers gathered at Gran's house for the third annual Generational Cookie Swap!!!! I can't believe it was three years ago (see last year's swap here) that we had the first one! It has become a highlight of our holiday season. Mom (aka Gran) found this cute idea for the centerpiece so we have more room on the table for the cookies - because that is so important!!! She used fishing line (or white thread) to hand special ornaments from some foreign country (don't remember which one) from the chandelier. Everyone loved it!!!

Her wooden Dum Dum tree was the centerpiece for the goodie bag table again - always a hit with the kids!

The best thing about this party is you don't have to do a whole lot of more decorating if you have your house decorated for Christmas. Laura Beth chose this cookie for our swap cookie this year. It was cute, but not easily transportable!!! We took sugar cookies, iced them and used all kinds of different candy to decorate them!

Find all the cookie recipes here.

I would say we ate VERY well!!!! We also enjoyed non-sweets made by Pop and Gran.

Love Finds You . . . Literary Ladies

2011-12-05T00:00:00.003-06:00

You might remember this post about how my friend, Kristen, and I fell in love with Melissa's book club ideas at her church. We took the idea to the elders and they approved that we could begin one as well. EXCITED, yes, we were!!!! Thursday night was our second meeting. We had read the book Love Finds You in North Pole, Alaska and now it was time to come back together to read and discuss the book.

We had a great team that worked with us to get the commons area decorated for the night. We took empty square Kleenex boxes and wrapped them up as presents. We placed them on various cake stands which sat on red chargers. I brought all of my glass vases and serving pieces which we filled with ornaments to add a little more to the tables.

Kristen chose our place setting for the night that brought out the Christmas (as well as snow) theme.

We had everyone bring their favorite Christmas treat and, boy, did we treat eat!!! It was fabulous!!! Kristen made these North Pole cupcakes (thank you, Pinterest) to go along with the book we read. I made the flags for the cupcakes. (You can get the flags here and just add them to toothpicks.)

As the guests arrived, they were able to make a candy ornament to remember the night by. I used my cricut and the Joys of the Season cartridge to make these. The ladies glued the pieces together, punched a hole at the top and most wrote on there the date, Literary Ladies, etc.

I made Candy Cane Punch for us to enjoy throughout the night. I had never made it before (again, thank you, Pinterest), but it was a HUGE hit!!!

Candy Cane Punch

(from Taste of Home)

2 quarts of Peppermint ice cream

2 jars of strawberry jelly

2 liter of lemon line soda

candy canes to garnish

Mix the jelly and 2 c. of soda together over the stove until the jelly becomes melted.

Chill jelly mixture and remaining soda. Just before serving, place 6 cups of ice cream in a punch bowl. Gently stir in the jelly mixture. Add remaining soda and ice cream.

Makes 3 1/2 quarts.

You can also do it the "Becky did not read the instructions until 30 minutes before" way which is melting the jelly and soda together but no chilling happened!!!!! We just mixed everything together and it was still wonderful!!!!!

Our meeting was fabulous. We had a short devotional that went along with the book as well as a time of prayer and singing. We also enjoyed thinking about the book we had read, and many were trying to guess what the next book would be!!! We are already so excited about our March meeting. We kicked it up a notch with the book selection. Many ladies in our congregation already read this author and love her, so we are excited to announce that our next book will be from best selling author, Francine Rivers . . .

Her Mother's Hope

What a Wonderful November Surprise!

2011-12-04T06:45:00.000-06:00

Monday we got a wonderful surprise! The weather forecasters had been saying we would get some snow, but really . . . who believes that West Tennessee would get snow in November!!! Well, they were right, and what a snow it was! Absolutely beautiful . . . huge flakes . . . snow covered ground and trees.

Just beautiful! However, not beautiful enough to get us out of school the next day - even though it snowed AGAIN like this the next morning. Oh well. Thank you, God, for this wonderful gift you gave us!!!

Fall Ball Classic

2011-11-28T06:27:00.000-06:00

You say, "Ball," and Carter says, "I'm there!" After some wondering where he would play - he made a VERY grown up decision about playing ball this fall - he chose to play with his friends and had a great time! We just ended 6 months of playing ball (we did have a month's break) and are ready for new adventures!!! Here are a few glimpses of his fall season . . .

Photos by Jim Jones

Thank you, Coach Jeff and Coach Alex, for a great season of baseball! Anyone up for winter ball?

Dressing Up in Our Best Jorts for Homecoming

2011-11-22T21:30:00.000-06:00

Homecoming weekend is always a time where I love for the kids to put on their best to be ready to meet and greet former kids and our friends from our college days. So when I get a text from Hunter Friday night saying they are wearing flannel shirts and jorts I was a tad confused. Come to find out Carter had been texting Hunter asking how they were going to dress up for the game the next day. Remember this from last year? Well, it's back and Carter is participating . . . So this is how he dressed for Homecoming this year . . .

Trying to figure out from Hunter exactly why they have their back to the visiting team as they are introduced.

At least LB's friends dress appropriately!!! Thanks, Whit, Claire and Katie!

Not only did he dress the part, the baseball boys who were on the losing team for their intersquad World Series had to keep mustaches. I got a picture from the other side of the gym showing that Carter had "grown" one during the guys' game. He wanted to be like Wood.

Buh-less!!!

We loved getting to see our Hayley (Hunter and Whitney's sister who has joined the family this year) play basketball. LB is sitting in her lap in this picture.

Thankfully, we did not go out to eat afterwards!!!! We did enjoy ourselves at Homecoming very much this year and are proud of our students - present and past.

It's All For the Kids, Right . . . .

2011-11-22T21:16:00.000-06:00

East Chester had their annual Fall Festival and, now that I am employed, my role was a tad different from years past. Ms. Kim asked for volunteers to be silly stringed by the kids, so, of course, I signed up - chalk one up to being a rookie or whatever - because it is all for the kids, right? My team teacher, Jill, and I took the 5:00-5:30 spot and only had about 5 minutes of a break ($3 a can - that's not that bad - because it is all for the kids, right?

Of course, my kids got a hold of me more than once!!! The above picture shows my sweet little Cecily (who I have kept since she was 6 weeks old!) getting a hold of me as well!!!

Me and Jill - we survived!

FHU's baseball team came to help us run the games and did a fabulous job (as always)! Carter especially loved them being there.

BFF Hunter and Carter sportin' their stone cold look

LB FINALLY got her face painted and showed her true colors!!!

We had a great time . . . raised a lot of money . . . had a great time . . . ate great food . . . and enjoyed ourselves 100% -

and it was ALL FOR THE KIDS!!!!

Trixie, the Halloween Fairy Book Club

2011-11-22T16:19:00.001-06:00

Laura Beth's book club met the other night to discuss October's book of the month Trixie, the Halloween Fairy. The girls LOVE the fairy books so they were so excited to get to read this one. We had decided that they could all dress as their favorite fairy for this club meeting.

To get ready for the night, LB and set the table in a fall/Halloween mood. LB had picked out the plates and glow-in-the-dark fairy wands a long time ago. Thank you, Pinterest, for the candle idea!!! (Don't you just LOVE Pinterest!)

My fairy - Stacey, the Soccer fairy (big surprise there) waits for her fellow friends to come for the night!

I was horrible and did not get pictures of the food we ate. Our menu for the night was:

Fairy Sandwiches

(sandwiches cut in half as triangles and then set on the plates

with the points together)

vegetables and dip

apples and caramel dip

(this was part of the book)

cheese and crackers

Fairy Wands

Rachel Grace and Sarah were jewels and made the Fairy wands for us. They took pretzel rods, dipped them in white chocolate and covered them with sprinkles. The girls absolutely devoured them while we talked about the book.

We are taking the month of November and December somewhat off because of holidays and everything. However, while we are gone, we are going to all read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

LOVE it

2011-11-20T17:57:00.000-06:00

Carter and Josh showed up for Wednesday night song leading class looking like this AGAIN!!! They promise me they did not plan it. I did not take a picture the first time they did it, but I had to take a shot this time. I am so glad that they have each other!! What a special friend!

A "Frankly" Ghoulish Halloween Party

2011-11-20T17:54:00.000-06:00

Our friend, Rachel, is quite taken with Halloween. To say she loves it is a MAJOR understatement! She holds a BIG Halloween party each year and this summer she asked me to help design some of the elements for the party. I was honored. The kids were so excited about the party and could not wait dress up!!!

Rock Star LB, Viking Princess Cecily and Darth Carter

I even joined in again this year. I could not think of much, so I went as a fairy!!! Thank you, LB's dress up box!!!!

Me and Bridget

Rachel always goes above and beyond with her decorating! She was trying to have a Halloween party with NO orange this year. Her theme was Frankenstein . . . Here are her precious centerpieces made from clear rectangled plates, green toile, black construction paper, bolts and glow sticks!!!

The Hardeman House was the venue for the evening. The usually beautiful dining room was full of black spiders and the like . . .

The candy bar.
I made the apothecary labels telling the guests what the candy was.

Here is an up close look at some of the types of candy she had that night as our treats . . . .

The menu consisted of

Barbecued Beast (BBQ)

Zombie Guts (Baked Beans)

Green Slime (Ranch Dip that was tinted green)

Radioactive Cupcakes

Young Frankensteins (Rice Krispie Treats)

Pumpkin Cookies

Monster Strawberries

Witches Brew

Along with other Poisons you could choose

I made these cupcake toppers for her radioactive cupcakes.

I loved using the Mini Monster cricut cartridge to make the labels. I was not as creative as I had hoped to be with the new job, but LOVED being a part of this amazing night. Can't wait till next year, Rachel!

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-11-20T17:32:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed Halloween with friends at FHU again this year. The kids had a blast and we BOOKED it through the different dorms. We also enjoyed seeing friends and family throughout the night!

LB and Whitney!

We love some Carissa, Claire, Whitney and Katie!
We love Emily, too, but she was not there!

HAD to take a pic with Fake Jessica.
We are ready for real Jessica (and AC) to be back!

LOVE LOVE LOVE Ms. Diane!!!

and Houston!

Halloween is not Halloween without stopping to see RoRo and Bub!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

Trick or Trunk 2011

2011-11-05T21:39:00.001-05:00

We had a LONG time of celebrating Halloween this year. It seemed to go on and on and on and on. We began the festivities with Trick or Trunk at church . . . I fell VERY short this year and did not even get pictures of the kids in their outfits like I usually do (Carter was QUICK to point this out to me!). However, there are plenty of pictures of them in their costumes.

an appropriate costume for these two!!!

Carter went as Darth Vader - shocking, I know, that he was NOT a baseball player!

Carter with friends Pearce, Tucker and Evan

LB with friends LeighAnne, Madlyn, Lexie and Mary Katherine

A Tradition like NONE other - The Welches and Youngs

This picture took some convincing, but I think in a few years, we will be glad we had this one
Lane, Evan, Madlyn and LB

Thanks to the youth group for hosting this special night! It was a real treat!

Down on the Farm . . .

2011-11-05T12:10:00.000-05:00

After Disney, we stopped in Auburn to pick up Richard, Amy and Walker. We all headed up to Henderson and spent Saturday at Falcon Ridge Farm. LB and Walker were in their element - surrounded by animals!!! We had a lovely fall day all together. We first found the horses which LB just loved!

From there, we went to the petting zoo area. Walker loved seeing all the animals and tried to get as close as he could to many of them!!!!

The kids loved getting to ride the ponies!

and then on to the pumpkin patch!!!

The best part of the day was just being with family and seeing the cousins interact with each other!!!

What wonderful blessings!