Southern Blessings

Wishing Y'all a Happy Mother's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Sun, 11 May 2014 21:07:00 +0000

I hope all the mothers out there have a blessed Mother's day!

Overdue Christmas Pics

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Sun, 16 Feb 2014 15:00:00 +0000

Our Church had a Christmas Float in the parade again.

This time I was Mary and my hubby was Joseph. Hunter was an angel and Mitchell was a king.

Our family had a good Christmas.

We celebrated with just us, with my side of the family, with my hubby's family, and with friends. So we had lots of fun and fellowship!

That's Ronnie's sister in this picture with me and Mitchell. We hadn't seen her in years! It's been great getting to be around her again.

Those are my nephews in the picture above along with my sons, Mitchell and Hunter (on the right). We're missing my nephew Jason who's up in Heaven.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas also!

Elusive Hope- Book Review

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Sat, 15 Feb 2014 22:42:00 +0000

Elusive Hope is the second book in MaryLu Tyndall's Escape to Paradise series. This book is a continuation of the first in the series where colonists left the south after the Civil War in order to find a new utopia in South America. It focuses on the story of Magnolia Scott and Hayden Gale.

If you read book one, you'll know that these two characters aren't the most lovable. They both have many flaws, as do every one of us. Our heroine, Magnolia was forced by her father to leave the south and is desperate to get back to everything she loved in the states including her fiance. Hayden came to Brazil in order to find his father and punish him for what happened to his mother.

While in South America Magnolia hears of a ship heading back to the states and attaches herself to Hayden in order to try and get to it. Hayden has his own reasons for letting Magnolia tag along and they aren't so noble. Their journey through the dark and mysterious jungle is filled with beauty, suspense, and even spiritual warfare!

MaryLu really brings the story to life with vivid descriptions of the characters and the lush vegetation in the jungle. She makes it hard for you to put down Elusive Hope. Luckily there will be another book in this series very shortly!

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Always Remembering

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 11:19:00 +0000

16 and 6

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 21:05:00 +0000

I can't believe I haven't posted pics from my children's birthdays this year! So I'm combining them into one post. Mitchell turned 16 in April of this year! I can't believe I have a kid that old! Anyway, we were out of town for Mitchell's birthday. But here are a couple of pics that might give you a hint where we spent his birthday. I'll post more about our trip later.

See that jacket he got it for his birthday, he LOVES that jacket he wears it almost every day, even in the summertime! Crazy, crazy, kid!

Hunter's birthday was in August. Just a few days after he got out of the hospital, in fact. I was so thankful to have him home! We had a small party for him and he had a great time!

They both had awesome birthdays! I'm so blessed to be their mom!

Hunter's Hospital Stay

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 16:50:00 +0000

On the last Tuesday in July, Hunter was put in the hospital. It was supposed to just be overnight, but we ended up being there for 4 days. It started out by going to the doctor for a checkup and they found out his bowels were impacted. Apparently, they were extremely bad and the doctor had everyone come and feel his tummy. She wanted to use it as a teaching moment for her staff.

Now, don't think I hadn't noticed anything was wrong with Hunter. He's had problems since he was a year or so old. In fact, we had been to the doctor just two weeks before out of concern for him. That time we saw a nurse practitioner and she said Hunter's problem was that he was holding it in and didn't want to go. I told her I didn't think that was it, because he tried to go, but she assured me it was. She told me to ignore it for a month, and it would get better.

Then when we went back two weeks later, thankfully, we saw a real doctor who understood how bad it was. She said he had to be admitted to the hospital immediately because his bowels could rupture. This scared me a lot! So we went and got Hunter admitted to the hospital (which was 45 minutes from home) and they started different things trying to get him to poop.

One of the things they tried was something called Go-Lightly. It was like a gallon jug that he was supposed to drink in maybe 8 hours or so. This worked fine for the first 2 cups maybe, but after that he quit drinking. The next morning the same nurse practitioner from a few weeks ago came to check on him and wanted to send him home with orders to drink the rest of the jug and he'd be fine. Now we'd been there for 24 hours and he still hadn't pooped. So I started arguing with her and telling her that I didn't think he should go home if he hadn't been yet and she said well if you want to stay in the hospital another night you can. I was livid! I didn't want to stay in the hospital, do I look crazy? Wait, don't answer that! I told her I wanted to do whatever was best for my child and made her call the head doctor and check what she wanted.

She came back and said she talked to the doctor and the doctor said to keep him another night and to try something else to get him to poop. Well, they tried something else that afternoon, and he still hadn't really gone. When my husband and best friend came later that night, they were really worried about Hunter because while they were there, he became quite listless. Hunter is usually bouncing off the walls, but that night, I gently slapped his face trying to get him to look at me, and he couldn't even focus on my face. That really scared me!

My friend, Barb, was so concerned she phoned a nurse friend of hers, and she told us they needed to be doing more to help him, and he might need transferring to a bigger hospital. Luckily, Barb is quite assertive and she got the head nurse to call his doctor and the doctor was very sweet and came out at like midnight to check on him. She had them put a tube down his nose in order for him to get the rest of the medicine. He really hated that! It took like 3 people to hold him down to get the NG tube down his throat.

Finally they got it down and he figured out how to rest with it on, thankfully. That plus a molasses/milk concoction helped him finally get to going. And boy did he go! That was a messy night and morning! I was so blessed to have my older son, Mitchell, helping me with his little brother.

They were able to take the NG tube out the next evening. But still wanted to keep him one more night just to make sure he was okay. Eventually they took the IV out too. Hunter freaked me out by coming into the bathroom behind me! I was so used to him being stuck in the bed, that he scared me when he walked in behind me, lol!

We got to go home on Friday afternoon, I was SOOOOOO happy to finally be home again! So were Hunter and Mitchell! I want to thank everyone who prayed for us while Hunter was in the hospital! He still needs to see a specialist, but they're trying to find one that will take his insurance. I hope they can find one soon!

One Hen

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

Last chicken standing

I believe the last time I posted I had 3 chickens left. Well, not too long after I posted that something killed one of my hens and the last rooster I had left.

These were killed in they daytime, but I still thought it could be a coyote. But, my last hen, Little Bit, was trying to hide under the coop from a wild dog! That dog tore the boards away from the bottom of the coop trying to get to her, but thankfully, Little Bit is small, so she could hide really well.

Let me just say, that after having both of my other chickens killed that same day, I was quite upset! Well, I don't have to worry about that dog anymore, my hubby got it before he got to Little Bit.

The Timbering Is Done!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:53:00 +0000

The logging of our land took about a week and a half. At first it didn't really look like they were going to get that much out of there. However, it ended up being quite a bit more than was thought.

Until they logged, I never realized how much of a hill we live on. It starts sloping downward right below the chicken coop and goes downhill quite a ways on into where the woods were.

We have a couple creeks in the middle of our land. My hubby built me a bridge over this one so I could cross it easier.

The only thing bad about walking all the way to the back of the property is the climb back up that hill, lol! Especially not fun when it's dark like it was when we got done.


The finished woods (at the bottom of the hill)

Beginning the Timbering

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:18:00 +0000

My husband leading the way to mark the trees

We had been thinking of having our land timbered for quite awhile. Recently my cousin had his done, so we decided to take the plunge and do it. We talked to a couple different logging companies before settling on a friend from church.

The right side going down

The owner came out and walked the land with my husband marking it so the loggers would know the boundaries of our land. As I said in my last post, we weren't too sure of the right hand side of our property, so he made sure to stay off of it a ways.

The property in question

After walking he gave us an estimate of what he thought our timber might bring. He only walked the outside boundaries to mark it though, so he wasn't sure.

Setting up their equipment

There are different ways to get paid for your timber. They can look at your trees and tell you what they'll pay you or they can pay you by the ton. I've heard from several people the best way to go is by the ton. So that's what we were going to get.

That thing sticking up in the pic isn't a stick, it's my phone line

When they first got here they had to widen our other driveway to get in and they cut our phone/internet line. But, the phone company had us back up in a couple hours.

Walking The Land

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:21:00 +0000

My husband holding another skull we found

On my last post, I showed a picture of a skull we found while walking through the woods behind our house. Some have asked what kind of skull it was, and I'm not sure, but I think it was a from a deer.

My oldest and youngest leading the way

We were walking through the woods because we were planning on getting it logged, so we wanted to get an idea of how much timber we had. To give you an idea, it takes about an hour round trip to walk from our house to the back of our property and back.

Creek at back of property

The back of our land is bordered by a small creek, so it's easy to tell where our land ends on that part. We do have a dispute as to our boundary on the right side and hope to have it surveyed to find out who is right and who's wrong.

Hunter always wants me to "picture him", lol

I'll post more about the process of having it timbered in my next post.

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:09:00 +0000

Loving Hearts Cafe 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 21:22:00 +0000

Me, Ronnie and Hunter

We had our Loving Hearts Cafe a few weeks ago to raise money to send our youth to Salkehatchie. Where they help fix up homes for those in need in our state. The kids took orders, served food, and got everything ready for the event. Mitchell was a server that's why he isn't in any of the pictures with us.

Ronnie's brother, nephews, mom and step dad with us

After eating, we had an auction. I always go crazy at auctions and spend way too much! But at least this time it was for a good cause. We had an awesome time and made a pretty good amount toward sending the kids to camp!

2 Awesome Movies Coming Soon

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:56:00 +0000

If you know me, you know I love all things Disney! Well they have 2 movies coming up soon that I cannot wait to see. Oz: The Great and Powerful comes out next Friday! Growing up The Wizard of Oz was my favorite movie. I still enjoy watching it with my youngest from time to time. So, I can't wait to see how it all started out in this new release.

The other movie I'm dying to see is the next installment in the Iron Man franchise: Iron Man 3. I love watching the two previous ones and this one looks to be very good. How about you? Do you plan on seeing either of these movies?

I was given this information by Walt Disney Studios and I wanted to share it with y'all!

Sunday's Song- Lean On Me

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 12:00:00 +0000

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted here! I hope y'all are doing well. We're okay, just been busy with other things. I do hope to start posting more regularly, not sure how much yet.

I'm starting back today with a song. Our church is going through some changes, so we're singing this at church this morning as a reminder that we have each other.

Lean On Me

Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you won't let show

You just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'd understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

If there is a load you have to bear
That you can't carry
I'm right up the road
I'll share your load
If you just call me

Call me (if you need a friend)
Call me (call me)
Call me (if you need a friend)
Call me (if you ever need a friend)
Call me (call me)
Call me
Call me (if you need A friend)

Have a blessed Sunday!

Christmas and Sickness

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 20:13:00 +0000

Our tree the kids decorated

Right after my last post, Mitchell got sick. He was sick for around 3 weeks with a bad cough and cold that turned into an ear infection. My hubby and I thought we'd escaped getting sick, but we were wrong. It hit us just a few days before Christmas.

Hunter with one of his presents

So we missed out on our annual Christmas Eve party at my cousin's house and also on Christmas Day with my mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and nephews. We really hated that the kids couldn't go just cause we were sick, but they handled it pretty well.

He loves his new Army tank set

We just opened our presents and let them have fun with their new toys and games. It's miserable being sick on Christmas and not feeling like helping your kids with their new toys! Luckily we have Mitchell, who by then, was feeling pretty good and he has helped us out a lot with Hunter.

Mitchell getting ready to open a present

We're still sick, but hoping to be better soon! We still aren't well enough to go to my sister-in-law's New Years Eve party, so it will be me and Dick Clark's Rocking New Years Eve again!

A new headset for his video games

I hope y'all had a very blessed Christmas and that your New Year is fantastic!

Wordless Wednesday- My Little Angel

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 17:21:00 +0000

Hunter as an Angel in our Christmas parade

Sadness

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 20:18:00 +0000

Have you seen these chickens or the guinea? They went missing in the last few weeks. I'm pretty sure the coyotes got them sometime. They seem to be awful this year. When we had outside dogs we rarely had this problem. I'm thinking maybe I need to get another one. They even got my all-time favorite- Kid Rock! Gosh I loved him!

R.I.P my Sweeties


One of the Bobbsey Twins

Pretty Ugly

Goldilocks- I loved her so

Sapphire Queen

Edward

Jeckyll- His brother misses him so, they went everywhere together

Taurus

Orange Beard

The Red Sisters

I'm sure you remember my favorite- Kid Rock

Halloween 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 00:30:00 +0000

Well, I'm pretty late with these, but I wanted to share our Halloween pictures from this year. I bought Hunter's costume a couple years ago on clearance, and it fit him perfectly this year.

Mitchell made up his costume out of things he already had. He was our bodyguard, lol!

Barb and I made our costumes ourselves. We did it at the last minute and really could have used more tulle for our skirts. She's a Woodland Fairy and I'm a Pink fairy.

Barb made her own wings, but I bought mine at Dollar Tree. Hers are bigger and look better than my tiny ones.

Did you dress up this year? I love hearing about costumes!

Winner of my Dog Halloween Costume Contest!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:43:00 +0000

I have drawn the winner of my Dog Halloween Costume Contest through random.org.

And the winner is:

Phoebe as Witchey Poo! Congratulations Phoebe!!! You can see all the other cute contestants here.

Thanks to everyone who entered! All entries are entered into the big contest. You can go and vote on your favorite pup here.

Dog Halloween Costume Contest- $25 Target Gift Card for Winner

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 17:09:00 +0000

My sweet Sugar dressed up as a witch this year

If you've been around here long, you know that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! I love to dress up and have fun. Sometimes even my chihuahua, gets dressed up for the occasion!

Today I have a great contest for all you dog owners out there! I'm giving away a $25 gift card to Target!

To enter: all you have to do is email me a picture of your doggie in their Halloween costume (it doesn't have to be this years). Please send your entry to southernblessings@gmail.com with the subject: Dog Costume Contest. Pictures must be received by me no later than November 1st at midnight.

Please only send me photos that are your own. I will update this post with the pictures of all the dogs as they come in. **By sending me your pic you are giving me and the sponsor permission to post the photo online**

All photos entered at each individual blog will go on to phase 2 of the contest which will be hosted at the sponsor's site. Once posted there, the pics may be voted on until November 12th and the winner will receive a $500 Target gift card! How cool is that? This contest is sponsored by the Dog Fence DIY.

Hope everyone has a fun, spooky, Halloween with their pups!

Here are the entries so far:

Entry #1: Phoebe as a Devil

Entry #2: Phoebe as Witchey Poo

Entry # 3: Leo as SpongeBob SquarePants

Entry #4: Cocoa as a Pumpkin


Entry #5: Leo as a Vampire

Entry #6: The Gumfather as a Bee

Entry#7: Molly as a Witch

Entry #8: Patches and Molly as Bride and Groom

I am one of many blogs hosting phase 1 of this contest. For being a hostess I will receive a $25 Target gift card. All opinions are my own. Winner will be picked by random drawing from all photos received.

Sunday's Song- Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Hope everyone is having a blessed Sunday today! I would like to ask for a prayer request for my husband's cousin, Lee. He was riding his motorcycle this week and was hit by a car. They ended up having to take off part of one of his legs. Please pray for his continued recovery! Thanks!

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Happy 20th Anniversary!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:43:00 +0000

I can't believe it's been 20 years since I married my husband! It seems like only a few. Now they haven't always been easy years, some have been harder than others, but we're still together! My hubby looks so young in our wedding picture, don't you think? As for me, I don't feel 20 years older. I still feel young, most of the time, lol!

Happy Anniversary Ronnie!!!
I hope we have many, many more happy years together!

Fun With Disney On The Road!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 02:42:00 +0000

A couple weeks ago I was invited to Disney On The Road in Charlotte, NC. In case you didn't know, each year Disney has a Social Media Moms gathering for select moms at Walt Disney World in Florida. I know several ladies who've gone and they said it was awesome! Unfortunately, I've never been invited. :( Since Disney wanted to share the fun with those who haven't been to the one in Florida, they decided to take the show on the road this year and go to 3 cities in the US for 1/2 day mini-conferences. I was lucky enough to go to the one in Charlotte!

Me and Shannon Miller-she's so tiny, she makes me look tall, lol!

Disney was great enough to bring together some very inspiring ladies for us to learn from! We saw Shannon Miller, who you might remember from the 1996 Olympics. She is the most decorated US gymnast ever! She told us about starting her own company and her journey with cancer. I was so excited to meet her!

The awesomely funny Laura Spencer (taken on hubby's tablet)

We also got to hear from Laura Spencer who is in charge of social media for Disney. She is the funniest person! I love how she would talk about anything and everything. She told us a little bit about the new Fantasyland expansion, which I can't wait to see for myself!

Tiffany Krumins on the left with Maria Bailey

Have you watched Shark Tank before? If so, you may know Tiffany Krumins. She appeared on the first season and boldly asked the sharks to invest in her elephant medicine dropper, now called AVA the Elephant. Tiffany was a nanny to a special needs child and she wanted to find a better way to give kids medicine than fighting with them each time. So, she came up with a talking elephant that would coax children into taking the medicine and then praise them for it. She convinced one of the sharks to invest with her and now AVA is a top seller. She just designed a new forehead thermometer sticker which can monitor your child's temperature for up to 24 hours, her cute little girl showed it off to us.

Some cool swag from #DisneyOnTheRoad

As you can see, the event was all about women entrepreneurs and how they started out. We got some wonderful ideas. It was amazing to meet these ladies in person and learn from them. Thanks to Maria Bailey and Disney for bringing this experience to Charlotte!

This was a free event that I was lucky enough to be invited to.

Sunday's Song- Bringing In The Sheaves

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Here is another great old hymn, that I don't hear too much these days. I am including both the lyrics and a video of the song, in case you want to hear it.

Hope y'all have a wonderful Sunday!

Bringing In The Sheaves

Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;
Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,

Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows,
Fearing neither clouds nor winter’s chilling breeze;
By and by the harvest, and the labor ended,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,

Going forth with weeping, sowing for the Master,
Though the loss sustained our spirit often grieves;
When our weeping’s over, He will bid us welcome,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,

It's Just Hair

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy M.) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:31:00 +0000

The other week I was cutting my oldest son Mitchell's hair with the clippers and while I was focused on him, Hunter quietly grabbed the scissors and whacked his hair! The sad thing is I didn't even notice until I was completely done with cutting Mitchell's hair.

My husband said it looked too close to have been cut with scissors, but it had to have been! I was using the clippers the whole time and it's such a small little area, the clippers would have cute a wider path.

To fix the damage he did, I had to use the clippers on him. I started with around 3/4 inch, but ended up having to go down to the lowest guard I had to make it look even. Funny thing is, it looks like it's growing back in darker than before.

I'm actually surprised that this is the first time he's ever done this. Oh, well, it's just hair, it'll grow back, lol!