Hello...again...oooh Pinterest

No excuses for this huge break in posts except  for : school. But that is done for summer and graduation is in sight; December 14 as a matter of fact. I am so ready for having some extra time. Every free moment I had this past semester I tried to spend with my family. Now we can have a much more relaxed schedule and just enjoy the "winding down" time of summer. We have some schooling to finish up for Hoopy and Roosie but just a few minor things. We will have it all wrapped up by month's end. Big thanks to my DD BabyGirl for making me a new blog set. I figured since the snow finally stopped ( here at least) then I should take away the winter theme from my blog.
The weather channel is calling for this to be a colder than usual summer for the Southeast but I find that hard to believe since we have been soaring into the 80s the past two weeks.  We have had some strange weather patterns to be sure this year.
With warmer temps and summer come the lovely summer holidays! Memorial Day and July 4th are just around the corner; so I have been perusing Pinterest to gather ideas for decorations and of course food. Check out my Pinterest board 'Merica ( yes, I know...but the kids and I find our country, redneck humor bone just had to do it) to see some great ideas for the patriotic holidays. Be sure to follow that board to see all the new stuff I pin. Blessings!

Well, the blessing challenge has been going very well so far. I am trying to find little ways every day to be a blessing to someone. I have also determined each day this month to voice what I am thankful for. I have been using Facebook for this interaction. Whether we realize it or not every day holds special moments that we should be thankful for. Lots of times it is easy to be discouraged with everything we have going downhill in our lives but finding the beautiful moments in each day helps to lift our spirits. It does for me anyway. November has settled in very well here in the Smokies. We are having some very cool nights and sitting by the fire-pit is one of our favorite activities. The leaves put on a spectacular show this year. Now they are on the "falling" side of Fall. The girls and I have been taking some nature walks the past few weeks. I will be posting about those on my homeschool blog , Wisdom House Homeschool. I'm still not sure what our Thanksgiving plans will be this year. What are your plans for turkey day?

Wreath Remodel

Today I took an old wreath and decorated it for the July 4th holiday. I found the sheer ribbons and the bow at the Dollar Tree. I took the bow apart so that the stars and thin ribbons could be used on another part of the wreath. The sign was a gift from Rooosie. She got it at the Dollar Tree too. She marked out the A in America because we always redneck the word to Merica around here. We goof around a lot like that :) The sunflowers I've had for a while so I just tucked them in. I think it made a cute addition to the kitchen.