Belated b-day gifts and new addition...

Nonie received her package of goodies yesterday so I can finally post pictures of the homemade items I sent to her. Here is a cute little canvas I painted with her initial on it.

This one is with the flash

This one is without.

I also painted a set of 6 cards and envelopes for her then tied them up with a pretty bow.

I tried using my Papier paints that are made for paper but I did NOT like them. They were "chunky" and hard to use and I didn't have the colors I needed. I ended up using regular Folkart Acrylic paint and it worked well.

~

Stay tuned for the next post to learn about the new member of our family as of yesterday! I'm trying to encourage more comments so I'll post pics and stats after I get 8 comments, a record for my blog! I have lots of lurkers and wonderful friends that stop by, please leave me a comment to say hi or let me know what you think about my post! I'd love to hear from you!

Hope you have a great weekend! Hugs ~ Kim

Happy Birthday to me!

Wow, 49 years young today! It's hard to comprehend but the years seem to get closer and closer together. Last Thursday I decided to go back closer to my natural hair color, less the gray. However, it came out a LOT darker than anticipated. I've had several days to get used to it but I'm liking it better each day. We'll see if I keep it that way.

I had a GREAT b-day. I had to work but was treated a like a queen with lunch with my friends/co-workers then cake (not looking forward to WW this week) and gifts! I left early to go to the doctor with Wayne and run some errands. Wayne's co-ed softball team had their first game tonight so we all went, except Ashley who had to work, and had a great time. We got an unexpected win 14-13 also! They played GREAT! Then all of the kids came over and they along with Wayne showered me with gifts!

Ok, are you ready for this? Between friends and family I received money or gift certificates to take 12 painting classes and $125.00 in Hobby Lobby gift cards among other great gifts like DVDs, CDs, toiletries, etc. I'm so excited.

Here are some pictures from tonight's celebration.

One of my MANY painting class gift certificates!

Cute Stepher with my cake!

Me and Jody!

Me with our kids and 3 of our doggies!

Not sure what Wayne and Jasmine are doing in this picture but cute anyway!

Thanks to everyone who left me sent me an e-card, left me a voice-mail, snail-mailed a card, sent me an e-mail, called me, sang HB to me, gave me a b-day hug, left a comment on my blog or even thought about me today. I love you all and am so thankful for another year and such a blessed life! Hugs ~ Kim

Inspirational Book & LOTS of Painting

I am NOT a big reader. I love to have some quiet time with no one else around and read but it just doesn't happen too often. I get distracted too easily if there is activity going on, which there usually is, so I just don't read. Well, I'm trying to overcome this and MAKE time, by myself, and read. Thus, as God is in control, I received an automatic shipment from a Christian Book club because I apparently hadn't responded to their every 3-wk mailing. Honestly, I only joined because there were a couple of books I wanted for reference. I took it as a sign from God that He wanted me to read these books. The one I started this week is by Philip Carlson, "You Were Made for Love".

It is about enbracing the life you were meant to live, according to the summary. In the very first chapter the author uses his 2-year-old son in an illustration where they were on an outing and his child wandered in front of him to explore the world around him. The child looks back every 30 seconds or so to get a glimpse of his Dad to be sure he's still there, then wanders again. At one point the child wandered far enough that when he looked back and didn't see his Dad and became distressed and scared. His Dad raised his hands so his child could see him. Once he saw his Dad was close by after all, he went on to play. The truth is, his Dad was there the entire time, never taking his eyes off of him, caring and protecting him. This is often how we are with our walk with God. Though at certain times in our life we stray and can't seem to find God, in reality He is ALWAYS there, always faithful, loving us refusing to give up on us and persistent in his pursuit of us. I will keep you posted on the book but I'm sure it will be yet another blessing from God.

I've been doing a lot of painting so let me share what I've been up to.

I'm not crazy out the way the birdbath is turning out so I haven't finished it yet but I've had serveral people ask about it so here it is so far.

I'm not sure what else I'm going to add to the "saucer" part of the birdbath.

I think the next one I make is going to be taller. This is just too short for my liking. It's been fun to work on though. I guess I'll finish it soon and post the final product.

I also painted 2 seascapes, at the same time. One to replace mine that I gave to my Mom and the other is for Ashley's boyfriend, Brandon, for his birthday. Here is what I did the first night...

Here are the finished canvases (sp?)...

Several of you have heard that our pastor and his wife lost their baby a little over a week ago. It has devastated their family since this is the second baby they've lost in 2 years. I felt inspired to paint this tray for them... My heart just aches for them and they continue to be in my prayers. I had a class last week with Sandy (I was her only student and we had a GREAT time) and painted Tiger Lillies. Isn't it pretty??? A very dear friend, as a matter of fact the very first friend we met when we moved here, retired Thursday, and I wanted to give him something special. I knew he wouldn't appreciate flowers so when I saw this picture I decided to try to paint it on a welcome sign for him. It took me about an hour and a half to do it but I was pretty pleased with the outcome. I also painted this tray for his sweet wife, Deb. I told Jim that he needed to fix her breakfast and take it to her in bed for putting up with him. It was all in good fun and I will miss seeing him everyday. I also painted one other canvas that I can't share with you yet because it is for my dear, sweet, friend, Nonie. She reads my blog faithfully so I don't want to spoil the surprise. I'll mail it to her on Tuesday so once she receives it, I'll post a picture.

I've also been tagged by Sandy. It's called the name game, and here are the rules for those that choose to follow them: Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog. So, here goes... (LYN-yes it only has 1 "n")

L~Loves life which includes God, Family, Friends and Country. Y~Young at heart (not as young as I used to be but enjoying where I am in my journey!) N~Never takes anything for granted! Okay everyone else has been tagged by this so I'm only going to choose one: I'm tagging my sweet daughter, Stephanie I guess this means she'll "finally have to update" for a 3rd time! She hasn't updated since June 24th so go by and leave her a comment and ask her to update!!!! Love you, Stepher!!!!! I hope you all have a wonderful day! Hugs ~ Kim

WRALL wins World Series Championship!!!!

Okay, if you live in Georgia or anywhere in the southeast United States you've probably heard by now that for the second year in a row, a Georgia team has won the Little League World Series. For our not so big town, this is REALLY, REALLY big! These 11 & 12 year old boys not only played an amazing defensive and offensive game, they are a class act. If you didn't get to watch them play, you missed a blessing! They showed sportsmanship that would make any parent and coach proud. We know many of these boys and their families and it was an honor to watch them play and even more enjoyable when they won and did it so graciously!

This is a beautiful photo of Dalton Carriker praying before he got up to bat when he hit his walk-off homerun to win the game. The team manager and two of the boys on the team attend our church. I'm telling you they are all just GREAT young men.

One of the most impressive things they did was after they won and celebrated a moment or two some of our boys noticed the Japanese team members crying on the field. Our boys tapped each other on the shoulder and they all ran out to the boys from Japan (who lost for the 2nd year in a row at the championship game level) and hugged them. It was so touching and I was so proud I couldn't stand it.

The boys flew in to Atlanta tonight and as you can see from the picture I took below, we were all there to greet our home-town heros. They even had a police escort from Atlanta all the way home! It was a hot and extremely humid, muggy night but the rain held out for us and it was an honor to be part of the community support for these great athletes! They set a wonderful example for others to follow and they should be proud. I KNOW I AM!

I have lots to post but had to dedicate a post to our boys! Go WRALL!!! ~ Hugs ~ Kim

Painting, Miles and Passion...

I thought I'd post of few things I painted this weekend and so you the start of something else I started working on. First of all Steph had an order from work for a welcome sign with sunflowers but has been so busy she hasn't been able to get to my house to paint it. She called me desperately requesting that I paint it for her. She does a beautiful job on her sunflowers so I hoped I could do one that was as good as hers. I even signed her initials before spraying it with acrylic because I wasn't sure if her friend expected her to paint it or not. She told me later that it would have been ok for me to put mine. Oh well, I had fun painting it.

Without flash...

...with flash.

I painted this apron to wear to my painting class on Saturday. I have gotten just a little bit of paint on nearly everything I own so I decided that I needed something to paint on consistently. I wanted it big and bold so when I got paint on it, it would show too much. Well, I certainly got big and bold. It's a nice apron with 3 pockets. Here is the Calla Lily picture frame I painted in class. I struggled with it at first but was diligent and pretty happy with the outcome. I decided to put a picture of me at 1 year old with my beloved great-grandmother whom I lovingly called "Memomer Partridge". She babysat me a LOT when I was a baby and a young child. She passed away when I was 16 years old so I knew her very well and have so many wonderful memories of times spent with her. She would always make me my favorite, "Chicky and noodles". I also remember taking a baths at her house in her vintage claw-foot tub. She'd also play with me hours on end making tents and reading books in them. She had the most gorgeous hair and she'd let me brush it for her. She was a special woman in my life and I miss her dearly.

One of my coworkers asked me to make a sign for her Mom to put on her door at her nursing home. So, I painted this tonight. I love the colors and the yellow is beautiful against the green. This is without the flash...

...this is with the flash.

Here is my latest project. This is going to be a birdbath...hopefully!

As you can see, they are tera cotta pots and a saucer.

I painted all three pieces with Wicker White Outdoor paint.

The same lady that wanted the Sunflower Welcome Sign wants a birdbath with Sunflowers also. I believe Steph said they are wedding gifts. I'm excited to see how these come out! Check back to see the work in progress. I hope to be able to work on it some this week but I'll have to see how my week progresses.

I feel compelled to mention the loss of a wonderful young man, Miles Alpern Levin. He was diagnosed with a rare form of pediatric cancer just over 2 years ago and the Lord called him home early this morning. He was only 18 years old but in those few short years and especially in the last 2 years of his life since his cancer diagnosis, he made a huge impact on thousands of lives. Those who had the joy of meeting Miles in person received a special gift but even those, like me, who just knew of Miles through his Care Page, his CNN interviews and other public appearances, were touched. He showed great courage, strength, insight and decided no matter how long he had left on earth he wanted to make a difference in the lives of others and he did!

There is a comment on his page that links to a beautiful powerpoint presentation, What WILL Matter. If you have a few minutes, please take the time to watch. It is at the very least thought-provoking.

~

Steph, Brian and I taking a "Network" class on Spiritual Gifts at Lifepoint in the spring. Due to some conflicts with the facilitator and other extenuating circumstances we finally had our follow-up meeting today after church. I'm going to try to meet with Brother Joe this week about starting a ministry that allows me to focus on my spiritual gifts of Mercy, Helps, Encouragement & Craftsmanship along with my passion for the elderly. Our church is so young (4 years) and has a fairly young congregation so that is an area of ministry that hasn't been looked at a whole lot. There are a lot of areas we discussed today where we can serve God and serve others and I am so excited about this opportunity. My passion for the elderly stems from knowing all of my grandparents and 3 of my great-grandparents. The elderly are so wise and so often neglected. Our world has become so fast-paced and busy that we forget what is important. I'm hoping to help change that in our community. Take care and stay tuned for updates on this ministry as well as more painting and family updates. Hugs ~ Kim

Tennessee . . .

I'm finally posting about our trip to Tennessee. We had a GREAT time and it was so relaxing. At the last minute we decided to take Bryant. He was very good and really enjoyed himself. We saw our friends, Paul, Tracy & their daughter, Katie. Wayne and I have known them for over 20 years and worked with both of them way back when. They moved from Georgia 10 years ago and it's taken us that long to make our way up to see them. Franklin, TN is rich in Civil War history which is one of Wayne's passions.

Here we are in their front yard before going to our first stop of the day. I really enjoyed spending the weekend with Katie.

She is so grown up and such a beautiful young lady.

She's very athletic and plays on a volleyball team and is a cheerleader for the high school.

It was SO HOT. We were hoping to get some relief from the heat but it was 100 degrees there too which is not normal! Here are the guys trying to locate something at Ft. Granger while while the girls "vegged" in the shade!

We had lunch at the Mellow Mushrom and I was intrigued with the painted brick. I wouldn't have thought of doing that but it looked really cool!

After lunch we visited the Carnton Plantation which was also used as a make-shift hospital during the war. We had a historian take us through in small groups and went in to great detail about the furnishings, some original, some period pieces, some replicas; out buildings; details of significant events that happened in each room as recorded in diaries and various other documentation. This is the front.

Here is the back porch of the Carnton Plantation. This is VERY rich in history and standing on the soil and in this home it is hard to believe that less than 150 years ago hundreds lost their lives in that very spot defending their beliefs.

The Carnton Plantation had one of the most beautiful and diverse Gardens that I've ever seen. It had a huge Grape Arbor that lined the back fence.

When you walked through the arbor the smell from all of the clusters of grapes was so strong that it made your mouth water. There were clusters of grapes EVERYWHERE! I thought this was interesting because there are so many colors on one cluster.

The butterflies loved the grapes too.

Does anyone know the name of this flower? It was so unusual that I had to take a picture.

Adjacent to the Carnton Plantation is the cemetery where 1496 Confederates are buried.

I LOVE this picture that I took of our friends while we were at the cemetery.

Wayne and Paul also visited the Carter House which is another Civil War site while the rest of us went downtown shopping. Bryant probably wished he'd have gone with the guys! The only thing I purchased was a new Christmas Ornament. I collect ornaments from the different places we've visited. I didn't start this until later in life but I love pulling out my ornaments each year and recalling the memories that are attached to that keepsake.

Paul & Tracy live in a neighborhood that has a HUGE pool, a tennis court, picnic area and pond. It is right across the street from their house.

We walked over there several times during our visit.

The fish were small but they were plentiful. Bryant would put his baited hook in the pond and 10 seconds later he'd have a fish! Of course we let all of them go but it was good fun.

Wayne and Bryant enjoying the slide at the pool.

Paul with their Miniature Pincher, Drifter. He was the most lovable dog. He would literally jump into my lap and "hug" me. You might recognize my painting in the background. I took all of my framed paintings, that I haven't given away, and let Tracy pick one for her birthday that was in June. She chose my Hibiscus with the "Cayman Blue" background. I loved that painting and had so much fun doing it but I can't think of a better person to "adopt" it.

Paul and I got up earlier than the others in the house each morning and shared coffee and conversation. Our first morning there, Friday, we talked about many things going on in our lives and among them was church. I told him that we had been attending a new church since February of this year and how it had changed our lives. He told me that they had been attending a local church most Sundays that sounded similar to our church and asked if I'd like to go. I was so-o-o excited since I knew I would really miss Sunday at our church. We worshipped through singing with their Praise band and were moved by a wonderful message about the "labels" that we often wear like guilt.

He reminded us that God's will is NOT for us to carry around guilt. If God punished us for our sins then what Christ did for us on the cross didn't count.

"Don't feel guilty about feeling guilty. "

• Conviction makes you come to God.
• Guilt makes you run from God.

He then quoted something from Max Lucado:

"If God had a refrigerator your picture would be on it in Heaven!"

Check back on Thursday night to find out how I did at Weight Watchers. I promise not to sleep through the meeting this week! Hugs ~ Kim