It's a Hereditary Thing

Some people would say being late is a terrible thing. I say not always.

We opened our mailbox last week to this flood of cards.  It made us smile and made our week!!  Oh' and aren't my hydrangeas beautiful.  Fluffy cotton candy balls of nature.

What was it all about?  It was like a party in our mailbox.  We had birthday cards for me, birthday cards for Neil and even a Mother's Day card for me!!  Wow - it was like a wave of love pouring out of our box and into our hearts.  All thanks to the best sister ever and my wonderful nieces & nephews. Ahhh....the love.  Nothing, I mean nothing, means more than family.

Yes, our birthdays were in April and Mother's Day had passed, but that's okay because my family rarely gets their cards from me on time either.  I always tell them when the party's over, mine arrives just to make it last longer.

My mom used to get so aggravated with my daddy for running late.  I've been that same way ever since I can remember. Joni's better than me, but these cards are proof that it's hereditary.

Oh' and don't give me that old adage, that it's disrespectful to others.  It's not intentional, and if you think I'm slighting you then you're just being a little too self-centered, because it has nothing to do with you at all - it's hereditary. :)

Love and hugs y'all...

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

~ John 13:34

Flowers Delivered by The Bouqs - #MothersDay

Disclosure:  Todays beautiful post is sponsored by The Bouqs who provided flowers to facilitate my review. As always all opinions are 100% my own.

Woop-Woop, here it is, day 6 of our Mother's Day Gift Guide. Where did the time go? Wow, it's been a busy week.  Maybe we can make it better with flowers from The Bouqs!

BTW - How many of the giveaways in our gift guide have you entered? You should be saying 5 right now and working on your 6th.  Even more if you entered over at Mamawj's Moment Away too!

Today we're talking about one of my favorite things - FLOWERS!  Everyone who knows me, knows that there are few things I love more than flowers and furry animals but we'll save the fur babies for another day.

I can grow flowers all year long, but cutting them for myself and having some delivered fresh to my door are two different things.  Having flowers sent to you, just makes you feel special, more beautiful, more loved and happy in general. Have you ever seen anyone get flowers and have a frown on their face?  I don't think so.

When the folks at The Bouqs offered to send flowers for me to review I was happy to say yes.  I'd heard about The Bouqs Co. before, the name wasn't new to me.  As a matter of fact the founder of The Bouqs, John Tabis was on The Shark Tank tonight!

What makes The Bouqs different?

The Bouqs works by sending flowers directly from partner farms in Ecuador directly to shoppers in the United States without the involvement of a middleman.  They only cut what they sell.  What does that mean for you?

1. Faster shipments
2. Fresher Flowers
3. Better prices!!!  

They uniquely have a flat rate price.  That means you don't pay shipping or any special handling charges. It's a simple concept that works with 3 pricing structures.

The Bouqs ordering process was the simple and easy.  I'd go as far as to say it's the simplest I've ever used.  My flowers are on their way so I can't show you my bouquet today but I'll be posting a picture and more of my thoughts as soon as they arrive.  Julie and I wanted to be sure to share this with all our readers on our Mother's Day Gift Guide.

If you'd like to order flowers you can visit The Bouqs website here: https://www.thebouqs.com/

Win It

Now's the chance for you to win your very own bouquet of The Bouqs flowers.  Julie & I will be choosing one winner between our blogs.  All you need to do is enter with the easy giveaway form below.

Once you enter be sure to head over to the Mother's Day Gift Guide Schedule and enter the other giveaways we've put up all week long.  But remember, we're not through yet! We have one more giveaway for tomorrow - how's something sweet sound?  hint-hint...

Entry-Form

Sunshine & hugs y'all...

Consider how the wild flowers grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

~ Luke 12:27

Those Moments That Mean The Most

Today's post is a catch-up post.  I never shared how special my birthday was this year (way back in April).  It was the first year that I was ever able to spend my birthday with my grandchildren.  I like looking at the picture of half eaten birthday cake because it reminds me of the beauty of having family to enjoy it with.  These are things that mean so much.

A surprise I never could have expected.  My grandson Zach, who has the most sensitive heart wanted to serenade me with a special song on the viola.  Oh' how I love this child with his special heart!

A birthday gift of earring sent from my sweet, sweet friend Julie @ Mamawj's Moment Away.

She made them just for me and I love her so much for being so thoughtful.  She's a talented gal with a love of crafting.  You can visit her HERE.

As you grow older you come to realize that the special memories you have came from the everyday moments of your life.  I hope you're not walking around this week with your eyes wide shut.  You don't want to miss them.

OX's...Tracy

It's Been A Busy Month of Kittens, A Birthday and Surgery

I've completely destroyed the house.  Sorry but I don't have the guts to show that picture. 

Kitty, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty.....

Source: etsy.com via Denise on Pinterest

Source: ihatemyacne.com via Natasha on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Denise on Pinterest

Yep, we've got 5 new kitties and a mama in the house.  Try adding that to a house that already has a dog and a cat.  Nope, the above picture is not of my new temporary kitties.

Source: etsy.com via Denise on Pinterest

Those precious kitties were found late in the afternoon on the 13th.  Only half a day before my birthday.  I can consider that a birthday present can't I?
Then I spent 2 days cleaning up the mess I'd made in my house.  I felt like I was about to give birth.  I had that huge, nesting burst of energy.  So I did lots of dusting, vacuuming, washing, and trying to make everything that I have spread out over the house generally better.  Tip - that's not really possible when you've started a half a house job, of prepping walls to paint but get surprised by surgery.  But it's clean - sort of. 

I even managed to get a new rose bush planted and a tomato bush as well as transplanted some plants and raked up about 8 wheel barrels full of leaves. 

My feet have been hurting since November.  I finally saw the specialist on the 11th and he said we need to do surgery the next Wed.  Knock me over with a feather.  Two feet - Four Places - All At One Time. EEKKK!

The most fun part had to be getting there at 9:30 for an 11:30 surgery only to have to wait until about 2pm to go back to get ready.  Then they decided they needed monitor me for an hour and to consult with others about my others about my heart before going through with it.  No food, tired, not real happy.  Surgery got underway around 4 and I got home close to 7pm.  We were both exhausted by then.  Why did I even need to go the day before? 

Now my feet look similar to the ones below without the heel attached.  Does Givenchy really call this fashion? 

Source: breakfastatsaks.blogspot.com via Emmanuelle on Pinterest

These Givenchy heels don't look much bettered than my bandaged feet but.  I can't image buying these, especially at Givenchy prices.  I'd be more than happy to get rid of mine.  From looking at the above photo, I'm pretty sure the model on the right isn't a foot model but what do I know...

We did pause in the middle of my home destruction to go over to my cousin's house and hang new sheet rock in his kitchen several days.  He's a lot of fun to be around and he's always eager to help us when we need it.  Even in the middle of his construction zone he baked a wonderful ham for Easter and hosted a nice outdoor diner.  We've always been more like brother and sister than cousins.  There were just 4 of us but it made the day so special being together.

Now that you know what I've been up to.  What's been going on with you?

Hugs...Tracy ♥

MARTHA STEWART CRAFTS GIVEAWAY

TINY PARTY IN A BOX!!!!!!

I've been wanting to have my first giveaway and just look at this cute kit that I found. It seems like all of August we were celebrating birthdays in our family. Luckily September gives us a break because in October my niece Stephanie and my granddaught Ki'a have birthdays.

So in honor of Kia's 7th birthday coming one month from today I'm giving away Martha Stewart's "Tiny Party In A Box Kit". This kit contains coordinating elements for a pint-sized party. Beginning with a tiny invitation and ending with little favor boxes that you can fill with miniature gifts, everything is tiny about this party except the fun. Add to the tiny theme by serving bite size finger foods.

To enter, just leave a comment and please be sure I have a way to get in touch with you if you don't have a blog. If you would like a second chance to win, post about this giveaway on your blog and leave another comments saying you posted it. This will run until Sept 31, 2009 at midnight and the winner will be announced on October 1st.

This is my first giveaway so if I forgot anything please let me know. I'm always happy to get tips and ideas from readers. Have fun....Tracy

Blocks, Tags, Swaps & Friends

Busy fun, don't you enjoy that. I'd much rather be tired from busy fun than the usual house work, errand running work. Click here http://creativebreathing.blogspot.com/2009/08/lucky-13.html#links to take a look at the ewwwy/ahhhy cute block that Elizabeth from Creative Breathing sent me.

This is the front of the block - don't you just love it!

Here's the back - she leaves nothing missing.

She is the most creative person. If you haven't checked out her blog yet I highly encourage you to, you want be disappointed. Plan to stay awhile there are tons of older post to see. You'll be hooked! I'm surprised she hasn't already been published, not only for her creative designs but for her writing. You know how they have little one page stories in the back of Southern Living - she has so many and they are so relaxing to read. I go there every day.


This was the first time I've ever created a block and I had so much fun I couldn't stop. These are the two I sent Elizabeth.

First one I made

Here's number two that I sent Elizabeth

I'm addicted, I couldn't quit. Here's the one I made for my sister Joni's birthday. This is Sally from the Dick and Jane readers that we read in school. She reminded me so much of Joni. The first thing Joni said was "Mom used to fix my hair just like that". I even remember her wearing cute little dresses like that.

I'll be back to post more photos from the tags swaps later. Do you like to make blocks? Please share your comments (which I love) and photos with me. By the way I've got some blog questions since I'm relatively new to all this. If anybody can offer any help, please let me know. They're just general questions about posts, tags, sidebar, etc... Thanks ya'll...Tracy