Daddy I Miss You - Son I love You - Happy Fathers Day

When it comes to dads we all think we had the best.  I have to tell you, in my eyes and heart I know I had the best.  I honestly couldn't imagine a better dad.  No father could make his girls feel more loved every single day of their lives than our daddy did.

Our daddy had personality plus.  He never knew a stranger and anyone who met him felt happier after talking to him.  He'd give you the last penny in his pocket, or all the time you needed.  Daddy was that guy!   The guy everyone knew and everyone liked.  He was well respected for being a good father and family man.  I miss my daddy every
day.  Rarely does one go by where I don't think about him.

Now on Father's Day I think of my own son as much as I do my daddy.  I'm proud of the father he's become too.  His children are just as crazy about their dad as my sister and I were about ours.  Happy Father's Day Ty.

Then there's Neil who loves Ty as if he was his own child and  is so proud of being a grandfather to Zach and Ki'a.  A father wants the best for his children. I love you for worrying and always wanting the best for them.

I love these 3 men more than words can say.

Hugs Y'all...

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

~Psalm 103:13

Thanksgiving Memories Get Packed Away

It's time to pack another fall away.

I'm going to miss this sweet little Indian with the cherub face.

Christmas season is in full swing.  The calendar didn't allow any wiggle room this year with Thanksgiving day falling so late.

As I pack away the last of the subtle shades of November, I realize that my appreciation of the celebration as grown with age.

Thanksgiving and it's muted colors, give us a chance to rest our eyes between the electric colors of Halloween and the bright and sparkly colors that ring out with Christmas.  It's a chance to pause and give thanks for all that we have in our lives, for family here and far away. It's a season that I can fully appreciate now and I'm thankful that I've learned to reflect and enjoy it's peace.

Our Thanksgiving didn't go exactly as planned.  One family member had car troubles, so Laken and her family couldn't make it but I was so glad to have my cousin Greg join us.

The turkey was done early, before 12 and dinner was right on track.  The three of us went for a nice walk to enjoy the unusually crisp weather until time to start the next dish.  We were welcomed back to a house that was filled with the smells of turkey, Southern cornbread stuffing, and sweet potato and green bean casseroles.

Time to prepare the deviled eggs and creamed corn.  That's when it happened.  I had already felt it coming on.  As I rushed to the bathroom, I knew right then I was done.  I had tried to push on through the day but that was it.  I was SICK...

With my recipes on the counter, my dear Greg was left to finish dinner all by himself. He did a great job I hear.  I say hear because that's all I know about it.  I never did get to eat. I passed out on the couch with a rag on my forehead and slept for hours.  My cousin Bobbie came by and I was rested enough to get to enjoy her for a bit of a visit too.  There's nothing like the sweet hugs of a mama to make you feel better, even when it's not your mama.

My dessert plates sat untouched because everyone was too stuffed to dig into the delicious pumpkin pies Greg brought but we kept a little for Neil and sent the rest home with the family.

Thanksgiving's been over for 4 days now and I'm still on my "diet", i.e...to sick to eat, but I can savor the thought that we were blessed to be with family and have Thanksgiving this year.

I hope your Thanksgiving was spent with family, friends or loved ones, hopefully all three.

I made the Thanksgiving jar candleholders a few years back. You can see that post here. 

Let the Christmas festivities begin y'all...

Family Holidays and Great Giveaways

Well it took me a while but I'm back with a new give away for you. This time I'm hosting. I know I was going to post this a week or so ago but well you know how life gets in the way, it's demanding like that.

With fall and Thanksgiving in mind I put together a few items for you. It includes 3 fabric pumpkins that I made (which was fun and easy), there is also an adorable scarecrow box, a Give Thanks door banner with hanger and a couple of fall kitchen towels. I hope it helps ready your house for the gathering of friends and family. The giveaway is opened through Wednesday midnight November 11, 2009. I will draw the winner on Thursday November 12th. Because of the size and weight I will only be able to ship this inside the continental United States. If you live outside the United States and would still like to enter, I could ship you the banner and kitchen towels since they would fit in an envelope.

I have to tell you this giveaway is a little self serving (okay, a lot). I've had a store in ebay for quite sometime and it's mostly vintage items. Ebay has gotten so expensive that I'm just ready to get rid of it. I have a lot of stuff there. I've recently marked things down and could use some help clearing this place out. So if you can take a peek. You never know you might find something you like. In return I will be happy to give you an extra "6" entries into this fall giveaway.

Hopefully this will be the first step to opening an etsy store. Yeah!! But please make sure you enter whether you check ebay out or not. Thank you all for indulging me and my self promoting ways.

This time I'm offering you 4 ways to enter. Here are the simple rules:

1 entry- for each comment left throughout the event.
2 (extra) entries - for signing up as a follower.
4 (extra) entries - post to your sidebar... the giveaway, picture, with a link, to Cotton Pickin Cute(let me know with a comment).
6 (extra) entries - for any purchase made from my ebay store north-florida. Just click here to go to my store. (Be sure to post a comment and let me know if you purchase so you can get the extra entries)

GOOD LUCK MY FRIENDS!!!

Best of luck and Happy Thanksgiving to all....Tracy