Surprise Birthday Party

Last Saturday we pulled off the party of the century! After many white lies and subterfuge, we managed to surprise my Mom for her 70th birthday. We had almost 60 of her friends and family at our house.  I still can't believe that she didn't know about it.

And to top it all off, 2 of her brothers and their wives, her sister and her husband and her cousin all flew in from South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia! We let her friends surprise her first, then at 10 minute intervals the family started ringing the bell.  She was surprised enough by the party, but when her family started arriving it was truly spectacular!!! Lots of tears of joy!

 We have lots to share from the party starting with this awesome

Martha Stewart inspired photo collage.

First we cut out the numbers from foam core board. Then printed out black and white photos and hot glued them on to the letters. 

The backdrop was about 3 yards of $1 a yard fabric from Walmart.  We cut 2 inch strips and tied them on to a tension rod.  The rod fit nicely into the art niche near our front door.  You could also use command hooks to hang it on a wall.  The numbers were hung from the rod with fishing line.

We had such a great time at the party and I'm so grateful to everyone for making my wonderful Mom's Birthday such a fabulous day!

Happy Birthday to the best Mom, Grandma, Great-Grandma, Sister, Aunt, and Cousin in the world!  We love you more than you will ever know.

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Sand and Sea Wreath

So it seems that August is all about Wreaths for us! But, who cares? You can never have enough wreaths - can you? (Please don't ask my hubby that question since all of our closets have wreaths stuffed in them and they are taking over the back wall of our garage too!)

We love the beach and I have shells from quite a few family trips over the years and thought that our mantle needed a makeover......and a new wreath!

I have to take our wreath photos outside since it is so hard to get good pictures in our living room.

 All the supplies came from Hobby Lobby, including the cool, sea weed looking greenery.  It was actually a garland (on sale last week!) that I cut pieces off of.  Doesn't it look just like sea weed? And the wreath has a such beautiful variations of color and reminds me of driftwood.  The sand dollars came from a trip we made to Charleston in 2004 and the starfish came from Hobby Lobby. I love having the sand dollars in the wreath to remind me finding them in surf and of all the fun we had on that vacation.

"When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, cleanses me with its noise, and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused."       — Rainer Maria Rilke

I have so many great memories of the seashore and love the way I feel when we are there.  Do you have a favorite vacation spot?  Hope you were able to visit your favorite place this year!

We will share more of our Beach inspired mantel next week, including our sand dollar garland! 

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

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Hoot, Hoot! Halloween is on the way!

Finally!! We've been waiting and waiting and waiting.... Since November 1st last year, as a matter of fact!

Ok, slight exaggeration, but we have been on the look out for Halloween decorations at our favorite store - HomeGoods.  And guess what?  We made a trip over there on Saturday and Halloween is here!!!

This was our first score for $9.99 - a Halloween Count Down sign - isn't it cute?

I know I could have made one but this one is adorable and the wheels move to count down the days.  By the time I figured out how to make the numbers appear in the little windows it would have been Christmas!

Mom (Leigh's Grandma) just had to buy this one for me - said it was for my Birthday in November.  It was only $6.99 !!! I love the vintage page background and the letters are glittered too for extra shine and sparkle!

Here are a couple of other items that we saw there - 

Leigh just loves trying on hats! Poor thing, though! She belongs to the FAT HEAD Family and they never fit her.  She gets it honestly from me and her Grandma, bless her heart!

Our only complaint for HomeGoods is that they only have one measly shelf for Halloween this year.  But, it is early, so maybe they will increase the selection.  PLEASE????  Mr. HomeGood Buyer - buy more Halloween stuff!!!

We are already working on our party plan for this year.  We are going with a Wizard of Oz costume theme.  I will be the Wicked Witch, Leigh is Glinda the Good Witch, her Dad will be the Tin Man and her bff is going to be Dorothy.  In fact, Christine has already made the ruby slippers!

Aren't they amazing!! We are going to have such a great time! Just can't wait.

Have you started planning for Halloween yet?  Let us know what your plans are.

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Summery Sunflower and Burlap Wreath

Hello friends! Can't believe it's been 2 weeks since our last post.  We were out of town this past week to see my sweet Grandmother and Leigh's Great-Grandma laid to rest.  We were with her in June to celebrate her 90th birthday and what a blessing it was that we could all be together one last time.

When we got back this week, I decided that it was time to take down the July 4th wreath and replace it with something in honor of Grandma Rhodes.

Sunflowers for her sunny disposition and a cross for her unwavering faith in God.

Here is our last family picture with Grandma.

June 8, 2013

                                                "When We All Get To Heaven"

Sing the wondrous love of Jesus;
Sing his mercy and his grace.
In the mansions bright and blessed
He'll prepare for us a place.

While we walk the pilgrim pathway
Clouds will overspread the sky
But when travlin days are over
Not a shadow not a sigh

When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!

Onward to the prize before us!
Soon his beauty we'll behold;
Soon the pearly gates will open;
We shall tread the streets of gold.

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