Yesterday I had the sweet priviledge of hosting a bridal shower at my home for Danielle.  She is the daughter of my dear friend Patty.   There were 7 other hostesses who helped.  It was a sweet day for us all as we have watched Danielle grow up and have loved her since the beginning.

It was a beautiful day and our guests meandered about the house and out to the pool area during the party.  After the shower we hostesses posed for this picture.  BACK: Rhonda, Danielle, Tina, Christy…FRONT:  Tonja, Joy, Kimberly, Susanna…and Pamela was unable to attend due to illness.

Months back, sweet Danielle asked me to direct her wedding and do the decorating.  We have met together and planned this…threw it out…planned that…threw it out…then planned the other and it’s all coming together very nicely. I so love this dear girl and am so delighted to be playing a part in this wonderful time in her life.  Isn’t she a beauty?

My sweet friend Tina came over and helped me get ready on Friday and again on Saturday morning.   I don’t know if I would have been ready in time without her.  [WAIT!  Yes, I do know…I would NOT have been ready without her!  Thanks, Tina!]  We worked and reworked the table and finally, we were pleased.  This is similar to how we will decorate for the outdoor wedding……. so ‘rustic’ instead of ‘fancy’ was the style Danielle decided on.  Here are some pics of the table…

…Love birds….

….This is the ‘farrier box’ (below)  I bought while I was in Birmingham with Ian.  Works great! (A farrier box is a blacksmith’s tool box.  He used it to carry horse shoes and nails when he visited farms to shoe their horses).  I learned that from the shopkeeper…

….The mantle…and the letters ‘D’ and a ‘Z’ for Danielle and Zach…

…..I put out a few pieces of my mercury glass on the buffet…

Here is Danielle, opening a few gifts. We displayed them across the bed, so the guests could see all the wonderful things she had recieved.   Isn’t this the cutest pattern on the dishes she chose?  I suggested she just leave those for me…but, she just laughed and kept on walking!  Can you imagine?

And, here is the bride-to-be, Danielle, and her mother, Patty…

I’ll share some more on the party next post!  I’ve got a lot more photos!

Yesterday was a special day for our family.  Levi was able to participate in the Parent/Child Dedication at his church.  Suzanne and Adam attend a different Baptist Church than we do, so we went there for the service.  Suzanne’s parents and brother also attend there, so we met up with them all before the service.

All the children born in the last year were introduced to the congregation, as well as their parents

Even though Sweet Levi was up way past his bedtime…he did just fine.    But, thank goodness Adam had on a tie, because Levi was in a chewing mood and the tie fit the bill just fine.

The charge was made to the parents that they should rear their children with the teachings of the Bible as their guide.  They were encouraged to attend church and bring their children up in church.  They were charged to teach their child about God and His saving grace.  If they agreed, they said “We will.”  Then the charge was made to the congregation to be ready to assist these young families as needed with guidance,  encouragement and support.  They also said “We will.”  Then the pastor had a prayer asking God’s blessings on each child and his family and asking him to guard and protect them.  He prayed for wisdom for the parents as they raised their children in the knowledge of God.

Different denominations believe many things about infant baptism.  As Baptists, we believe that each person has to acknowledge his sins and lost condition and invite Jesus to forgive him and be the Lord of his life.  This, we believe, is the only way to eternal salvation…a personal decison between you and Jesus.  Therefore, this service was not a baptism or a christening, but rather an dedication of the child to be raised in the knowledge of God.  Some denominations have the belief that infant baptisim protects your child until he is old enough to make that decision for himself.  Baptists believe that God keeps all children safe unto Himself until they have reached their own age of accountability.   (This is in no way meant to say that you are not doing the right thing if you believe differently.  That is a personal decision and everyone has to decide for himself how best he can worship.  This is just the way we as Baptists believe.)

Then we, as the congregation, sang several children’s songs and the pastor brought a message on Godly Parenting.  It was a very nice service, and Don and I and Suzanne’s parents were very proud of our children and grandson.  We ended the evening with dinner out at a local steakhouse.  How blessed Sweet Levi is to have so many people who will love and care for him throughout his life.  He has parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, great aunts and uncles, and a great granddaddy!  As well as many friends who are as close as family. He will also have a church family that will become to mean so much to him as he matures.   These are blessings we do not take lightly.  It breaks my heart that there are so many, many children who do not have safe places to live or even safe people to care for them.  It is such a tragedy, in today’s world, that the safety and care of our children is not more of a concern.  So, we are very mindful of our blessings.

And, to Adam and Suzanne…always look to God for your guidance.  Levi came with an instruction book…the Holy Bible.  Love him, and enjoy him, and treasure him, and teach him.  Grow with him as you venture into parenting for the first time.  There’s lots of fun ahead…as well as tensions and frustrations.  But, you have plenty of help to guide you…help from above…and from both sets of your parents.  Remember, we are pros at the parenting thing, don’t you know?  Look at how well you two turned out!  Blessings, always to your new family.

I shared with you that I was going to Birmingham to spend the weekend with Ian.  His Christmas gift to me last year (2011) was tickets to the play “Wicked” and a CD of the cast album to be listening to so the music would be familiar.  This was the weekend and it was a blast…except for one teeny, tiny thing.  I left here early Friday morning and turned my car to the north.I knew the weather report was forecasting very unfavorable weather for the day…but before I left, I had a talk with Jesus and reminded Him about my dislike of driving in the rain, and asked “please, if I may be so bold, would you mind directing that rain either in front of me or behind me and not ON me while I’m driving.”  I mean, it’s not like He has the whole wide world to direct or anything!!!  And, I drove on, secure in the knowledge that He had heard my prayers.

And, it didn’t rain a drop on me all the way to Montgomery…100 miles or so.  I made it through that city, and even the tricky Interstate turn that always causes me a little concern, without any trouble.  BUT, a mile down the road…all of a sudden…things took a terrible turn.  Now, friends, I do like to overdo the adjectives occasionally, but I’m shooting straight here.  The rain that fell on me in those minutes, was like nothing I had ever driven in before.  First of all, I was speeding along at 65 mph…when suddenly, I was in a ‘white out’.  I’ve heard folks talk about a ‘white out’ where it snows…and there was so much rain falling, there was nothing else to see.  The sky was fairly light, not dark like you would expect.  I could not see anything.  Not even the lights of any other car.  It was the strangest feeling because I knew I had to keep driving…but there was nothing to navigate by.  I wasn’t singing, “Jesus, Take the Wheel”…but I was shouting, “God, Please Drive This Car”!  I fully expected to be in a major crash at any minute.  I didn’t even know what lane I was in.  And, then it stopped…as suddenly as it had started.  And the sky cleared up and the sun came out.  And, I lived through it!  But, I didn’t like it…not one little bit.  I guess you can try to avoid storms all you want to…but, some you just have to go through…and it helps to have a very reliable Co-Pilot!  (There could possibly be a sermon in there somewhere.)

After talking to Pop, and Joy, and Don, and Ian (who all had been watching the TV reports about the extremely severe weather around Montgomery) and assuring them all that I was fine, I arrived. {I talked on the car phone…it worked!  It was wonderful.  And, as far as I know, I didn’t mess up a thing!}.   I had my shopping itinerary all mapped out…so I set about my tasks.  To Homegoods, then to Anthropologie, and J Jill, and Pottery Barn and Talbots, and Belk and Macy’s.  Then I checked into the motel, and waited for Ian to get off work.  He picked me up and we went to a great place for delicious hand thrown pizza.  Then to the motel.  And, the huge, soft king-sized bed that I got to sleep right in the middle of! :).

Saturday dawned for me around 6:00, as is usual.  So, I quickly dressed and went downstairs to eat breakfast.  Then back upstairs to get back in bed for a little nap before facing the day!  Doesn’t that sound delicious?  Ian and I had made some tenttive plans, but I knew he would not raise his sleepy head before noon or so.  So, I made a quick call to tell him my plans…and out I went again.  In a few hours he called to tall me he was ready and I went and picked him up.  We visited a few quaint little antique shops in the area.  (Note the old tobacco baskets over the windows).

This shop was especially interesting and I scored a wonderful old blacksmith’s tool chest…with spaces for the horseshoes, and nails and mallets.  I was loving it, but Ian…not so much!  🙂  He’d had enough…so I dropped him off and went back to the motel to rest a little before the evening.  Our dinner reservation was for 5:30…the play started at 7:00.

He had chosen a wonderful restaurant in 5 Points called the Highland Grill…very fancy.  I had a wonderful grilled grouper over tiny new potatoes and sugar snap peas.  It was divine!  Ian had pork something and pork something else.  The pork something was very good…but the pork something else was gross!  It tasted like a big glob of bacon fat.  And, Ian thought it was wonderful!  When I cooked bacon as the boys were growing up…I always cooked a pound at a time…or else someone would go without.  That was before redi- cooked bacon, which I think is a marvelous invention.  But, I never served him bacon fat.  Of course, I was taught to use a big glob of bacon fat to season fresh vegetables…which made them taste absolutely wonderful.  But, when someone decided bacon fat clogged your arteries and then told the whole world about it…we had to stop doing it.  They do NOT taste as good, I tell you, no matter what you use to season or what anyone who ‘knows the right way to cook’ says.

Well, how did I get off on bacon fat? Oh, yeah, dinner.  And, then Ian insisted we have dessert.  It was wrong of him to push me like that.  He knows that I am a weak soul…unable to resist…when someone says ‘chocolate’.  And, that’s what the waiter said.  And, Ian said the calories wouldn’t count because I was out of town…and besides the ‘wicked witch’  in the play would probably scare them out of me.  And, “come on, Mom, it’s a special night…you’re out with your youngest son.”  And, I caved.  I confess to Weight Watchers that I had too many points.  It was as if something came over me and I had no control.  And, besides I’m not so good at math anyway…and there was no way for me to count up what I was eating…the waiter looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if he knew how many points the cake with 6 very thin, extremely moist layers iced with a thick chocolate ganache and covered over all with a divine dark chocolate fondant, had.  And so I ate.  And, I enjoyed.  And, I’d do it again.

On then to the civic center.  We learned as we got closer, and saw all these folks in shorts and straw hats and leis and Hawaiian shirts, and parrots on their shoulders or heads and already singing loudly, that Jimmy Buffett was doing a concert in the big arena at the same time Wicked was being performed in the theater.  Well, bless their hearts, they had taken over nearly all the parking spaces.  There were cars and limos and people walking everywhere.  It looked as if we were going to be in for a long haul to get to the theater IF we ever found a place to park.  And, that would not be a good thing for me.  But, Ian, being the resourceful lad that he is, decided that even though it LOOKED as if all the places were taken…surely somewhere in that area under the interstate, there HAD to be at least one space.  So, he pulled out of the line of traffic that was moving only inches at a time, and pulled into a full area that was fairly close to the door…and found ONE space hidden away and overlooked by the rest of the drivers.  We parked and made our way into the theater and found our seats.  Small blessings abound!

And, the play started.  Wicked is about the time before and after the Wizard of Oz.  Remember the movie?  Well, we learn WHY there is a Wicked Witch of the West and a Wicked Witch of the East.  We also learn why Glinda is the ‘Good Witch’.  And, then what happened after the demise of the Wicked Witch Sisters.  Those poor flying monkeys didn’t want to be bad.  You know, it was a funny show, wonderful music, and fine talented performers.  But, there was an undertone of civil unrest, and man’s inhumanity to man and animals.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved it, but I wanted to learn more about what the writers of the musical had in mind.  What exactly were they referencing?  What were they trying to say? I’ve done a little research on it, but I plan to do more.  If you are interested in the story at all, look up ‘Wicked’ on Wikipedia for a short synopsis and some interesting information.

Ian returned me to the hotel, and I got up the next morning and checked out of the motel and headed to Dothan.  I made a quick stop in Montgomery to pick up a birthday gift for Don.  He wants nothing, and needs nothing.  He doesn’t read the books I get him…the shirt and tie I gave him for Christmas are still in the box on his dresser…and he doesn’t appreciate tools like lazer levels.  So…since he does loves to eat, I stopped at World Market and filled a basket full of chips and dips and cheeses and cookies and crackers from their selection from around the world.  One more stop at Jo-Ann for a few supplies, then once more headed to home.  The last stop I made was at a big outlet type store that sells jeans and shoes and clothes.  I usually stop to shop for their wonderful selection of shoes.  But, today…all there was to choose from were yellow box flip flops, athletic shoes, or cowboy boots!!! So, my stop was short lived.  And, the next stop was in my garage.  Safe back at home!

Oh, what fun it all was.  I sang in the car to all the oldies on the radio…except when I was doing that praying in Montgomery!  I enjoyed the quiet of the drive, otherwise.  The motel was clean and had a wonderful bed!  I got too much shopping done, and got severals errands attended to.  I was treated to delicious meals, enjoyed the theater, and was escorted around town by the most handsome of all eligible batchelors in Birmingham!

What a blessed woman I am!

Thank you, Ian, for the weekend.  Thank you for planning it with me in mind.  Thank you for thinking of a gift that would be so throughly enjoyed, both during and long after.  I so appreciate the thoughtful gentleman that you are, and the way you handle yourself in all situations.  I thank God for your confidence in yourself, and I admire you for sticking to the principles that you were raised with and chose to be your own.  I cherish you and the joy you bring to our family.  I love you with all my heart.  More.

Well, it’s actually several days, but you’ll get the idea…

Breakfast time!  This baby loves his food!

Go on, Levi!  Pull out every toy and play with none!  It’s just more fun to crawl around and look for miniscule pieces of whatever on the floor!

Whatever it is…it’s an eyeful!

Pulling up on everything and taking a few steps.  This time and many, many times it’s LuLu.

Levi and his Valentine Mouse…who says ‘I Love You’ to his great delight!  Yes…he does look quite bored at the moment….but he loves it…really!

“How did I get under here?  And, how do I get out?”  (Really, it was so funny, cause he slid under so easily to get a ball, and he could not figure out how to get out…he kept hitting his head…not realizing he had to lower it to get out.  And every time I tried to help him…he’d get madder and madder at me for holding his head down.  Finally, he got the message.)

Let’s look at his book and let LuLu put her feet up for a few minutes.

Every, single toy he has at his LuLu’s house is on the floor, along with a myriad of other assorted items, the top has been pulled off the bouncer,  he has chewed up both of his socks so they are wringing wet…but a snotty nose and no nap trumps all that!

These adorable pictures are my little way of saying that this is why my posts have been few and far between lately.  I am keeping this sweet, lively, active, happy, not sleepy, precious little boy every day for a few months.  Unfortunately, I do not possess even half of the energy and stamina that he does.  And, truthfully, I could benefit from a nap as much as he could!

My sweet boy, Ian, has planned a fun weekend for me.  He gave me tickets for Wicked and it is this weekend.  So off to Birmingham I go.  He has everything planned…including dinner for both nights!  I am excited.  Pray that I will have safe travel since the weather forcast calls for rain and storms.  I’ll share it all with you when I return.  Happy weekend to you, too!

Oh, my! My angel baby just swept out the door with his Mother.  And, all I can do is sit here…right here on this bar stool.  I can’t move or get up or laugh or cry or anything.  I’m going to write a post because I only have to move my fingers.  I’m not sure if you, my faithful friends, will ever read this or not….not sure if I’ll post it.    But, it is sure gonna make me feel better to write it down.

As is usual, nothing is ever simple and easy around here.  It is complicated by oh, so many factors.  So, I must tell you the back story and fill in some detail before the real story begins.

Last, last Christmas (2010), Adam gave me a gift.  It was 3 ’20×24′ picture frames.  The pictures to go into those frames would arrive in a few days.  He said they were very special pictures that he took and they would be especially meaningful to me.  So, I put those frames in the hallway and left them there so I could hang the pics as soon as they arrived.  I waited patiently.  And around April of last year (2011) I finally put them in the hall closet.  Because I had heard a twenty or so times that they would be here the next day. After awhile, I catch on and figure things out.  Didn’t know anything I needed to frame that size, so, I put them away and forgot about them.  Until a few weeks before Christmas, Adam and I were talking and gifts were brought up and I said something to the effect, “I’m sure hoping I get those 3 ’20×24′ inch pictures I heard about last year.  I already have some frames for them and everything.”  Fast forward to a week before Christmas.  Adam comes to my house and says, “Here’s your Christmas present, Mom.”  And, it was those 3 pictures.  They really are special…of a redbird in flight…coming to a branch and leaving. Redbirds have a special meaning to our family in reference to my Mom.   Beautiful!  So, he put them into the frames and again they leaned against the wall.  Looking lovely, but leaning.

I asked Don to help me hang them.  Said he would.  Didn’t happen.  Knew it wouldn’t.  Remember, he thinks putting a nail in the wall is akin to taking a sledgehammer and knocking down a door.  It does the same amount of damage.  He would rather have N O T H I N G on the walls than have the house decorated and nice looking.  So, I didn’t really expect him to help.  But, the important thing is that I gave him a chance to help.

Then, I asked Adam to please bring his laser level and shoot me a line across the wall, so I could hang the pictures.  After the sixth or seventh time, he brought it by.  I mean, he comes to my house every morning to bring Sweet Levi.   AND, I gave that laser level to him for Christmas…not intentionally, but in a round about way.  See, when I asked Don to help me hang those pictures for the third or fourth time, I asked him if he had a laser level and he said, “I’m not sure but I know Ian has one,  I’ll get him to bring it when he comes home for Christmas and then we can do it.”    So, while I was out shopping for the rest of my gifts, I ran into a big display in Target of…you guessed it!…laser levels.  I got the medium priced one.  Because I don’t like the cheapest anything and I knew we would not use it enough to get the money’s worth out of the expensive one.  Imagine my surprise when, on Christmas afternoon, when we were all opening gifts, and Don opened his laser level, he said, “Well, Tonja.  How many laser levels do you think I need?  You have already given me two!”  Adam piped up quickly and said, “Well, give it to me…I don’t have one.”  So Don tossed it to Adam and therefore I think it counts that I gave Adam a laser level for Christmas.  And, I bet I never buy another one as long as I live!

Ok, so, instead of just shooting me a level line across the wall, and leaving it at that, Adam, kindly, decided to hang the pictures himself.  In the spare 30 minutes he had when he dropped Levi off one morning.  Wasn’t that nice?  Well, he kinda got one of them spaced wrong, but that was OK.  He said he would fix it.  And, fix it he did.  Which, unfortunately, left a nice big hole in  the wall caused by the super-duper size Monkey Hooks which Don says is the only way to hang anything ‘in this house’.

It had to be super duper size because the frames were heavy what with the frame and the glass all being in the ’20×24′ size and all.  Adam, my oldest son, is very smart.  And, he has known his father for 36 and 1/2 years.  And, he knew that hole in the wall was not going to cut it with his Dad.  I told him not to worry, I would take the blame, and he could go on about his life without that boulder hanging over his head.  And, I thought that would be that.  I knew I could fix it and it would never be noticed.  But, Adam came back a few hours later to fix it.  And, I don’t know what all he did, or what all he put in the hole and on the hole and around the hole, but when it was all finished, the filled in-patched-primed and re-painted ‘hole’ was an off colored 6×6 inch square.  I did not even want to know how it happened.  Really, I did not  want to know.  Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss.  And, what you don’t know…you can’t tell.

Well, he was bummed.  He  knew that this was going to cause his Dad such great distress that a big lecture would follow and he would be expected to listen to it, as would I , since I was an accomplice But, Don has not mentioned it at all.  Don’t know if he hasn’t seen it or just decided that saying anything would not help or what.  ( I have managed to keep the lights off when he was going to and coming from work,though.)  But, when Don went out of town on Sunday, Adam was after me to fix it. PLEASE.  This morning, he took sandpaper and sanded the 6×6 discolored patch and I was left to ‘fix it’ and keep Levi.  So, I did the best I could.  There was no hole there…whatever he put in, stayed in.  I painted it and then repainted it…but it doesn’t look good.  And, it’s not going to look good…until the whole wall is painted again.  And, that’s the way it is.******  After I painted the first coat…I left the can of paint and the stir stick on the cabinet in the laundry room.******

Now my sweet Levi is growing and getting bigger and stronger and happier every day.  And, faster, and into things, and biting anything he can get his hands on.  Bless his sweet heart.  (Now, the next part is a little risky to talk about…but I will try to do it as delicately as possible.)  Stay with me, friends…this will all make sense in a few more paragraphs.

Levi was not ready to go to sleep, though I had tried to convince him he was.  His Mom had to take him with her several places after she picked him up and I wanted him to be well rested for her.  After he convinced me that a nap was just not going to happen, I put him in his bed to play for a while.  He played and rolled and  stood up and fell and stood up and fell and stood up and fell.  He’s standing alone, but not walking yet.  I walked over close to the crib…and it hit me.  The smell.  The smell that strikes fear in every mother’s heart.  No matter how long it has been since you had children in your care.  No matter how long it has been since you had a little one right inside your house standing up in his crib.  It was one of those smells that lets you know you need a clothespin for your nose and rubber gloves and a big garbage bag and about a box of wipes.  It was one of those smells that lets you know you had better get a plastic dropcloth and cover all surrounding furniture.  It was definitely going to be a tough task, but it had to be done.  And, the sooner the better.

I got a big towel, and laid it across the bed.  I got the wipes and opened up the garbage bag on the floor so I could just drop the offending material into it.  A mask I had worn last week while I had bronchitis was nearby and I grabbed it.  Last, I grabbed my apron, because I had plans to go to the grocery store after Suzanne picked him up.  I was ready.  I got the boy out of the crib and commenced to remove his shoes.  To think he would lie still for that was wrong, wrong, wrong.  Twisting his body, with all his might, he flipped back like a fish when I didn’t twist with him.  Shoes safe…now on to blue jeans.  Theis was going very close to the danger zone.  I managed to remove the jeans and I saw that the socks and shirt were going to have to be removed as well.  Contents of the lovely little P*mpers, was already moving out.  I did a quick strip job…on him…not me.  But, wished further into the project that I had included myself.  Removing the P*amper, I soon discovered this was not going to be a task that mere wipes would handle.  This was a sink job.  Holding two squirming feet in one hand and trying to hold the boy so that only his shoulders touched the towel was a big mistake.  That little imp did a lightning fast twist and slipped from my grasp.  He followed it up quickly with another roll over and just that quickly, he was off the towel.  Not wanting to be graphic here, but what was ON the boy and ON the towel was also ON the bed.  And, what was still all over the boy, was now all over me, as I carried him to the sink.  (How clever of me to think of putting a sink in my studio back when we began drawing up plans for this house…just saying.)  I had to remove my apron, as it was ‘soiled’, so all the splashed water and soap got all over my clothes and my face and my hair.  Even without his approval,  he got bathed and rinsed and diapered.  Putting him on the floor, I changed the sheets, removed the blankets and the toys that could be washed.  I disinfected the crib as best I could, and deposited the ‘little mess machine’ inside.  Then I removed the quilt on the bed, and picked up my apron.  The pile of dirty laundry was growing.  Taking the pile to the laundry room, I discovered that the arm of my shirt AND my good jeans were damaged goods also.  ******I laid the clothes on the cabinet while I loaded the washer******  Yes, Yes, I did.  So, the clothes and quilts and sheets that were soiled….also now had paint on them.  And, the paint is oil based.  It does not wash out.  It does not scrub out.  It does not even wash off your hands.  This day can not get any worse.

NEXT DAY…

When Adam brought Levi this morning, he went to look at the paint disaster we were trying to fix.  “MOM!  It looks worse now than before you repainted.”  And, he was right.  Something was wrong and we were both missing it.  Maybe you have already figured out what we did.  Adam said, “Well I don’t care what color is written on the can, this is not the right paint!”  And, I agreed.  I told him where to go look in the garage to find the paint so he could see if there was another can.  He found another and opened it up.   “This is right!  The color is the same!”  So, I secured Levi and went to see and sure enough it was totally covered and you could hardly see any hint of where we had made such a mess.  I glanced down at the paint can and I immediately knew what we did.  We were using the oil based paint that had been used for trim and we needed the Latex eggshell finish paint for the walls.  Adam still was not quite satisfied that it was as good as it could be.  So this afternoon, he brought over a small roller and rolled one more coat of paint on, and it all totally blended in and looked perfect.  Case closed.  Finally, the ‘great picture-paint disaster of 2012’ was over.

And, IF Don sees any damage, and IF he is bold enough to say something to me about it…I’ll just remind him that I asked HIM to do it first.