Sweet Girl's 5th Birthday Party

Sweet Girl had so much fun planning and decorating for her party this year. I think she enjoyed the planning and decorating just as much as the actual party! She wanted a Hello Kitty Party but it became a Hello Kitty-Dress-Up-Tea-Party instead. :)

First we made invitations with paper, stamps and ribbon we had on hand. She had the idea of having every girl bring their favorite stuffed animal or doll.
She LOVED every minute of making these!

All of our decorating was made from things we had on hand and I think that made it even more fun! I used the Pink Ironstone dishes, a platter bought from GW in the center with two tea cups and a creamer filled with flowers left over from her Ballet Recital.

(she set the table all by herself!)

I cut the paper flowers and she glued the centers on and then we hung them from the chandelier. We swagged a little tulle from my fabric stash around the bottom of the chandy as well.

I cut out Hello Kitty faces for the place cards and she drew the whiskers, eyes, nose, etc and then she wrote each girl's name on it.
Every year she tells us what she wants on her cake. I bake and ice the cake then her Daddy decorates it.
It has been so much fun to see Daddy get into the decorating (I can't draw stick figures) and then to see her face light up when she sees what Daddy has done for her.
The only money I spent on this party was for the food! We had "butterfly" sandwiches, carrots and dip, fruit and cheese shaped like flowers and cake. At this age, most little ones are going to pick at their food anyway and this menu worked out really well!
The Mommies had spinach and bacon pinwheels, cucumbers sandwiches, cheese cubes, veggies, and fruit.

I think about the money end of things like this a lot of times...it's not that we do not have the money to spend on things like a party but somehow I think Sweet Girl will remember making decorations versus me running to Party City and buying every Hello Kitty item they sell. I want to instill in her the value of money and also creativity. Who's to say that next year we won't be at a bouncy place living it up but this year, at this time in my life, it was easy to have her party in my home and to spend time making decorations with her.

~Victoria~

I Must Go Down to the Sea

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

- John Masefield

This past week we had the privilege of enjoying my boss' condo on the beach in Florida. What a wonderful time of rest and relaxation we had!

As for the poem...my Dad read and quoted poetry to us as we were growing up and as I sat on the beach one night, this poem came to me and I quoted the first stanza to my Sweet Girl. It reminded me of how I need to be teaching her the poetry that my Dad taught us kids.

Trying to get us all smiling for our annual beach picture.

Uncle James always let's us bury him or make him into a mermaid or something fun!
Ear to ear grins from Sweet Girl in the pool

Pedicures by the ocean...

Watching the Blue Angels practicing (free!!!) and oh so cool!


Mmmmm watermelon...
Posing on the boardwalk


Playing in the sand....

Sweet Girl's first "snow ball" and mine too (I hate to admit it!). She chose banana flavored (ewwww)...

and finally...we found three sea dollars! I've never found one and this year we found THREE! How beautiful....

Ahhhh the sea...I'll miss you until next year.

An entertainment center and a marriage celebration

1997

Yes, I realize this is a really strange title. :) Bear with me though....

Rhoda over at Southern Hospitality is having a thrifty party and I thought I would share my entertainment center story as well as a bit about my marriage.

12 years ago yesterday my husband and I were married. We were young...REALLY young (20 & 21) and didn't have a whole lot of money. :)

We furnished our apartment with yard sale and thrift store finds, as well as hand me downs from friends and family. It was a cozy happy apartment and I loved living there. One thing I couldn't handle was the black modern entertainment center my husband had. :( Returning extra wedding gifts to Macy's we discovered their Electronics Dept was closing and they were clearancing out their items. Due to this, we were able to buy this entertainment center with money we received from the returns.
(picture that I posted on Craig's List - it sold after being listed 5 days!)

Over the years we bought a house, my style changed and I was ready to move on from this lovely piece. :) My husband is pretty particular about his electronics and we looked at several entertainment centers this year but they all looked so mass produced to me.

Last year at a yard sale I came across a white cabinet that I fell in love with. It had glass knobs...


darling hinges, peeling paint and was just my style!


At that time we were not looking for a new entertainment center and the thought didn't even cross my mind. The dear lady who was selling it was moving and said it had been in her garage for storage. I turned my back on it and walked away but Christina and Sarah persuaded me that I could use it for storage in my basement or even on my carport. The lady was getting ready to close down the yard sale and told me I could have it for $30! Sold!
On the way home, one of the doors flew up and broke off. :( For a year it sat on my carport holding spray paint and misc items with the door propped on.

While my husband was out of town on a work trip, I had my brother-in-law (who is a painter) paint my living room to give it a new look after 10 years. Christina helped me move this piece into the living room to try it out as an entertainment center. It took us about 20 min to get the thing a very small distance because it was HEAVY!


My husband came home, decided he would give it a go, glued and clamped the door then put it back on and voila...here is our new entertainment center for $30! I love it better than the ones I have seen for $300 - $1000 ( there was a $1200 one I would have liked to have had but that wasn't in our budget).


As all you married folks know, most of making a marriage work is the give and take that goes on. We will always have a large TV in our house (and probably our living room since we don't have a family room), complete with large black speakers (not so pretty) and that is okay with me. My husband allows me to have furniture with peeling paint (which he abhors) and I let him have his big TV with speakers in the living room! :) That's just how we roll and one small way we make our marriage work.

~Victoria~

Our Hope

I Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Mark 16:6 And he saith unto them, Be not frightened: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

This is one of my son's favorite songs. It seems appropriate on this day. I love the wonderful hymns of Easter, but I wanted to add something different that you don't usually hear on Easter.

• End of the Beginning by David Phelps

Lyrics

I was taking a trip on a plane the other day, just wishin’ that I could get out.
When the man next to me saw the book in my hand and asked me what it was about.
So I settled back in my seat. "A best-seller," I said, "a hist’ry and a myst’ry in one."
Then I opened up the book and began to read from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...

"He was born of a virgin one holy night in the little town of Bethlehem.
Angels gathered ‘round Him underneath the star singing praises to the great I AM.

He walked on the water, healed The lame, and made the blind to see again.
And for the first time here on earth we learned that God could be a friend.
And though He never ever did a single thing wrong, the angry crowd chose Him.
And then He walked down the road and died on the cross and
that was the end...of the beginning."

"That’s not a new book, that’s a Bible," he said, "And I’ve heard it all before.
I’ve tried religion, it’s shame and guilt, and I don’t need it anymore.
It’s superstation, made-up tales, just to help the weak to survive."
"Let me read it again," I said, "But listen closely, This is gonna change your life."

"He was born of a virgin one holy night in the little town of Bethlehem.
Angels gathered ‘round Him underneath the star singing praises to the great I AM.

He walked on the water, healed the lame, and made the blind to see again. And for the first time
here on earth we learned that God could be a friend. And though He never ever did a single thing
wrong, the angry crowd chose Him. And then He walked down the road and died on the cross and
that was the end...of the beginning."

"The end of the beginning?" he said with a smile. "What more
could there be? He’s dead. You said they hung Him, put nails in
His hands and a crown of thorns on His head." I said, "I’ll read it
again, but this time there’s more.

And I believe that this is true: His death wasn’t the end but the beginning of life that’s completed in you.
Don’t you see, He did allthis for you..."

"He was born of a virgin one holy night in the little town of
Bethlehem. All the angels singing praises to the great I AM.
He walked on the water, healed the lame, and made the blind to see.
And for the first time here on earth, did you know that God could be a friend?
And thought He never ever did a single thing wrong, He was the one the crowd chose.
And then He walked and He died, but three days later, three days later, three days later...
He rose! Three days later He rose!

You see, He came, He lived, and He died, but that was the end of the beginning.

Have a wonderful Easter!

Christina and Victoria

A little birdie...

has been waking me up lately! Actually it's several of them at my bird feeder in the front yard. I love the happy, cheerful sounds but it annoys my husband to no end (he's not a morning person). :)

I found this little birdie for 55 cents at Goodwill and after seeing all the rabbits and birds that everyone has spray painted I wanted to try my hand at it.

I was pleased with the results...

How about under a cloche and on a pedestal that I found at Goodwill. I love how Cherry has painted different items to use as pedestals and I may just paint this one once the sun comes out again.

Speaking of sun....I am so ready to see the sun again here in Ga! We just finished a rainy weekend. We went from sunny blue skies with temps in the 70's to rainy, dreary and cold for two of the last three weekends. :( Blah, blah, blah (sorry all you folks that need rain ~ we actually do too but I am weary of it!).

Although I didn't fully "unplug" Friday as I do some work from home so I have to check work email , I was more conscious of my time and spending more of it with my daughter. We did this until I was too cold to take it anymore.



She had a ball!
After hot chocolate and a warm bath we dyed some of our Easter Eggs.

Sweet Girl was rather proud of them.

It made me feel good to have a "good Mommy day" after a week of hormonal imbalance! Believe me, earlier in the week we did very little besides watch Curious George!

Have a wonderful Monday. I'm off to enjoy some sunshine before it starts raining again tomorrow.

~Victoria~

Spring?

Typically this time of year in Ga it's 65 - 70 degrees, daffodils blooming, tulips out of the ground, etc but yesterday, as you saw in Christina's post, we had SNOW! I had already planned to link up to the Spring party at The Inspired Room so I laughed as I pulled out happy spring items while the big flakes fell.

First a few snow pictures. Here is our cozy (another word for SMALL) house. I love it...coziness and all!

Our "Frosty" with the family. My Sweet Girl insisted on a carrot nose, button eyes (oops those are prunes) and then we could try to "make him come to life"!

Sweet Girl


Now for a little sunshine. :) My current spring centerpiece. I love this old tray that I spray painted black! It is so much fun to change up what goes in it.


Love these little birds my Mother-in-law gave me. She bought them at a yard sale years ago. I am thrilled that she and I both share a love of all things old!

Can you tell that I love old books? I bought several on a recent thrifting trip with Meg and Sarah. They were 50 cents each and beautiful colors!


Love the Forsynthia in this vase. Christina has it blooming in her yard and sent some home with me last week. Again...notice the books. :)


I have had this "birdhouse" for years and put it on my door each year. It is simple but I love the uniqueness of it.

A 50 cent platter I found while thrifting. It is Robin's Egg blue and just beautiful! I have several other oval platters like this in yellow, light green and dark green.
A sweet little bunny card for a 1st birthday. It looks happy and springy to me!!!

I will be tweaking and adding spring stuff over the next couple of weeks and will show more then. I have a lot that I need to blog about that I just haven't taken pictures of yet and need to do that this week as well.

~Victoria~