Happy Birthday to My Nana

My Nana turned 99 years old today...99 years old!

We went to my brother and sister-in-law's for a birthday lunch for her. I cannot believe she is 99 years old...she looks so wonderful to me. She worked so hard for most of her life. She married at the age of 36 or so, had a little boy at the age of 38 and a little girl at the age of 39 (my Mom was born on her brother's 1st birthday). She cared for her husband while he was dealing with brain cancer, brain surgery, and watched him have many seizures. She nursed him back to health and then worked to help take care of her family. She was also a most excellent seamstress...my girls have even worn some of the clothes she smocked for me and my sister. My Nana taught me to love coffee at the age of 3 and taught me how to drive at the age of 12. She had a long brown Oldsmobile that I learned to drive in...I would make hundreds of circles around her block everytime I would spend the night with her. She let me watch soap operas and would cover my eyes during the "kissing" scenes. We would always watch "Miss America" pagents together. She has helped me learned how to love, how to forgive, when to speak up, and when to keep my mouth shut. She has taught me that life is not always fair, but you do the best you can with the situations you are given, and go on. She always tells me I look pretty (even when I don't)...she is always full of compliments (but will let me know too when I look like I have put on a pound or two!) I think the most important thing I have learned from her is to put my faith and trust in Jesus at all times, and everything will be o.k. I am so very thankful and grateful that my girls know my Nana. It has been such a true blessing to watch Macy and Lucy love her the way I have always loved her. She loved her tissue paper flower arrangement Macy made for her birthday. Lucy drew her a very colorful picture...she did it all by herself...I love the way she wrote "99" above the picture of Nana. And she labeled her and Macy's ages as well =)
I think one of my most favorite memories of my grandmother is when she used to sing to me...always "Jesus Loves Me." When my grandmother was a little girl, another little girl (whom I wish I could pinch her little head off) told her she couldn't sing. My Nana never forgot that, and never sang out loud from that day forward. But she did sing for me...and it was always the most beautiful sound I ever heard. My Nana is one special lady whom I love very, very much!

What We've Been Up To...

We've had a fun few days since I blogged last. Just hanging around and having fun! Lucy has finally mastered making a cheese doughnut. This girl has gone through tons of slices of cheese and finally got it right yesterday...this was a very big deal for her =)

We spent a little while over at my parents' house yesterday, and the girls got busy sewing. Macy made this pillow for her cousin Cade (I think it is absolutely adorable)...

And Lucy appliqued this really colorful horse onto a pillow for Macy...isn't that sweet?!

I had a bunco baby shower last night with some girls from church. We all brought finger foods instead of having a big meal. I took fresh strawberries and grapes and made the most delicious fruit dip (and it was so easy!!). I mixed an 8 oz block of cream cheese with a 13 oz container of marshmallow fluff. What was leftover was quickly gobbled up by Lucy when I got home.
The girls hijacked my camera today while I was cleaning up the kitchen (I feel like I am ALWAYS cleaning up my kitchen). There were about a hundred pictures just like this...

And this...

This evening, Jason came home a little early from work, and we headed over to Tuscaloosa to finish up Macy's school shopping. I was so relieved and excited to get it finished. The school Macy has been attending had specific uniforms that she wore, and her new school just has a dress code. It has been fun shopping for different and new school clothes!

Lucky for us, Krispy Kreme's "HOT NOW" sign was lit up as we were leaving town...so we just HAD TO STOP! Here are Macy and Lucy enjoying their doughnuts =)

I may or may not have used 8 whole WW points on a cream filled doughnut =) It sure was worth it!! While we were in Target (right before getting doughnuts), we told the girls that they could get something small...and they had to find something with a red and white price sticker (which meant it was on clearance). It was just sort of a game we made up for them, since we were really there for school supplies anyway. It worked so well...they thought it was fun, and we got out of there with 2 toys for under 5 dollars. And they were cool toys at that! Macy picked a magic wand that makes noises and lights up. Lucy picked a Hello Kitty toy...I loved some Hello Kitty when I was growing up, so I was loving it!

Brings back so many memories.

Ahhhh...those tiny figurines...I told Jason I was going to play with them when the girls went to sleep =)

I am a sucker for cute school supplies and paper products...love them, love them, love them. It's no wonder my girls love notebooks and writing...their Mama sure does. Like these adorable notebooks from Dollar General (1 whole dollar a piece)...

And these cross notecards form Hobby Lobby...they even have teeny rhinestones on them!

Alright, so on to more of what we've been up to. I have a new centerpiece on my table, created by Macy. Isn't it pretty?

And being that my Nana's birthday is tomorrow, Macy decided to make her a gift (aren't those the best kind?) My Nana lives in a personal care center and doesn't have a lot of space in her room for more stuff, so we try to get creative when it comes to giving her gifts. Macy decided this year that she was going to make her a bouquet of flowers. She saw instructions on how to make tissue paper flowers in an American Girl book. I did not help her a bit with this project...she did this all by herself. I am so proud of her!

First, she cut out two circles of the same size out of tissue paper (she used her Upward megaphone for a template).
She laid the circles on top of one another and folded it over like a taco (those are her words).
She pinched the "taco" in the middle and fluflfed out the paper to make the flower.
And wrapped a pipe cleaner several times around the pinched part.
And there you have a tissue paper flower! Love it! And I especially love it because it was her own idea. She set her mind to it and got it done =)

She crumpled up some green tissue paper and put some brown pompoms (for dirt) in a mason jar, then added all the flowers she made.
And now she has a bouquet of handmade flowers to give my Nana for her birthday!
Little sister wasn't too happy about being left out of the flower making project. Luckily we had bought an extra box of markers at Target tonight, so she got busy doing some artwork (also gifts for my grandmother, although she wouldn't let me take pictures of them because they are a surprise). I really don't think my Nana gets online and looks at our blog, but you never know =)

Who can resist a brand new box of markers?

And one more picture of Macy's tissue paper flower bouquet...because I just love it so.

We will be celebrating my Nana's 99th birthday tomorrow...I can hardly wait! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

A Birthday Party and More Makeup

Today, we went to a birthday party at the personal care center where my grandmother lives. They have a big birthday party once a month for everybody with a birthday in that month. My Nana's birthday is Saturday, the 31st...she will be 99 years old!

99 years old...wow! I can hardly believe it. I know she is my grandmother therefore I am a little biased, but she looks pretty awesome to be that old.

She was in a great mood today and really enjoyed the party. At her age, as you can imagine, there are good days and then days that aren't so good, but today was a good one it seemed.
I did ask her today if she felt like an almost 99 year old...to which she replied with a big smile, "Yes, I feel 99 years old today." Love her with all my heart.

I have always been a Nana's girl and while she loves her grandchildren all very dearly, she makes no bones about the fact that I am her favorite. All the other grandchildren know it, too. That's what they get for picking on me until I would cry while we were growing up.

Here is a 4 generation of girls picture...my Nana, my Mom, me, and my girls.

As for the makeup...I still have an obsessed little girl. She LOVES makeup. I am beginning to think she has a future in the business. If it gets quiet in the house these days, I know what she is up to.

THAT'S what she is up to!

From Our Air Going Out to Chuck E. Cheese

Our weekend began a little crazily...and remained so all weekend long =) It started out with a birthday party in Hamilton. I have zero pictures, but the girls had a blast, and I enjoyed spending time and catching up with some longtime friends whom I don't get to see as often as I would like.

After the party, we headed into town for some Friday night fun. I mean, what is a Friday night without a trip to Wal-Mart??!!

We got home from eating out and our trip to Wal-Mart to find that our air conditioner had gone out. Oh the horrors. Fortunately, the girls were spending the night out with grandparents, so they didn't have to endure the heat. Jason and I could have found some place to go, but being that it was late, we decided to sweat it out (literally) and stay at home. The ever so magnificent handy dandy A/C fixer that I have nicknamed "Super Pete" showed up bright and early Saturday morning, worked magic, and fixed the problem.

Saturday afternoon, we went to my nephew Carson's birthday party. Again, I ran my mouth (imagine that) rather than take pictures...although I did get a cute one of Macy in the pool...

Oh, and I got a picture of the really cute cake...
Alright, now check out these sleeping beauties...

The girls got these masks by playing bingo with my grandmother at her personal care home. Aren't they funny? And they work like a charm.
NOT!

Ummm...yes...they were only pretending to be sleeping. Our church service was wonderful Sunday morning. The girls were actually in a picture taking mood afterwards (well, sort of). They were in really silly moods anyways.

This one is a new favorite of mine...

This one cracks me up because the girls were laughing so hard by this point...

One of the best sounds in the world is that of laughter...especially when it is the laughter of your children =)

Miss goofy...

Remember the Arid Extra Dry jingle? Get a little closer...don't be shy...

This morning, we headed to Tupelo with our sweet friends, the Barlow girls. I was really excited about this day trip because I was anxious for the Willcutt girls and the Barlow girls to get to know each other. We have decided to change schools this year. Macy will be attending a Christian school (Lucy will start kindergarten next year at this same school), which we are very excited about. While we do know many people at this particular school (including the Barlow girls), I was just really excited about Macy meeting and getting to know some friends before the start of school. The girls hit.it.off. In a big way. Here are Lucy and Meg...

And Macy and Lily...

We got these friendships started at Chuck E. Cheese =) Such a fun day!

So we have had some crazy, busy, and fun days, but looking forward to relaxing most of the week!