Decking the Halls

My front door.

My back door...the one we actually use.

Some of my collection of antique balls...

A glimpse of my trees...

My girls Christmas decorations from days gone by...

A few of my Christmas books from when I was little....

This teddy bear was the first thing Nick ever gave me when we were dating...we were 15 years old.  The dress it's wearing was what Elizabeth wore on her first Christmas 23 years ago.   (Teddy's bff is Lauren's gingerbread girl she has had since she was 2..she needs repairing!)

A sweet lady in our previous church made these when my girls were little.  Now my grand babies play with them.  They have been loved on tremendously.

This is a new little guy that I will keep for years to come.  I bought it to remember Lauren's recent discovery that reindeer are indeed REAL...they just don't fly.  She thought they were in the same category as unicorns and mermaids.  Gotta love our LaLa. 

This is my oldest Christmas treasure.

He is probably around 85 years old.

So thankful my mom decided I was old enough and responsible enough to take care of him last year when she surprised me with him.  Thanks mom!

Have you decked your halls yet?

Stephanie :)

linking up with Krystina

Honey's Helpful Hints #2

I was so blessed with how many of y'all tried and loved
some of the cleaning products that I shared {here}.

This second installment of Honey's Helpful Hints will be on....

Hair!

Now I am by no means an expert on hair!
My sis-n-law Heather?..yes!  My daughters?...yes!
Me?...no way!

But I do have a few secrets that I can share.

My hair is baby fine, thin and straight.

Left to itself it  has no body in it at all.

When I don't use all my "secrets" it is flat to my head. 

like this....

I mean these are some skinny pig tales!

 A few of the things I've learned to do for my type hair to give it the appearance of a bunch of hair is:

1. I always blow dry my hair upside down!  This is the foundation of my "fullness".

2. This teasing comb!  It is a must!
(and I tease my sections before I put rollers in them)

3. Hot Rollers

When I  use these three secret weapons, my thin hair "plumps" up...

OK...it was a little TOO plump on this day!  Whoa! lol

So those were my top 3 tips UNTIL...
 I was introduced to this...

I have NEVER been able to fix my hair using a curling iron.
First off, no curling iron would ever curl my hair.  I would just get a little waviness.
And secondly, what little wave it created would "poof" disappear five minutes after curling it.


But this little darling is a miracle wand!
Look what it did to my hair!

That's crazy curly for me!!
And the best part is that it doesn't fall out!  The curl lasts!
It looked like this that night!

So all of you lovely ladies with thin, baby fine, hard to curl hair..
run to Sally's Beauty Supply and buy this..

They cost about $40 but I was blessed with a deal where you buy one, you get one free!!

So check for sales.. but I would have paid $40 bucks for it! And you folks that know me personally, KNOW that is a SPLURGE for me.

I even can get curls that last with this fat one!

I know all you sweet girls who have thick hair or hair with body is thinking "what in the world is she so excited about?...big whoop!"

But coming from a girl whose momma would slip into my room at night with a flashlight to see if my perm was still curly or if it had fallen out again (no lie...true story)...  
This is big news!!
A curling iron that actually curls my hair!

There ya have it.
I hope it helps a fellow sista out.

Stephanie :)
ps.  I won that gorgeous striped scarf I'm wearing in the pics!!  Thank you so much Nicole!
Y'all can check out her sweet blog {here}.  She bought it while she was in China! I adore it!!

My Ephesians 3:20 Thanksgiving....

Here's a little sample of my wonderful, simple, incredible, simple, amazing

2011 Thanksgiving.

No frills,  No fuss, No fancy shcmancy...

But pure delight from start to finish.

A little Paw Paw Nick and Nate time....

(my two favorite men in the whole wide world!)

Great Maw Maw Loni getting to see her great grandson for the first time!

Laughing at this girl.....

New slippers from Loni!

Waking up to all three of my chicks being under the same roof...

This Thanksgiving table cloth from Maw Maw D and all the fun it provided.....

 ......even Christopher had to add his touch!

Making biscuits with Paw Paw....

....even Jules got in on this one!

My Thanksgiving "happy" from the girls and Nate!

Loni catching up on her "Nate Time"

The extent of my decorations.... my table runner I made several years ago that we all sign and tell what we are thankful for each year.  I love it so much. 

 

The gorgeous flowers were from a dear friend from church who brought them to me while I was sick with the sweetest card about how she is praying for healing for me.

Couldn't be a more appropriate Thanksgiving centerpiece.

 A little time with my grandson.

My two mommas.

I could not be blessed more with the mother-n-law and momma the Lord chose for me.

So thankful for their influence in my life.

I love this man with every ounce of my being...

So much so, that I wore a Big Buck shirt in his honor since he had to miss so much hunting time taking care of his sick bride.

And last but not least....

SHE SAID YES!!

My sweet Lydia got engaged on Thanksgiving Day.

(this news will get a blog post all of its own but I HAD to let you in on the news!!)

This was taken right as she walked in the door and right before her Maw Maw Loni smothered her to death with celebratory hugs and lovin!!

I had a great Thanksgiving beyond what I even imagined.

"Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.."

Ephesians 3:20

I think we'll do the paper plates every year!!

Stephanie :)


linking up with sweet Carissa and the lovely Heather.