Vintage inspired Thursday

Hello ya'll!

I haven't done a vintage inspired Thursday in a while have I? Well I have one for this week! 

 I'd like to introduce ya'll to Ms. Debbie  seamstress  extraordinaire! 

This lady is a huge blessing to me  and through the years of all my sewing journeys we've been on. She's always so sweet to take on my sewing ,because folks what I have her sew is not for the faint of heart! No Sir ree Bob!

 This

fabric is the most cheerful fabric you ever did see. What's not to like about candy and kiddos?

Thank you Ms Debbie for putting up with me! You deserve a star in your crown! Love you sweet lady!

Another picnic

Good morning dear people!

 So when Katherine heard about Angels experience on our " girl date" well of course she wanted to do the same. 

  However we did upgrade a bit.:) Instead of McDonalds she chose Chinese take out. On Trim Healthy Mama diet most of Chinese is a No-no but thankfully they happen to have baked salmon on their buffet. So we were both very happy with our meal. ( I made and took my own salad) 

 The time Katherine and I spent together was a memory to cherish. We took a stroll through the woods and this time ( thank the Lord! ) we didn't see any snakes. 

 Of course we HAD to take selfies to remember our good time. 

 And after our walk it was on to the Library because what big Sister does Little Sister wants to do too.:)

  This week my baby will be turning 13! Two teenagers in the house! 

Nifty little app (two grand)

So you all remember me telling ya'll about my trim healthy mama book?

 Well this little app has been so much fun! It helps me keep track of what I'm eating for the day plus you get to see what others are eating too! 

 If anyone downloads this app make sure you stop by and say hi! If you follow me I'll be sure to follow back. Quite a few thm' ers are on there as well. 

Daughter day out

So I've decided that I'd include a mama/daughter date with each of my girls one night a week. 

 This week it was Angel's turn. Next week Katherine's. 

 Angel chose McDonald's ( yucky) and we took our supper to the park and talked and visited while we ate. Then we took a long walk in the woods and saw a baby snake and decided to turn around and go for a walk down the street where you are not as likely to see snakes at all.

 Angel talked about boys and boys and well boys..... They seem to be a lot on her mind nowadays.:) 

 After we got through with our walk/ talk we went to the library and hung out there a while.

 I hope my girls never outgrow me. I love being their mom!

Being a teenager is hard

Being a teenager is hard stuff. Good grief, being a human being is hard sometimes period.

 Poor Angel was advised against something she had her heart set on. So it's back to bed to drown her sorrows. The bed is an amazing place, a place I need to go somewhere myself when I've had a bad day. ( which was like last night ).Thank The Lord for little brown chihuahuas. 

 Perhaps one day my children can look back to this moment and be thankful that thief parents cared about their well being, but right now I doubt that's the case.:)

 So where is your special place when you feel you need some time out? I'd love to hear all about it.

Can you spy Stella?

Coffee and Chickie little

Good Thursday morning ya'll! It's rather an overcast day here in Louisiana today. Cooler weather is expected towards the end of the weekend. YAY! 

 The girls and I plan on putting on a pot of coffee to go with our afternoon snack, but for right now I'm snuggling with the Chickie and sipping my morning coffee. What could be better?

 Have a delightful day ya'll!

Trim healthy Mama

 

So I've started a new approach to my eating life style..... I've always been a small eater only eating smaller portions at a time but somehow a pound snuck in here and a pound crept in there and well before you know it there I go.....

 One of my friends happened to be doing this plan, and me being the curious person I am I started inquiring more details of this particular plan. For some reason this diet intrigued me.

The hardest part? Um definitely the sugar. I love my sweets and ALWAYS have to have something sweet for a snack especially in the afternoon. That's my little thing in life I'd always look forward to.

" my little reward to myself" so to speak.

I have been sugar free now for over 6 weeks. In this book Pearl and Serene lead you to some pretty amazing deserts that sattisfy my sweet toothe. Some of my favorites are the smoothies. I'm in love with the fat stripping frappa.

While I haven't lost as much weight as I wanted to, I've certainly not gained any and have lost3 pounds. I'm including the fat stripping frappa that I've tweaked to satisfy my taste buds. Here you go and thank you very much!

2 c. Cold coffee

10 frozen cubes of coffee ( ice tray needed )

1 cube of skinny choclate  ( I'll include the recipe for that too )

Truvia to taste I think I usually put about 2 Tbsp. Of it in mine

1/2 scoop of low carb, low calorie protein powder

1/2 tsp. instant coffee

Put it all in in blender and blend away. Top with a squirt of reddi whip and Hershey's sugar free choclate syrup

                       SKINNY CHOCLATE RECIPE

Put 1/4 cocoa powder into a small bowl.

Add 1/2 c. Cocoanut oil( if it's in solid form due to cooler weather, heat jar for a few seconds in a small saucepan until it liquifies, but don't let jar get to hot)

Add 3 to 4 tsp. of truvia ( ground in a coffee grinder) I personally like more but keep in mind I have a huge sweet toothe!

Stir all ingredients with a fork

Line plastic plate with wax paper or foil and por liquid choclate on top. Freeze until solidified. I found it easier to pour into an ice tray and just pop out a piece when I need one.

Labor Day

So how was your Labor Day? Mine went something like this.....

Sunday after church Nan, Matthew,Ben, and I rode to Wilhelmina Arkansas and went 4 wheeler riding. Well actually , Sunday we rode to the motel and then on Labor Day we went to ride the trails. 

    Do you see the horrid snake? Sorry if I offend any of you snake lovers out there, but it's my opinion that the only good snake is a dead one. We saw 4 on our trip in the woods and two of them Matthew killed. It's always been a secret longing of mine to go snake hunting and bruise the head of the serpent. ( winky face) talk about thrilling!!! So whose up for the adventure with me?

Ben and me being silly.

    Mr. Coleman did you say you took out a life insurance? So let's just" accidently" push him down the mountain! Just kidding!

    Quirky picture.

So tell me what you did for Labor Day.... I'd love to know!

The perfect weekend

Last week I celebrated another year of my life. My family and friends made me feel so incredibly loved and blessed. From all the birthday wishes on Facebook, phone calls, cards and gifts truly it's great to be alive.

 My girls bought me a new pair of Nike flip flops ( I've gotten to where I don't wear flip flops to much but these are exceptional) as my others were getting raggedy. They knew I needed a pair.

 My sister made me some red velvet cupcakes that I ate way to many of. But I just couldn't help

 myself! I'm usually the mistress of self control when it comes to food but not with those bad boys sitting on my tea cart calling my name.  I took care of that problem and ate the last one. ( Nan, I'm going to spank you if I don't fit in my vintage clothes) :) 

 Then to top it off, Ben informed me that he was taking me to a bed and breakfast down South Louisiana. He surprised me and invited our best friends  Tyra and Kevin to go with us. I had no clue they were going until they walked right up my porch as we were getting ready to leave. And yes I did some squealing and hugging and a little happy dance too.

 The place we stayed in was " the Michabella Inn". It's quite a delightful place. I enjoyed going out on the porch and sippin my coffee. The little suite we stayed in was smack dab in a bamboo forest. I liked it though as it gave the place an exotic feel.

 We kind of toyed with the idea of riding on to New Orleans but I recalled a certain incident of one of our family members that got arrested for molesting his hamburger. It's true if you don't believe me google it. All he did was throw a pickle off of his hamburger onto the ground. So I do recommend that any of you planning a trip to New Orleans be very careful what you do! So needless to say we didn't get the nerve up to visit there.

 We did a lot of other fun stuff though and went to the cutest little town ( I want to go back) called Mandeville. We walked the lake front and saw the sweetest little couple  sitting up under a tree enjoying ing their lunch and who we thought were married but turned out they were brother and sister. How do I know this? My friend Tyra was like " hey Merry , you should get a picture of them for your blog!" That's all the encouragement I needed, I scampered right across there and asked them if I could take their picture and they kindly told me I could. We had a lovely few minutes chatting with them. I really love the well seasoned folks don't you? I believe that was one of the highlights of my trip!

 Ben probably didn't know he started something as I can't wait to go again! Thank you darling for the best birthday ever!

  The names of the cottage we stayed at.

 The inside of our rooms.

    Kevin and Tyra y'all made the trip complete!

  

The little couple

The beach house along the lake front.