Cupcake Wars!

Hubby turned 60 years old on July 31 and our family was able to get together to celebrate
and have a fun time. We sure needed some joy in our lives because truthfully it just hasn't
been joyful since we lost precious baby Eden and believe me she was in our thoughts
the whole weekend long!
It was supposed to be a camping weekend in our yard, but the weather did not cooperate...
so we had some in the camper, some in the house and one family went to a motel!

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The kids have been talking about having
 CUPCAKE WARS 
for awhile and this was the perfect time.

Have you seen that show on TV? Ours was a tad different because there is no way
each family was making 1,000 cupcakes. ha!
Hubby and I were dubbed the judges! NOT fair! HA!
It was really okay and we had fun doing it.

We were blown away by our kids creativity!
I thought they would use sprinkles etc, but they took this contest very seriously.

Each contestant was judged on Presentation, Menu Design and Taste.

Thought for sure these would win just for presentation alone.

Can you believe it?

Campfire cupcakes 

They sure put a lot of thought and time in these.

Alas, they tied for 2nd place.
I think if they would have amped up that menu design they would
have given the winner a run for 1st place!

This is our daughter and her family.
Allysha, Daniel, Matt, Jon, Joshua and Amanda

Next , we had a S'mores theme complete with Minions!!

NEAT menu design!

To be fair, I really blew it because I didn't even realize there were Minions
roasting their marshmallows until the judging was all over!!

 I think I was too enthralled by everyone's creativity.
I just kept saying I could NOT believe it. Oops. Sorry guys!

Colette made the minions and they were amazing. I wish I had a shot of them from the front
because they looked exactly like them!

 Look at them roasting their marshmallows over the campfire.
TOO cute!!

Alas, they tied for 2nd place also.

Colette, Ainsley, Annika and  our son Nathan

Our oldest son and his family chose a golf theme.

What a creative menu!

 His wife came up with that and I thought she did great!

 The weather wasn't kind to the frosting on the cupcakes.

Hot and humid, but they preserved. 

The grand prize winners by three points!

Melissa, Korrah, our son Jason, Keira and Kanaan

We really had a great time and I think it should be an annual tradition.
I told them this was a "trial run" for the next one. lol.

The kids had a lot of play time together and
some of them also had fun with fake mustaches.

The

"icing on the cake"
for hubby and I was that on Sunday morning our whole family went to church with us.

That was definitely a RARE TREAT!

This pic would have been up farther, but I forgot. OOPS.

 Little sweetie Korrah was enthralled with my fountain and loved adding stones
 to it and playing in the water.

I have many more photos, but I already had to redo this whole thing once
pictures and all so I gave up. I am tired.

We are so very thankful for our family and we feel so very blessed.
It isn't about how much money is in your bank account
{God knows we would be in trouble there}
or how famous you are, but it is all about God and family.

WE ARE BLESSED...in spite of the pain of losing Eden...

and oh how we do miss her...terribly!!

Someday we will know why, but for now we must trust
in our Heavenly Father and His love for us!

Please continue to keep us all in your prayers.

Blessings~

Happy Valentines Day and a WINNER!

I wanted to pop into blog-land and wish you all a

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I know it isn't until Saturday, but who knows what I will be doing then so I thought
I would tell you now.

Also, friends...please spread the love!

There are so many people who are hurting from loss of  a spouse, family problems, job loss etc
and a little kindness goes a long way. Often it is the little things we do that help cheer up a
 broken heart. A heart that has been battered about in life's storms and seemingly sometimes
 there is no end. God loves each and every one of you and you are in my thoughts and prayers!

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The winner of my Valentine Giveaway is Diane from AUGCOTT blog. I have been in
contact with her and the winning goodies are ready to head out tomorrow. She has recently
 lost her beloved, so if you could drop by and give her a word of encouragement I know she
would really appreciate it. Thank you and God bless!

{Photo: from my vintage postcard stash dated 1909 on the back}

WINNER!

I have drawn the winner for my box of goodies. Well, actually I had hubby do it for me. Gotta keep it all
fair you know. :)

...and the winner is:

Sherrie Cowan of Shabby Gr8 Dane.

Okay Sherrie, you have three days to contact me with your address or unfortunately I
will have to pick another winner.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Wish I could send you all something! ♥

Shutter finally up and a WINNER!

I have still been working in the kitchen ,but seem to be pulled in fifty different directions lately so it is taking longer than I would like. The lighting here today is not good at all  either so it is what it is.

  Hubby attached these brackets to the wall for me to hang my shutter on.  Remember in a previous post how the shutter was just nailed flat against the window as a valance? I have had it that way for several years and although I still love the shutter up there, it was time for a slight change and I love it!!

I got 20 of these *chippy, shabby, grungy* brackets at the Peacock park warehouse sale last year for free! From what I understand they were originally table legs,but I love them as brackets! We also used them on a shelf in the kitchen, but I will keep that for another post.

Next project will be working on some type of curtains for underneath the shutter. I have an idea brewing in my head so we will see how that turns out. I have to have something here because the sun just beats in as it is on the west side of the house. {please ignore the clutter ...this place has been clutter city for a few weeks since I took on this project, but it will all be okay in the end right?? lol}

My collection of pretty vintage silver spoons ~

okay...now to the winner of the vintage strawberry boxes...drum roll please....

  I used a random number generator and these cutie pie boxes are going to be winging their way to

SARA of SWEET MAGNOLIAS FARM

Congratulations Sara!! I think I have your address, but please get it to me just in case and I will get these in the mail next week. I also wanted to share them with more than one person so I choose a couple more names to send ONE box each to. They will go to Trisha and  Dawn so please send me your address ladies :)

Happy weekend everyone!! 

So blessed to win!

{This is not my photo...I borrowed it from the web }

I am so excited to announce that I was one of the lucky winners of this
gorgeous book in a contest that Jeanne d'Arc living had on facebook.

I can't wait for it to arrive in my mailbox...just had to share!! :)

THANK YOU...THANK Y OU...THANK YOU to all who voted for my photo!

You can check out the other two winners by clicking here if you would like to.

Happy Sunday!!

A winner!

Don't you just love these frenchy towels?  I picked these up at Pottery Barn on clearance
for $2.97 each. I took them off of a display to check the price and the price was right!! :)
I rarely go to Pottery Barn because there is none around here, but when I do go I love
to find a bargain.

I know it is time to put away Christmas! lol. I would say that 99% of mine is put away,
but I still have a couple small ones left including this one.

I drew a winner right away this morning for the sign above.

Congratulations to
Laurie of Heavens Walk!! 

WINNER!!! Is it you??

Roses that my hubby brought me for our anniversary...what a pretty pop of color! :)

I know that the reason you really popped in is to find out the winner of the crown...lol

so without anything further...

drum roll please...

Congratulations go out to:

SHANON at Vintage Sparkle CHIC

Shanon please email me and let me know what crown you would like
and I also need your full name and address.
{hsb@frontiernet.net}

Too busy these days so I just had time to pop in and announce the winner. Hope everyone
is doing great. My mom came home from the hospital again yesterday. Praying that she is
home to stay this time.

Celebrate life!!

Giveaway Winner!

Just had to share this picture first that my 11 year

old granddaughter took at a nature preserve. Isn't she beautiful??

And now the drum roll....

the winner is #24...

who might that be you ask?

It is none other than Nelly of Bella Nella's. Congratulations Nelly!!

Nelly, please email me through my email link on my blog

and I will email you back with the specifics.

Blessings~

Picnic Basket Winner~

I have chosen a winner of the picnic basket filled with goodies

by random number generator and the winner is Nycole~

Congratulations!!

I need your name and address asap please and<P>

thank you to all who entered!

Giveaway WINNER ~

Without further ado...

I printed out all the blog giveaway entries... put each one in a pretty vintage sugar bowl shook it up several times and had hubby draw the winner.... drum roll please....... theory @ country girl is the winner this time around. CONGRATULATIONS~

Please let me know your name and address so I can ship your goodies to you.

I also decided to draw for second place and that winner is: debra @ it's all good

Debra can go to my altered bottle shoppe {click the link on my sidebar} and pick out any bottle that you would like, email me your name and address and I will ship it off to you~

Thank you to everyone who entered ! I wish I could give all of you something because I appreciate every one of you so much! Blessings~

BLOGIVERSARY GIVEAWAY ~

dum...de de...dum

or

pa rum pa pum pum {lol}

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drum roll please

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As promised here is my

1st Blogiversary giveaway ~

{I decided to do a lot of pink this time}

I started with this glorious PARIS BUCKET from Michaels ~ added some tissue paper ~ This adorable little Loves Messenger Booklet {repro} A package of original unopened Simply Shabby Chic notecards from Target~ a vintage hankie trimmed in pink {starting to come together} Some Lace and a tag ~ a PINK scrubbie for dishes~ {looking even better now} Lots of vintage rick rack, bias tape, flowers and a Yankee fresh roses votive candle ~ Oops...this wouldn't fit , but I am adding it anyways A vintage unopened package of tiny thank you cards~ I do hope these goodies make your heart go pitter patter and you leave a comment.

This is open to US and Canadian bloggers. {You must have a blog to enter}

To get one entry comment on this post. For a second entry become a follower, {please let me know if you are a follower} For a third entry post this giveaway on your blog~ I will draw the winner on September 27th . Entries are closed at 9 am the 27th to give me time to get it all together and declare a winner in the evening. Thank you and happy blogging~ Blessings~