Tag: celebrate


Jun
2018

Our Summer Family Gathering

categories: Celebrate, Summer

Last weekend our family gathered at a local park for a picnic.

The occasion was the visit of my sister’s oldest daughter and granddaughter from Florida.

It was terribly hot that day, the temperature was well into the 90’s. We picked a shady area and tried to stay as cool as possible.

A watermelon pinata, purchased at Target, kinda gave us a theme, and a fun activity later for the kids.

Loved the cute, whimsy watermelon tablecloths, plates and napkins!  So festive!

The yummies were fried chicken, baked beans, fruit salad, and my brother-in-law’s famous mac and cheese.

I made a banner with family photos, tied around a large tree in the picnic area, our “family tree”!

There were many very old photos, and more recent ones, I wanted to include everyone!

My niece loved it!

Later, I gave her a small box to hold the photos, along with a note, as a keepsake of our gathering to take back to Florida.

We played games, of course.

Stenciled letters on cardstock and we played a version of “Bananagram” in the grass.

A hula hoop contest…

I remember the day when we all could “hula hoop”, not anymore!

We gave out simple gifts to our winners, wrapped in colorful tissue paper, tied with twine.

Made some silly tags to highlight which gifts were for men, women, or kids.

The pinata was filled with treats, a fun time for the kids.

Love those wonderful smiles on those beautiful faces!

I would like to end this post by saying a bit about families.

None of us are perfect, no family is perfect.  I think that is something we all should remember.

Ours has so much drama at times, and there are times when forgiveness is hard, but oh my gosh, how we all love each other.

We were all together for love, sharing our time together, to be with each other, making a wonderful memory!

I am so very emotional writing of my family, they, each and every one of them, mean the world to me!

Gather.

Love the imperfections of your family.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

 

 


Mar
2018

Our St. Patrick’s Day!

categories: Celebrate

I can never let St. Patrick’s Day pass without writing a bit about my husband’s Irish heritage.

His grandparents came to Ellis Island from County Galway, Ireland.

They did not come together, but met and married here, raising five sons and one daughter.

Such lovely people, religious, good, kind, and hard working.

Both living well into their 90’s.

My husband’s dream was always to go to Ireland, but that was not to be!

He is now not able to travel so much, and it saddens me that his dream will not come true.

We had a little Irish lunch celebration today, making a recipe I found on Pinterest, “Baked Reuben Sliders”.

They were yummy!

Added a bit of green to the table, and we talked about his childhood memories growing up with Irish grandparents.

Such sweet wonderful stories.

There’s an Irish Blessing, I wish for all of you today,

“may your troubles be less, your blessings be more,

and nothing but happiness come through your door”.

Love to all.

 

 


Feb
2018

A Very Special Day!

categories: Celebrate

Today is my son’s birthday!

I thank God for the gift of my dear son, for his life.

I remember the day he was born, the first time I held him, as if it were today.

That morning, so many years ago, I whispered to myself, “I will always have a special someone to love”.

He has been, and continues to be, my life.

A son who makes me smile.

What a joy he is to me, unconditional love, support, and not too “manly” to say, “I love you” to his Mom, everyday.

Jim is a sweet soul, simple, hard working, strong, a construction worker, never wanting anything expensive or fancy.

A simple celebration today, his favorite cake, white, with white icing, and our famous hometown, Greater’s chocolate chip ice cream.

So, Happy Birthday my son, just know you are loved so very much, and always know that I am so very proud of the wonderful human being you are!

God bless you always,

Mom

XO

 

 


Feb
2018

Planning a Valentine’s Day Breakfast

categories: Celebrate

I love to do something out of the ordinary every once in awhile!

So I decided to plan a simple Valentine’s Day breakfast surprise for my husband.

Staying home is what we do these days, it is difficult for him to get out with his physical issues, home feels safe to him.

These surprises don’t necessarily have to be fancy or expensive, even the smallest change in our ordinary routine can be delightful.

My husband gets up much later than I do, so I thought breakfast would be the best time for our little celebration, giving me time to set the simple table.

Menu will be his usual breakfast favorites, muffins, yogurt, fruit, juice, and coffee.

Gathered up all the red and pink items I have on hand, those things I thought I could use on my table, dishes, napkins, serving pieces, and such.

I will definitely be using these cute mugs I found at Target. 

Thought about framing some old photos of us for the table. I’ve tried a few small frames I have on hand.

Scattered paper hearts, here and there, on the table, might be a whimsy, colorful touch!

As we get older love changes.

It is different, a simple love, where a hug means so much more than a passionate kiss, a smile, just because, brightens us, a different kind of closeness develops.

I will let you all see how my breakfast surprise turns out!

Have you made plans for your sweeties on Valentine’s Day, a day to show love to those folks, you just love so much!

Plan to be silly and giggle a bit, it feels so good!

XO

Oh, Happy Birthday to my dear brother-in-law!

 

 


Feb
2018

“Love” Filled Sunday Project

categories: Celebrate, Crafts

Sunday afternoon I went back years, experiencing one of the joys I remembered as a little girl.

Enjoyed those little girl feelings, felt from so long ago!

I loved paperdolls, always taking pride in cutting them out, as best I could.  Carefully turning my scissors, trying to be perfect with every cut.

With Valentine’s Day upon us, I worked on a sweet “love” filled project, making a wreath from vintage valentines.

Some years back, I saw this idea at Williams-Sonoma, loved it, but too pricey for my budget.

Never forgot how cute it was, so I searched Pinterest, found some adorable old valentines, printed them out, and started to make my own wreath.

Used a styrofoam ring as my base, a cutout cardboard base would work too!

I glued some red paper heart doilies all around the base, placing them here and there.

What fun I had selecting from my valentine collection, deciding which ones to place around the heart filled base.

I used glue dots to attach the valentines to the doilies. These dots have glue on both sides, and also helped raise the valentines up a bit.

Added red ribbon to hang, that was all needed to complete.

Some craft folks use glitter and other embellishments, but I love simple, just the old valentines.

“Love” it!

Oh my gosh, it is so cute!

Loved looking at all the old sweet valentines!

A simple fun project with such a memory.  You all know I love memories!

After Valentine’s Day has passed, I will carefully pack up my wreath for next year, just as I packed up my precious paperdolls, in a shoebox, as a child.

Love, XO

 

 


Jan
2018

A Million Tiny Little Things…..

categories: Celebrate, Christmas, My Simple Home

There is a scene in one of my favorite movies, Sleepless in Seattle, when Tom Hanks talks about his wife in such a beautiful way, “it was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they were supposed to be together…”.

When cleaning up a bit yesterday, room to room, picking up and dusting, I realized that Christmas in my home is a bunch of tiny small touches that when you put them all together, you feel the magic of the season.

Before this week is over, I wanted to share many of the tiny things I treasure each Christmas.  Many I have cared for with love over the years to use again and again.

My cherished white nativity set, purchased with Christmas money from my son.

My tree, with all the special ornaments I have collected over the years.

It is sprinkled with snow, pine cones and berries.

My beautiful paper mache angel, handmade, always sitting at the very top, love her so!

This wall hanging was my new addition this year.  I love that it is the first thing you see as you look into my home from the front door, “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”.

A snowflake pillow, a wreath on the mirror, lots of sparkle, with gold and silver ribbons.

Garland on my dining hutch, and entry clock, decorated with beautiful ribbons, lights, and snow covered pine cones.

A bit of red in my kitchen, small dishes, tin canisters, and a small tree.

A Hallmark Santa, so old, nestled under a tree on my kitchen counter.  Love him!

This salt dough nativity set I have carefully packed up each year, purchased at a church craft fair, 42 years ago. The faces are amazing.  Big smiles, rosy cheeks, just so sweet.

A Santa tray, purchased on a Thanksgiving visit, with my precious mother, to see my brother in New York City, so many years ago.

When I bring it out each year, I remember our trip together and how I struggled with spending $35 on this hand painted, paper mache tray.  So glad I did, the memory it brings to mind each year is priceless.

The best saved for last, this Baby Jesus made of paper over 40 years ago by my son.

I love the smile Jimmy placed on his face.

Oh my, precious, cherished, now a family tradition each year, finding the perfect place on our tree to place our Baby Jesus.

Thank you all for allowing me to share all these treasures.

I truly hope every one of you have collected special Christmas treasures, those items that when the season arrives you find such overwhelming joy in displaying in your home as I do.

Sad a bit that the holidays are over and my treasures must once again be packed up with loving care.

Love to all of you, also precious treasures to me.

Blessings and love.

 


Jan
2018

My Wonderful Incomplete Christmas

categories: Celebrate, Christmas, My Simple Home

Made lists, and more lists, planned for weeks, shopped early, wrapped early, but with all of this, my Christmas planning was incomplete.

Most of my decorating in my living and dining area, and my tree was completed, but all my extra little Christmas touches, those I wanted to do here and there, never happened.

Cookies, I so wanted to make, didn’t happen.  Bakery Christmas cookies had to do.

Making ornaments, and creative gift tags, was limited.

So much undone.

In the end, the fact that my family made it to my home on Christmas Eve, despite slippery dangerous snow covered roads, was all that was important.  We all just wanted to be together, and with God’s help and protection we were.

Cookies can still be made, ornaments made and saved for next year.

My husband gets upset with me because I fuss so much when folks are coming to our home.  He always tells me, “it’s just family”.

I have different thoughts on all this fussing, I fuss because I want all to be special for them!

A gift to them.

Thanking them for coming and sharing this special time of the year with me and my family in our home.

I pray you all had a Merry Christmas with family and those you so love.

I also pray and ask God that we all will have a blessed and wonderful new year ahead.

Be safe, be happy, and always love each other.

Fussing for those you love is OK!

Until next time!

 

 


Jul
2017

Musical Note Plates

categories: Celebrate, Flea Market Finds/Thrifting

One of my nieces introduced me to a wonderful antique mall and flea market.  She and her husband have a booth in the mall selling vintage toys.

It is a really large mall and takes hours to get through the hundreds of booths.

It’s heaven!

On my last visit I found these unique, fun, dessert, salad size plates.

Aren’t they great?  I have never run across any like these before.

There were only 6 in the set, but enough for any small party or celebration. Can be used for dessert, or as side plates on a table setting for accent pieces.

The black and white will go with so many other colored plates and napkins.

Finding items like these fun plates is really why I love antique malls and flea markets. You really never know what you will run across.  They were inexpensive, but now very valuable to me!

If I see that I have a free day I try to visit the mall.

When I tell my husband that I am going, it’s sweet how he says,”take your time, enjoy yourself”.  Maybe it’s “music” to his ears!  Alone time?

I cannot read music but I am sure the notes on these plates has to be “Happy Birthday to You”!

Don’t you think?

Hope your day is filled with beautiful music and love!

 


Jul
2017

How to Carve a Watermelon Basket

categories: 4th of July, Celebrate, Simple Recipes, Summer

It’s only the 9th of July, lots of summer still left to enjoy.

I thought you all might need an idea for something to take to a family gathering or cookout.

This is my most popular pin on Pinterest, pinned hundreds of times.

Here are the instructions from a previous post.  http://lovingmynewsimplelife.com/wow-them/

This is seriously so easy to do, and a show stopper on a food table.  Love the scalloped edges!

Can be filled with colorful mixed fruit, or simply cut up watermelon chunks as I did in the top photo.

When putting this post together I thought of my first memory of having watermelon.

I loved to spend time with my grandmother in the summer. There was a truck that would come down the street selling fruits and vegetables, and on one hot day, she grabbed her little black change purse, and we went to the truck and bought a watermelon.  Grandma cut it up, and we enjoyed it that hot summer afternoon.

My oh my, what a sweet memory for me!

Make some sweet memories this summer, and also try carving a “sweet” watermelon basket.

Love you all this July afternoon!

 


Jul
2017

When a Small Gift Returns

categories: 4th of July, Random Thoughts

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July.

I hung my flag outside of our home the first thing in the morning.

So fortunate to be born and live in the USA.

Sometimes we forget!

Just a quiet 4th for us, no invites, no guests.

I did decorate a bit, it is just something I like to do!

Last week when shopping with my sister, we found a cute dog bandana filled with stars and stripes.

We immediately thought of our favorite dog, “Denali”, belonging to my niece, my sister’s daughter.

I wrapped it up and mailed it to him for his 4th of July apparel.

In the afternoon, during our uneventful 4th, my phone beeped.  It was a video of our favorite dog prancing around, modeling his new scarf.  Soooo cute!

Oh my gosh, what a really simple sweet moment!

Me and my husband watched the video over and over, laughing at it each time.  It made our day special.

The video was our gift of thoughtfulness returning!

Do something simple and sweet for someone you love and watch it come back.

Love to all!