Saturday, May 11, 2013

Mother's Day 2013

Just couldn't let this Mother's Day go by without posting about my Mother.  She has been gone for seven years now and there are very few days in a week that go by that I don't think of her in some way.


People say you ALWAYS miss your Mama when she's gone and I am believing that to be the truth.  So much I would love to still share with her...especially the three beautiful great grand-daughters she has.  She would LOVE them so much!

Mother was  the original "Kelly" in the fact that she had two little girls she dressed exactly alike and put bows in their hair.  My sister and I were only 15 months apart and everyone thought we were twins. 



Even our little "saddle shoes" matched.  I noticed in this picture that I had a watch on or maybe a bracelet.  Probably a watch because I am a little OCD about being punctual!  I still have my first Cinderella watch as a matter of fact!  I could probably be on an episode of "Hoarders"!

So back to my mother!  She was the model 50's mother...cooked, sewed all our clothes, kept house and tried to instill Biblical values in our lives.

I never remember her lying on the couch watching TV or anything like that.  She was truly a Proverbs 31 woman....always working at something.

She loved us and we never wanted for anything.  We weren't rich but we never went without.  She sacrificed many things for our sakes.
She is the one who taught me the love of your own children!


When my two sweet babies came along, I took up my Mother's example of loving and taking care of my children.  

I didn't think I could EVER love anyone as much as I love my own children........


until



these two couple got together and now I have 3 grand babies that I can't even begin to describe the love I have for them!

Thank you Scott and Kelly!
Thank you Chris and Carrie!

You have made this Mother's Day and the ones to come so special for me!
Money will never buy that kind of blessing!
Amen?


Happy 1st Mother's Day to my darling daughter-in-law Carrie!
Happy Mother's Day to my special Kelly!

I love you both and love what great Moms you both are!
Your children are blessed!

Friday, April 5, 2013

Favorite Children's Books

I am so very behind on my blogging and have many pictures and stories to tell but I can't seem to have time to sit down and write.  Maybe later.

But when I saw Kelly's SUYL topic this little book popped into my memory.



I can't tell you the hours I sat with my son Chris reading these Richard Scarry books.  They are delightful and my heart just leaps everytime I see this cover.  Isn't that crazy after all these years?


But, guess what?  I STILL have this book and I got it out and read it to Harper when we kept her a couple of weeks ago.  

Now I can't wait to read it to Chris' little girl!!

Somethings never get old!



Friday, February 22, 2013

SUYL/ Favorite Family Pictures

I rarely participate in Kelly's Korner's "Show Us Your Life" but I have at least 200,000 pictures of Kelly (and her brother) growing up and I thought since many of my readers of my blog come over from Kelly's blog, they might like to see some of my favorite pictures of Kelly growing up.



Yes, I know she may NEVER forgive me but I'll just live dangerously and forge ahead!!




Remember Olan Mills pictures?

(Does Hollis not look like her uncle Chris???)

This picture was made when we lived in New Orleans.


Kelly was about 4 1/2 when she started kindergarten in New Orleans.



Kelly at thirteen.




Chris and Kelly at their grandparents in Plano, Texas.

This was made at their other grandparents in De Queen, Arkansas.



Kelly and her first car her freshman year at college.

Our family trip to Hawaii.


These last two pictures were college-age pictures.  The one above was made at the University of Texas in Austin where Chris went to school.

This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of my kids together!

Then Kelly met Scott.........


And Chris met Carrie.......

And that's the way they became the Stamps-Martin bunch!!




Did I mention I had a FEW pictures of my granddaughters?......that's for another post another day!!


Friday, February 1, 2013

Sassy and Southern and other Sweet Things

We just got home from a trip to Florida and I am knee-deep in mail and laundry!  It takes me days to get my house back in order after a long trip and I am getting slower all the time!

I had the neatest gift sent to me just before I left on my trip that I wanted to share with you.

Two of the sweetest girls from Tennessee, Trisha and Missy, who have a custom photo pendants and charms business, wrote me and ask if they could make me a pendant.  I have had people approach me before and want me to advertise their things on my blog but have never accepted any of them after checking them out.

However, after reading Trisha and Missy's site, I was impressed with them and decided I would love to show all of my readers what a neat product they make.  Go to sassyandsouthern and check them out! 



Here is a picture of me just before I went out the door with my new pendant of my three beautiful granddaughters!  Their names and birthdays are on the back.  They can put pictures, Bible verses, dates or anything you like on the pendant.  I will be looking for a new chain for mine soon but you can also attach the pendant to a string of pearls or whatever you have!

This would make a great Baby gift for a new mother (or a wonderful gift for an old Nonny like me with the grands)!  A couples picture for a Valentine's gift or a wedding picture with the date on the back sounds so sweet!

So go over and give Sassy and Southern a look and tell them I sent you!


Our first stop on our trip was a quick trip to Dallas for a little family gathering to honor our newest grand baby.  Since my children do not want pictures of her on the internet I have a limited amount of pictures to show!!  Nearly every picture I made had her in it!

So I will just show the parents!


Carrie's aunt Louise and her cousin Ann were gracious host for a lovely brunch!

Here are a few more enjoying the good food!

I love this picture.  Since the parents wanted pictures of everyone with the baby, son Chris set up his "Sears Portrait Studio" and I took this picture of everyone trying to get the baby's attention as pictures were being made!  So funny what tactics we use to get a good picture!!


Hubs and I left there for a two-day trip to Destin on our way to Jacksonville for the pastor's conference at FBC.

Destin is a great place for a vacation but of course, it is the "off-season" and the beaches were vacant!  We had the whole beach to ourselves for a nice walk. It was also our 42nd wedding anniversary so that made it a special time for us to have some quiet time alone!


It was cool and windy that day but you could see forever!



Nothing but us and the seagulls!  What a great day!



Then on to Jacksonville for four days of hearing God's Word and listening to the best music this side of heaven!  The FBC choir and orchestra and all the special music was just great.  Travis Cottrell was leading the worship music and all you Beth Moore girls know who he is.  I did get a chance to say "Hello" to him and he was very gracious to take time to talk to an old lady admirer of his!





One of the highlights this year for me was the pastors' wives luncheon with guest speaker, Pam Tebow.  Of course, every one knows her as Tim Tebow's mother but she spoke very little about him actually. She was a beautiful, soft-spoken woman who spoke about how God has lead her to raise her children in His Word.



She spoke about the importance of having children memorize scriptures and how that Word is embedded into their minds and hearts and stays with them their whole life.  This is so true and the main reason for having programs for children in our churches to teach them to hide scripture in their hearts.

 "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word from God" .  Deuteronomy 8:3

"So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." Romans 10:17

"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Ephesians 6:17

"And the Lord said....Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My Words so they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth and that they may teach their children."  Deuteronomy 4:10

The church in Jacksonville provided a beautiful luncheon for the pastors' wives after hearing Pam Tebow speak.

This is outside the Children's Building(imagine having a whole building just for the children!) where we were waiting to go in for the luncheon.





 Each table was beautifully decorated with fresh flowers and the chairs had huge gold bows tied in the back....looked like a wedding reception!  The food was delicious also: fresh pineapple scooped out and filled with three different salads and fresh fruit on the plate with a blueberry muffin.  For dessert, dark chocolate cake that was almost too much for me....but I ate it anyway!!


They also gave us a bag of goodies consisting of five new books and jewelry from Premier Jewelry.

Believe it or not, I have never had a cross necklace and now I have one with three different crosses! Thank you so much, Jacksonville FBC,  for the ministry to us!  You may us feel special indeed!


We drove home and this picture was on the bridge over the Mississippi River.
We decided to drive home on the backroads through Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi and we enjoyed it soooooo much!!

I loved coming through Georgia and smelling peanuts as we drove by the peanut farms.  What a great time.....you can't get that driving down the interstate!!





Monday, January 14, 2013

Cold Days with Heart-Warming Events

We had a busy week-end but each day was filled with so much joy!

Started our week-end with our first granddaughter's Fourth birthday party.  She doesn't officially turn four until Wednesday (16th) but her parents had her party on Saturday.  I'm sure most of you who read Kelly's blog have already seen enough pictures of the party but I always like to throw mine into the mix!



The Birthday Girl!







Hollis was just as excited as Harper was about Harper's birthday!  Of course, she got a few presents too from her grandparents so she probably thought it was her party too!  She is the sweetest little girl!

The girls watching out the window for their guest to arrive.




Harper has some beautiful little friends!

Emily loved getting her nails painted by a cowgirl princess!

This may be a little strange but this was my favorite picture I made of Harper.  It was near the end of the party and her tiara was slipping, tears in her pink eye-shadowed little eyes and she was done!  Party-pooped! But isn't she beautiful?

We are so blessed beyond our wildest dreams to think the events that unfolded four years ago that were SO HORRIBLE could bring us such joy through such a loving little girl.  We have nothing but praise for the One who graciously answered our(and thousands of others out there)prayers for her to live.

This is a verse from the Bible that someone sent me four years ago and I wrote it down and put it in a little book I am saving for Harper someday.

It is from 2 Corinthians.....

"But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God.....On Him we have put our Hope that He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.  Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."

I will never forget and will always be indebted to those of you who prayed during that time for Harper and our family! 


After we went home from enjoying all the "Princess" festivities, we were gearing up for some exciting times with our church family.


We experienced two baptisms and a deacon ordination on Sunday!


These are some of our deacons who participated in the ordination service.

These five men each gave their testimonies of how God has worked in their lives.  It was a tearful moment for me to hear them speak of how their life has been touched by the Lord.


Pastor Hubs gave the men their charge from God's word from 1 Timothy.

Then the other ordained men in the church came by each and gave them a word of encouragement through prayer.

Then it was time for hugs and encouragement from all our church family!




What a great night it was!


These three newly-ordained young men really blessed my heart because I have known them since they were little boys!  Now they are married with children and I feel so honored to be their pastor's wife! They and their wives are in our Young Adult's Bible study class!  We love each one of them and are so happy to see them committed to raising up their families in church!

I wanted to leave you a quote I read somewhere on Twitter today!

It was spoken by one of our favorite pastors from Jacksonville, Florida, Mac Brunson. Food for thought:

"Are your hands so full of what God has blessed you with that you have NO time or room for God?"