Special Treat for the Granddaughters

Our daughter, Andrea, sung in Midland, Michigan's "Midland's Center for The Arts" before she recently moved to CA. They were doing a concert and the guest artist was Jodi Benson.

You may not recognize that name but you have heard of the Little Mermaid.

She is noted for providing the singing & speaking voice of Disney's Princess Ariel in the Little Mermaid and it's sequels. She also has been in Toy Story II, Flubber, Thumbelina, Enchanted and a number of Broadway shows.

Andrea had a solo part in the musical and got to know Jodi. Our granddaughters, Emma & Olivia were asked to come back stage before the show to meet her. They were so thrilled to meet the "Little Mermaid" that they love to watch. She was so kind to both the girls and even singled them out from the stage while she was performing. They were a little embarrassed and loved it at the same time.


Here she is with the girls before the performance.

Andrea joined in for this snapshot.
Andrea said she was so wonderful on stage, talking about not caring if she was politically correct about saying/not saying, "Merry Christmas." She made no bones about it that her faith is in Jesus and she is celebrating His birth. She said it was just a wonderful weekend, and she was so ecouraged and thankful for the kind of woman she is in the entertainment world!

Thanks for visiting! Hope you're having a happy week.

Pumpkin Project

This is a little Fall project I thought I would share with you.

I took a small pumpkin from the grocery store. You could have a larger one if desired. This was the only size my store had, except the very large ones. Try to find one that sets evenly, also. I broke the stem off the top, a evenly as possible.

Then put these craft pins around the top of the pumpkin.

I have several hurricane lamps and recently broke the base of one. I kept the glass globe part just to have a spare. It came in handy for this project.

Place the globe inside the pins. They hold it in place. Put a candle ring around the globe and a battery operated tea light inside and you can set it anywhere or with a Fall display.

Finished product. I hope you can see the tea light, ok and get the general idea.

Let me know if any of you do one. I'm sure you could embellish it or have different ideas to share.

Have a great week!

Fall is in the Air

I've enjoyed seeing all your Fall decorations over the last couple of weeks. They have been inspirational to me.

I have posted a few different rooms with Fall decor in the last couple of weeks but not the dining room or the outside of the house. This is the last of the rooms that have decorations in them.

I will post a little Fall project in a day or so that I thought was a cute idea.

Here's our DR table and buffet.

Hubby took a pic pretty far away of the front of the house.

Better pic of the rockers on the front porch.

A little grouping by the front door. A few pumpkins to the right of the front door.

This shows a wired pumpkin on a shepherd's hook that holds a candle to light the way at night.

Cute pumpkin welcome mat from Old Time Pottery. (Love that store) There was a super large Old Time Pottery in Pigeon Forge last week when I was there. I was in my glory.
Thanks for letting me share with you today. Have a great weekend!

Dollywood II

The Pigeon Forge area is so pretty this time of year, if you ever get a chance to visit you won't be sorry.

We're resting our tired feet and our friend, Jim, snapped this shot.


My good friend, Regina and I by the pretty flowers.
Have you ever seen wind chimes this size? They have to fence it off - just in case those things were to fall. They would kill someone. Hubby had me stand under them to get a better idea of the size. It was outside the blacksmith shop.

Couldn't pass up the swings, they're more my speed, as rides go. Our friend, Jim took the pic because he doesn't like things going round and fast. They made me take my sandals off so no one would get hit with them as a flying object.
Another beautiful Fall display of pumpkins.


This is where you can spend some serious time and money. THE SWEET SHOP! It's just darling in side so I thought I'd post some of the wood work.


Well that's it for Dollywood. Thanks for stopping. Friday on to more Fall decor around the house.

Took a Little Break and Went to Dollywood

We took off for 3 days and went to Pigeon Forge, TN. On Friday we arrived and went to zillions of outlet stores. (It probably felt that way to hubby) On Fri. evening we went to a family oriented show. Saturday we were up bright and early to enter Dollywood. Friends of ours asked us to go and had 4 free tickets. Can't beat that! The weather could not have been better in those Smokey Mnts. It was just gorgeous.

This is an area in the park, I wish the pic was better. The flowers everywhere were beautiful and Fall decorations were everywhere. I've never seen so many corn stalks in one day. The whole town had them lining the streets. Very pretty.

On a street corner before entering the park.

This is an section of the park that had some shops and eateries.

They had a variety of things cooking and the aromas were leading the way.
This pig was cooking most of the day, with coals burning underneath. It takes a while that way.
I couldn't pass up a carmel apple in the sweet shop. (They are a weekness of mine) At least the apple is good for you, right?
The kid in me still loves a train ride and they have quite a train. It seats over 600 people and takes you on a lengthy ride. ALL ABOARD! Here we go.

A shot of the train as we rounded the bend.

We went to see the old Grist Mill, which is in operation, and our friends bought some fresh ground grits while we were there.

This is an very old machine that separates the chaff from the wheat.
A waterfall in the park

A busy bee that hubby caught just as he was working on a flower.
I hope you enjoyed the ride. I might post more this week. Thanks for stopping!

Fall Decorations Part II

I thought I'd post a few more Fall decor pics. I have a few more I will probably post next week. Hope you all are having a Fab week thus far.


This pic is of the fireplace mantel in our family room. Another angle that shows the hearth with a few Fall things.
At this angle you can see the other decorations, like the big acorn. Hubby saw this and had to buy it. I didn't even know if I wanted it or what I would do with it but it has grown on me, not literally.

He wanted you to see the size pictured with a quarter. ( I humored him)

The sofa table behind the couch.

The entertainment center has a few pumpkins on the shelves but I didn't change everything like I do at Christmas.

Here's a closer view of the pumpkin kettles on the top. You can't help but return their smile.

A view from that room into the kitchen.
A few Fall leaf plates with glass acorns and leaves in them, apples and fruit placed in different spots around the room.

Hubby got into the decorating, too. While I was placing things around he grabbed the fall pics and started making an arrangement for the kitchen island. I said "Good job "and left it the way it did it. I really liked it.
Things setting on the counter.


Thanks for stopping by today. I appreciate each comment and look forward to visiting your sites.