I Love...Keepsake Spoons!

TLC never ever EVER ceases to amaze me. She could/should be a Personal Shopper. She finds the most unique, beautiful, memorable, FABULOUS gifts for everyone! Especially her Mama.

This is where I shall begin my temporary/yet typical digression:

Y'all may remember that last weekend we were to have Princess Little Leighton (LL) as an honored guest at our country casa. Unfortunately, TLC had to take her to the pediatrician last Thursday morn. LL was running fever (102.2—high for Our Biscuit!). She’d been congested/constantly drippy for several days. TLC wanted to make sure she was okay to come for a visit with me and Pa-Pa (aka My Sweet Husband/aka MSH). LL’s doctor diagnosed her with a “BAD!” ear infection in her right ear. And the flu!!! Even though all of us, including LL, had had our flu shots by last October, flu has been rampant in the U. S. of A. We’ve been told by many television doctors—real ones!—via our media, that having the shot might keep us from getting a bad case of the flu. It would NOT guarantee we wouldn’t come down with it. Many, many children (and adults) have had serious cases of it in the past three months. Unfortunately, the vaccine peeps weren’t prepared for the way this year’s flu was going to mutate.

TLC and I are skeptical LL really had the flu. However, it became necessary for me to go east to their casa—in order to take care of her while TLC and Her Hubby celebrated their birthdays. Friday night was a planned (fancy) dinner out. Saturday was dinner out in a charming part of Dallas and a Mavericks’ game with friends.

I arrived Friday morn by 10:30 and left Sunday morn at the same time-ish. LL and Grammy had a lovely-as-always quality visit together while her Mom and Dad did their par-tay-in’.

As I was about to leave Sunday morn, TLC called me into her (MY...Wink. Wink.) guest room to give me two gifts. Both were to be my Valentine's Day “treats” from her and LL. But the BEAUTIFUL spoon became my “Thank You!” treat for babysitting Princess LL at her casa—instead of our country casa.

Back to TLC’s Amazing Finds:

In the past, TLC has given me some truly special gifts. I’ve received “engraved” spoons for my flower/cactus pots. This new spoon is for my “tea drinkin’” (Don't forget my ROYAL lineage!) and says:

a little bit of TEA & a whole lotta JESUS

Oh. My. Lord. Do I adore this spoon? Do birds fly? Do fish swim? Do I believe in Jesus???

Found randomly (but luckily!) via an Instagram account TLC follows, she discovered that this company--jessicaNdesigns (click on the link to shop until you drop!) (also: @jessicandesigns on IG and Twitter)--seems to have lots of other interesting/special items. Have no doubt, Dear Friends: My "tea" spoon will be treasured forever. And a day.

Merci beaucoup, TLC, for (once again) giving me something so unexpected but tres SPECTACULAR. Girl—YOU ROCK!

ta-ta for now...

p.s.—LL will be coming this weekend for our re-scheduled visit...Hip Hip Hooray!!!

I Love...Trail Mix!

I really do!

Soon after Little Leighton was born, I became hooked on the "Monster Trail Mix" from Target. Middle of the night feedings and diaper changes? All made easier by the little ramekin on my nightstand that I had pre-filled before bed with "Monster Trail Mix."

Then Target changed the ingredients in the "Monster Trail Mix." It went from having dried cherries to raisins only. I was bummed. They also added extra peanut butter chips and it was just too much. (My Husband is the one obsessed with peanut butter. He puts peanut butter on Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I kid you not.)

Then, I discovered Target's "Simply Trail Mix" now had the cherries and M&M's and raisins and almonds and peanuts. My life was complete, once again!

Last week, on a Target run while LL was at school, I headed for my Trail Mix aisle to grab my "usual," when I saw this:

Y'all. This is good. I mean, really good. It has dried cranberries, GOLDEN raisins (fancy!), almonds, sunflower seeds and pepitas (pumpkin seeds). It is tart and sweet and salty, and I am a FAN. So is My Husband. I caught him with the bag earlier, just munching away. Apparently I'm going to have to get us each a bag next time and properly label them with our names because I do not want to share. It's the perfect afternoon snack to give you the little boost of protein and energy you need to get you to dinner.

Give it a whirl!

P.S. And have a happy Monday while you're at it, too!

I Love...My Biscuit!

First, I must agree with TLC that I do so enjoy our “theme” months. We’ve been at this blog for four years. FOUR! We often need some inspiration. Having themes can make our (feeble though they are) minds stretch to think of a topic for a theme. Naturally, “love” had to be my suggestion for February. No need for explanations, right?

Second, in case you’ve forgotten, I call Little Leighton (LL) “Sister Biscuit.” I don’t know why. Honestly, I don’t. My Sweet Hubby (MSH) called TLC “Sugar Bear” from the time she was born until she told him he had to shorten it to just “Bear.” She was about 8 years old. (He actually still calls her Bear fairly often...) I intended to call LL “Birdie Bear.” (Birdie because despite the fact that TLC despised birds for two-thirds of her life, she began loving them a year or two before LL's birth. Yes, she's odd. She really is.) I made a good effort to call LL Birdie Bear. It kept coming out like this: “Aaahhhhhh…Sweet Sugar-I-Mean-Birdie-Bear.” That was too long. Confused me. Knew it was confusing LL. So sometime, in the first month or so of her little life, I came up with Sister Biscuit. I do so love biscuits. Homemade. Store bought. With butter. With honey. Or cheese. Or gravy. Or scrambled eggs and bacon. Or all of those things! Seriously. I crave biscuits. The “Sister” part? No clue. My brain is a mystery.

Third, Sister Biscuit fascinates me. I love every single second I’m with her. At her casa. At our casa. Anywhere. Everywhere. She is TLC reincarnated. With a few special “quirks” of her very own. Quirks I treasure.

She’s coming to stay with MSH and me in a couple of days. For two nights. We simply cannot wait. I clean my house for a 2 ½-year-old! I make sure we give her the BEST and most healthiest, gluten-free food we possibly can. She never lets us down. She's pure entertainment from the moment she wakes until she's fast asleep. Non-stop JOY.

TLC sends LL's bedtime “necessities:” Her stuffed animals she must have—LuLu the Lamb; Kate the Kitty; Flopsy the Bunny. She has two “shugies,” also. These are her pacifiers. One is named Morty, as he’s a kitty that looks like our cat, Morty. And one is a little pink bear—named Shugie. Shugie Bear. Shugie Bear currently has no pacifier attached to her. It "fell off"—while LL was at school a couple of weeks ago. (Isn’t that strange, TLC? How did that really happen, huh?) LL has handled the trauma of it all quite bravely, but does insist on Shugie Bear sleeping with her and the rest of Her Friends.

She also has her blankie—that was actually TLC’s!!! LL discovered this 31-year-old baby blanket at my house over a year ago and, without having a clue as to how seriously special it was/is, took it over as her own. (When TLC was five years old, and still sleeping with this blanket, a housekeeper at a hotel in San Francisco scooped it up our second morning, with the sheets, while we were out sightseeing. We came back, exhausted, as TLC and I had literally walked miles that day, to discover it was gone. I frantically dialed Housekeeping and begged them to find it! They did! It was a miracle. A true miracle. We all knew it. (For LL to love/cherish/adore it—well, that goes past my heart and straight to my very soul of souls…sniff sniff…)


Below are two pictures of "the" blanket. The first is TLC and LL in our guest room (formerly TLC's bedroom while in high school and college) recently. I'm pretty sure TLC is trying to talk LL out of HER yellow baby blanket. The next picture is of Biscuit in her Dad's chair, at their casa, with the famous blanket turned over and with her one and a half pacifiers...Morty and Shugie Bear. (I'm thinkin' LL's lookin' at her Mom's old phone that has many, many pictures of herself! One of her Biscuit's favorite pastimes? Admiring her own super cuteness. Teeheehee. The only thing Biscuit loves to do more is watching videos of herself!)

Finally, LL needs her bedtime books. One (of the three she must have) is the most adorable little book that has Christian poems, and prayers, about “The Shepherd.” We’ve referenced it in the past as a Yeehaw or Yummy or Yumhaw—I’m almost positive we have. (We also love to give it as a gift to our special friends we know will appreciate the utter sweetness of this priceless little prayer book.) It literally makes this Grammy cry when she reads some of the poems and prayers. “The Shepherd Forgives” is the hardest one on This Old Gal. Sheesh.

The last time LL stayed with us, we went through her bedtime “routine.” Bath. Jammies. Brush teeth. Blowdry hair—if it’s a shampoo night. Read books. We got to the precious little “Shepherd” book when LL said to me:

“Grammy, read Note to Parents.”

ELC (with a confused look on her face): Read what, Biscuit?

LL: Note to Parents. It’s right here.

Of course you see it almost every time you open the book. It’s at the beginning. She'd not mentioned it to me before this moment. Yes. Yes, I read it. Every word. Trying as hard as I could not to laugh. I couldn’t wait, the next morning, to tell TLC about this event. She got tickled and explained: "LL asked her Daddy a few nights ago to read it. He tried to help her understand that it wasn’t really meant to be read. LL wouldn’t have it. She insisted he read it. So, he obeyed The Boss! Read every word. Now she wants to hear that page every night. "LL"—our "LF" (Little Fruitcake!).

I Love...My Biscuit. With every fiber of my being...I'm so deeply blessed, by God, to be her grandmother.
Gotta scoot...must go find one of my Betsey tissues...Wink. Wink.

I Love...Nail Polish!

It's February 1st! How did that happen?

As you all have probably figured out, ELC loves a good "theme o' the month!" I was talking to her earlier today, and we collectively decided our theme for February would be people, places and/or things we LOVE! I'll be starting us off.

I have discovered my new favourite nail polish! I love pedicures, but, to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of manicures. I know...I'm weird...but my cuticles are always a mess...my hands stay super dry from washing dishes day-in and day-out...and, despite telling the manicurists I prefer "rounded" nails, they always go rogue and square them off. UGH. That makes my nails grow funky. I also don't typically paint my fingernails. They inevitably chip within a few hours, and I don't really have the patience for that. Before I was pregnant with Little Leighton, I tried the trendy "gel manicure" for a month or two. I did love how long the color lasted without chipping...and how quickly they dried. I could dig around my purse before I left the nail salon and never worry I was messing them up. I did NOT love how it destroyed my nails when I finally decided I couldn't commit to the maintenance and wanted the gels removed.

Last weekend, I had to run to Walgreens for a few pharmaceuticals, when I happened upon the Sally Hansen "Miracle Gel Top Coat." I also treated myself to a new Essie color: Chinchilly. (It's the perfect grey.) I just had a hankering for pretty nails! This morning, before church, I decided to try out my new nail combo. I did two coats of the Chinchilly, followed by the Sally Hansen Gel Top Coat. Guess what? My nails dried quickly! They are shiny and seem pretty "tough!" I've washed dishes several times today, baked cookies, made queso and played restaurant, and my polish hasn't been chipped or dented or dulled. That's nothing short of a miracle for moi! The Top Coat says it can help your color stay for up to 14 days. If this lasts 5 to 7 days, I'll be happy as a clam! The best part is that it can be removed with regular ol' nail polish remover. You can't beat that.

I suppose it might be a smidge early to declare this new combo PHENOMENAL, but I have a lot of hope! And faith! I think you should give them a whirl and treat yourself!

P.S. Guess who has been bitten by the nail polish bug? I just LOVE these tiny hands!