Kay Ellen

The Walking Dead?

Are you hooked on this show? Well, my family sure is...

This TV show have to persoanlly watch from a distance because the zombies kind of freak me out!ha-ha

I do not mean to alarm you but instead of an (Over the Hill) themed birthday my husband requested;

The Walking Dead.

A moment in time captured at the scary cake table.

When our guests arrived for the celebration they were either in shock or cracking up when they saw the decorations on the table. 

My daughter found some of her old barbies and turned them into zombies using makeup and fingernail polish. I printed out photos from the TV show and scattered them around the table.  

A little imagination and this was a pretty reasonable themed birthday to create.

My husband loved the scary birthday surprise :)

Happy Birthday Mark.

A Happy Birthday & Where's April?

What a busy week and it's only Wednesday!

A very very Happy Birthday to our son Kyle yesterday...he turned 21! I just can't beleive it.

When he was born we brought him home from the hospital in an over sized Christmas stocking on Christmas Eve morning...oh my goodness I am tearing up just thinking about!

I guess I am getting sentinmental as time is passing by so quickly these days. My sweet sister opened up her home for us to celebrate Kyle's Birthday.  Thank you again, Kim and family! 

We really had a fun evening last night.

I rounded up a few party goers to smile for the camera :))

############################################################

A very large bundled package came in the mail on Monday afternoon ~~~ I won a beautiful area rug from HERE on Stephanie Lynn's Blog!  I was over joyed and felt like Chistmas had come a little early just for me. I unrolled the rug and decided to try it right away in the living-room... a fun hip floral patterned rug with lots of pretty tones. I walked into the kitchen for a second after I put the rug down and was looking for our newest member of the family...April? Where are you?

Well look who was checking out the new rug?

Silly April, she knows she is not allowed in the living-room but look how adorable she is? Frozen! ha-ha

This is her first Christmas with us so she is fascinated by everything happening around the house lately.

I didn't have the energy or time to pull out my large white tree I usually decorate for the living-room...so this is what I did...My Travel Tree is petite and sitting in our front window.

I added a few cut pieces of spruce branches and resting them on the black framed sillouttes of my sister and I when we were young.

Hope your week is going well friends! Four days and counting, yikes I am not ready! 

In the busyness of the season remember to stop, pause and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

Hugs and Christmas blessings to each of you,

:Kay Ellen & Family

Fall

The first sign a Fall showed up on my windsheild today. 

Hopeful for more signs of Fall to reach Southern California very soon :)

We had a scare this past week with my husband being taken by ambulance to the ER with an irregular heart beat. I stayed home with him for the past few days and only worked a few hours. We both went back to work today. Thankful he is feeling better.

A big thankyou to all my facebook family and friends for praying for him when I first got the call and of course all the support from our church staff.

Alot of work to catch up on this week.

I guess that's why I am wide awake at midnight! 

:KayEllen

Books

Back to school time has arrived at my house. The pile of inspirational vintage books shown above are from my collection ~~~ not text books:)

My son rents books for his college courses. The campus library has books available for students to rent if you are first inline to grab one off the shelf. The renting does curve the price downward but still very pricey! The books not including the cost of each course can range from 65.00 up to 125.00 per class. Talking to other parents with students in college agree that this is an average price for books but I think it is very high...I kind of freak out each semester my son blurts out the extra money he needs for books...What? How much?  

Why can't the college come up with a universal system for students enrolled to be able to download books at a lower cost online? Maybe some colleges are practicing this concept I sure hope so!!! So far it has not happened for my son. We have found a few good deals on Amazon to buy the books, but it just depends on the course subject.   

Any new parents out in blogland sending your kids to college make sure and budget for books because a full time student will spend an average of 500.00 or more for one semester.  Yikes!

I was remembering how I use to complain about all the books my kids would need for Junior High and High School~~~ well not anymore! 

This photo above is from Pinterest I love the inspiring images I have come across on their site. Check it out some time! 

I captured a fun photo with these two "back to school" young ladies.

My niece on the left and daughter on the right...reading my old weathered and worn books :)

Back to work, thanks for listening to my whining!

Sorry to my son for freaking out for another semester. Love you Kyle!

:Kay Ellen       

Cut the Cake!

It is time to celebrate and cut a slice of cake for our daughter's seventeenth birthday!!

She is celebrating her big day far away from home.

We miss her very much~~~ but we also know she is having a blast this summer visiting small town America in Spirit Lake, Iowa.

What a great opportunity and experience for our daughter to be working her first job at a charming bakery & coffee shop annnnd hanging out with her childhood best friend everyday! 

  

Happy Birthday to our sweet Paige~~~!

Note to Paige: Hope we can Skype later tonight and eat some cake together :)

Hugs, Prayers & Love from your family in California!  

xoxoxo

Priceless

Hi friends,

This week has just flown by so quickly...A busy week filled with celebrating, graduations, school ending and summer drawing near. 

My sweet and talented niece Carrie graduated this week from high school. We are so proud of her.

A kind and thoughtful person, cheerful, an amazing athlete, crowned homecoming princess during her senior year~~beautiful inside and out!  

Congratulations Care Bear~~~ We love you!

Laughter is good for the soul...

I also wanted to share a priceless video my daughter made for Carrie as a special graduation surprise. 

Click on the title below

Gift of Memories

#####################################################

Happy Pink Saturday to Beverly and my blogging friends who are popping by!!

:KayEllen & Family

A very busy weekend

I wanted to send out a special thank you for those of you who knew about my Dad being in the hospital this weekend...our family truly appreciated all your prayers, phone calls and thoughtful notes.

My Dad had congestive heart failure on Friday night in the wee hours... thankful he is feeling better each day.

I went to the grogery store to do some shopping for low sodium and non- salted products requested by my Dad's doctor. Did you know salt is in everything! Well not everything but it sure seems like it. I did manage to find a few items that will work...but my Mom would love some suggestions for dinners~~please email me some recipes!!

Before all this happened I had a photo shoot Friday morning at a new animal shelter in San Jacinto...

after I finished taking photos I decided to meet some of the amazing animals that were up for adoption. 

Look who I brought home....Meet April!

Our newest addition to the family. She is a one year old jack russell terrier mix.

April is so sweet and really loves our schnauzer Gracie. She is still trying to figure out our cat Napoleon. I have decided Napoleon is the pack leader in this group because he is in charge and pretty funny to watch him with the two dogs.

Saturday morning I had already committed to help set up a Vintage Sale at Forget Me Not Antiques. I only had three hours of sleep Friday night because we were at the hospital so late...but what could I do? I love the owner and the sweet antique dealers so I stopped off at Starbucks for a strong coffee and headed off to help set up.

I love this little chair...so cute!!

Perfect shopping weather~~~ it was overcast and a cool Saturday morning.

This fun door is the newest piece in my space. 

I packed up early and came home to get ready for a special wedding my family was attending Saturday evening.

A little flower therapy for me, on thursday evening I made some of the bridal bouquets for the wedding. 

The darling flower girl was a little tired of waiting for the ceremony to begin so she came up front early and sat down on the plateform~~ A priceless moment!

 

It was a beautiful ceremony and evening ~~~ Congratulations to Jon & Sarah!

A special moment for Mother and Son. I got a little teared up over this one. 

and some twirling and celebrating going on too!

Thank you for stopping by~~

Please keep my Dad in your prayers, he is doing better but still weak.

:Kay Ellen & Family 

Scenic Drive

 

 

 

 

 

:Kay Ellen & Family

 

 

Joining in Rednesday! at Sue's Place Here

 

and White Wednesday at Faded Charm Here

 

Funny Family

Juggling home and work is tough sometimes...

I feel fortunate and blessed to be surrounded by a kind hearted family.   

Sometimes as a Mom you need to pause and have a good laugh or cry~~~right? 

Here's a couple stories I wanted to share...

Our son decided to move back home this year and attend a college close by. We have had a few bumps along the way and a new dent in the fender~~~but I think that is pretty normal when a college son returns home from being away for a full year.  We love him dearly and our thankful to have him close by again. He may fly the coop again soon so we need to enjoy this fleeting time.

My husband and I set up a new list of chores for him to do around the house... 

One of his tasks is to unload the dishwasher and put away the dishes.

Well as you can see he lined up the mugs for me~~~ He said he could not figure out how to put them in the cupboard correctly and was waiting for my assistance. He also mentioned that I should get rid of half of the mug collection so they would fit properly in the cabinet. Is that funny or what? I am not getting rid of any of my crazy mugs~~I love them all!

Look how artisic he placed them on my kitchen island!  I had to take a picture and share...it really made me laugh! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My husband had a horrible abcess on a root canal this past week...sever pain and a few nights of no sleep, he will have his third visit to a specialist tomorrow...ouch :/

No sleep and pain can really throw you off at work and home. No matter how bad he has been feeling he recites funny Steve Martin lines or Jim Gaffigan jokes to ease the pain in front of me and kids...poor guy.

My daughter with her sweet sensative heart made this adorable letter for my husband this week.

We shared this on facebook but I knew my blogging friends would want to see it too...

A sweet note filled with encouragement, bible verses and comic quotes from comedians my husband likes.

We all desire encouraging words or acceptance~~~ A thank you or a simple hug...it can really go along way on a tough day or week!

No matter how crazy filled a week can become, I know when I arrive back home tonight I will hear a little laughter, a scripture or an encouraging word from someone in my family...hopefully not another dent in the fender!  just kidding son :)

I love my family~~~

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you ", says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you hope and a future ."

Encouragement for us all,

:Kay Ellen

Come on in for another look...

Hello Friends,

We have a little sunshine today after seven days of dark and stormy weather.

I grabbed my camera quick and took a few more pictures of our home.

I enjoy setting the table a few days in advance... now we are ready for Christmas morning breakfast. 

My Christmas china is made by Nikko...I bought my first place setting 25 years ago. 

Joining in Susan's Holiday Tablescapes HERE

I enjoy adding simple accents to make the table sparkle.

Old and New treasures mixed in together for a winter wonderland tablescape.

The only new item I purchased on the table this year was one box of ornaments from the Dollar Tree! 

Ready for a special cup of tea...

Here's a peek of more holiday accents...

A favorite statue dressed in whimsy winter attire and a touch of Pink! Happy Pink Christmas Saturday to Beverly & friends HERE

This wood carved nativity was a gift from my parents when they visited the Holy Land...The true meaning of Christmas...The First Noel

More winter sparkle in the corner cabinet filled with tarnished silver.

I have a special memory table set up to celebrate those family members that have passed away...keeping memories alive and sharing their stories. 

Some of my dearest friends are hurting deeply this holiday season...missing their loved ones that have passed away this year.  A son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, wife, mother, father, co-worker and a high school friend. I wanted express my love and let you know I am praying for each of you at this difficult time... 

Need to smile in this busy and non stop season? Miss Gracie cuddled up on a pillow might help.

or Napoloen my cat that thinks he is a dog! He was so excited to go outside today and explore after all the heavy rains...

From my family to yours~~~Have a blessed Christmas!