Birthdays, Anniversaries, Reunions, and more!
What a fabulous weekend we just had with lots of family fun and some special occassions to celebrate!
First off, my darling husband celebrated his 44th birthday on Saturday! I know I've told you all before but let me tell you again how incredibly blessed I am to be married to this man! He is the absolute best and I truly could not imagine my life without him!!


















Let's back up just a bit though ~ on Thursday my hubby and his siblings surprised their mother with her family all flying in from around the US to celebrate her birthday and anniversary. Her sister from Wisconsin flew in, brother and sister in law drove in from Texas and her neice and family flew in from California. She was quite surprised Thursday evening as she was enjoying the company of her children when in walked her siblings and their families. Friday, was a day filled with lots of stories, games, food and fun.
On Saturday my boys and I drove up to join in the celebrations and we celebrated my DH's birthday for lunch with some fabulous pulled pork BBQ with all the fixins and his favorite cake - german chocolate cake cooked as directed, poke holes in the cake when it comes out of the oven and pour a can of sweetened condensed milk over the top and a jar of caramel ice cream topping. Let cool and cover the top with cool whip and sprinkle with toffee brickle. YUMMY!!!
Later that evening my brother and sister in law prepared a fabulous dinner complete with roast, mashed potatoes & gravy, homemade mac and cheese (OMGoodness - to die for), green beans, etc. for my mother in laws birthday that isn't until the 28th but it's one of the reasons we all got together to celebrate. I made her a butter pecan cake with butter cream frosting!


my fabulous father & mother in law















Our biggest surprise happened on Sunday after church. We reserved the fellowship hall at my in-laws church and invited their family and friends to join us in celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary. It actually isn't until October but again, since we were all home it was the time to celebrate it all! They were quite surprised when the preacher announced at the beginning of the service that there would be a party afterwards in honor of my in-laws 50th! We had a fabulous time and it was nice to visit with family members we don't get to see that often and have family photos done as well. Here was the big family photo.








My in laws cutting their cake























My hubby's only sister - Linda and our neice Gabby
























My husbands family
DH, Linda, Oma, Opa, David and Michael


















My mother in law & her siblings - Allan and Alice




















Lynne, Michael, and Dillon







Me and my boys!
Kendall, me, DH, Holland and Austin


















My husbands cousin - Kristin, her son Owen, Allan, Sharon, and Kristin's hubby Matthew.






























Oma & Opa and their grandkids

Owen and his Daddy swinging on the swing

It was so nice to see everyone and just enjoy each others company. As always I wish I had taken more photos.
Have a great day!
Blessings,
Sandy

Trumpet Vines & an update on my baby sis

Today in paint class we painted Trumpet Vines. I have to admit that I've avoided painting these because they scared me! Scared me because they are cylindrical and sometimes that is hard enough to paint let alone teach - although I have to say all of my students did a fabulous job on their flowers today!

(psst. don't tell anyone but my leaves don't have stems -hehehe ~ have to add those!).
































Emma Rose



















Roz



















Jenny

Jenny won the drawing today and got to take home the project piece I painted in class today.














My baby sis is doing good. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. She is home, still in pain but home and recovering. They did find a problem with her bladder that she'll have to take medication for for the rest of her life. Your prayers and thoughts are so greatly appreciated!

Blessings,
Sandy

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I want to thank you all so much for the emails today letting me know you are praying for my sister! She is doing well. She was in quite a bit of pain still this evening so they are keeping her overnight and will get to go home tomorrow.
Today, I kept her son, my newphew - Andrew. We had so much fun but I think he had even more fun with his Uncle Steven. They played hide and seek and my silly husband decided that just before Andrew found him he'd scare him by yelling boo!


When he was hiding from me this was his choice of hiding places. How funny is that. Of course I played along like I couldn't find him and then he started giggling so loud!

He wanted me to take "more, more, more" ~ but we had movies to watch and doggies to chase and pet.

I'm so loving the Olympics. Just watched Phelps win another GOLD in the 200 Breaststroke ~ he is unbelievable. Off to watch the women's gymnastics although I should be going to bed!

Again, thanks so much and your continued prayers are greatly appreciated!

Blessings,
Sandy

Prayers & Painting

Prayers needed today for my baby sister - she is having surgery today (full hysterectomy) not a choice but a necessity because of other complications and issues. Please keep her in your prayers this week as she recovers and is hopefully able to REST ~ something she is not used to doing. She is the ROCK at her job and I hope they are able to leave her alone and figure things out without bothering her.




Monday we painted ZINNIAS.
I love the way this box turned out. I was thrilled with the background because I didn't want to just base coat it with paint as usual. DID YOU KNOW that PLAID has new STAINS out? They are awesome! The stain on this box is Cherry. There is also Maple, Oak, Mahogany, Italian Sage, Ebony, Barn Red Heartland Blue and probably a couple others I'm missing! You can get them at http://www.onestroke.com/ click on what's new. They also carry them at Wal-Mart but the selection is slim.





Gloria

This was Gloria's first class with me.
















Sherry
















Well, I best go and get ready ~ my newphew is coming to spend the day with me while his mommy is at the hospital! Please keep her and the doctor in your prayers today! THANK YOU.

Blessings,
Sandy

A quick post to wish my Dad a very

Happy Birthday!

Hope you had a great day!
My parents live in Germany so

we don't get to see them very often!
We miss you and love you!

Blessings,
Sandy

Home Sweet Home

We're home from our short trip up to my sister Linda's house. We had a grand time but like with any trip away ~ it's always nice to be HOME.
I should have taken more pictures - I always say that and never do it.


Think we're going to use this picture when it comes to our before and after photo with our weight watchers journey!hehehe.











My 3 boys and Linda's 3 boys














Linda and family














Me with my 3 boys
My hubby stayed home with the doggies and of course cleaned the house, watched the Lord of the Rings triology and just enjoyed some peace and quiet!











Just about every time we go to see my sister we visit her in-laws Memere and Pepere - they have always treated my boys like their own grandchildren and we adore them. They have an awesome pool that I used to go to when I was my oldest sons age - fond memories!



















































































































We're all unpacked, clothes washed and in drawers (I have a fabulous hubby that loves to do stuff like that- YIPPEE) and now we have to get geared up for BACK to SCHOOL this week. OMgoodness. My boys start on Thursday and are a bit excited - I think mainly to see their friends, but nervous about their new grades and for my oldest a new school - High School.
Have a fabulous day!
Blessings,
Sandy

Happy Birthday to my brother in law David!
or as my boys call him ~ Uncle Cool!
We love you and are thrilled to be in Memphis
sharing your special day with you!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Sandy

High Definition Paint Class ~
We painted Calla Lilies in paint class today! It was awesome to see my morning ladies. I haven't seen a couple of them since last month!



We painted the calla lilies with the High Definition paint by Plaid. I love this paint. I didn't like the it the first time nor the second time I used it. This is the certification I did in March - I went so that I would be forced to learn to use it and now I LOVE it! It's like oil painting but is water based acrylic paint with none of the clean up like with oil painting.
It dries in about 72 hours with the most amazing sheen finish and has such great dimension.











Barb




















Jenny






















Ann


















Alice




















Nicole





















Roz

















Well, I'm off tomorrow to visit with my older sister and family! I'll be able to hopefully update while up there but if not I will certainly share photos of all the FUN (6 BOYS between us)!YIKES!
Did you know I have several other blogs! Sandy's Art, M&E Designs, 3 Hotties Trapped in Fat Bodies! You can click on the pictures in the right column of my blog to go and check them out!
Have a great day!
Sandy

Clematis

Yesterday we painted Clematis in paint class.

My favorite color of this flower is the rich darker purple so that is what we painted.

Betty & her daughter Daphne came to their very first class with me and they did a beautiful job!

























Jenny




















Alice























Cyndy

This was Cyndy's first class with me and jumped right in and painted such a beautiful piece.
Cyndy won the drawing and took home the project piece I painted in class.













Emma Rose



















Sherry









Hope you have a fabulous day!
Sandy