Where to begin that is the question. This past week has been one event after another!
Thursday, Jocelyn finally told Mama that we knew Grandma and Aunt Jen were coming up and we wanted to know when. Yeah it was actually supposed to be a secret, but I found out like a week and half before. So they weren’t too happy about that, but it was such a surprise! It had been so long since we had seen them.
They got there Thursday nite, we had lasagna and veggies that I made. After the dishes were done and the kitchen cleaned up, it was time for haircuts. Jocelyn got a perm and everyone else just got trims.

While everyone was getting their hair done, I was making iced coffees for everyone. Then our smoothie maker stopped working, so I got the blender out and dropped it on my hand and couldn’t move it for about 20min. Luckily, it wasn’t broken, but man it hurt!
While hair was being cut and permed, we all had fun talking and seeing each other. This was the first time Aunt Jen had seen LucyLillie in person.
We had 3 cameras taking pictures by everyone, so it was really fun!

I *love* this picture! It is so sweet. Mom and LucyLillie are my favorite people in the world and this picture just captures their love so well!

Cal-Eb is so adorable! I love this little guy! Look at his cute little sweet face! He looks so handsome with his hair cut!

He was worn out after the excitement the day had brought. He got his hair cut and came up to me wanting me to hold him, then laid his head down and zonked out!

After everyone’s hair was done, we gave Jocelyn her afghan from Auntie Christina. We just couldn’t keep it from her any more. Look at that pure joy on her face when she saw her afghan! I *love* that!

I am so proud of myself because I picked out the colors and the day that AC mailed it, Jocelyn was talking to her and told her what colors she would want in an afghan and it was the EXACT colors I chose for her. I was so happy!
We were doing this all the while I was putting the finishing touches on Happy 17th Birthday, Dear Jocelyn!. Finally, we went to bed. It was a great day and we were in for 2 more great days!Friday, Jocelyn’s ACTUAL birthday, was really A Perfect Day! We got up after 4 hours of sleep because we needed to work for Mr. Schenck, but I ended up calling him and telling him that Mama and Dad surprised us with Grandma and Aunt Jen and asked if we could come another day, to which his reply was absolutley!

Everyone was up except Mom and Aunt Jen, so we sat with Grandma and just visited.

Finally, LucyLillie got up and Grandma wanted her, but she wasn’t so sure! Here is a sweet one of them together.

Then Grandma and Aunt Jen left to go see some family and Jocelyn opened her gift from Eyebright and Bluejane. Their gift was so neat!

After that Jocelyn wanted to go to town and see if Peebles had any clothes for her. She only has a few tshirts and skirts, so she wanted something a little fancy. But alas, there was nothing suitable. We stopped by Kroger and picked up some organic body stuff for Mom and Grandma for mother’s day, then headed to Wal-Mart to see if she could find something there. Of course we couldn’t, so we went and looked at flowers. We found some really beautiful ones.
When we were done, we headed home. Jocelyn made dinner and I did chores for her. Then we cleaned up a little and I did some laundry and Jocelyn started prepping the food for the party. We finally got to bed around 3am.

Now its Saturday and time for the party! It was such a super party! We had so much fun! We got up really late Saturday morning, so it was a rushed, rushed morning trying to get everything done. But just like always, we got it done and was ready when people started arriving. The Blue-Eggs got here the same time Grandma and Aunt Jen did. I was making the cake when they arrived.
This picture is so awesome! These women are the biggest influences in my life and I love them so much! Without them, I would not be the person I am today. Each of them have had a hand in me and I am so grateful for it!

This picture is such a memorable one! Priceless.

Mr. Schenck, Great Grandma and Grandpa Walters, and Grandpa Craig, and Uncle Jim and Aunt Jonette all came. We hadn’t see Uncle Jim since 2005, so it had been awhile. It was almost like a family reunion.
Everyone got to eat and fellowship. We all had a really great time visiting and getting to know each other.

This is such a good picture of Breezy and LucyLillie!

Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday To You! Blow out those candles.

Great Aunt Jonette, Great Uncle Jim, and Grandma.

Having fun with LucyLillie and Aunt Jen! What a sweetie!

Too many people, she just wanted Manda

Jocelyn and Emily Rose. A Parting Hug!

About 8pm, the last of the guests went home and everyone just chilled. We were all really tired, so it was nice to sit and rest.

Aunt and Neice together! I love my Aunt Jen!

About 9:25pm, Dad, Aunt Jen, Jocelyn and I left to go see the late showing of EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed that was showing at 10:05pm.

This was when we were getting our tickets to see EXPELLED! I had been dying to see it!

That was SUCH a great movie! Really really good. I absolutely loved it! I actually want to see it again. You really need to go see it, if you haven’t!
We got home late and everyone went to bed. I did some laundry and wrote about To The SUPEREST Mama In The World!

Sunday, Dad woke me up way too early, but we had to get up. We were going out to eat and we had to get to the restaurant before the crowds, so we left about 10:30am. Grandma and Aunt Jen left earlier than we did, so when we got there there was such a crowd. We were glad that they had gotten there to reserve a place for us!

Here are Grandma and Mama’s roses we got for Mother’s Day.

We gave Grandma, Mom, and Aunt Jen roses, and gave the organic body stuff to Mom and Grandma. We had a nice lunch and fellowship.

When we were done eating, we went outside to leave, and get some family pictures. We asked a girl in line to take some pictures for us, so we all could be in them.

So below are some of those pictures:

My two favorite people! The most lovely women in my life!

After the photo shoot, we came home, Aunt Jen and Grandma went to say goodbye to some family and we rested at home. Then Jocelyn and I went to get some coffee from the coffee shoppe because we were going to do that for her birthday, but we were too tired. Unfortunately, the coffee shoppe was closed, so we went to DQ and got some Moolatte’s. They are pretty good, but definitely not the coffee shoppe’s!
Then Grandma and Aunt Jen had to go back to NM, and we said our goodbyes. The wonderful news is that we get to see them in less than a month!To see more pictures and read more about the party, go to At The Party, Another weekend of fun! and Miss Jocelyn’s Birthday Party.

So, we had a really awesome weekend. To start off the weekend, I received my Dell Vostro laptop Monday! I was so excited. I think the DHL man thought I was crazy, because I was so excited! lol.
Well, this past weekend was so fun! Thank you everyone who made Jocelyn’s birthday spectacular! I appreciate it!
Now… to plan vacation, write GGM articles, start our new HSBLiterary Club book, and keep up daily life!
Have a great day!

Love, Blessings and Prayers As Always,

Thanks for stopping by “Daily” at the “Planet”!!
©AmandaDixon2008

If you could please pray for DixieCajun, Dixiefiddler, Dixiebeauty, RyansGirl, and LivlingfortheKing. They have lost their husband and father in a tragic car accident last nite.

Please pray for them as this loss is so very hard on them because he was their everything! I am just heartbroken for my dear friends. It is horribly huge loss to them and my heart just goes out to everyone in the family!

Please go here: We need prayer and offer your condolences to the whole family.

Sarah, Jordan, Celeste, Sandy and Mrs L: I am so sorry for your loss and I wish I could give you all a huge hug! I will pray for you as you go through this time of loss, but thankfully with God joy comes in the morning, and it may not be for a few mornings, you always have the promise of it coming.
Love you gals and BIG HUGS from Indiana! Teardrops are falling in Indiana for you all!

I am so excited to be hosting this week’s homesteading carnival. Since it was Mother’s Day yesterday, I wanted to carry the theme over to today too. I just love my mama to death and she just means the world to me. So welcome to the My Mama Edition of The Homesteading Carnival.

My Mama *loves* purple.

My Mama *loves* to garden. She makes gardening a family affair and incorporates it into so much of our lives.
Sheri who lives in Shades of Pink has chronicled how they are moving the shed to asking what have you accomplished today? and finally ending up with a Garden.

Grandma Rosie who has a Texas Home knows that part of the beauty of an organic garden is watching birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and bees foraging among the flowers — dipping in for a drink of sweet nectar, loading up with golden pollen, and plucking at tender seeds and berries. But how can you get them to come and do all that? Grandma Rosie has some great ideas for Attracting Winged Beauties Into Your Garden.

My Mama *loves* to make sure we have beautiful landscape. She takes such joy in flowers. She has planted so many beautiful ones in our beds that it is a gorgeous place to walk through!
I have some Gorgeous! pictures of some of Mama’s favorite flowers. It was such a joy to watch them spring up and bloom with my Mama.


My Mama *loves* organics. Once she read about organics, she knew that was the way to go. The way she is about organics is the way she is about her relationship with the Lord: its all natural!
Amy L. presents Organic Pesticides For A Safe Lawn posted at Housekeeping Tips, saying, “The advantages of using organic pesticides for your lawn”

My Mama *loves* to make sure we are healthy. One of her main goals in life is to make sure her family is healthy and well and keeping them that way.
The Eclectic Female of Woman Blog knows how to tell if you might be suffering from dust mite allergies, because she has seen the Signs And Symptoms Of Dust Mite Allergies.

My Mama *loves* to cook and bake. While she doesn’t get to do it very much, she does truly enjoy cooking and baking.
CorporateFlyer the Flight Attendant has “A few suggestions to be a good caterer, because she is Catering Comments And Related Thoughts.

Jocelyn who manages The Homesteading Carnival has a sort of study of Cooking In The 1800s.


My Mama *loves* to make sure we know how to do domestic household things. She really does enjoy teaching us how to sew, or organize something, or clean something the way that will be best. She is a one of the best homemakers I know.
George L Smyth has had “Felicity Tepper explains the three things you need to keep in mind when shoosing embroidery fabric,” with a One Minute How-To - How To Choose Embroidery Fabric.


My Mama *loves* to keep her home and teach us girls how to do it too. She loves to keep our home the way it should be and she enjoys teaching us girls how to do it too. She really knows how to handle it because she has had the experience she needs to make sure things run smoothly.
Sherry who is Large Family Mothering to her 14 children just loves teaching her girls just how wonderful that it is to be home and being a mommy. It’s the best thing in the world!

My Mama *loves* to be frugal and wise with what has been given to her. She knows that everything she is given is a gift from God and to put it to good use and to use it wisely is the best thing she can do with those gifts.
Jessica Jones who gets Practical Nourishment has Homegrown Wine that is “homemade wine from the backyard”.

valereee who lives at the Cincinnati Locavore knows that “At the farmers’ market, the process by which food arrives at your table becomes clearer. Become part of it.” She sure knows how to shop at a farmers’ market.


My Mama *loves* to homeschool us and teach us all the academics we need to know. She is an amazing teacher when it comes to just about everything, but when she homeschools she makes sure that what she is teaching will be heard and learned by everyone no matter their age.
nichole halsey says Bad Human! Don’t take chemicals from strangers! has a book review of Homesteading Adventures.

My Mama *loves* her children and family so much! She is an amazing mother who sacrifices everything for her beloved children. She loves them so much!
Jacque who is Walking Therein wants to share about Loolie’s First Oreo, since they are organic they gotta be good for her, right?

Jennifer who has a Quiverfullfamily loves it “When I pause to reflect upon the most precious moments in my mothering career one ongoing theme stands out very clearly - Sibling Love. How sweet it is, how tender and how helpful for mother’s!”

Dawn @ My Home Sweet Home Online says that “Mother’s Day has stirred thoughts about The Mothers in My Life. All of them, both past and present. I mean, how can you not love being a Mom when This little face rocks my world…

But most importantly above everything else,
My Mama *loves* the Lord. She shows how much she wants to serve Him in everything she does. She is an example that I can look up to to show me how a Godly and Lovely wife and mother is supposed to be.

I love you, Mom and hope that you feel like everyday is Mother’s Day… I will try to help with that! To The SUPEREST Mama In The World! is my tribute to My Mama!
Happy Mother’s Day to all you Mothers out there. You are the hand that rocks the cradle and you are rocking it the right way! Thank you for everything you do!
Love,

©AmandaDixon2008

If you would like to submit a blog article to the next edition of the homesteading carnival thc, use this really easy carnival submission form.
You can also see past and future carnivals at blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags: the homesteading carnival thc, blog carnival.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! to all the mothers, but most specifically to my mama!

Mama, words cannot express how much you mean to me and how there is no way I would be who I am without you as my mother. So many times I wonder why God would give such a fantastic mother as you to me, because I know I don’t deserve you.

You are so much more than words can describe. You are an amazing example of what a mother is. You are so loving and kind. You are so selfless in everything and you give up so much for your children. Even when you go without to give it to us, the joy I see in your face is so spectacular. I love the way you take so much joy in your children. You are just so happy because you love us so much and that is what brings you joy!

My favorite part of our relationship is that we are best friends and you are there all the time for me. I am so proud, not only that you are my mother, but also that you are my best friend! I couldn’t ask for a better friend that what I have in you. I hope that I can be as good of a friend to you as you are to me and I hope to have this close of a relationship with my daughters.
I am excited about the years to come and the things that will happen in our relationship and lives. God has such great plans for us that it is so amazing to think about.

I wish I could write poetry and beautiful sonnets to tell how much you mean to me and how much I love you, but this simple post must suffice.

So… Happy Mother’s Day, Mama!

I love you so much that it would take way too long to tell you the billions of ways you have touched my life and how much you mean to me!
I know it may not always seem like it, but you mean the world to me and I thank God everyday for you.

Proverbs 31:28
Her children arise up, and call her blessed;

This verse rings so very true in our life! I love, love, love you!

©AmandaDixon2008