the tree in our front yard

When we moved to this house five years ago,

these trees were mere sticks.

The builder placed two of them symmetrically in front of our home.

This Fall they have been beautiful.

Every morning when I look out they have shed more leaves and turned more golden.

Notice how the top leaves are the first to fall.

God's handiwork on display.

I am thankful for the beauty of this earth!

Thankful also for the seasons.

Thankful today for God's word.

In a few more weeks I will finish reading it through for the second time this year.

I thank Him every night before I fall asleep that He gave us this book of words.

He wants us to know Him.

There is no other way to know about God except to read His book.

I would say, "Treat yourself to this feast."

Love God...love His word.

I just want to take a moment to thank God for my husband.

For almost a year now, Bubba has brought food for me into our home.

He has unselfishly put me first and made sure I am provided for.

He makes me his priority...

from Dairy Queen milk shakes,

 to Panera baguettes

 to broccoli-cheese soup from Fresh Market...

food is always here when I need it.

He even budgets for my vitamin infusions which I need every two to three weeks.

He has enabled me to stay strong and healthy while not eating very much.

Thank you to this man who has a servants heart to help others.

I am truly blessed!!

mothers & daughters

It's still November.

We got an extra week this year.

I have been busy decorating for Christmas....

something I dearly love to do.

Last week I spent a lot of money.

First of all one of my front teeth just up and crumbled away.

Probably another loss to radiation therapy.

Had to get a crown made.

👑

Then, a couple of days later,

my dryer went out.

Sometimes it would dry, sometimes not.

We decided to get a new washer and dryer as both were old and getting unreliable.

Yesterday, one of my glass kitchen cabinet doors came unhinged.

They say things happen in threes so maybe we're done.

I've never owned a back pack. 

Got this one for our trip to New York and for our trips to Disney World.

The trip to New York didn't happen.

One of Amanda's clients offered up her home in the Hamptons...

so generous!

For many reasons we decided that this wasn't the time to go.

Hopefully in the future? When it warms up? When I can enjoy eating again?

The orange sweater...

I promise you won't see it in any more pictures.

I have packed it away with my other Fall goodies.

And yes, you also saw it on Amanda.

It was a great piece for our cool/warm/cool autumn days and evenings.

PS...I'm spending a lot of time in the attic and on ladders.

thanksgiving bloopers

Somebody's misbehaving.

Eli's face... Jake's face!

Having to eat "Thanksgiving Dinner."

Would rather have pizza or chicken fingers.

Mark caught sniffing the turkey.

Tried four times to get the kitty to open his big green eyes for this picture.

He refused.

Grammy had her eyes closed and Jake did an awesome photobomb.

A sneak peek at the turkey in the oven.

So that's a wrap for Thanksgiving 2018.

Now on to Christmas!

🎄

thanksgiving at our house

Maybe

 it's because at the the beginning of 2018 

I wasn't sure there would be another Thanksgiving for me 

on this earth with these people.

This Thanksgiving was amazing, sweet, quiet, and perfect.

So many lovely memories to store away for later.

I have never been more thankful, more content.

We cooked our turkey bird in the oven this year.
He was delicious or so they said.

This Grammy gave her grand boys a lesson in the "finer" things of life,

Crystal and candlelight,

fine china and cloth napkins.

It was a special day indeed.

The new kitty, Sirius Black was here.

He got a little bit of our turkey thanks to Eli and I.

Granddaddy carved the turkey for us.

Amanda and I cooked all of the side dishes.

My favorite was the sweet potato casserole.

After dinner pics...

always a tradition.

Jake & Eli growing fast.

After dinner we played Thanksgiving Bingo.

The boys won a fistful of dollars.

Thank you God for the blessing of family.

We sorely missed the Cleland bunch.

They were with Erika's family this year.

So very thankful for God's bountiful blessings that He lavishes on us.

holidays starting

We, the Hollingsworth family and Bubba and I,

are having a wonderful, relaxing week of Thanksgiving.

Amanda took this picture of me because she said I matched my fall quilt.

Notice the orange shoes.

Amanda and I have shopped till we dropped.

The boys went to Fort Pulaski today.

For dinner this evening we are having a low country boil.

I am as happy as a snail.

This is my one and only picture of our Cleland Thanksgiving

on this past Saturday evening.

We had....

Honey Baked Ham

Cathy's famous Red Rice

Cathy's famous Potato Salad.

Yummy Broccoli Salad

Pineapple Bake

Yeast Rolls

&

Coffee and Pumpkin Roll for dessert.

What a delicious feast!!!

And lastly...

Amanda and I saw this chair today while shopping.

It was screaming,

"Buy this for Bubba for Christmas."

His love and devotion to the "dawgs" is iconic.

If it didn't go against ALL of my sense and sensibilities,

I would have it delivered to his "office" upstairs.

Gotta go set the table for our low country boil.

Perfect prelude to our Thanksgiving feast.

I'm still not eating much of anything but it's fun to watch everyone else enjoy.

heartwarmer

These grandboys filled a whole pew in church this morning.

Bubba and I sat in front of them.

I heard a few shenanigans going on back there,

but for the most part they were good.

It warms my heat to see them singing praises to our God

and listening to His word being proclaimed.

We had Thanksgiving with David's Family last night

as they are heading to the Bookman's house to celebrate on Thursday.

It is always so wonderful to have all seven of the grand kids together.

They played their hearts out running in the backyard

like banshees until well after dark.

I remember doing that when I was a kid.

I hope this week brings joy and gladness to all of you who read.

Every day is thanksgiving,

but we have this one special day set aside to give thanks as a nation.

Enjoy your families and time together,

It means so much.

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,

And Your faithfulness by night."

Psalm 92:1&2

just sitting in front of a castle

Bubba took me back to Disney this week.

Here we are sitting by Cinderell's castle in the early morning sunshine.

It was still warm and balmy.

We came home to cold and rainy last night.

Wish we could have stayed longer,

but Thanksgiving is coming and we have company heading this way!

All of the parks are decorated for Christmas.

Love this combination of  poinsettias and spider plants.

We spent one whole morning at Animal Kingdom.

This real live giraffe was this close to our safari tour bus.

The safari is one of Disney's best adventures.

We also saw the elephant below.

He had his back turned to us.

They do such a good job of taking care of these animals.

They roam free in a huge, protected area.

What's for breakfast?

A Mickey waffle of course.

We ❤️ Disney.

Best place in the world to grow old when you're still young at heart!

give thanks

When I'm down and out,
When my thoughts descend into darkness.
When my life seems out of control,
Thankfully the Holy Spirit in me says "Hey Cathy, stop, remember who you are girl."

This world is not my final destination.
What happens here is only temporary.
What awaits me is a place with no more sorrow, no more tears.
This is made possible by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Thankfulness is the antidote to depression...
Knowing that everything comes to us by God for a reason,
that He is Sovereign over all things,
that He is using everything in our life to get us ready to live forever with Him in eternity.

To thank Him for whatever comes our way is the secret to peace and happiness on this earth.
I don't do this perfectly, of course.
Many times I get on that downward spiral of crazy, unholy thoughts.
But I'm so thankful for that check in my soul that always brings me back to the truth.

I read the verse below just now.
May this be the first utterance on my tongue every morning
and the last thing I think about before I close my eyes to sleep.
No greater gift was ever given.
That would be Jesus.

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift."
II Corinthians 9:15

we have lemons in our side yard

2018 has been the year for us.

Everything we planted has thrived!

A while back Bubba went to Hesters and bought this lemon tree.

It was delivered in a truck and planted by an expert.

After much loving care we have fruit.

So exciting!

We still don't know what happened to the deer.

We heard that the neighborhood had a controlled "kill off."

So far no deer at all.

We could not be happier.

So...early darkness has descended once again.

No more yard time after dinner.

No more digging in the dirt after supper.

Night time at 5:30.

But that's okay.

The holidays are coming.

I will light up the house with thousands of tiny little lights.

Wouldn't seem like Christmas if it was light until 9:00 pm anyway,

so bring it on.

No Seasonal Defective Disorder for me.

I will be thankful no matter what the seasons bring.

God is in control of even this.

"A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted."

Ecclesiastes 3:2b

PS...We are not going to New York for Thanksgiving.

I can't remember if I even wrote this possibility in my blog.

The truth is, 

I'm not quite ready for a trip of that magnitude yet.

Will look forward to being in the Big Apple in the future.

🍎

grandparents day at veritas

The students make us feel so special.

They welcome us into their classrooms with big smiles all over their faces.

Their work is on display for us to see.

They even have refreshments.

Having four classrooms to get to means we don't have long to visit,

but that's okay.

There is time for hugs,

meeting the teacher,

a quick look around!

We saw Ancient Egypt,

Beluga Whales,

The Digestive System,

and so much more!

For us to be in their world for this brief time means oh so much to these kiddos.

Archie's third grade class.

Granddaddy with Harry.

5th grade.

Gus managed to lose his tooth right before we arrived.

Gus with his Egyptian mask.

2nd Grade.

Gus with his Gram.

Lucy singing in the Chorale.

What a wonderful day.

We celebrated these exceptional students 

while hearing them recite some of their lessons.

To see God's word integrated in all of their studies is amazing.

They learn Latin as early as kindergarten,

all the way through until they graduate.

Bubba and I are so thankful to be a part of this wonderful day!

God is magnified and incorporated into every aspect of the curriculum.

To Him be all glory and praise.

i love halloween

What fun!

Trick or Treating with this group of characters.

We had...

Lucy as an Indian princess,

Harry as a Jedi,

Archie as Captain Hook,

Gus as Black Panther,

Walt as Peter Pan.

After a dinner of chili and cornbread,

we set out to comb the neighborhood for treats.

After an hour and half,

with plastic pumpkins and paper bags full of candy,

we were all worn out and ready to be done.

We met up with some real interesting imposters along the way.

The best was a T-Rex in a blow up costume. 

He put on a little show for us.

Bubba even greeted a man who he thought was dressed up like a vagabond.

Turns out he really was a vagabond

making his way amongst the other merry makers out for a night of fun.

Neighbors on our route really went all out with the decorations.

It made me very happy to hear our little entourage

saying "Thank You" and "Happy Halloween" at every stop.

We were so happy to follow this little guy around last night.

He has truly assimilated into the crazy things we do here in the USA.

Peter Pan!!

Never grow up!!