Prayer Requests

I arrived home late last night from my trip to

North Myrtle Beach 

(still very sick with a terrible cold)

woke this morning to hear the sad news that

a very dear friend , Lee Santoro , from Florida

had lost her battle with cancer last night

her family gathered around her

She had battled this terrible disease for two years

I know she is in God's arms now and no longer suffering

 I will miss her terribly

she was one of those people that always made you smile

she always had a good joke, a funny story to tell

My heart goes out to her husband , her kids, her grandkids

her whole family

& then tonight I was scrolling down my blog list

and noticed a story that Robelyn ( red.neck.chic)

had posted about this beautiful family....

The Schmitt Family

( Jessica is the precious blond peeking over her Mom's head)

After a couple of weeks of Jessica not eating well, Jessica’s mom, Chandra, became worried. Jessica's stomach felt bloated and Chandra felt it was due to constipation. After a visit to their doctor on the morning of December 21st, they were immediately sent to the hospital for more tests. After a few hours their worst nightmare was confirmed; sweet little Jessica had cancer. That evening, Jessica, her parents, and her baby brother Jacob were on a flight from St. George to Primary Childrens Hospital in Salt Lake City.

Jessica has been diagnosed with Wilms Tumor. After a needle biopsy Wednesday morning did not reveal enough information, a surgical biopsy was performed Thursday and a portion of the tumor was removed. Due to the size of the tumor the doctors want to start an aggressive form of chemo so that the tumor will pull away from other organs and be easier to remove. The biopsys will help doctors to pinpoint the exact type of Wilms and to choose the specific chemotherapy that will be most effective.


Wilms Tumor is a cancer of the kidneys that typically occurs in children age 3 to 4. Since Jessica's cancer has spread beyond the kidneys, it is considered Stage 4 . This sounds pretty scary and there may be a long road ahead, but with faith, prayers, and great doctors and nurses at Primary Childrens, we are hopeful for a full and speedy recovery.

For updates on Jessica go here...

Please pray for Jessica's healing

and also for my dear friend Lee's family

Thanks guys...

Tammy

 



A WHITE Christmas in North Carollina!!!

North Carolina Mountains...Blue Ridge Parkway

Ski Slope in North Carolina Mountains

Beautiful Carolina Mountain Morning after the snow

Tunnel on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Looking out over the North Carolina Mountains

beautiful isn't it??

I spent Christmas in North Myrtle Beach SC this year

so I MISSED the beautiful snow this year on Christmas!

:-(

THANKS to wonderful friends who have posted these

pics on the internet

It did dust here this morning early...so I got to see a few flakes

It's been dusting off and on all day

very pretty at the beach too...

just not enough for building a snowman or

a fun snowball fight!!

Happy Sunday !

xoxo

A collection of beautiful Christmas images....

It's a mere 4 days until Christmas

hard to believe this time next week it will have come and gone

and we'll be making plans to ring in a new year

I'm taking the next several days

to wind down and really enjoy Christmas
with my friends and family

to take it all in~

the beauty of Christmas

the reason it all happens

So I want to Wish ALL OF YOU

a Blessed and Beautiful~

 Merry and Bright~

wonder filled

Christmas!

Turn up the Christmas music and enjoy

these beautiful Christmas images

doll by Cathy The Cheswick Company

Merry Christmas

My Dear Blogger Friends!

XoXo
and a Big Christmas Hug!

Etsy Shop is OPEN!!

Hello My Darlin's

Well the Etsy Shop is finally OPEN!

I've loaded about a dozen items up so far tonight

&  adding more to that in the next two days...

click on the link here on the sidebar

and check it out...

I've got two storage buildings full of goodies

and Sandra has a basement full...

feel free to let us know what you are looking for

more than likely ...we have it!

Have a Happy Monday!

XoXo

Tammy

Little Pillow and a Cookie Recipe

Today I made this sweet little pillow for my Mom...aka..."GiGi"

It's my Grand-Daughter's hand print

so her Great Grand-Daughter

I think these little pillows are so sweet...

Sandra made one for her Daughter-in-law~ Holly

with Wyatt's hand-print.

She loved it!

I'm making another one for my daughter and of course one for myself!

I think GiGi will like her's too!

It's a sweet little keepsake don't you think?

After sharing my Fudge recipe last week

I ask Sandra to give me her favorite cookie recipe to share

Here it is...

Chocolate Chip Cookies

( I've had these on many occassions so I know they are GOOD!!)

2 sticks melted butter

1/2 c oil

1 c sugar

1 c brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3 1/2 c plain flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp soda

12 oz chocolate chips

nuts- optional

(Personally I LOVE walnuts and/or pecans in my cookies)

Here's the thing on this recipe...

Don't use a mixer...stir in all the ingredients by hand with a spoon

then use an ice cream or melon scooper ( medium size )

to drop on the cookie sheet

Bake @ 375 for 8 - 10 minutes

Easy Easy!!

Plus I have it on good authority that SANTA loves these cookies!!

Just thought I'd throw that in

I'm linking over to Rebecca's Birthday Party!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY REBECCA!!!

Won't you join us?

XoXo

Tammy

Stockings and a Trip....

I finished the burlap stockings I wanted to make this year...

lucky for me there's a wonderful fabric shop in Lincolnton...

Ledford's...where I picked up the cute trim for $1 per yard!!

added in-expensive wooden letters from Michaels

that I painted then glittered with Martha's Glitter

I like 'em!! 

I took a trip to Marshville this week to

see all the Christmas goodness @

Olde Tyme Marketplace

My camera died after the first shot so

I took these with my IPhone...

forgive the blurriness in some please...

This was my favorite!! I love this big star/wreath!!

Beth has some beautiful Christmas displays...

Several sleds all prettied up...

The entire store is just beautiful

go over and visit Beth @ her blog...

she has lots more eye candy for you there!!

I'm out to finish the very last of my Christmas shopping...

(Is anyone else's Mom the HARDEST person to buy for???)

I gotta get this done today!!

Tonight I'm doing the wrapping thing....

see you all tomorrow...
Sandra is sharing her favorite cookie recipe....

YUMMY!

Linking up with Debra's Vintage Inspiration Friday

AND...

A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 to Rebecca @ a Re-Purposed Life

join in her blog party tomorrow!!!

See you there!

XoXo

Awesome Christmas Fudge!!!

Calling all Chocolate Lovers!

For the last 15 years I've been making this fudge at Christmas~

mind you before that I tried and tried to make fudge

but it always ended up in the trash...it was awful!

it just was not the melt in your mouth fudge

that I wanted to make for my family and friends

then one year I received a box of fudge from a friend/co-worker

for Christmas and hounded her until she gave me her recipe and her tips !!

As you can see the recipe card clearly states ...

this is

THE BEST FUDGE EVER!

and definetly the melt in your mouth kind!!

It's addicting and so the reason that I only make it at Christmas!

So here's the recipe and the tips on making it....

1 cup whole milk

4 cups sugar

1 tsp GOOD Vanilla ( it makes a difference!)

1 cup unsalted butter

2+ cups of mini marshmallows

( see on the recipe card...it says 250  marshmallows...???

I use a little over half of the bag...who counts marshmallows???)

1 bag of Semi- sweet chocolate morsels

1 bag of milk chocolate morsels

2- 1 oz squares / cut-up of un-sweetened chocolate

Nuts

 I use walnuts - but you can use whatever kind you choose and as many as you like

 or you can make it plain

I use a large non-stick pot

Over low heat

dump in the sugar, vanilla, milk  and butter

cut the butter into little chunks

stirring until it's all a blended sugary yumminess...

let this mixture come to a BOIL

Do Not Stir white it is boiling...for about 2 minutes

then TURN OFF the HEAT

Add the marshmallows

stirring until they are all melted and blended in

then add the chocolate

 one variety at a time

stir each one into the mixture until it's all melted and blended in

I start with the unsweetened chocolate ,then semi-sweet morsels

then milk chocolate morsels

( not that it matters...but I've always done it that way)

STIR and STIR some more getting it

really smooth and creamy

(This is also where you can do a taste test ...)

YUM!!! 

then stir in your nuts!

I use a 1 x 10 x 14 inch fudge pan

( I purchased it at a gourmet kitchen store and it has so been worth it!)

rub the pan with a light coating of butter

then pour your mixture in

 smooth it out with a spatula

Refrigerate the pan for a few hours ( over night is ok too)

until the fudge has hardened

remove from the fridge and let it come back to room temp

( an hour usually does it )

Using a sharp knife cut the fudge into bite sizes ( about 1 x 1)

set the pan back in the frig if it gets too soft

I usually get about 125 pieces in one batch

Get some cute bakery boxes or tins to fill for gifts

I picked up these cute little Santa tins at the dollar store

The fudge comes out of the pan super easy...

If you've never made fudge before...try this recipe

and if your man loves chocolate...surprise him

HE WILL LOVE YOU EVEN MORE!!!

TRUST ME!!

When I told Mr. sweetie that I was doing a post

on my fudge recipe...

his reponse was

WHAT??? You better not give out that recipe...

I guess he was worried that all of you would try it

and then buy up all the chocolate morsels in the universe

leaving me unable to make fudge for him ever again!

:-)

Let me know if you make a batch!!

Linking this recipe to

Funky Junk Interiors

Fav Christmas Recipe Link Party

Go over and check out all the yumminess!!

Merry Merry!!