My Nephew is a PreTeen!

Yes, my nephew, Logan, is a preteen. He is turning ELEVEN on October 29th! What am I going to do when my kids are growing up? I don't even have children yet, and I am about to cry! :) It's happy tears, though! Happy Birthday Logan!

I cannot help but brag on my nephew and niece. They are the best buddies anybody can ask for. Logan, I hope you know how much I love you! Thanks for being the best nephew in the world! Don't ever change! You are so sweet, and so intelligent. JJ would be so proud of you, and I know that your mom and dad are, the rest of the family is too!
Look at how much you have grown! Wow! Hope your birthday is an awesome one! I may have to put a brick on your head, you are getting so tall! See you soon! Love, Aunt Meredith

Every good and perfect gift is from above. James 1:17

Fall Faves

Ya'll know Fall is my very favorite season! I just love the cooler weather, leaves changing color, carving pumpkins, homemede apple pie, and more! Speaking of apple pie, let me tell you about this: Caramel Apple Cupcake, from Yummy Cupcakes in our area! I am definitely trying this soon, but I know its going to be my favorite Fall flavor!
I also love "Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". Perfect Halloween/Fall movie for all!
Have ya'll heard of Snoozies? I have these snoozies socks and ya'll- they are the BEST, especially for this time of year! I hope ya'll are having a great week so far!

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Psalm 16:18

A Halloween Party

Boo to You! Last night Russell and I and Russell's parents attended a Halloween party. We had so much fun. Costumes were required so we had fun choosing costumes for it! Beware, ya'll may not recognize my husband in this picture! HA! Here we are before the party! I was a 50's girl and Russell was the character Sawyer, from Lost. Im thankful that I didn't have a wig on last night! HA!
Uh Oh! Did we make a wrong turn?!?!

The Lamkin family went all out with this party. There were decorations GALORE!

Here I am in my poodle skirt!

OOOOooooo! A scary coffin....

Pond decorated with lights

How pretty!

More decor

Me and Carolyn, one of the hostesses. She is too sweet!

All 4 of us at the party! Ricky was a scarecrow, Jackie was a pumpkin.

Me and Julie! She looked so different because she really has blonde hair! No blue face either! HA!

The bathroom was even decorated!

We had a lot of fun. Happy Halloween!

When I am afraid I will trust in you. Psalm 56:3

Remembering Aunt Ruth

Aunt Ruth was my Daddy's Aunt and my great Aunt. She passed away just yesterday morning. I just wanted to share how much she meant to me and what a wonderful lady she was. This picture was taken 11 years ago at a family reunion. She has always been so special to me. Our family is a very musical family. Aunt Ruth was one of the most musically inclined person I knew. She played the piano beautifully, directed handbells at one time in her life at church, was a piano Guild judge, and soooo much more. I took piano when I was little and participated in Guild a couple of times. She judged my piano pieces. One time, she gave me a brass bell that I still have for helping her with a music program. She encouraged our family to keep on singing and use our talents for God. I also had the priviledge to sing while she played the piece, "Let There Be Peace on Earth" at a music club program. There are many memories we have of her and we are so blessed to have known her and blessed we are family.

Fire goes out without wood and quarrels disappear when gossip stops. Proverbs 26:20

I'm A Gleek!

I have to confess to ya'll. I am officially a "GLEEk". Even though I missed a lot of the first season, I was still into it. We got the first few episodes through netflix and Russell and I were both hooked! We still have a lot of episodes left, so we decided to purchase the first season!

While we were in Little Rock this past weekend, we stopped at Barnes and Noble and this caught my eye: I can't wait to read it!


I also saw this! I am so ready to finish season 1 and begin season 2! If any of you watch Glee, who is your favorite character? I just love Rachel and singing along with her in the car is fun-ha! But I think Emma is my favorite! So if you don't watch Glee, you should! It is a very happy and upbeat show! As ya'll know, though, I am very partial to most anything musical! :) Hope yall have a great day!

For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10

A Night at the Capital

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Wednesday was our 3 year wedding anniversary. We decided to stay at Capital Hotel, in Little Rock, for a night. Let me just say that from the moment we walked in the door, we fell in love with this hotel! We were greeted with a smile when we arrived. This hotel is very historic and opened in 1877, I believe.
outside the hotel with corinthian columns

Here is our room. So nice!

Concierge knocked on the door and had an amenity for us! It was fresh, and I mean, it tastes like it had been picked right off the vine fresh! They also had a welcome letter for us. So nice.

Look at the gorgeous architecture in the lobby. Beautiful.

There is also a story behind this revolving door.

Spectacular stained-glass ceiling

Throughout the hotel, there were many fresh flowers. I have a thing about fresh flowers. They are just gorgeous to me, and my preference.

As we all know, yesterday was September 11th. I had to take this picture.

Here we are on the balcony outside the hotel.

So quaint! Perfect on a Fall day while reading a book!

Here we are before dinner. We had dinner at Capital Bar and Grill. It really was yummy. I had the pork chop with bacon cheddar grits. Russell had wild caught salmon with rice. And for dessert, we were going to share one, but we wanted to try both. I had chocolate pudding with salted caramel cauce and Russell had southern fried blackberry pie. Let me say that the food was fantastic. Just great!

Russell and I celebrating our 3rd anniversary

I also have to tell you about the elevator. The legend is that it was generously sized in order to accomodate President Grant and his horse during an 1880 visit! What a legend, right?!

We had breakfast at Ashley's in the hotel and it was fabulous!

I had Ashley's Signature: chocolate french toast with sorghum peanut butter, bacon, and croissant. Heaven on a plate, ya'll.

And Russell loved Irish Breakfast: two poached eggs over cheddar grits. What a way to wake up!

Fresh roses and hypericum berries decorated each table and brightened up the whole room in Ashley's. We had a great time. I have to say that we literally just relaxed (and ate!). :) But we had a fantastic time and that is all that matters to us.

I took my troubles to the Lord; I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer. Psalm 120:1

Three Years and Teddy Bear Day

Yesterday was Russell and my 3 year wedding anniversary! I can't believe 3 years have flown by! Russell is a wonderful husband and such a blessing to me! Belle is growing up, by the way! She will be two years old later this month. She is our baby!
Russell surprised me and had this beautiful bouquet sent to me at work! Last night we ate at such a wonderful restaurant in town, Fayray's. It was really yum!

On another note, did you know today is National Teddy Bear Day? I love bears so much! Since I work with 3 and 4 year olds in the afternoons, I decided to have an official Teddy Bear Picnic for them! We had apple juice and Teddy Grahams for a snack with bear music playing like "teddy bear picnic" and "teddy bear, teddy bear"! Some of the kids even brought their bears to school too! It was very cute!
So in honor of Teddy Bear Day, Happy Teddy Bear Day! HA! Hope ya'll have a great day!

Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6