I COULDN'T HAVE SURGERY UNTIL I FINISHED THESE!

If your mind works like mine does,

and I'm sure there are millions that do,

then you couldn't have had serious surgery

this past Monday, 2 days ago,

until the invitations to the shower

you were making

were complete.

And, in the mail.

That's how our minds work.

That and the fact that if the invitations 

weren't posted until yesterday

or any day after, they would be late.

So, they had to be finished

and in the mail 

bright and early on this past Monday

morning as I was driven to

the hospital in SAtown.

Knowing that I had a lot to do, 

not that I had a surgery - that news came later,

I never should have chosen 

such a time consuming design.

But, that's who I am.

That's who God made and

who's to argue with God?

So, last Tuesday when an unscheduled

surgery was scheduled for this past Monday,

one thought entered my mind.

THE INVITATIONS!!!

You probably know that my middle son, Blake,

is getting married to a most 

delightful young lady whom I adore,

this summer.

Her mom, who has become a fast friend

and whom I call Babs,

along with my precious DIL, Jana, are 

giving those two a couple's shower.

I had the invitations started before the surgery

news but they weren't far enough along.

Oh, no, not nearly!

I've covered the front of the invitation with 

patterned paper. 

Then I made little bitty envelopes

from which hand cut hearts

of all sizes spring!

And, of course, glitter.

A tag with "You're invited" 

was adhered to the front of the envelope

and the actual invitation was

glued to the inside after

I scalloped one edge.

The envelopes had their own tag

for addressing. 

Adhered with wash tape - I love washi tape!

 I love them!

Cute invitations

were complete and in the mail

on the way to surgery.

And surgery??

Went quite well, thanks. 

Post and pics to come.

God bless you for reading!

God bless you for

your input.

I love your spirits of support.

A REALLY HOT GUY, GUNS AND TOILET PAPER

When you have

a really hot guy, guns and toilet paper

you have a really fun wedding shower!

Hostess, Hannah Jones Brown, and

her mom, Annette Jones, gifted

Brat this amazing *grace* cross.

During all of the fun, I forgot to take

a photo of the gorgeous table

that Hannah and Annette laid out.

The red velvet cake was the

crowning glory!

"Did I forget to mention that you would be
the only guy here today, Blake??"
(That's so unlike me)

...This is Blake, my son, and
Brat's best friend, so it only made sense
for him to come.
And, I knew the ladies (and young ladies)
would enjoy having him there.

He really likes my best friend, Annette.

In fact, I think this might be his new fb profile pic.

Phyllis Fischer, Betty Harris and Kim Bolin
all delighted us with their presence
and delighted Brat with their presents.
(Oh, hush)

Jeanette Ricks and Rudy Shepherd...

I can only assume that Taylor has

walked into the room.

Yep! I was right!
Here's Brat's sister, Taylor, with her
most precious little boy, Skilyr.

"Blake. Stop.

I KNOW I told you there would

be toilet paper involved."

Groups of 3 with one of the group

being the BRIDE.

In this group, that'd be Blake.

(...the reason I wanted him to come...)

The wedding dress is made of,

you guessed it, *shhhhh* toilet paper.

Does anyone else think he's enjoying this just

a little bit too much?? Bwahahahaha!

(He was such a good sport!)

The stand out part of Amanda's

wedding gown was the sleeves.

Gorgeous.

However, I did hear some whispers

about a mummy. Just sayin'.

Some women were just born to be a bride.

Ginger's gown had a heavenly look.

So much so, that she reminded us of Mary.

You know, Jesus' Mary.

Remember, his mom??

Stay with me here.

Every bride needs bridesmaids!
And, Ginger's bridesmaids are
stinkin' beautiful!!

A sneak peek for all of my blog readers

of Brat's wedding dress.

Okay, not the real dress,

but it is the back up dress in case

something happens.

Good thinkin', huh.

Brittany is trying to look like one of those
professional models in the bridal zines.
You know, when they push their
shoulders forward? It's not a good look
on anyone.
I'll talk to her.

I'm as proud as a mom to tell you that

Abe, age 5, and my model,

came in as runner up.

His mom was my co-designer

and responsible for the shoes.

I'm thinkin' it was either the shoes

or the eyebrows (look closely)

that pushed him over the top.

Good lookin' bride, Abe!!

I think another element of Abe's bridal attire
that pushed him up to 2nd place was
his floor length veil.
(That was my idea. Is that bragging?)

I know you've been waiting for this moment
and may have even scrolled forward,
to see the Bride of the Shower.
Taylor Stone won the title.
She's a vision, isn't she?

I would be remiss if I didn't introduce you

to Taylor's designer, Elyce.

Where would a bride be without her designer??

I'm sure it's the camera man's fault
and Brittany isn't really sneaking in a nap.

Dig deeper!! There has to be wine in here!

No wine, but some fabulous placemats!

A darling Lucille Johnson creation,

an apron perfect for backyard bar-b-ques.

 The picture tells the story.

I'm a firm believer that the best gifts come
in the smallest packages.
That would be because this smallest of gifts
is from mwah.

Oh, real nice.

Brat couldn't read my handwriting

so Hannah had to help her.

It was offensive in so many ways.

(I'm kidding, ya'll:)

Abe kept telling me that THEY brought the BEST GIFT.
I think Brittany would agree!

And, to end the party,

some of the little faces that were there!

(There's a couple of big faces, too:)

And, last but not least..........I promised you some guns!!

The shower was a scream

with really good sports,

fun people,

cute kids,

great cake,

fabulous presents,

high fashion,

a really hot guy,

guns

and toilet paper!!

Thanks, y'all, for taking the time

to read my blog.

PLEASE leave a comment at the

bottom of the blog so I can get

an idea of how many are reading -

a lot of you send me emails or

comment on facebook, and that's

great! I'd just like an idea of

how many people I'm reaching.

I love you!! 

              Jan                         

also made of toilet paper



                                                                          

BOY HOWDY, DID IT RAIN ON BRAT!!

Yes, it rained on Brat......like a wedding SHOWER!

And, I went to it.

You wouldn't think driving five hours to the Ft. Worth area

would be that big of a deal for me.

But, you must remember that I am an old woman.

A very, very old woman, and that I made a huge mistake

in my drive north....I drove up I-35.

For you that know me, you know that I.DO.NOT.DRIVE.ON.THE.INTERSTATE.

I found myself 'talking' to the other drivers, using gestures (nothing nasty), and shaking my head most of the time.

It's the semi's.

Oh, yeah, S-E-M-I.'s.

You know the one's I'm talking about...

"Breaker....Breaker....

I'm going to pass you

now that we're approaching a hill"

"Breaker....Breaker....

This is Black Roots; can girls play?"

And, you (that'd be ME) average 40 mph a-l-l-l-l-l-l-l

the way to Euless, Texas.

Oh, my gosh, I wanted to smack someone.

(And, if you drive a semi, love someone that drives a semi, and this offends you,

just play Pass Another Semi on a Hill - you'll feel vindicated)

Okay, enough about me for a moment.

.....The shower for Brat was delightful.

The food looked amazing.

The house was beautiful.

And, it was apparent that all had a fabulous time.

This is the sign that greeted us as we walked up

to the house. When I saw it, I KNEW we were

going to have some fun!

These lovely girls met me at the door.

That's Brat, second from the left - isn't she pretty?

Oh, yeah, here I am trying out some layers

in Photoshop Elements 9 that I've just purchased.

This was an experiment and took me an entire

day, therefore, it's included.

This is a picture of the fruit that was served.

It tasted better than it looks.

THIS is a really good cupcake. Oh, my.





The room was filled with friends, family and

sorority sisters of Brat's.

Will's mom (on the right) came from Ohio

(I know) and though I didn't get but a minute

to talk to her, I hope to get to know her better

at the wedding. Brat says she's delightful.

(Just like my DIL says about me)

"Oh!!" I think Brat just opened

something that really excited

Hostess Heather!





                                                    

It's embarrassing how bad my memory is -

at the shower I introduced myself to the

same woman twice. Yeah.

But, for some reason, I remember who is in

this picture with Will's mom -

it's Jessica (in the middle)

(oh, dear, it could be "Jamie" now that

I'm writing it. SEE?? It's so embarrassing:)

and Will's aunt.

TaDah!!

                                         Now, for gift opening and, though,

I'm really not a selfish person,

I just really want to share the card

and gifts I gave her.

WELL??? It's my blog.

(Oh, hush, I'm just being sarcastic.) 

                                                  Okay, after 45minutes  of trying to get this to right justify, 

I give up and wouldn't ya know,

it right justifies. I can honestly say that I

hate blogger. The envelope I made is above.

This is the back of the envelope.     

                

The card. I loved being back in my studio!

All eyes were on Brat as she opened all of her wonderful gifts!

Brat's shower really did give me the excuse

I needed to clear off a 4" square of work space to make a wall hanging for her and Will.

It wasn't on her registry so I knew I'd surprise her!
This will be so handy on those

away games on the bus.



There's always that one gift

at every shower.....

This also wasn't on her registry,

this canister set, and Brat

was so excited to receive it.

If I could just remember who gifted it.



























Bed Bath and Beyond was a
very successful registry store.
Brat received so many great
gifts from that store.







Isn't this so cool?

I wonder if she'll give it to me

for my birthday?

 

I want to introduce you to an amazing

young lady - Jackie. She was one of

Brat's best friends (and remains so)

in college and was in a horrific

automobile accident that left her

in a coma for a very long time.

She came out of her coma and Brat

and everyone that loved her were

overjoyed! No one knows if she

knows who you are when you talk to

her, but after meeting this amazing

young woman, I know that she does.

Jackie is an honorary bridesmaid in

Brat's wedding and I think that's very

special, just like Jackie.

Y'all know what retail therapy is, right?

After two days in a row on I-35

(I didn't mean to take I-35 home, I just somehow ended up

on it. True story.)

I decided I needed some.

I stopped at my favorite shop in

Llano, Texas, and spent $75.00.

I picked up some wonderful things.

Unfortunately, it didn't help.

*sigh*

But, you know what did make me smile

after two days on I-35?? Coming home to

all of this mail. It's all donations, monetary

and art supplies, for kids that need our

love and something to take their minds

off of their problems - hopefully in JOPLIN.

My other 'little girl', Skyler, and I are 

planning a "mission" trip the first part of

July - God's plan and we're so excited!

And, btw?? I'm still smiling.

And, though it's not my usual sign-off,

I LOVE YOU, BRAT

                MOM2                                      

one more thing - if the pictures aren't spaced correctly with their text, I apologize, but I'm not re-opening this post. it's 8:45 P.M. and I'm pooped! I hope you've enjoyed reading about Brat's lovely shower.

Good Night! lol

OKAY, I PEEKED..................DID I MENTION THAT I HATE BLOGGER??

I NEED SOMEONE TO SMACK.

"Oh, Franki-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e"