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Camellias & Copper

A Southern Girl's Blog About Life

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New Year’s Day Muse

January 1, 2018 by Michelle Filed Under: Life Leave a Comment

Happy New Year, Friend!

I’m so thankful for all the things I got to do, see, experience, etc. in 2017, and am excited for what 2018 holds!

I read a quote yesterday in the Real Simple magazine I mentioned in my post last night…the quote reads:

“There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.” -C.S. Lewis

Hopefully, like me, you’ve had enough life experiences to know the depths of this truth.

I saw a few folks on social media saying ‘good riddance’ to 2017…but I truly hope you don’t feel that way. All the things in our life: good, nasty, hard, horrible, {mean people}, terrifying, scary…and the wonderful things {and people}…all rolled up together in one really weird rubber-band ball, make us who we are. For those of you who know me…this is a good analogy and reminder of Romans 8:28.

Photo: Container Store

I’m certainly not the same person I was 20, 10 or even one year ago. I continue to learn and make adjustments to be a better person, friend, mom, wife, etc.
No, I’m not saying good riddance…I’m saying thank you.
Thank you for the things {and maybe people} who pushed me to be better than I was – and maybe that wasn’t even their intention…  Maybe those were little blessings in really weird disguises?
Thank you for the friendships that were started, strengthened and perhaps challenged in a new way.
Thank you for new adventures and the opportunity to be Brave.
Thank you for being able to view things through the eyes of my precious children.
If there is one thing you could be thankful to 2017 for…what would it be?

Even so…as the quote says…there  are better things ahead.

 What is one thing you are looking forward to in this new…amazing year ahead? You’ve got 364 days to make the most of it!

She Hijacked Our New Year’s

December 31, 2017 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Life Leave a Comment

I thought it totally fitting when we got home from the doctor’s office this morning and I opened up my January 2018 issue of ‘Real Simple’ to see the article titled, Your Sick Day Survival Guide.

Somehow it knew.

Bless it all y’all. I picked the kids up Friday from daycare and she had a fever. 102ish. Saturday she got down to 99 most of the day…but by night she was back up to around 103. Andrew called the doctor, who told us to bring her in this morning.

I was the second person to walk in…  Sometimes I feel like we’ve become regulars since 2013. They know us all by name…

There was another little fella waiting with his daddy that had the same symptoms Eliza Jane did. I hope the outcome for him was different.

We went through the routine of weight check {where she stomped her feet, and screamed “No! No! No!”}. This girl…she has no clue of what weight checks will be in her future, all 35 current pounds of her.

We got into the room and they took her temp that I think he said 98.1, which was totally not right because when I got her back home, she was 101.9…

Anyway, sweet Doc checked her ears, which didn’t go well for the pint-sized spit-fire. She screamed and flopped like a fish out of water. After removing a small ball of wax from each ear, Doc confirmed a slight infection in the right ear. Then said, “I think we should do a flu test, just to be able to rule that out.”

Sadly, we didn’t rule it out. It ruled us.

Once again, she thrashed her head {why does she do this?!}. But the sweet girl in the lab got what she needed to be able to tell us that Eliza Jane has the flu, type A.

Back in the Doctor’s office, he tells me all the things he is going to prescribe, for both flu and the ear infection…and that sweet Eliza Jane needs to “be quarantined as much as possible”.

That.will.never.happen.

Then, when I told him about the other two kids in the house {why the quarantine will never happen}, he said if anyone got a fever to call them and then everyone would get Tamiflu. My fingers are crossed on this, but I’m also not a Pollyanna.

 

Meanwhile, to today/tonight being New Year’s Eve. The kids asked all day for us to have a party. In thinking we wouldn’t be able to do something so great for and with them, I tried to think of something fun we could do tonight to celebrate New Year’s.

While at Publix this afternoon I grabbed a few minor fireworks and a bottle of Sparkling Grape Juice. I was hoping to make them feel special, that we could have a party, even if a bunch of people weren’t at our home. I mean Andrew and I may not be the most fun people on the planet…but we know how to throw a great party.

After supper, and Emory went to bed {he was rather cranky this evening}, we bundled up and went outside to light up our fireworks.

Now? All the kids are in bed asleep. Daddy and I are working on our laptops, watching Rockin’ New Year’s Eve…and yes, we’ll be asleep when that beautiful crystal ball drops!

Happy 2018 Friends! I hope your new year is everything you hope it to be!

Nothing Fancy – Just a Post About Our New Headboard

December 18, 2017 by Michelle Filed Under: Decorating/Remodeling Leave a Comment

Bohemian Headboard.

If you google it, you’ll see the one from Anthropologie that is just simply put…gorgeous {and also humongous}.

Or the fun little half circle one from PBTeen.

We bought our king-size mattress set two years ago. So for two years we’ve had just that basic metal frame with no bells or whistles for a head- or footboard. I remember being so excited about the massive set {wish y’all could have seen Andrew and me pushing that mattress up our staircase…} and spending all the ‘extra’ money we had on Pottery Barn bedding and a fabulous little accent pillow from Anthropologie.

We’d put the actual bed on the back-burner, knowing it would take time and a chunk of change to get what we really wanted, which we thought was a four poster rice bed.

We actually have one that is a queen, but as all these babies kept popping up in our home, we decided that we would need a king for us all to fit in on a scary, stormy night.  Which, has yet to actually happen…and I fear that when it does, we still won’t all fit. {Eliza Jane’s legs grow by about 3 feet when she’s sleeping…}

So back to the headboard…I don’t really know what happened, but I ended up googling Bohemian Headboard on Black Friday…and lo and behold, the next thing I knew I was buying one from Home Depot. First of all, who knew that HD now sells furniture? Not this gal. I’m a Lowe’s girl most days of the week so I was thrown off by this discovery.

I showed Andrew the headboard and he loved it as much as I did. And y’all, the price was a steal at 50% off! Before I really knew what was happening I was clicking the “place order” button on the screen with a massive smile on my face.

We had it delivered to the store and when it came we decided that we were too busy to go pick it up so Andrew so non-nonchalantly stated, “I’ll go get it one day”. And he did. One random afternoon a week or so ago, I pulled into the garage to see a massive box sticking out of the bed of his truck. I walked in, and with all my smarts said, “You picked up the headboard today, huh?”

The kids were just as excited as we were to pull that box down and rip all the cardboard and Styrofoam away.  It is more beautiful in person than in was in the pictures. And heavy. It’s a wee bit heavy. But gosh it’s pretty.

It leaned against the wall in our bedroom for a few days before I had a vision of Emory walking in front of it and it crashing down on top of his head, flattening him to the ground, that I announced we were putting it up!

{Could we pause and laugh about the things that go thru the mom-heads? I mean…we’re crazy.}

That was Sunday, and in about an hours time, we had the bed moved to where it would remain {until I get that itch to move things around again}, holes drilled into the base of the headboard….yes, it came pre-drilled, but the holes didn’t match our frame so Andrew had to drill new ones. {I’m so thankful he’s handy} And it was all set up with fresh sheets and I just wanted to stare at it in complete thankful- and happiness.

I kept saying, “It’s so pretty. Isn’t it so pretty?!” that Andrew just laughed at me.

But isn’t it so pretty? I hate that you can’t really see all the beautiful detail with the 11 {ELEVEN} pillows on our bed…but it is really pretty.

 

The Last…Oh, Six Weeks Or So…

December 11, 2017 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Life Leave a Comment

Gone are the days when I could sit down at night and share all the fun and wild things happening in our lives! I have thoughts most days about a blog post and all the wonderful things I want to share with you, but the time is rare that I can sit down at the computer and get out all the things I want to say.

Life has been super busy, as I’m sure it has been for you as well. The holiday season often brings an additional element of events and commitments {of which I am most happy to oblige!}.

The last several weeks have been really fun for us :: We celebrated Emory’s first birthday, our 7th anniversary, Thanksgiving and now we’re full swing into Christmas!
I thought I would share some pictures from the beginning of November up until this past weekend when Dana and I took our girls to a Nutcracker Tea and then the ballet – which was so magical for all of us!

 

First off…Our Daycare Church celebrated Luther-Fest and had some great entertainment for the kiddos.Institches Designs blew me away once again with some adorable shirts for Emory’s first birthday!  We spent a fun morning out at EdVenture shopping in the Publix and then playing golf in space and finally by flying an airplane! Thanksgiving Feast at Daycare for these Turkeys! The love is strong between these two. Packing their Samaritan’s Purse shoeboxes.
He’s finally getting to where he LOVES to sit in his PB anywhere chair!Andrew and I had a fun night out at the Festival of Trees annual fundraiser for the Children’s Hospital. And then my little buddy turned one and loved his cake from Rosie Girl Bakery! We even got the same pictures that we got with both Reynolds and Eliza Jane on their first birthdays {more pictures from AnnieLaura Photography to come!}.Eliza Jane wanted to try her hand at creating a ‘smoky eye’ with my purple eye shadow one morning…. Reynolds got to be one of the Wise Men in a church Christmas play.Thanksgiving in Macon – and I got to see my two favorite Georgia guys! Eliza Jane and I {and Emory – not pictured} got to go to Woodley’s Garden center one Saturday afternoon, where she helped me pick out some beautiful Poinsettias to celebrate the season. Celebrating 50(!!!) years of Christmas parties with Mrs. Black – who is a spry 95 year old!
Emory got some tubes last Monday to help with those pesky ear infections! My fingers are crossed!! Favorite sibling photo of all time so far…These two boys are so handsome!!We opened some fun Christmas gifts from our friends Caroline, Wes and Pace – who sent us the Lucas Family’s 12 Days of Christmas and we love it!Eliza Jane got her first Shirley Temple from our favorite server, Luis!Eliza Jane and Brynn’s Christmas gifts from the moms was an afternoon of the Nutcracker. Making silly faces before the curtain lifted… A fun photo with Santa himself…and he was a pretty Santa for sure!
I love looking back to see all the things we’ve done over the past several weeks. I hope this season is wonderful and magical for you and your family.

I wanted to also share a post with you from two years ago – a post about my mom on her birthday, which is today. She continues to share her love with us through this amazing cake that we have dubbed “Grammy Cake”.

She Hijacked Herself

November 14, 2017 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Life 1 Comment

Oh…Eliza Jane.

Twice this year she’s hijacked us. And this time, she hijacked herself.

It was a lovely Monday afternoon. Just the yesterday in fact. We were looking at a house for sale and first Emory had a dirty diaper…and as fate would have it I had ONE wipe in his bag. ONE. Andrew and I raided both our glove compartments for any and all napkins to help in our time of need. I was more thankful for Subway, Bojangles and Dunkin’ Donuts than ever before…

As I was cleaning up the poor baby who was extremely unhappy about his current situation, Andrew was aiding me as best he could. And as I recall it, I saw out of the corner of my eye, the other door closing shut. Silence was broken by what I have called the ‘Mariah Carey scream’. It’s this high-pitched shrill of a sound, that if you aren’t in a safe enough distance away, you could lose your hearing entirely.

“What the…” Andrew said as he threw down the other napkins he held to run over to the other side of my van {side note: yes, I drive a minivan now…}. The screaming somehow got louder and as I shook Emory into his pants {bless his sweet heart}, I got over to the other side just in time to see her smashed up and crooked finger.

Andrew was trying to talk to the screaming child and in my “Ican’tbelievethisishappeningrightnow” annoyed, moment self, I said, “It’s broken, just get her in the car.”

Of course it’s broken. It can’t NOT be broken. I have never seen a finger look like THAT before.

Bless my sweet husband. He got her in the back of the van despite the screaming and crying. And wouldn’t you know. She didn’t care one bit about her jacked-up finger. She was screaming now at the potential that she would miss gymnastics.

Punch me in the face, would you?

She’s nuts.

“My want to go to ‘nastics!!!” she was hollering from the back seat as tears poured out of her eyeballs.

“Momma…?” Reynolds said quietly. “Are we going to miss gymnastics now?”

Poor kid. Originally, I was going to be a single mom for the night so I had decided to be brave and take all three to gymnastics. I even called ahead Monday afternoon and asked if Reynolds could participate in Eliza Jane’s class and had gotten that okay’d.  Now…  Now all their dreams of doing flips and swinging and rolling around had been dashed.

“What were y’all doing? Who closed the door?” these were the senseless questions I was asking them of course. Reynolds stared at me like I had 10 heads. Mum was the word. No one was fessing up to this fiasco.

I called the doctor’s office and told them what happened…”What do I do? Where do I take her?” I asked.  They told me to take her to the “Black and Blue clinic”.  And of course as I was retelling this to Andrew his response was, “oh yeah, I’ve been there many times.” Y’all recall that I have an accident insurance policy 1. because of him and 2. because of Reynolds, who is much like his father. And now, apparently Eliza Jane is as well. So far now…2 out of 3 children are following in their father’s footsteps. I am doomed.

Anyway, back to the story. We got to the clinic and by then the screaming and crying had stopped…but she was still sniffling about missing gymnastics. Logic was in no way a part of any of our conversation, obviously. Andrew was trying to explain to her that she couldn’t tumble and do flips if her finger was hurt. “My not want to go to the doctor! My want to go to ‘nastics!” She was adamant.

Bless it all, y’all.

Long story cut short…I called ‘nastics and told them we weren’t going to make it after all, but thanks for letting us know that Reynolds could participate in her class in the future.
Emory and I left the clinic to get home and cook the supper my tummy was rumbling for and as I finished up my dinner I got the text that everything was okay.
“She didn’t even cry when they did the x-rays.” Andrew’s text came thru and I shook my head thinking, “of course she didn’t.”

No major damage, just a cut on the backside of the joint that we are trying to keep a bandage on, to be sure it doesn’t get infected.

What a Monday. Here’s to the rest of the week and hoping that there are no more hijackings in our immediate future. And yes, I hope I didn’t just jinx myself.

Meanwhile…here she is in all her silly from today.

Have a great night!

Our Saturday

October 21, 2017 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom Leave a Comment

Way back when I started this blog, my vision/hope/desire/idea was to share my life with y’all, my family, friends and readers.

We went to a party tonight with our Sunday school friends and families and as we drove home {with kids screaming in the back of the van…bless their hearts, they were so tired}, I looked thru all the pictures I took today…and I thought, when did I stop sharing stuff on my blog? When did it get so hard to take 30 minutes to sit down and write a few words and dump a bunch of photos in a post? I won’t bore you with all the excuses :)

There’s so much to catch you up on – like Reynolds is 4.5 years old {what.in.the.world.} and smarter than smart. Eliza Jane is such a mixture of sweet and sass at the fierce young age of 3. And Emory..the sweet babe, is 11 months old now. And he’s such the 3rd child in all his laid-back ways {that didn’t come from me at.all}.

Instead of writing a bunch of words tonight, I just want to share some of my favorite photos from the day.

Much love to you…and good night.

A Letter to My Momma

October 3, 2017 by Michelle Filed Under: Life 1 Comment

Hey Momma,

Today we celebrate your one year anniversary in Heaven. And for what kind of stinks for us here, I don’t get to see you and hear your voice anymore, I continue to rejoice that you’re with Jesus.

Sometimes I feel guilty about not being as sad as maybe I should be because I know that you are there in Heaven with Jesus and that you’re singing with the angels. And I can only imagine how beautiful your voice is with theirs. Today I sit here and reflect about the last year and how many times I picked up the phone to call you, just to remember that you’re not there to answer. I miss your voice, your laugh, your unsolicited advice {at times} and even the help that you gave when parenting was so hard.

Sometimes it still seems so surreal that you’re gone and that it’s been a year since I last held your hand and I last looked into your blue eyes and brushed back your blonde poofy hair. {I miss all the hairspray!}

There has been so much that you have missed out on this last year and it’s been really weird without you here. We welcomed Emory a little over a month after you left and I know you would be so proud of him and all his chunkiness. He’s got the best, happy personality and I think he gets some of that from you. {He’s also feisty..}

Sometimes I get sad when you’re not there to answer the phone when I have some news to tell you, like this summer when I got a promotion. I guess that college education has been good for something! Thank you for the stubborn bullheadedness that I feel partly came from you {ha!} and the grace-filled kindness and how you used to say ‘love them like Jesus’ and ‘kill them with kindness!’. Oh and who can forget all the long walks where you would ask ‘what would Jesus do?’ and you really meant it.

You’re always in the back of my mind speaking words of truth and love and grace, and I can still hear your voice. I miss seeing you when we go back home. It’s so weird not to have you come outside and greet us when we pull up in the driveway.

Your laugh…I miss it like crazy and I watch the video of you changing Reynolds’ diaper in the hospital all the time just to hear your voice. I also loved the interaction you had with Andrew that day…those moments are so sweet to me.

I know the days will get easier…and a little bit of me fears the things I will forget as time goes on. I want to hold onto you as tightly as I can so that I don’t forget the things that are so special about you.

I love you so much and I know that you know that but gosh I wish I could tell you again. I found this quote today that was so fitting for you..and when I think that there’s nothing else I can say about you, this seems so perfect: You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person I have ever known – and even that is an understatement. – F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Thank you for being an angel here on earth. Thank you for loving Daddy and Wesley and me…in all our unperfectness. Thank you for being so selfless to so many. For always wanting to do for others. I hope I’m a little bit like you {without the hairspray!}.

I love you…your munchin.

P.S….Reynolds asks every night to pray for you and Lily, so I like to think that she’s there in Heaven with you also.

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