Happy Birthday to ME! :)

Tomorrow, August 25th, is my 50th Birthday! The day I have really been dreading! Just not ready to be 50! You should see the marks in my yard from my feet, digging into the ground, holding onto 49! LOL

One of my HeartFelt Angels members, Frances - age 92!, made this Birthday Cake for me and another friend picked it up and delivered it to me just an hour ago. What a surprise! It is made from scratch - no box mixes for Frances! It is a beautiful cake! I want to taste it - but hate to cut it! :)

Book Signing Event in PA

Today was the book signing event at Rachel's Country Store in Newburg, PA with Cindy Smallwood. She is the author of "When the Heart Cries", "When the Morning Comes" and "When the Soul Mends". Her newest book just out is "The Hope of Refuge". I'm reading the second book of the series and they are so good! I hate to put them down!

I had the best time meeting Cindy and talking to her. She signed my books, poster, and even got my picture taken with her. Thank you Judy from PA for taking this picture for me!

The heat and humidity was bad, but it was oh so worth it! Miss Rachel was busy helping everyone and every where, and directing traffic! If you are ever in the area, please stop by and check out her store. She has gifts, candles, scrap booking supplies, books, toys, material, and hand made items too! Such a wonderful place to shop and visit! They were selling pies and I got a slice of my very first Shoo Fly Pie - CHOCOLATE! I'm not a pie crust eater, but this crust was delicious!!! So was the rest of the pie!

So this was my Beth Day out for my pre-birthday present to myself! It was the best day! Thank you Cindy Smallwood and Miss Rachel for being a part of it!

Trip to NC

Last Friday, Chuck and I drove to Raleigh, NC to help his son, Chuck, paint his bedroom and bathroom in his first apartment! He is a student at NC State. So NO MORE DORMS for him! Good thing it was a small room! Chuck and I were so sore the next day! Muscles hurt that I didn't know I had! hahaha We stayed at Homewood Suites in Cary. If you ever get to that area, please stay there! It is a WONDERFUL place to stay! I had to get a picture of the duck in the bathroom - so cute! And the covered bridge to the hotel is so magical!

On Saturday, we didn't know just where to go, so he got his GPS out and chose a Casino in SC. Well, when we got there, it was on a RIVER BOAT! We both looked at each other and back to the car we went! So then we decided to go to Myrtle Beach. We never been there. When we got there, we left there too! Couldn't believe the high rises at the beach! We felt like we were in NY! So then we went to Wilmington and no place to stay there, didn't get to see Jeff Gordon :(, so we drove all the way back to Cary, where we stayed the night before. We ended up getting the same room!

It was a nice weekend getaway. Had fun painting and spending time with Chuck. Oh! I got 4 baby sweaters and hats crocheted while I was on the trip too! :)

Hayden's Prayer Bear and Blanket

Elizabeth, at Shenandoah Storage in Winchester, called to tell me she had a prayer bear and blanket for Hayden. Her church prayed over them both. I went to pick them up and got to meet her Pastor. He was in tears. It really touched my heart to meet them and hear they are all praying for Hayden. I took his bear and blankie to him. He really loved them both! It was so cute seeing him try to read the card with it! He wrapped the blanket around him and walked around his house. Then he put his stuffed animals to bed, covered them with his blankie and said "night, night"! So precious. Hard to look at him and see that he is so sick. Thanks to everyone for your prayers!!!

Look What I Can Do!!!!!

My very first attempt at freezing green beans! YEAH! It was fun! I should have done this YEARS ago! Another friend of mine gave me 2 gallon bags FULL of green beans. Her neighbor asked her if she wanted some green beans, if not, he was going to mow over them! She got all of them and shared with me! Not knowing what to do with them, Chuck and Joyce told me what to do. I got 8 quart bags - all in the freezer! Hummmm...what's next??? :)

Two Women Make a Swing

My friend, Joyce, made a plant swing for her front yard. It is so awesome! She didn't have a pattern - she made it herself! I asked her when she had time, if she could make one for me and I'd pay her. NOPE! She invited me over to her house and we made the swing together! It was the best day! We went out to lunch before we got started. She wanted to take me to Friendly's and we passed the Pennsylvania Dutch Market. She had never been there before, so I talked her into going! I didn't know I messed up her plans - she was going to have them sing Happy Birthday to me! That will teach me to keep me mouth shut! :)

The PA Dutch Market was wonderful! Amish men, women, and children were working hard in there. The smell of wonderful food grabbed you as you walked in the door. I walked into another world in amazement. I ordered hot turkey and gravy sandwich with mashed potatoes. Definitely NOT instant potatoes! She PILED the meat on the bread! Needless to say, it was delicious and I had the other half of my meal for dinner later last night! We walked around to look at all the items they had for sell. The baked goods section made you pick up a few calories just smelling everything! Joyce picked up a pecan pie to have for desert. The furniture, quilts, dolls, kitchen items were all so beautiful.

From there, we went back to her house to get started on my swing. She had picked up the lumber days ago and couldn't wait for this day to get here! I put the back braces together backwards, so she had to correct my mistake! We just laughed and had the best time! I sure learned alot about woodworking! When we finally finished, we had a piece of pecan pie and sat out on the porch, watching the birds and neighbors....and admiring our swing we put together. It was the best day and the best birthday present! I really miss working with Joyce. But glad our friendship has continued over the miles that keep us apart. She lives in MD, about 50 miles away.

Our last laugh of the evening was "trying" to put the frame in my car. Wouldn't fit, so we had to tie it onto the back of my car. I took the back way all the way home to VA. My swing and I made it home safely! I hated to see the day end. Wonder what our next project will be? (Hope it's quilting!)

**For more pictures of our day, please check them out on the side bar in the Picasa photo album!!!

Update on Hayden

I LOVE CHOCOLATE!!!!!



Just an update on my grandson, Hayden. Chris called to tell me that he went to see the Dr. at Children's Hospital in DC today.

One of his kidneys is smaller than the other. The Dr will begin blood testing family this weekend for the bone marrow match. If not, he will pull from the National List. The IV antibodies are not working. He wants Hayden to have chemotherapy with hopes it will help him when he receives the bone marrow transplant - with hopes it will stick! (Yes, he will lose all his hair.) He will have to stay at the Ronald McDonald House in DC for 3-4 months. He can't be no more than a half an hour from the hospital.

They are doing more testing today, and will be coming home tonight. So he will going back to Children's Hospital soon. I'll write more when I hear more.

PLEASE continue to pray for Hayden, please? Mom and Dad are having a really hard time accepting all this news. The rest of the family too. Hard to understand how a 2 year old can be so sick.

Thank you so much for all your prayers!!!

***I am having a card shower to fill Hayden's room when he is at the hospital. It will give him something to do and cheer up Mom and Dad. He loves Thomas the Train (his new bedroom is red and blue!)and Cars (Lightning McQueen!) He loves to color and write! He always gets GG's ink pens and writes for her! (I'm Nana and my Mom is GG for Great-Grandma!) He loves to blows kisses to everyone. If you would like to send Hayden a card, please email me for my address. Thanks again!!!