Love, love, LOVE these candles!  I have told you about them before, but it bears repeating, I think.  The pictured scent is my favorite.  I can light it in my kitchen and it scents the whole house.

 And, the scent lasts all the way through the candle.  I’ve learned recently about how some of the more famous candle makers scent their candles on the top only, so that by the time you get halfway down the candle, the scent is gone.  Not fair, I say!  And, that is why they smell so strongly when you open the lid to smell them.  Now, this little candle…WalMart…around $5.oo…is wonderful.  There are several scents to choose from, but in all honesty, this one lasts the longest.  I have, however, found another one in the collection that I really like, as well, for this time of year.  It is Mulled Cider.  Very nice, cozy, homey scent…perfect for fall.  This is the size I always buy, even though they do come in a larger size with a glass top.  Haven’t tried those…so don’t know how the scent holds up.  I use the Cranberry Mandarin all year long.  And one more good thing…that big sticker on the front…it peels right off  (with no gunk left over) so the candle looks presentable any where you may wish to place it.  (It’s the little things, isn’t it, friends?)

No, Wal Mart did not hire me to sell their candles.  Nor did they pay me to endorse them.  I just think if something is good…and makes you smile…we ought to share that info.  So, that’s what I did.

OK, you’ve got to hurry if you are going to take advantage of this next goody!   This is available for a limited time only…and that’s the truth.  I found this two years ago. And, I learned then that it is only sold during the Fall.  Last year, I never could find it and after some super sleuth work on my part…I learned it is only sold at Wal Mart.  This year, I went early…and there it was!  Pretty as you please…right in the frozen food section of Wal-Mart.

This is wonderful!  Now don’t go thinking that it tastes like frozen pumpkin pie.  It doesn’t.  It is very smooth and creamy…with just a touch of pumpkin flavor.  And, there is graham cracker crust mixed in.  It’s divine!  Really!  Just one thing…this is a pint,  just a little, bitty pint.

I ‘m sorry this is such a bad photo, but…I think you can read it well enough to see that someone who obviously doesn’t enjoy the delight that is scrumptious ice cream, decided that this itty, bitty,little pint holds 4 (FOUR) servings!  Four?  Are you kidding me?  I’ve heard of people who ate the whole pint at one sitting.  I don’t know them personally…but I think that it really could be possible.

No, Wal Mart did not hire me to sell their ice cream.  Nor did they pay me to endorse it.  I just think if something is good…and really, REALLY YUMMY…we ought to share that info.  I did.  And, you can eat as many servings at one time as you want to.  No one is looking.  Really.  Enjoy!

Recently I shared with you a sweet CD I had bought for Levi before we even knew there was going to be a Levi.  And, I’d like to tell you about another one that I found just the other day.  It is by Jewel.  Are you familiar with her?  Well, while I was shopping, I found this and decided to give it a try.  

It is titled Lullaby.  Jewel has a soft soprano voice, and this CD is beautiful.  There are a few classical children’s songs on it, but for the most part, the songs are all original.  I put it on when Levi goes down for his afternoon nap.  And, we both listen.I have found myself humming several of the melodies.  I hesitate to tell you where I got this.  But, I will…you know ‘truth in blogging and all that’.  It is put out by Fisher Price, and I bought it at Wal Mart.  I checked, though, and you can also get it at Barnes and Nobel or Amazon.

No, Wal Mart did not hire me to sell their CD’s.  Nor did they pay me to endorse this one.  I just think if something is good…and soothing and calming…we ought to share that info.  And, so I did.

Friends, I never go to Wal Mart anymore, really.  I have to cross the highway to go there and Target is on this side of the highway.  I went once a few weeks ago for something specific, and obviously my shopping radar was on full blast.  It’s just not a place I go regularly anymore.  Though it’s clear to me they have things that have quite an appeal to me!  Maybe I should just go ahead and cross that highway and visit there more often.  Perhaps when my supply of candles is gone…..or my supply of Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream !

PS

Joy and I are taking Pop back to Birmingham on Wednesday and Thursday to see 2 more doctors about his eyes.  They definitely want to do surgery, but Pop is still not sure.  So, we are going to see the doctor that does the surgery to get some more information.  Then seeing a low vision specialist to see if they have some aids that may help him.  Please say a prayer for us as we travel.  And, as we begin to make decisions to help Pop’s vision.  Also, Alex has had an extremely bad few weeks dealing with his pain.  Even his strongest meds are not helping.  We thank you in advance for praying for our family.

Hope the weather where you are is as nice as it is here.  Enjoy your week!

Where, O where can my little bears be?

O where, O where can they be?

I’ve looked high and low

But they just won’t show,

O where, O where can they be?

O where, O where can my little bears be?

O where, O where can they be?

They all are so dear…

And I had them last year.

O where, O where can they be?

O where, O where can my little bears be?

O where, O where can they be?

I wish they’d come out…

If I found them I’d shout!

O where, O where can they be?

==========================

It’s true…they are nowhere to be found.  And, there are 3 more not pictured.  You would think they would be packed up with al the other fall decor that I get out and pack back up every year.  But, no—–obviously I thought I had a better place to store them than in the correct place.  Why do I continuously sabotage myself?  Oh, well, it’ll be a great surprise when they do turn up.  (Sorta like when I hide my own Easter Eggs)

So, if you happen to see any unaccompaned minor bears…please call 1=800=334=Fnd=Bers..

Friday is usually my errand day since Levi is not with me.  This past Friday, I had made plans for a haircut…BEFORE I knew that I needed to keep that sweet angel boy.  So, he and I set off on our first outing together.

Before Levi was born, we all got a car seat base to stay in our own cars.  Then the infant seat/carrier just fits right in.  It really is a very easy system that they picked out.  The carrier fits into a stroller base also.  Now the only drawback to the system is that the car seat is HEAVY!  And, with a chunk of a baby in it…WAY HEAVY!  No way I could pick it up.

So, I put the car seat in the car, then put Levi in…no problem.  And, off we went.  When I got to the salon, I got Levi out and we went in.  I got Amy to hold him while I got the seat out.  While I tried to get the seat out.  While I strained and pulled and pushed and hit buttons and did everything I could possibly think of to get it out.  But, there it stayed.

Well, I figured I would just hold him while I got my hair cut, and that is exactly what I did!

He wore his own cape and I wore mine and Amy got busy with the scissors.   Another lady held him for me a few minutes.  And, Levi never made a sound.  He was so good…a real trooper.

We finished up and I got him settled back in his car seat, and we headed home.  Don happened to be at the house when I got home and I asked him to get the car seat out, so Suzanne would not have to get it and it would be ready for her when she came to pick him up.  I told him that I couldn’t get it out before.  He looked at me and said, “You really need to be sure you know how to work things like that before you use them.”  I told him that I thought I had done it before and knew how, but obviously not.  So, he went to get it.  In a few minutes, he came back in–empty handed.  “Where’s the seat?” I asked.  Trying not to smile, he said, “I couldn’t get it out either.  We’ll have to wait till Suzanne or Adam get here.”  “Hmmmm,” I said, “You really should know how thing work before you use them.”  Looks like we BOTH needed to learn how!

The funny thing is, when Suzanne got here and showed me how, it was just the easiest thing…the one little lever I didn’t see and pull!    Bet I don’t forget that again!

She and I then drove to several stores to get Levi some warmer clothes, and some new church clothes, too.  I found him some little hats to cover his ears when it’s cold outside.  I’m a big believer in keeping those ears covered.    (I got him a stroller last week and now that it is cooler, I hope we can spend some time outside.)He was so good, and shopped without a sound.  We found some pretty good sales and got him some cute things.  But, Suzannes’s feet were hurting from working all day and I was tired from my work day with Levi.  And, Levi?  Well, he began to whimper as he always does when he gets tired and hungry.  So, I got in the back seat and gave him a bottle while Suzanne drove me home.  Those little angel eyes were closing before we got there.

Today…just a regular day,  Nothing big or spectacular…just doing the ordinary things.  But, a sweet day, nonetheless.  Being with the ones I love…happy and healthy.  I thank God for days like this!

PS…sorry about the blurry pics…they came to me via Amy’s cell phone.

Here I sit, at my computer tying desperately to learn all the new stuff and and remember it.   I am also afraid that if I do something wrong I will kill this piece of technology and that would be very bad.  And, if I could do something that bad…who knows…maybe I could put a kink into the whole blogiverse!

 And, oh, my friends, if you could help me…if you could even send me scurrying in the right direction, I would be so, so eternally grateful.

So, here’s the problem.  When I was on Blogger, I had all the blogs I correspond with regularly in a reader or something…I don’t know.  But, when you posted a new post, it would let me know.

Now, I am on WordPress.(Someone I love dearly changed me over and said it was ‘for my own good’ and I believed him.  And, he’s probably right.  But, it’s looking like I may be at least 75 years old before I can agree with him.)

So, he helped me get the blogs into a reader.  And, I can access them there.  The problem is…I have nowhere to comment.  I have looked and looked and looked on the page, and there is no comment box any where.  Which sorta negates the idea of having them in a blog reader if I still have to go to the site to comment.

 This is the state I find myself in at the moment.  And, I am very frustrated.   If any of you have any knowledge on the subject and would share with me…I would forever be in your debt.  Plus I will sing your praises from the top of my blog, in living color, even. Because really, this just isn’t the best look for me…

 And, I thank you ever so kindly for your consideration.

I just watched Forrest Gump…for the fifty-second time…at least!   Isn’t that just the best movie?  Every time I watch it, I see something I didn’t notice before.  I think, maybe the reason I like it so much is that so much of the things that ‘happened’ during the movie, I remember really happening.  And, even though Forrest is there only through ‘movie magic’, we somehow feel as if he could have been there.

 I had a smiley face  T-shirt!  I remember Watergate, even if I didn’t understand it at the time.  I remember when Nixon resigned and gave the Peace signs as he entered the plane.  I remember Viet Nam, and hippies, and when marijuana became a big thing.  I remember Kennedy and his assassination,  I remember when we first started hearing about AIDS, and the hysteria that followed.  I remember when Reagan was shot.

So, maybe the reason I like it so much is that it reminds me of my ‘formative years’.  That, and I always like the way he and his son sat on the riverbank together.  And, you know, you just KNOW, that boy is going to have a great life.

Another movie I can watch over and over is Shawshank Redemption.  Such amazing performances.  I love the way good finally triumphs over evil…even though it took many years.  I like to imagine those two guys growing old together by the sea in Mexico.

One of the funniest movies ever is The Princess Bride.  Well, maybe not so much funny as it is clever.  You have to watch it several times to even get all the jokes.  Wonderful writing.

And, naturally, those tried and true ‘girly’ movies…Pretty Woman, Dirty Dancing, and Fried Green Tomatoes, and Ghost and Steel Magnolia’s are always running on some station somewhere.  And  Under the Tuscan Sun…great!  I have to stop and watch anytime I flip past them on the TV.

And, I can’t leave out Somewhere in Time…perfect!  And, the music!  Oh, it’s such a beautiful, beautiful movie.  And so romantic.  Along those lines…Chocolat…not too well known, but such a beautiful picture and story.

I do not like movies that are full of stress and nonstop excitement and heart stopping action.  I guess I have enough stress in my life already.  When I go to a movie, I want to laugh or at least smile.  I don’t mind a serious subject or a movie that is sad.  But, I really like to have that ‘uplifted’ feeling when I leave the theater.  One of the movies that fits into this category for me is Awakenings with Robin Williams portraying doctor, Oliver Sachs, who discovers the drug L-dopa and ‘awakens’ patients who have been in catatonic states for decades.  Based on the memoirs of Sachs, it is sad and touching and sweet, and heart warming.  It also plays somewhere on TV every month or so.   Shawshank fits here, as well as, Schindler’s List, which everyone should have to watch, and Rain Man, which gave us all a lesson in compassion and acceptance.  One more…Cast Away!

I recently watched a movie, a few years old, but new to me.  I knew it would be a little bit terrifying, just from the reviews I read.  But, it so intrigued me, I watched it anyway.  I had the TV controls in my hand and could fast forward if necessary.  The movie was Seven Pounds,  starring Will Smith.  What a movie!  I had to watch it twice to get it all straight in my mind.  But, so powerful.  No, I could not watch about 5 minutes of it…but just imagining it is close enough.  I love a movie that plays over and over in my mind.  The more it is pondered, the more is gleaned from it.

Little Miss Sunshine was a movie that is hard to forget.  First of all, the language is atrocious…very bad.  Second, this is the most dysfunctional family ever…including their extended family.  But, through their journey to the little girl’s beauty pageant…we learn to see much deeper into each character and begin to understand them.  Excellent movie…great lessons…a little kooky…awful language.  As Good As It Gets…tops, too!

Of course, I suffered through all the Star Wars movies, and the extended versions.  I know all about Luke, and Leia, and Han, and Chewbacca and Lando, and Jabba, and the stormtroopers, and the droids, and R2-D2, and C3PO, and…Yoda.  And, I could give you about 20 or so more names, but I’ll spare you.  All my boys loved The      Lord of the Rings movies, and watched them again and again.  Me, not so much…too dark.  The best of all the ‘other worldly’ movies…E.T….the best for all the reasons a movie can be called great!  Somehow the Harry Potter stuff escaped us…and that’s fine with me.  Those vampire kids, too…never saw them…never want to.

 I thought I wanted to see The Help, but I read the book, and I’m afraid the movie may not match up.  You know when you read a book, you put a face to your characters, you build the town they live in and you create a face and life for the friend and acquaintances.  They are alive as you read the book, with features just as the author dictates.  But, if you see a movie after you have read the book…it very rarely looks like you saw it in your mind.  So instead of seeing the characters for the first time, it is actually for the second time and they may be nothing like you built them.  My niece, Tara, said that is what bothered her a lot in the movie.  We both have a deep affinity for reading.

I confess I don’t go to movie theaters much…just wait for them to come out on TV or whatever it is now that we play on our TV.  What movies have you committed to memory?  Which ones can you watch over and over?  Which ones made a real impact in your life or taught you a lesson?  I’m sure I’ve forgotten some really important movie, but perhaps you will jog my memory.  Love to hear your answers.