God, Family, Country, Food and Paint

PAINT

Just days before we were supposed to have some family come down from up north, I decided to repaint my kitchen shelf.  

I decided to use Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in "Cream" color

 

It was completely dry within a few hours and then I clear waxed it

 

I refilled it with some old items and found some new things:

 

I couldn't help it, but I fell in love with this ginormous cup (flower pot) and it fit perfectly in the middle shelf

 

A patriotic sign perfect for the occasion

GOD

I got this idea of the sunflowers and American flags in small mason jars from the Pioneer Woman.  The fish we've had for decades and just in case you don't know what it means.  The fish is a symbol of Christianity.  The Greek letters mean: Jesus, Christ, God, Son, Savior. (Click HERE to know the history behind the fish symbol).

FOOD

A few days later I gathered these ingredients:  Blueberries, Strawberries, Marshmallows and homemade chocolate cake cut in squares. . . 

. . . and made these delicious kabobs

COUNTRY

I took the decorations off my kitchen shelf and placed them as our table centerpiece

 

I made some Red Lobster Cheddar Cheese Bay Biscuits to go with our . . . 

 

. . . Low Country Boil.  I had been planning this meal for weeks (since Memorial Day) and as I was preparing it in the morning while watching my favorite cooking shows, wouldn't you know it, Trisha Yearwood was making it too on her show!!  I took it as a sign that it was meant to be!! :)

FAMILY

Little Miss Sunshine!

Got the convoy ready

of course the men had to look at the car that's being worked on

 

Enjoying the pool and staying cool

 

Outside playing football
 

Son and grandson

 

"Catch Dad"

"This is how you throw a football".  (You go girl!!)

Heading out, she looked so adorable coming out of the house looking like a tourist

 

Can you believe he's only 3??

 

Hubby, Niece, her hubby and their kids (our daughter was out of town and our son and kids had left the day before), this is all that was left this morning.

 

The house is quiet now, back to my hubby and I.  We enjoyed having everybody over, what a joy it is to see these kids that we raised, are now parents themselves and doing a great job!

 

I savored every moment!

A Repost in Honor of Veteran's Day - Home of the Free, Because of the Brave

To everyone in the Armed Forces, Happy Veteran's Day and thank you!!

For many years I've always wanted to create a military wall, to pay tribute to all the special men in my family.  I think I may have seen it at somebody's house somewhere and knew I wanted to do the same.  These men have seen more than we can imagine, more than we would want to see or experience all because of their love for our country and the freedoms it stands for.

We've only been in this home a few months.  The minute I saw this wall I knew it would be my Military Tribute Wall.  Soon after we moved in I wasted no time in painting it.  I painted it an avocado color, can't remember the exact name of the color but I wish it was a little lighter.  Oh well, I'm happy with it now that I've decorated it.

This flag is set in the center of the wall.  It was presented to our son after his second or third tour of duty in the Middle East.  He was only 17 here, joined the U.S. National Guard at the end of his junior year in high school.

Four special men

This is my hubby's father.  He served in the U.S. Army in the early 50's.

This is my father.  He served in the U.S. Army in the 50's as well.

I found this picture at Kirklands and knew immediately that it would belong on my wall.  It's titled "Never alone".  It has an angel hovering over a soldier as he kneels to pray.

This is my precious hubby.  He was only 18 here, just before they shipped him off to Vietnam.

This is our precious son of whom we are very proud of.  Has served his share of war duty and I pray he doesn't have to go back ever again.

View from the right side

A few weeks after the above pictures were taken, I was finally able to put "the writing on the wall".  I had the words custom made and it only took about a week to get them mailed to me.  I literally bought them from "Put the Writing on the Wall" website.  They were very helpful through the whole process.  In this picture I have taped the banner of words and I'm getting ready to press and peel.

Voila!!  Success!!  

"Home of the free.....

....because of the brave"

I plan to add a few more things such as momentos or letters.  I'm in no big hurry though since most of what I want, is already up, that is, the pictures of my heroes.

I linked up at:

Patriotic Linky Party Is Here

Welcome!  Please come on in - the party is here!

I'm new to this hosting a linky party, this is my second try so please bear with me.  I love Patriotic holidays and celebrations.  They are fun-filled times with family and friends, food feasts galore, love of God and country and decorations out the wazoo, so please share your recipes, decorating ideas, holiday plans, attire  and celebrations in this Patriotic Linky Party.  I'll start it off with my Patriotic Berry Trifle (you can find the link to join in below this recipe):

by Sunny Anderson

1/4 cup plus 2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup Limoncello or fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1 premade angel food cake, cut into 1-inch slices

1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature

2 cups heavy cream, at room temperature

2 pints blueberries

2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced

Heat 1/4 cup sugar, the Limencello or lemon juice and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves.  Remove from the heat and stir in the almond extract (sorry, I completely forgot to take a picture of this part).

Brush both sides of each slice of cake with the syrup.  Cut the slices into 1-inch cubes.

Beat the remaining 2/3 cup sugar and the cream cheese with a mixer on medium-speed until smooth and light.  Add the cream and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and the consistency of whipped cream.

Arrange half of the cake cubes in the bottom of a 13-cup trifle dish.

Sprinkle evenly with a layer of blueberries.

Dollop* half of the cream mixture over the blueberries and gently spread.

Top with a layer of strawberries

Layer the remaining cake cubes on top of the strawberries, then sprinkle with more blueberries.

Top with remaining cream mixture.  Finish with the remaining strawberries and blueberries, arranging them in a decorative pattern.  Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

Time to share your patriotic posts in celebration of Independence Day, 4th of July!

• Patriotic recipes, projects, art & crafts only please (no Etsy links please).
• You can share as many posts as you want just as long as they have already been posted to your blog.
• Link directly to YOUR POST and not to your web page.
• Please include a link back to I Savor the Weekend somewhere on your post. Whether by grabbing my Patriotic button (on the left bar) or by a link. Thirty lashes with a wet noodle if you don’t!
• Please don't forget to pay a visit to any of the other entries and leave them a sweet comment.
• Thanks for your entry, have a safe and Happy 4th and may God continue to bless America!