Wordless Wednesday

4 years ago......

Valentines Day

Around my house, holidays are always special. This Valentines Day was extra special since we have Tillie Ann. She loves to open presents. So when she woke up on Saturday we were ready with present and card in hand. Since on this holiday boys are supposed to give the girls gifts, daddy was able to give her the gift and help her open it. I think it thrilled him more than it did her. She loves her new pop up toy and plays with it all the time, but I think she loved the card more than anything. Happy Valentines Day!!! :)

The Bloom

There are many things in life that are important to me, but I have come to realize that the most import are things that are handed down from the past. I have several things in my house that are very special to me that were handed down from family members. But, it seems that the most important thing is a bush in my flower bed. It is from my great-grandmother Estelle Tate.

Here she is with my great-grandfather.

She was a fiery woman. As far back as I can remember she always had white hair and wore the same necklace. She lived in the the deep south and every time she spoke you could just pull up a chair and listen. She didn't own a dryer or a microwave or a cordless phone. She would always notice when you put on weight or got a new hair style because she would tell you about it. She would just lay it out there no matter what. One summer I went to spend a week with her. I never thought I would ever go to bed before the sunset, but every night we would. Then like clock work you would be up "with the chickens." There was never a minute wasted. The only thing that you could watch was the Atlanta Braves. Wow, I learned so much that week. When she passed away a couple of years ago, that was hard. There were so many cherished memories that I will never forget. As my family sat at her home on the night of the visitation, I noticed a certificate on the wall. It had her name on it and in parenthesises it said her pet name "Tillie". I knew right then that if I was fortunate enough to have a girl, her named would be Tillie. So as you know, we did. I feel that this is my way of keeping her memory alive.

Ok back to the bush......

I can remember as a little girl see, it seemed, like there were hundreds of these bushes with beautiful blooms all over her back yard. So, I wanted a little piece of her yard in mine. It has taken several years for the bush to take off and grow. I was so worried that it wasn't going to make it, then it started. The other day we noticed that there was a small bloom on the bush.

This bush is planted right outside Tillie Ann's window. Tillie Ann will never meet the other Tillie until she gets to Heaven, but for now I have a little piece of Granny Tate with Tillie Ann.

1st Pageant

I thought I would never put my child in a pageant, but never say never. On Saturday, Tillie Ann was in her 1st pageant. It was an experience to say the least. As you can see our little beauty wanted to sleep instead of looking her best with those bright blue eyes and her new judge wooing talent of blowing raspberries. But, it seemed that she needed her last little bit of beauty sleep because as they announced for her age group to come to the stage she popped that head up and was ready to go.

For our first experience in a pageant I didn't think we did too bad. Tillie Ann walked away with Most photogenic and 1st alternate. We were thrilled. As we left the pageant, daddy declared that there will be no more pageants. But, I think he forgot we have one more. I promise, daddy, after this one "NO MORE." :)

Help I'm Stuck

Sunday afternoons are a fun time around the Sweat household. This is the day we pour all the toys out of the toy box and play, play, play. I know what you are thinking "only on Sundays". No this happens most days, but Sunday's are when we clean the toys so they all are out on the floor waiting to get their weekly bath. While in the kitchen washing the first load, the little one decides to army crawl under the end table to eat a toy that has went astray. While she was under there she somehow got turned around headed back out and got stuck. Well did she let me and the whole neighborhood know that she needed assistance. By the time I could get my camera ready she had dried the tears and then thought it was the funniest thing she had ever done.

Lesson learned: Keep the camera handy. :)