Memories

This is my book from when I was a little girl. Notice the price, 39 cents!

Christmas Ornaments, Part 3

Our new monogrammed ornament.
I got both Noelle and Cale one of these this year.

(and they do "melt my heart.")

And this.

This is one of my favorites.

It dates back to 1999.

And this piano goes back to early 90's.

Christmas Cards

I love Christmas cards! I mean, I REALLY love Christmas cards! I have enjoyed looking at Christmas cards since I was a little girl. I remember being at my grandparents house after they'd get all their cards from church, and I'd sit for hours looking at each and every picture and getting my great-aunt Flora to read the inside to me. I would even memorize who sent each card, have her hold the card up, and I'd guess who it was from. I enjoy receiving cards and I also enjoy giving cards. And if you send me a card with a picture of your family or children, etc., I don't throw it away at the end of the season; I store it with all my other pictures. I like the cards that aren't' pictures of family and children too. I mean cards are art to me! Take time and look at them closely. I can imagine that I'm on the snowy hillside; sitting beside the beautiful warm fire; in the city with all the skaters; at the farm house with the aroma of cedar, pine, and apple pies. I have kept a card from each year that we've been at Bethany on my fridge. I have posted the card from 2004 above. Notice that Noelle is taller than Cale! She was 16 and he was about to be 12. The card below is our 2006 card. Noelle was 18 and Cale was almost 14. I will post other cards and pictures as I come across them. With postage so high, it's hard to send cards to everyone I think of and love, but I sure do try. I hand out cards at church and to our friends and family that I see on a regular basis, and that helps so much with postage. So, whether your card be a snowman, wreath, tree, bird, nativity scene, or of your loved ones, send it with love, and when the person who receives it opens it, they will feel the love enclosed!

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Christmas with the Hollands

Chrissy on the exercise bike trying to catch up with Scot and the cake!

Robert, Chrissy, and Kanah



The Hollands and Georges

Noelle, Kanah, & Cale

Our Family

Havin' fun!

Liesa and Chrissy

Princess Kanah with her Prince Cale

Cale and Kanah playing checkers.

The cake! Yum.

Chrissy is a nut!

Last night was our annual Christmas get together with The Holland Family.

We all ate supper at Waterfront, looked at Christmas lights, came home and had dessert and opened gifts. We always have a great time with them as you can probably tell by looking at the pictures.

Tupelo Christmas Parade

KATHY, JOSH, & DAVID

ME (EAR MUFFS DON'T DO MUCH FOR A DO!) AND KATHY

CALE & JOSH WATCHING THE PARADE.

A picture of Kathy and Josh watching for David.

(This was taken during the Jingle Bell Jog.)

THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES!

SO CUTE.

I LOVED THIS ONE!

A WONDERFUL WINTER MORNING WITH CALE AND FRIENDS!

Jingle Bell Jog

Cale, David, and Josh ran in the Jingle Bell Jog. This is a 5K in Tupelo that is ran before the Christmas Parade. It started at the Methodist Church on Main Street and ended at Reed's Department Store on Main Street. It was soooo cold! Not sure of the exact temperature, but I know it was in the 30's. Cale came in 35 out of all of the runners; his time was 23 min. 40 sec. Josh came in 40. His time was 24 something. David came in 3rd out of his age group. He got a pretty midnight pottery ornament. Kathy and I were about the only ones really yelling for the runners. We had plenty of practice this summer and fall with the Spartans.

Jingle Bells,

Jingle Bells,

Jingle all the way...

Gentle Memories

Hazel McCoy Gentle and Jesse Lee Gentle

I thought about my grandparents today. Today would have been their wedding anniversary. Seventy-seven years ago was the beginning of their life together. Pa Jess and Ma Hazel were good country folk! She was always busy with her hands whether it be flowers, gardening, sewing, cooking, or cutting out paper dolls for me. Pa-Pa was a royal mess! He was just cute as a bug; and always up to something. You couldn't sit beside him without him pickin' the whole time, just trying to get something on ya.

With their children: Oneida, Joyce, & James

The first song I ever wrote was about them. "Gentle Memories" is the title. Their last name, like my maiden name was Gentle. In their later years, their health got bad, they got feeble and tired and weary. We visited them one Sunday afternoon in August. Pa Pa was in the bed in his room, and I went in there, pulled up a straight chair and sat beside his bed. We talked about this and that. After I'd been in there awhile, I heard Ma Ma's feet shuffling in the floor. She made her way to the bedroom where Pa Pa and I were. She got to the door, and I could tell she was give out just from walking from the living room to there, and I shall never forget this: She said, "Jess, is there anything I can get for you?" and he replied, "No Hazel, there's nothing you can do." That night at my home, I went to bed, and a tune and words I'd never heard before kept playing over and over in my head. My Bible was laying beside my bed and there was some paper inside it I used for taking notes at church; I got the paper and a pen and started writing the words I was hearing down, and that's how I got my first song.

This song is copy written; here are the words. This is in loving memory of Jesse and Hazel McCoy Gentle, my beloved grandparents.

Gentle Memories

1. She stood there by his bedside,

A cane held in her hand.

They both were so feeble,

Took so much strength to stand.

She said, "Is there anything I can get for you?"

He said, "No nothing, There's nothing you can do."

2. The years had passed quickly,

Seems like yesterday,

They were raising their small children,

Working hard to make a way.

But all this was behind them,

Where did time go?

Their independence taken,

Feeling so low.

3. In a small country church,

They raised their family,

To depend upon their God,

And be all that they could be.

Not much to account for,

Few possessions to their name.

They had friends and love and happiness,

Jesus loved them just the same.

Chorus:

Not much to look forward to

Down here in this life.

No plans can be made,

As a husband and a wife.

But better days are comin'

Just you wait and see.

You'll live together in a mansion

For all eternity.

Words and Music: Liesa G. George, Aug. 7, 1994

Happy Sweet 16 Meagan!

Our niece Meagan Courtney celebrated her 16th birthday yesterday.

She said she had a good day. I would post a recent pic. but the little toot doesn't like her pic. made, so it's hard to get one. Meagan is in the front row, beside Cale. (2002) Kim and I were expecting at the same time. Meagan was due around the second week of Dec., and Cale was due the 17th of Dec. Meagan came early and Cale came late, so there ended up being 25 days difference in their ages. Those two are a mess when they are together!

Mrs. George Times 2

Before: After!

I went to Scot's mothers today to help her with her Christmas tree. She asked me over a week ago to come help her, so Cale and I worked in 5 days of school in 4 days, so I could go to Red Bay today. We got out all of her old decorations, and decided she needed new ones, so off to town we went. We had a wonderful time talking on the way. We go in with list in hand, do our business and come back out. We lost the car! I was pushing our buggy, following her, and we were going in between vehicles, just looking and looking! I was about to get down on the ground laughing. It was one of those "gotta be there" moments, but it really was hilarious. I told her that she and I have no business going off to a big town together, we really would get in trouble! We went back to her house and put the new decorations on her tree, and I think it's very pretty and sort of what I call a "dressy" tree. You know, compared to denim, khaki,.... oh never mind. I came home with some homemade potato soup and homemade wild rice and ham soup! That's what we had for lunch. It was so delicious, just right for a cold winter day!

Christmas Favorites

1. Some of my favorite Christmas songs are The First Noel, O Come All Ye Faithful, Go Tell It on The Mountain, and I like some fun songs like Jingle Bells, It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas, The Twelve Days of Christmas. I love Christmas music!

2. Some of my favorite Christmas movies are The Nativity Story, Borrowed Hearts, Holiday Affair, The Christmas Card...

3. My favorite traditions include baking and decorating a Birthday cake for Jesus, buying new ornaments for our family, and Christmas caroling.

4. One of my all time favorite Christmas books is A Cup Of Christmas Tea by Tom Hegg. Another book I enjoy is The Twelve Blessings Of Christmas by T.J. Mills.

Cale's Doe, A Deer, A Female Deer!

If this grosses you out, just keep scrolling!

I have had my laugh for the day! Sakes alive, have I laughed!!! I got on here during break to post a pic. of Cale and the doe he killed Sat. morning. I'm just now getting the pic's downloaded. Anyway.... when I got to my blog, I noticed that Heather had a new post listed in my blog lists, so I clicked on her site, and lo and behold, it was about their adventure with a doe her husband killed last night. I sat there and literally laughed out loud while I read. Go to my side bar and click on her site and read her new post, it will make your day. (Dawg Days of The Duleys) The other thing that is so funny is as I was getting on my blog, I wondered if it would be o.k. to post a pic. of a dead deer, and then, I thought, well, I guess it will, after all, it's my blog, but then, after reading Heathers blog, I pretty much took that as a sign that I could post this! ha. My story is not quiet as humorous as hers though. Sat. morning, Scot and Cale went hunting. Scot was sitting wherever it is he sits and he said he was thanking God for the scenery, blessings, etc. He was also praying about Sunday's sermon, and then he said, "Lord, please provide some meat for my family" and just a few seconds later, he heard a gun shot, and knew it was Cale. He said, "Thank you God." Then, he heard another shot, and thought, Oh no, I hope he didn't miss! ha. In the mean time, Cale comes home on his four wheeler and calls his daddy's cell phone. I didn't know he did this. We have a system, we call the cell phone from home, then, the person with the cell phone calls back, that way the call is free. Anyway... Scot calls, wakes me up, and asks me what I needed. I told him I didn't need anything, I didn't call him. He continued to tell me that he had a missed call on his cell phone from home, and I continued to tell him that it was not me, and I knew nothing about it. ( I still didn't know about the deer) About 5 minutes later, Cale drives up on the four wheeler with his doe, a deer, a female deer. (sorry.... that was just in my brain!) (from The Sound of Music) Cale said, "Did Dad call? I called and waited on him for a little while, but he didn't return my call, so I left to go get the deer." Then, of course, I felt foolish. Still in my robe, I go out and take pictures like any good mother would do! lol. So, now we have some roasts and tenderloin!!! Yummy!!! And yes, we do thank God for the meat.

It really is fun being a red-neck! Ha.

Shopping With Noelle

Grilled Chicken Salad for me,

Chicken & Dumplin's for Noelle. This was to the left of me.

This was to the right.

And this is a Happy Shopper!!!

Well, we did it! Noelle and I shopped til we dropped! We got to Tupelo around 3:30 and we got home around 10:30 last night. We accomplished alot and had a blast! We were dragging there toward the end though. We ate an early supper at Cracker Barrel and did some shopping in there. I was much more thankful for my food at Cracker Barrel than usual. I have a new blogging friend in Canada; she is also a pastors wife and a homeschool mother; they don't have a Cracker Barrel there, and she loves Cracker Barrel, so I tried to enjoy every moment and every bite. The smell is divine. It's not the smell of the food, it's the fireplace. Reminds me of my Ma-Ma Claudies house. From Cracker Barrel, we went to the mall, on to Hobby Lobby, Books A Million, LifeWay, and Wal-Mart. (I felt like saying..."On Dasher, On Prancer, On Cupid..) I love to go to the mall this time of the year. The decorations are so pretty. We got some good buys too on items that were on our list, so that's always a good thing! We saw Patsy and Clyne P. at Cracker Barrel. It's always such a joy to run into our hometown folk and friends. Oh, and I bought Noelle and Cale's new 2008 ornaments. I got them each a rocking chair at Cracker Barrel. Oh, how those youngin's loved to rock when they were little; this momma loved it too! I also got them each a gingerbread ornament that says..."You melt my heart." I'm all the time telling them that. I also got a candy cane ornament at Books a Million that has "George" on it. Our names are all spelled unusual, so we can't ever find anything with our first names, but they did have "George", and you know how I love monogrammed anything!
I love my sweet shopping buddy, Noelle. We always have such a wonderful time together. She is sooooo thoughtful and gives so freely. Our waiter didn't do a real good job but Noelle left her a generous tip. I commented that the service was lacking and Noelle immediately replied, "Yes, but it's Christmas!" What a gal! I will fill you in later on some of her gifts. I can't yet due to someone reading my blog that doesn't' need to know the information! ha. Well, I marked off several on my list last night. I will do my best to do some wrapping today.

It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas

It's that time of year again. So far, I've posted mostly pictures about Christmas. I can do that without thinking real hard. I have to have time and peace and quiet to actually write something informative and meaningful! I'm a bit short on the time right now, but I do have peace and quiet that I will take advantage of to do a bit of bloggin'. First of all, I added the Live Traffic Feed to my blog, and I see that alot of you join me on Life By George from Joel's Belmont Times. Thank you Joel for posting my site. I don't blog for attention, etc.; as I've said before, this is therapy for me, plus I love to write! But, I do try to be an encourager to others and through blogging, I find the opportunity through just being myself, I can also offer encouragement and a smile or two. I would love for someone to find Jesus through reading my blog; wouldn't that just be the ultimate!? My bloggin' is not fancy; I'm not as "technical" as Joel and some of you that blog, for instance, in this post, I should have highlighted Joel's Belmont Times so you could just click on it and go to his site, but I don't know how to do that yet. Anyway... I appreciate Joel. He is just a good ole guy! He and his children joined my mother and daddy at the restaurant a few weeks ago. According to my mother who raved about her visit with him for days, they had a wonderful meal and fellowship. And when my daddy went to pay their bill, Joel had already taken care of it; how nice is that! So, if you are visiting my blog from The Belmont Times, Welcome! Welcome to you wherever you are and wherever you discover my blog from. I'd love to hear from you. Keep it nice, don't want to hinder my therapy! ha.

Now, some comments about Christmas. I love Christmas! Remember that warm and mushy feeling I have mentioned before? This is like PLUM FULL AND RUNNING OVER WITH WARMTH AND MUSHINESS! Our family went to the Red Bay Christmas Parade last night. The floats were so festive, bright, and shiny. They theme was "A Picture Perfect Christmas". It was soooo cold outside, but we all enjoyed the night! It's December, it's suppose to be cold, right!? Cale and I went to the wellness center after the parade and worked out. That's a good way to warm up! I enjoy these days with Cale.

December 25th is probably not the day Christ was born, but it is the day we've chosen to celebrate his birth. I believe He was born of a virgin; I believe His father is the Holy Ghost; I believe He was born in a stable; I believe the angels appeared to the shepherds; I believe the star shown over where He lay; I believe the wise men came from afar;
I believe He came willingly to live and die for my sins; I believe He is the only begotten Son of God. Makes me sing: Oh, What a Savior, Oh, What a Savior, Oh, What a Savior is mine. Unto the uttermost, wonderful, glorious. Oh, what a Savior is mine!
I think of a poem my children learned when they were young.

What Can I Give Him?

What can I give him
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd,
I'd give him a lamb.
If I were a wise man,
I would do my part.
What can I give him?
Give my heart.

In this busy time of shopping and preparing, I made my list, I made my list again, I checked my list, I have checked off some of my list; but What Can I Give Him? It's HIS birthday! I often have asked my children; what if it was your birthday and everyone that came to celebrate, brought gifts to everyone else but you; how would you feel? Their reply would always be that it would make them sad or hurt their feelings. I wonder how Jesus feels. Is he happy with my choices during this time of the year? I'm not against gift giving! I love to give! But, What Can I Give Him? I have no answer here, but it is something I plan to give more thought and prayer about. Dear friend, What will you give him? Does He have your heart? There is no greater gift you could receive this Christmas than the gift of Jesus as Savior. Do you know Him? He won't wear out, get old, tear up, be outdated, go out of style, He'll never be too small or too large, He will never be the wrong color, and He'll stay with you a lifetime! How's that for a bargain? He didn't get much the day I got saved, but I received eternal life, peace, joy, love; the list just goes on and on and on. Accept His precious priceless gift today, give Him your heart. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Acts 16:31

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:13

Jesus, the greatest gift of all.

Favorite Ornaments, Part 2

My favorite restaurant.

Our 2007 Disney ornament and some homemade ones.

Cale's fishersnowman

We love the Braves!

Another Hunka-Hunka Elvis Ornament

and you know how I love monogrammed things.