one hundred years old

My great grandma Mary is 100 years old.  In early August we made a trip up to Hartwell, Georgia to celebrate her life but first stayed in Athens and spent a little time with the cousins.  The trip (goes without saying) was well worth it. 

in front of my friend, Susan’s store in downtown Athens.  Sadly she was out of town so we sent her a pic

Later that day we headed to Hartwell to celebrate 100 years of my Grandma’s life (she is my great grandmother, my kids great-great grandmother and Mary James’ namesake)

Grandma Mary with her youngest great grandson – Ralston (my nephew)

 

my mom, her mom and her mom’s mom. :)

Molly checking out old family pictures

I have always known Grandma as a quiet, kind, strong woman.  To live 100 years you’d have to be!  Here are a few words of wisdom from Grandma Mary on how to live a happy 100 years:

A promising world is built on small acts of kindness and compassion.  Everyday we have the chance to make someone’s life brighter with a helping hand, an encouraging word, a smile.  We can be a source of strength to those around us.  In the long run these small acts of love may be more value than any earth-shaking deed

When you see someone without a smile, give them yours.

True friends are the greatest treasure you can possess.

Anything the mind can conceive, the body can achieve.

it’s better to have heart without words than to have words without heart.

When the facts won’t budge you have to change your attitude and go from there.

A turtle never gets anywhere without sticking his head out.

Remember your state of mind contributes to your health.

Happiness is not having what you want but wanting what you have.

It’s not what happens to you that makes the difference, but how you react to what happens to you.

Remember me?

Seven months ago, my husband and I had a sneaking suspicion that I maaaaaaybe, could, (quite) possibly(?) be... pregnant.

Seven pregnancy tests - in one morning, probably in like barely over one hour, actually (seriously, I sent him back to the store to buy more tests at 7 a.m. while I chugged water in anticipation of the tests to come) - we confirmed our suspicions.

And about seven days later, a doctor's lab did.

don't worry, I am way more excited than it appears in this picture -  i'm just an awful self-photographer (or photography subject for that matter)

So, that's what I've been up to :)

Sorry for the radio silence in the blog. I think we took an unofficial Summer vacation. But we're working towards getting back to it now, so you should be seeing a lot more of us here.

(and I could use this as a journal for nursery progress - if that's something you might be interested in??? let me know!)

xx

cheers to turning 7!

Mary James’ birthday falls at a (sort of) unfortunate time – right after the fourth of July.  Families are still on vacation, this year we were ending a vacation and time for all this party planning just did not exist.  So I let MJ pick out her invitations from Target (no homemade ones this year) and she picked out a fun star invitation.  She knew she wanted to do a cheer party so she conspired with her babysitter to help. My parents have a cabin in the woods they let us use (score! on not having to clean up my house) As unorganized as I was…it turned out to be the most fun party I think we have had!  It was SO HOT  that a friend suggested i bring along extra bathing suits just in case we had to jump in the pond and while i am against jumping in the pond…i did pack the extra suits and was so glad i did!  the girls took turns riding a paddle boat under the fountain and had a blast!

mj, molly, & mills painted the frames below.

Favors: megaphones that they glittered up


 
  

 
  
 
 
 
 
Isn’t emily great?!  She was so sweet to lead the girls through cheers and play and just help out with the party.  
 
and after everyone was gone, we changed up the concessions a bit and had our own after party
 

it’s good to be 7 :)
A little s&j side note – we do have some chalkboards in stock!  send us an email if you are intersted (hello @ stewartandjames.com)