Picture Perfect Party Linky #63

We've had a busy last couple of weeks. Samantha turned 13 and then about a week later had a big birthday party. With her birthday money, she bought herself an electric guitar. She's been taking guitar lessons for the last two years at school.

We've been experiencing spring and my garden has begun to blossom. Some of the first flowers to make an appearance have been the irises and lilies. I never planted the lilies. They grow wild here as long as they have plenty of water.

Amanda has been having fun with my watercolors. I still have my watercolor paint and paintbrushes that I bought in Heidelberg, Germany as a teenager and that's what she's been using. I'm also letting her paint on proper watercolor paper. It's been a lot of fun.

Amanda and Jeremiah are good friends.

The cats are best friends.

Since it's almost Halloween, I had to show you this photo. We've been getting these rain spiders over the past couple of weeks and they always freak me out. Even the way they move is creepy. Hubby has been catching them in a plastic container and releasing them back outside away from the home.

Here's my hubby's latest post on Real Church Life, "Is Halloween for Christians?" He gets into the debate and opens up a "hornets' nest."

Here's my latest series of photos on 1camera1mom, "The Robertson Wine Region - Part 2." If you like beautiful countryside, snow-capped mountains, budding trees, cows and horses, then you'll like this series.

Now on to my blog hop...

Here's your chance to link up your Wordless Wednesday

(with or without words) or any picture post

at this Picture Perfect Party Linky.

Come join me on this fun and easy blog hop!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free
to link them on my Blog Hops page!

I would love for you to follow me on

Google+

Pinterest 

Twitter 

Facebook 

and

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow me. Please leave a comment so that I can follow back (as long as your blog is family friendly).
• Link-up your post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like.
• Grab the button below and add it on your post or side-bar.
• Tell others about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.

The Button Code:

<center> <a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitS14XLc-z2uSUW00dIvyZc7lEfLP2tkPgO3qmU3NWi_UObDs_d7XqpYhjp0BBeROyZot-8YlEFU9rguELrZYu3arN1qHHNpB4_ezrb-TlBlfHRSOvP7pBA0VI-j1RkUkF77wJxUc7M7ye/s150/Picture%2520Perfect%2520Party%2520Linky.jpg"/></a></center>

This is a Wordless Wednesday blog hop.

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Make My Saturday Sweet - Blog Hop #55

Welcome to my weekend blog hop! Here you get to link your favorite post of the week and share it with other bloggers. Just remember to visit the last two links before yours and leave a comment and make their Saturday sweet!

Today I'm sharing some of my favorite Christmas photos. My own hop doesn't have a theme, so you are welcome to link your family friendly blog below.

The theme on Friendship Friday is "Holiday Fun."

Christmas 2010 with
Amanda and Jessica

What is my favorite holiday? That's a hard question! I love all of the big holidays and even birthdays when cheerful decorations, scrumptious food and dear family members are involved. These kinds of celebrations make me the happiest. If I have to pick just one, then I'd say, "Christmas!"

A Pop-up Nativity Scene

Share a favorite holiday tradition old or new. My favorite family tradition at Christmas time is opening one present on Christmas Eve. My parents  began this tradition when we were kids, because we lived part of our growing up years in Germany. Many Europeans open all their presents on Christmas Eve, often waiting until midnight to do so. I liked that we could focus on one present that night and then wake up on Christmas morning to many brightly wrapped Christmas presents. If we woke up to a white Christmas, that was even cooler. I still do this with our kids. They open one at night and then the rest in the morning. Most of our Christmases have been in South Africa, where it's summertime at that time of the year, so there's no chance of a white Christmas.

Samantha's kitten, Prince

Christmas decorations at a
South African restaurant

*********************

It's time for another Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop!

Join me (your host) for this fun and easy hop.

All family friendly blogs are welcome!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free to
link them on my Blog Hops page!

I would love for you to follow me on

Google+

Pinterest 

Twitter 

Facebook 

Leave me a comment with your link and I will follow back!

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow Tina (your host) @ Amanda's Books and More.
• Link up your family friendly blog.
• Please try to add my hop button on your most recent post or on your side-bar.
• Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.
• Visit at least the last two blogs before your link and leave a comment.
• Follow any new blogs that you like.

Blog Button Code:

<center> <a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWaX10yWr7xxEQ5BBMhOqdZxobJ0omJBq-v8ENFn3YNNebsnsYBHwcGyje-XzSlHSJOIlZ1rEOp89LyNI97XrPFZtdeH_AvaNV3F8hOvHfsuwe29ALNQw75ibK34buYq7nhpGGZJ8UTnoB/s150/Make+My+Saturday+Sweet.jpg"/></a></center>

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Picture Perfect Party Linky #62

One of my favorite pastimes is getting out and going for a drive. Amanda is the same. In fact, she often instigates our outings. The one I'm sharing with you today was one of her ideas. We went for a beautiful drive, visiting wine estates and seeing what they had to offer in terms of natural beauty, good wines, farm stalls and more. We live in the wine country here in South Africa and South Africans produce really good wines.

Click on the images to make them larger.

Amanda at Aan De Doorns

Amanda and me at Rooiberg

Amanda and the Red Chair wines
at Rooiberg (Afrikaans for Red Mountain)

I posted many more photos on 1camera1mom.

Come check it out and see the fabulous shot that

Amanda took of Hubby and me.

This is the first photo in my Robertson Wine Region
series. We had just driven onto the property of
the Aan De Doorns wine estate.

Now on to my blog hop...

Here's your chance to link up your Wordless Wednesday

(with or without words) or any picture post

at this Picture Perfect Party Linky.

Come join me on this fun and easy blog hop!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free
to link them on my Blog Hops page!

I would love for you to follow me on

Google+

Pinterest 

Twitter 

Facebook 

and

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow me. Please leave a comment so that I can follow back (as long as your blog is family friendly).
• Link-up your post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like.
• Grab the button below and add it on your post or side-bar.
• Tell others about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.

The Button Code:

<center><a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitS14XLc-z2uSUW00dIvyZc7lEfLP2tkPgO3qmU3NWi_UObDs_d7XqpYhjp0BBeROyZot-8YlEFU9rguELrZYu3arN1qHHNpB4_ezrb-TlBlfHRSOvP7pBA0VI-j1RkUkF77wJxUc7M7ye/s150/Picture%2520Perfect%2520Party%2520Linky.jpg"/></a></center>

This is a Wordless Wednesday blog hop.

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Make My Saturday Sweet - Blog Hop #54

Welcome to my weekend blog hop! Here you get to link your favorite post of the week and share it with other bloggers. Just remember to visit the last two links before yours and leave a comment and make their Saturday sweet!

I'm also joining two great Friday hops and answering their word prompts for today. My own hop doesn't have a theme, so you are welcome to link your family friendly blog below.

This week's sentence to finish on Finish the Sentence Friday begins with:

The best part of my day is…

…getting up early before everyone else is awake and going to the computer to get some work done.

And

…sitting down to dinner with my husband and four kids to enjoy everyone's conversation around the meal.

Mother's Day a couple of years ago

The theme on Friendship Friday is "Projects." 

A project that I need to finish this year is updating my eBook with it's final edit. I'll only advertise the eBook properly once I've done that. I also want to finish posting my free version of my eBook on my blog, Happy Moms, Happy Homes.

Here's a funny photo I took of the kids earlier this week. They were so engrossed in an old Bugs Bunny cartoon that the three big kids stood around the TV as they watched.

Samantha, Jessica, Jeremiah and Amanda

*********************

It's time for another Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop!

Join me (your host) for this fun and easy hop.

All family friendly blogs are welcome!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free to
link them on my Blog Hops page!

I would love for you to follow me on

Google+

Pinterest 

Twitter 

Facebook 

Leave me a comment with your link and I will follow back!

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow Tina (your host) @ Amanda's Books and More.
• Link up your family friendly blog.
• Please try to add my hop button on your most recent post or on your side-bar.
• Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.
• Visit at least the last two blogs before your link and leave a comment.
• Follow any new blogs that you like.

Blog Button Code:

<center> <a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWaX10yWr7xxEQ5BBMhOqdZxobJ0omJBq-v8ENFn3YNNebsnsYBHwcGyje-XzSlHSJOIlZ1rEOp89LyNI97XrPFZtdeH_AvaNV3F8hOvHfsuwe29ALNQw75ibK34buYq7nhpGGZJ8UTnoB/s150/Make+My+Saturday+Sweet.jpg"/></a></center>

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Picture Perfect Party Linky #61

Here's a sneak peek at what we've been up to recently. It included bumping into an Olympic gold-medalist and having our photo taken with him. I didn't want to pass up the opportunity and hubby offered to take the picture, so I could be in it. Here are a few hints: he's South African who trained in the U.S.A., he's a swimmer and he's handsome. To see the photo and find out more, visit my travel blog, 1camera1mom - A Morning at Val de Vie, Paarl.

On our way to Val de Vie, Paarl

This is my hubby and a few of the
lovely homes at Val de Vie

Amanda, the Polo field and
Polo stables at Val de Vie

Now on to my blog hop...

Here's your chance to link up your Wordless Wednesday

(with or without words) or any picture post

at this Picture Perfect Party Linky.

Come join me on this fun and easy blog hop!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free
to link them on my Blog Hops page!

I would love for you to follow me on

Google+

Pinterest 

Twitter 

Facebook 

and

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow me. Please leave a comment so that I can follow back (as long as your blog is family friendly).
• Link-up your post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like.
• Grab the button below and add it on your post or side-bar.
• Tell others about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.

The Button Code:

<center> <a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitS14XLc-z2uSUW00dIvyZc7lEfLP2tkPgO3qmU3NWi_UObDs_d7XqpYhjp0BBeROyZot-8YlEFU9rguELrZYu3arN1qHHNpB4_ezrb-TlBlfHRSOvP7pBA0VI-j1RkUkF77wJxUc7M7ye/s150/Picture%2520Perfect%2520Party%2520Linky.jpg"/></a></center>

This is a Wordless Wednesday blog hop.

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Make My Saturday Sweet - Blog Hop #53

Welcome to my weekend blog hop! Here you get to link your favorite post of the week and share it with other bloggers. Just remember to visit the last two links before yours and leave a comment and make their Saturday sweet!

Today I'm joining Create With Joy on her Friendship Friday and the theme is "Something Random." My own hop doesn't have a theme, so you are welcome to link your family friendly blog below.

Many of you know that I have more than one blog, so today I want to tell you about my latest post on Happy Moms, Happy Homes. At the moment, I'm doing a short series on Our Thoughts and Emotions. Today is Part 2 and it's on the topic of forgiveness and how it impacts our lives. Enjoy the read! Also, you are welcome to pin my hearts with text on Pinterest, just click on the "Pin it" button on my right hand sidebar.

Art and Text by Christina A. Morley

*********************

It's time for another Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop!

Join me (your host) for this fun and easy hop.

All family friendly blogs are welcome!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free to
link them on my Blog Hops page!

I would love for you to follow me on

Google+

Pinterest 

Twitter 

Facebook 

Leave me a comment with your link and I will follow back!

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow Tina (your host) @ Amanda's Books and More.
• Link up your family friendly blog.
• Please try to add my hop button on your most recent post or on your side-bar.
• Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.
• Visit at least the last two blogs before your link and leave a comment.
• Follow any new blogs that you like.

Blog Button Code:

<center><a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWaX10yWr7xxEQ5BBMhOqdZxobJ0omJBq-v8ENFn3YNNebsnsYBHwcGyje-XzSlHSJOIlZ1rEOp89LyNI97XrPFZtdeH_AvaNV3F8hOvHfsuwe29ALNQw75ibK34buYq7nhpGGZJ8UTnoB/s150/Make+My+Saturday+Sweet.jpg"/></a></center>

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Picture Perfect Party Linky #60

Samantha turns 13 on Wednesday.

Happy Birthday, my girl!

Click on the images to

make them bigger.

Jessica, Amanda, Samantha and Jeremiah

Today's photos are of a picnic lunch at the Karoo Gardens.

Check out all the photos that I posted on 1camera1mom,

including one that Amanda took.

Now on to my blog hop...

Here's your chance to link up your Wordless Wednesday

(with or without words) or any picture post

at this Picture Perfect Party Linky.

Come join me on this fun and easy blog hop!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free
to link them on my Blog Hops page!

I would love for you to follow me on

Google+

Pinterest 

Twitter 

Facebook 

and

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow me. Please leave a comment so that I can follow back (as long as your blog is family friendly).
• Link-up your post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like.
• Grab the button below and add it on your post or side-bar.
• Tell others about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.

The Button Code:

<center> <a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitS14XLc-z2uSUW00dIvyZc7lEfLP2tkPgO3qmU3NWi_UObDs_d7XqpYhjp0BBeROyZot-8YlEFU9rguELrZYu3arN1qHHNpB4_ezrb-TlBlfHRSOvP7pBA0VI-j1RkUkF77wJxUc7M7ye/s150/Picture%2520Perfect%2520Party%2520Linky.jpg"/></a></center>

This is a Wordless Wednesday blog hop.

Read More