My former English teacher is reading this, and she must be devastated.

Yes, really, I think she must be. When she looks at this blog and observes the complete lack of grammatical correctness…she probably throws herself in the floor and rocks back and forth…really fast.

I spent the first year of this blog (2007) hiding it from almost every person I know. Well, I let the people that make fun of me on a regular basis read it but that was it. Yes, I wanted to write about things. I had all this crazy up in my head. I just didn’t want people to know how crazy…I really am. Then at the beginning of 2008, I decided to throw all caution to the wind and slowly let people into Big Nanny’s House. And you know what? It’s been fun.

I’ve been looking back over the last year, and I’m glad that I documented every single moment. The sad moments like when the Medium Nanny graduated and left for college. The proud moments when the Lil’Nanny rode a bus and went to church camp without me. The tragic moments like when Lawnmower Man broke his foot. The busy moments of getting a new church building ready for opening day. The funny moments of forgetting to add butter to my cake. The scary moment of running from a homeless man in Hotlanta. The political moments of the one and only Sarah P. And the all informative posts about where to get a good hotdog. You know you can’t get a good hotdog stand review on just anyone’s blog. You need to get that type of information from a trustworthy source. And of course there were the awkward moments where I wrote about something that I thought was hilarious and no one left me a comment. Boy, was that awkward.

And I’ve had a good time reading your blogs, too. Wow! Almost every person I know has a blog now. I’m amazed at all of the useful and not so useful information that I get from reading about your daily life. I love knowing about your family and all the fun stuff that y’all do. (I inserted the y’all for my southern readers.) And since I have some northern readers too, I will rephrase that last sentence just for you….I love knowing about your family and all the fun stuff that you guys do. I just want to make everyone happy. Please know that I never use the phrase “you guys” anymore. I would never look at a group of women and say, “hey, you guys, look at my new purse.” I have lived in the south too long and know better.

But most of all I love writing. I didn’t know I loved it until I started doing it. Some of you are laughing because I call this blog “writing.” But I think we would all agree that the Hair Bow Mafia post is some high quality literature. When people look up the word hairbow on Google it comes straight to me. It also comes straight to me when you Google the word mafia…you gotta be careful with your word choices. The blog has sometimes been stressful, too, like when I have something to say and not enough hours in the day to blog about it.

So about one year ago today my mother gave me the challenge. Remember when she talked about my friend Teresa’s blog, and how she enjoyed reading it. Remember when she told me that I could do it too? And how maybe I could get some advertisers? (Insert the smiley faces and hysterical laughter here.) Well, that’s all I needed. A mother who believed that I could write on the real live www, and she would be thrilled to add me to her favorites list. I wonder after I put the video of her icecapades if she was regretting the day she urged me to get to writin’.

So, in the year 2008, I was able to write 103 posts. I’m not sure what the year 2009 holds. I’ve already been to every hotdog place in town. I don’t have a daughter graduating. You already know that I work at a church and hang out with the young mommy mafia. I think I let way too much crazy out in one year, and I’m not sure I’ve got much more to say. We’ll see. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise…I’ll blog again in 2009. That kind of rhymed…maybe I’ll start rapping?

And Miss Anita…I’m sorry. You were a wonderful English teacher. I’m sure there are lots of students all over these United States that know all there is to know about commas, semi-colons and proper adverb clauses, but I ain’t one of them;) However, I would like to point out that you were my government teacher as well, and I voted for Sarah Palin this past November. That simple fact should fill your heart with pride and allow you to erase every grammar error that you’ve ever read on this here blog.

Happy New Year!

My Favorite Christmas Song

Merry Christmas!

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays

Meet my friend fake BFF, Boomama. She's a famous southern blogger and her blog was one of the first that I read on a regular basis. Her blog is hilarious, and I've sent just about everybody I know over to read it. The above picture was taken when she came to my church for the Gloria! concert a couple weeks ago. I'm sure she doesn't think I'm a stalker crazy or anything.

This is the third year that she has hosted the Christmas Tour of Homes. It actually started yesterday but I didn't have time to post. I think I'm #797 on the tour. So here is my home decked out in holiday style...


This is what you will encounter when you walk in the front door. A tray of Christmas balls and a snow globe...real original.


We have a two sided fireplace in the middle of our living room. So I have two mantels to decorate.

Here is mantle #1, the more "formal" side. We rarely sit in this room but it looks nice and neat when someone comes to the door.

Here is the front side of the tree. I use my nicer ornaments on this side of the tree. I always place a big bow at the top of my tree.



Here is my nativity set on top of the piano. Note to my CraftiMama: The Madagascar Lion Happy Meal toy has officially been removed from the nativity scene...I appreciate the special touch that you thought he would add. Of course, she insisted that the wise men be over to the side because they weren't really there when Baby Jesus was born. She wanted my nativity scene to be biblically correct. Do you know that some people don't add Baby Jesus to the nativity scene until Christmas morning? Does anyone do this?

Here is the other side of my tree. I place all the kid ornaments on this side.

Here is the other mantle...the less formal side.

I have to pass through the dining room to get to the kitchen so I keep the table set with dishes so that I'm not tempted to junk up the table with mail, junk, etc. These plates are available at your local Target.

And here is the whole table. CraftiMama is going to say the candle is too small. It is, but I didn't want to pay $20 bucks for the big one that I saw at Target.


I hope you'll join me on this bloggy tour of homes. I would love to see your Christmas decor!

Favorite Foto Friday

My favorite part of this picture is that the Medium Nanny continues on with the smiling even though there is a serious problem happening on the other side of Santa's lap.

I'm smiling, I'm turning in my list and I'm getting my presents...

oh, her, over there, I don't know her.

On a side note: I've heard that Santa won't force you're kid to sit on his lap anymore...what's that about? Is this true? If I'm paying $10 bucks for a picture, you'll hold my kid and you'll like it. Do you see the hold that Santa's got on the Lil'Nanny. Those were the days. Now you're all laughing because I think Santa pictures still cost $10. Aren't you?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Please know that when you send your child to college you have big dreams of them getting a

quality education and changing the world...

Or

Maybe wear some goofy Christmas sweater and make gingerbread houses out of graham

crackers. It looks like I could have saved a few bucks and sent her to Kids on the Korner.

Never under estimate the power of a hot curler

Big Nanny and the Medium Nanny, circa 1993. I wanted a mother/daughter picture so I hot curlered up my head, and we headed on over to the Olan Mills Portrait Studio.

This picture reminds me of a conversation I had just last week:

After eating lunch with a friend I got into my car and listened to two voicemails.

Voicemail #1 went something like this: Hey, give me a call when you get this message.

Voicemail #2 from the same person went something like this: Hey, when you get a chance, can you give me a call, I'm having a hair crisis.

I returned the call immediately because it's just part of the call that God has on my life.

To help those in need.

Big Nanny: What's the problem?

Friend: I under estimated the power of a hot curler and my hair is really big. Like pageant big. What should I do?

Big Nanny: Wet the hair brush and brush away. Don't use any hairspray. Water and hairbrush. Pull it back in a clip for a while if necessary. It will fall within two hours. Hot curlers do not give you long lasting hold.

I saw my friend later that night and she looked completely normal. Said hair had fallen and she had some nice, natural curls.

And another thing, by the looks of the above picture, I under estimated the necessity of a simple tweezer.

Sister and Brotherly Love

CraftiMama wanted a picture of her babies.

Tammy Faye, brother-(he needs a blog name), and Big Nanny.

Do y'all think we look alike?

Tammy Faye and I were not trying to match, but we both had the goal of wearing stretchy pants on this day so we could eat alot. We're smart like that.

Skatin' with the Blog Stars

This is what we did the day after ThanksChristmas.

Looks like fun, huh?

Don't you like CraftiMama and her ice skating "walker"?

I had only been ice skating once before, and I wasn't aware of this contraption.

CraftiMama was glad to have it. She was able to skate around the circle twice with it.

The Lil'Nanny had been bugging me all week to take her ice skating. She had never been before. She's the athletic one in our family and in true Lil'Nanny fashion...

Her first time on skates.

Water skis, roller skates, ice skates, softball, gymnastics...she can do it all.

And now, let's see CraftiMama's skating video...

I think I paid around $8 bucks for her to skate around 2 laps;)

but let's give the 62 year old CraftiMama props for trying.

She'll do anything for her grand youngins. I think maybe she should stick to the crafting. This all made me a little nervous because I was having flashbacks of when I was 7, and she broke her arm at our church's skate night. Fun times.

It's not everyday you win some mascara on the www

Yes, I know, you've waited a mighty long time for this important announcement. And I applaud your patience, I really do. I know that it's very annoying to click on this blog and find nothing new. It's disappointing for me too because I'm constantly writing a blog post in my head...I just don't have enough time to put pen to paper. If truth be told, it's fall and I've spent all my free time watching the DCC. And yes, I will always put watching the DCC before the blog. I have my priorities completely in order.

Since I've got the blog fired up and running, I will share with you a few things about my week:

CraftiMama, Wingtips, Tammy Faye, Josiah(my sister's 2 year old) and Dylan(my brother's 9 year old) are going to be here tomorrow. We will be having ThanksChristmas. Which means we have Christmas with them during Thanksgiving. We've done this for many years and it works. It's not really ThanksChristmas if I don't put up the tree so I've got to get that done ASAP. I mentioned to some friends that I was going to try this new green bean recipe and a hush fell over the table. It was then followed by this statement, "Are you sure you want to try out a new recipe on Thanksgiving? Do you really think that's a good idea? Remember what happened the last time." By the end of the conversation I was given a dumbed down crock pot version of the green bean recipe. I'm amazed at the people that have complete confidence to leave me in a building with hundreds of small children but they think I can't pull together a can of beans in a pan. I'm determined, it will happen, I will take pictures, it will be good. Lawnmower Man is in charge of the turkey...he's not usually willing to put a $25 dollar bird in my hands.

CraftiMama, Tammy Faye and I usually hit the stores the day after Thanksgiving. It's been a tradition for many years. I don't know if I have it in me this year. Does anyone else do this?

The Medium Nanny is coming home on Wednesday. We haven't seen her in over a month. She seems to be living her own little life in collegeville. Lawnmower Man told her we would take her straight to Pancho's for lunch. After the trip to Pancho's, she will need to go to Target because she hasn't been home in a month, which means, she hasn't been in a Target for a month. She may have a bad case of the shakes. She loves Target and Pancho's...those are a few of her favorite things.

Well, back to my reason for posting. The mascara. Y'all (I know y'all love it when I go southern on you) are not really that opinionated nor do you really have strong feelings about your mascara brand and that concerns me. As it should. You randomly pick up a orange tube of mascara because Queen Latifah recommends it. Really? And most of you wear brown mascara because your mother told you not to wear black. Did the conversation go like this? Only streetwalkers wear black mascara. That's what my mother always said about red nail polish. She never mentioned anything about the black mascara. Black mascara is the new brown.

And the winner is...

Melissa Lee

(but it's really Sonja because Melissa said she would give it to Sonja so she could wear it on Sunday. If you see Sonja being chased by Melissa with a tube of black mascara on a Sunday morning, just ignore it.)

Edition 1: Free Gift With Purchase

Today I would like to introduce a new segment on the Big Nanny Blog called Free Gift With Purchase. You know when you go to the mall and the Clinique counter is offering you the most fabulous, hot pink, cosmetic bag with a sampling of miniature mascara, iddy-biddy eye make-up remover, teeny-tiny mirror, mini magic wrinkle eraser, and a horrendous full size peach lipstick color that never sees the light of day.

Don’t tell me I’m the only one that falls for the “free” gift with purchase trap? Tell me I'm not the only one with a small make-up bag to go with every season?

So, today, I will share my cosmetic wisdom. Okay, maybe wisdom is not the right word. I will share with you my favorite products and maybe, just maybe, you’ll win a really nice prize at the end. I have always loved make-up. I remember when I was ten years old and got this for Christmas. This was on my favorite things list in 1981. Just seeing this box makes me want to bust out into the commercial theme song...fresh 'n fancy, fresh 'n fancy. This was not just a box of eye shadows, this was a make your own make-up and then put it in cute little bottles.

And yes, I knew I was getting it before Christmas because my CraftiMama hid it behind her headboard and I spotted it. Just for the record, CraftiMama was never really good at hiding the presents. Did anyone else get this?

Anyhoo, here it is...


My Favorite Mascara

Almay One Coat Nourishing Mascara

Now this is a great mascara and it only cost a mere $5.99 at your local Walgreen's. It doesn't run, it doesn't itch, it's not gloppy ( I know the use of the big cosmeseutical terms is quite impressive) and comes in two shades of black and one shade of brown. Do people really use brown mascara? Just wondering? Also, available in waterproof.

And with that recommendation you might think that I'm going to give away a tube of my favorite, trusty mascara, right? Wrong. If I had an extra tube of that mascara, I would keep it for myself. So, I'm going to give away a tube of mascara that I don't like. You see, every now and again, I'm lured by bright, shiny, pink packages. You see, one day, I was wandering through Walmarts and noticed a package of this mascara...

You can see why I was mesmerized by the awesome pink packaging. But it wasn't just the pink packaging...it was a twofer. Two pink tubes for the price of one! How could I refuse? It just had to be great. Well, it was okay. It's not that it was horrible, it just wasn't Almay. So, anyhoo, I still have the extra tube of Maybelline Define-A-Lash Volume Mascara. Never been opened! Oh, I know, this is almost as good as the Oreck vacuum that BooMama gave away on her blog.

So, I want to know, what kind of mascara do you use? For every comment your name will be entered into the great mascara bloggy give-a-way of 2008. I will randomly put all the names in a hat, and I will randomly draw one out.


Good Luck!

P.S. To my sister, Tammy Faye, you can only enter one time.

Precious Moment

It was three years ago today that one of my best friends would give birth to a baby girl. That day was filled with excitement, many phone calls and the anticipation that happens when one of our fruit bowl girls is about to give birth. But this wasn't just any baby, this was Teresa's miracle baby. I could hardly wait to hear the confirmation of good news so that I could make the journey to Nashville to see this precious gift. Anyone who knows me, knows that I will walk into any hospital room, walk up to any mother holding their newest bundle of joy and boldly take said bundle away. It's just what I do. And for some reason, people let me do it.

The confirmation of good news did not arrive. It was replaced by many days of sadness as I watched a friend experience a loss that I so felt she did not deserve. I still made the trip to Nashville to see her precious gift. I walked into my friend's hospital room never dreaming that I would hold her baby. This was her special baby, her time on earth would be brief and she needed to spend every possible moment holding and rocking her. I have to say that I was a little nervous because it isn't everyday that you visit someone that is experiencing this kind of loss. What will I say? What will I do? So, I opened the door of that hospital room and was greeted by my sweet friend that said these words:

"You heard everyone got their picture made last night with my baby and you came to get yours, too. Sit down, hold my baby, I need to take your picture."

Yes, we both laughed because we both knew it was true. The worry of what to say was taken away by the sweet bond of friendship that God had placed in our lives. I witnessed someone choosing joy in the midst of difficult circumstances, and I would witness her do it time and time again in the weeks to come. She chose to share her baby and allow me to experience the gift that God had placed in her life. It was an honor and a surreal moment to hold a baby that would soon be held by the arms of God. This was one of those moments in my life that I will never forget and one that truly changes you.

I'm reminded of this moment every time I walk into a hospital room and hold a newborn baby. I hold each of those babies a little tighter, and I thank God for them in a way that I never had before holding Rebekah.

Thank you, friend, for giving this moment to me...

Praying for you on this day.

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

You can read Rebekah's story here.

Favorite Foto Friday

The Road to the White House

Well, last night, I took a break from the campaign trail to visit a small town church in Tennessee for their annual fall festival. Here I am with my daughter, Piper. I know the media reported that we went trick or treating in Pennsylvania, but do you really think I would let my daughter take candy from strangers in a blue state?

I was quickly greeted by one of my supporters. It was so nice to be in a red state for a change, ya know, where people actually like me. I had the secret service look her up, and you betcha, she has a clean republican voting record and a McCain/Palin sign in her front yard. I also heard that she gave McCain/Palin buttons to her friends. I may have her lead worship at the inaugural ball.



Another one of my supporters. (I love those shirts) This supporter was kind enough to do my updo. I was concerned about a few Ob*ama signs when I was in her neighborhood, yesterday.

The rest of the night was spent thanking everyone for their support because I think the entire church participated in early voting. I also got to kiss a few babies along the way.

Meeting the American people, like this local dignitary.

And those Nascar fans, they might be crazy but their loyal.

And I met Miss America! I met Miss America! Ya know, how it is when us beauty pageant girls get together.

Enjoy the rest of my pictures. The liberal media sure won't be showin' these pictures.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Big Nanny's Halloween Costume Clue

These shoes are red, awesome and they were only $16.99.

And yes, I know that my feet are going to hurt.

If You Give a Hamster a Hotdog

The Lil'Nanny wrote this at school today. It's similar to the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie book series. These were always my favorite books to read to my kids. You can look at them here. What is most intriguing about this writing is the fact that the hamster likes hotdogs???


If you give a hamster a hotdog, it'll want some ketchup to go with it.


While opening the ketchup, he will make a huge mess.


He will feel sticky and want to take a shower.


He will be cold and want a towel.


Now that he is all clean, he will want to watch a horror movie.


When he is watching the horror movie, he sees blood and it reminds him of the ketchup.


And chances are...if you give a hamster some ketchup, it'll want a hotdog to go with it.

Words for Wednesday

This Statue of Liberty just voted for the first time ever. She had to do it by mail, so she didn't get the true experience of walking into the fancy computer station to vote. Remember the curtain? I miss the curtain. And no, she hasn't been brainwashed by all of those college students that wear those "rock the vote" shirts. She voted for life!

Meet the Press

Yes, I've been off the blog. I spent one day of my fall break shopping with the Lil'Nanny so she could spend her birthday money, followed by some awesome relaxation, which included, one full day in my pajamas...it was glorious!

Anyhoo, I really didn't want to bring you anymore political coverage but it just so happens, that people have heard about my blog and are seeking my opinions for up to the minute, fair and balanced, political spin. Yes, I'm not kidding you!
It all started yesterday, when I heard that the lines were short at the TS Community Center. I met my friend, AC, so that we could exercise our right to vote or what I now will always refer to as...

BIG NANNY MEETS THE PRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(keep reading)

First, I will do a little review with you about what you should and should not do when you go to vote...

AC & her niece, M.E.

You should always bring a youngin' with you, teach'em young about proper political party affiliation. It seemed like it was only yesterday when I was standing in line next to my Dad (Wingtips), while he voted for President Reagan.



Just a tip...you should not wear political paraphernalia inside the voting place. That's why I'm wearing a black fleece jacket when it was 70+ degrees outside. Yes, Heather, I broke a rule. I know you're so disappointed in me.



Here I am, casting my vote. And yes, you should check it over, twice or twenty times, just to make sure it's right. Then I touched the big, green button that said: CONFIRM!

So, after we confirmed our votes, we walked out of the community center to find a Tennessean reporter. We were met with a few questions about the election, our pictures were taken for the newspaper and we were on our way.

Now, I'm going to send you to a link of where I might possibly be quoted ...

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081023/COUNTY090101/810230315/1164/COUNTY09

Or not be quoted.

You see, when you mention the words Bible and economy in one sentence, editors push delete on their fancy laptop computers. And, they really needed to tell you the real news...that Alan Jackson voted.

Here is one of the questions that we were asked...

Why do you think that Williamson County voters usually lean more towards the republican party? (it wasn't exactly worded like that but something like that)

I answered with a good newspaper answer like: WC voters are family oriented and hold traditional values, yadayadayada. But the answer that was rolling around in my head was...

WC has a lot of rich people and they want to keep their money!

I didn't say that, but I was thinking it. And if I had, I probably wouldn't have been deleted off of that fancy laptop.