Ain't it Kinda Funny What the Children Say??? And we are HOME!

Monday morning arrived and it was time to pack up and come home.
Trystan and Logan were both missing their mommy! We had FaceTimed often and that helped the whole family stay connected! Amber is so gracious in trusting her babies to us!
I know when I had little ones, they were seldom out of my sight!

The girls picked a few 'roses' for their mama!

They gave me one, too, and I pressed it into my Country Diary to remember this day.

The girls woke up before I did Monday morning! Granddad was up having coffee so they kept him entertained. I could hear them talking as I pretended to be asleep. When I got up, they BOTH had a lot to tell me and they repeated all the stories they had told Granddad - word for word and he said even their expressions were the same!!

Pardon Louis Dean's yawn! It was morning and we all know we don't DO mornings very well!

We stopped for lunch at The Catfish Hut on our way out of town.

The food is not cooked ahead of time so you have to wait for your order and it is well worth it!!!

Catfish, coleslaw (his own version), hush puppies, homemade tartar sauce! YUM!

This place is right as you come into town.....or leave as the case may be.

However, we drove home on the back roads so we had to go back a few blocks.

Mart is not very big so 'the other side of town' is actually no big deal - at all!

The country is so pretty, especially at this time of year!

Bluebonnets were blooming.

Not profusely just yet, but STILL!

The Indian Paintbrushes and the bluebonnets compliment each other!

We took the girls home and unloaded their stuff, then we came home and unloaded, unpacked, put up and started the laundry!

 Then we went outside to what remains of our gazebo with a glass of wine and put our feet up and sighed!!!

It's always a good thing to get away and then it is equally good to come home!

Camper time with the children is not the same as when we are there doing our own thing. We are on duty 24/7 and you do not fully relax at all. You remember those days well if you have had children.

It was important to not make Trystan and Logan wait too long before their visit which followed just weeks after Harrison and Kailey's.

We made some good memories and the girls got to experience a few things for the very first time....like petting baby ducks and gathering farm fresh eggs and seeing a peacock fanning his feathers and hearing his call.

We came home happy and tired to the bone.

After that glass of wine, I went straight to bed!

It was only 6:30!! I stayed in bed until 11:00 this morning!

It was WONDERFUL!!!

Even with all that rest, it was 2:00 before either one of us felt like we were ready to do anything with our day!! Like everyone else, we woke up to sobering and frightening news on the TV.

We stopped right then and there for prayer and to read the Bible. 

I felt the need to REDEEM something today!

It doesn't help or change anything but it made me feel better.

I took a pair of Louis Dean's favorite pajama pants that I had mended and mended and mended until they could be mended no more! From these I cut out a pair of 'new' pajama pants for Harrison.

I didn't get them stitched up but I plan on doing that in the morning!

What is it? Three seams and a waistband hem? I cut the pattern where I could use the hem already done at the bottom of them.

We took a break in late afternoon to survey what we had accomplished.

I took down all the lights, hooks, debris, and shower curtains.

Louis Dean chopped and stacked what used to be part of our elm tree but is now firewood!

Without the canopy of the gazebo top, we can watch the birds in the tree and the planes in the sky!

I promised Louis Dean that he would NOT have a timeline on him as he works to clean up the mess and make plans for a new gazebo. He will take it all every bit down - including the electric - so he can start from scratch!

I can't believe it is nearly three full months into 2016 before I am ready to start art class up again!

Tonight Ruth Ann came over to work on her pet portrait of Molly girl!

I forgot to snap a pic of it when she was finished but it looked GREAT!!

I dabbled on a few small projects......a still life on a burlap canvas.

I also based in a saw blade to finish up later. Usually I paint fall or winter scenes on the blades but this time I chose spring colors. Perhaps the bluebonnets are inspiring me to paint SPRING and what could be MORE SPRING in Texas than BLUEBONNETS??

I found two companion pieces to paint in two different art books but they sure do look like they will go together well and we can use the same palette for both!

This will take us through the spring and then I want to  paint a few seascapes.

I am undecided about doing more Santa Claus paintings. I'm leaning toward red cardinals for Christmas. Now if I could just get that jigsaw puzzle worked soon I could use that as a pattern. It is of cardinals in the snowy branches of a tree with ornaments hanging on it.

The art table is all cleaned up and is now ready for tomorrow's tea party with the quads!

It will be a High Tea which will take the place of lunch.

Usually four courses, we will have sliced juicy strawberries in place of the soup or salad.

Two kinds of sandwiches - TEA sandwiches so I will cut off the crusts! - of PBJ and Cream Cheese and sliced olives.

I have several kinds of tea biscuits and wafers in place of scones and finally for the sweet pastries, Louis Dean is going up to the donut shop on the corner to pick up some pretty little treats!

Of course, we will have TEA!!!

WITH a tea pot at every place so they can all pour their own!!

I serve iced tea to them and my favorite is a combination of Constant Comment and fresh mint with a couple of regular Lipton tea bags thrown in for good measure.

I am not a purist!