Art With the Quads, Update on Lillian and We are in the Country!!! Tues/Wed/Thurs

My goodness - it's been a busy three days!

No matter our schedule, we are doing our very best to get our walking in at the gym. 

It doesn't come easy.

Louis Dean had a headache and I worried about leaving him as I was spending the rest of Tuesday over in Dallas. It's hard to decide when to hover over him and when to leave him alone.

The headache could have been tension (he doesn't really LIKE to walk!) or dehydration, or allergies, or any number of things. I felt he needed some time to himself and did NOT need me to 'mother' him too much - so I dropped him back at the house and took myself off to Amber's. 

She and I had the gift of 45 minutes of  'together.'

That doesn't happen often enough for either of us so we grabbed those moments for ourselves.

We sat at her kitchen table and actually talked. No interruptions. No distractions. Just a mother and a daughter sharing life and words and emotions. What a gift.

I mixed up a batch of Dilly Bits and put them in a very slow oven before I left to go to Hobby Lobby and Amber went to pick the kids up from school. As I walked in at the store over in Plano,  I thought to myself - 'Oh! Another 'Ah' moment for me. Who doesn't LOVE Hobby Lobby??

When I got back to Quadville, the kids were all expecting me and I received a grand welcome!

Amber said they knew I had been there because they could smell the dilly bits and saw the art table set up. Plus I had given Amber sweet treats to put in each of their car seats for when they got in.

Speaking of 'sweet treats'.....

this is what Kailey made and said, "MeeMaw, you can have as many bites as you wish!!"

As soon as the Dilly Bits were done - the kids were taste sampling them!

We did a couple of art projects and this was one of them.

Canvas paintings using a printed pattern and graphite to trace it on.

I shopped Hobby Lobby and bought everything I went for except the graphite paper!

Amber had to make a flying trip back there to get some!

Each child has their own special way of doing things.

Kailey? She's all about getting it done! No time to waste figuring it out. Just get in there and DO IT!

She traced two patterns! A pineapple and a ladybug. (No matter that we had to turn the canvas upside down and retrace the pineapple!)

The kids told their mama what they wanted to paint and Amber went upstairs and returned with the perfect printed patterns for each one. Harrison's choice was a package of French fries. I had an artist set of tube acrylics and they mixed the colors needed for the paintings. As I was asking them how to make green, purple, brown and such - Harrison answered every single question correctly! They have an excellent art teacher at their school and I am so grateful they even HAVE art! In this day and age - the arts are often the first classes to be cut because of economics.

Logan and Trystan are both very precise in their art and were detailed in tracing on the pattern and the painting. I was not the least bit surprised.

I stayed for dinner - which was amazing!!

No photos of the meal but Amber prepared Mongolian beef, rice, broccoli, garden salad with dilly bits instead of croutons, fresh pineapple - and shrimp! So good!! Trystan said, "MeeMaw, you eat a lot when you are over here!" I do!

On my way back to Amber's from Hobby Lobby, I received a phone call from Mark - the social worker at Trail Lake Nursing Home. He said they may need our help as they were moving Lillian to another room. I assured him we had already told Lillian this would happen and that we need to embrace change and that good would come with this move.

Well, about 7:00 I got a call from Lillian and she was crying and so upset.

She said they moved her to a much smaller room and she could not keep her furniture and had to get rid of some of her clothes. I told her Louis Dean had a medical test the next day but that we would be over there as soon as he was done. She said, "WOULD you???"

Of course, we would. And we did. He had an Echo 2D and as soon as he finished we headed to Fort Worth.

They moved Lillian from Hall #5 to Hall #1.

It was as far away from her original room as it was possible to be.

Her new roommate is precious! Her name is Margaret and she and Lillian were already friends.

They have their hair done every Friday at the same time.

So, our only challenge was to make Lillian's room work for her.

I surveyed the situation and assured her we could do this thing.

In reality - the room was the exact same size as the other one.

It was just laid out in reverse and Lillian did not have the window side.

No problem. We can work with that.

I told them we had to go shopping and would pick up dinner. What do you want to eat?

Lillian never says so I looked at Margaret and she timidly asked, "Maybe a small pizza?"

No problem!

We shopped first at Tuesday Morning and I bought a mattress cover.

When I looked at Lillian's bed and saw the see through sheets and the plastic mattress - and when Margaret said Lillian had got cold in the night - I knew she needed new bedding.

It was like prison bedding! 

I saw that Margaret had a pretty pink comforter and nice sheets so that's what we bought for Lillian.

Plus we bought a small microwave and some extras like place mats that were really pretty to put on top of the fridge and her tray. 

Nita called me while we were at Little Caesar's picking up the pizza and said she would meet us at the nursing home. What a blessing! I was really tired and needed a boost and Nita was there to provide it!

I had already hung all of Lillian's pictures up for her.

Billy, the maintenance man, was going to do it but we assured him that we could take care of that!

We had already met with the administrator when we arrived that afternoon and she was so happy we were there. Once again she told me that Lillian could not get along with her roommates and I told her I was Pauline's daughter and that Lillian had lived with my mother for over a year and was such a blessing to her until it began to take a toll on Lillian's health. I'm sorry to say that Mother was mean to Lillian and yet she continued to love and help Mother right up to the very end. Even after they moved Mother to another room, Lillian checked on her every morning and every evening.

Bottom line - don't tell me that Lillian can't get along with others!

Thankfully, she is now well matched to Margaret and I am sure we are all going to have a lot of good times together!

Movie afternoons and pizza parties every month!

It's going to be fun!

Here's Louis Dean sitting on the new bedding.

It's so much more comfortable now.

I intend to shop Goodwill and find Lillian some flannel sheets and some really good towels and washcloths. I bought some cheap ones at Walmart for her to use until I can find the 'good stuff!'

She has a small fridge and a microwave.

The food at the home is not always good. It's not always bad, either.

When I was at Walmart earlier, I thought 'I would love a glass of wine' and then I saw these tiny bottles of Chardonnay in a four pack carrier. Instant party!

I do so love my sister!

Lillian and Margaret were so happy last night.

And we were happy, too!!

She asked Louis Dean, "What would I do if I didn't have you??" 

And Louis Dean replied, "Well, you don't have to do do without us - you have us!!! And we will be here for you!"

Listen to Nita reading from a book of poetry.....a book given to our mother from Jerry and Sherry....her nephew and his wife back in 1984.

Nita is amazing.

Lillian hugged her so hard!

Lillian, me and Margaret...... I see a lot of good things in our future.

We arrived at the nursing home on Wednesday about 1:30 and left around 8:00.

Louis Dean was driving because we were in his big white truck since we had to take an armoire and chair home with us to store for Lillian. 

Nita had told Louis Dean about a song - Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Star - and Louis Dean went straight to his music room to listen and learn!

I came in and started a load of laundry, emptied the dishwasher, made the coffee for the next morning and finally.......

......sat down in the bedroom with a glass of wine and a new book.

Ahhhhhh.

This morning we were up and at 'em - albeit on the late said - to unload the truck from the nursing home and reload it with our stuff for the ranch.

Louis Dean is a good packer.

For some reason he was in a lot better shape than I was today.

I had next to no energy and slept all the way to to Waco - and that's not easy in a Dodge Diesel with Louis Dean driving.

But it was a little like magic when we hit Mart city limit.

I decided to do a little art tonight.

Deanie has a Santa I painted in 2015 and it was really dark......so she gave it back to me to lighten him up some! I must have been in a bad mood when I painted this one!

I dearly love looking in from the outside.

I took a break from painting and sat with Louis Dean on the deck.

The wind chimes were ringing and the coyotes were howling.....

It seems all I paint lately are Santas!

This one is a work in progress.....

Sherry and Crystal were at a restaurant over the weekend and saw this painting.

I've been wanting to paint cows.....

I close tonight with our campfire.

Louis Dean is amazing.

It was just what I needed tonight.

So I am back in my Happy Place and all is right in Lillian's world.....

you know, she's 84 years old and not really an invalid.

She's only in a nursing home because her husband had Alzheimer's and she couldn't care for him on her own so she followed in him into a nursing home and when he passed away ......well......here she is. One daughter is in ill health. The beloved son who took such good care of her has passed away and the younger daughter is .....I can't say.

But for tonight, I am hopeful that Lillian is comfortable and sound asleep.....as I soon shall be.