Time With my Bell Grandgirls and Home for Nesting! Two of my Favorite Things to do!

Amber and Harrison have been in Canada doing hockey and Mike had to fly out on a business trip Wednesday morning so we arrived at the Bells on Tuesday afternoon for school pick up. 

I love school pick ups and drop offs!

The girls know their routines and  prepared their after school snacks before starting their homework.

All four do their own laundry.

Here they are getting ready for school Thursday morning.

Such beautiful girls and I have no idea why I didn't grab a pic of Kailey!

The girls all had projects for their Texas History Class and, alas, Trystan lost hers in the airport at San Antonio last weekend.

No worries!

She and her dad researched the project requirements and came up with a recipe for authenic Cowboy Beans. 

Thanks to her dad who was shopping at Target late Tuesday night buying all the ingredients.

Mike is a super good dad!!

The beans soaked all day on Wednesday and Trystan added the other ingredients on Wednesday night.

No cans and she stuck to the exact recipe chopping the onions, tomatoes, and peppers.

All four kids are at home in the kitchen!

She sauteed the veggies in olive oil.....and added them to the soaked beans plus vegetable and beef broths ...plus salt and pepper to taste. This cooked all night and was ready first thing on Thursday morning.

Trystan made a video of her preparation and of her first tasting of the Cowboy Beans.

They were delicious and LD and I took home enough for our supper the next night.

Sandra (Mad Snapper) mentioned how the kids went from sitting in holes in the quad table to being such grown up hockey players! They have always been such a blessing to us and always will be!

Louis Dean has not been as comfortable here as he is at home but he was a good sport.

It's harder to keep him ocuppied outside of home and his music room but he did pretty well.

I used my time working on the outline for chapter 39 of my book.

I am so grateful to have kept a

hand written diary since 1989.

I have lost so many memories that I can only reclaim from my written words.

I did one last pick up from school on Thursday afternoon and a teammate picked the girls up for hockey practice at 5:00.

I drove home after traffic and the sun had gone down - it means driving west into the sunset and I do not do well with that anymore.. No night driving and no sunset driving.

My life is growing more limited every year.

Louis Dean and I lit a firelog and watched the Four Nations hockey game together.

It was a really good game but, alas, Canada won in Overtime!

Still.....a really great game from both teams.

I've been nesting today - one of my favorite things to do.

All the Santa paintings are down in the living room and I'm hanging other art there for this year.

This seascape is one of my favorite paintings and I have done three original paintings of this.

One for my Crestview Baptist friends, the Fullers.

Another for my son, Benjamin.

So I offered this original to my son, Jesse, for his new forever home.

I love putting my paintings in different places from time to time.

This is one of my new favorites.....

I shop from my collections and used  the wine painting plus the wine in their rack and the two special wine glasses from a dear blog reader to make a special tablescape.

I love candles and I love creating pretty table settings.

Done and done!

Every clean room deserves a candle.

My angel collection.....which now reminds me of my sister, Lanita.

I miss her every single day and am forever grateful for all the beautiful memories she left for us.

I do so look forward to seeing her again in heaven.

On Wednesday I checked out the Goodwill on Midway Road.

I found three rugs for $6.99 each.

Win! WIN!!

I bought this corner stand at a garage sale a few weeks ago for $20.

My Christmas cactus is on the bottom shelf and doing well.

The foyer is all dressed up for the spring and summer months.

No more Christmas!

Life is really good!

God is blessing us with all sorts of blessings.....

As in our comfortable home.

 Amber and my mother in portraits I painted.

Plus candle lights!

I'm loving these days of nesting!

I have more paintings than I have wall space for!

I'm thinking about offering the extra ones for giveaways....

if anyone would be interested.

It's Friday night and I am working on this journal entry....

I have so many things on my mind tonight....

Louis Dean is my first thought and concern when I wake up every morning.

Actually, he my second, the first being a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord.

Then I gather rmy memory verse cards, devotional books, Bible, and turn on my coffee.

Life changes and we have to meet these changes every day.

Louis Dean is not the same as he was the day before, and neither am I.

I am grateful for each day the Lord has given us....

It will be 20 years in June.....