Everything is Better With BACON!

Who doesn't like crispy brown BACON??

The grease is like a secret ingredient when I fry potatoes!

I bought a package of maple cured bacon yesterday mainly for the BACON GREASE!

 Everything tastes better when you fry something in a little bit of bacon grease!

I am always amazed at how MUCH bacon shrinks!

It goes from THIS.....

to THIS!!

All to get THIS!

The GREASE!

The 'secret ingredient!'

Louis Dean and I are sitting in our warm little camper waiting for my youngest son and my first born daughter to arrive!! I have a pot of potato soup for them and will be making some garlic toast as soon as I hear they are close! I am so excited you would think I'm in a Hallmark card commercial!

Our first overnight guests in the camper!!!

Benjamin is the reason for the grease!!

I boiled some potatoes when I got home from Quadville today and will fry them up along with some onions in a little bacon grease for breakfast in the morning!

This is his FAVORITE meal!!

He's been living and working out in California and tonight will be the first time I've seen him since early LAST December! 

As cold as it is (and it IS cold in Houston tonight!) Louis Dean and I put our gazebo back up!

I plugged the lights in and it is all bright and welcoming!

I think they will find us!

Like Motel 6 - we're leaving the light on for them!

We'll be waiting!

A WINDY Christmas Day!

The camper is being rocked by high winds as I write tonight!

This afternoon my son in law and I came back over to the RV park and took down our gazebo.

 The winds have blown in additional allergens for Louis Dean as well as some cooler temperatures.

The day started well. After a quick cup of coffee we headed to Quadville.

The babies had just been fed so it was a good photo op moment!

With pictures out of the way we enjoyed our breakfast while the babies napped.

Then we ALL watched the Christmas Parades on TV........the quads all lined up in their pack and plays!

The program was interrupted several times with weather reports.

High winds, tornado warnings and watches and falling temperatures!

We visited with our Fort Worth family via Skype.

So fun to see everyone!

It was this time LAST YEAR that Amber and Mike announced at the Christmas Morning Gathering the news - they were expecting quadruplets!

It was so appropriate for them to be a part of the festivities today in showing off these four babies!

Amber had the camera on the quads and Mike was keeping their attention so they would look up!

Next year we'll all be together in Fort Worth and the babies will be 18 months old and going everywhere!

No worries. There will be lots of aunts and uncles, cousins and kin to help corral them!!

This evening the quads had a little play time before opening some gifts!

They have been in close quarters from the womb and still are!

You can see them gravitate to one another and hold hands or touch faces.

They all got stuffed animals from Mom and Dad.

Logan's is a 'Loga Bear!'

The books from Aunt Deanie were a big hit!

Harrison is already 'into' this book with its textures!

It was a good day. 

Amber and Mike were able to get out and take in a movie this afternoon while we watched the babies.

Louis Dean still doesn't feel well but he napped off and on.

I can't believe it is Christmas night. Time seems to be flying by these days.

We are tucked in our camper with blankets around our shoulders and a heating pad at our feet.

I turned the electric blanket on HIGH and intend to nestle down for the night very soon!

Lucy is asleep at my feet right here under the kitchen table.

It is snowing and seriously cold - as in the teens - back home.

It will get down to 33 degrees here.

Here is the special ornament Amber gave us today.

This has been a Christmas to remember and I am, indeed, a 

HAPPY CAMPER!!!

'Spring' on a December Day!

Gone were the stormy rains of yesterday and in its place was blue skies and warm temperatures!

It was short sleeves and bare feet around the Chapman Camper as I cranked open some windows and flung open the door.

Even the tomato plants think it's spring!

There is ONE ready to pick!

(I'll let HIM eat it!)

The only 'Christmas' around here today was in decorations and music.

This was a perfect day to start my traditional Christmas Letters.

However, this year I don't have the drawer with all my pretty papers and such so I have opted to use a box of cards. They are all the same design and I will write my 'letter' inside.

Every year I write to all my children and other special people in my life.

My oldest daughter, Summer, started this tradition when Amber and Ben were babies.

I still have the letters she wrote all those years ago.

Louis Dean went off to do errands and give me some alone time. Letter writing requires thought!

I kept busy doing some of my favorite things on this the fourth and final day of our 'Staycation!'

Over the course of this long weekend I finished a bottle of delicious Pinot and them promptly turned it into a wine light as a gift to Amber's nanny. We have come to think of April as 'family' during the time she's been with us. I'll give this to her at the little party we're having later this week.

The denim play quilt I was making for the quads is all done.

Washed and dried it is ready to wrap!

I noticed a small tear in the sheet I used for backing so I patched it with a denim heart.

You'd never know there had been a tear under there!

I rolled it up with the heart shape showing.

Louis Dean said I should have sewn FOUR hearts since it's for the quads!

I like to think of this as my Grandma Heart!

Each strip, seam, square represents love and prayers from THIS Grandma's heart for the babies.

Louis Dean returned from his errands and I had a good lunch all waiting for him.

Afterwards I thought this would be a good time to take a nap.......so I sent him outside to 'play.'

It was so nice out I was certain he could find something to do!

It was a risky thing to do!! I know! I KNOW!!!!

When I woke up and opened the camper door to see how he was doing......

THIS is what I saw!!!

To be fair - I had not told him NOT to unload the entire contents of his truck onto the patio!!

To his credit I snapped this.......

just as I'm closing my post! 

Not entirely clean but MUCH better!!

Now I'm off to have Tea Time with my husband!!

Tomorrow it will be back to Quadville to care for the babies!

Wonder if they missed me?

Camping World

Friday was the first of our four 'STAY-CATION' days!

We had PLANNED to go to San Antonio but plans change and we are happy to be resting for several days.

We are enjoying the comforts of our RV Resort and using our time to do a few things around here.

We have had a bit of trouble with the fan and/or A/C unit on our camper.

What it finally boiled down to was easily repaired by my Handy Dandy Hubby!

It DID require a new A/C 'shroud.'

We were off to Camping World!

Wow! They had so many new models OPEN and inviting us to come right in and look around!

Oh, MY!!!

I never dreamed CAMPERS could look like THIS!!!

Or THIS!!

There are MANY of these classy models in our RV park and I have SO wanted to know what they looked like on the IN side!!!

This one features sliding doors opening onto a covered porch with benches and balcony railing!

Just imagine! WALKING in a camper bedroom!!

And the BATHROOMS!! Amazing!

Even EXTRA ones!!

Kitchens, TOO!!

The new ones have all sorts of accessories!

After our 'tour' we got down to business........

bought our A/C Shroud ( who would have ever thought of that description?) and headed home!

One new shroud......

hauled up and put in place!

Louis Dean and I took Lucy for a walk - 

all the way towards the front of the park where the dumpsters are located.

We deposited the OLD one and we were DONE!!

Our Friday night treat was dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant!

I had a 'Dear Diary' moment here. As I was going into the ladies room a little boy (who was young enough that he was in there with his mom) held the door open for me. I smiled at him and as I entered my stall I could hear him say, "Hey, Mommy!!! I held the door open for an old lady!!"

I'm still surprised to find myself described as  'an old lady!'

I guess that's what happens if you live long enough!!

The Chapman's Cozy Christmas Camper!

Our Christmas Camper is now decorated AND clean! 

I am enjoying it to my heart's content!

The Christmas Reds and plaids are perfect for in here!

I cut out squares from a small piece of Amber's wrapping paper for the insets on the overhead storage areas.

I can see now that I will be changing these out for all the holidays throughout the year!

From one end of the camper -

to the other - it is ALL decorated!!

This is where we sit to do our reading as well as any TV watching.

Louis Dean plans to rebuild this sofa one day - but until then I keep it covered with sturdy denim!

We love our Christmas coffee cups!

I'm sipping a cup of Earl Grey tea as I write......won't you join me?

I have extra cups!

This is my Bell Quad ornament for this year.

I plan to buy one for each new Christmas!

My oldest grandson is now 10!

 Here he is to the left and right of the quadruplets pic.

I had to crop the quads to fit the frame - but where there's a will there's a way!

I have a lighted garland with my N O E L from 1965 hanging in the center.

All four of my children would raise on tip toes to try ring the bells as it hung in the doorway from the den to the kitchen! It was traditionally the very FIRST decoration we would hang each Christmas!

As tiny as the bathroom is I STILL managed to get a tree in there!

At home I always have a tree in every single room!

This one makes a good night light!

I picked up some Christmas plates and bowls last time I was at home - from the Goodwill!

I love looking at this picture! The table is set - no food but it IS pretty!

THIS is the way it usually looks, though!!

Our stockings are hung - right next to the pantry!

Isn't that where you hang YOURS?

Every day I went to Quadville this week I wore Christmas clothes and something special....

like my reindeer headband or a Santa hat.

Every one of the babies noticed!

I also carried my falalalala bag.

This bag is 27 years old!

I used it for Amber's diaper bag when she was a baby!

I never throw anything away - I just keep using it and using it!!

Louis Dean and I read the Bible every morning and a couple of Christmas stories.

And of course I am keeping my Country Diary up to date! 

The kitchen is so tiny I have not done much in the way of Christmas baking!

Perhaps next week I'll do some at Amber's.......

I close this 'happy' post with a sad heart as I learn of the horror that has happened in Connecticut.

This reminder is all over Facebook and I want to share it here as well.