It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like CHRISTMAS!!!

After spending all morning and afternoon dealing with all the LEAVES, debris and PECANS that absolutely COVERED everything - we were happy when it came time to STOP - clean up and get dressed!

This was our time to 'Christmas' with Summer, Sabrina and Rayne!

That little girl is simply delightful!!

We all loved the beautifully decorated shops!

It's a long standing tradition to go to North Park Mall for Christmas.

North Park was THE very first mall in Dallas and has remained a classy place to shop ever since!

Every single tree - both in  the mall as well as in the shops - is REAL!!!

They have elegant shops with clever things!

I LOVE all the unusual gift ideas this shop holds!!

Would you call this a butler chair??

They provided a comfy sofa for the young and the old to have a place to rest - complete with the neatest books!

I think Rayne and Granddad enjoyed this time.

Summer simply GLOWS with the joys of motherhood!

Louis Dean had a knack for finding a place to sit if we wandered off inside a store for too long!

The longer the evening went the better he felt though!

He had every right to be tired after blowing out all the gutters and cleaning up the mess THAT made!

He did that right before he got cleaned up and we left!

Brookstone always has something novel and interesting.

This was THE most POWERFUL shoulder massage contraption I have ever FELT!!

A puppet show......

....and we had front row seats! In the 'balcony!' 

We walked all over that beautiful mall!

And enjoyed all the displays!

The reindeer are made with PECANS!!!

Santa is made of marshmallows and strawberry whips!

We retired out to the parking lot at Chili's to give them our gifts.

We're only in town for a few days so we try to visit as much family as possible.

I gifted Summer with two of her beloved Christmas books from childhood!

It was so much fun!!

This magical night was not over YET!!!

For years and years and YEARS Summer's favorite Christmas activity has been driving around and looking at the Christmas lights! Dallas does it in great style!

Sabrina was our gracious driver - stopping for oohs and ahhs as well as photo ops!

We followed a carriage ride for a little while and enjoyed hearing the clip clop of horses feet.

Rayne would call 'Merry Christmas' from the back seat window - and the carriage riders would return her greeting! How could you possibly resist a precious 2 1/2 year old??

This was one of Louis Dean's favorite!

I love the real fruit they used above the door!

Summer and Sabrina with Rayne!

Well, if this doesn't put me in the mood for hauling out my Christmas decorations today I don't know what would!!! I'm letting Louis Dean rest this morning but this afternoon it's going to start looking a lot like Christmas! At least on the front porch! The rest will be packed into the BACK of that great big LOUD diesel TRUCK to be hauled down to Katy and transform our little camper into a cozy Christmas Cottage!

In the meantime......may we wish you......

A Little Family Time!

We arrived back home by 10:00 am yesterday. It was a LONG day since we got up at 3 AM!

First we dropped Lucy off at home so we wouldn't have to haul her around all day in the back of the truck!

Be it ever so humble - there's no place like HOME!

Then we headed straight for Fort Worth to see Mother!!!

I never realized how much I would miss seeing her every week. 

Normally I do the Friday morning beauty shop run.

Now this falls to my sisters. One drops her off and the other picks her up.

Both of them make Mother's life SO much more enjoyable!!!

My sister, Deanie, is AMAZING!!!

She is a December Baby and since I won't be here for her birthday I brought her a little something!

Her favorite cupcakes in all the world!!!

They are from Ooh La La and they are d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. Seriously so!

The first time she had one from there was the day after the quadruplets were born!

She and I loaded up the back of her SUV - it was STACKED with box after box of cupcakes!

We took them to the hospital for the doctors, nurses and staff.

Ever since then - it is a tradition that we get a cupcake from Ooh La La whenever she is in town.

Town being Houston/Katy. I don't think there are any here in the DFW area.

They always feature a cupcake of the month.......

Let me tell you this 'Pumpkin Spice Latte' was wonderful!

You'll never guess where we took Mother that afternoon!

Now - bear in mind this was someplace Mother REALLY wanted to go and there was something she REALLY wanted to see!!

The cemetery!!

She had long wanted her headstone done and she wanted to SEE it!!

So there it is and she was happy!!

Deanie had driven all the way out here the day before just to make SURE and certain it was all as it should be before bringing Mother out.

Mother's daddy and mother, sister and brother are all there.

I'm not sure why this was so important to her but it was!

Deanie pays attention and spent a great deal of time getting this done.

Thank you, Deanie, and HAPPY  a few weeks early Birthday!!! 

From Fort Worth I headed to Arlington to see my oldest grandchildren.

They had a Reading Under the Stars activity at school that evening so I took them!

That pizza was pretty darn GOOD!!

It was late when we got home last night.......

let's just say we slept very well!

At home and in our roomy bedroom!

About the time we come home we are SO ready to BE here!!

Then when it's time to go back down to the camper we are SO ready to GO!

It is working out nicely living in these two completely different worlds!

CHRISTMAS is Coming!!

My Santas are DONE!!!

This is the one  I am keeping and then I have one all painted and packed in the truck to take HOME for Christmas! Our family has a tradition! Doesn't EVERY family have at least ONE?

On Christmas morning as many family members as possible gather at my sister's home for breakfast and then we do a Chinese Christmas Tree gift exchange! This is SUCH a fun thing to do and we spend a lot of time and thought on the gifts we take! I have taken different things over the years but for the last several my 'gift' has been a Santa painting. I paint a new one every year - 'NEW'  as in taken from a card or gift box and/or bag - and then painted up on canvas in oils.

I barely finished this one in time!!

As soon as we had our morning coffee yesterday I was out there putting on the final glaze.

My palette had seen better days but it served its purpose until the very end!

I lay out the paint when I start a new picture and then FREEZE it (by placing a palette paper on top, folding it in quarters and placing it in a freezer bag) in between painting sessions.

We spent today in Quadville and I admit it was hard to say goodbye to these precious babies!!

We realize what a blessing it is to be a part of their lives - especially since we have been there for them from 'the beginning!'

Louis Dean was determined to spend some 'Quality Time' with each one of the babies today - 

knowing it will be nearly a week before he holds them again.

Little Logan - who SMILES as big as she can every single time you say 'PRETTY!' - is usually most comfortable sitting BESIDE her Granddad where she can see what is going on.

However......Louis Dean has convinced her to be a 'Shoulder Baby' as well!!

He does have a way with these quads!!

He held them all during the course of this day! For EXTENDED lengths of time!!

SH! Don't tell Amber how much we spoil the babies!!!

How can we RESIST??

In between feedings, diaper changes, laundry and tummy time I wrapped presents, made Popcorn Crunch....

.....and worked on the quads Christmas gift!

A denim play mat for their tummy time.

All I have left to do on it is the 'quilting.' I will 'stitch in the ditch' along the denim squares.

I will do my best to get this done in time for Christmas!

Harrison and I had a BALL today as I made some weird mouth 'music/noise' and he laughed and laughed until he had TEARS!!! And so did I!!! We had so much fun together!

I usually put the TV on to the 'Toddler Tunes' and then sing/dance/entertain them.

Sometimes it works - and sometimes I am a total DUD!!

The thrill of it all!!! You never know when you will be a STAR in their eyes!

As I write - Louis Dean AND Lucy are both sound asleep - AND SNORING!!

The truck is all packed, the camper is clean and everything on our 'To Do' list has been DONE!!!

All that's left is for me to pack up my laptop and turn in myself.

3:30 am comes early!

He wants to be on the road by 4:00!

That's fine with me because I will be snuggled up in the back seat!

I promised him we can stop for breakfast at Sam's Cafe  in Fairfield, Texas.

They have a buffet Louis Dean dearly loves!!!

It will make a nice break in the drive home since it is half way or so!

And I AM anxious to get 'home.'

I want to see my other four grandchildren and my oldest two children.

AND my MOTHER and SISTER!

It's a wonderful thing to be able to live in TWO worlds!

I am so grateful God has worked out all the details of our lives that we can DO this!!

And by the way!! Have you noticed my new Christmas Blog look??

Part of it I did MYSELF!!

The header my talented daughter, Amber, did FOR me!!

She is a professional writer and you can check out her blog - which includes a tidbit where the quads were mentioned in Houston Modern Luxury where she was a senior editor before quads 'BQ' and is now a freelance writer and a regular contributor editor HERE!!!

I guess it's time for me to sign off and go to sleep!!

Catch you all later!!!

November Days......

It is hard to believe we are down to the last month of Fall. I shall miss it so. It IS my favorite season.

This has been a somewhat melancholy week. I think being sick for so long has taken its toll on me.

This is the LONGEST trip 'home' we have had since we left in August. It will be a full week when we leave Tuesday morning. I've missed 'Home.' For the first time we walked in and the house smelled VACANT!

No one had been making coffee or doing laundry or cooking for the past three weeks and more so there were no smells of 'Home' to greet us. It didn't take long to remedy that! I threw open the doors and turned on the attic fan. Since our arrival I have gone through several buckets of Pine Sol water swishing down the cobwebs and wiping down counters and cupboards. For all my cleaning and nesting - I still can't seem to lick the mully grubs!

I tried my best to get in the spirit of things on Halloween night and I did stay up until the candy was gone and my favorite Trick or Treaters had come by!

These are our sweet neighbors and 'Little Red Riding Hood' brought treats to US!!

Spooky fingers!!

Louis Dean got a kick out of this!

They were cookies and I ATE mine!!

He's saving his!

Our other sweet former neighbors came and it was good to visit.

These children have grown up before our very eyes!!!

After the candy was gone we turned off the lights and went to bed!

I thought if I could just catch up on my sleep I would feel better.

Thursday was a happy day for LD! He bought a brand new AX!

You know how excited men get over tools!

While he played chopped up some firewood I was stuck in the house drinking all this yucky tasting herbal concoctions!

Together we did manage to collect a basket of pecans from our tree.

They are small this year. Very small!

But since we have not HAD a crop in the last two years - we'll take it!

They will go in sacks and we will take them back with us to Houston.

LD can wile away many an hour shelling pecans.

I can use them up in baking about as fast as he can shell them!

Friday I was with my precious mother and we had a good visit.

Lunch was at Red Lobster - her favorite - and she ordered a BIG bowl of clam chowder!

The waiter was sweet and filled that dish to the brim and she ate every single bite!

We spent some of the afternoon in front of her TV!

We cancelled our cable and since we have no antenna - we have NO TV!

NO news coverage at a time when so MUCH is going on!

So I got comfortable on her couch and she and I watched HER favorite news station - CNN.

I admit we both dozed off and got in a little nap!

I left Fort Worth and picked up my three oldest grandchildren on my way home.

Faith is a GREAT reader - she reads with such EXPRESSION!!

She read 80 minutes! A whole book!

Sam and Granddad enjoyed some music together.

Louis Dean was SO impressed with Sam!!

Sam would play a piece and LD would say, "Play it AGAIN!!"

He was thrilled with Sam's musical ability and brought out his mandolin for Sam to try.

Sure enough! Sam took to it and in a few minutes was playing better than Louis Dean!

Levi made some AMAZING OOZE!!

He filled water fountains......

ate cookies.....

told us all about the art he did (after he made the ooze, picked up pecans, ate hot dogs and more than one piece of candy!) He is an active little boy with a real artistic side and a great imagination!

In case you don't know - the picture is of a Cowboy with his whip and gun. Levi remembered that he FORGOT to paint in some cactus! He planned to do that when he got home as I had already put the paint away!

Sam treated us to a concert to end the evening.

All too soon their dad was there to pick them up.

We enjoyed being together. The kids were surprised that our camper wasn't in the driveway!

They are still not quite sure about us not 'living' here all the time and 'living' in the camper!

Today has been quiet. Lucy has taken to barking at Louis Dean like a crazy critter so I have been keeping her in the kennel when he is up and about. She's fine when he's sitting down. The moment he stands up - there she goes! I sent Louis Dean off on errands and enjoyed being 'Home Alone' for a bit.

I sat in the gazebo with a glass of tea and a book.

Just what I needed.

One of his errands was to buy an antenna so now we have TV!

(I don't think I could handle watching Patton again! As good as George C. Scott was in it!!)

This afternoon I edged the front yard and was picking pecans and doing the odd gardening job when Louis Dean came out to join me. Together we make a pretty good team and get a lot done.

It's getting about that time when we go out on the driveway to watch the moon.

Don't know why I am such a limbo of a mood but  have learned the best thing about feelings is that they change. Feel what you feel.  Feelings aren't 'right' or 'wrong.' They are just feelings. It is what it is. Things come to pass. They don't come to stay.

Keep doing the next right thing.

So.....I am going to enjoy this early November evening with my husband (who has been careful and watchful of me today since I am not often in a 'mood.').

Tomorrow is a brand new day.....