July 31st - a Year Ago and Today

July 31, 2012

The babies looked like this!

SO tiny!!

So precious THEN! So precious NOW!

July 31st of last year I was down in Katy helping Amber and Mike while Louis Dean was here at home getting the camper repaired and ready to travel. We lived in it at an RV resort from the end of August to Easter .

Our life was very different then than it is now!

What a difference a YEAR makes!!

Afternoon water play!

Ah.......

Babies DO grow! FAST!

Wednesdays are our Quadville Days!

This week was extra special because Deanie brought her granddaughter, Andie, and Mother to visit!

It's wonderful that Amber lives in such a spacious home where we ALL have room to stretch out and play together! Can you spy that kitchen set in the far left background?

Deanie arrived with her car LOADED with toys and books for the quads!

We played......

Harrison would NOT get down! He wanted to stay right by Andie!!

We visited......

and played.......

and played......

and played some more!!

The new toys were such a HIT!!

Soon it was lunch time for the quads.

This is a sample of what their normal meals look like.

They pretty much eat whatever is on the menu -

meat, cheese, fruit, tuna salad, ramen noodle salad.

They are GOOD eaters!

After lunch we put them down for their nap which is roughly noon - 2 every afternoon.

Like magic they went to sleep within 5 minutes of closing the nursery doors!

While the babies slept, WE all enjoyed OUR lunch!!

We talked and laughed and got tickled over a song.

Louis Dean decided to find it on You Tube......

He DID find it!!! It's hilarious!

Of course it was even funnier because Amber could sing it word perfect!

This song was very popular back in her college days. That's when she first discovered Roger Creager.

Laughter is good for the soul! We must be a healthy people indeed!

Even though Deanie needed to leave so they could get to Fort Worth before traffic......

Andie talked her into staying until after the babies woke up so she could tell them bye!

I think Andie enjoyed the quads as much as they enjoyed HER!

I'm not sure she was quite ready to leave!

I AM certain THEY didn't want her to go!

It was a great day in Quadville! 

The only mishap was after Deanie and them left and we had gone outside to do the water play......

.....and I was trying to get the perfect pic when Logan was sitting in the tub - 

the AWFUL happened! I dropped my camera in the water!

It dried out in a bag of rice for the rest of the afternoon and worked - for a few minutes at least!

Long enough to load my pics on.......

and my videos!

I'm not sure but I think I MAY be shopping for a new camera tomorrow!

That's okay.....the babies can still play with my little red one!

I have loved using it!

The Fragrance of a Tuesday!

My house SMELLED like a 'Tuesday' today!

The most familiar Tuesday scent is turpentine! Even though I seldom start to actually paint until after 6:00 pm  I put out the art table much earlier! This sets the stage and gets the creative juices going.

It was 100 degrees today but the mornings continue to be bearable in the gazebo.

While I didn't take in a movie - I DID make a Goodwill run!

I found 3 more wine glasses from the Alto Vineyards to go with the 2 I bought a few weeks ago.

The 'Girls Gone Wine' glass is especially pretty!

I also picked up this lamp for $7.99 (less 25%!) for the kitchen table.

It is heavier and nicer than the one I was using.

That one will go out in the camper.

A Ramen Noodle Salad recipe has been making the rounds on Facebook.

I made it this afternoon and it is delicious!!! We'll be going over to Quadville tomorrow and my Mother and Deanie are coming to see the babies and have lunch with us. An assortment of salads seems like a good menu.

Another delightful smell in my house today - a sour cream pound cake!

This will be dessert tomorrow!

For supper Louis Dean and I had a bowl of pinto beans ladled over home made corn bread and served with slices of onion! An old fashioned meal - but a good one.

I finally finished the chores of the day and settled down with a glass of tea and my oils!

I couldn't find the recipe book I took this picture from so I simply finished painting it to my satisfaction and called it DONE! 

I also finished the Umbrella painting.

'Rained' it. Glazed it. Framed it. HUNG it.

Never mind it is still wet! The WALL is the safest place to put a wet painting around here.

Thank you so much for the many prayers for our little Raynie! I am happy to report that she is MUCH better! She is home now and improving by leaps and bounds. 

She was such a trooper!!

Raynie actually WATCHED as they put the IV in and didn't even bat an eye at it!

WOW!!! She's a tough cookie!

It appears she had a case of Cyclospora. 

Cyclospora is an intestinal illness caused by a one-cell parasite invisible to the naked eye. It takes around two weeks to incubate then causes intense diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, stomach cramps and pain, bloating, nausea and fatigue. 

"It's typically a lower intestinal symptom like diarrhea and it can go on for a very long time, for weeks," says Dr. Ed Dominguez, an infectious disease specialist in Dallas, TX. 

Praise God she is getting well now! Her biggest problem was being so severely dehydrated.

You can use a spray solution of vinegar and water (1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water) on your fruits and veggies then rinse thoroughly with water. That's what we are going to do!

Louis Dean is playing the piano while I write. He is pretty amazing - he has played the guitar for years but at 76 years of age he is now teaching himself to play the piano! He is truly a life long learner!!

I'm about to shut the house down and go to bed.

It's been a GOOD Tuesday - and the house STILL smells good!!

Monday's Prayer and Praises.........

As I journal tonight I have my granddaughter, Raynie, on my mind.

It breaks my heart to see her so sick and still waving at her Bella!

Summer and Sabrina took her to the hospital tonight after a couple weeks of being sick and getting sicker!

Every time they THOUGHT she rallied - then she relapsed.

We don't know exactly what is wrong but we DO know she is dehydrated and has lost weight due to this!

As awful as an ER visit is - this is the right place for Raynie tonight.

God bless her little heart!!! I just want to reach through the screen and hold her!!

Until  I can - I am keeping my phone close and have cleared my schedule for tomorrow just in case they need me.

This morning I left about 10 am to spend the day in Quadville!

These babies are growing by leaps and bounds!

Every time I visit I try to bring something to entertain the babies.

My black and white scarf from The Purple Buffalo in Buffalo Gap was a HUGE success!!!

I KNEW Trystan would love it!!

She loves all textures!

Logan enjoyed it too!

This scarf requires supervision and I was watching them every second!

They were so cute!!

This afternoon Amber took Harrison for an appointment so.....

since Kailey was AWAKE  and the other girls were still napping - I let her roam over the house freely!!!

For an hour she lived the life of an ONLY CHILD!

Of COURSE I gave her a cookie!!

Albeit a CHOCOLATE one!!

Kailey wandered down the hall and into my FAVORITE closet!!!

She found lots of interesting things to look at!

The on to other adventures!

After Kailey had thoroughly explored the downstairs I put her back in the playroom where she totally entertained herself!

Pretty soon Logan and Trystan woke up.

I HAD to let THEM explore TOO!!!

After all, Kailey was happy in the playroom having some time to herself!

The girls LOVED having all this freedom!!

And I LOVED watching them!!

That sweet Trystan!!

What a great place they have to play!

The playroom is bigger than the whole apartment they had for a few months!

This is a memory I will keep and treasure!

I would not have SEEN this had I not BEEN there!!

Harrison arrived home after his appointment and was DELIGHTED to see all his TOYS!!

Apparently he had missed them so!

At day's end babies and Grandma were tired. 

Busy babies make tired babies. 

These are healthy HAPPY babies!

I close with prayers that Raynie will soon be back to HER happy healthy self!!