Friday, May 30, 2014

Mother and SHOES! Fence Work and Mexican Cornbread! It's FRIDAY!

I have no earthly idea what it is with my mother and SHOES!!!
We ate lunch at The Corner Bakery and as we pulled in her radar shot up! I swear she can spy a shoe store from miles away! Okay! This one was just blocks away - as in WAAAAYYYY across THREE parking lots! She kept saying, "I need! I NEED!!" I assured her we would go there - right AFTER lunch!
For the third week in a row she ordered pancakes! Three different restaurants but still PANCAKES!

 

Here we ARE at the shoe store!! 
I had no idea what kind of shoe she was interested in and there was no way for her to tell me. So she meandered around.


Hmmmm.......


Let me see......
While SHE meandered I thought, "HEY! I am in a shoe store and I have been meaning to get me a new pair of tennis shoes!" I rue the day I threw my old Skechers away! I could have SO used them outside doing yard work! Last Saturday I found a brand new pair of red Crocs at the thrift store so that need was filled. Now today I bought a pair of white Easy Spirit slide in tennis shoes that feel awesome!
Degenerative joint disease means my feet hurt - a lot! Even though I have had joint replacements in both of my big toes.....the disease still comes back. I am just so grateful that it is bearable now and not nearly as bad as it was before surgery.


Guess what Mother bought????
The very same thing!!


Our next stop was Trader Joe's!
LOVE that store!
Mother got her own buggy and said, "See you later!"


She walked laps around the entire store - several times!

I was a little anxious to get back home today.
I left Louis Dean working on the fence.
He promised to keep his cell phone in his pocket but let's face it - he needs SUPERVISION!!


He was hard at work when I got back.


Sure enough, he had FALLEN! Just lost his balance and fell - thankfully right on his bottom!
The partial fence section is closed in now and he will do the gate next week.


Working men build up an appetite!


I've been going through my old recipe cards and found this one from my friend, Debbie F.
It is a forgiving recipe and turned out great - even though Louis Dean had used my cream style corn so I used regular.....and he wanted something with a lot of flavor so I used a can of Rotell tomatoes. AND I used Velveeta cheese.....plus I added red bell peppers and onions when I browned the ground beef!


It was delicious!!

Friday night! We're kicking back in the gazebo celebrating our day!
Tomorrow the quads will be 2 years old!!
You better believe we will be over there partying!!!

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Quadville, Chocolate Shakes, Fence, and TBT!

We had fun in Quadville yesterday! 


I brought three pair of dangly earrings!
They LOVE jerking my off and putting them on!
Thankfully my ears are NOT pierced or I would never have started this!

For lunch Amber and I brought back Whataburgers for us and chicken tenders for the quads  and a chocolate shake for Granddad and one for the quads to share!


It was a big hit!!


Ah, delicious!!


It's fun seeing the babies try new things.


Logan liked it best with Trystan a close second. 
Kailey drank some and Harrison only a little.

We ALL took naps!!! I am always amazed at how quiet Quadville is at times.
Well, not ALL of us napped! Louis Dean went to Home Depot and bought some fencing material.
When the babies woke up, Amber whisked Harrison off to get a hair cut and do errands.
I love how she manages to have one on one time with EACH of her FOUR babies!!
The girls noticed Harrison was 'missing' when I did the diaper changes and snacks up in the nursery.
They were concerned he had been left in the other room!
Once they were assured he was with Mommy they relaxed.



The girls kept tring to walk in my shoes and they showed a lot of interest in the hairbow basket!




 These are precious days we will remember forever!


The girls helped me water plants and then we did some sidewalk chalk.


Kailey already looks like a little teenager!


This is the little man with his new haircut and his Granddad.
He was clutching his new trucks and just chilling!!
They will be great toys for the sandbox we bought for their birthday.
And then, of course, we have the BIG sandbox here at our house that Granddad made.


Today I did more housework and fixed the breakfast table up for the summer.
The patriotic paintings were done by Amber and Benjamin back in the 90's.
Changing from grundgies to nice clothes -
I took a break and went to lunch with my friend, Brenda, at Fuzzy Tacos! YUM!
As soon as I got home I was back in my 'work clothes' quick as a wink!



Louis Dean was hard at work on the fence section.


I am impressed with all that he can do!!


But even the mighty get tired!!


Time for a wine break followed by a nice soak in the tub for those sore muscles!


My 'Throw Back Thursday' pic today was taken in August 2006.
My two daughters! Amber was married in September 2006.
This was just 8 years ago and my, oh, my - how much our lives have changed!!
Sabrina was the photographer and she took some beautiful photos - here and at the wedding as well!

Summer has arrived in Texas! It was at least 86 degrees today so the A/C is blasting out cool air here!


Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Keeping House.....

I LOVE 'Keeping House!' 
That's what I did all day today and  loved every minute.
It's ridiculous how much I love the smell of Fabuloso and Windex and Pledge!


I started in the gazebo. It is actually an extra living space that we use everyday. Like any 'room' that is lived in - it becomes cluttered and dusty and needs a weekly cleaning.
Louis Dean helped me get down all my patriotic decorations yesterday. I will use them all the way through June and July. I pack up ALL extra decorations in August in anticipation of my Fall Decorating Extravaganza which is always September 1st. Louis Dean enjoys that month with less clutter around. But even HE says he could not live without some of my 'debris' now!


My old broomstick skirts were used as table covers last year.
This time around I'm using them in the gazebo as chair covers.
We 'replaced' these old worn chairs with white rockers from the Cracker Barrel several years ago. 
The rockers are pretty but after we got them home we STILL couldn't part with our old ones.


The gazebo is DONE!!


The welcome blocks are out!


We do so love our gazebo!
We start and end most of our days here.


Next was the sewing room.
I was cleaning out some shelves and found all sorts of memory keepers.
THIS is a drawing Amber made for me when she was a little girl.
Am I too sentimental for keeping just about everything??
I think not!


THIS is a piece of rock art Summer made when she was 8 years old.
I am amazed that the glue is still holding those rocks to the paper.
That must have been some really good school glue!!


Sewing room - DONE!!!


I love the feeling of a CLEAN room!


I have spent many happy hours at this sewing machine!


While cleaning I found a couple of books I used in homeschooling that Louis Dean and I will now use for our out loud reading!

So what was Louis Dean doing while I was cleaning???


Taking down an old fence section ......


HARD at work!


He is an amazing man!!!




No, he's NOT 75 years old any more!!!
To hear him tell it he can still 'Dive off deeper and come up drier!' and he usually does!!


He's making the new fence and gate to match the awesome fence of our sweet neighbor's!


I moved on to the dining room......


Love this cluster of glass grapes! 
We bought it at a vineyard in Mart, Texas last December!


The dining room is now all dressed up in patriotic decor!


Maggie is checking things out!!


I love bringing order from disorder!!


I put a bowl of fresh potpourri on the table!
After walking into the dining room you fully expect to go on into the kitchen to find a freshly baked apple pie!

The high point of my day was visiting this evening in the gazebo with our beloved neighbor, Stephanie!!
Louis Dean says he wants to adopt her!

It is getting late and I still have a date with Louis Dean for a glass of wine before we go to bed.
This has been a good day to enjoy all the comforts of home.
I am so grateful to have this house that I have lived in since I was 18 years old.
I hope to live here until the day I die - if the Lord wills!!

Monday, May 26, 2014

Red, White and Blue!

photo from Facebook

Today was a day of remembrance.
Congress passed a law in December 2000 that at 3:00 pm local time, all Americans should pause to remember and honor the fallen. It is called the 'National Moment of Remembrance.'

It was shortly after 3:00 that Louis Dean and I headed over to Quadville.
I had spent the morning pulling weeds and planting plants.
The rain made this task so much easier. It was still sprinkling while I was working but I didn't mind.
I baked a pan of Brownies and packed a few things to add to the meal tonight and then woke Louis Dean up so he could get dressed.


He seemed extra tired today. He asked me this evening, "Am I just getting old?"
I told him not yet!


We had fun seeing our babies!!


Logan loved my Flag shirt and started pulling it off my shoulders so SHE could wear it!


Never too young to be patriotic!


Later when Logan took it off - Trystan put it on!!


Even Kailey had a turn at wearing it!!

Then they started trying to wear my shoes!


These babies just keep us laughing!


Where is it???
They never get tired of that game!


We played inside for awhile and then played outside!


They love sidewalk chalk!




Trystan very carefully carried mulch from the flower bed to a big pot of rosemary on the porch!


I love seeing how much children enjoy nature and life itself!



Kailey would look up into the trees and fall over!


It is a special gift to have children in our lives.


They bring back the wonder of it all to us once again.

Mike fired up the grill and we ate some mighty good hot dogs and smoked sausages!
Potato chips, pickles, cantaloupe and baked beans rounded out the meal.


The brownies were a success - with Mama and Daddy as well as the babies!!

We came home and Louis Dean took his blood pressure. His arms and chest had been hurting and that makes him nervous. Blood pressure was good so I think he relaxed and has drifted off to sleep.
I am writing propped in the bed with the sound machine on as well as the window A/C and the ceiling fan.
All I have to do is put the computer on the floor and turn out the light!
"Thank you, Lord, for those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
Please give us grateful hearts and remember the price that has been paid.  Thank you for paying the price for our salvation by sending your son to die for our sins. In Jesus' name, amen."