Weather Changes Plans!

Thursday I woke up in the guest room with three little quads! Kailey was sleeping in MY bed! She slept in the royal position - on her back with her face pointed upwards and her hands by her sides.

Harrison slept on the crib mattress on the floor while Logan slept at the foot of the guest bed and Trystan beside me. It was a full house!

On Wednesday morning Trystan woke up about 7:00. She was on the floor and she couldn't see Logan and Harrison up on the guest bed. Granddad was out in the den and Kailey was in our bed but covered up where Trystan couldn't see her either! She found me in my bathroom and, spreading her arms out to her sides, declared, "I can't find ANYBODY!"

The kids did so well being away from home for 48 hours!

Kailey was so sweet giving Logan a drink!

They really do take care of each other.

Trystan was pretty proud of herself for getting all that lipstick on!!!

These kids are a lot of fun!

Brings back memories lots of good memories when mine were little!!!

I let the girls play dress up with the summer dresses I picked up at Goodwill.

They just wore them over their regular clothes since it was so cold.

Logan looks like a little angel.

They ALL want to wear make up like MeeMaw does!!!

Kailey is a natural performer!!

She has her own camera!
Notice the place mats, napkins and napkin rings.
The quads PREFER to eat in the dining room but when we eat in the den they always request these.
Remember, Tuesday they had breakfast with plate chargers and plates, saucers, coffee cups and bowls.....all breakables. NO child proof plastic! They loved that and they have not broken a single piece! Even if they did, this is good training for them. Nothing I have is more precious than my grandchildren - or my husband. 

Afternoon entertainment....

A rare look into Louis Dean's music room.
You can see why.

We had a tea party after naps!

When I told the kids we would have one when they woke up, Trystan said, "And we'll have MUFFINS!"

And so we did!!

A little beading to make necklaces was our craft for the day.

Dinner was an easy Take Out Pizza Meal and then Amber arrived.

She received a wildly warm welcome from her children!!!

They laughed and smiled and yelled in delight when they saw their mother!

I went home WITH them!!!

Then this morning we woke up to THIS!!!

Lots and lots of SNOW!!

Texas usually just gets ice!

Louis Dean left home at 10:00 to come over and get me.

By 11:00 he was forced to turn around and go back home!

It took another 3 hours and then some to get there.

Mind you, he had not even got OUT of Irving!

I was worried about him until I knew he was safely home.

This is a text I received from our beloved next door neighbor, Stephanie.......

Haha!!!

She had brought over clam chowder and Louis Dean promised to save half of it for me - for whenever I DO get home!!

Amber bundled all the kids up and we went out to enjoy the snow.

It was beautiful - if you were HOME and not out on the roads!

We don't see much snow around here!

Still......we were excited!!

The kids loved it!!

For once they could play in the bird bath!

We had measuring cups to scoop up clean snow!

Sweet thing!!

They made one more trip outside with Mama and Dada while I made Snow Ice Cream from snow I had scooped up earlier. I had set the bowls out on top of a bush and the snow fall continued to fill them and kept the snow all fresh and powdery. I just brought them in and added vanilla extract, sugar and milk.......

like MAGIC we had ICE CREAM!

They all loved it!!

Thank You!!!

We are several chapters into our Little House in the Big Woods.

I read one to the quads at nap time and another tonight before bed.

They can all tell me the name of  the book now and look forward to me reading to them.

Well, that's it for the last couple of days. I'm hoping to go home tomorrow but we'll see what the weather does. The strange thing is that we will be in the low 70's on Tuesday!!!

Crazy weather!

One More Night With The Quads!!!!

I absolutely LOVE waking up to a house with CHILDREN in it!!

This morning it was MY house!!!

Everyone woke up happy!

Granddad had a hard time of it last night. He had a full blown asthma attack AND a severe case of heartburn. He didn't rest easy until 4:00 this morning. I was a little better off - it was around 3:00 for me. Louis Dean was asleep on the reclining sofa when we came in this morning. We all switched places with him and HE went back to bed in the guest room.

First order of business - morning COFFEE!!!

The girls actually just had one teaspoon of coffee to a partial coffee cup of milk.

We are learning to drink from BIGGER cups now!

I started breakfast while Kailey scoped out the pantry.

She told me, "I just LOOKING!!!"

While the bacon cooked in the microwave, the quads took turns helping me stir the oatmeal.

(It was already cooked and cooling - but THEY didn't know that!! They think they COOKED breakfast!)

The biscuits were a bit flatter than normal. Kailey put them on the baking sheet - and then POUNDED them before I could get them in the oven!!!

Split and buttered - they were good all the same!

As I was about to do the breakfast dishes - at 11:00 this morning - who should arrive on our doorstep???? Aunt Luann!!!!!

She came bearing all sorts of gifts and I was SO glad to see her!!!

LD was in bed and without Luann, I would have been solo today!

This is her arrival.......

and six hours later, her departure!

The quads LOVED her visit!!!

Thank you so much, Sister!!!!

You made all the difference in today!

I should have remembered that God always has a back up plan!!

The babies are still recovering from their illness but they played well today.

The Play Dough is always good for at least an hour!

Today we tried to get back on the schedule Amber uses and we were fairly successful!

By 8:00 everyone had been fed, bathed and were in bed waiting to hear me read another chapter in The Little House in the Big Woods.

I got everyone to bed, we said our prayers and then I shaded the light and read......

I will hold these days close to my heart forever!

Thank you, Sister, for being a part of these beautiful memories!

Tuesday: Haircut, Goodwill and House Guests!

The weather warmed up this afternoon so it was safe to leave the house!

Louis Dean dropped me off to get a haircut while he did a few other errands.

I tried to have longer hair but it was driving. me. crazy!

A hair cut makes everything better!!!

My handsome husband all dudded up in his denim shirt, his denim overalls, AND his heavy denim coat as we hit up Kroger for a few groceries.

We made one more stop at Goodwill.

 After all, this IS Tuesday! Or WAS Tuesday!!!

Guess I'm a little late in 'journaling' tonight. *I know! That's not a real word!*

Four red chargers and six bronze ones at fifty-nine cents each - less 25%!

The Liz Claiborne wallet will be put to good use!

I LOVE the tablecloth!! This will be perfect with my Texas theme plate settings!

We scurried on home so I could finish getting the house all clean and ready for our company!!!

After a LONG round of illness - for us as well as the quads - everyone is finally well.

They are still tired and run down from being sick so long but everyone is in good spirits!

Once again, our table is full and I love it!!!

Kailey noticed right away that the settings are different from the last time they were here.

She asked, "New table, MeeMaw???"

Granddad provided the after dinner entertainment while I did the dishes.

They are learning the different sounds they can make by strumming the guitar.

After baths we were ready for bed.

I read the first chapter of The Little House in the Big Woods to them before lights out.

They love each other so!!

Seeing them be so sweet to one another just makes my heart sing!!!

Now I am going to sleep as fast as I can!!

It's going to be a fun Wednesday!

Texas was CLOSED today!

We do NOT handle ICE well in Texas!!

So the majority of the state just closed today!

We may reopen tomorrow - late in the afternoon!!

But then SNOW is in the forecast for Wednesday!

At LAST we are getting some W.I.N.T.E.R.

Deanie and I heard about the impending ice storm on Sunday morning so we decided to come on home last night instead of waiting until today! Good thing we DID! We had HOPED to watch the Oscars together but both of us sent word to our husbands to record them. It will not be any where NEARLY as much fun as watching them together but we can now fast forward through them!

One more good night of sleep under our eye balls and we were ready to leave San Antonio and head for home yesterday!

We did NOT leave the hotel room before having coffee and Mexican pastries!

Food for travel!!

My beautiful sister!!! 

LOVE those dimples, don't you???

I 'softened' myself nearly beyond recognition! Haha!!

I was rested and relaxed but not looking my best!

Some people have bad hair days. Sometimes I have bad face pic days. 

On our way north on I35 we stopped in Austin to visit with Deanie's son and his family.

They had prepared a delicious brunch of breakfast casserole, hash browns, fresh fruit, yogurt and granola, coffee and juice......the whole nine yards!

We had a great visit and caught up with family news. Deanie's three grandsons were SO much fun!!!

Would you believe I did not take ONE picture??

From there we did an HEB grocery store run! You KNOW how I love HEB stores!

Back on the highway, we stopped at Starbucks.....

and a kind customer offered to take our last photo together for this trip.

It turned cold and started to rain shortly after we left.

It was so GOOD to be cozy in our homes by the time the ice began to fall.

This was the way we looked this morning.

Green grass poking up through the ice.

Fall leaves, winter ice and green grass springing up all in one pic.

The fountain runs despite the ice around it.

Louis Dean wanted a lunch that had some FLAVOR to it!

Trader Joe's stir fry vegetables and chicken won tons!

I did 'Damage Control' today and it wasn't all that bad.

Louis Dean is learning to clean up after himself.

He took the sheets off the bed, washed them and put them back on!

ALL the pieces were there, too!

The last time he did this, he decided to dry the down comforter outdoors and draped it OVER the umbrella above the patio picnic table. It took me DAYS to find it!!!

This time he even put the sheets on right sides together - just the way I do it!

The only REAL 'Damage Control' was in the kitchen. When I tried to pick up a salt shaker that usually lives in the cupboard, I found it STUCK to the counter!

 And for SOME reason the coarse sea salt container was on the counter - empty - with coarse sea salt all over the place. It could have been SO much worse!!! It HAS been so much worse in past times!!!

Lucy is glad I'm home and she has stayed pretty close to the fireplace all day long.

Maddie is never far from Louis Dean whenever he sits down.

She is such a pretty little cat and fits in with us perfectly!!!

Staying IN and staying WARM tonight!

Hope YOU are, as well!!!