Wallpaper Project, Rain, and Alaskan Bush People!!!

It has been a rainy Friday here in Texas! We woke up to light rain showers which slowly turned into more serious downpours as the day ended. This was a good thing for Louis Dean because it forced him to REST!!!! We had our morning routine of coffee and devotionals and then we decided to watch a little TV.

We got hooked on the Discovery Channel and Alaskan Bush People!!

We watched it all afternoon - pausing it to do our domestic chores - for me - and for Louis Dean to do a grocery store run! The rain is hitting hard here in the DFW area but not nearly as devastating as in the central portions of Texas! He said Kroger was crazy with people thronging the isles! Both the storm and just regular Friday night grocery shopping after people got paid made for a crowded store.

While he was at the store I started the dining room wallpaper project!

I cannot believe how many things I had hanging on this wall!

Wallpaper stripped and now sized for the new paper to be hung tomorrow.

I'm only doing one wall at a time and I hope to have it all done by Christmas!

Every project makes a mess!!!

I just piled everything up on the dining room table.

Louis Dean was hungry for salmon patties, mashed potatoes and candied carrots and that's what we had for dinner!  The Alaskan Bush People Marathon ended at 4:00 so this evening we caught up with the Blue Bloods episodes,

It's been a cozy day here and I am so happy to FINALLY get around to doing my dining room project! Louis Dean did not get his sump pump thing done but we are hoping the rains will not be as bad here as they are down south. The attic fan is still on as I write so the temps have not dropped to the point that it is COLD yet!!! That's good news for tomorrow when the Trick or Treaters will come!

Not a big activity day as it goes - but we did enjoy the slower pace!

Tomorrow I hope to get that one wall papered! I'm not doing the whole room at once - just one wall at a time! Easy peasy!!

Lady of Leisure! Hard Working Husband! and Letter No. 12 - The Plan of Salvation

Wednesday was a Labor of Love and Thursday was a day of recovery!

Louis Dean and I sat up late last night visiting over a glass of wine after the kids left.

That's one of our favorite things to do.

Amber and I shopped Target on Sunday afternoon and I bought a set of flannel sheets for our bed.

Let me tell you - they are so comfortable!!!

It was after 11:00 this morning when I woke up!

I only got up twice in the night so I was sleeping like a log!

I lingered in bed another half hour before pouring my first cup of coffee and carrying it out to the den shortly before noon. After I woke up good and we had our devotions, I did a yoga workout, showered and dressed. I then proceeded to do what I do best - keep house! 

My hard working husband worked outside on the Sump Pump Project for the entire afternoon and into the evening! Rain is coming!

He really is a good man!

I told him I was sorry he had married into such a high maintenance house!!!

SURELY this is the very LAST drain he will need to put in this place!!!

I only have a few more letters in my collection to share. This is # 12 and my favorite.

I remember the first time I read it. I purchased the letters but didn't read them all at once.

I would read one each night before I went to bed. The night I first read this one, I was moved to tears by the love of this lady for her sisters and niece. It was written 5 years before I was born and yet I held it in my hand that night stunned at the truth she had written and how that message was being read so many years later by a stranger. Eva had no idea how far her letter would go and how many people would read it - long years after her death. I am certain she is rejoicing in heaven this very minute.

The letter is dated September 14, 1943 and written from Harlingen, Texas.

Dearest Leila and Katin and Polly -

This is not a letter to be read aloud. You are each to read it alone. I  know you won't criticize it when you know it comes from the very inner most recess of my heart - straight to you. I've been doing a lot of thinking and worrying and praying. Sometimes I feel like I don't have any too long a time left in this world (maybe I have several years - who knows) and I want to be sure of the fact that we will all be together in Heaven. I know this isn't a very popular subject, and but for the fact that I love you so very much, I might be tempted to put off saying anything about it now - but - dear ones - the road is so simple and easy to find - that is the reason so many people, who are member s of a church for many years - perhaps a lifetime - do not see the road. Please darlings, do not be hurt with me, or think I am presumptuous. I don't mean to be and I am not a fanatic. I'm just an old woman, broken in health - nearing the end - and I want to be sure of the safety of my loved ones. I am not one who has "lived my religion" or been a "shining light" for others - far from it, but I do know that my soul is safe and I am just going on the promises in God's Word. God tells us that all we have to do is trust Jesus. Just to take him at his word. Just to give our souls into his keeping now and know you are saved right now and always. II Timothy 1 ch. 12 verse - "For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." (Judgment Day) I'll tell you another place to look in the Bible that shows you nothing can separate us from Him. Romans 8 chapter - 38-39 verses. I am so dead in earnest about you understanding me - I have prayed as I write that God will help you understand why I write - and that you will not think that I presume - or that I am bigoted. I have seen so much sorrow and disappointment in this world I do want us all to be happy when we get there - all together - and Leila and Kathryn won't you please send this to Polly or let her read it too, if she isn't there - and write me the assurance of your faith so I can die happy. I haven't been very happy here. I  miss you dear ones more than you will ever know but I do want you to know how I love you.

Your own-

Eva

Someone asked me once, "If you were to die today, do you know for certain that you will go to heaven?" My answer was - and IS - Yes, I DO!!!

Quad Wednesday!

The quads know just exactly what to expect on Wednesdays!

They come to MeeMaw's house!

Today was extra special for a couple of reasons!

One - Lisa and Warren came to visit with us for a few minutes.

They are back in the USA from Malaysia where they have been living the last couple of years.

It was so GOOD to see her with my eyes and hug Warren - AND Lisa!!

I love following them on Facebook but there's nothing like being WITH them - even for a few minutes!

Another special guest was my sister, Luann.

She called me first thing this morning and wanted to come visit and take us to lunch!

I guess we can count Granddad as a visitor today since he was working outside on the Drain/Sump Pump project! Kailey was crying big tears because he couldn't hold her. What did he do? Stopped working and dusted off and sat down with the kids. Kailey climbed up on his lap and upon seeing he still had dust and dirt on him - said, "GRANDDAD!!! YOU got me DIRTY!!!"  She proceeded to dust herself off with great indignation!!!

Later when he came inside she was all snugly!

Lisa and Warren left and Amber went off to do her errands and WE all loaded up!

Amber and I exchanged vehicles so I could have the car with all the car seats!

Our first stop was at the Disabled American Veterans Thrift Store.

They were all decked out for Halloween and the kids loved it!

We even browsed the store and they all found a costume - which they wore later in the day!

Lunch was at Big State Grill and it was delicious!!

They had strawberry milkshakes and enough food for lunch AND dinner!!!

As soon as we got home, it was nap time all around.

We all told Aunt Luann goodbye before I changed them into pull ups and we snuggled down for naps in the guest room. Logan and Trystan slept next to me while Kailey sprawled across the foot of the bed. I heard Logan whisper to Trystan, "I'm right here, Trystan. I will keep you safe."

I say it over and over again! These children are so sweet to each other!

We all tend to wake up at the same time so the late afternoon was playtime!

The kids loved a big batch of old costume jewelry!

Kailey decked herself  out big time!!

I think she's three going on thirteen!

They also loved the Etch a Sketch!

I think every child should play with one!

I gave the kids showers - one by one - BEFORE dinner tonight since we ate such a late lunch!

Harrison was thrilled with his Spider-Man pajamas!!

I made all the girls pajama bottoms from leftover fabric I had from a few years ago when I sewed for Rayne.

I had just enough scraps for THREE! Sunday I finally found three plain black tops - in a little larger size than day wear since they are for sleeping in. The girls loved them!

We all worked together to make Halloween cupcakes this evening.

Trystan poured in the butter, Harrison poured the milk and Logan broke the eggs.

Kailey manned the mixer!

The other three put the cupcake liners in the pans.

We ate dinner in the den while the cupcakes baked!

Our art appreciation this evening was "The Line Storm" by John Stuart Curry.

This was a perfect one since we had just had all those thunderstorms last weekend complete with lightning!

Tonight Granddad read The Ghost Eye Tree by Bill Martin.

It's a tradition to read this every Halloween. He used to read it to our neighbor children - until they grew up. He's read it to the older grands and has been reading it to the quads since they were babies!

And tonight he read it for the FOURTH time and I think they are really beginning to understand the story!

We ended our day together with CUPCAKES!!!!

As Mama and Dada gathered them up to go home, one by one, the kids came to tell us goodbye. They all thanked us but Trystan especially touched my heart when she said, "Thank you, MeeMaw, for such a nice day!"

Tired Tuesday!!!

I started not to journal tonight since I am so very tired. Tired to the bone.

But in the spirit of keeping it real, I decided long ago to share not only the good times but the tired ones too!

I skipped the thrift stores as well as a movie and lunch with Ruth Ann. Not often does that happen!

I did get my hair cut - which made me feel SO much better - and then went to the airport to pick up Summer, Sabrina and Rayne from their trip to Orlando, Florida! Summer spent her birthday at Walt Disney World! Perfect!!! I was actually there EARLY and waiting for them at Baggage Claim!

They were so surprised!

Summer's motto is - Growing up is optional!!!

I hope she never does! She is a super fun gal with an awesome sense of humor!!!

Everyone loves to be around her!!!

Back home, I hovered around doing housework and checking on Louis Dean every little while.

That's a honking long drain he's going to put in!

He worked really hard today! Rain is coming Friday and he needs to pour concrete by Thursday.

He has patiently explained to me - several times - just exactly what he's doing!

I still don't have a clue except THAT drain will go UNDER the patio and deck and a sump pump is involved in some way!

Sherry came over for art this evening and helped Louis Dean do some digging!

He took that opportunity to rest and supervise!

He worked so hard yesterday he kind of wore his knee out! 

This is NOT the knee he had surgery on but the other one.

He called it quits and soaked for an hour in a piping hot bath to ease his muscles.

Sherry brought dinner tonight!

Their tacos are so big I had to eat mine with a fork!!

This photo makes me dizzy but I didn't want to show one of the projects that I just noticed was on the table! Ruth Ann is all but finished with her Santa!

I'm calling this one DONE!

Not a good photo of him - but  I'm too tired to try and take a better one!

The twin Santas are now DONE!!!

I am pretty happy with them now.

Here's the Big Guy!!

He's all but done!

I will live with him for a week and after looking at him that long, I will know if I need to tweak anything.

That's all for this Tuesday. Not a normal one for me by any means but at least I still did ART!!

It Don't Always Rain in Texas - But When it Does.......

We had a real Rain Event over the weekend!

It was raining HARD Friday morning as I drove over to Quadville!

Amber was taking Kailey to an appointment so the day started early for me.

I was there by 10:00! Quite an accomplishment - for ME!

Granddad arrived a little later - after he had a couple of cups of coffee and woke up good!

THIS is the special cup his dear music lady gifted him on Thursday night!

He did NOT want to use it but I convinced him he should!

Wouldn't you know.......he poured his hot coffee in there and carried the cup out to the den when I heard him say, "Oh, NO!!!!"

The cup cracked! He will put it in his music room and just look at it now - but I bet I never get him to use a special gift again!!

Logan loves to use my iPad and she took this picture of Louis Dean and me.

Pretty good for a 3 year old! She thought so, too!!

It was a rainy day and CHILLY for the first time!!

Granddad put his favorite TV program on - Paw Patrol!

Lunch was by special request from Trystan!

On Wednesday night when they were getting ready to go home, I told them I would be over on Friday. She said, "Can we have SAUSAGE??" Of COURSE, I remembered to bring some along with another quad favorite - hash browns!

I also baked cookies for dessert - and a batch for Louis Dean to take to his Geek Squad guys!

He stayed until nap time and then went to Best Buy to pick up our new lap tops!

I slept on the floor between their nurseries with the doors open while the kids napped.

Naps are so necessary!!!

By the time Amber and Kailey came back it was obvious that Harrison was sick.

Amber then took HIM to the doctor later that afternoon and sure enough, he had the croup!

To make matters even worse, Mike was stranded on his way home from the Houston area by high water closing both Interstate 35 AND 45! He had to find a hotel room for the night and I stayed over in Quadville in case there was a complication with Harrison.

He was a champ about getting a breathing treatment!

Afterwards he said, "Meemaw! I feel MUCH better now!!"

While it wasn't ideal circumstances - Amber would have preferred to have her husband home with her - she and I made the most of it! We poured us a glass of wine and watched a few programs before calling it a night!

It rained all night and was STILL raining Saturday morning when we got up!

The creek behind their house had swiftly running water!!!

The water was high down there but not a threat to their house!

It was a good opportunity to talk to the kids about lightning and thunder!

We started counting when we say some lightning and the kids were not nearly as alarmed by the loud claps of thunder afterwards!

Meanwhile, back at OUR house, Louis Dean was sopping up water that came into the den!

Not nearly as bad as we had back in the spring and for that we are extremely grateful!

Still, it showed us that we still have a problem.......which my knight in shining armor is addressing!

The kids were adorable playing outside in the rain!!!

I probably shouldn't share this video!!!

Since the water was deep enough, Logan wanted to practice her swimming kicks!!!!

I love to watch them play!

They found the whole rain event AMAZING!!!

Mike made it home in the early afternoon and I headed home soon after he arrived.

But to Louis Dean's dismay, I only stayed a few minutes before I was off to Fort Worth to attend a very special birthday party!!! I first went to Deanie and Charlie's house and rode with them to the party.

It was at the Backyard Fun Factory in their new location!

Our sweet Andie girl is now 12 years old!

I wasn't up to climbing on all the forts and such so Nita and I tried to find a place to sit and visit!

(Isn't she THE cutest thing????)

Here is where we sat!!!

Can you tell what it is we are sitting on???

The  dog bed!!!

Andie's mom - and my niece - works at the Fun Factory and this is her office.

The bed belongs to their beloved dog, Winston!

It was a good place to sit but we definitely needed getting up!!

See the shirt that it looks like I'm wearing?

It was a gift from Nita when they were out shopping last week!

It says 'Group Therapy' and has 3 wine glasses done up in bling!!

I'm going to enjoy wearing this!

After the party I went back with Deanie and Charlie and stayed to visit for awhile.

 It was wonderful to get to talk and catch up on things!

Mother was still awake so I got to visit with her too!!!

It was a very good Saturday!!

Sunday morning found me in church - albeit late - again.

Louis Dean stayed home to take up portions of the deck and patio in order to put in drains and a sump pump.

Sunday afternoon was OUR time! Just Amber and me together for  HOURS!!

This is NOT something we get to do on a regular basis!!

Amber shared with me her love for Target!!!

I think that is my new favorite store for a multitude of reasons!

We hit up a few of her favorite stores and scored some good buys on Christmas presents!

I am gifted with Goodwill finds but she excels in finding bargains in the retail stores like Stein Mart and others. By the time we got to our third store my feet were killing me even though I was wearing a good pair of  SAS shoes! Amber found a pair of Skechers Memory Foam shoes and I bought them and put them on as soon as we got back to her truck!

We both love a good movie and Sunday evening we saw Bridge of Spies!!!

Excellent!! I was SO happy to get to spend so much TIME with my daughter!!!

This is from Amber's Facebook posting......

Enjoyed getting to spend some rare kid-free time with my mom today! She helps me so much with the quads, I would truly struggle without her support. She's been there for it all! But literally 98% of our time together now is with my kids so it's extra special to get any kind of outing that's just the two of us! Takes planning and effort (the husband took the quads all afternoon by himself) and was much appreciated!

I came home and Louis Dean was glad to see me!! I'd been gone nearly all weekend!

He had food ready so we ate while watching Captain Phillips.

The perfect movie after watching Tom Hanks earlier in the Bridge of Spies.

That movie seemed so real to me since I was 9 years old in 1957 when the movie starts.

I remember the school drills during the Cold War and being afraid we would have a bomb dropped on us. The Russians were scary to me!

I love Tom Hanks in ANY movie he is in!!!

I was so tired, though, after an extremely busy week! We went to bed at 10:00 and I didn't leave the bedroom until 11:30 this morning!

I spent the day in recovery mode while Louis Dean worked on the Sump Pump Project!

You gotta love a man who SMILES at the job at hand!!!

He is taking up part of the stone patio and the upper wooden deck in order to dig trenches and install drains.

It is a lot of work and a big undertaking!!

What a MESS!!!!

Rain is due back in the forecast come Friday so Louis Dean is a man with a mission!!

As I write this, our day is done and we are about to close out our evening with a driveway sit and a glass of wine.

This was posted on my Facebook page by a dear friend!

She knows me well!

Louis Dean and I will be decked out on the front porch come Halloween night with the candles lit and our candy bag full waiting for out little trick or treaters to arrive.

We shall sip wine from our Goblin Goblets and take pics of our visitors.

This week will not be as busy as last week but I am STILL in recovery mode!