Things Don't Always go According to PLAN!!

The best laid plans of mice and men!!!

Wednesday had been all planned out and Amber and the quads arrived shortly after noon!

We exchanged vehicles so we could take the kids out to lunch!!! Since rain and possible storms were in the forecast - and since our gazebo area clean up has entailed moving so many things to the side deck where they normally play - I came up with the brilliant idea to take the kids to Chuck E Cheese!!! We were humming right along as we headed out when Amber called to say our car had a flat tire! We turned around! I picked Amber up and left Louis Dean to deal with the flat and he would meet up with us at Chuck E Cheese where Amber could then be on her way!

Bless her heart!

Here she is crammed into the back seat and a total hostage to the turn of events of this day!

I had no idea she was seriously AVOIDING introducing the kids to Chuck E Cheese!!

This was one of her and Ben's all time FAVORITE places to go when they were little!!!

Funny how what parents THINK their kids remember doesn't fall in line with what they feel as adults.

The quads seemed to love it!

Things have changed a lot at Chuck E Cheese but safety remains high and that was one of the reasons I chose this place. 

They no longer have the 'old school' bread sticks that I loved so much!

The young man taking my order knew just what I was talking about!

He even said he would make them for me if he could - so many request them!

Also, the tokens are now like plastic credit cards that you swipe instead of using the coins!

I knew it would be a late lunch and I knew from experience the place would be nearly empty -

and it was!!! I think there were only six other children - at the MOST - there while we were!

We used two tables so the quads could sit all by themselves!

They felt so grown up!

Amber was such a good sport!

She had a terrible headache but she made sure her kids had fun!!!

The noise sure bothered her but she did NOT sit in the booth and hold her head!

No way! She is amazing!

Louis Dean called to tell us the flat was fixed! There was a bent rim and it had been straightened - or SAVED as the serviceman said - and they were aligning it as he spoke!

We came home and she was on her way!

Nothing ever seems to go as planned. But God knew what the day held for us before we even got out of bed that morning!

The kids had fun!

We played for an hour - the rain never interfered with that!

I served dinner right at 6:00!

Granddad put Paw Patrol on at 7:00 and I started baths.

No one ever wants to be first so I put papers numbered 1-4 in a bowl and had them draw!

Win! WIN!!!

At 8:00 we were in the car heading for Quadville and they were all tucked into their beds before 9:00!! Too bad they didn't go sound asleep before the parents were home! I think they were waiting for their mama to kiss them goodnight!

We came home and I went right straight to BED!!

I had no trouble falling asleep!!

Thursdays are always a good day to sleep in and rest!

My friend, Brenda, came over for a salad lunch and we had a chance to catch up!

We already put our next visit on the calendar! It will be a dinner date and includes our husbands!

I'm just about to start a new book!!

I won this in a giveaway from Antiques and Teacups!!!!

I just love Ruth and learn something new each time I visit her elegant blog!

Now my Thursday is done! Louis Dean and I are sitting out on the gazebo deck where he has a fire burning over on the stone patio by the back pond. We are hearing crickets now. The summer will be here before we know it! Since the gazebo is gone, we have enjoyed gazing up into the big elm tree and watching the birds flit around. I called the tree trimmer today and hope to get that job done early next week. Step by step. We are moving right along. Things may not always go as  planned......but things WILL keep going!!

Tuesdays are BACK!!!

Tuesdays are BACK and oh, my goodness!!!! I have had the very BEST day!!!

But before I go into all of that - let me tell about the visitor we had last night!

I heard some rustling in the kitchen over by the coffee pots and when I looked, a wee possum face was peering over Louis Dean's coffee pot looking right at me!!!

Well, this wasn't our FIRST possum visit ever, so I grabbed my iPad and took its picture!

THEN I called Louis Dean to help me get it OUT!!

He said, "Well, what do you expect, Linda? You leave the doors open so they think they are welcome to just walk right in!" We convinced him he would be more comfortable outside and finally got him OUT!!! His mama lives under the upper deck so he scurried off to find her!

I shut the door behind him!

NOW!!!! I can't tell you how excited I was to have a regular Tuesday with all its traditions!!!

I was SO excited I even selected the first show time for our movie today!

It was at 11:25 so we ate lunch at the movies!

$0.99 hot dogs and $4.69 Senior Combo = Win! WIN!!!

Ruth Ann and I both dressed up today! 

The little guy selling the tickets told us how nice we looked!!

As senior citizen ladies, we love every compliment we can get!!!

Our featured presentation!!!

WHAT an excellent movie!!

It felt so good to be in the theater chomping on popcorn and eating our hot dogs!

After the movie - GOODWILL hunting!!

I bought everything in that basket for $26.00!!!

Here's my haul!!!!

This is the very NICEST wreath!!! I have already stored it safely away in the top of a closet.

By September I will have forgotten about it and then be so excited all over again!

I hit the jackpot on dishes today!

This Williams Sonoma Asparagus/dip dish was a great buy!

Prices were all 25% off the tags!

Senior Citizen's Discount!!

I scored on some small plates plus 3 white dinner plates!

I am loving mixing and matching my place settings these days!

The large platter at top left is from France.

I just fell in love with these hand painted glasses!!!

I came home, took pictures of all my treasures, put the dishes in the dishwasher, lit the candles and prepared for the very first real art class of 2016!

See that chandelier sitting back there on the sofa??

I bought that - brand new - for $7.50!!!

This will hang in our new gazebo - once we get it!!

The pretty glasses washed up (by hand!) beautifully!!!

I mixed a batch of cocktails to celebrate art class!!!

I used a lavender infused simple syrup, fresh mint and blackberries, a bottle of sparkling wine, and a splash of 7-Up!! YUM!!!

We had such good food tonight!

Assorted crackers.....

Crusty bread from ALDI, assorted cheese including pesto Gouda, and Amaretto Cake!

In addition, I served chicken salad and Sherry (my DIL) brought chicken nuggets (using real chicken!) and pulled pork, gourmet mac and cheese and a large container of Alfredo sauce to use tomorrow to make more mac/cheese for when the quads are here!

Paint, canvas, brushes and turp!

Love the way the house smells on art class night!

Cheers!

We actually sat outside on the deck to eat before we painted.

Louis Dean sat with us and as we looked up at the trees overhead, we saw the power pole swaying in the wind!!! That kind of scared me!!! I called the power company and they sent someone right out to check it. "It's not going anywhere!" he said!!

I really put on my teacher hat tonight!!

I had printed directions and patterns for everyone and we each laid our own palette!

Mixing colors is something you can only learn by doing it yourself!

We were hard at work!!!

I had Andrea Bocelli music playing and it FELT like 'art' tonight!!

Always our first goal when we begin a new painting is to cover the canvas and that we DID!!!

No details just yet......

This one is mine...

this one is Ruth Ann's and she did a GREAT job!!!!

I can see her talent just blossoming right onto that canvas!!!

Sabrina did a beautiful job on hers as usual!!

We were all pretty pleased with what we accomplished tonight!!

The ladies helped me clean up the art table and reset the dining room up!

It's like magic!!!

I am still basking in the glow of this delightful day!!!

It is three months into the year before the Tuesdays started happening again with all THREE traditions!

Movie, Goodwill, ART!!!

Celebrating Easter!!

It has been three day Easter celebration which started on Good Friday!

Amber graciously hosted a family gathering!

Here we are with our five youngest grands!!

It was such a fun evening!

We took pictures after the Easter Egg Hunt!

Just the guys!

Kailey always winds up on Granddad's lap - always!!

The three little girls!!!

They just had a ton of fun playing with each other!

The quads all love their Cousin Rayne!!!

My beautiful daughters!!

Summer and Amber really made that evening happen!!

Aunt Sabrina was swarmed by little people!!!

Tatoos!!!!

Trystan and Sabrina showing theirs off!!!

Of COURSE, Sabrina would put one on too!!

Trystan was taking good care of her baby doll!

Summer brought a fun craft for me to do with the kids.

These are so CUTE!!!

It came in a package of six, so one for each child and one for ME!

I'm putting mine in my Country Diary.

It was fun like a PARTY!!!!

Summer had brought every one's favorite wines!

I love white, Amber has a favorite CupCake wine, Sabrina likes Sangria and then there was a bottle of good red to finish it off!

We take lots of photos around here!!!

I am happiest when I am with my family!!

It's always a good thing to celebrate together!

Dinner is served!

At the end of the evening, Amber had a cute game for them to play before we all started to gather up our things and head for home!

I took my very own grown up Easter Basket, compliments of my sweet daughter, Summer!!

Saturday morning we were off to Fort Worth to spend some quality time with our cousins!!

We always have a good time together, laughing and talking and eating!!

This is Gay and she is such a fun gal!

You never know what she's going to say!

I just love her! We all do!

The tables were set up so we could all eat together and visit.

Nita held court down on this end and kept us laughing and laughing!!

No one can tell a story like SHE can! Mike (her husband) is just recovering from surgery last Saturday! This was his first time to get out of the house. He was still in a good bit of pain and I'm sure all that laughing didn't help!

Lonnie (my brother - one and only brother!) and his beautiful wife!

Lonnie is another good story teller and I dearly love to hear him laugh!!

Our cousin, Anthony and  our second cousin, Pam.

Toni Sue helped her mom, Gay, host this month and it was wonderful!

I totally forgot to take pics of the food but let me tell you, they had quite a spread!

Joyce is the dearest cousin of all!

I suppose that next to Mother, she is the eldest of our family.

Or at least the family I know.

She was born with a sweetness about her that has never left.

Some people change as they age and sometimes it is not for the best.

Joyce and Anthony (brother and sister) are the same today as we have known them all our lives.

Somehow that gives me comfort.

We had lunch and lingered at the table talking!

For THREE HOURS, we talked!!!

Pam's husband, Nick, was not there and he was missed but we all understand nothing is set in concrete. Everyone can't make it every time but it's important to keep planning the get togethers and we have the date set for the next one in May.

Deanie and Charlie were sorely missed!! They have both been ill and couldn't make it.

I know their ears were burning!! We talked about them and it was all good stuff!!!

That's one of the things I so love about these gatherings. No one judges. No one gossips. We all truly love and admire each other. We are all rooting for each other.

Saturday night was pretty special!

I left Louis Dean at Home Alone while I went to the MOVIES!!!

We saw the new film, Batman vs Superman in 3D!!!

I am thankful my kids still want to include me in activities with them!

I enjoyed the ride to and from as well as the movie itself!!

We were a happy group of people!

Then  this morning, EASTER morning, Louis Dean and I attended church.

This was the scene at First Methodist!

Pastor Doug had the children gathered around him and was explaining why Easter is THE most exciting day of the year! All of a sudden, confetti guns popped over the congregation!!

It was wonderful!!! I just love our church!

So what did WE do this glorious Easter afternoon and evening??

I napped and Louis Dean sorted his tools.

I joined him out in the gazebo deck and worked on a few projects.

The Bible cover for Rayne didn't fit - but I fixed THAT!!!

It's been a quiet and slow day and I love that!

While we didn't cook a big Easter dinner, I did mix up some chicken salad.

Right now the rest of the onions/celery/peppers are simmering in butter and this makes the house smell delicious! There's really not all that much to eat - but it SMELLS good!!!