Monday, May 30, 2016

Quads are FOUR! Party Pics and Other News......

Saturday was a Happy Birthday Party!


Chomp!
Stomp!
ROAR!
The quads are turning FOUR!!!!

Louis Dean and I along with Mother made our way over to Quadville an hour or so before the party actually started on Saturday afternoon.


I truly missed being in on the action of getting everything ready!
Amber saved one job for me - putting the custom made cookies from Sugar Coma on a tray!


All the decorations were adorable!!! The cake was perfect!!


The party theme was dinosaurs!!
Amber was so clever in the way she carried this theme throughout the entire house and party from food to decorations to games!


There was a TON of food! Not shown is a HUGE tray of chicken nuggets made to look like dinosaur foot prints!


 There were tubs of iced bottled water, juice boxes and soft drinks plus an assortment of boxed wines for the adults. Amber and Mike know how to throw a party!!

I think I heard Amber say they had about 45 guests!


Our quads are friends with another set of quads and both moms are named Amber!!
I love it that these two sets have each other to relate to as they grow up!
This is Trystan and half of the other Quad Squad!


I cannot believe I did NOT get a picture of Amber's best friend from college!!
The little boy on the right is Lisa's son and they came up to celebrate for a few days with them!
I'm surprised about a lack of photo because Louis Dean dearly LOVES Lisa and they talk and talk and talk whenever they are together!!


Thanks to my sister, Nita, and Summer for taking some pics for me. 
This is Deanie and Logan! Both are pretty in pink!


Mother and Summer!
Mother originally said she wasn't going to the party but then changed her mind.
I'm glad because I think it did all of us good to be around so much happiness!



This is Baby Crew and his dad!
I simply adore being around this father/son duo!
It is a beautiful thing to see!
"For this child they prayed....."


I pretty much held court at the kitchen table with my foot propped up!
Can you  believe my hair is longer than Nita's or Deanie's??
This is the longest I have had it in 10 years!


My sweet daughter!!


Smiles all around!!!!


Luann and Mother!


Deanie and her Andie Girl!


Louis Dean certainly enjoyed one of those Sugar Coma Cookies!!!
Lots of guests! They included the quads beloved nanny and Miss Susan from their gym and old friends and new ones.


This is Amber's most long time friend ever.
They were in the church nursery together when Amber was 18 months old and have remained part of each other's lives.


It was fun like a party!!!!


The kids got tired at the end but NO meltdowns!!


Everybody laughed and cut up and just had some good old FUN!!!


Amber and Mike truly do have the gift of hospitality!

Now on to the activities Amber had dreamed up!


Dinosaur coloring papers.


A big Dinosaur WELCOME!


A dinosaur egg hunt!!!


It's silly but I was so pleased that I had been able to fill those dinosaur eggs a few weeks ago BEFORE my foot surgery! They held stickers, stampers and tiny dinosaurs!!


Then there was the Dinosaur Pinata!


Finally!!!! CAKE!!! BIRTHDAY Cake!!!!


"Happy Birthday to YOU!!!"

More visiting went on after that!


These are some of the most loved children ever!!


They had a BALL opening all their gifts!!!


People were incredibly generous!!!


At four years of age, they are outgrowing 'baby' toys and moving on into a different level of things to play with. We will ALL enjoy these gifts!!!!


Congratulations to Amber and Mike for pulling off another PERFECT party!!!!

I arrived early and stayed late! I did not want to miss a single moment!
Amber had Lasagna and salad for those of us who like to stay to the very end.
We sat around and enjoyed the favorite last moments of this perfect day!!
Louis Dean drove us home and my heart was light as a feather.

While I did NOT over do it or stand up too much or do anything I should NOT have done, Sunday morning found me in not too good a shape. My foot hurt as it has not hurt before. Perhaps it is healing and mending but at any rate, I stayed in bed all day and resorted to taking a pain medication by the end of the day.


Louis Dean continued to man the kitchen producing delicious healthy meals at the appropriate times.
I tried not to walk through there. It.was.a.mess. 
He tries so hard and I knew once I'm better, I can go in there and clean it up within a matter of what will be HOURS now!

We had one big problem, though, There was a SMELL in the kitchen - namely in the fridge!!!
I had thought to get up and deal with it on Sunday but that didn't happen. Louis Dean said, "Let ME do it!" What harm could it do to let him clean the fridge?? I told him to go for it!! And then I went back to bed and shut the door.

When I woke up - he was gone. He had mentioned he was going to the grocery store after the refrigerator was clean. However, I walked into the kitchen and every available inch of counter space was covered with stuff from the fridge PLUS he had drug in two ice chests and they were full! AND the fridge was still DIRTY!!! I sighed and went back to the bedroom and shut the door. When I got up an hour or so later - he was still gone! So I took my Country Diary and a glass of tea and settled myself in the gazebo to write. I heard him come home and I heard him banging around on the kitchen patio. He walked past the gazebo to get something and I called out to him! WHAT was going on????

HE said there was NOT enough room in our GREAT WHITE FRIDGE for all the pickles!!!
(HE buys them in gallon jugs!!)


SO - he went to Lowe's and bought a fridge just for JARS!!!!
And THEN he turned the jars on their sides so he could pack more of them in there!!!
This was AGAINST what I told him about everything needing to stand up STRAIGHT!!!!
So, while he put the remaining stuff back in the great white fridge, I had to CLEAN this brand new small one because it reeked of garlic and sauces that he had turned sideways and of COURSE they leaked out!!! Do you KNOW what a mess lavender infused simple syrup makes when it is dripping down the back of a fridge? It in no way overpowered the GARLIC smell however!!!!
I really need to get well as quickly as possible!!!

Today was not much better than yesterday until later this evening when I finally turned the corner and felt more like myself.
I have yet to get in the kitchen but I hope to address that tomorrow.


For now we are in the gazebo together and I am so proud of my veteran husband on this Memorial Day!



As for tonight....It is almost midnight and we have been out here in the gazebo since 7:30.
My one and only brother has been in surgery tonight and we have been anxiously awaiting news.
Deanie is sick in bed and I been down with my foot so that left Nita the only one to go and keep us posted along with Charlie, Deanie's husband, and of course, Michele, Lonnie's wife.
He was admitted to the hospital on Saturday morning and on Sunday he had a procedure to unblock the stones from the bile duct. Then this evening he had gall bladder surgery.
He is resting now and we are so grateful.
He's not out of the woods yet so we are continuing in prayer.
I am still in shock and mourning from our friend, John Swan's recent death.
I pray for Vee every time I think of her - which is often!
Life is so very fragile!!!



Friday, May 27, 2016

Long Slow Day Ends With Music in the Gazebo!

I am used to long days but normally they are seldom slow!


This morning I slept until after 10:00 and didn't leave the bedroom until 11:00.
It had rained in the night so we gathered in the den to read and then watch Alaskan Bush People - a refreshing change from the news!

Louis Dean has been manning the kitchen and I just avoid going in there as much as I can.
He makes good meals and serves them with a smile! Once I return to full duty that kitchen will require quite a bit of deep down cleaning. The floor is littered and the counters are sticky. The fridge is bulging and the stove is greasy but Louis Dean proudly informed me that he's been cleaning up after himself!

Today he made bacon and eggs with toast and coffee for lunch. After wards I left them to watch TV and I went back to bed.....


and I stayed there until late this afternoon. I was just so tired.


I cleaned my bedroom yesterday so this evening I cleaned my teeny tiny bathroom!


You wouldn't think it would take too long but I was working in there for a couple of hours.
The shower and the floor took awhile since I moved everything out and organized things.


I love my bathroom.


The scripture cards I keep out to read have been extra meaningful for me today.
 I have held my heart in prayer for much of this day.
This morning I learned that a dear friend to us over the years is in the hospital. He had a tear in his aorta and is now in a coma. Vee and John have prayed over our lives and our family and now it is time to earnestly pray for them.


While I worked inside, Louis Dean worked outside.
He put down the glass blocks to use in the walkway earlier this week.
Today it looked to me like he was playing in the mud but he said he was preparing an area for the storage building he's buying soon.


We decided to end our Friday in the gazebo.
It was light when we first came out here and here we are hours later - still in the gazebo.
Louis Dean fixed big fat sandwiches for us so we ate out here and then he brought out his guitar and started singing and playing.


A perfect way to end the day.


Louis Dean is singing and playing and Mother and I are smiling and listening.


The weather is nice and there's even a bit of a chill in the air so Mother has a blanket over her legs and I think I need to get a sweater,



He sang mostly hymns with a few folk songs thrown in for good measure.


Mother is loving it!





This one is for my friend, Jutta,
She and Louis Dean sang it together when she was visiting us from Finland last year.

Tomorrow is an extra BIG day for our family!!!
We celebrate the Quad's FOURTH birthday!!!!
Since I'm 'laid up' I haven't been over there helping with the party preparations and I really do miss doing that. Wild horses couldn't keep me from being at the party though!
Amber has a dinosaur theme and the kids are so excited - as are we all!!

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Celebrating a QUAD Wednesday and a CLEAN Bedroom!!! I'm Nearly 'Back!'

Amber promised us last week that she would bring the quads over this Wednesday and she was true to her word. It had been 10 days since I had seen them and I swear they had grown and changed at least a wee little bit!!!

We got up in time to shower and dress and prepare for their arrival!!!
Louis Dean made a big batch of his goulash for lunch and had it all ready to serve!


I asked the quads where they wanted to eat! Dining room or the side deck?
Three out of four voted for the dining room!
Good call!!


We all put our hands in our laps before mealtime!
This gives everyone a chance to get settled before prayer - including the adults.
Kailey had to tell Grandma to put HER hands in her lap! And so she did!!


I just could NOT get enough of looking at them!!!


We are ALL getting excited about their upcoming birthday!!!!


Trissy knows they are turning four so she didn't have to say it!


Dinosaur cookies by Sugar Coma Cookies for dessert!


We had a great lunch and then I told the kids they could go in my bedroom and pick out any pillow they wanted for nap time in the den! Kailey brought a Beatrix Potter book so we had TWO stories before we settled down to sleep. 


Trystan was the first to go to sleep and the first to wake up!!
That gave us some special one on one time!


These kids love all tea party things!!
We had a pretend party that lasted until the others woke up.


Then we four played the Tea Party Game!
Logan won FIRST and Harrison second and Trissy and I battled it out until SHE won third!!!
Kailey opted out so she could help Granddad on the walk way he was building.


He did have a captive audience!

So! Have you seen the Candace Payne Chewbacca Mask video that has given so many of us so much laughter???


I saw it on Facebook and showed Mother and we laughed and laughed!


I showed it to Louis Dean and he didn't crack a smile!
Well, I love to share funny videos with the quads so I showed it to them......


?????
Harrison NEARLY smiled!!!
Mother was laughing again, though!!


Kailey was very concerned over my 'surgery.'


She is such a caring little girl and cautioned me to be careful!!!
I assured her I am doing just fine and will be back to normal soon!
All four kids were VERY careful to NOT step on my foot and they were very protective of me.


We ate dinner outside and feasted on Casa Taco!!!
Win! WIN! all around!!!


After we ate, we all went out to the front yard!
Nature itself is SO entertaining!!!
Harrison and Logan found some BUGS!!! Imagine THAT???


They were all fascinated with BEES!!!
You can see Mother has enjoyed all the excitement around here!


All kids everywhere love a roly poly!!!


No toys. Just nature. And a cracked and damaged driveway with loads of tiny pebbles.


I can't tell you how much we enjoyed seeing and BEING with these precious children!

Amber was here the entire time.
She is protective of me as her Kailey is!
I will be so glad to be back to normal!!
The kids were loaded up and called out "We love you!!!!" as they drove off!!!
It just doesn't get any better than that!

Louis Dean and I sat outside in the gazebo with a glass of wine for the first time since my surgery.
It was wonderful!

I slept so well last night - perhaps the wine?
After I woke up I lingered in bed for another hour or so. I do so love being able to do that!
Louis Dean had bought a handful of movies yesterday and he thought he had a keeper for us to watch this morning!


Indeed, he DID!!!
Emperor was an excellent film from 2013.
LD recognized Matthew Fox from LOST and we both love Tommy Lee Jones!
Not often do we start our day with a movie but it worked for us today!
Afterwards we went out to the gazebo for our normal 'morning routine' before going back to the den for lunch and an episode of The Alaskan Bush People!

Around 3:00 this afternoon I girded my loins with strength and headed to our bedroom to CLEAN!


I started in one corner of the bedroom and worked my way around.


THIS was what I found wedged under the bedside table!
A quad baby's shoe from this winter - or last??


I worked from 3:00 this afternoon to 7:30 in this.one.room.
AND didn't quite finish it!
Still! Behind that corner dressing mirror is a CLEAN piece of flooring!
Dust MONSTERS are GONE!!
Walls have been wiped and I am a happy housewife!



Normally, I sleep on the left side of the bed in order to catch the coolest air when we run the attic fan.


Since surgery I have been sleeping on the right side do I can elevate my right leg on three pillows as I sleep each night.


I lit candles in celebration of a CLEAN room!!!


I keep what people can call debris, junk and stuff but in it all are small treasures!
Like these photos of Amber - age 3,  and Benjamin - age 18 months.
I look at them every day.


So! Our bedroom is ALMOST all clean!!
I will RETURN in the morning to complete the project!


We took our party out to the gazebo to celebrate with a Mimosa for Mother and me and real wine for Louis Dean!

Now we are in the den with our second featured presentation!
What a natural choice to watch after Emperor!

I may not be back to normal just yet but I am working on getting there!!!