Pre Party, Party and After Party! A Memorable Weekend!

Saturday morning I woke up all excited.

This was to be a Par-TAY weekend and so it WAS!

Louis Dean and I packed up our two kittens and dropped them off at the Bells.

There were four little Bells waiting impatiently for them to get there and have a play date with their sister litter mates. Plus I had Ben's kitten with me so that made one kitten per Bell! Win! WIN!!

The reason we dropped them off was we were on our way to Rowlett.

Louis Dean has been helping Summer put up a giant shade on the patio.

Sherry has such a pretty house and her backyard is gorgeous.

She used to have a pond and it was like a botanical garden.

Summer is helping her reclaim that and they are constantly working at it.

Since neither one is in really good health - and since there is to be no BLT - bending, lifting or twisting-

Louis Dean provided the muscle and skill to do what they needed done.

I picked up Whataburgers curb side for lunch - after Summer ordered them on her phone app.

I need to get that app.

After we ate, I left Louis Dean there and returned to the Bells to meet up with Ben.

His first kitten and here he is holding him for the first time.

I think they like each other!

We all know this is going to be one pampered little guy!

You can hear us all talking in this video about Ben going all out in shopping for his cat!

Amber is all about 4's and here she is with all FOUR kittens!

Just as she was 8 years ago holding all FOUR babies.

Summer brought Louis Dean back to me and we had a great sidewalk visit with her and Amber and Benjamin! Plus all the kids ran out to tell her hello. It did all our hearts good to at least get to see each other. Summer is extra careful in practicing social distancing and rightly so.

By the way - she is learning how to control her SCS and is doing really well!

Still no BLT for several more weeks and that's hard for Summer but she's doing what's she is supposed to be doing!

Amber put together a Taco Saturday Supper for 9 in under an hour!

She said it's easy to add 3 more people when you normally cook for 6 anyway!

Then Ben joined forces with Mike in bloing up the dozens and dozens of balloons  - thanks to a handy dandy machine that does that for you. I'm no good at it all with that nor can my arthritic fingers tie the balloons once they are blown up.

So I took one last pic of my two youngest children together!

Amber will be 35 on her birthday this Saturday and Ben will be 32 in August!

Summer will be 57 in October and Jesse will be 54 in November.

I turn 72 in September and Louis Dean 84 in November.

God has blessed me with motherhood and I am so grateful and I am so very proud of each one of my children. Children of my youth as well as my old age.

I should have got a pic of Amber, Benjamin and me with our kitties while we were all together in one place. Summer reminded me and I STILL forgot!

It was dark when we left but I had my night driving glasses on and the Bush Toll Road is so well lit, I had no problem getting home.

Mike said that Saturday night was like a Party before the party and I could not agree more.

It was wonderful!

I so needed 'family time.'

I think we ALL do by now.

Louis Dean brought me coffee in bed Sunday morning and then put on the gospel music while I watched the service online from Fellowship Church.

While we are around immediate family who have all been vigorously quarantining, we are still cautious about being in large crowds of people.

I wrapped up the last of the birthday presents and we were on our way back to the Bells!

Four not-so-little-anymore Bell kids!

I didn't bring our kittens but Uncle Ben brought his and the kids were estatic to get to play with him again. When we asked Ben how the first night went, he said he showed his kitten where the litter box was - no problem. Then the cat bed. He started the night there but then got up on the foot of Ben's bed and then he was right beside him. When Benjamin got up once, he returned to his bed to find the kitten laying in his spot!

I got a little confused over what he named his cat.

I thought he said Claws and that was a pretty good name!

Turns out it is NOT Claws but Klaus as in German and as in something about vampire and werewolf and Vampire Diaries? I may still be confused because I forgot exactly what Ben said - but I know it's not Claws! Although he said I could call him that if I want to! And the kids can call him Dude since that's the first thing Ben called him amd the kids stuck on that!

The Party Food!!

Chicken Express!

Those corn nuggets are the best!

You can't go wrong with anything there and there was plenty of it!

Next up!

Pinatas!

Lots of fun and all the grandparents were out filming, taking pics and watching the action.

All grandparents except one - Louis Dean was inside taking a nap in the recliner!

Guess he ate a little too much Chicken Express!

Amber said she saw him eyeing that big pile of chicken tenders and then when he saw the bowl of gravy - well - he really got excited!

Time for CAKE!!!

TWO birthday cakes plus a cheesecake!

And this is the first of four!

We all sang Happy Birthday to each child!

Notice all the candles on the two cakes?

So very clever!

Amber and Mike put 8 candles on each half of the cakes so Trystan, Kailey, Harrison and Logan each one had a song and candles of their own to blow out!

The parents put a lot of thought into this party.

There may not have been guests there other than family, but Amber had put together a video of their friends and classmates wishing them Happy Birthday! It was 9 minutes long and just precious!

I know it meant a lot to the kids.

The last activity of the party was opening the gifts!

They received so many wonderful things and were excited about every single present!

Trsytan loved the little golden heels, gold purse and tie-dyed long dress we gave her.

Also her musical unicorn jewelry box, gold necklace with her initial on it and other fun pieces plus a make up and gym bag with sequins that show a different design when you rub your hand over them.

Logan opened her sewing basket first and would have been perfectly happy with just that.

Boy, was she surprised when she opened the second gift!

(She and I tried it out that very evening!)

Kailey knew from the box that she was geting a guitar!

She loves it and she loved the silver pick with her name on it!

It is a little Martin and Louis Dean had it all tuned up.

This weekend he will give her a first lesson on it.

I can't wait to see them playing guitars together!

Harrison liked his compass, watch and binoculars.

It was a fine birthday party and one they will remember.

I'll remember it, too!

It does a mother's heart good to see her children together!

Here they are bonding over their kittens!

Who knew??

The last time they had kittens was when Amber was 7 and Ben was 4.

July came first and a year later Snowball.

They lived to be 19 -21 years old.

This morning Louis Dean and I went in to check on our kittens and they were all snuggled up together in the one bed. They each have one but prefer to be together.

We are getting into the habit of taking our coffee in there and just watching them play.

I did clip their nails the tiniest little bit to keep them from snagging on everything including our skin!

When they are older, I will put those pretty pink or purple claw covers on them!

Kind of like fake nails! But it covers theirs so they can't scratch so much.

Today was a special day!

It was a 'normal' day. Or nearly so.

WE had an appointment with Lovely Nails!

I need to make Louis Dean a bigger mask.

It is hard to keep this one on his face!

We haven't had our nails done since January right before my knee surgery.

The shop has taken every precaution to protect the customers and themselves in this Covid 19 pandemic. As soon as we arrived, we were directed to a special sink for handwashing.

I just pointed to the polish I wanted instead of picking it up. acrylic shields were in place and I can't think of anything they could have done better!

We left there and headed to Home Depot - donning our masks and using hand sanitizer before we went in and after. Louis Dean needed a few things and I needed light bulbs. Preferably warm LED ones.

I also bought some plants and mulch and drywall and paint stripper.

Since I can't get my carpets this year - I am going to start redoing Louis Dean's bathroom pretty soon.

Our last stop was Sam's and we haven't been then in so long we can't even remember when.

We bought some staples and a couple of pizzas to cook at home.

Man! It was GOOD!

Then Louis Dean went to work cleaning out our big freezer while I started cleaning the front porch.

I took all the green debris down from the lights and moved the bench and chair and blew off the porch before splashing on a generous helping of Fabuloso.

I scrubbed it all down with a broom and rinsed it off including the stone wall.

I changed the covers to white for the summer and added all the little pillows from off our bed.

Louis Dean was thrilled to get rid of those!

I am so late getting this journal entry published!

You know why?

I have worked hard today and Louis Dean worked even harder.

After cleaning the porch and planting some of the plants, I came in and took a shower and then played with the kittens for awhile until I got a second wind.

That's when I started cleaning the foyer and living room.

I love the late night hours when I can putter around all by myself.

And that's what I've done for the last THREE nights!

I love it!

Louis Dean was so tired he said he felt sick so he sat in the den and went to sleep and I left him there for hours! He just got up and went to bed so I guess I will follow suit.

It was a great weekend and a really good Monday!

Tomorrow I am going to make my Bucket List for the summer!

Except I need to find a blank one to fill in myself!

Do YOU have a Summer Bucket List??