"I LOVE This Place!"

 Sometimes I wonder what critters are thinking.

Sweet Tabitha strikes me as a deeper thinker than her sister.

I wonder if they were missing the kids since they came home.

I'm pretty sure they were missing Amber!

She's been a cat lover since early childhood.

She couldn't resist taking a few minutes to play with the kittens Friday evening when they brought the kids over to spend the weekend.

September 30th was their 14th wedding anniversary and they celebrated it while the quads stayed with us. Win! WIN!!

Granddad picked up pizzas and I had the table spread with snacks and Halloween plates.

The whole house is decorated in October splendor and the kids loved it all!

Friday tradition......

Popcorn, Pizza, Coke and Movie Night!

Amber has been doing this since she was 2 years old. I picked animated films....

like the Brave Little Toaster until she got older and then the whole world of movies opened up to her and she has been in love with them ever since.

The quads are at the point of enjoying many kinds of movies and this was a good one.

They had seen it before but we hadn't so they were good sports about seeing it again.

We had a great Friday night!

The kids had come straight from hockey practice so they snacked and showered before we started the movie. Then somehow they all four found a place to sleep in the guest room.

We have a bunk bed in there with a double bottom and twin top. No one slept on top. Two were in the bed and two were on the floor. Whatever works! Bedtime is a piece of cake now that they are older!

They all know not to wake MeeMaw up in the mornings and they were so good not to.

I left snacks out for them and they totally entertained themselves until we got up.

For breakfast we had Harrison's favorite - hashbrown patties!

And I had made sausage rolls earlier on Friday and they were in the freezer ready to slice and bake.

Along with some Greek yogurt and fruit - that was breakfast!

Then we did our first activity of the day.

 MeeMaw's makeup!

Plus they did their own, as well.

I keep a box of extra makeup for just such a time as this.

All three of the girls worked on me and they did a great job!

I told them I liked the eyebrows arched up like that.

Makes me look like I'm interested in what is going on.

Kailey did my nails.

I wore them proudly all weekend!

While the girls and I were in the gazebo.....

Harrison hung out with his granddad!

There's plenty to look at in his music room - or 'laboratory' as Harrison calls it!

Our afternoon adventure was making lip balm from my beeswax.

Each one made theirs a different flavor.......tangerine, peppermint, pineapple and strawberry.

It turned out great!!

The recipe is:

4 oz beeswax

4 oz shea butter

4 oz almond oil

Melt that together in a glass jar set in a pot of simmering hot water.

After it is all melted, add the flavor of choice.

Since we did four different ones, I poured out a little into a smaller jar and flavored that amount.

I still have well over a cup left to use later. I will be making some for small Christmas gifts.

We did a little bit of gardening - as in picking peppers and onions.

The kids actually planted these last spring.

While everyone gathered flowers, Logan worked her magic of fashioning them into bouquets.

She made enough to put one at every place setting.

Dinner was yummy even if I do say so myself!

I did most of the prep work on Thursday so it was just a matter of popping things into the oven and putting it all together.

Meat loaf (cooked in the crockpot), candied carrots (with butter, brown sugar and nutmeg), company mashed potatoes, cantaloupe from the ranch 'garden', garden salad with a sprinkle of crumbled up dried okra (from Buccee's) in place of croutons.

Dinner was a big success and then it was showers and bed.....and we were ALL tucked in by 10:00 Saturday night! This time there was only one person on the floor and the top bunk was in use!

We ate a Sunday morning brunch as we watched Fellowship church live online.

Amber and Mike were in the audience while we watched from the dining room table.

2 pounds of bacon, 2 pitchers of funnel cake batter, a quart of orange juice, milk and fruit.

We ate all the bacon and funnel cakes as well as the orange juice and half of the fruit!

Once again - the girls did my makeup and this time they did my hair, also.

They had fun doing it and so did I!

I did not have a lot of planned activities for the weekend and that worked out well.

The girls didn't sew anything but they camped out in the sewing room and worked on their crafts.

I paced myself and took breaks by putting my feet up or actually getting in bed under the covers for a half hour or so.

Granddad held court in the gazebo with his guitar.

I love how the kids feel so at home and how they truly enjoy BEING here.

My favorite moment of all happened early on Friday night.

Trystan had taken her backback in and wandered from room to room looking at all the October decorations - and then she ran out on the driveway and told her daddy, "I just LOVE this place!!!"

I think it was Trystan who said, "This just never gets old!"

I love that tradition!!

And as Kailey said, "Have a good evening!!!"