Saturday, December 24, 2022

Christmas Eve's Eve.....

It's cold in Texas tonight as I write this 'catch up' journal entry.
Wednesday was chilly enough to have a fireplace and I had a cozy fire burning when they arrived in the afternoon.


Finally we are burning some of the wood we bought earlier in the fall.


Amber loves the cats and will not take NO for an answer when she wants to pay them some attention!

The girls helped make the sugarplum dough and it didn't take nearly as long with four of us as it does when I make it all by myself!


I am hoping this is the start of a new tradition - the making of the dough together!


Trystan is good at decorating and strung up some white lights by the pond while Logan used several strands of colored lights around the arbor.


The kids were excited when Pam came over to visit! She also brought a camping cot for Harrison to sleep on that night. He's taller than I am now and the chaise lounge in the living room where he has loved to sleep for the last few years no longer works for him.

They had some great conversations going on out in the gazebo.


It was a family lasagna dinner around the dining room table Wednesday night!
I love that we have had so many of those over the last 10 years.

There's always been two rules I've had since they were little.
#1 - You do NOT tell MeeMaw NO!
#2 - You do NOT wake MeeMaw up!

Now there's just one.....
The first one to wake up - if it's a reasonable hour - PLEASE wake me up!
We don't get nearly enough time together and I don't want to lose a single minute.

Harrison woke up first at 7:55 and we went out to the den to start the fire.
Trystan was the next to wake followed by Logan a little bit later.


I had a pot of mint coffee, a can of whipped cream, a carton of cream, Hershey's chocolate syrup and some cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on top. We girls used Christmas cups and saucers for our coffee but Harrison had fancy hot chocolate in a mug.


My Kansas City Siblings sent us a a can of the very best popcorn from Topsy's!


It's famous!!


The kids love it as much as I do so I shared - a little bit!
There's three flavors - cinnamon, cheese and caramel - and I love them ALL!

We had a great afternoon making caramels, playing NUTS and watching several episodes of Gunsmoke - Logan's favorite.

The girls and I went back to the kitchen and together we made all the fixings for Taco Salad.
Taco meat, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, tortilla chips, grated cheese, and flour tortillas and Mexican pastries from the Mexican bakery on O'Connor Road.


We packed it all up and took it over to the Bells arriving at 5:00 on the dot!



This was our Christmas outing this year!
Both sets of grandparents and Amber and Mike and the kids - we took up nearly an entire row at the Comerica Center in Frisco.
The parking was a mess causing a long line and a long wait to get in the parking garage.....
but the show was absolutely amazing!!


We had such a good time and Louis Dean dearly loved the violin solos and all the beautiful trapeze acts.

It was bitter cold on Thursday night - as in 10 degrees that felt like -7!
We were walking out to the parking garage and that's when Louis Dean tripped and fell off the corner of a curb. Normally he and I are holding hands but it was so cold, I had my hands in my pockets.
He fell hard but his Karate training is obviously ingrained in him as he automatically raised his right hand to block the fall from his face causing him to scrape his wrist, hand, and forehead.
He was bleeding and totally shook up and hurting but Amber and Lynn (Mike's mom) helped him get up and held onto him and we continued to walk to the garage. There we waited while Mike went on and brought the car down.

Louis Dean kept saying he was okay but he was hurting and his chest was aching. I gave him a nitroglycerin table and he said it helped. 


When we got to the Bells, Amber doctored his head and hand, gave him a Tylenol and dressed the scrapes. No cuts so no stitches needed. Though he hit his head, no concussion. No broken bones, though he fell hard onto the concrete. So much to be thankful for.
It could have been SO much worse!

We drove home after he calmed down and stayed up for a good while talking and watching a program or two on TV. No headache - just soreness where he hit.
He actually slept really well even though he said he felt like a truck had run over him when he woke up!


The biggest scrape on his forehead had already started to scab over.
After all he went through - he brought ME coffee in bed!

I went out to get the mail today and discovered water and ice on the driveway!
The one faucet  Louis Dean forgot to winterize had a broken pipe!
SO here he was already not up to par and now he had to go out on this bitter cold day and work on repairs. It took a good while because he couldn't stay out long and we ended up having to go to Home Depot for more supplies. After he fixed the pipe, we had to wait for it to dry so I was without water all day until around 7:00 Friday night.
This was my baking day and that didn't start until tonight!

It's already 1:00 in the morning of Christmas Eve and I won't be going to bed for another hour or two.
I'm about to put the turkey in the oven to cook overnight - which thankfully has thawed out enough - I hope.



Louis Dean is resting in the den and is grateful the pipe is fixed now.
He noticed the front faucet is frozen up and we are hoping that pipe won't crack!

I still have hot water in the kitchen but not cold.
We left the faucet dripping but it was the hot water side - so the cold is still frozen.
It's going to be a challenge but I'm going now to deal with that turkey!

But before I go - I have one last bit of news to share.

Deanie called me this morning to let me know that Lonnie was taken by ambulance to the hospital after having had a seizure this morning.

They ran lots of tests and gave him some medication that will help prevent further seizures but he will be okay. Praise God! He should be able to come home in a day or two.
Praying for his sweet wife Michele as this was such a scare for her - and for me and Deanie and all who love Lonnie.

I will close with what Pam said on my Facebook post this evening.....

Never a dull moment!!!
Merry Christmas Eve!!!



21 comments:

  1. After my fall on cement a couple weeks ago, I feel his pain!!

    You two take care, stay warm, and enjoy the holiday with your loved ones!!

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  2. Oh wow, "Never a dull moment" is right! So thankful Louis Dean is okay, but that had to be scary and I know after a fall it takes a while to feel good again. Sorry also about the pipe bursting. That is an awful nuisance in the middle of everything else going on. Praying for no more mishaps or issues and that you can have a very Merry and peaceful Christmas! Such fun with your sweet quads! You are truly blessed. Have a very Merry Christmas...and praying you will stay warm and safe and DRY!

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  3. WE are aver cold here this morning with winds gusting making the wind chill feel like - 34 degrees below 0. I have a little electric fireplace but it's not putting out a lot of heat. It's chilly in here because with the wind, the furnace cannot keep up. Glad L.D was not hurt any worse and is doing fine along with your water pipes. So far none of mine have frozen and I'm thankful for that. Have a Merry Christmas there and celebrate Christ's birth!

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  4. What a Christmas! I hope everyone is fine.
    *love and hugs*

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  5. Oh my - and you are probably up and at it already this morning! Our lives are becoming more and more alike. The mom of my DIL Rosa, (Devin's mom) came up Thursday to spend Christmas here. As she was unloading her car, she twisted the wrong way and fell on her "real" shoulder - it's fractured and she sees an orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday. She's had the other shoulder replaced plus both knees.
    Devin's last surgery didn't go as planned, they could not get his mouth open enough to place the created appliance to attach to the titanium/bone jaw. They'll have to do it later with full anesthesia in order to "crank his mouth open enough" - surgeon's words. He starts his internship on January 4 and so wanted to be DONE.
    Prayers for LD, Lonnie and YOU.. Much love and enjoy your family Christmas.. With our Lord Jesus, there is always light ahead.

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  6. so sorry to hear of the not so dull moments going on. prayers for LD and for Lonnie. even with the non dull moments you always come through and have a fun time with your family and friends. Merry 'christmas and I hope the pipes don't burst

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  7. So happy you had a wonderful time with your family but sorry that LD fell. You are right, it could have been a lot worse but still falling when we are older is very scary. I hope you don't have anymore pipes break and stay warm:)

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  8. Never a dull moment, oh poor Louis Dean! I love love love that you changed your rules so the kids can wake you up, oh the time with young ones is precious. I hope you have the merriest Christmas, and that all your frozen pipes are fixed with minimal damage...we're in central NY, have to leave our kitchen sink running at night on the cold nights, learned the hard way. Thank you for sharing such nice pictures!
    Della

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  9. Looks like you are having an exciting and memorable Christmas, with both a lot of good and little of the not so good thrown in. So sorry to hear of Louis Dean's accident, but I am glad that he seems to be doing OK. When we heard about the horribly cold temperatures in Texas, we wondered if there would be problems with the water and power grid like last year. I sure hope you can get the pipes fixed quickly and that Louis Dean heals quickly. You guys are awesome. Have a wonderful Christmas!

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  10. So glad all is well, inspite of the mayhem. After I fell and broke my wrist, I am always so vigilant about step ups etc but we cannot control everything in our lives. So glad the Bells were a help to you in making your sugarplums. It is hard to remember when they were just small and you would leave a morning snack for them so you could have a few more minutes in bed.:) They grow up too quickly. We are hoping to see Audrey and Joshua next week while we are in Ga. They are our only littles now. Have a blessed Christmas, Linda and Louis Dean.

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  11. Oh my!!!
    I too feel LD's pain. The cement and I met last month too. It does heal but the older we get the harder the cement!
    So sorry to hear about Lonnie too. Prayers for his recovery and that these meds will help him.
    Praying you stay warm and cozy during this Freeze and that your pipes will be ok too.
    Love you Linda and Merry Christmas to you and your wonderful family.
    Sue

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  12. Sorry to read of these misadventures - a long line at the show, the fall, the frozen pipes, etc. Hopefully the worse is out of the way and you have a smooth running and very Merry Christmas!

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  13. Praying for Lonnie and Michele and all of you who love them and want the best for them. It's not easy to have our peeps in any kind of trouble. And Louis Dean kissing the curb that way...yikes! So glad that he had his attending angels taking good care of him. You might have gone down, too, had you been holding hands. Things work out.

    Always good to have wonderful help in the kitchen. Such sweet smiles on those faces.

    I am so sorry for the frozen pipes. It's crazy all over. Currently, I am one of three houses on my street with power. Everyone else has none and it is not expected to be back before six this evening. I feel kind of guilty being warm and cozy baking cookies and wrapping gifts.

    A blessed, warm, and peaceful Christmas Eve to you both.

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  14. Merry Christmas to all. I am so thankful that LD and Lonnie will be ok. So much scary stuff. I've been up two nights in a row here. We had wind chills of 30 below. I do not ever remember feeling so cold. It seems the furnace has almost ran non stop. I have been turning space heaters on and off to get more heat. Te taps are running a thin stream not just dripping. I hate to think of the utility bills. Yikes. Please hug each other for me. I love all of you like family. Blessings, xoxo, Susie

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  15. Oh my Goodness. Things have really been happening around your house. Thankfully your husband wasn't hurt worse than he was. The frozen pipes are a problem. We also had one freeze this past week but it doesn't seem like the pipe cracked. Thankful for small mercies. Have a Blessed Christmas with all your wonderful family!!

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  16. I am having a delightful tome reading your blogs and catching up with your life…the one about the refrigerator was so funny.you are an amazing writer.

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  17. Oh my things do happen at Christmas - hope LD feels good again soon. We had a nice Christmas lunch today - ham, roast potatoes, asparagus with pavlova and cherry log for dessert. it is getting quite warm here so it is hard to imagine you guys being cold. Merry Christmas to you and your whole clan. XX

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  18. A very Merry Christmas to you Linda and we hope that Louis Dean is resting and feeling better after that nasty tumble.🎄❤️

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  19. Oh my gosh friend - you have had a rough week. I am glad that Dean is okay. Bless your pipe problem. I have to say it is bitter cold here too.

    Merry Christmas.

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  20. Poor LD! And Lonnie! So glad both are okay. I have a niece who had seizures and her meds helped her. She recently had a seizure again and can’t drive for6 months. Hard.

    It’s fun seeing the quads so grown up and what great helpers they are!

    I’m sure you had a wonderful Christmas!

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