CHRISTMAS is Coming!!

My Santas are DONE!!!

This is the one  I am keeping and then I have one all painted and packed in the truck to take HOME for Christmas! Our family has a tradition! Doesn't EVERY family have at least ONE?

On Christmas morning as many family members as possible gather at my sister's home for breakfast and then we do a Chinese Christmas Tree gift exchange! This is SUCH a fun thing to do and we spend a lot of time and thought on the gifts we take! I have taken different things over the years but for the last several my 'gift' has been a Santa painting. I paint a new one every year - 'NEW'  as in taken from a card or gift box and/or bag - and then painted up on canvas in oils.

I barely finished this one in time!!

As soon as we had our morning coffee yesterday I was out there putting on the final glaze.

My palette had seen better days but it served its purpose until the very end!

I lay out the paint when I start a new picture and then FREEZE it (by placing a palette paper on top, folding it in quarters and placing it in a freezer bag) in between painting sessions.

We spent today in Quadville and I admit it was hard to say goodbye to these precious babies!!

We realize what a blessing it is to be a part of their lives - especially since we have been there for them from 'the beginning!'

Louis Dean was determined to spend some 'Quality Time' with each one of the babies today - 

knowing it will be nearly a week before he holds them again.

Little Logan - who SMILES as big as she can every single time you say 'PRETTY!' - is usually most comfortable sitting BESIDE her Granddad where she can see what is going on.

However......Louis Dean has convinced her to be a 'Shoulder Baby' as well!!

He does have a way with these quads!!

He held them all during the course of this day! For EXTENDED lengths of time!!

SH! Don't tell Amber how much we spoil the babies!!!

How can we RESIST??

In between feedings, diaper changes, laundry and tummy time I wrapped presents, made Popcorn Crunch....

.....and worked on the quads Christmas gift!

A denim play mat for their tummy time.

All I have left to do on it is the 'quilting.' I will 'stitch in the ditch' along the denim squares.

I will do my best to get this done in time for Christmas!

Harrison and I had a BALL today as I made some weird mouth 'music/noise' and he laughed and laughed until he had TEARS!!! And so did I!!! We had so much fun together!

I usually put the TV on to the 'Toddler Tunes' and then sing/dance/entertain them.

Sometimes it works - and sometimes I am a total DUD!!

The thrill of it all!!! You never know when you will be a STAR in their eyes!

As I write - Louis Dean AND Lucy are both sound asleep - AND SNORING!!

The truck is all packed, the camper is clean and everything on our 'To Do' list has been DONE!!!

All that's left is for me to pack up my laptop and turn in myself.

3:30 am comes early!

He wants to be on the road by 4:00!

That's fine with me because I will be snuggled up in the back seat!

I promised him we can stop for breakfast at Sam's Cafe  in Fairfield, Texas.

They have a buffet Louis Dean dearly loves!!!

It will make a nice break in the drive home since it is half way or so!

And I AM anxious to get 'home.'

I want to see my other four grandchildren and my oldest two children.

AND my MOTHER and SISTER!

It's a wonderful thing to be able to live in TWO worlds!

I am so grateful God has worked out all the details of our lives that we can DO this!!

And by the way!! Have you noticed my new Christmas Blog look??

Part of it I did MYSELF!!

The header my talented daughter, Amber, did FOR me!!

She is a professional writer and you can check out her blog - which includes a tidbit where the quads were mentioned in Houston Modern Luxury where she was a senior editor before quads 'BQ' and is now a freelance writer and a regular contributor editor HERE!!!

I guess it's time for me to sign off and go to sleep!!

Catch you all later!!!

A Table FULL of Family!!

This Thanksgiving Day there were more adults than there were babies in the Bell house!

Amber thought this first Thanksgiving when the quads are too young to travel they would be spending the holiday alone. Not so! We decided to stay down here in Houston rather than fight the traffic to go back home. Especially since we already planned to go home for our visit at the end of the month.

Amber's dad called to see when would be a good time to visit the quads and THEY were free to come down HERE for Thanksgiving. Win! WIN!! Amber had BOTH sets of her parents - at the same time for the first time since her wedding day 6 years ago!

*update*
Louis Dean and I were just talking and we remember ALL the parents - including Mike's! - gathering at Texas Roadhouse in February 2010 when Amber and Mike returned for a visit mid point in the year they lived in Aberdeen, Scotland. Children - no matter the age - always seem to bring families together!

The two grandmothers! So many babies we could ALL hold one!

My beautiful daughter!

I love Trystan's little cheeks!

SHE sat at the dining room table with us and tried a tiny taste of my sweet potato casserole -

and she LOVED it!!

The quads Thanksgiving menu was pureed acorn squash.

Every baby got their own bowl, spoon AND feeder!!

Holiday or not - the babies get their daily Tummy Time!

Jesse and his wife hit the grocery store when they got into town and bought lots of goodies for this tray of appetizers!

There was PLENTY of food!

Louis Dean and I have been cooking all week!

Dessert was Pumpkin Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory!

Amber had heard about it and we found one - at Sam's!

(It WAS very good!!)

Louis Dean manned the camera for us!

He looks so innocent here!

He was really trying to talk me into giving him a SECOND piece of cheesecake!

(He didn't get it!)

By the end of the afternoon we were all just as tired as Trystan!!

Eating and football watching can be exhausting!!

We were excited over the Texans WIN and disappointed over the Cowboys LOSS!

We came back to the camper and after a little bitty nap - took ALL the fall decorations down!

This place looks EMPTY now!!

Tomorrow we'll string up the colored lights which are Louis Dean's favorite!

Before he and I married I NEVER used colored lights!

But he loves them so!

After a pretty warm day - it has turned into a chilly evening.

I put my robe on and we watched the movie 'Blind Side' on TV while we ate a supper of crackers and milk.

While I finish up this blog post......

Louis Dean is sitting on HIS side of the table listening to music.

I think it's about time to put this day to bed!

We're off tomorrow so we will be hanging around the camper doing little projects.

It's been a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving EVE!

I think I enjoy the EVE of a holiday as much - if not more - than the holiday itself!

The EVE is full of anticipation and preparation - the hustle and bustle of getting READY!

I LOVE it!

It was a beautiful day here in the Houston area!

WARM - high was in the 80's and when I cam in from caring for the quads today the camper was HOT!

Trystan was loving her 11:45 AM meal of sweet potatoes!

So did Logan Love!!

Now that the feeds are FOUR hours apart - I had time to whip up a batch of Popcorn Crunch for us to munch on during the Thanksgiving Day football games!

It was an interesting day in the RV park....

as I left this morning a retired couple from Washington were leaving.

They were headed to New Orleans to meet up with some cousins.

When I returned this afternoon another big rig was pulling in from out of state.

They are here to spend Thanksgiving weekend with family in Spring, Texas.

This was the closest RV park with an availability.

They stopped by to visit for a few minutes and admire my Santa paintings. 

She wanted to BUY one of them! I had to tell her they are still in progress ....and not for sale.

We told them about the HEATED pool and great hot tub.

Guess where they are now?

Louis Dean is outside now carving up the turkey he cooked today.

I have already mixed up the stuffing made from homemade cornbread and wheat bread.

The pan I used is a vintage metal wash basin - all dented and full of character!!

I bought it at an estate sale years ago!

Wonder where it's been and the stories it could tell!

All is done now!! We are just sitting by the fire and counting our blessings!

This Thanksgiving Day will be a memorable one.

Amber's dad - my husband for 41 years - arrived today to see the quads for the very first time.

We will all be spending the day together tomorrow.

This will be the first holiday Amber has had BOTH her parents with her at the same time since she was 17 years old! Jesse will be with his lovely wife, Cynthia, and I with my beloved Louis Dean.

Together we will all celebrate the wonder of four precious babies.

Isn't the grace of God absolutely amazing?

To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.  

~Johannes A. Gaertner

The Mully Grubs are GONE!!!

I am finally feeling more like myself today! Thanks, in part, to Nicki's comment on my post yesterday!!

"As it is Sunday, I hope you are feeling better today. Will it give you a small chuckle (or maybe a big laugh) if I tell you I Googled "mully grubs" as I thought that perhaps it was a Texas pest of some sort.....after all you had been cleaning but could not get rid of the "mully grubs"....I had to laugh at myself when I saw what it meant - just another phrase I am not familiar with!!!!"

If you are reading this, Nicki - thank you SO much for the good laugh!!

And for those who are unfamiliar with mully grubs - here's the Urban Dictionary Definition -

"A period of time when one is feeling down and out. Depressed, hopeless, lonely and sad."

That being said, I am on the mend. This was our last full normal day at home. Since we were gifted with that extra hour this morning - I spent mine doing art!

This afternoon I attended a Wedding Planning Party for my niece - which was a lot of fun!

It was held at my sister's house (where my mother lives).

Tomorrow is Nita's birthday so it was like a double party!!

There was plenty of tasty tidbits to nibble on!

Yummy dips.....even a birthday cake and champagne to toast both the party and my sister's birthday!

(Thank you to Shannon for the pics! I left my camera at home!)

We were looking at ideas Leah had saved to her laptop.........

(Leah is the beautiful bride to be....)

and I MAY have been a little more emphatic about some points than I should have been!

It was all in good fun and we had a blast!

So, yes, I think I finally got rid of the mully grubs!

THEN.......I came home!

Still no mully grubs but there WAS a 'gnashing of teeth!'

I had waltzed off for the afternoon leaving Louis Dean UNATTENDED for several hours!!

It is really not safe to leave him home alone for more than a few MINUTES!!

Even then it is RISKY!

The area in front of the stone privacy wall was all uneven and hilly where it was supposed to be FLAT!

(LD has added soil a number of times to build up the ground for his cucumbers - which failed to grow!)

I had asked him if he could level this off and he had already taken 2 wheelbarrows of dirt and carried them to the back. (Now I did not ask to SEE where he had put them! Sometimes it's best to just not KNOW!)

Can you see the TV antenna LD bought?

 He could only get the picture to come in if he put the antenna on TOP of my lamp!

The plan was for him to watch football this afternoon and go out and get one more wheelbarrow full and take it to the back. WELL......when I got home he had dug all that ground up like a herd of gophers had attacked it AND uprooted the row of liriope plants and Asian jasmine that was perfectly FINE!! He MOVED these plants to an area where they do not belong and now will most likely die. He actually planted them where years ago he killed all the bushes by cutting them down to the ground with his chain saw! Perhaps he was trying to redeem that act - I don't know.

I decided to ignore all that disheveled landscaping in the front yard and come in and do some more work on my Santa paintings. I donned my paint smock, opened the turpentine and flipped the switch to the attic fan.

I smelled something BURNING so I called for Louis Dean to come fast and see what was going on!!!

He yelled, "Not to worry!!! That's just some TRASH I was burning!"

For some unknown reason he got the idea in his head to BURN all our trash.

I am at a total loss as to how his mind works!!

We live in the CITY and have trash picked up at the curb.

I didn't last long at the art table tonight.

Hard to be creative when the putrid smell of 'Burn' is sweeping through your house.

This is not to be confused with the sweet aroma of a wood fire in the outdoor fire pit.

No - this is more like what you would smell at a landfill. 

So thus ends my day.

No more mully grubs - they have been replaced with the gnashing of teeth and the pulling of hair!!

It may well be for the best that we will be returning to the camper soon.

It is a much smaller area and there is more control there.

Poor Louis Dean.

He just can't have ANY fun!

Welcome to My World!!

We were so happy to welcome my mother and sister to Quadville!

They arrived Sunday afternoon and left Wednesday morning.

We had a BABY packed visit!

Deanie was happy to have her arms filled with baby girls!

My mother had been looking forward to this day for months and months!

The visit - which was originally scheduled for August and then September - was delayed because of Mother needing a cancerous mole on her face removed.

She looks beautiful and the surgery healed up nicely!

She held one baby after another until she had held all FOUR!

Too bad I didn't get a pic of her holding Logan!

This is Trystan.

Aunt Deanie was a huge hit with the quads!

She could make all of them laugh and laugh!

She made us ALL laugh!

Harrison warmed right up to her.......

.....and Kailey LOVED her Aunt Deanie doing the 'Little Green Fly!'

This was the very FIRST time we noticed Kailey imitating!

We celebrated their arrival with some seriously good food!

Mike has a state of the art grill and he knows how to use it!!

Meet and Greet Time for the siblings!

Love how their toes touch!

Here's Great Grandma with Logan!

Amber is such a good mom! Nothing was easy about her quad pregnancy and the 57 days in the hospital on a Magnesium Sulphate IV! OR the 2 months in the NICU as she traveled back and forth every day while trying to recover her strength!

Truth be told - she is STILL trying to recover! That doesn't stop her from doing everything she can do to help the babies in their development. She is a real MOM!

She has added these bumbo seats to their daily routine.

Mother was there for this the next day and got right down there on the floor with them!

She is amazing!

I HAD to show them our favorite Mexican restaurant one evening!

They also got a tour of our camper home!

We had so much fun!

The next day Deanie was back to making the babies laugh!!

Trystan DOES love her Aunt Deanie!!

So does Logan but we had to admit - she was a harder audience!

Harrison was sporting his newest cap from Aunt Summer!

Can't leave Kailey out of the Quad Squad Parade!

Between all of us - we took hundreds of pictures!

Mother was excited to have this time with the quads!

She was sad when it was time to leave.......so were WE!

We all had such a good time.

There was a baby in every one's arms nearly the entire time!

I joined them for breakfast at their hotel for one last visit!

Seems like the time flew by!!

I was happy they were able to 'see' Quadville for themselves!

There is SO much more going on than you would believe possible.

Thank you, Deanie, for coming!!!!

Thank you for bringing Mother!!!

PLEASE come back!!!

We miss you already!