Granddad and I were all ready for the kids when they arrived Wednesday morning about 11:30!!
LD and dressed in matching outfits and I was just waiting to hear the kids talk about MeeMaw's overalls!!! Not.one.word.
I just KNEW Kailey would get a kick out of it BUT not.one.word.
I guess they only have eyes for Granddad!!! Although, on the 4th of July, TWO of the girls told me my dress was pretty. You just never know!
At any rate, the bib pockets came in real handy throughout the day and I kept my phone and camera handy and never had to go looking for them!
My sweet Amber has been battling a severe headache for several days now and still she lingered with the kids over the Lego blocks before she left for her dental appointment.
That's what she usually does on Wednesdays when she doesn't have to worry about the quads. She makes her medical appointments and uses the time to meet her work deadlines - as she has continued to work from home all this time!!
The kids were excited about these 'Little' Lego's!! I told them only BIG KIDS can play with these because they are so small! I bought this bag at a thrift store for $5.99! What a bargain!!
Have you PRICED Lego's lately??
The thing is - I have a large white tub chock FULL of the Lego's Benjamin had when he was a little boy. The neighbor kids and the older grands have played for hours and hours with these! The thing is - I put them up since the older ones were too old for them and the quads and Rayne were too young. NOW I can't FIND them!!! We are certain we didn't throw them away and I know they are not IN the house so I am assuming they are in a storage place outside somewhere!
Kids are fascinated with things to play with other than toys.
A button box is something even I played with when I was a little girl!
Logan and Kailey also like to pull the straight pins out of one cushion and stick them in another.
I was at the sewing machine stitching up a set of pajamas for all of them.
I totally forgot to take a picture, too!!!
Last week I made a pair of pajama pants for Harrison using the worn out all time favorite pair of Louis Dean's! There was enough good material for a size 4 and Harrison loved them! He said, "THANK you, MeeMaw!!! I've always wanted camo pajama pants!!" I had picked up four white tee shirts to go with the pants for everyone. The fabric was some I meant to sew for their Christmas a year or two ago! I cut small hearts of the pants fabric and sewed them to the tees so they would make sets. The kids all seemed to like them!
They know just where their favorite toys live!
Logan and Kailey had helped me bake a batch of Berry mini muffins and they scarfed them all down - saving one for Mama and one for Dada!!! I think LD got two and I got one - barely!
We played and had one of the easiest lunches ever!!!
I pulled things out of the fridge and they just helped themselves to what they wanted and no COOKING involved!! Fruit, meat, cheese, crackers, olives, whatever was on hand!
You do not even have to tell the kids what comes after lunch! They know the routine around here as well as we do! As I started to do the dishes, they were already choosing their nap pillows. I have a LOT of pillows! Louis Dean tells me this every single time he helps me make up our bed or the guest bed! Each child gets to pick any pillow from any bed OR anywhere in the house - as on sofas or chairs. After they select their pillows, they each choose a couple of books and then they take them out in the den and sit reading quietly until I get there. Once again, we ALL took very good naps!
Our late afternoon entertainment was an old Disney movie I picked up at the Goodwill last week....
The Fox and the Hound. We ALL enjoyed that one! In the middle of it, Granddad left to pick up pizza for our supper. We ate it in the den as we finished up the movie. Louis Dean asked me, "What did I miss?" He REALLY liked the film!!! Next week we have The Fox and the Hound II.
Finally the sun had gone down enough that we could go outside and play - in the water!!!
What easier way to give showers and shampoos than outside in the heat??
Harrison had fun getting the girls!
I love to see the kids playing and laughing.
With all the sorrows in the world, listening to the children play goes a long way in keeping my mind more centered. I admit to having a heavy heart lately over all that is happening to and in our country these days.
While I try to journal every evening, some nights I am simply too tired.
As soon as the kids left, I took a shower and went right straight to bed!
Thursday morning I have an appointment with my surgeon about my toe.
As it turns out, I never had an infection in it at all! The blood work showed everything was completely normal. His diagnosis was a delayed autoimmune reaction to the cadaver bone he used along with an extender and my own bone graft to reconstruct my toe. It just took awhile for my body to calm down and adjust. The good thing about the antibiotics is that at least that took care of my UTI I had been battling before surgery. Otherwise that whole ordeal of taking the medicine would have been for nothing!
The service roads by the highway in front of the hospital in Irving is all torn up!
It is now quite an ordeal to get to Big Lots but I made it today!!
Since I don't get there often, I made up for it with a whole shopping basket full of goodies!!
I got everything from a new stash of teas to new dishcloths, a dozen candles, lots of snacks and food things, hair color, all manner of stuff! I bought two lime cake mixes for $0.08 each!!! Imagine!
The expiration date is next month so I went right home and baked a cake!
A Lemon/Lime Pound Cake using the mix as the base.
You just add 4 eggs, a box of instant pudding, 3/4 cup of oil, 3/4 cup of water or liquid - I used 7 Up! and bake in loaf pans for 45 min. at 325*.
It turned out delicious!
That's what I took to the Jam Session Thursday night!
It had been months since we have been there so we grabbed this opportunity!
Can you see the nifty drink holder Louis Dean designed and made for his cart?
He uses the cart to wheel in his stool, music stand and guitar.
I didn't take many pics but there were several musicians and a sprinkle of people in the audience.
I was glad to be one of them!!
I am surprised this video actually loaded up!
I think it is 3 or 4 verses of LD singing 'Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?'
When he sings to me, THIS is always the very last song he sings!
Fast forward to the ending if it's a bit too long!
They play for an hour and take a break to have refreshments before going back to play for another hour. I left after the break but not before Louis Dean sang his 'special' song.
I drove straight over here to Quadville and spent the night!
They were just finishing up dinner when I arrived so we all did the bedtime routine together - reading, prayer and bed!
It's fun waking up in Quadville because the kids can't WAIT to get downstairs and tell me the sun is UP!! This morning Trystan ran into the guest room and then ran back to her mama! She said, "MeeMaw is UNDER the covers! Not even her ARMS are showing!!" THEN she ran back to the bed and started telling me it was time to get UP!!!
Harrison was still sleeping and Amber took Logan with her while she got her hair done today. She makes a point of spending quality one on one time with each of her children, This is not always an easy or convenient thing to do but she makes it happen. That's the reason I came over last night - to allow her some extra time to get away.
I am trying to ease back into exercising again after having toe surgery 7 weeks ago and missing exercising for about 2 weeks before that! I am stiff as all get out so I thought I would start off easy.
Kailey and Trystan were game to do some Yoga for Children and I was happy to join them!
After a few exercises we could do while sitting at the table, I put the laptop on the floor and we did a 16 minute workout using all the parts of our body as it explained how this was making us strong and heart healthy!!!
To celebrate we had CAKE for breakfast!!!
I had brought over a small loved of the lime pound cake last night so we finished that off this morning. Served with a scoop of Greek yogurt and sliced strawberries, it was a pretty good breakfast!!
Harrison was being silly as he kept taking my tea and drinking it!!
It's the Indulgio Pomegranate pods I bought yesterday at Big Lots for Amber's Keurig!
Yummmmm! We really like it!!
There's always chores to do in every home and especially in one with four kids!!
Yesterday they all changed sheets on SIX beds!!
This morning Trystan, Kailey and Harrison helped me fold and put up laundry!
I love how responsible these little people are!!
Lunch was a smorgasbord of all sorts of leftovers in the fridge!
There was everything from pasta and chicken to green beans to pancakes, sausage, rice, and pickles!
We all had plenty to eat and then it was time to gather our books and go upstairs for reading and naps.
Amber and Logan had a ball today!!!
Amber got her hair done, they went out for lunch and spent some quality time in a book store!!
Errands and home!!! Amber was one tired but happy mom!!! Logan was glowing like a light bulb!
I am always so impressed with the quality and quanity of attention she gives her childdren. She was exhausted after getting Logan in and out of the car and going in and out of the places - all the time limping along in her heavy boot!
It was like a reunion when they came home. The others had just got up from naps so they were so excited to see Mama and Logan! I heard HArrison say, "We MISSED you, Logan!!" Ahhhh.....
While Amber read to them from the big box of books she brought home, I poured a glass of wine and baked a cake.
I told you I bought TWO cake mixes!!
Louis Dean came over early this afternoon for a few hours and brought me all the ingredients to make another pound cake.
While Logan and Amber were at the store, Logan looked at the cakes and declared, "We don't need another dessert!! MeeMaw is baking another cake for us today!"
Facebook
This was a funny on Facebook today and I thought I would throw it in!!!
And so I did!
We ate slices warm from the oven WITH butter!!
We did one last activity before I left Quadville this evening!
Louis Dean and I each have a stethoscope so he brought them over today.
Amber is doing unit studies with the quads this summer and this week started the one on the human body! There is a wealth of material for this one and the kids got a big kick out of listening to each other's heart beat!
Kailey wanted to hear her Mommy's heart!!!
I gathered up my stuff and headed for home right after the Friday evening traffic!
The first thing I do when I get home - other than Damage Control and that is minimal these days - is to unpack and put up!!
The NEXT thing is to pour a glass of wine and put my feet up!!!
It's been a good day in Quadville.
Spending time with family was just what this day called for.
As the news of last night's horror unfolded, our hearts grew sadder and sadder today.
Lucas Nelson and Promise of the Real - Facebook
I do not know how people's hearts can be so ugly.
We are Americans, we are brothers and sisters, no matter the color of our skin.
How, then, can so FEW affect so MANY??
We are ALL loved by God and should love one another.
Pancho and Lefty Facebook photo
There was an outpouring of support from the community to and for our police officers today.
Perhaps there is hope for us and a lesson to be learned.
ALL lives matter, folks!
Every life, every color, every soul.
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