Happy First Birthday to James

Friday I worked so hard and finished cleaning Nana and Papaw's house. I was so relieved and exhausted. I knew I was supposed to work full time next week (more about that in a min.), so I was stressed trying to make sure I finished. I picked Ryan up after school and came home. I made cookies for Matt because he was picking up Ryan to go to the ballgame. It was funny because Ryan said, "do you know Matt wants to just hang out here until time for us to go to the ballgame?" I said, "why do you think I am making cookies?" lol   Ryan grinned.  I love that Matt loves the cookies I make (as I have written before), so I always want to make sure I have them on hand when he is here.

Ryan and Matt left for the ballgame at 6PM.  I was going to run out and get Mark some fast food, but he didn't want me to. He said we would just find something here (although I was out of everything). I ended up making him some Spanish rice. He also snacked on some peanuts. I really don't remember what I ate. Ha!

I relaxed and rested all evening. Ryan got home around 11PM. He and Matt had had a great time. I loved hearing about it. I finally got up and washed the dishes and got ready for bed. I planned to sleep really late the next morning.

Saturday morning I woke around 6:30...bright eyed. "sigh" It seems like that always happens when I want to sleep late. I laid there a while then got up. I washed my hair and took a bath. I put on my makeup and sat down to eat breakfast. I got really sleepy, so I decided I would doze for a bit. I don't know how long I slept, but I felt better when I woke. I got ready and went to do the grocery shopping. It was such a beautiful day.

When I shop, I go to different stores to get the best deals. I was gone for three hours. I stopped on the way home to get Ryan some hamburgers he wanted.

When I got home, I rushed upstairs to refresh myself and my makeup. I made Ryan bring up the groceries and I put away the cold stuff.  Sandra picked me up in just a little bit to go to my niece's baby's first birthday party. We stopped at CVS and picked up Mary. We got there right at 5:00. They were having the party in their old church sanctuary. It was really cool with a lot of space and room for the kids to play.

Nikki brought Haley, Mason, and her niece, Audrey. There were several other cousins there too.

They had so much fun throwing a little ball, chasing it, banging into each other, falling on top of each other to get the ball. Mason played too, but he was not in this pic.

Here is Mason eating his carrot. He favorite food is grapes and bananas. He ate lots of grapes.

Haley loves carrots. It is her favorite food. She sat on Kevin's lap for a while eating carrots the whole time. She even tried to feed the to him. :)

My brother came to talk to Kevin and Haley was shy around him. So, she just put her head on Kevin's shoulder and ate her carrots. haha

 

Little James is a gorgeous, brown eyed darling. He is so calm and sweet.



He loved his cake.

After he ate his cake, they opened his gifts. He crawled and walked some. He is doing really well and will probably be walking everywhere in the next few days.

I had a wonderful time seeing my family. We don't get together like we did before Granny passed away. It was so great to see all the little ones. You all know how much I love all the little kids and babies.

I got home around 7:30PM. I crashed and relaxed for awhile. Then, I started practicing my piano music for Sunday. Since Kevin is no longer pastor, Jared is not going to our church. He is an awesome, amazing piano player and played for our choir. Now, I am trying to fill in until we (hopefully) find another piano player. I played when I was young and hardly played for years. Now I am having to transpose songs (which I have never done) and believe me, it is way out of my comfort zone. It means I have to practice, practice, practice, and pray I don't mess up. Still, sometimes I find myself reading the notes on the page instead of transposing it in my head.

Needless to say, I got to bed late last night and got up early this morning. I washed my hair, bathed, and got ready. Then I woke Ryan to get ready. I asked if he wanted to run up to the Dollar Store and get me some food coloring. I discovered last night I didn't have any for the Sunday School project I wanted to do. Ryan had never driven anywhere by himself, so he was happy to go. Mark and I were a little nervous, but he did great (Thank God!). He was back soon and I was able to get the project finished before church.

Today in Sunday School, I read about the disciples and Jesus in a boat and a terrible storm came. Jesus was asleep in the ship and they woke him. He calmed the storm and the waves. For our craft, I put water in a water bottle half full. Then, I added a couple drops of blue food coloring (to represent the water). I added oil to fill it up. I also added a plastic boat I had made out of paper covered in clear tape. I glued the lid on (so the little guy could not open and make a mess) and we shook the bottle to make angry waves. I forgot to take a pic of it. :(  Our memory verse was part of the verse that says "even the winds and the waves obey him." It was so funny....I told Brysen he had to say the memory verse before he could watch a little video on my tablet showing the Bible story. So, he said it. Different times during the lesson/class I would repeat the Bible verse as I kept repeating the story (so he would remember it). I asked him to repeat it again to see if he remembered it and he said, "I already said it." HAHAHA!!!

This afternoon after lunch, I took a good nap. I still felt tired when I woke. I got up and practiced the piano songs for tonight. Then I washed a bunch of dishes I had left from last night. I have been doing really well keeping my dishes washed, but I was just to tired/lazy to do them last night. Then, Ryan and I got ready and went back to church. I have just relaxed on the couch since we got home.

Tomorrow, Lord willing, I go back to work. I LOVE my job. I will have to write more about it tomorrow (hopefully). I am staying with a sweet older woman who has had several strokes. She does not think clearly all the time and is unsteady on her feet. She has a great, sweet personality and a wonderful sense of humor. I love her dearly.

Ok, I am off to bed. I pray you all have a peaceful night and wonderful day tomorrow. Till next time.....

It Isn't Fractured, Only Sprained

This morning Ryan and I were up early to get ready for his appt.  Last night we had gotten directions from google, and I knew exactly how to get to the area of the office. Well, when we got to where google maps told us the office was located, it was something else. grrrrrrr We had to go back on google maps and try to figure it out. Ryan and I got in an argument, but we finally found it. I am glad we left early because we got there on time.

When they called Ryan back to the room, the first thing they asked was if the dr. office had sent Ryan's x-rays so they wouldn't have to take more. grrrrrr No, they didn't. It really would have saved us money if they had given them to us to bring to the orthopedic clinic. They took three more x-rays. The PA came in to talk to us and check Ryan's wrist. She was so nice. We really liked her. Then she went to get the x-ray results. She came back and said he didn't have a break at all. It was only a sprain. She said the line on the x-ray the dr. office thought was a break was only a growth line. The doctor's office did not have the expertise to know that. Yay!!!! I am so thankful! It was funny because after Ryan had the x-rays and came back to room, he said, "wouldn't it be funny if they came back in here and told us nothing was wrong." I gave him this doubtful look and told him that wasn't going to happen. Haha! He was right. Well, she did say there was a sprain, but she thought it would be fine by next week.

To be truthful, as I was leaving, I felt so frustrated knowing that if the doctor's office had read the x-ray correctly, we would not have the expense of going to a specialist. So frustrating. We have awful insurance which has $1000 deductible per person. It bothered me all afternoon. Then I decided I could concentrate on the bad or be thankful. I chose to be thankful! Thank God it was not fractured!!!! We didn't have to worry about a cast and going back for all the followup visits. I felt so much better.

As soon as we got out of the dr. office, we went straight to Nana's so I could work on cleaning the house. I had to work harder to get accomplished what I needed since I got there late. Thank God I did get done what I needed to finish on time. It will take me two more days (hopefully) to finish.

I was so completely exhausted when I got home. I got a snack and then fell asleep for a little bit 20-30min. Then I got up, washed dishes from last night, and fixed supper. After supper I baked cookies for Ryan. I didn't eat any. Yay!!! For the past few weeks I have been stress eating, so I am trying to cut back.

In other news, ;), Nikki took Haley and Mason to the fair this past weekend. They had a blast. Haley talked to me on the phone and told me about riding a pony named Chocolate. Mason got to ride one too. They rode several rides and got to pet animals. They had a blast. Nikki sent me several pictures on my phone. That is why these are small.

 

 

The next picture I got from Nikki's facebook page. That is why it is larger.

 



 

It is my favorite!!!  Ahhhhh I love my babies so so much!!!

A couple of weekend's ago I kept Haley overnight and Nikki's mom kept Mason. I was supposed to pick up Mason Sunday morning and take him to church with us and then take them both home later that day. I called Nikki's mom to tell her we were on our way, and she said Mason was sick and for us to pick him up after church.

I got the cutest pictures of Haley and Brysen watching Bible stories in my Sunday School class.

 

 

So precious!

 

After church we picked up Mason. His nose was running and at times he felt like he was running a temp. After lunch I held him while he slept almost two hours. He acted like he felt better after that. That evening, Martha and I took them home.

 

The next day, Monday, Nikki had to bring him back up here to the dr. He had croup and sounded bad. They gave him a steroid shot and cough medicine. By the end of the week, he was so much better. And, it was a good thing, because he poured his cough medicine down the sink right after Nikki had given him a dose. ;)

 

Ok, that is enough catch up for tonight. I have to fix Mark and Ryan's lunch for tomorrow and get to bed. I am supposed to go back to clean tomorrow. I pray I have the strength to get a lot accomplished. I have so much to post, but I will have to write a little at a time.

 

Hope you all have a wonderful, blessed night and day tomorrow.

Ryan Fractured His Wrist

Last Friday night Ryan spent the night with Matthew. I picked them up at school and brought them back to our house for Ryan to pack. As we were on the way, I told Matt I had planned to fix him cookies, but I fell asleep. I said I was going to go fix them while Ryan was packing. Matt said they were in no hurry. Hahaha I love him, and I love that he loves the cookies I make.

They relaxed, played guitar and talked while I baked cookies. Ryan finally got around to packing. We left to go to Matt's around 5PM.  They  had already gone downstairs, and I was doing something (??) before I came down. When I got downstairs, Ryan said he fell and hurt his wrist. He said he couldn't drive as he planned. He and Matt had been jumping on the pogo stick without the rubber thingie on the bottom and it caused Ryan to fall. Ryan said he watched Matt jump on it and he thought he could too. Ryan had a long way to fall and broke his fall with his right hand.

Ryan talked about it hurting all the way to Matt's. I was concerned about him going, but he said he could tell it was just sprained. He said he would be fine. Not knowing what I should do, I let him go.

The next morning Ryan and Matt went fishing. Ryan said he could not cast because of his wrist. I guess Matt casted for him. Anyway, as they were leaving, Ryan slid on some rocks, and fell again, catching himself on his right hand. He said it hurt so bad he could not move it for a couple of hours. Of course he did not call me to pick him up.

When I picked him up later, it was swelling some and hurting. I went straight to the store and got him a wrist brace to stabilize it. All weekend he kept telling me he knew it was just a strain. We let others look at it and they thought it was a strain too. Ryan kept saying he didn't need to go to the dr.

Sunday night Ryan started researching about it. He told me he really needed to go to the dr. because if one of the bones were broken and not fixed, he may not be able to move his finger later.
So Monday we went to the dr.

 

After examining his wrist, she said she would be surprised if it wasn't broken, and she was right. It was not dislocated tho', Thank God! They made an appointment for Wed (tomorrow) with an orthopedic dr. to put a cast on it. She also wants them to check the other side of his wrist to see if a bone may be broken in that area. She said they couldn't see it well on the x-ray.

 

On the way home, we stopped at Ryan's favorite guitar store. It is right up the road from the dr. office. Having a broken wrist did not prevent him from playing the guitar for a while.

 

 

 

He has his heart set on a twelve string guitar. I loved how it sounded.

 

On the way home, we stopped at the church to change the sign.

If you notice on the sign, we have changed pastors. Kevin felt God leading him to resign and we elected Tyler. He is only 27. He is very humble, which means so much. He amazes me how well he does and how knowledgeable he is in the word of God. I love him dearly. He and his wife Kristen have a three year old (who is in my Sunday School class) and a eight month old. She was three months pregnant and lost the baby last week. It broke my heart for them. She was back at church Sunday. I love her dedication and sweet personality. She has always been willing and eager to help in the church.

 

When we got home, I fixed stir fry for supper.

Sandra and Wayne had given us zucchini and squash. I cut that up and cooked it in stir fry sauce (bought). Then I added the chicken I had already cooked in the sauce. After it was warmed thru, I added a fresh chopped tomato Papaw Shar had given us. I served it over rice and it was so delicious. For dessert, we ate watermelon Wayne had given us from his garden. Delicious supper. Thanks Sandra, Wayne, and Papaw!!!!

 

Another major event in Ryan's life is he got his driver's license. The testing center has so many applicants they are now taking appointments. Ryan took his test Sept 3. He was so worried about passing. He is a great driver, but ya never know how they are going to grade. His tester was strict, but he passed. Yay!!!!

 

Matt stayed home from school so he could go be a moral support for Ryan. How sweet is that?!! I really think Ryan did better with Matt there because it kept him from worrying so much.

 

Ok, I have to get off here. Ryan has an appointment at 10:15 tomorrow morning to get a cast on his wrist. Then I am supposed to clean Nana's house. Hope you all have a blessed night and day tomorrow.

 





Working Outside and Other Stuff

Yesterday I finished cleaning at Nana and Papaw's. Yay!! I'm telling ya, I was completely exhausted. I left their house a little after 3PM (I think) and went to the bank and Walmart. Mark had told me the night before he needed two cheesecakes for a fund raiser at his work. I had to get the stuff to fix them.

On the way home, we stopped and changed the church sign.

It says, "Ignoring the truth doesn't change it."

By the time we got home, I didn't have much time to rest before I needed to start supper. I had a menu plan in my head and what I had planned to fix for supper had several steps. So, it wasn't an easy meal. I decided to go ahead and fix it anyway. I really had to push myself because I was soooo tired.

The recipe was Chicken Bacon Lo Mein. I usually fix it when I am with Andrew and Nikki because they love it.  I cooked a little over half a pound of bacon and set it to the side. Then I cooked diced chicken in the bacon greese. After removing the chicken, I added chopped broccoli, shredded carrots, onion wedges, a couple of minced garlic, and 1/4 tsp. of ginger. As that was cooking, I boiled a cup of water and dissolved chicken bouillon in it (1 Tbspn) (I use "Better Than Bouillon--I love it!) Then I added it to the veggies with 1/4 cup soy sauce.  After it cooked a bit, I returned the chicken to the skillet.  In the meantime, I cooked a pot of spaghetti. As everything was simmering, I crumbled the bacon.

After the spaghetti cooked, I drained it and mixed it with the chicken and veggies. I sprinkled the bacon on top.

It was so delicious!!!  

After supper I rested till 10PM. Then I washed dishes, made two cheesecakes (one cherry & one blueberry), and baked Ryan some cookies. He was needing something to snack on. I think I may have eaten a couple too. I honestly don't remember. I have the hardest time resisting anything sweet. When I am trying to eat better and loose weight, sometimes I tell God I am NOT going to eat something. (always has to do with sugar/dessert)  If I tell myself I am not going to eat something, I always fail. But if I tell God, I keep my word.  For instance, I told God today or last night that I was not going to eat anything after supper.  It is my worst time. It is not that I am hungry. I just want something sweet!!! Soooo, here I sit about to die because I am wanting something sweet. I am having no trouble resisting because I do not want to break my word to God.  If I make it several days without eating too much sugar, my cravings usually go away and I have no trouble......unless I give in and then it starts all over again.

This morning I slept till almost 9:30. WooHoo! I felt so good. I slowly woke and took my time getting up. I even read my Bible before I got out of bed. I usually always start my day on my knees thanking God for taking care of us during the night and His protection during the day...among a LOT of other things. :) 

I turned on the coffeemaker and fixed sausage and eggs mixed for Ryan and me. I always try to get plenty of protein for breakfast. I know Nikki is probably laughing as she reads this because she and Andrew think I am all about protein (it's true). I let Ryan sleep longer and I just relaxed for awhile. 

After awhile I got him up, and while he ate, I threw on some old clothes to work in the yard. After Ryan ate, he took a shower (yes, he did) and then we went out to work. We worked so hard and got so much accomplished. 

He mowed the yard while I cleaned out this messy landscaping bed.

I am not completely finished with it. I still have to lay landscaping cover and mulch in it. I will try to post a pic later. I weedeated the yard and the ditch. Ryan cleaned up the weeds and other plants I am replanting and dug up small trees in the ditch that I couldn't weedeat. He also blew the grass, etc. off the driveway. He wanted me to trim the bushes in the front, but it was too late. I was so tired. 

I went straight to the shower. I wanted to make sure I didn't have any poison ivy on me. I have the worst time with it. I was just able to sit down a few minutes before I started supper. Ryan went to take his second bath for the day. 

Later when I looked out at the yard, I was so happy to see how everything looked.

 If you look closely, you can see my flowers are blooming at the mailbox.

For supper I fixed a chicken taco mixture that we ate with tortilla strips. I cooked rice with a little bit of the taco seasoning pkg. Then I cooked chicken that I had diced. I added the rest of the taco seasoning, 1 can of mild rotel, and 1 can of pinto beans. After it was boiling, I added chopped velveeta (a little over a cup). When it melted and the rice was done, I mixed them all together. I put it in a bowl, put sour cream on top, and stuck tortilla strips in the side.

It is sooo good too. I got this recipe from Mary's recipe blog. Except I added a can of Rotel instead of the one cup of salsa the recipe called for. I was out of salsa and didn't want to run to the store.

I am trying to blog about my meals because sometimes I draw a blank on what to fix. Maybe I can look back on the blog and get some ideas.  Monday night I fixed chicken stir fry (I didn't take a pic), and Friday night I fixed homemade pizza's.

I needed more pepperoni on there, didn't I? Ha! Everything I fix is gluten free except on rare occasions when I get something that I am not aware has gluten in it. The other day I got some terryaki sauce for stir fry and it had gluten in it. I ate it anyway. 

Ok, now for the good stuff.  This is pics, texts and things Nikki has told me over the phone today.

Mason has finally learned to pucker for a kiss.

It is so adorably cute. I am going to miss the way he did before, tho'. Wonder if Nikki has a pic?? I will post if she does.

Yesterday Haley and Mason were so sweet and loving to each other. Last night they watched Bubble Guppies before they went to bed.

Isn't that so sweet?!!! Nikki said they fought all day today. LOL That is just the way it is with brothers and sisters. :)

Nikki and the babies spent the weekend with her parents. She sent me this cute picture of Mason wearing Papaw's shoes.

I love his smile!

They went out to eat at a restaurant that had rocking chairs in front.

Haley has this little box that she keeps notes in. Today she read every one of the notes to Nikki.

One said, "I love you and I love to sing for you."

Another one said, "I think I will color and then me and you will hold hands."

Then, "Daddy I really want you to be at my house."

And, "I know Daddy will come and stay at my house and he will spend the day with me someday."

And last, "I love you Daddy."

It just melted my heart to read these (texts). She is my little sweetheart.

Tonight on the phone Nikki was telling me she and Haley were cleaning Haley's room. After a while Haley put her little hands up and said, "I am done!!"  It was the exact imitation of Nikki. LOLOL 

Nikki told me other cute stuff but I am too tired to remember. I love hearing about my babies!

Ok, I am off to wash dishes and get to bed. I really want something to eat but I. will. resist!!! Hope you all have a safe night and blessed day tomorrow. Till next time....

Happy Birthday Dad!

At the end of the last post I wrote that I wouldn't be posting while working at Nana and Papaw's, but I had to post about Dad's birthday. Tomorrow, June 20, 2014, Dad will be 88 years old. Today Mary took Matt, Ryan, Jess, and Liz down to see him.  I couldn't go, of course, because I was cleaning Nana's house. Jess sent me the sweetest picture of Papaw with his cupcakes/candles.

Ryan and I had gone down to see Papaw Monday and I had fixed supper for him. I also gave him a meatloaf to freeze and eat another day. Papaw sat in the kitchen, and we talked the whole time I was cooking and washing the dishes. 

Even tho' he is feeble and doesn't get around as he used to, I think he does pretty well.  He sits out on the porch a lot. It gets really lonely now that Mom is gone and we don't spend the day there. Someone in the family stops by every day (I think) to get his mail and paper for him. He is not steady enough to walk down the driveway hill to get them.   Happy Birthday Dad!! 

In other news.....The business putting in our new heat pump was supposed to come Tuesay morning to check for size, etc. Ryan was going to talk to the guy because he is a lot more technical minded than me and could understand him. I barely slept that night, so I told Ryan to wake me when the guy left and I would get ready to go to Nana's to work. It was after 10:30AM when he left. By the time I got ready and got to Nana and Papaw's it would be 12PM. I decided to just wait till Wednesday.

Tuesday night I found out I needed to be home Wednesday morning because the company putting in our new heat pump was bringing us a big portable air conditioner. Woot!!! The guy said they would not be able to install the new one till next week and they loan these out (for free) till they get the new one in. How awesome is that?!!

Wednesday morning I got up, showered and got ready. The guy called around 9:30 and said he would be here within the hour. Before he got here, Andrew texted he was coming up to do something about his new car insurance. After the guy left and we were cooling down a bit, Andrew came. It was perfect timing. :)

I really enjoyed Andrew being here. We don't get to see him much. And truthfully, when the babies are around, most of my attention is on them. :) Even though he didn't stay long, I enjoyed every minute of it.  

Ryan played the guitar for Andrew. Andrew thought Ryan was playing great. Then, Andrew played for us. I wish I could have video taped it. He is a little rusty, but it sounded so good.

He was playing with Ryan's metal slide.

When it was time for him to leave, I felt so sad. He hugged me, and I said, "I want you all to move up here."  He said, "no, when Dad retires, you all are moving down there with us." You know, we would probably move down there and then he would get transfered right back up here. I just want us to be close to each other.  I am truly thankful that I am able to see them as much as I do. Andrew was offered a position in Nashville, TN and Memphis, TN.  I think he turned them down.  So see, it could be much worse.

As he was leaving, I took a pic of him and his new car.

I love how pretty his car is. Nikki has the best car tho'. I have never riden in a more comfortable car than Nikki's. The seats are so plush. I love it.  My heart always aches with saddness when they are driving off.

So guess what. I didn't go to Nana's yesterday either. Mary texted me after Andrew left and talked to me about bringing Ryan over to spend the night. Matt was having Ryan over as part of his birthday celebration. 

When I took Ryan, Mary wanted me to come inside to see how Jess decorated for Matt's birthday. Oh my!!! It was awesome.  Around the birthday poster and around the room, she had so many pictures of Matt when he was younger.

Isn't that soooo cool?!!! I loved it!! The memories in those pictures....ahhhhhhh. I saw pictures of Granny and Matt.  I tried to take a pic of them.

Makes me teary eyed.

There were also some pics of Papaw and Matt.

Look at that cute, chunky baby.  Awwww

And here is Matt today (that I swiped from Jess's facebook page).

I am so thankful he and Ryan are close cousins.

This morning I was actually able to make it to Nana and Papaw's to clean. I got so much accomplished today. It is a huge house and takes several days to finish.  After I left, I went to get Ryan at Matt's. We came home to a cool house. Yay!!!  It was too cool really. We covered in blankets because we were afraid if we turned it down it would get hot.

For supper I fixed skillet rice.  It is just onion and garlic browned with ground beef. Then I add worchestershire sauce. I fix rice with worchestershire sauce in the water. Then I mix it all together. It is really good. I also had peas to go with it.

You know how I love Nikki sending me sweet pictures of the babies? Well, the other day she sent me this.

And today she sent me this pic of Mason. He was bouncing on the couch and fell asleep.

Ahhh I just want to hold him. <3

She also sent me a pic of the baby birds on their front porch.

It's hard to see, but it is up on that ledge next to the nest. Haley calls them her birdie friends and tells them hi and bye evey time they come and go. And Mason says "hi birdie".  Well, today they were learning to fly and one almost fell on Haley's head. It started flying right at the last minute. lol

Ok, now I am off to wash dishes and get to bed. I have been washing the dishes every night, drying them, and putting them away. Yay!! I had been just leaving them in the drainer, but it looks so much better putting them away.

I pray you all have a blessed night and day tomorrow. Till next time.....