The Weekend

Saturday morning I got up and got busy first thing. I washed dishes and folded clothes. It felt so good to get the house straightened. I also baked bread  because we were planning to go to Andrew and Nikki's the next day.

Saturday afternoon I snoozed and rested. That night, I fixed yellow cake cupcakes with caramel frosting. I had gone all week without eating a dessert, but when I finished icing them, I lost all control. Yummm they were so good. They were even more delicious because I was craving a dessert. :)

I also cut up five pounds of potatoes and left them in water overnight. I peeled and sliced almost a couple of pounds of carrots too. I had planned to fix a simple meal with plenty of what I fixed. 

After I prepared the food for the next day, I started working on my Sunday School lesson. I had in mind what I wanted to do, but it turned out to be a much bigger project than what I thought. I ended up not getting to bed till after one in the morning. After working so hard all week, I felt like I could hardly make it, but I knew I had to have the lesson ready. 

This month in Sunday School we are talking about prayer, so I wanted to teach about times in the Bible when men had prayed and miracles happened. Remember my youngest student is two years old. My lesson was about Paul and Silas in prison and when they prayed, they were unbound. 

I made a prison out of a Christmas box. I really wanted to use a shoebox and it would have been better. The Christmas box was a lot smaller than I wanted, so it didn't turn out exactly how I had planned. But, I made do with what I had.

I turned the box upside down and didn't use the lid.  I taped brown paper all over it and tried to make it look like stone. (I am definately no artist) Can you see Paul and Silas in the windows?

I didn't draw them because I can't draw :(  It took forever to find images on the internet that were the right size so their faces would show in the window. Then I had to color, cut them out, and laminate them (with packing tape). I put a magnet on the tummies of Paul and Silas and one on each door. That way when they were in prison, they were stuck to the magnets. It made their faces show in the windows. When we prayed and sang (for them), we could open the doors and take them out. If I had used a shoebox, I was going to make larger windows and thread yarn up and down the windows for bars. Hmmm.....maybe I will make another one sometime.

After I finally finished and got to bed, I read the chapter in the Bible about Paul and Silas in prison. I read how they were thrown into the INNER prison. Hmmmm....I had forgotten about that. sigh Being at the doors was certainly not the inner prison. I decided to use it anyway and maybe Brysen would remember that Paul and Silas were thrown into prison for preaching about Jesus, and when they PRAYED, they were released. 

My alarm went off Sunday morning before Seven. I made it up at ten after seven. I fixed coffee first thing. I knew I was going to need it. I put the ham in the oven and started cooking the potatoes and carrots. I sliced the homemade bread and buttered it to toast. Then I went to get ready for church. By the time I left for church, I had the meal completed except for taking the ham out of the oven and slicing it. I left the ham baking on low while we were at church. 

Brysen loved the prison and Paul and Silas. He repeated things I would say, so I think he understood. We sang "If You Believe" (the verse about Paul and Silas). Then, I let him  play opening the doors, taking Paul and Silas out, and putting them back in. 

Even though I had gotten very little sleep, I made it fine in Sunday School and church. I went home, changed clothes, and got the food together. Mark and Ryan carried it to the car. We left for Andrew and Nikki's a little after one. Around 30 minutes before we got there, I felt like I was falling asleep. I was miserable, but I didn't want to stop for Mark to drive. We got there a little after two thirty. Haley screamed when she saw us at the door. It was so sweet. I got to hold both my babies. Ahhhh I loved it. I didn't feel sleepy the rest of the day. I was too busy spending time with our babies. 

Mark and I had a blast spending time with our grandbabies. We ran them back and forth in the foyer/hall.

Mark stood in front of the mirror with Mason, and he would drop down quickly. Mason got so tickled.

It was so precious and got us so tickled too.

I was worn out in a short time riding Haley. :)

It was time for her to ride on Papaw's shoulders. She loves to aggravate Papaw. She would hit him on the head.

And she put her dress over his head.

Hahahahaha So funny! Oh, and I should tell you all, that morning Andrew had taken Mason and Haley to get burritos for breakfast. Andrew told Haley to go get dressed, and this is what she put on...a dress with no sleeves in the middle of winter. lol 

When Mark moved quickly, Haley would hold on.

We had a blast with them.

Then we sat down and had a wonderful lunch. Haley and Mason had already eaten, but they ate more (which made me very happy). Mason and Haley loved the cupcakes.

I did too. By the end of the day, I had eaten too many!

Nikki and Andrew left to go pick up Andrew's truck at his work. I cleaned Haley's room and then went upstairs to the playroom with them. 

Later, when I had to change Mason's diaper, I put their pj's on them. Andrew and Nikki got back when it was time to feed them supper. Both of the kids ate good for supper. I was so happy that Haley ate everything on her plate. She was teasing with Mark and he would tell her not to get his bite of food. So, of course, she would get a bite of food. She ate all her food in no time. 

She sat with Ryan a while watching a barbie movie, then she sat with Papaw.

We both had a wonderful time with those babies!!!

Nikki cleaned most of the dishes, but I finished at the end. We didn't stay long after that. I think it was around 8PM when we left. 
Nikki told Haley she could watch cookie (decorating) videos as she went to bed, so she was happy. I was so thankful we didn't have to leave with her crying. Andrew was holding Mason, so he didn't cry either. He usually doesn't cry anyway, and if he does, I feel honored. :) Not that I like it, I don't. He just usually only cries after Nikki's mom and Nikki.

The traffic was not bad at all coming home. I hate when there are lots of tractor trailers. And even worse than that is cars speeding like crazy.  Mark and I talked almost all the way home and I loved it. Usually I am traveling by myself. When we were almost home, there was a wreck where a tractor trailer had overturned. It blocked an exit we needed to use, so we had to go another way. I am so very thankful Mark was with me. We had to go thru town, and I had no idea how to go. Thank God Mark knew the way. I realized I need to go travel that route in case it happens again, I will be familiar with it.

After such a busy week and weekend, I slept wonderful last night. I didn't wake till after nine this morning. I still felt tired though. I got a cup of coffee and sat down with Mark a bit till Ryan woke. Then I fixed breakfast. 

I haven't done a lot today. I did work in the kitchen for probably a couple of hours. I washed dishes, baked homemade bread, and made pimento cheese.  Mark and I had toasted bread with pimento cheese for supper. Ryan had hot dogs. He wouldn't eat the gf bread. I am planning to bake cookies for Ryan when I finish this post.

Tomorrow Ryan has to go back to school. I love when he is home with me, but I know he has to go back. I am supposed to go dust Nana's spare room. I wasn't able to finish it Friday. It is the easiest room to clean, so it shouldn't take long. I hope to come home and wash sheets and work on cleaning my house. 

If I am not back on for a few days, I pray you all have a wonderful, safe week.

What A Week!!!

This week has been unbelievably busy. I cleaned Nana and Papaw's house Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I went to Andrew and Nikki's Wednesday and didn't get back until 10:30 that night. Last night I got very little sleep. It was after 2:30AM before I was able to fall asleep. Needless to say, I have been bone weary tonight. I dozed off a bit and felt better. I have been listening to Ryan play the guitar, and now he is playing Xbox with his friend.

I decided to blog since I am wanting to keep up with it. 

Yesterday after I worked at Nana's and picked up Ryan at school, we went to change the church sign.

It was bitterly cold!! The sign is next to a busy highway, and when those cars flew by, the cold wind chilled me to the bone. 

Here are a couple others that I have used in January. 

I meant to post all of them because I will probably never remember which ones I have used. But, of course, I haven't. You can see I don't have all the correct punctuation that I need, so I have just been making do. I am going to have to ask Sandra to order some for me. She is the secretary.

Day before yesterday, Wednesday, I went to spend the day with the grandbabies. I was so excited because Nana had sent their Christmas gifts with me. They loved their gifts, and I had so much fun watching them open them.

Yay! Her first barbie. :) (Nana got her three) Look at that precious downy haired boy watching.

Mason got cool gifts too.

Yay! A baby smartphone. 

"Hello!"  Look at Haley smiling.

Mason also got the cutest little dog that barks and wags it's tail.

And lots of cars.

He loves cars.

Haley loves them too. She tried to ride her barbie on one.

Mason had so much fun opening his gifts, he decided he wanted to open his mommy's gift too.

I love how he is really concentrating.

Nana was so good to them!!!  She even got them each a cute outfit too. 

After they opened gifts and were playing, Nikki and I were sitting there talking about Nathan and Leanna wanting Haley and Mason to be in their wedding. Nikki told Haley about it, and she got so excited. She told me when she gets excited, she runs in circles.

Hahahaha I am thrilled that she wants to be in the wedding. 

After awhile, Andrew and Nikki got ready and went out. Mason took a nap. I swept the floors and spent time with Haley. I rode her on my back and ran back and forth in the foyer. She loved it. ;)  I love being with my grands.  She went to her room, and when I went to check on her, she said I had to go back in there. She said, "I am going to dress real cute, and you are going to be surprised."

I was so surprised because she was the cutest thing!!! ;) I had to make the picture small cause it was blurry.   Look, she even has a pet. She walked it all over the place and had me walk too. 

I absolutely love this age. I love to hear her talking and pretending. (That night when Nikki and I were cleaning the kitchen, we heard her giggling. She was pretending in another room. How sweet!)

Later, when we were fixing to eat lunch, I was holding Mason. Haley asked if she could ride on my back, so I held her on my back with one hand and Mason with the other hand. Nikki was putting some pictures of Haley and Mason in a frame. I don't remember what I had to do, but I sat Haley down a second on the counter where Nikki had worked on the frames. In just a minute, Haley was crying scared. We quickly went to her, and her hand was bleeding. She had cut her fingers on the glass from the frame. Nikki very calmly talked to her and got it bandaged. It was small places, but it bled. It was scary to Haley. When Haley has to be doctored from the first aid kit, she always gets a lollipop. Nikki told her she could have it after she ate her lunch.

Nikki had to hurry to the gym. She is working with a trainer, and I am so proud of her. I could not endure the exercises she does. She is loosing weight too.  Andrew went to take a nap. On Andrew's day off he gets up and takes care of the kids and lets Nikki sleep really late. So, in the afternoon, it is his turn to take a nap. I fed the babies lunch and gave them a bath. I looooove giving them a bath. Oh, I just love how they smell when I get them out and put baby lotion on them.  Ahhhhhh such a sweet baby fragrance. Not that they smelled bad before, but there is just something about a freshly bathed baby.

When Haley was in the bath, the bandaids came off her fingers. Her skin is so soft and it started bleeding a tiny bit. After I got her dressed, we went back and got the first aid kit to rebandage them. So, you know what happens when you have to use the first aid kit...you get a candy treat!!!!

When Andrew and Nikki went to the store, they got Haley a LaLaLoopsy unicorn named Waffles. Haley was telling me that Waffles was kissing her boo boos.

I tell ya, there is nothing like having grands!!

Nikki got back later and she was so exhausted and sore from exercising. She put Mason down for his afternoon nap while Haley and I cleaned her room. Nikki started working on fixing supper. Andew went out and bought some steaks, and they said I had to stay for supper. Of course I wanted steak!!!! LOL Oh my!! Nikki fixed the BEST meal. Not only did we have wonderful steak, we had fresh green beans, broccoli, cornbread, baked beans, macaroni, and potatoes. It was fabulous!!! I ate until I was stuffed. Haley and Mason ate good too. 

Nikki and I worked together cleaning the kitchen. Then it was time for me to leave. Haley cried and it broke my heart. She has such a caring heart, and she wants the ones she loves to stay with her. She had started to cry earlier when Nikki was leaving. It is so sad! 

As soon as I hit the road, I called Ryan. Even though it was going to be late when I got home, I wanted him to be in bed. I got home a little after 10:30PM, and of course, he was still up. Grrrrr  I didn't even sit down. I washed the dishes and got ready for bed. I didn't have any trouble sleeping that night. 

Ok,  now it is very late and Ryan and Mark are already asleep. I need to be too, but I wanted to catch up on my blogging. I always say I am going to blog more often, but who knows?? sigh  

I pray God blesses and protects all my friends and family. See ya next time.

New Years, Mark's Birthday, and Matt

Mark's birthday is New Year's Day. I know I have posted this before but, Mark was the first baby born on the first day of that year, and his cousin was the last baby born the last day of that same year (in the same town).

Since Andrew was off from work (they rarely close), I fixed a meal for them to come up and spend the day with us.  Ahhhh, it was so nice that they got to spend the day and didn't have to rush off anywhere else.  Although, Nikki ran up to show the house a couple of times, and thank God, they now have a renter. Yay!!!  

Mark got to relax and enjoy his family for his birthday. Haley sat on his lap while she put together puzzles on the computer.

Mason looked at cars with him.

                      Blurry...I know :(

Do you know what is more fun than playing with cars?

Getting into GiGi's end table. :D Mason has a curious mind and he would rather discover something than play with toys. I don't mind though, there is nothing in that cabinet I care for him playing with. Nikki, on the other hand, has a hard time keeping up with him. He is into everything at home. For instance, everytime she isn't looking, he digs the dirt out of her tree plant. For Christmas he got a big Tonka dump truck, and when no one was looking, he filled it up with that dirt. LOL Nikki says it's a good thing he is so cute cause it is very frustrating getting him out of everything. ;)

He loves climbing on the little chair (and everything else).

We were all sitting there talking, and Mason went to the kitchen. I thought he was playing with a toy on the floor. Nikki heard him and ran to see what he was doing. He was sitting ON the kitchen table!! He is a cute little stinker.

Here are a couple of pictures Nikki has sent me recently.

Now you see what I mean.

Haley is over the climbing stage, but she did walk on the back of the couch.

We don't spoil them or anything.

Haley loves watching videos with Ryan.

And, Ryan loves me taking his picture. NOT! Yeah, that is why his head is turned.

Martha had given me several bags of clothes that she couldn't wear anymore (she has lost tons of weight). She also gave me a lot of cool purses. (she cleaned out her closet)  I didn't even look thru the clothes because I knew I couldn't wear them, but I got Nikki to look thru them. Haley tried some of them on.

She kept moving, and I couldn't hardly take her picture. 

She found one of her books, and Nikki read it to her.

Then she decided to be a baby and let her mommy feed her marshmellows.

Awww, she is a sweet, sweet, precious baby.

Nah, she is a big, beautiful girl.

But, she will always be Gigi and Papaw's baby and so will Mason.

What better way to spend a birthday than with your family/grandbabies? I certainly don't know a better way. I don't think they ever leave without Mark and I saying how we wished they lived up here. :( I am thankful they live close enough that we can see them often.

The day after Mark's birthday, Matt came to spend the night. I love that young man! I am so thankful he and Ryan are close. I really enjoy him being here.

He and Ryan kept busy playing Monopoly.

Playing guitars....

And playing video games.

I tried to keep them supplied with food.

The night after Matt left, I decided to sleep on the couch to enjoy the tree one more night before we took it down. This is what I got to see when I was awake.

Ahhhhhh I loved it!! I have a tradition of sleeping on the couch one night during Christmas season to enjoy the tree. Last year I didn't feel like it because I was stressed from taking care of Mom. This year I slept two nights in front of the tree. I guess I made up for it. 

Thank God for a wonderful year and taking care of us. There have truly been some hard times but God is always with us taking care of us. I pray that 2014 is a wonderful, blessed year for all of my family and friends.  Thank God for loving us!