A taste of spring

Remember my donkey friends?

My kids ask to go see them from time to time.  Today they had a couple of friends with them that had not met the donkeys and they wanted to show them off...

We gathered up the produce in the fridge for a treat for them....

I think they remembered us. 

 A mini horse was in the same area today. 

She might need her thyroid checked...

she liked corn better than broccoli

she really really liked corn

I took some kid friend pics just for something to do on a beautiful day

it was fun riding around with the teens

Why do beautiful days fly by?

I'll be wearing a gold swimsuit, how bout you?

We had friends come visit this weekend.  We had a good time but they had some work to do while they were here.
They were here cleaning out his mother's house here that she hasn't lived in the house in for10 plus years but wouldn't get rid of it...
They found some interesting things.
There were enough women's shoes for 3 people.  Shoes from every era.  Hats of every size and shape and more random items than you can imagine.  She seemed to be a mom who saved everything. 
I would have loved to gone through every bit of the junk! 
He brougth me a full set of  very old Samsonite luggage.  It contained lots of treasures, too.
We found an envelope with various papers from the 50's including a love letter from his dad to his mom that was precious.  What a sweet thing! 
The next suitcase was full of lingerie and 2 swimsuits that are probably from the 50's...

This may be my swimsuit this summer.  Let me know if you want the green one...

Let's catch up

Well, the picture a day for Feb. didn't last long.  Since I was sick the first week the only pictures were of the dogs...Maybe I'll try that again sometime...

but I have taken a few pictures that last couple of days....

Katie had her last basketball game Pom performance of the year...

Last night the Pom group did dinner and then came back to our house for dessert

We needed to try the chocolate fountain before they got home to make sure it was ok...

I never did get a good picture of all the cute pom girls, they were too busy eating chocolate to want to do pic's

As we were leaving for church this morning it started to snow.  And snow and snow and snow....

a fun weekend but it sure went fast!!!

Can you hear me now?

I tried blogging from the iPhone app again... I accidentally deleted my last post.  Still can't post but delete works well. 

Our big news of late is that Mike got hearing aids on Friday!

He has had a hearing loss since childhood.  He once told me he threw away his hearing aids in middle school.  This week he said he lost them in a football game...(I really think it was the first one) and he has compensated all these years without them...

He reluctantly agreed to get them again, finally!

He can hear the t.v. at a normal volume, he can hear us when we talk to him, he can even hear us when we are in the next room not talking to him...

He's going to have some adjusting to do...right now he thinks everything is too loud.  I've been sick and sniffing a lot and I am "being very loud" and today he told me the little dog eating was like a light bulb shattering on the floor...he is really put out that he can hear birds outside and traffic now.

But, his biggest complaint is that his clothes rustle.  I told him they always have and I've tried to get him to switch to light starch for that very reason...

I am so hoping he adjusts quickly.

And to add the pictures again since I've deleted the first ones...

My view today

since I didn't remember to take the picture till bedtime my view was a snuggly dog.

Words

Hands

I found Kellie napping and even then her phone was in her hand

A stranger

Since I've stayed home all day, I chose a picture from a stranger's food blog I spent some time on today... Check it out here - http://chaosinthekitchen.com/.    Had to cheat on this one...

An evening of mystery and wonder?

We have finally gotten the leak repairs finished! 

I spent the a lot of the weekend moving things back down there and getting the Christmas stuff down to the closet.  I was glad to get the trees out of the house before valentine's day.

After all the moving, cleaning, and fun I decided to enjoy the basement. 

Who knew that the teens would want to hang out with me, watch "The Help" and ask to learn to crochet. 

But, they did.

We were enjoying a cozy night in the basement when the younger one and her two friends come in and try the "proposal" idea again. 

Here is the latest....

Was your weekend spent partying at the "I Hop"?
The girls did not get to party at the I Hop.  I did agree to drive them to the donut store that stays open all night only to find out that they no longer stay open all night. When did that happen?
But you know who stays open all night?  Walmart, they do and they have donuts... Not the "hot and fresh" donuts but the best I could do.
God did bless me with a house full of girls for the weekend.
I hope I didn't ruin their memory of MLK weekend forever denying them the mystery and wonder of pancakes.

It was just like I dreamed it would be

The new year is starting off as fast as last year seemed to go!  I kind of wish it would slow down just a bit...

On New Year's day I came home from a very good shopping trip to Dillard's extra 50% off sale to 6 girls waiting on me...
They had a "proposal" for me...
I was scared.

The sat me down and this is what I got... a slide show of sorts...

They had called a hotel to see how much it would be, pooled their money, thrown in a random gift card and had a very detailed plan which included the sisters "getting along" and the olders playing with the youngers, etc...

I had no plans and I think they were absolutely shocked when I agreed... who can refuse good hospitality?

But, I had a few conditions....

We were going that day, on the 1st rather than the 2nd.

I got to pick the hotel. 

They HAD to get along.

They HAD to be quiet in their hotel room.

They had to actually give me the money they promised.

And basically had to agree to be my slave after we got home...

Let me tell you that I think we'll be doing this again...It was a fun treat for everyone.

The hotel had a very good happy hour and breakfast.

They are old enough I didn't have to be with them every minute.

They were very good. 

They all got along. 

I was in the room next door. 

ALONE.  (I've dreamed of this!!!)

With magazines.

And black out drapes.

This may be what the rooms and beds in heaven will be like...

I would get an occasional text that said something like "oh sorry, didn't mean to be loud, we'll be quieter"....

A friend of mine came for breakfast. 

It was a good start to the new year!

But then I came home to the house that is under construction from the flood...and is still under construction but should be done soon.  Maybe.

We are back in full swing with construction, school, church, and have added dieting and working out...

Hope your New Year is full of wonderful things! 

If not, go to the hotel for a night.  It will change your life.

I shouldn't have been throwing around the Christmas vacation quotes

I've been missing for a bit....did you notice?
I wanted to fill you in on all the greatness you've missed...

Christmas was just around the corner, the shopping was done, school was out and life was good...
Good good good.
Until. 
On Dec. 23rd I picked up my mother in law from the airport. 
No, that's not the bad part....
She was excited to come....we were glad to have her....
Life was still good....
But shortly after I picked her Mike called to ask me for a favor... he sounded like he was upset... motioned how bad his day had just gotten, and then he asked me to go meet his dad a truck stop here in Lubbock cause he was lost...
His dad who lives 6 hours away.
His dad who has never visited us. 
Who might "drinking" from Mike's impression...
Who probably couldn't tell my kids apart if he had to...
Who DID NOT call and let us know he was coming to visit two days before Christmas...
Who is divorced from the mother in law I just fetched at the airport...

We always quote Christmas Vacation this time of year but I never dreamed I would ever need the quote:
If I woke up with my head sewn to the carpet in the morning I couldn't be more surprised"...
but yet, it was perfect for this situation...

I went and found him at the truck stop he was parked at...
He followed me home...
I realized then he wouldn't be staying long since he didn't have a suitcase...that was a bit of a relief...
Not that we don't want him here, but timing wasn't good and he NEVER visits...
He did bring gifts though.  So I had to run into the crazy, crowded supercenter to buy him a last min. gift of PJ's (thought he might need those since there was no suitcase) and a gift card...
This all ends well.  The divorced parents behaved, gifts were exchanged, and he was headed home by 9:00 the next morning...

Then, Christmas eve was nice, pleasant, and as we are about to leave for church water starts pouring into the kitchen, laundry room, pantry and basement from a broken water pipe...

Long story short, I'm glad it happened when we were home....
I'm oh so thankful for the company that came out to take care of the water and spent their Christmas eve and part of Christmas day with us!
and for homeowners insurance.

the plastic and cords did a lot for the Christmas decor...

We did make it to church.  It was a nice time to reflect and remember this is all no big deal... I did tell God I'd had enough surprises for one week though.

God is good and Christmas day was wonderful...

We had just enough snow to make it a white Christmas.  Jennifer flew in. 

Santa was good to everyone!

Jennifer worked on making the girls Gator fans...

We had a prime rib dinner that was wonderful and made even better by the fact that with no hot water I couldn't do all the dishes till the next day...


I hope your Christmas was spent with people you expected to be there and was peaceful and dry!