Quad Monday and Update on Summer!

It's always fun to wake up with a sweet little grandchild sleeping right beside me!

Trystan has long been nicknamed 'Twinkle Toes.'

As a toddler she would totter around on her tippy toes!

At nearly five years of age, the quads are growing out of some of their precious little mannerisms and speech habits. Trystan used to say 'CAMO-dino-SORE-er' with the sweetest little Southern Bell voice you ever heard. She still has a sweet southern voice.

She was my kitchen helper as we rolled out canned biscuits large and flat and filled some with with sausage, cheese and eggs and others with cream cheese and apricot jam.

They turned out really good and were easy peasy.

I made a batch of banana muffins and fried up some bacon and that's what I served the quads for lunch!

We ate in the gazebo! The kids loved how nice and clean we have the side decks and they played outside a lot. It was a beautiful day with a light sprinkle of rain a time or two. 

We settled down in the den for naps and I slept right along with the kids.

Louis Dean went out to the kitchen and made FOUR big sheets of cinnamon rolls!

PLUS he fired chicken tenders and made gravy for supper!

The kitchen was a wreck but it sure smelled good!!

I kept the kids out of the kitchen while Granddad was cooking!

Good thing it was nice outside!

He joined us in the gazebo when the rolls were baking.

I just love this picture of Kailey.

Hard to believe she had open heart surgery last July!

She is the picture of health and a very happy child.

She loves to point and say, "Who LOVES you, Granddad???   I do!!!"

I took pictures of all the kids with my red camera as we moved through Quad Monday but, unfortunately, I had left the memory card in the slot on my lap top Sunday night!

We gardened and played and read and stayed busy every single minute.

The last activity was illustrating Rule #3 of the Rules of the House.

I get a kick at seeing what they draw.

My favorite this time is Kailey's in the lower right hand corner.

Harrison very carefully put a hole in his paper.....I'm sure he had a reason.

His is beside Kailey's.

Logan drew her hand with a door in the palm and Trystan drew lots of hearts and a rainbow.

Amber's is the one on the easel.

Every Monday night, Amber pulls out of the driveway, rolls the windows down and slowly drives away as the kids are all yelling BYE!!! BYE!!! We love you!!

It is a joy to hear.

I got a special text right after they left from my neighbors on our east side.

Made me smile!!!! 

They just happen to have two of the sweetest little girls of their own.

This ended our Monday!

This morning we were up early because Louis Dean was having a nuclear stress test.

We are NOT morning people so we were moving like zombies!

The best part was when they told him to go out and eat a HEAVY meal!

Music to his ears!

It was nearly 3:00 when we got home.

We left the house at 9:00 and I had not even made up my bed.

No need, I went right back in it until 5:00!

Then we both went back to our work in the back yard. We have rounded the corner and are slowly working our way over into the more inhabited parts of the property.

 You know - over in the Sanford and Son area!

Now I am getting ready to go to bed.

We have a big day ahead of us in the morning.

Summer will be having surgery at noon on her back.

I will keep my 9:30 appointment with my urologist and then go straight to the hospital.

She said she told them her mom slept late so she didn't want an early surgery!

I think she was kidding me!

They finally diagnosed her condition after taking some x rays of her when she was bending.

From my Facebook post tonight:

 As I understand it, turns out she has a birth defect in her spine that a Lumbar Spinal Fusion (Arthrodesis) will fix. The diagnosis was Spondylolisthesis. In addition she has two other conditions which will most probably improve after the surgery. Praise God for an answer to her pain after 5 long months. It took a set of x rays where she was bending and stretching to reveal the problem.The surgery will take 4-5 hours. Prayers would be very much appreciated!!

I am packing a bag with a book, water, a sweater and various and other sundry things.

I never travel light! Louis Dean says he could most probably overhaul an engine with what I carry around in my purse!

Our Sunday...

We were about to leave for church when we noticed the Carolina Jasmine was blooming this morning!

It really is SPRING in Texas!

It was a beautiful day!

A good day to go to church!

I missed last Sunday since I was in San Antonio for our Siblings Getaway.

The kids never fail to search out Pastor Doug and give him a big hug!

We usually are the last to arrive so we must park far away!

Harrison was way out in front of us!

Arby's for an easy Sunday lunch!!

Mike stayed home with Kailey since she wasn't feeling well.

We sent an Arby's home with Amber for them.

It was Trystan's turn to come home with us and spend the night.

She has been patiently waiting for weeks and weeks.

We shopped Lowe's for some bedding plants and garden things.

She was the darling of the nursery and another elderly couple were totally enchanted with her!

We met this sweet lady and her husband and spent quite a few minutes visiting with each other.

She is 82 and her husband is 80 and they have been married 14 years. Louis Dean and I will be married 12 years this June so we swapped our stories right there in Lowe's!

Trystan was ready to get home and take a nap and that's just what we did!

She and I both slept for a couple of hours and woke up ready to get outside and do something!

I spread the red cedar mulch in the area I cleaned up yesterday.

I have been thinking that are would make a nice secret hideaway for the grands.

Under the ladder, I put down a rubber door mat and covered that with a rug.

Then I hung up green fabric to create a little covering.

Sure enough!!! Trystan loved it and went off to get her tea things, crackers and cheese to have her very own private tea party!

We had the nicest Sunday!

Trystan enjoyed her afternoon with MeeMaw and Granddad all by herself.

From time to time, she would say, "What do you think the other kids are doing right now?"

She left the tea sets out there so they could all play together tomorrow with them.

Trystan had every bit of Granddad's attention!

She didn't have to share him with anyone!!

We got a lot done today.

Louis Dean bought two trumpet vines and planted them.

Trystan had picked up several bedding plants and she put them in pots.

I strung up some more lights in the garden and then Louis Dean poured us a glass of wine.

Trystan added a big jolt of joy to our day!

It was dark when we went in to prepare dinner.

Trystan's favorite is green pasta and green pasta was what she got!

I used some green spinach egg noodles plus the Basil Pesto from Costco. We also had a garden salad and candied carrots.

We ate at the den table and watched Singing in the Rain for our evening entertainment.

She enjoyed the dancing and made several quips about the movie.

"That girl's voice sounds squeaky."

Good classical entertainment!!

Trystan went off to bed and we tuned in to the end of the Oscars.

Man!!! Now THAT was entertaining!!!

My Handsome Husband! The Last Few Days!

Louis Dean had his first of three tests scheduled by his new cardiologist on Thursday morning.

 

He dresses up to go to the doctor!

That's because you have to unbutton your shirt!

He came home and I was already working out on the side deck.

Upper deck is now all cleaned up and there is plenty of space for the grands to play out here!

I moved all the chairs down to form a conversation grouping on the stone patio.

By end of day, BOTH decks were cleaned up and ready for spring!!

Louis Dean and I sat at the table on the top deck sipping our wine and talking about all that we have done and all that we still need to do. I noticed him watching something over my shoulder.

Finally he said, "There is a rat behind your gardening banner on the fence."

He didn't seem perturbed about it but I don't do rats!!

Both sets of French doors were open to the soft air that seemed more like April than February!

I didn't like the notion of a RAT scurrying around here!

We don't put rat poison out as much as we used to because of the possums.

What to do?

Louis Dean said, "Go get me a hammer."

I said, "Will my small one work?"

He said, "Probably!"

Death by hammer!!!

I guess it did!!

UGH!!!!

Louis Dean is not only my handsome husband! He is my HERO!!!

Of course, I was the one to bag up the RAT and take him out to the trash!

Friday was our THIRD day to work outside!

February brought us a real gift of good weather this year.

This is not usually the case. Still, as much as I hate to see winter leave - this year it was like it never really arrived!

I think this is the first year I have really taken charge and cleaned things up for spring.

I'm not a true gardener who knows how to put the yard and flower beds to right for winter.

It's usually March before I even think about cleaning up all the fall leaves in the nooks and crannies of the garden. Not this year!

We had so much rain last spring that the old was covered up by new growth before we knew it!

I love mulch! It covers a multitude of sins dirt!

I have since set planters along the house wall. That's a new hose roller up by Louis Dean!

He also put the stone bench back where it WAS!

Not sure why he ever moved it!

It is really heavy and yet LD knows how to move it all by himself!

As I cleaned up that area, I noticed a good bit of ashes that Louis Dean had dumped there!

NOT GOOD!!! No, no, no! I told him! He says they are good for the soil but I say they are messy and ugly! NO! No, no!!

We quit work about 6:30 and let me tell you that this yard work surely counts as strenuous exercise!

Even my buttocks hurt!!!

 We rested, had a glass of wine, cleaned up and ate a sandwich and then drove to Dallas for a 9:55 showing of Moana!

The kids had napped late and they were all excited! We got a grand reception when we met them at the theater! They were really wanting Granddad to come and he DID!

He is such a sport!! He would do anything for these kids!

We got home about 12:30 Saturday morning and went right to bed.

I slept until 11:00!! Louis Dean poured me a cup of coffee and when he brought it to the bedroom, he found me still asleep. Same thing the second time he brought it all reheated in the microwave.

Just as he was reheating it the THIRD time I came down the hall.  Or I should say - staggered down the hall! I had slept well and long!

So! It was back to work for the fourth day outside!!

Today I concentrated on the back pond area.

This pic is behind the pond.

The cannas had died back and everything was overgrown!

My work to do was obvious!

But first I had to stop and listen to the mockingbird!

Listen to the Mockingbird!

It is our very favorite bird!

I worked so hard that I didn't stop to take pictures!

Until it was dark!

I completely cut the climbing 'seven sister' rose bush down!

It only blooms ONCE and then it grows with abandon and has awful thorns!

My sister, Nita, has true Seven Sister Roses and we want to buy and plant one like hers.

We are going to the nursery tomorrow!

I didn't last long enough to spread the mulch back there and string up more lights

That will happen tomorrow.

Tonight we watched a good movie!

It was a good reminder to live in the NOW!

Donald Sutherland is one of Louis Dean's favorite actors!

In other news.....

Our Summer Dee finally got a firm diagnosis - after 5 long months!

Surgery will be scheduled for early March and we are all so relieved!

Turned out, she has a birth defect. 

There's a lot of big doctor words and I will share them as the surgery date gets closer.

For now, we are so grateful that there is an answer to the pain she has been having!

I close tonight's journal with the roses that Louis Dean brought me after I came home form my Siblings Getaway.

He is such a sweetheart!

He bought them after Valentine's Day since I would be home to enjoy them.

It was two dozen roses and we put them in the living room for several days.

He had placed them in a vase and everything.

Today I cut the stems and made several smaller arrangements.

The heart one is the larger and I put it in the foyer.

The two roses in a white vase which belonged to his beloved Ellen are by my kitchen planner.

I LIVE by this planner! If it is not written down - it simply doesn't happen!

If it IS written down - you can COUNT on it!

And there are two small vases by Louis Dean's side of the bed.

We laugh about the fun pillow that has two sides!

Tonight and Not Tonight!

Young people would probably be very surprised that old people are still romantic!