Just one more day till vacation!

Tomorrow we leave for our little mini-vacation with the family! We have rented a house on Lake Palestine for a few days. The guys plan to go out in the boat and do some fishing. I imagine we girls will mostly hang out at the house and visit. I’m really looking forward to spending some time with Gracie. She was still tiny the last time we saw her. We also are hoping to take the kiddos to the Tyler Zoo. That was one of our favorite family outings when our kids were growing up.

We also plan to celebrate Shepherd’s birthday while there. I baked and decorated his cake today. I still have to assemble it once we get there. It is 2 tiered, but I don’t want to transport it stacked. I also have some last minute decorations to add that won’t transport well. This is my first cake to make Shepherd. I hope he likes it. (Although I did do decorated cookies for him last year, at his request.)

I’ve got all of my baking done for our trip…just still need to go buy groceries to take. We are going to have a full load! We’ll be picking Nam up from school at regular time, then heading to FW to get Sheila. I hope we can fit everything in (clothes for 4, food, fishing stuff, fish fryer, toys, presents, birthday cake and a few other miscellaneous items). Since we’ll be pulling the boat, we can put some of the bulkier items in it (such as the fish fryer, tackle and ice chests).

Dennis and I both had colds last week, so we really didn’t get much accomplished. All of the sheetrock is finally up in the guest room and closet. Dennis tried his hand at taping and floating the closet, but it is going to have to be gone over again. He hasn’t got the hang of doing that yet. We are sneaking up on another deadline for needing to have it finished. Dennis was sure we’d have plenty of time before our meeting. Well, we are just one month away and still have a LOT to do. I guess that’s one way to get a room completed…plan an occasion with company coming, so it HAS to get done! Since we aren’t getting any work done this week, we’ll only have just under four weeks to texture and paint the walls and ceiling, lay the floor, do the trim work, put up shelving in the closet, install doors, put up the new light/fan and move everything back in. *groan*

We are all getting into the routine of school. Dennis and I are enjoying having the extra three mornings a week. I am enjoying sleeping without an alarm! The only morning that I have to get up early is on Fridays, when I go pick Nam up in FW. Nam is doing really well in school! He enjoys it, but it does tire him out. We are still struggling with lunch/nap time. He is so tired from school that he tries to fall asleep in the car between Weatherford and MW. If he does, then he’s grumpy when we get here and try to eat lunch…plus he won’t take a good nap afterwards. If we can keep him awake on the drive home, then we can eat and he’ll usually sleep well in the afternoon.

Nam wanted to help me today with the cake decorating. I had to explain that this is hard work and that you have to be very careful doing it, so he had to just watch and not touch. He did really well! After I was finished, he wanted some cake scraps and leftover icing. He had a blast squeezing icing over the cake and eating it. Then I got some wax paper for him to “decorate”. He made such a mess, but enjoyed every second! Then I sent him off with Dennis to take to his momma, so SHE will have to deal with his sugar high! Being a granny is SO much fun!

Well, that’s all for now. I HOPE to get some good pictures of our trip. I have a tendency, these days, to get caught up in what’s going on and forget to take pictures. I’m hoping to have my hands full a good bit of the time with Gracie and my three boys, though! I hope you all have a good remainder of the week!

Progress

I feel like we got a lot accomplished last week. I finished cleaning up Daddy's car and got it sold. The buyers contacted me within a couple of hours after I posted it and came to look at it that evening. It took a couple of days to work out all of the details, but it is gone now. I think it will be a good car for the family who bought it, and Daddy has a little extra money in his bank account.

Dennis and Ricky got most of the sheetrock hung and taped and floated in the guest room. We still have to piece together the closet and do a little more floating, then we'll be ready to texture. Nam can't wait until we get to the painting...he loves to paint! That will definitely be interesting to watch. Painting to him is artwork...a little brush work and a little finger work. We may have to limit him to the closet. Ha!

As most of you probably know by now, I have joined the "bikers". My 3-wheeler arrived Friday and Dennis spent a good part of the day assembling it. We went out for a test run that evening, and then I took it out for a 3-4 mile ride on Saturday. I'm getting more confident on it (I haven't been on a "bike" in over 40 years). I really think I'm going to like it...once my seat gets used to it's seat. It is great exercise and it doesn't make my ankles/heels hurt like walking does.

Nam and Sheila had a cold last week, and Dennis and I have come down with it now. We both felt pretty rotten yesterday, but woke up with full-blown symptoms this morning. Sheila said Nam is still struggling with his, so we can all feel crummy together. He didn't show a lot of symptoms last week, but he was tired and cranky...and had a bit of a crusty nose. That kid has an amazing immune system!

Daddy and Bobbie went both time to church services yesterday. That is getting to be a rare thing. Bobbie has home health coming to do physical and occupational therapy with her, and it seems to be helping her strength. She was able to get into our car better yesterday morning than I've seen her in some time. Of course, she wore out as the day advanced and had more difficulty. They were able to go out to eat for lunch and really enjoyed it. Kirk T. also went with us. He is in the process of moving to the area and retiring. He plans to be here every weekend until the move is finalized. We are enjoying having him around!

Ricky is working out of town again this week. It is that time of year again at CWC. He is feeling much better after having been on antibiotics for the past couple of weeks for his sinus infection. He did end up with a migraine yesterday, but was able to kick it after some medicine and lying in the dark for a few hours. I'm afraid both our boys inherited the migraine gene from their dad. Dennis has about "outgrown" his. He had been told that the prime age for having migraines was from 30 to 60, which is about what his lasted. Stephen started at a younger age...he was still in his teens. Ricky suffered from visceral (abdominal) migraines as a child, but outgrew them in his teens. They told us at the time that he very well could develop regular (head) migraines as an adult. They started this past year...which was right on schedule. 😞

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week and avoid any unpleasant bugs!

Dennis is funnier than most people realize

The last few weeks have been pretty trying for Dennis and me. I was contemplating on things last night  and wondered what would happen if by some unforeseen circumstance, I died before my dad. I turned to Dennis and asked what he would do if that happened. He looked askance at me, thought for a second or two, and said, "Weep inconsolably...is that the right answer?" I laughed so hard, I cried! I honestly don't know what I would do without this man!

Happy Labor Day!

Another Labor Day Weekend come and gone. As always, we really enjoyed our time with friends and family. We picked up Daddy and Bobbie Saturday morning and drove to Haslet. There was a nice crowd this year, in spite of the other events of the weekend. We enjoyed tacos for lunch and spaghetti for supper, along with all of the fixin’s and desserts. Bobbie had to take a break that afternoon, but Tonette had a hotel room nearby where she could go to nap. Nam and Sheila showed up after lunch. He was a little overwhelmed (and under-napped), so he wasn’t the happiest camper in the room. But he eventually settled in and enjoyed the games. We left right after supper to get the folks back home to rest up, so we ended up being home by about 9:00.

Sunday morning, we picked them up again and headed back over. We enjoyed a good lesson from Ken on how important it is to have God in our lives. Then we met back for a potluck dinner and more fellowship before going back for the afternoon assembly, where Terry gave an excellent lesson on dealing with our thorns in the flesh…very timely! We headed home pretty quickly after the assembly, so Daddy and Bobbie could be home by suppertime. Nam did much better on Sunday. He was getting more comfortable with the crowd and was more rested. He (and all of the other young’uns) passed out during the afternoon assembly, which made things much easier on all of the young moms!

I also got to hold a week old baby yesterday. I love babies! Jennifer and Stacey had met a new mother while serving at the shelter Saturday evening. She is trying to get her life in order for her new baby. I’m sure the good folks at HC will be there to help her however they can.

I am taking things pretty easy today…just doing a few things around the house. Dennis is mowing before the expected rains set in, and I think he plans to sand the ceiling this afternoon. Ricky is sick, in bed, with a sinus infection. He is going to go to the doctor tomorrow. He has been battling this for weeks, trying to treat it with homeopathic methods, but it has finally gotten the better of him. I think everyone’s allergies/sinuses were giving them trouble this weekend…which is pretty typical for Labor Day weekend. I woke up in the wee hours Friday morning with a sinus headache and was on the verge of one all day yesterday, as was Dennis. I used to always end up sick with a sinus infection after Labor Day. I’m hoping I can avoid it this year.

I’m sure Nam and Sheila are enjoying their bonus day together…especially after such a busy weekend! I hope he does as well on this 2^nd week of school as he did last week. I’m hoping for a CALM and easy week. I wish the same for each of you!