EASTER

I am so thankful that Jesus loved me so much that He would die on the cross for me.  When I read the Old Testament and read of all the requirements that the children of Israel had to go through to be in right standing with God, I realize just how awesome Calvary was.  No longer do we have to perform all the blood sacrifices to have our sins removed.  Now we can go directly to the Lord and tell Him anything and everything.

I was so fortunate that I had great parents.  Both my Daddy and Mother were people that I knew loved me no matter what.  I was a Daddy's girl and I knew that there was nothing that I could do that would cause him to turn his back on me.  As I have grown into an adult, I know that because I had a Daddy like mine, it was easy to turn to my Heavenly Father.  I knew  there were rules that were to be followed and I also knew that there would be consequences to not following the rules.  Just like there are consequences to not following the Word of God.  I am so glad that that Jesus loves me with all my short comings and He will never turn me away.

Last night, I was thinking about Easter when I was young and how we would always get a new outfit, Easter basket, full of goodies and then after church we would come home and we would have a family dinner.  My Grandmother would always make her famous peach or cherry cobbler.  My mother would also make her famous deviled eggs.  What a fun time it would be.  My Daddy would hide the eggs again that we had gotten and candy eggs that my Mother would have bought.

My Mother and Daddy

My Daddy, my self and my little sister, Tammy

 

My self with a new dress that had a full cancan( for those that don't know, this a slip that has a lot of layers that helps the dress be full), my gloves(all Southern girls needed) and of course our pocketbook(purse).

My wonderful, lovely Mother

This was another Easter, My littlest sister, Karen, Mother and Daddy, myself and on the left side that got chopped would have been my brother, Steve and sister, Tammy.

I remember the fun time that we would have decorating the real eggs.  And the mess that would follow.  Yet, my mother would just let us have fun and worry about the clean-up later.  Growing up in my family was wonderful.  I had an older brother, and two sisters to have fun with.  So when I was thinking back on the past holidays, I knew that I had to find some pictures.

A Day Spent WIth My Alexis

Today started out early for me.  I am not a early morning person.  My hours of production are in the evening time.  So when I heard the shower this morning at 5:30, I thought, ugh!


Now I wasn't about to get up at that time.  So I laid back down and listen to David Jeremiah on the radio and I am sure fell back into a light sleep.  At the ripe time of 7:30, I finally, got up and got ready for the day.


I can just hear you ladies out there.  I know so many of you get up very early and my hat is off to you.  But my time is at night, not the morning.


I had to have my Alexis at the Base by 9:30 to see the doctor.  It seems that she has a plantar wart on the bottom of her foot and she has been trying to dig it out herself.  So off to the the Base we went.  After, the doctor used the liquid freeze stuff (I have completely forgotten what it is called), we had to wait around for another hour and a half,  only be told that the lady we needed to talk to, was in a meeting.


I decided to leave my number and when she got through with her meeting, she could just call.  As of this evening, I am still waiting.  Hopefully, by tomorrow, I will have heard something.  It seems that the wart will have to be taken out by the doctor.  Now, by surgery or just in the office, I am not sure.


Alexis did get a pair of crutches to use, out of the visit.


Then, it was on to lunch with Payton at the BX and then  home, so I could get to painting.  Of all the colors, Alexis would choose for her kitchen, she choose RED!  I have already put three coats on and I am thinking that I will have to put on at least 2 more coats.  I will try to remember to take pictures tomorrow and post them on for you to see.

This is the back door coming into the kitchen.  We painted all the kitchen in this red.  I ended up using 4-5 coats.

Our Alexis is growing up and is becoming a young lady.  She is actually good at keeping her home with Payton clean and is even good at cooking.  I must have done somethings right.

Bra Shopping

Yesterday, I was talking with our daughter, Bridgett.  Some how or other, we got on the subject of bras and how we hated shopping for them.

Bridgett asked me, how come I always had my Mother take her and Mandy bra shopping.  I had completely forgotten about it.  Yet, as I got to thinking about it, I began to realize the reasoning behind my madness.


My Mother was the "Queen of bra shopping".  I come from a family of rather big busted women.  So it was always important to my Mother that she bought us good bras.  I remember going into J.C. Penny's with her and looking at the bras and finding ones that I would like.  Now do you think that I got to try them on?  Of course not!  The ones that I wanted were pretty and the ones my Mother bought were practical!


Now this was just for the starter bras that we went shopping for here.  When we girls got past the starter ones, then the bra lady came to us.  Now that you have gotten up off the floor and have composed yourselves, I will go on.  What?  You have never heard of a bra lady?  Well, they have their own measuring tape and a suitcase full of bras.  And if she did not have one that would fit you, she was sure there would be one in her car that would. By the end of the session, you would have your own tailored bra.


Before, I go on, I will tell you, we called her the "Figurette Bra Lady".  These lovely bras had no padding and of course no push-up.  Bras were only to help support you not for others to see. You would begin with being measured around, not once, but twice.  After she had your size, then you would bend at the waist, take the bra and hook it around.  The wonderful thing about these lovely bras, was that they had a hook at the top.  While you were bent over, you would pull your breast through and then pull the lace up over each breast and slide the hook in.  Doesn't this sound wonderful? And the name of these wonderful bras were called "Figurette".


Looking back at my experience, I am so glad that my Mother was the "Queen". Thank you so much, Mother, for caring enough about your girls and granddaughters to ensure they had good bras.


So now, to get back to Bridgett and her trips with my Mother.  She was telling me that her Mamaw would tell the girls to go the dressing room and then she would go and pick out the bras that would be good for them.  I had to laugh, when Bridgett told me that she never got a colored or padded pad, until she got older.  And now that she can choose the style she wants, she is too large to wear the push-ups or really cute ones.  But she can say that she will never have saggy breasts.

Her last question to me was, "Why did I not take them to get their bras?"  Because, I knew that with my Mother, the  girls would not argue, fuss or complain.  And I knew that my Mother was the "Queen" and did her job of bra shopping without a fault.  Yes, they may have come home with only plain white bras, but I got the satisfaction of knowing that my girls would grow up to have beautiful breast as they grew into adulthood.


Now, I can tell you for sure, that my "Mandy" is stepping right into her Mamaw's footsteps.  She has got all the right techniques down.

FAMILY

THIS IS WHAT MY FAMILY MEANS TO ME. ASIDE FROM THE LORD BEING FIRST IN MY LIFE, MY FAMILY IS IN SECOND PLACE. WHAT ARE THE HOLIDAYS WITHOUT FAMILY?

THIS CHRISTMAS MAKE SURE TO TAKE TIME OUT AND LET EACH ONE KNOW THAT YOU LOVE THEM AND YOUR LIFE WOULD NOT BE AS FULL IF THEY WEREN'T APART OF IT.

MY SHELBY

I was sitting at my computer going through emails and I got a message on my phone.  As I clicked on my message icon, this cute little picture came up and I wanted to share it with my blog friends.

Is she not just the cutest thing?

THE COST OF MESSING UP

Have I ever felt so dumb?  Yes, but not in this way.  Tonight, I was on my blog and my daughter had told me awhile back that I could take her off my blog.  That meant, I could remove her as one who could get on my blog and change things.  So tonight, I remembered her saying this and thought, okay.

Well, I should never try doing two things at once.  Because, instead of removing her name, I deleted myself!!!!!  I got on the help board and still did not come away feeling like I got my question, answered.  I kept at it though.  Finally!

So, I call my Mandy and leave a message on her phone.  The lovely, intelligent daughter she is, not to mention, sneaky!  She tells me yes, that she will log on to my blog and invite me as an author for my very own blog.  Have any of you done this?  Then, the very next thing she asks is, "Have you checked on your paperback swap to see if you could get the 3rd book in a series by Patti Hill."  I know that she had asked me earlier and I had told her I would check.  After logging on to Paperback Swap, I found the book and had the book sent directly to her home.

When she called back to see if I had gotten the email, I had a answer ready for her.   The book will be on it's way, as soon as the person I ordered it from lets me know.  My Mandy, told me that this could be the cost of taking care of me tonight! HA HA!  But in all truth, she would have done this for me without the book.  I love that we can tease each other.  My world would be a sad place without her in my life.  But, instead of taking her off my blog, I am thinking that it would be a wise move on my part to just leave her there.  I never know what I might do next!

PRAISE REPORT

I know that Our Mandy will for sure be posting about this, but my heart is so full of joy that I just need to share.


This year has really been a hard one for Mandy.  She was a Executive Secretary for the last 6 (I believe) years at a company in San Antonio, TX.  One day as she was leaving for her lunch hour, her boss asked her what she was doing for lunch.  She replied that she had a lunch date with some friends.  He was wanting her to go and get him some lunch. She told him that she would be glad to bring it after her lunch date.  To make a long story short, he got angry that she would not go and get his lunch first.  So less than a month later, he demoted her.  Cut her salary and has treated her like less than a piece of dirt every since.  She has held her held high and continued to do her Job.  Now her replacement was someone that had no idea what to do, but it was his desire to make a point!


Last Friday, she was through with her two week notice. She went on an interview on Monday.  They called her back this afternoon and her salary will be not quite as much as she was making before the demot but is comfortably close.  Our Mandy is very intelligent and has mind for learning new things.  I know that the Lord will bless her and that the new company will see what a jewel they have in her.

It is with great joy to know that our Lord loves his children so much.  That He will take our sorrows and turn them into joy.  The job that she got today is just walking distance from the one that she just left.  I know God has  great plans for our Mandy to lift her up above all the yuckyness.  When we let go and let the Lord have control of our lives, He is able to place us where we need to be.  Our God is an awesome God, He reigns for evermore.

A Visit To Merrywood

Merrywood is the Nursing Home that we have placed my Mother-in-law in.  She has been there since the first of May.  My Tommy (her only son) and I normally will go together on Sunday's to see her.  I try to get by at least a couple of times during the week.


I got a call from one of the office ladies, telling me that Mom was needing a light jacket.  I get really hot while visiting, but I know that the older people need more warmth it seems.  So I went on Monday and found her some new shirts and then two light jackets.  I really wanted to get her a light weight windbreaker, but do you know how hard those are to find?  So I did the best that I could.


When I got there today, she was sitting at the table by herself.  Ms Hazel is normally with her, but she had gone to the open area to hear the gospel singing (one of the local churches come on Wed. and have a short service for them).  So I decided that this would be the best time to take her to her room and show her the new clothes.


She has been in a wheelchair, but today, she had a walker.  She was so cute as we were going down the hall.  She turned to me and said, "I fell and I didn't even get any ice cream".  I think that someone had spoken to her and when she turned to answer, she lost her balance.  Now they tell me that she has a UTI and will be on antibiotics for the next 10 days (so they will place her back in the wheelchair)and then will go back to the walker.  


So we got to her room and her roommate went out and sat in the hallway.  But not far enough that she wouldn't be able to see what I was doing.  I believe she was afraid, that I was going to get in her things.  I cleaned out the closet and then went to the drawers and found things everywhere.  I put things back in order and Mom is telling me all the while, "They aren't going to like it!"  I think that I have decided that I need to bring her clothes home and wash them.  Her jeans were so hard!!!  I would think that they could at least use some Downy!


We got through and I remade her bed, using her bedspread that her daughter, Sally had sent.  I even found items in her drawers that were not even hers.  Now tell me, how can they make this mistake, when I have placed her name on all of her things?  

Well, we moved all down to the main area where the ladies sit.  She is in the Alzheimers unit.  After a while, Ms Hazel came in and of course looked for Mom.  After sitting down, she reached over and patted Mom's hand and asked, "DId you miss me"?  At this, Mom smiled and answered , yes.  After a while of talking, the cutest thing happened.  Ms Hazel looked over to Mom and said, "she is my best friend".  That touched my heart so much.  Even at the age of 91, people still need to have a friend that they enjoy being with.  I am sure that they don't talk much, but to know that there is someone that searchs you out is awesome.  I would say, that the Lord knew what He was doing, when we felt it was time to place Mom in the home.  It just goes to show us that the Lord will never tire of seeing to our basic needs.

Driving License

Our youngest daughter turned 15 in May.  We made our Gabrielle wait, due to grades and some attitudes.

On Thursday, she took her test for the third time and passed with flying colors.


In May, unknown to me, my Tommy bought me a Mustang.  I had told him that I had always wanted one when I was in high school.  Now that has been a long time ago.
So when we were sitting at Ryan's one day in July, he makes the comment that' "your Nana has her own mustang".  After picking up my mouth off the floor, I asked him when?    


Well, in May, before I had left for Texas to get our granddaughters, my Tommy had shown me the car. At that time I told him about my desire in HIGH SCHOOL.  Not for now!!!!


We got the car home and after or should I really be honest and say even before the car arrived at the house, I had already made my mind up to let our Gabrielle have it. I knew that it looked more like a teenager's car instead of a 56 year old lady (who by the way does not like having her hair blown).


The day that our Gabrielle saw it, it was all over her face.  She LOVED it!  She will be able to drive it with others in the passenger seat(18 years and older) until May of 2012.  Then after she passes her test, the car is all hers. 


I wished that I would have had my camera out when she saw it.  Her expression was beyond priceless.  I did get a few pictures of it that I will share.

I did tell my Tommy, that he could paint my Avalon the same color as the Mustang.  To which, he never did answer.  Oh, well.

Something That I Wish I Could have Done?

Have you ever looked back after someone came to visit and wished that you could have done something before they arrived?


Well, this happened to me this past week.  My Mandy, and her Bob, came to get the granddaughters.  I had gone to get them the first of June and it was time for them to go back home.  Caitlin had her first volleyball camp before school started, today.


My plan was to have all the weeds pulled around the pool and to have the house clean.  I suppose the house was okay, but the pool are was  different story.  Sorry, Mandy, it was not that I didn't want to have the place in tip top shape, time just ran away from me.


So, this morning found me outside at 7:30 attacking the pool area.  I uprooted all my tomato plants, rearranged some of the pots, trimmed the ground cover and got all the trash and water balloons all picked up.  I even used the power nozzle on the pool surround and the loungers.  I think that I might have gotten more water on me though.


I remember when my parents or my Grandma would come to visit.  Not only would the house get cleaned, but the closets, drawers and yard.  I know that they would probably not go around looking in drawers and closets.  There was just this unspoken expectation that I had for myself regarding the appearance of my home for them.  


A clean house has always been important to me.  Yet, as I get older, I realize that I would rather have it orderly.  My goal now, is to start with one room at a time and get rid of stuff.

This is the entrance into the backyard. I pulled the weeds that were in the rocks and the placed the planter that has yellow and pink Purslane.

 Behind the loungers, I placed two of my   

                       Aloe plants.  I got the largest one from

                       my Daddy (before he pasted away) and 

                       now it is growing other plants.  I also

                       put a plant that my sister and I saw on

                       our way a few years ago taking our little 

                       sister to the airport. 

                                           

I placed the glass table in the corner and placed all the pots and soil in the sunroom.

I decide that the grill needed to be moved

   and then cleaned the table area up.

I even decided that the ornamental grass could use a haircut.  The walk around the pool is so much easier to maneuver since the ground cover got it's haircut.

See how much nicer it look, Mandy!  You can even see my small Texas flag.

I only had the energy left to place the loungers up, except for one.  That was because there was TWO hornet nest.  I will leave this for another day.

Now that I have sat for awhile, my body is letting me know that while the pool area may look great, I did more than I should have at one time.  Oh, the pleasures of growing old.

What happens When You Get Bored

Last night when all was quiet,  Tommy had already gone upstairs to bed and the granddaughters and I set down to watch a good movie.  Or so I thought!

I normally will read and watch a movie at the same time.  So there I was with my book and relaxing.  When all of a sudden, Caitlin decides to open the bottom drawer under the stove.  She pulls out a tube of Saran Wrap and I am thinking, "What is she going to do?"

I had been scratching my legs earlier in the evening, due to trying some of the lotion for gradual tanning.  I am one that does not tan, so I had decided to try some new lotion.  Everything else that I have tried has broken me out in hives.  Well, the bronzing by L'Oreal has the same effect on me.  So, Caitlin had this brainy idea of wrapping my legs in plastic wrap.  After wrapping one leg, I was ready to get it off.  How people go and get the wraps for losing weight, I will never understand.  I felt like I was in a closed box.

As if this was not enough, Caitlin was going to put some lotion on my legs in hopes to get me to stop scratching.  If I would have put it on myself, I know from past experiences that I would have been clawing the lotion into my legs.  As Caitlin is doing the lotion, I get a cramp at the bend of my leg and I thought I was going to go through the roof.  Caitlin and Shelby got so tickled, that I decided that was it.   No more.

Next thing I know the girls have moved onto the kitchen, where they are starting to wrap each other.  Now, you grandmother's out there know that this is only something that happen at your house.  I cannot imagine allowing my girls to do this when they were small.  Now, I do remember putting curlers in Mandy's hair when she was small and having to wrap a scarf around it.  This was only to make sure she kept the rollers in her hair and not on the floor.  Oh, and I did tie the girls hands (Mandy and Bridgett) because they were using their hands to hit each other.  I am so glad that there was no one to report then.

Caitlin is standing in the middle of the kitchen and she is being wrapped in Saran Wrap.  Years ago, I had read a book about meeting your husband at the front door.  You got it, wrapped only in Saran Wrap!  And no, that was never anything that I would have done.  Perhaps, my little sister , but for so sure, not me!  So, I am thinking what are they doing?  Not only did Caitlin get wrapped, but then it was Shelby's turn.  I love having the girls for the summer.  Somethings are only allowed at Grandparent's home.

Good thing that don't use much Saran wrap.  Must have been left over from a party, I prefer Reynolds wrap so much more.  I am so glad to be a GRANDMOTHER, aka NANA.