Mini Golf and a Hometown Tour

 

Well...yesterday was Millie and PawPaw Day with our girls

and we took them to play mini-golf.

As you can see,

one was really into it,

one was bored,

and one was her usually goofy self.

😂

Can you picture the scene?

18 holes with these characters?

Several meltdowns,

one whack on the head,

and lots of questions

of when they could go inside to play 

the games.

These are the days memories are made of!

(City Council Chambers where David served for over 15 years)

Before golf, we took them to lunch

in David's hometown of Vidor,

where he grew up and where we lived

until 2017.

We took them to lunch at a place that has been in business since David was

in high school. 

They serve amazing food and everyone writes their names on the walls.

We let the girls all write their names too, which

they loved doing.

(Girls pointing to David's name)

Next we took them to City Hall

to show them where their daddy's star will be

(on the Walk of Fame)

in May.

While there, they also got to see where

PawPaw's name was on the wall

and where he once sat while

serving as a councilman.

We took them to see the church where 

David has been a member since he was their

age.

It's also where we got married and 

David, Ted and I were baptized.

(Collin was baptized at a different church)

Emmy was very interested in knowing that her

great, great, great uncle preached there

many years ago.

She's always interested in knowing about relatives

and the history of how they fit into her life.

⛪

After a full day of touring,

golfing and eating way too many

good things,

we took them home with all their

little treasures they won at the

mini golf place.

It was a fun day.

😀🏌

Tune in tomorrow for a job update

and weekend plans.

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Family Dinner and Thoughts on Thankfulness

 

It's a Family Dinner update! Every Tuesday night we have all the kids and grands over for dinner. It's wild, it's chaotic, it's definitely a sensory overload 😅 At one point last night I looked around the room and we were all crowded in our tiny living room and everyone was engaged in something.

Emmy (our oldest grand who is 7) was reading a book outloud, wanting me to help with some of the words. I was holding Asa, who was happily bouncing up and down. Alex and Morgan were chatting in the chairs, Ted and Collin were both strumming guitars and talking business, David had Calem in his lap, Ella wanted me to feed her "baby" stuffed animal a bottle, and Addie was bringing all kinds of things from the back room into the living room and having a great time marching to her own beat, which is normal. 

Tuesdays are always a long day, full of cleaning and cooking and then cleaning up after everyone is gone. But at the end of the night, I'm always so thankful for the time we have together as a family. I don't really enjoy the cooking, because cooking is not my idea of fun. But I do enjoy serving my kids, providing a good meal and what I hope will be memories that will last a lifetime. 

Speaking of being thankful...I was reading Joyce Meyer's book titled "The Answer to Anxiety" that I'm reviewing right now, and just finished the chapter on "Thankfulness."

It really spoke to me concerning this time David and I have been going through, without a job.  The book shares many scriptures about thankfulness and praying with thanksgiving. She also mentions the scripture about not complaining, but doing everything without grumbling or arguing (Philippians 2:14). 

She mentions that complaining and not being thankful is basically refusing to acknowledge all the blessings you do have, and focusing on what you don't have. And it just reiterated my desire to use this time of growth and learning as a way to encourage others, should they go through an unexpected time of job loss or hardship.

I know we have gone through many emotions during this period of being without a job, but for the most part, we've had such a peace that God was going to provide in his perfect timing. We've enjoyed the growth it's caused in our finances and our faith. And my joy will come from being able to look back one day and see (once again) how God has taken care of every detail.

But, it also made me think of people I know that are never thankful and the lack of fruit you see in their lives. 

Have you ever known someone like that? Someone who always looks at life through the lens of what they don't have, verses what they do have? Those people are like a weed that can creep through life's garden, strangling the life out of everything blooming along the path. They can be a poison and if you're not careful, you can begin to join them if you are around them for too long.

The book talks of thankfulness being a conduit to God blessing you and complaints being the barrier between God's blessings and the life of a perpetual complainer. And I believe it! The fruit is so visible! 

All that to say, if you're going through something, find the blessings. They are there, but you have to pray for open eyes to see. God has not forsaken you! He wants to bless you, but you have to be willing to be thankful for the smallest, as well as the largest blessings. It reminds me of that song "Little is much, when God is in it!" 

When you praise him and thank him for the little things, don't be surprised when he blesses you with bigger things that he has waiting for you.

In the meantime...worship is always good for the soul 🙌

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

A Book Review - Where Are Your Shoes Mr. Brown?

 

I recently got this book to review and it's been one of my favorites, so far! Here's my Goodreads review for those who are interested. As always, thank you to Hachette Book Group for providing this book. 

📚

This book was given to me for review and I'm so glad I chose to read it! It is based off the author's adorable son, whom he calls Mr. Brown, and his real-life struggle to keep track of his shoes. As the farmer (dad) gets ready to do some work on the farm, his son can't find his shoes. But instead of getting upset and insisting the boy find his shoes, the dad decides to help Mr. Brown look for the shoes, as they go about their chores. He makes a fun adventure out of finding the shoes and even the siblings get in on the hunt. In the end, the boy has so much fun spending time with his dad and the dad handled the situation in a loving manner. 

My granddaughters loved this story and I think it's a good choice for parents too.

📚

I could certainly relate to this story, as I have 3 granddaughters who very often tell me they can't find their stuff. 

What I really liked about this book was the way the dad handled it. So often, we get impatient with kids and find ourselves expecting them to be little grown ups. When in reality, they are still growing and learning and deserve our patience. I mean, after all, how many times do we lay something down, only to wonder where we put it?

If you're looking for a cute kid's book, I highly recommend this one!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Happy Sunday and A Quick Catch-Up

It's Sunday morning and I'm having my coffee before getting ready for church, but I wanted to just do a quick catch up of what's been going on this week. 

David and I travelled to Dallas Wednesday for a job interview he would have on Thursday morning. When we got to the hotel in downtown, we were on the 27th floor! I am not a fan of staying up so high, but David loves it. 

That night we had a very nice dinner in the hotel restaurant and walked around a bit. The place was very crowded, which meant that a lot of conferences were going on. 

This used to be a very familiar scene for us, when we had young children. We would travel a lot for David's job and stay in some really nice hotels and cities. Lots of fun memories of me trying to keep two boys occupied. But we always found some fun things to do and we loved all being together. There were a few times, as the boys got older, that I was the only one traveling with David and I always loved the time alone in the room, writing, reading and not thinking about laundry and other tasks calling my name.

 And that's exactly what I did this time! I had the whole morning on Thursday to sit and work on some future writing projects, gather my thoughts, pray, read and venture out (27 flights down!) to the Market Place and get some food, coffee and other treats. It was really nice and just the break I needed from the regular schedule at home.

The interviews (he had 5 in a row!) went perfect and it seems it will be good news this week, so we shall see. 

We got home Thursday night and Friday morning I was up and ready to go grocery shopping. I did a pretty big shopping trip, since it had been almost two weeks since my last one. 

Saturday there was an air show in town and all the kids were going and asked us to go too, so we met at the airport for some touring of airplanes and some BBQ. 

I only got a few pictures, so I missed getting the girls sitting in a helicopter and a picture of Alex, Collin, Morgan and Asa, but we were all there and it was a beautiful day, as you can see from the blue sky. 

As always, the girls wanted to come home with us, which we were 100% on board with, so we decided to get the "pool" out and let them continue their day outside. I say "pool" because their other grandparents have a real pool, in-ground, and so this one is kind of funny to call a pool 😀 but they had so much fun swimming for hours, eating snacks and making up stories. 

When it was time for dinner, I let them all make their own pizzas and it was fun to see how they all turned out. I sent this pizza picture to their parents to see if they could guess who made which one and of course, they were able to tell right away. 

Ella's, Emmy's and Addie's on the far right. Obviously I should have covered the pans with foil, but the natives were getting restless (and hungry), so I was trying to stay one step ahead of them as they were getting their dry clothes on. Thankfully, David has muscles and did a great job of scrubbing the pans that night. 

After taking them home, David and I came home, got the house and ourselves cleaned up and settled on the couch about 8:30 to finish watching the Australian version of Farmer Wants a Wife. I am loving this show! Have you watched? Of course, I love reality tv, so this is right up my alley, and David has actually gotten interested in it too. So we put off our British crime show for the night, so we could watch a few episodes of the farmers. 

It's been a good week and a fun weekend and we still have today to go 😊

I'll be back this week, hopefully blogging a bit more and catching up on some things I didn't do last week, due to traveling. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Weekend Recap - Backroads, Babysitting and Some Visitors

Happy Monday, friends!

It's a cold Monday here in Texas!

36 degrees to be exact...brrr!!

David and I had a great weekend. 

Moving backwards from yesterday,

we went to church early,

then took a drive to one of our favorite

restaurants about an hour north,

where we had some down home cooking,

of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans.

I mean, it doesn't get more homey than that!

I had to snap this picture as we took

a back road home.

David and I have always loved traveling down the backroads,

but that's a entire set of posts we could go down,

but don't have the time right now. 

Once we got back, we basically had coffee,

watched a series on tv and had a very restful day.

Saturday we had the privilege of keeping this little guy.

His mommy and daddy were going to a wedding,

so we got to play with Asa for a few hours.

What a joy!

He is a few days shy of 10 months old

and is so curious about everything.

And everything goes in the mouth right now,

because he has 10 teeth!

 

Here are mommy and daddy, 

once known as

Collin and Morgan 😀

(a baby changes everything!)

They are the cutest couple

and so much fun to be around

with their personalities.

The rest of the weekend was spent admiring these

visitors we have had for a few days.

They came last year too and we never tire

of watching them.

They have camped out on the shore just by the boat

for a few days.

I'm sure they will set off on their next adventure soon,

but for now, we are enjoying them.

Today I am spending the day

taking care of household things,

such as food inventory, meal planning,

grocery list, laundry, and 

hopefully cheering David on as

he begins demo work on the old shed.

We're making progress around here,

which feels great!

Well I'm off to start the day 😀

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

What's On The Table and Other Catching Up Things

ON THE TABLE...

What's on the table this week? Well it's a cake platter of store-bought cinnamon rolls that I bought when David and I took a trip to Sam's this week (which can be dangerous). 

I was doing really well with sticking to the list, until we got to the bread/tortilla/baked goods section. 

I spotted them, David wanted them and somehow they ended up on our table for the week. But you know what? I'm not a fan. They don't have that great of a flavor, so I've only eaten one. The kids loved them, so they will get eaten, but from now on, I'll just make them instead of buying them. 

Speaking of kids...last night we had our weekly family dinner and it was wild 😀 Two teething baby boys and two girls with allergies from all the pollen. Two sets of parents who aren't getting much sleep these days. One 7 year old who sleeps great and never gets sick, but wants to spend quality time, no matter how much chaos is going on. Two grandparents who collapsed on the couch when they all left. 

I fixed 3 pans of chicken enchiladas, homemade Spanish rice and some really spicy Mexican cheese dip I picked up at Sam's. We had plenty left over so everyone got to take some food home with them when they left. I love it when I can send my kids home with stuff. 

ON THE HOMEFRONT...

David finished off a huge project we've been dreading the entire time we've lived here, which was cleaning out the old storage shed, organizing his workshop and moving his mother's stuff in storage over to our building until we can get another one. Lots of work! But it's finally done and now all that's left is to demo the shed and buy the new one. 

The bathroom project has been put on hold while the weather outside is so nice and will resume once the shed is torn down. But that's ok, because I am so thrilled that it's been cool and perfect weather for David to be doing all of this. I think we have one more week of cooler weather and then we will be back to hot and humid. That's when it's great to have indoor projects!

ON THE JOB FRONT...

David had a great interview last week and yet this week has been quiet. This is week 5 and up until this point, his phone has been very busy with people contacting him. He has yet to apply to one job on his own. All of the interviews and inquiries he's had, have been people wanting him to apply and send in his resume, once they found out he was unemployed. 

In the meantime, we are praying for clarity as each opportunity arises and asking God to eliminate anything that we need to avoid (and he has!). 

Over the years God has protected us from so many jobs that have come across our path and then turned out to be lots of trouble later. We've been able to look back and thank him for protection. That's what we are praying for this time, as well. 

HOW THE BUDGET IS GOING...

The budget is going surprisingly well! Having your income cut in half is certainly a challenge, but not impossible.

I've only ordered two books in 5 weeks! That's a record! And they have totaled less than $20. We've eaten out about once a week, but very frugally, so no guilt there. 

The bills have been paid since the beginning of March (for the entire month), we still have money in our wallets, the bank, and another check coming in soon, so we are doing well. 

WHAT I'M WORKING ON THESE DAYS...

I have been trying to go with the flow these days and just work on purging, cleaning and organizing something each day.  It's taken me this long to acclimate to the "new normal" of having David at home during the day, which means all of my routines have had to adjust and merge with his. I have walked around lost on many days; not knowing what to work on next. That sounds ridiculous, but I'm just being honest. 

In seeking what God would want me to learn during this time, I've come to the conclusion that he's stretching me and teaching me to seek him for the daily agenda and let go of what I deemed as important for each day. Some days that has looked like work and some days it's looked like rest. 

I have surrendered my schedule, my agenda, my need for structure and routine - all to God for these days, because I don't want to miss what he wants to show me during this time. 

In the meantime...little by little, I'm starting to feel the itch to get back to writing, which is so exciting. It's my passion. It's what lights that spark in me and I've missed it for the past few years. 

I'm slowly working on things, careful to not toss myself into chaos or a self-induced stress mindset, which I can so easily do. 

I'm following the direction the Lord is leading and as always, I believe all of this cleaning, organizing, purging, etc. he has me doing, will serve me well in my writing, in the future. 

Well, that's all the catching up for today. I have some errands to run and then some downtime this afternoon, which I'm really looking forward to.

I hope your day is full of all the good things today holds!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Homemade Bread and A Weekend Recap

 

Happy Monday, friends! It's early morning and as I sit here typing, something is rattling on my desk and my dog, Banjo, is snoring on the carpet in my office. So much for a quiet start to the day 😀 But, we shall prevail with the weekend recap, because that's seems to be what I do on Monday mornings. 

This weekend found me cooking on Saturday again. In fact, I was up at 5:00 a.m. Saturday making the dough for homemade bread. I intended on doing it Friday night, but forgot, so I got started bright and early the next day, to give it time to rise before dinner. 

I doubled the batch this time and made one big loaf and two smaller loaves to share. It turned out delicious, as you can see from the picture. 

Then, in honor of my dad's birthday this past week, I made a pot of beans. 

My dad was known for his beans and bbq, so when we cook beans, we think of my dad. 

These went into the crockpot and simmered all day, which is not the way my dad cooked beans.

He cooked them on the stove and no one else touched them. He took pride in watching over the beans, making sure not to stir them too much. They cooked for hours and always tasted the same, every time, with his spice combination of chili powder and I don't know what else.  Here's to you, dad!

Next, I put a big roast in the 2nd crockpot and let it simmer all day in my favorite marinade. If you haven't tried this, grab a bottle next time you want to cook a roast and you will not be disappointed. I use half the bottle and save the other half for next time. 

This is the only spice and liquid you will need and your roast will come out tender enough to fall apart and have all the savory flavor you could want. 

After setting all the cooking in motion for the day, I spent the rest of Saturday deep cleaning my dining, kitchen and living room. Mopping, moving things, cleaning baseboards, rearranging and putting it all back. I love a good Saturday of cleaning and what I call "loving on my home." It just feels good at the end of the day to sit back and enjoy a clean floor and a shiny space. Setting out a nice candle on the table and everything feels fresh and new. 

While I was making the inside of the house shine, David was outside still working on getting the building ready to demolish. He cleaned everything out of his workshop and was able to throw much away that wasn't ours and make room for actually being able to use the workbench for projects. Isn't that what every man dreams of...his own workshop? I've always wanted him to have one and I consider it a little bonus blessing that God gave us, when he led us to this house. 

Saturday evening we sat down to a delicious meal of roast, beans and homemade bread, but just as I was getting the plates ready, I realized I had completely forgotten to cook the potatoes! We always have mashed potatoes with roast and I just didn't even think about it until it was time to eat. Uggg! Oh well. There's always next time. 

Sunday we spent the morning doing some things for David's mom and taking her to lunch. Since she lives in an assisted living, we don't eat with her very often. But she was determined to get out for awhile, so we went to lunch and stopped by Kroger to grab some things she needed. It was a short outing, but hopefully lifted her spirits a bit.

On our way home we got a frozen coffee drink, which I haven't had since David lost his job over a month ago now. I've been watching every penny we spend, so frivolous drinks have not been on the list of what to spend money on. It was delicious, of course. 

The rest of yesterday was spent relaxing, watching tv, reading and eating leftovers for dinner. The perfect way to end the weekend.

Speaking of reading...here's a peek at what I'm getting in the mail these days 😀

Hmmm...are we seniors yet? I don't know but I think I might actually want this book, regardless 😀

And with that I'll say...

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Runaway Cows, Millie Day and Some Outside Projects

 

I've been a little short on photos this week, so this morning I stepped out on the back porch to take a picture of the lake, turned my head and saw this...real life. 

I mean, the lake is real life too, but so is renovation when you buy a fixer upper. 

Last weekend we borrowed this trailer from a friend so we could empty that ugly building right beside it and tear it down. 

This has been such a hideous eyesore since we moved here, nearly three years ago, but we were renting and it wasn't ours to get rid of. But now it's about to be history!

David will continue working on that today, while I clean and cook, run to the bank and attempt to do some other projects that have been on the list this week.

Yesterday was Millie Day, so we had the 3 girls all day.

Millie Day is always filled with food, crafts, dance parties, outside play and snacks. It's been extra exciting since David's been home. Yesterday he started a fire in the firepit, which thrilled Ella and Addie. Emmy stayed inside with me and she read her latest book to me. We both agreed that we don't like smelling like smoke. 

Later that day, while we were taking a little break from playing outside (did I mention it was 81 degrees?), I looked out the kitchen window and saw 4 cows on the street outside our front gate! That's not something you see everyday, so I yelled for everyone to come see! We quickly got shoes on and headed outside, but the cows were already heading into the woods and we never saw them again. 

We know of a man who has cattle on the next street over, so David called the police to report the missing cows. By the time the police and animal control got there (which only took 5 minutes), the cows had disappeared deep into the woods.  Later we put the girls in the car and took a drive to see if we could spot the cows on some nearby roads, but they were nowhere to be seen. Oh well! It was exciting for a bit 😀

I'm glad the cows moved on, though I would have loved if the girls could have seen them up close. But it reminded me of a time, many years ago, when some horses got loose from a nearby farm and David was helping round them up and ended up with some broken fingers. We definitely don't need any broken bones right now! David has a job interview today, so he needs to be in good shape 😀

Well, I'm off to start the day of cleaning the house and enjoying a productive weekend, I hope. Although, when there are outside projects going on, I feel like cleaning is kind of useless, but it's nice while it lasts. 

Have a wonderful weekend my friends!

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

What to Do With a Leftover Pie Crust?

 

Is this really a topic to write about?

Why yes, I think it is!

Because don't we all have a left over roll of pie crust dough

at one time or another?

And wouldn't you like to know what to do with it, if you did?

Well, I had to google the ideas, but once I did,

it all made sense!

Take the breakfast sausage in the freezer,

sauté it with some butter and onion,

throw in some spinach,

until soft.

Pour the meat mixture into the pie crust

(which is already in the pie plate).

Beat 4 eggs with some milk,

pour over the meat mixture in the pie plate,

and top with lots of cheese.

Bake at 350 until done.

And breakfast is served!

And delicious.

And now I know what to do with a leftover pie crust.

😀

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

A Photo Recap - What a Beautiful Weekend!

Hello Friends! It's another new week and I thought I would just share 

some pictures from my phone for the past few days.  

Saturday evening I made Tollhouse cookies.

I made a batch for the weekend and 

put two baggies of dough in the freezer

for another day of craving cookies.

While the cookies were baking,

I snapped a picture of the living room.

With the lighter colored furniture,

the room looks totally different,

but it's growing on me.

I love the evening sunlight just outside these doors.

David and I have been tracking this baby duck all week.

He's been playing in the lake all by himself for days.

He floats around and then bobs under water

before surfacing in a completely different spot. 

We love it when we have visitors in the lake!

We've had some gorgeous mornings this past week!

I had to get a shot of the blue sky.

David took the girls for a boat ride on Thursday.

They love to work the paddle while David steers. 

I saw them going in circles at one point.

Friday night Collin, Morgan and Asa stopped by

to grab some packages.

It was such a beautiful evening

so we sat on the porch and talked for awhile.

Here's Asa and PawPaw sharing a laugh together.

💙

Sunday was church, home for lunch,

and some purging of an outside storage

building that we are about to tear down.

It's a big job that we've been dreading,

but it's one more step in the renovation process,

so the finished product will be worth the hard work.

This week will bring more of the same.

Today is grocery shopping,

more outside work,

and making a big pot of minestrone soup for lunches this week.

We will also be celebrating my "baby's" birthday.

Collin will be 24 this year!

I can't believe it.

I still want to squeeze him,

every time he walks through the door.

Which I do, of course. 😀

I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures to share!

Until then...I wish you all a great week

filled with (hopefully) spring-like weather,

family time, friends you love,

and lots of good food. 

Until Next Time...

Blessings!