Is Everyone O.K.?

I am not seeing much on my blog roll.

Hopefully everyone is tucked in warm and safe.

Still praying for everyone.

Hang in there warmer temperatures are on the way!

Thoughts And Prayers To all Getting Hit With The Freeze

I hope everyone is staying warm. That is some terrible weather hitting there.

Meanwhile in sunny California it was 70 degrees yesterday.

Think Spring. Soon it will be here. Until then wrap up and keep warm.

My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

In Need Of A Tow

The Princess took the ATV for a spin around the field and the battery died.

So what do you do?

Call Tapas' Tow

Kinda like AAA only better.

Tapa always heads out right away when called.

No waiting.

Battery charging and will be ready for the next Princess visit.

Rice Cereal Saves The Day

It wasn't superman that saved us yesterday it was just plain old rice cereal.

This kid was hungry!

He gobbled that stuff right up.

He had two servings and was happy as a clam.
I think I mentioned I had asked my daughter if would be o.k. to start rice cereal and she
said she would ask her doctor. He gave the go ahead when he had his shots a couple weeks ago.
So yesterday she told me I could try giving him some.
What a life saver. He was so happy and he actually slept a couple hours. Not at same time but one time he did sleep a whole hour then a couple 1/2 sleeps. 

Yesterday was a good day.

Now for four days off.

I have so much to do and no idea where to start.

Leaves...oh those darn things need cleaning up still.

On To The Next One

And just like that it was Thursday.

Yesterday was terrible. Baby Brother cried all day unless he was held/walked/drove. I added 10 thousand steps plus to my counter. He doesn't sleep. Cat naps of 15 mins about 4 times a day.

He is still nursing 24/7 when he is not here so that is making it almost impossible for me.

He gets so upset when I get his bottle. I feel so sorry for him. I wish there was an easier way.

Oh yes I know there is a way, but my daughter refuses to do that.

My daughter told me when the Princess went to daycare her daycare provider said she cried the whole time too. You may remember I use to pick her up after I got off work and take her home. She didn't cry when I had her. So that made me feel sad she had to go through that. I guess all babies cry it just depends on how the daycare provider handles it. That was one reason I quit my job. I didn't want her to go to a new daycare that fall when she was 6 months old. The other daycare provider said she couldn't watch her anymore. Babies are hard that is a fact. You just gotta suck it up because you know what? That time flies by in the blink of an eye. 6 months from now I will be talking about how sweet my Grandson is and all the crying and fussing will be in the past.

Anyhow, the Princess and I got in a few special moments. We try to have tea each day and a treat.

She enjoys that a lot. We call them Tea Parties, although it is just tea in the tea pot and cups etc.

We did spend a lot of time outside walking with baby brother in the stroller. So The Princess got to ride her bike and her motorized jeep. She even got silly and rode the very old trike.

She keeps me going when the times are tough.

Today more of the same. They will arrive shortly for 12 fun filled hours.

Hopefully the little rain cloud lets the sun shine through today.

Wish me luck or pray for me or both. I'm sure it will be an adventure.

Back In The Day

This might be long. You might want to grab a cup of coffee. 

When I first got married I had a fairly good job working for a group of doctors as a receptionist.

A few years went by and I had my son. 

My husband worked nights so it was easy to arrange care for my son. 

I had him at night and my husband had him during the days. 

I returned to work after 6 weeks.  Was I devastated? Yes. Did I manage? Yes.

Most people wouldn't go through the things we did to have our family. 

All I ever wanted to do was be a Mom. So I never wanted to put my kids in daycare. I wouldn't have done it. That is why I worked days and my husband had a night job.

When I got pregnant with my daughter my husband agreed that I should quit my job and stay home. He would get a better job and support our family. It was something I had always dreamed of since I was a little girl. 

I still remember saving 50.00 for him to get new pants, a shirt and tie to wear to the interview.

I was over the moon when he got that job.

To set the record straight

I wanted to be a stay at home Mom.

Is there any young people out there that feel the same way now days?

It meant we never had a vacation. 

We never had a second car. 

The first car was in the shambles. It was not trustworthy of travel. To and from a short destination was o.k. That was it. I had that car when the kids started school. People made fun of that car.

We never had the designer clothes that all the kids at school had. 

We never went out to dinner on "Date Night" What the hell does that even mean?

We never did anything that cost money we didn't have. 

We didn't even have cable t.v. 

Our once a year outing as a couple was my husbands office Christmas party dinner.

We just raised our kids the way kids were raised in the 60's and 70's. We played games. Not video games, but real games. We took walks. Went to the lake. Played music and danced. We had many pets over the years. Even a pony the kids enjoyed.

You get the picture.

Our kids were loved.

They were our whole world. 

They were our everything.

As the years went by I did get a job at my children's school.

I was a school cook for 20 years.

My son had just started 4th grade.

I knew the head cook and she asked me if I was interested in working in the kitchen.

I said I was and that was that.

That first paycheck was amazing. I bought the kids clothes and shoes and fun stuff.

It wasn't enough to take that cruise to Mexico.

In fact to this day we have never been on a cruise or a vacation as a couple.

I should say we were given a weekend trip through my husbands work. 

That was the only time we ever left the kids with Grandpa for the night and left town.

My daughter was 9 and my son was 11.

One other time we went to the ocean for a work related trip and we took our daughter.

When my son was in 7th grade we bought a used new car. 

It did go on many Boy Scout trips.

My husband also bought a used van from his employer.

But our brand new car was not purchased until the kids were out of school.

I was always around to take care of my grandparents and my parents or someone's kid that needed a ride home from school or watched until a parent could come pick them up.

I was a Cub Scout Den Mother.

I volunteered in my kids classrooms.

Most people I talk to would never go for this life style.

They would say we were crazy.

Was it hard? Yes.

Did we survive? Yes.

Would I do it all over again? Yes.

So why don't more people stay home?

My opinion is because they are selfish.

Ugh, I know I said that evil word.

It is do able. You just have to want to do it.

Being poor is not fun believe me.

We were not on welfare.

We made enough to scrimp by.

We had health insurance through my husbands employer.

We didn't run to the ER every time one of us was sick.

We survived. 

Anyone can do it if they want to.

Life would be so much better if one parent was home with the kids don't you think?

Imagine having a neighbor you could ask to borrow a cup of sugar from?

Now days no one knows their neighbors, but 

I will save that topic for another day.

Anyhow I will end this here today.

Hopefully you are enjoying your day.

Hurry Spring

Because I miss looking out my window and seeing this view.

I would take a picture of what it looks like now, but it is to depressing.

But I might later. Just to compare.

Yesterdays bulb picture kinda tells the story. Everything is down to the dirt with random leaves scattered here and there. I still have leaves to rake up. I know that is hard to believe.

We are suppose to have sunshine alllllllll week here. Mid to upper 60's 

It will make babysitting a breeze! We can go outside!

Enjoy your winter day!

After The Storm

It rained like crazy.

It was windy too.

Snow fell in the mountains.

But today,

 The skies are blue.

Yippee 

Lets see what is popping up now, shall we?

Ah my lovely tulips are coming up in the oak barrels I put next to my new arbor last fall.

Daffodils? 

Daffodils are popping up in the willow tree garden.

Another Week Another Birthday

Today's birthday is my Sister-in-laws.

So for her special day I baked some brownie cupcakes.

I just used a box of Ghirardelli brownie mix.

The cupcake brownies bake in half the time of regular brownies.

Something different.

Hope she likes them.

Why only 7 you ask?
Well she is 61. So I gave her 6+1.
61 cupcakes would be a lot. 7 will be just right.

Is Anyone Following The Jayme Closs Story?

It is so tragic. I am so glad she was able to escape. Nothing short of a miracle.

I hope she will get the help she needs and she can heal.

I will be praying for her.

Birthday Scarf

My daughter made this scarf for my birthday. The Princess helped with the fabric choices. She knows how much I love Snoopy! There are three pockets where you can put things. The pockets are different fabrics. One is from a pair of pajamas my Dad wore. One says I love Grandma and one is American Flag print. She put the candy in the pockets because I love chocolate.

It was an uneventful day of just hanging out around the house. We had a hamburger out at a local place and that is about it to kick off my 58th year.

My Grandson had his shots yesterday so hopefully he won't be feeling to bad today. They will arrive shortly for another fun filled 12 hours.

It's My Birthday

My first Birthday

Big whoop right?

Yup not so much.

Oh well just another day.

It looks like it is going to rain today and supposedly the rest of the week as well.

I may never get the leaves raked up. Raking them out of the planters is the hard part.

I noticed the racoons have left me piles of waste in places. That is always fun to clean up too.

Tomorrow the kids will be back for another round of 12 hour days.

I am not sure if I told you that my grandson is teething. So that is wreaking havoc on him. It is always hard when that happens. So I guess wish me luck this week as I journey on toward another weekend. 

I am sure it will be an adventure.

Happy Monday!

When You Love To Fly

Not me, but my son. 

My son has loved planes since he was a baby. 

We always believed he was reincarnated.

He was most interested in the WW2 era. 

Whenever a movie came on he would watch it intensely. 

He was not interested in Mickey Mouse or Sesame Street, although he would watch sometimes. 

However, anytime WW2 was mentioned he would listen. 

I'm talking baby here. 

He would literally stop what he was doing to watch or listen.

It was fascinating to us. Since he was so young there was no way he could know anything about it.

Through the years he asked many questions about that time period.

Needless to say he has a great knowledge of history.

As he grew up his love for planes spanned out to include Navy fighter jets. 

It was always the U.S. Navy. 

As a toddler he wanted to hang planes in his room. So my husband built model airplanes and hung them from the  ceiling. We hung a flag on the wall. He also had posters on his walls of Navy planes.

He had a lot of toy airplanes. You can be sure an airplane was what he wanted for a birthday or for

Christmas.

Back then it was impossible to find stories for children about airplanes, warplanes or WW2.

As you know there was no internet to look for such stories.

I use to think that would be a great book to write.

One that was for children.

Instead everyone told him stories including my Dad who grew up during the WW2 era.

I remember when the movie The Rocketeer came out. It was an instant hit for my son.

He watched it many times. He was also fascinated with the movie The Final Countdown.

Of course Top Gun and a few others caught his eye over the years.

His heroes were Navy pilots and he was sure to be at every airshow that came to town.

We thought for sure he would join the Navy when he grew up. 

But he didn't.

 Around his junior high school years  he became much more interested in computers and technology. Eventually he decided that would be his occupation.

Anyhow skipping forward to recent times...

He went to Texas a few months ago to learn to Paramotor.

He loved it and decided that was something he would love to do.

So he got all the equipment and has taken his second flight. Click on link below if you want to see him flying.

Paramotor

Growing Poppies And Other Stuff

Took a walk down to the crash site and saw that the poppies are growing well. 

It has rained a lot so that helped them I'm sure.

The poppy seeds were scattered where the bodies etc. were found and also around the area.

I am hoping they will continue to grow and bloom this spring.

If nothing eats them that is.

Many wild animals around and of course the cows that seem to step on everything they don't eat.

I am hoping this turns out to be a nice memorial for these two men who lost their lives volunteering in an angel flight.

Saw this Momma Cow having her calf. 

Left and came back a bit later and this baby calf was born.

Saw a super large manzanita tree.

Saw another tree with large knots.

It was a nice day for a walk and I added about 6000 steps to my day.

Missing My Dad

Do you see the shoes in the picture on the right bottom side?

I never have liked wearing shoes. Everyone else has theirs on.

I have always preferred walking barefoot. Especially on the sand.

My daughter wanted some pictures of her when she was a baby to compare to her son. So digging through pictures I found this one. Me, my Dad and my brother at the ocean. No date. I am guessing I was around 6 or 7.

It is almost my birthday and that means I have to spend another one without my Dad here.

I miss him so much. It is so hard to go through the days without being able to call him and talk to him. He always had the best advice and he always understood me. I use to say I can't imagine my life without my Dad. Well now I know what that is like. I know he is here for me in spirit. I guess I have to trust that.

Here is to one more 12 hour shift with a crying, fussy baby and the Princess who is really hanging in there through all this. She is doing great in her big sister roll.

It is raining out so all our fun has to happen inside. Maybe we will get a little break in the weather and be able to go for a walk or two.

How many days till Spring?

New Table

Some folks are showing the messy side of their gardens so I am sharing mine.

I made the new table which is an old pedestal and a piece of marble.

I really like it better then the little cast iron table I was using here.

I think it goes better with the pink.

Normally I would cut out the ground part of this picture to share, but since I am sharing the messy side today I will include it too.

I do plan to add bark or mulch to this area.

 I have been waiting until the leaves are all gone.

There are still some leaves on the trees in the yard. I am thinking I will get the bark next time we have a nice weekend. The weed cloth is down and ready to go. 

Anyhow, just picture that. 

I am happy with the table though.

I am glad I found the marble piece.

And now I must hit the hay.
5am comes mightt early and 12 hours of daycare is about all I can do.
Enjoy your Tuesday!

A New Week Has Began

I'm all ready for this round.

Got lunches made which are pizza rolls.

I made the dinner rolls for tomorrows dinner.

These are just rising so not baked yet.

Hopefully this week goes smoother then last week.

This is my last week of being 57.

Next week at this time I will already be 58.

My how time flies.

You don't even have to have fun.

It just flies by.

Hope you have a great week!

Rain Rain and More Rain

And I am not going to complain.

We need so much more rain.

We had 1.12 inches yesterday. It was a blessing. I can't wait till it is light outside and I can go see how things look.

It rained all day and was still raining when I went to sleep around 10pm.

It got pretty windy too. I could hear things banging around outside. 

I always worry about my hanging things and hope they are secure where they are hanging.

I am hoping the reservoir is full and the creek is running when I take Jack for his walk.

It was almost full last storm we had, but not quite enough to run over and off down the creek.

I also have a little project that I want to work on. It is just removing a marble top off of a table I got on craigslist for 30 dollars.

The wood base was not what I wanted, but the marble was pretty.

I am going to use it for an outdoor project.

Marble is expensive. This one is already cut in a circle which should work perfectly.

It did not look as pink when I saw it, but that is o.k. 

So hopefully I can get that done today.

I hope your new year is going well so far!

It's A New Year!