Sunday update

I left you with spring cleaning in Marksville. With our busy schedule I am still working on the spring cleaning part of it. Upstairs is next. Today I have laundry, and dishes to do. We have been very busy with appointments, birthdays, and school activities that I haven't been able to keep up here.

Deanna and Dorothy are playing outside enjoying the nice weather, while I have started a load of laundry and am going to start the dishes after this post. I have to also drop Dennise off at school for her third performance in "Guys and Dolls". I hope to be able to view it today.

I have taken the plunge and bought my own domain under marksvilleandme.com if you re interested in checking it out. It is linked to my blogger so you can view it pretty much anytime. I am still working my other job and hope to pick up another one soon. With blogging and doing several other mystery shops on top of that I hope to be able to bring up what we are making so we can get things we would like and start saving money so if anything happens we have a little saved a  way to get us through.

Dennis is still out of work, they now have him off until June 1st, and I don't think he will be back to work after that either. He isn't off of the crutches yet and still has his brace on. The new brace is already wearing out. I hope that they will pay for new straps so that it will stay where it needs to be. It just slips off his leg when he is upright now.

His job is also talking about layoffs so they might be laid off before he even goes back to work unless they get some new orders. I guess if that happens he will at least have more time to heal properly and grow muscle in his leg, so that it is stronger. He just wants to be able to paint the rooms upstairs but isn't able to because he can't stand on his legs too long.

He has filled his time with playing games, and selling stuff on ebay that he had just laying around. He has done pretty well. He has even had buyers from China, Spain, Canada, and Japan.

The kids are doing well in school and soon we will have all of the spring concerts to attend. This  school year has gone by so fast, but any mother can understand how fast their child's life goes by and poof they are adults off doing the things they want to do and taking care of their own children.

My mother always said to enjoy them while they are little because it goes by quickly. Even though we have 6 children it just wizzes by and before you know it their child hood is gone. I am glad I took the time to sit and watch my children grow, and enjoy as much as I could of their time as children. So many wonderful memories flood to my mind when I think of them each and every day. Children really are our future.

Ok time for me to get the dishes done before dropping Dennise off. Have a great day everyone.

Spring Cleaning in Marksville

We had quite the busy week starting Easter Sunday. We had a big family dinner with Samantha, Lilly, and David. We went to bed early because Monday we were on the run first I took our van down to get inspected. I kept saying all month I would take it down and guess who was in the day after it expired getting it inspected. Yes you guessed it me. Once home we took Dennis to  his Physical Therapy appointment, then Dennise to her Dentist appointment, and then to get her finger measured. Tuesday was my appointment which went well. The Dr. is keeping me on the dosage I am taking right now because I am doing well. I have an appointment to go back in 3 months, which is around the same time the kids have their physicals for school.

Wednesday I ended up starting my job with last minute notice, but everything worked out just fine. Thursday Dennis had physical therapy again, then we stopped at Staples to spend our reward bucks. I walked out only paying .26 for my order. We stopped to spend my husband's gift card that he got from his job to buy different gift cards, one for Microsoft points, and one for Lowe's to bring me closer to getting our new refrigerator.

Next stop was Walmart to pick up the cell phone for my job, and some games that Dennis bought with money he made off of ebay selling his items. I found some really great deals. 1.00 and 2.00 T-Shirts for Deanna and Dorothy. All they need are shorts for summer and they will be ready. We then did our grocery shopping and boy did we do a great job at saving money and staying within our budget. With living on workman's comp we have to stretch every dollar.

Today I went and did my job which took me all of 5-10 minutes. We also stopped at Staples because Dennis was looking for something but of course they didn't have what he wanted, and I was bummed because this Staples didn't have the Martha Stewart Collection.

Have you seen the Martha Stewart Collection at Staples? It is awesome, if you haven't and get the chance, check it out. I will be stopping by our local Staples to pick some of the items I want up, since the other day the cash register spit out a 25% off my total of order from the Martha Stewart collection. In case you couldn't tell. I love a good bargain, and anything that makes life a little bit easier so I can spend more time with my loved ones is a win, win situation for me.

Dennise cleared out the back bathroom pantry and put the bathroom stuff in the pantry, which saved me a lot of work, then I worked on the totes, while Deanna swept the porch. It looks great. We have to get rid of the portable crib out there, and I have to go through their kitchen toys, other then that I think it is done.

My next project is painting the two Doll house double sided  book cases and setting one up in the living room, and the other one upstairs for the girls to play with. I was able to find some really nice red bins for the one that will be in our living room. I am still on the search for bins for the girls rooms, but soon enough I will find what I am looking for.

I think I might tackle the Hair accessory drawers. We have two of those plastic 6 drawer units stacked to house all of their barrettes, pony tails, ribbons, and headbands. With having 4 girls, a granddaughter and tons of other visiting girls, so we go through a lot of hair styling.

Well the time has come to do snuggles and stories with the kids. Tomorrow comes early. Luckily it is just getting coupons and then home to see what I can do next in the house. I guess you can say that Spring Cleaning has officially begun in Marksville.

Easter is almost here.

Yesterday's post says Friday but it was actually for Thursdays date, must have gotten it published after midnight. So I will combine the real Friday news with todays news, somehow I am just a day behind but that is ok. 

I woke up yesterday and my back pain was gone. I am so glad because I had a lot to get done. We had a family meeting in the morning, and we made plans to go and see Bryan the day after vacation for a family session and of course to celebrate his Birthday. He knows that he will be in a new room when he comes home, and that decorating it is part of his Birthday present. I was able to get some ideas on the phone last night on what he would like. I can totally work with what he gave me, now to the planning board to get it done for him.

Dennise ended up taking Dorothy and Deanna up to the park since it was so nice outside, and while they were out Dennis and I took advantage of the time and went to see "The Host" which was really good. They could have made it a bit shorter and cut about a half hour off or they could have made it longer and made it into a miniseries. It was a movie that could really go either way. I enjoyed it though.

When we got home we had pizza with the kids, and then decorated our Easter eggs. We went with marbleizing them this year which turned out quite well. You can see them over at What Marksville does for Fun.

We all went off to bed around the same time and awoke early this morning to get ready for the Easter egg hunt that our community puts on. Samantha and Lilly made it just in time. Lilly found a Golden egg this year, but did not want to sit on the Bunny's lap. The girls had their pictures with the Bunny and then we waited for the raffle numbers to be called. We didn't win but we had a good time together.

 

 

My girls from left to right.

Samantha, my grand daughter Lilly, Dorothy, Deanna, and Dennise.

 

I dropped Dennise off at play practice and have to pick her up in a few hours, other then that today will be a laid back day, except for doing dishes, and folding clothes.

Feeling Accomplished

I feel so accomplished today. I was able to get our shopping done, Easter supplies bought, Easter Dinner thought out, the pantry reorganized, refrigerator cleaned out, floors mopped, laundry and dishes done, on top of cleaning out a few other places around the house, all with my back not quite up to par. It feels like my arthritis today and from hearing some other people in our area theirs has been flaring up as well. I guess Spring is on its way.

The kids start their Spring Vacation tomorrow which means egg decorating for us. Dennis and I are really impressed with a new way to decorate eggs this year and actually both started talking about it at the same time this evening. I guess great minds think alike.

Saturday we have the community Easter Egg Hunt which the kids enjoy, and after we have pictures with the Easter bunny. We also put a little money into the raffles for baskets we would like to win. Right after I have to drop Dennise off at Practice for the Musical, and then home for a while to fold clothes, and work on the baskets on the porch that I have yet to go through.

During vacation week the kids and I will continue on working on getting their rooms done upstairs, and putting things away. It is so nice to see their rooms coming together. It has been a long time since there has been order in their rooms, without me doing it all pretty much myself. I am so thankful for the medicine and all it has done for me so far with my Fibromyalgia.

I guess I should change out the laundry and get Dennis his snack before heading to bed myself. We have an early family appointment in the morning, and a full day of activities ahead, as well as having Lilly for the day.

Life here in Marksville

It has been a really long time since I have posted and so much has happened here in our family. Samantha was laid off from her job,  she got another job paying minimum wage with in week or so, bought her own car, passed her drivers test, and then just recently she got a another job, making much more, and passed her CNA with a 100. She is now living on her own with Lilly and is doing just fine.

Buke finally asked Taylor to marry him so we will officially have another family member to add to Marksville within the next year. Dennise is doing well in school, her singing is coming along well, and she just picked out her High School Ring. Time just flies by, when you have kids.

Deanna has a fantastic teacher this year and is really blossoming into a young lady. She played Soccer in the fall, and just got done with Basketball, which she really did well with this year. A few of the coaches noticed how much better she got, and several of them have asked for her to be on their team next year. She is also doing swimming after school twice a week which she really enjoys. Since Samantha moved out Deanna has just moved into her old room, and has been busy fixing it up.

Dorothy is Kindergarten and has a wonderful teacher as well. She enjoys school and still loves to snuggle with Mommy at night for her snuggles and stories. She is just getting use to having a room all to herself which is a bit scary for her since she went from sleeping in our bed to sleeping in a room with her sister and now she is by herself, so I am sure we will have a few nights where she ventures into our room.

The girls and I have been watching Little House on the Prairie and they both really enjoy it. We have a few more Seasons to go and we will be done. I hope to get Walton's Mountain Next to view with them.

Back in February Dennis fell on ice at work and had to have reconstructive surgery on his knee and has been in a brace since then. He is off until at least May 1st. It is slow going for the healing but he is right on track the Dr. said so that is good news. Since we are living off of Work Mans comp. we have had to be a bit more careful with our money. When it first happened we had just gotten our income tax so things were a bit easier but now that money is gone and we are just living from check to check.

Around the same time that Dennis fell I finally went to the Dr.'s for all of the pain I have had over the last 6 years and he did a few tests and pretty much thought it was Fibromyalgia, but had to wait for a few tests to come back before he could say without a doubt. I do have Fibromyalgia and I am currently being treated for it. We have seen a lot of improvement although today I am very sore from things I did yesterday.

Holding your Granddaughter while she is sleeping while typing on the computer just should not cause this much pain. The only other thing I did was pick up crayons and colored pencils off of the ground. Those are the only things I did out of the ordinary yesterday. Even though I am in pain today I have had much less pain then I have had in the past and have been able to much more around the house, which is a blessing in of itself. There are things I have been able to get to that have been waiting literally years for me to actually get done, and this is just the start. I have high hopes for the medication and treatment plan that my Dr. has for me which means better days ahead for everyone.

If you go over to my Pam's Fight to Lose Weight page you cans see what I have been up to with my weight loss. I guess that is about it for getting you all up to date with our lives at the moment so off I go to get the dishes done, and pick up the crayon trail that Lilly has made for me again today. Have a great day everyone.

Asking for help for my daughter's friend who has Cancer.

Today was kind of sad, we found out that my daughter Dennise's friend who has cancer got some bad news, but we all know that if it is in God's plan that there are miracles to be done, they will happen. With that being said I am going to leave a link to a page where you can help her family out with good tidings, or a donation. Here it is Team Brianna Leukemia Warrior, you can read about her journey this is her second at Caring Bridge. She use to come and spend time with Dennise all of the time till she got sick. We haven't had her over in a long long time, and once you are apart of our family you are always a part of our family, which means she has a place in our hearts forever. Please take time to check out the sites and if you can help out please do and please pass the Team Brianna link onto others so that everyone can make a difference. Like I said if they can raise 500,000 plus dollars for a lady who was picked on by kids on a bus then we should be able to raise money for this girls family so that they can get her back and forth to her Dr.'s appointments, which is way more important, at least in my opinion. Thank you.

Summer is half way over.

Wow it has been just over a month since I last updated although I did find a draft in here that I started but trashed it so I could do this one. Things have been moving along here with Samantha putting every check away for a vehicle as well as Dennis working every overtime he can get so we can but a another vehicle ourselves.

It is hard to believe that in a little more then a month school will be back in session. Since I last updated Samantha did buy that running stroller and uses it too. The only other thing she spent money on was her shoes for work, and some new bras. If she keeps losing weight like she is she will need a whole new wardrobe soon.

Dennise has also took up running and is loving it just as much as Samantha, when she gets home she rushes through her chores so that she can get out there for her run. Sometimes she takes Deanna. Deanna will be running more for soccer this year so it is good for her, somedays they even take Dorothy but she can't run as far or as fast as them so they only take her when they all go so that they can spread out and make sure everyone has a running partner. I am so very proud of my girls.

Running is something I could never do and something the Dr.'s said I shouldn't do, something to do with my kidneys. Either way I am doing good with my weight loss, down a bit more this week. Whoot whoot every little bit helps.

Deanna finally learned to ride her bike without training wheels and now I can't keep her off of it unless of course she is running, or swimming. I am so proud of her. She really hasn't been able to ride her bike all that often and this is really the first year that she was able to get some riding in, so this is a big acheievement for her. Yeah Deanna. P.S. Dennis bought Deanna a new bike so that when she learned she would have a surprise, can't wait to see her face when he springs it on her. He also bought Dorothy one she has been wanting one for a long time, and her dreams and wishes are about to come true. I will be sure to post pictures when he finally gives them their surprise.

This is the last week of summer school for Deanna, and Dorothy until school starts back up, as well as the last week for Dennise volunteering at the school. I was told they were glad to have her and what a great help she was to the program. I am so proud of her.

My son ordered his first professional T-shirts for his Magic career. We ordered 7 alone for our house. Can't wait to wear mine. I think we will order from the same company when we order our shirts that Dennis will design. He also landed a much better paying job. The one he should have had last year but things didn't work out. I guess it wasn't in God's plan last year so now he won't have to scrimp as much as he was.

Lilly is going great. She is talking up a storm, and is just as cute as my own kids were, she is just a little extra special because she is my grand daughter. I love being able to see her every day. I know when my parents were alive they either saw my kids every day or we called them. I have always wanted my kids to have a close bond with their grandparents. I was able to succeed with my own but it is still a work in progress with my husband's side. Oh well keep trying we will until they kids decide they have had enough.

I guess that is the short version of catching up. Hope you are all having a great summer.