A few more weeks

Wow a few weeks and then school will be starting here in Marksville, where does the time go? When you live in Marksville things are always busy. Big families take up a lot of time, not in a bad way, but in a great way.

I left off with the visit with my sisters Penny and Bonnie. I had missed out on meeting up with my cousin Mary and her husband Maurice from Canada, but luckily they are making another trip down here next week so we get to spend time together then.

Next week we will take a trip up to see Bryan in his new group home. He moved from the Private School to a group home, or will be hopefully by this Friday. While we are out I want to stop in and see my sister Bonnie, dropping her off things she doesn't have, but needs. Even though she lives in a assisted living home, they don't provide things like band aids, and I noticed that her heals are cracked really bad so I want to drop off some great cream and foot socks to help repair her feet.

Talking of moving. Samantha and David moved in with David's parents into one of my Dream Homes. Yes a home I have been eyeing for years, but from things Samantha has told me I wouldn't like much more then the space, Kitchen, and fireplaces, she said I would be really disappointed with the bathrooms, so I guess it really isn't my Dream Home after all, besides when they remodeled it they tore off the Green House which was the big seller for me.

For now they are trying things out to see how things go. They are paying about a third of the rent. Samantha plans on taking 6 months off once she has the baby, and then returning to work while going for her RN. They seem to have a plan and I wish them all the luck in the world to make their dreams come true. Oh by the way Samantha is officially a CNA.

We have been keeping ourselves busy with the normal, physical therapy, and Dr. appointments for Dennis, swimming and hanging out with friends for the girls. We have had many friends over this summer. Shopping, cleaning, and spending time with the kids has taken up most of the rest of the time. With all of this we have kept our date nights going, which is a God send. It gives us time for just ourselves while strengthening our marriage. More about that later.

Anyways there is so much to catch up everyone I and so little time for me to get it all down. I must get going so I can get dinner prepared for the family, but rest assured I shall return...sooner or later.

What Marksville has been up too.

 

 

I can't believe we are half way through the summer and I haven't posted since my grand daughters Birthday so I will give you all a little update.

 

In June Dorothy Graduated from Kindergarten, and she received the Sunshine award. Her teacher made a great video of the kids, and even sent a letter over the summer asking us to update her on what the kids did over the summer. I believe I said this before, but my girls had some awesome teachers this year.

 

Below you can see Dorothy at her table after graduation in her classroom.

 

I was able to save up for my kitchen island which you can see below. My kitchen is coming along well. Only need a few more things to make it complete.

 

 

Also in June we had Deanna's 10 1/2 Birthday Party. Since her Birthday is in the middle of the winter and our winters have been pretty unpredictable we decided to do half birthday's for her. I think it turned out pretty well.

 

She had wanted a Princess Castle Cake which I made for her below.

 

 

Below you can see our mini sliders which we put on little rolls. The girls gobbled them up.

 

 

Here are all of the girls doing a pyramid in our living room.

As you can see they were ear to ear smiling the whole time.

Lots of fun and laughter for everyone.

 

 

Our biggest thing so far this summer was a visit from one of my bio sister's Penny and her family. They came all the way up from Virgina to visit with us.

We all met where my oldest sister Bonnie lives, and had a great day.

There never seems to be enough time to visit with each other, and a big dream of mine is to get a picture with all of my bio sisters someday.

Life is way to short not to enjoy the time you have with your family and loved ones.

 

 

From left to right top Me, Dennis, Bonnie, Daniel, Penny, Mason, Hana, Samantha

From left to right bottom Deanna, Dorothy, Myra, Dennise, Lillyann, and David.

Missing is my sister Bonnies kids Peter, and Dawn, and my two boys, Dennis III(Buke) and Bryan.

 

Most of the rest of our summer has been taken up with physical therapy for Dennis, Summer school for the girls, my merchandising job, watching Lilly, shopping, and going to many parties for our friends and family.

 

We have had time to have fun though. A trip to the mall, Build a Bear, several Movies, eating out, and having friends over.

 

Being busy is what we do.

 

Hope your summer is going well and would love to hear about what your family has been up too.

 

Lilly's 2nd Birthday and Cake orders.

We recently celebrated my grand-daughter Lilly's 2nd Birthday and a few months ago she picked out some cupcakes she wanted me to make.

 

 

Of course I made her Elmo her favorite Guy. I made them with chocolate cake mix, then used red icing, for the mouth I used Oreo cookies, the nose orange M&M's , and the eyes were white frosting with mini chocolate chips for the eyeballs.

 





And added Cookie Monster too since she loves him too. Cookie monster was made with white cake mix adding in mini chocolate chips because they are Cookie monster's favorite with, blue frosting. We used mini chips ahoy for the mouth, with white frosting for the eyes and mini chocolate chips for the eyeballs.

 

 

Here she is miss Lilly all ready to open presents.

 

 

 

We got her Cookie monster, and Elmo backpacks. I didn't take pictures of the Elmo outfit, Sponge Bob outfit, Sesame Street socks, Elmo cup or snack box we bought her, but we did get pictures of her favorites.

 

She had to put Elmo on right away

 

Here she is already to eat her yummy cupcakes.

 

Once people saw these cupcakes I had a few people put in requests for other things. One being the Butterfly Cake I had made a few years ago for Dorothy's birthday. As you can see I need lots of help with lettering but otherwise I think it came out well.

 

 

Until the next time I make care I bid you farewell.

Friday News from Marksville

Hello all, finally got a chance to check in with everyone. It has been busy here like usual, but with the Dorothy at her friends party, Dennise over helping out and visiting her friend, and Deanna playing with her friends, I might just have a few minutes to get something posted.

I had said something about Dorothy not feeling well in my last post and sure enough we ended up in the hospital with her on Sunday. I thought she had strep and was going to try and hold off until Tuesday when the Dr. office was open but by Sunday her fever was getting higher, and then she started to hold her side saying she couldn't breath, doubling over and then vomiting. I thought she might be having an appendicitis, as did the Dr, and when we got to the emergency room they were sure she was having one but the tests said she wasn't while her white blood count was through the roof.

They ended up doing a x-ray and found out that she had pneumonia which threw everyone off, and didn't coincide with her blood count so they looked further and even though her pee came back negative for an infection, they found  leukocytes in it so they gave her medicine that would cure both the pneumonia and urinary tract infection. By the time they medicated her, gave her fluids, and her antibiotic by intravenous, she had started to smile, sing. The Dr. said they didn't have to keep her as long as I checked in with the Dr. the next day and took her to see her regular Dr. on Tuesday which we did and he let her return to school on Wednesday. She does have to go in next week to have more blood tests because her white blood count being that high still has the Dr. on guard.

Deanna is gearing up for her 1/2 birthday and sent out her cards the other day. She is super excited to finally be having a party which she hasn't had since 1st grade. She is in 4th now. Things just kept coming up in the winter and holidays that just didn't make for having a successful birthday party, so we decided to do the 1/2 birthday celebration.

Dorothy is doing well at Daisies and really loves her friends, and getting together with other mom's is always good for me too. Next week they will be making Dog Biscuits to take to the Animal Shelter as well as old blankets and towels. I am sure they will all enjoy helping out the animals in need.

The other day we took the girls out to dinner at the Buffet near the mall and they talked Dennis into going inside the mall. He just went to game stop and then back to the car but I walked with the girls around the mall. Even though Dennise turned 16 in April she hasn't been anywhere where she could spend her money. I think after everything was said and done she has around 25.00 left.

 

We were lucky enough to find someplace where we could get her ear cartilage pierced. There is a place near by us but they never called back, or emailed so they lost our business. The next thing she is getting will be her nose pierced. Those are what she asked for besides the Keyboard I bought her that she has wanted for quite sometime.

 

Next year she will get her permit when she is 17 which is a tradition in our family so they can see how many accidents their friends have and it also gives them another year of maturing, which has worked out really well for both myself and my children so far. Don't fix what isn't broken I say.

 

Ok dinner is almost ready and the girls are waiting to go to the Flame concert at the school tonight. So will have to leave you for now. Enjoy reading.

 

Motivator

I set the clock for 30 minutes last night so I could get a head start on cleaning up my papers so I can file them away. We bought a second filing cabinet last month so we could get everything where it needs to be. Of course with being busy and taking care of Lilly I didn't have much time to get anything done, other then getting my magazines in the bottom drawers. They still need to be sorted and put back in.

I usually read my magazines and just pull out the pages I like and file them. With pinterest I can find most of it online and just throw the magazine in the recycle bin when done, but like I said before I haven't really done this in the last 6 years so they kind of took over a few areas of the house. Ok two drawers in my filing cabinet but nothing that can't be fixed in time.

Since they are out of the way the next area is my desk. The never ending pile of mess that even when I clean gets taken over very quickly with our busy schedule. So that 30 minutes which turned into much longer really gave me the motivation to do it again today when I get the other things done on my list.

Before my father died I was very organized even with being sick most of my life, but as time went by I was able to do less and less while things kind of got out of hand in our home. Not anywhere near a hoarder, as my husband and I like everything where it belongs, but enough to make us feel our house was dirty. The only thing that kept my husband sane about it all was when he would see other peoples houses with either the same problem or worse. Worse is always better to make you feel like you haven't gotten to that point yet, which is also a motivator, but he would still sometimes lose it and of course me feeling like a failure because I didn't have the energy to keep up with it didn't make things any better.

It took my husband a very long time to realize that something was really wrong with me, he was in denial for a long time, he has seen me unwell more then well so I am sure it had put a toll on him as well, but now that the Dr. has figured out once again something that is wrong with me, we have made progress, and when I get things done or do things he hasn't seen me do in a very long time he tells me how proud of me he is.

He still has days when he blows up about something small, but his injury has helped him realize that sometimes no matter how much you really want to do something, when you are in pain, or can't move a body part the way you would like, it isn't that you don't want to do something, it is that you can't do it, or need a little extra help doing something that should only take one person to do, and that has helped him with his own inner soul healing path.

Speaking of motivation I need to get moving, but like everything else my blog and readers were missing me. Hope you all are motivated by my writing to do a little at a time and you will be surprised by just how much you can get done.

Where did the month go?

In our home it can go in the blink of an eye depending on how busy we are and this month we were very busy. I picked up a second job or third job if you count my home child care business. Luckily right now all I have is my grand daughter so she goes along with me or stays with Papa while I am working. We have my husband's physical therapy, shopping, school performances, school activities, Daisies, after school activities, Dr.'s appointments and any other thing that comes along.

There aren't many days in the month where the girls don't have at least one friend overnight, which doesn't bother me. My house runs smoother with each and every addition. I think it just keeps me going. The house is getting more organized by the day.

We had kind of a rough go with it early on because my husband's check didn't show up and we ended up being late with rent, and got down to pennies in the bank. Ok we had one overcharge fee but it could have been much worse. Matter of fact we just got the check on Friday which was much needed and caught us back up with everything. Of course we got his second check a few days before the late check. Now to pay the other bills I put off waiting on the first check.

I have had a few painful days myself this month but mainly from over doing it. I am finding out how much I can push myself before it causes me pain. Like I said I am doing things that I haven't done in over 6 years. I even planted some tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash,  and red peppers, now to sit back and see if we will be able to harvest. We had one tomato plant last year that was given to us and it did well so we added a few more plants this year.

Dennis had planned to make me raised gardens so I didn't have to bend over so much but with his injury that didn't happen. He does plan to get it done by next year though. While on the subject some of my friends from other sites know that I have tried to grow inside plants with no luck, so I am trying my hand on outside plants, if they do well, then I will try on inside plants again.

Even with everything being slow at the beginning of the month I was still able to save enough to get my kitchen island. Now for the girls to bring it in, and Dennis to put it together. He can do things that don't take much standing so this is right up his alley. He said he might even take his friends suggestion and paint from a chair so he can get some of the painting in the living room done, and if everything goes well he is going to touch up Deanna's room so her room will be finished.

Someday we will get to our room but until then as long as they kids are taken care of and I have a bed to sleep on I am fine. By the way the next thing I am saving for is two new desks for Dennis and I. I love being able to bookmark or pin things I would like to get. I should make a dream board if I ever have the time.

Today the girls are going to try to swim up at the state park. Yesterday it was raining and they were bummed they couldn't go. I think it is too cold, but hey they love to swim and the school pool is still closed because they can't get the water right for some reason, so more power to them to keep up with the things they love to do. Dorothy didn't go because I know it is too cold for her, besides that I think she might be getting sick. Dennis is sleeping in as we didn't go to bed before 4:30 am. I looked at the clock and said oh my didn't know it was that late and we were off to bed.

I have already cleaned, swept, and mopped the upstairs bathroom. Princess has been walked and fed, now it is time to change out the laundry and do the few dishes that were on the counter as I passed them this morning. I have clothes to fold and hope to get back in the computer room to go through more papers. I think that is about it for us. Will have another post up in a few, God willing.

Dennise turns 16.

Like I said last weekend was busy. Friday Dennis had physical therapy, plus we had to pick up things for my daughter's party for Sunday. We went to Sam's club, picked up my camera, and then ate at the Chinese Buffet.

 

Saturday I cleaned the house and got things ready for my daughter's sweet sixteen. Totally sucks that we couldn't give her the huge party we had planned, but with my husband out of work it just didn't work out. It all turned out well though. We ended out running out again because of all things I forgot to get ice cream and soda for the party. I told you I couldn't remember.

 

She had several friends come and spend the night. There was no Drama, it was wonderful hearing all of the girls laughing together and seeing my daughter smile. It doesn't take lots of money to make her happy. Spending time with her friends and family was the best gift she could receive.

 

Sunday was the big day. I made her cake which was a orange mustache cake, which by the way came out pretty well, and thank God we didn't have a huge party there was no way it would have been enough. My daughter wanted my famous pudding frosting and everyone loved it. I even had to send a piece over to one of our neighbors/friends fathers so he could enjoy some.

This was early on in the day when the girls that had stayed the night were just waiting for others to show up.

 

Here she is below my Dennise. Her hair is not usually this light is it closer to my hair color and will be turned back normal at the end of summer. This was suppose to be the dress she wore for her big party. We told her to put it on and let us take some pictures.

 

 Two friends my daughter Samantha had to pick up later, my husband, myself and Samantha's boyfriend are missing from the photo.

 She might not have had a lot of friends or gifts but she said this was one of the best parties she has ever had, and her friends all said they had a great weekend too. One of the best they said. They were all sad for Dennise though that so many people who said they were going to come didn't.

 

Now this week she has been bringing home gifts from some of the friends who couldn't make it which was very sweet of them to do, and made Dennise very happy. She would have loved to share her special day with them as well, but at least they thought of her, and bought her gifts.

 

 

 

Happy Sweet Sixteen Sweetie.