Halloween's coming

Pumpkins are everywhere

So are the jack o'lanterns

 Not my style

 More

 These are cute

Just a few of the pumpkins I've seen around

A Sunday/Monday Drive

It may have been a long, holiday weekend, but it was a quiet one for me. That was OK, for the most part. I was rather bored during the day...but yet I don't have to be entertained and go to everything and everywhere. If I could drive I would have found something to do/someplace place to go, but I didn't have anything I REALLY wanted to nor did I want to irritate Kevin. We didn't watch the fireworks on Monday night.....Kevin had to be up early the next day for work and I was tired and didn't care if I went or not. Last night I heard fireworks until after 2AM, then I listened to a barking dog for over an hour, and at 7:30AM someone decided to mow the lawn at the school across the street. 

About all we did was take the convertible our for a ride.

When we were parked and Kev was talking to a friend I spotted this 'face'. Do you see it?

L

Later we stopped at a friends, he lives on the river. Kayaking, canoeing, fishing, and relaxing on the deck are popular activities with his visitors. 

Kevin always drives past the beach....the new canopy for the band is complete.

The beach was packed and I understand why.

We also visited his sister and DQ  so I could get a hot fudge sundae. Not an exciting weekend, but not a bad one. Hope you had a happy and safe holiday weekend.

It's Painted and I Don't Like it

Our spare bedroom is painted, at last, and I don't like the color. I know Kevin will not  repaint it so I better learn to like it. The walls are light gray, looks white if you just glance at it. The ceiling is white. I have to make up the bed, put up the new curtains, hang up art work, etc. I'll post after photos later. 

Happy Father's Day!

We had a really nice afternoon, Kevin's 2 kids came over for a cookout......of course the grands were over too. The kids have fun....for the most part....they started with a water fight. I don't mind....I have dry clothes for the boys...the girl didn't get that wet. Unfortunately there was too much yelling....the two youngest brothers don't get along. 

It was a beautiful day and nice to visit with the kids and enjoy a good meal. Tomorrow it is back to the real world. 

The Weekend

We didn't do anything special for Easter, I didn't even go to church. I really didn't feel good in the morning, I'll spare you the details. My breathing seems more labored. Later Kev made ham steak, baked potatoes, a yam, veggies for us. Ham is usually a 'no no' for me, but I cheat on occasion....and have been doing that often. I eat such small portions that I figure it doesn't add up to over 2000 mg sodium anyway. It was a nice meal and a very pleasant, relaxing day.

A gift from a friend! It is special, I love it. 

Thanks!!!

Friday afternoon my son and his family stopped over, it was nice to see them again. When they left he said "See you in 2 weeks." Sounds like that's their plan. 

While they were here our Pastor called and asked if he could stop over. Kev answered the phone and said 'sure', so he was here too for a while. We all chatted, then my kids left and just the 3 of us talked. It was nice to have Kev here too. 

After that Kev picked up Jalen to come and get his birthday gift. His 11th birthday is next month but we don't see him very often and I wanted to see how the Wye Flicker works......so he showed me.

j

You control it by wiggling your hips. This boy does not ride a bike or a scooter.....but he tried one of these last summer and said he loved it....so I knew it would be perfect for his birthday. It will get him off the couch and outside more.

 It's not a cheap gift so several people contributed to the cost.

I am also very proud to say that this young man  is one of 4 in his grade to be chosen for WCATY. It is a University of WI program for academically talented youth. I hope the rest of his family realizes what a treasure he is.

Yup, I have some pretty intelligent grands!

And that's it for our Easter weekend. It was OK, my head wants to do stuff but my body gets too pooped out. 

Palm Sunday

Yeah, yeah, I see people coming out of churches waving around palm branches.....got it!

There's a little more to it than that....I am not the best person to explain, but I'll do my best to simplify it in case your memory escapes you, like mine often does. 

On that Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey that had not been broken (ridden before). It would be the beginning of His reign, but not until several prophecies were fulfilled. 

He was joyfully welcomed into the city. People laid down palm branches and their cloaks for him. The crowds shouted: "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" (Matthew 21:9, NIV)

By the end of the week he would have been made to carry a heavy cross (to which he would be NAILED), a thorney crown was shoved onto his head, he would be given vinegar to drink, he would suffer ALL of our sins.

After He suffered and died on that cross in the hot sun he was put into a cave and heavy stone was rolled in front of it. BUT 3 days later his body was not there! He rose from the dead and reigns in Heaven with God, the Father! And that is why I KNOW I will be there when my time comes.

And I want you there also!

It's Been A Quiet Week

....and I'm not complaining. 

Weird coincidence? Last week's dr appointment went very well, the dr did increase my blood pressure meds. The very next day I had absolutely NO ambition. I thought that was what was causing my lethargy....so I went back to my previous dose. I finally was able to talk to the nurse and explained my situation to him and I decided to take the new dose of BP meds. Maybe high BP was causing me to feel icky. We shall see. I am also feeling shortness of breath since last week. Not the extreme shortness of breath I had previously, but definitely feeling worse that I had been for a long time.The past 2 weeks I have just not felt like myself (who am I feeling like? I'm not sure.) I'm feeling lazy, not happy (as I usually am), I almost feel nauseous, I don't have much of an appetite (that's a good thing)....I just don't feel right.

 Monday I attended a silver sneaker exercise class at the Y and I could not keep up. It was more strenuous than the ones at the senior center I had  been attending,  I was just beat and had to just stand there and march very slowly. I'm not wasting my time going to that class until I feel better. I am still taking the water aerobics classes, those are not so strenuous and I can easily slow it down.

Today I had lab work done for my appointment next week with my primary care dr. I am not sure what she is looking for. The cardiologist ordered more blood tests after I talked to the nurse and expressed my concerns. Four vials lighter I walked out of the clinic with a juice and granola bar.      

I'm not sure if I have some kind of bug or if it is my heart. I've also been experiencing some dizziness so am seeing the electrophysiologist later this month. They deal with the diagnosis and treatment of heart rhythm disorders.

And that is why I haven't done much of anything the past 2 weeks.

All decorated for Valentine's day....and that will be it!

Christmas Eve

Yes, I know Christmas is long gone....but I am playing catch up again.

I like to attend Christmas eve service at our church and the 4 grandchildren that were here wanted to go along also. I think it's because we always hold candles and the lights go out as we sing the last hymn.....Silent Night.

I was a little concerned about the 5 year old, who is a bit rambunctious and has never been to church. No need to be, he was really good. 

Here they are posing for a before church photo...you know kids love the silly photos....so I'm posting this one instead of the nice one (for a change).

We usually open gifts Christmas day but the boys weren't going to be here so they opened their presents that night.

Jalen is getting into chess and really loves this Mario chess set. He thinks he's going to teach me to play.....I don't know if you can teach an old dog new tricks????

Landon saw all of my necklaces and wanted one so I gave him one of my old ones...he wore it all night, even to church. I wonder what mom thought when he got home. *smile*

I love hugging grands!

Dad and Skylar checking out one of the gifts.

Grandson J (10) finally told me he doesn't believe in Santa....I knew it but wasn't about to ask. Gosh, they grow up so fast.

We have one small extra bedroom with a day bed in it. If more than one child spends the night they have to sleep on the floor. If someone stays for more than one night I'll get the air mattress out. Mackenzie (7 and extremely outspoken) was NOT going to sleep on the floor...and neither was mom. Finally grandpa convinced her that it would be OK to sleep on the floor and not to have to go home.

Here's what I saw in the morning when I got up. I guess Mackenzie climbed into bed with mom early in the morning. If I wouldn't have so much junk stored under the bed I'd like to get a trundle bed.

Just visiting with Jessica.

Christmas day was quiet and lazy. Mackenzie's dad brought the Santa gifts from their house, she opened them, Kev made breakfast and did all the dishes. The ONE and ONLY time he does that.

 One of her presents was new roller blades. It was sunny and we didn't have any snow so she went out to try them.

The first time on roller blades is pretty scary.

Christmas was very nice.

I am behind already...our tree and all the decorations are still up. 

Tomorrow I am going to watch another grandson play basket ball and give that family their presents. 

I'm not sure when I'll get the tree down....but I will ...sooner or later.

Oh yea, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

One Christmas Party

The Sunday before Christmas my side of the family was here...........my daughter and her family, my sister and hers, and Kev's two children and their families.We had them over for lunch and the afternoon. It was a really nice day!!!

My daughter and her girls....remember they were here this past summer. They are real sweeties....well, the younger one has some spunk in her.

The always like to pull out the dress up clothes.

The sports fans in the family room.

Pile on Mark?

Most of the children surrounded Amy as she opened up used books from almost everyone there. Yes, she was starting to wonder why everyone was giving her a used book, including 50 SHADES OF GREY.

After all the gifts were opened Kevin brought out the Little Free Library. It was a hit, but I didn't get a photo. It's pretty big, there's room for large children's books and small paperbacks. I had it primed only so they can paint it the way they want it.

Look at all those girls with the long, blond locks. My daughter's girls put it up in the spring for their dance recital. When they get it cut it gets donated. 

I concentrated on my daughter's children because this was the only time I'd see them for Christmas.

One of our granddaughters received Pie Face (the game). After a bit it got a little wild and I had to calm them down....then it was over. 

But they had plenty of laughs.

Even one mom, my step daughter, played.

Togetherness? Playing video games.

My nephew (body builder and personal trainer) and oldest grandson. See the red beard? I told ya red hair runs in the family.

It was a wonderful gathering...my only wish would be that all my of children could have been here. 

More Christmas festivities coming up.

Hope your holiday was great!

The Ugly Sweater Contest

Last week I and 2 of my friends hosted our Red Hat Christmas party at a local restaurant. We chose to have an ugly sweater contest, and take it from me, ugly sweaters are hard to find. I looked for one all year long and ended up with a sweater vest. Most of us embellished our sweaters. 

This is most of our group.

  Here I am in my ugly sweater, I added every single Christmas pin I had to it and even some lights.

  The embellishing paid off....I won 1st place.

Second place (the tree) also had lights. Debbie and Darlene tied for 3rd. Needless to say, I don't think any of us will be wearing our sweaters in public any more.

One of the gals who was a hostess made the cute, little treat bags: one was the M&Ms I posted earlier, the other one she made was with a Grinch saying. Our Queen mum passed out individual packages of candy.

Darlene tried to steal a bite of Sandi's dessert but Sandi had her eye on the planed dastardly deed doer. 

We had a white elephant gift exchange. Joyce got a pair of sparkly, sexy, red pumps....she doesn't think she has any occasions in the future that need red heels.

 Carolee received some homemade cookies in her white elephant gift.

We have really nice group of ladies and always enjoy getting together. Quite often we take up a collection for a deserving charity. this month we brought items for the Salvation Army. They pass out Christmas gifts and everything is appreciated.

That was the first of my Christmas parties..............I have another one this friday. Let the fun begin!!!!