Found Some Energy

Yesterday was a day I found some energy. All I wanted to do was GET OUTSIDE!!!!!! I needed some sun therapy,  although dear hubby was concerned about the heat index we were having.

I took some Gatorade out with me and all my tools. I hit the flower beds, weeding and dead heading rose bushes. I separated some elephant ears and transplanted them to more pots. Filled all my bird feeders and hummingbird feeders.

Came in and took a much needed shower and took a nap.

When I awoke, I knew I wanted to make an awesome supper.  So….

BBQ chicken, Pioneer Woman mac and cheese,  twice stuffed baked potatoes,  and baked beans which I mostly made for the guys.

For dessert:

I was wanting Pineapple Upside Down cake. The guys wanted chocolate chip Pecan pie.  

Here is the simple recipe. Just mix all ingredients and pour in pie shell and bake. 

I think I’m going to start posting Gmaw hacks. It’s for us Grandmas who have or keep our grandbabies alot.

Gmaws Hack #1:

Neat little trick. Instead of throwing away tons of plastic bags, get some uses out of them. I fold them like little footballs( the kind we use to play paper football with in school when the teacher wasn’t looking lol), then store them in a container ( I use wipe containers since I have plenty), and use them in small trash can liners, in my truck for garbage, dirty diapers on the go, soiled clothes, even barf bags in a pinch.

Gmaw Hack #2:

I’m going to get one of these. I have to make up my mind which one.
Porta Potty…..when you’re on the road and can’t exit quick enough or you don’t like truck stop restrooms, wholah. I know, boys are easier so…..this is probably more for girls. Keep it in the vehicle at all times.

Gmaw Hack #3:

Great little toddler lunches.

There are some women I am following on social media that have helped me alot with getting organized.

Jordan Page from funcheaporfree.com She is also on YouTube.

The Family Fudge on YouTube.  She does videos called Bunches of Lunches. Awesome for kids school lunches or, hey, I eat them too. 😁😁

Check them out, you want be sorry.

I have also been watching crock pot videos and getting great ideas. I love the dump and go ideas for crock pots. Just search it on YouTube.  Incredibly good time savers when you have two little ones under foot in the kitchen. 🤗

I hope you enjoy these ideas. If you have any hacks to make life run smoother with little ones let’s hear them.

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I Stink At Blogging

I am so sorry I’ve been MIA for a little while. It has been one lazy summer, and when I say lazy, I mean laaaaazy.

My intentions for this summer when hubby took the summer off from work, was to go places, do things and have fun. Well, hubby had other plans. He stays gone and runs around alot, that his plans were to just relax and enjoy his vaction and do a few little projects. He has managed to do a few things with us. He had to go back to AR to just over see a 2 week project in an emergency situation. We got to go out there one weekend. It was the only mini vacation I’m gonna get this summer. Dear hubby and Dallas had boys day out one day and I went to the local State Park and got some water therapy. I stayed all day long til they finally got worried about me and came and checked on me. I’m just floating in the water on my float without a care in the world. 😁

The next day we just had an easy family day and went to find some put put golf, then out to eat at our favorite restaurant.

Dear hubby could have left and came on home, but I asked him to stay the weekend because he was paid up on rent until that Sunday, and it was going to be the only vacation I was gonna get. So we all came back together on that Sunday.

We got back into the swing of things when tragedy hit. One of his brothers was admitted to the hospital. He has been sick for a while and he started getting worse and his daughter had him admitted. She has been in nursing for 20 yrs out of high school and it paid off. For the most part. He was getting better when all of the sudden he just asked that everything, all treatments be stopped. He was simply tired of fighting and his body wore out. He only weighed 100 lbs in the hospital. This was so hard for his daughter,  David’s niece. She has taken care of him for 10 yrs. She has known for some time that he has been going down but she wasn’t giving up. However, she knew he was tired and give out. So she had to respect his wishes. They stopped all treatments and we thought we had at least a week at the most. We got a phone call from his niece saying the family needed to come in. He was going down fast. By that evening, he was gone. I’ve never seen someone take their last breath but that’s exactly what we did. His family was by his bedside and holding his hand, including their mother. I’m not sure how this affected Dallas. All I know is he has changed a little for the better. Dakota was on his way when he got off work but he passed 30 minutes before he got there.

Calvin never wanted a long drawn out funeral and his daughter, David and Nanny went to make the arrangements for his funeral. The visitation and grave side service was the same day.

The day in between his passing and the funeral, it was dear hubby’s birthday.  He was kind of in the mood to celebrate but not. He welcomed the distraction.  The kids came for supper and we gave him his gifts.

My momma and daddy came to visit one day and that was a good distraction for him. We realize how short life is with loved ones sometimes. Atleigh begged to stay with us the night of the funeral. She was glued to me all day. We welcomed the time. Caroline was running a low grade fever and just wanted mommy.

Dear hubby got out of his comfort zone one day and went swimming with us. He is just not a swimmer. He went through so much water training while he was in the military that he doesn’t enjoy it. He would rather be on a boat fishing.

This summer has been so different for us as far as gardening is concerned. My tomato plants look awful. We have never had trouble with our garden. Our weather has played a big role. We had s wet spring and early summer and everyone was late planting, then I battled deer eating my plants down and trying to come back.  I may have some and may not. The only things looking good is our peppers. We’re not the only ones. A lot of people have had trouble. I think the good Lord is just trying to tell me something this summer. Just slow down, relax, and try to recuperate.

So, the nurse from the cardiologist office calls me and tells me the result of all my tests they did. Nothing is mechanically wrong with my heart. There is no blockage no nothing. And my heart is not the source of the issues I am having. However I do skip beats occasionally and they discovered a congenital defect that I was born with. So finding this out at 48 yrs old blew my mind. I have an artery that is wired up wrong, its backwards. (best way I know to explain it). It overlaps the other two arteries but is not constricting or pinching off the others. It has never caused problems nor she said it probably want ever. I am the 4th case they have seen in their office with this.
As far as the clot goes, they will not remove it because it is in the deep vein and they fear damaging the vessel and me bleeding out since I’m on blood thinners. Also, it has solidified which means it’s not going anywhere so we are stuck like glue for the duration unless it becomes life threatening.
I still have one more test due to anemia. Anemia is a symptom of RA so I just have to deal with it. I believe that is my problem all along but we didnt want to take any chances.
For the past two yrs my red blood cells have been going down and when I was put on blood thinners, it made it a little worse. It can be brought back up, just takes a while. Some days are better than others. I will pray to get back to normal. This is another reason it has been a lazy summer. I just haven’t had the energy and that upsets me. I feel like I’ve missed out on all the fun this summer. I’m just trying to take one day at a time now.

This is what makes me feel better when I look at my garden:

School is fixing to start back and I’m not ready. We will have a Jr and he will start driving himself to school. I’ve already started praying.

Our daughter in law has decided to go ahead and go back to school this fall. I had a feeling she could not wait til next spring.  She just cant sit still and do nothing. She wants to be learning and get her career going. She has decided to go to nursing school. She meets with a school counselor tomorrow. I will have the girls again when she goes back. Maybe that will get me back in the groove.

As far as today goes, I’m headed outside to just get some fresh air and just work lightly in my flower beds.

Hope you enjoy your day.

Happy Birthday to My Love

On this day 48 years ago, a very special person was born. All of his family knew he was very unique and and one of a kind.
I am so glad God saw fit to bring him into my life. I can be the first to tell you he is my angel sent to me from Heaven. He was born just for me I think. We could have met 6 yrs before we actually did but it was not Gods timing yet. When we finally did meet, we have never looked back.
I can personally tell you this man has so many qualities about him that make him so unique an special just like his family said he was, just because I have experienced every single one.
He has a heart, mind, passion, dedication and loyalty for family.
Some of these things were not taught to him by example, it’s like he was born with instincts that you cant teach someone. Nanny says she does not know where he learned some of these qualities, he was just born with them. If you truly know him, you know exactly what I’m talking about and know I’m not making this stuff up.

He is driven by a passion of providing for his family. He is not happy if he cannot take care of his family financially. That’s why he made a vow to better himself and work his way up to where he is today. He has always provided for our needs and then some. We have never wanted for anything. If I did, I never noticed because he was always a step ahead.

He is very nurturing in taking care of his family. He will take care of us when we are sick and wait on us hand and foot and deny his own rest to make sure we are comfortable. He takes care of his momma and brothers and sisters and will do anything for them. He even takes care of my momma and daddy.

He is very loyal in his relationships. If you are a friend of his, you have a friend.
He is and always has been loyal to me. His coworkers say all he talks about is his wife and family. He is always very upset when he has to go but lives for the day when the job is done so he can come home to me. The man had worked 12 hrs before and drove 18 hrs just to prove this to me. He always says some things are just not worth screwing up and loosing. I’m so glad. ❤❤ He said I can never leave because he would just pack up and follow me anyway. 😁

This man has more endurance and perseverance that I cant explain it. It’s like hes our personal Superman. It’s like he just swoops down and takes care of it. He does not like for me to stress or worry about anything. He just takes care of it all and how he does it, I have no clue.

He has a rough exterior because once a Marine, always a Marine. But dont let that fool ya. I know the sensitive teddybear too. 🐻

He is very serious about making men out of our boys. He is dedicated to making sure they turn out to be fine, responsible men who can hold their own and take care of their families. He knows their gonna mess up sometimes but he sure hates to see it but hes always there.

And now we get to do this all over again with the next generation through our grandchildren. They are going to be very blessed too and loved and taken care of. That’s just what he does.

We are so blessed to have him in our lives. I am not joking when I say he is a great brother, son, husband and father and poppie all in one big bundle. And he is ours. We want to wish a very special person a very happy birthday and we love him very much.

Drs, Deer and Racoons

Well, all I wanted to do this summer was have fun. Seems like I’ve done nothing but work or go to drs appointments.

I do not have the results of the heart monitor reading yet. I went for an echocardiogram yesterday and the nurse said she didn’t see anything to be alarmed about. Blood is pumping fine in and out but she knew I had skipped heartbeats too. Later that day I had my regular appt with my RA dr. We discussed all that has happened since my last checkup. I have had RA for 15 yrs and did not know there were so many symptoms. Anemia being one of them. Anemia has symptoms all it’s on and includes dizziness, light headedness, heart palpitations and shortness of breath. Maybe we’re on to something.

I have one more test and it is a cat scan on the 29th. If nothing is mechanically wrong with my heart, then it is coming from somewhere else. Maybe I will get answers soon.

On another note, this is not turning out to be a good year gardening. I have battled deer and raccoons all summer. This is a first for us. Of course they have came into our garden in years prior, but not this bad. I picked corn one day and was kind of disappointed. I only got maybe two 5 gal buckets full of corn. Some was not ready yet and I left them to give them a few more days. Yesterday, we went out to pick the rest…..nothing. The darn raccoons got every single last one of our ears. Drats. I am not use to this at all. We have always had good yields of what we plant and this year has just been so different. My sweetheart wanted me to downsize due to not knowing what was going on with my health but this is why I have always planted extra. Just in case something went wrong. Grrrrrr…..

Oh well, we still have two more rows that will be ready in a few weeks. Maybe sooner. If the raccoons don’t get them either.

I wish the deer would quit munching on my tomatoes and peppers or I want have any of them either.

It has been kind of bad for everyone. Planting was later this year due to all the rain and flooding. Maybe God is trying to tell me to just take it easy this year. I don’t know.

On a good note. Caroline turned 11 mths old. She is a scrapper. Shes tiny, but fierce. One minute she’s loving on you, the next she will fight you. One minute she is singing so sweetly to the piano at church, the next she is trying to steal my communion cracker and flirt with the baby behind her. Shes learning things really fast.

Projects On Top of Projects

Well, I’d like to say we have slowed down, but I can’t. We have been busy completing projects around here. We had alot  to do to get our house and yard ready for our 4th of July party we always have.

This is one that we are proud of, I know dear hubby is. He worked on this for days just a little at a time. He first started by taking up our old flower bed borders. We went to Lowe’s to get our blocks to match the look we wanted. He removed our old borders and scalloped the ground and laid the stones. This is before and after. We loved the way it turned out. We took all the old mulch and moved it to some more flower beds we are going to make.

 

We just have to figure out now what we want to plant in those. I think we are going to replant our gardenia bushes because they don’t seem to be doing well where they are. Then I think we planned on some small rose bushes. My sweetheart loves his rose bushes mostly so he can cut me some any time he wants to.

My momma gave me some elephant ears and I put some in various flower beds.

My other flower beds are doing great. I love the splash of color.

I spent a week scrubbing down my house. Just when we get the outside caught up, the inside gets behind. I can’t seem to catch up. I always want my house to be clean not just everyday but especially when we have company. And when you throw a party, that’s alot of people. My sweetheart loves to entertain and cook for a crowd and that’s just what he did for the 4th. I made all the sides and desserts.

I am very proud of these desserts. I made a strawberry cake with vanilla buttercream icing, then added the berries. But, Oh, this Rolo Cheesecake!!!!!! It was the first to go.

 

We had a very good time. Everyone enjoyed themselves and went home with full bellies and probably sore due to all the games we played.

I grabbed my momma one day and we took the girls to the Memphis Botanical Gardens and Bass Pro. She has always wanted to see Bass Pro and I’ve been wanting to go to the Gardens.

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3. Another day we loaded up and went to her house. She had eye surgery and had to hold off on driving. We just ate lunch and let the girls swim.
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5. Poppie sure is enjoying his time with his girls. Dixon, tea party of three.
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I have to admit I have too. I let Atleigh help make pizzas one night,  she did awesome

We double dated with Dallas and Briley one night. He splurged and bought their own dinner. And they danced a little.

There have been days I just could not do anything. I have had a cold since May, and I can’t seem to shake it. I did not know a human could produce so much mucus. I have blowed til I have a soar on my nose. I have coughed my head off. I think its getting better. Dear hubby knew the weeds in my garden were driving me crazy so, bless him, he tilled for me. Then they got busy mowing.

I celebrated my 48th bday. I am so blessed to have another year.

Dallas got to finally take his driving test and he passed. We let him use his truck to take it in and dad went with him. Dad had never been a passenger when teaching our kids to drive. I taught our kids to drive and was the acting Guinea pig. He has been riding around with him lately to see how he does and he has to feel comfortable with knowing he drives good before we just set him free driving. Rules will be the same with him as with our oldest when he started out. We let him make little short trips like to the store down the road, to nannys house and brothers house. We track him GPS too.

School has been delayed three weeks due to some work not being completed on one school in the county so all schools will be delayed so the county can be on the same schedule. I am so glad. I hate when they changed things a decade ago and made them start going back in August.  We didn’t have to go back until middle of September.  Geez, these kids get no break.  I am glad to be getting more time. There are some more things we want to do. I hate it when I hear a parent say they can’t wait until school starts back so the kids will be out of their hair. I love being with my kids. Then parents complain they are eating them out of house and home during the summer. Well, you have to feed them the rest of the year, so why not summer break. That opens up a soap box for me.

I’ve got dr appointments lined up. I have an irregular heart beat and palpitations so they are doing some tests on my ticker to make sure nothing is mechanically wrong.  We have to figure out what is causing it and why I get so lightheaded and dizzy and have brain fog sometimes. I also have shortness of breath. I don’t think anything is wrong with my heart so I’m not worried. But I can’t live with being light headed and dizzy. They hooked me up to a heart monitor. What I hate is,  I can’t shower, sweat or swim. I have to be clean, I can’t stand it. Good thing I’m getting it off tomorrow. This tape has itched me to death and I have hung myself on every door and cabinet knob.

We got two cases of peaches in and I had 8 qts of peaches and 4 cups of juice. One box is mommas and she yielded two gallons of peaches for jelly.

I hope everyone enjoys their day. As for me, this ole gal is going to bed.

 

Happy Independence Day

Thank you to the First Continental Congress, Paul Revere for that infamous midnight ride and Patriots who didn’t give up.

Summer Projects

Our June month has been busy so far.

We have been trying to get a few outside projects done around here, then a few pauses for parties, get togethers, and rest.

I would love to show some pics of our projects but I will hold off and post them when we’re done.

We have had some rain here the past week and it has been well needed. Our garden is coming along fine. Atleigh is so excited to see our “widdle  madoes” in the garden.

It’s so nice to wake up and hear the birds singing. I love having my coffee and prayer time outside. I’ve got flowers and bushes blooming like crazy and smelling so good. I forgot to take some pics of my two flower beds I worked so hard in a few weeks ago. I planted some caladiums and wild flower seed and they are growing good. I will put some pics in my next post.

Dear hubby is working on his projects too.

We are trying to get everything prepared for our annual 4th of July cookout at our house. We didn’t get to last year because he was in AR working for the summer. So it’s on this year.

We have got to enjoy a few things with my momma. One day we loaded up kids for Grab Your Granny Day and went to a park. We had an extra kid and she took up with my momma pretty good.

Fathers Day came and we spent some time with my daddy.

I got up that morning and threw everything in my Pressure Cooker and lunch was served. 

After that we had a big girls bday party to go to. Yep, our Atleigh turned the big 2. My, my, where does time go. This girl is a character.  She will keep you laughing and has such a sweet heart. She is a lover not a fighter that’s for sure.

We went down to their house for her bday party.

Then Sunday, Fathers Day, we spent it with Dakota and Dear hubby.

We have been enjoying our time with the girls. Poppie especially.

Caroline turned 10 mths old this month. She is growing and learning fast. She started walking here at our house and has not looked back. Her nickname is scrappy because she loves to fight with Poppie.  She will sike you out. She thinks everything is funny and she loves food.

Their Lolly had a photo shoot with them.

We had the chance to go to my 30th high school reunion.  It was nice to see old friends.

I have been having to go to drs appts

This clot in my leg is not getting any better and my RA dr doesn’t like the fact that it is still there. So he sent me to a DVT dr. We did another ultra sound and the clot has not changed any. It has  not moved, shrank or broke up. Nadda.  Nothing. He said blood is still flowing through the vein and it is not completely  blocked. The blood thinners have not done any good on the clot because it has gotten so old and had calcified. He said there is nothing they can do right now unless it becomes life threatening. What? I can’t help but think that they should just be able to go in and remove it. He said the only thing we can do right now is try compression therapy.  I have to wear a compression sock to help force the blood to flow better.

I think it is causing other problems as well since my blood flow is restricted and slow on that side. I have been light headed alot and short of breath and heart palpitations.  It is kind of scaring me so I went to my primary care physician. I kind of broke down in his office because all this together on top of my RA  is driving me insane. I have always been a busy person who could not sit still. I have to be doing something. But the past few years I’ve been forced to just sit and rest sometimes. I am restless and bored. I have so much I need to be doing and want to do just don’t have the energy or motivation to do it. We are just doing process of elimination to see if these are connected or if I have more than one issue going on. I have dr appts scheduled in July.

As of today, dear hubby and I are both sick. I think the heavy rain fall stirred up pollen. We have sore throats, stopped up noses, fever and coughing. I am about to go stir crazy laying up in here. I’ve only moved from the couch to the bed and back. Maybe by this weekend it will pass and we can get back to normal. I have too much to do.

Well, I hope everyone enjoys their day. I’ve got to take some Ibuprofen now. I feel feverish again.